{SQT} An Important Date, Current Watches, and Pep Talks

Mark your calendars, we have a date for my book’s release-OCTOBER 8th! Which is also Teddy’s birthday, so ideally I remember to celebrate both things on that day. Things are getting real!

My celebration GIF was chosen because Schitt’s Creek is free on Prime right now and it’s my current binge watch for when I’m making dinner. I love it, and it makes me SO much happier than watching Poldark. I mean, I love me some period drama and scenic ocean views but Poldark was stressing me out and I have enough actual stuff in my life to fret over without feeling anxious about a TV show.

Last Saturday we watched the dystopian classic Soylent Green. I’d never seen it, but of course, knew the twist at the end as it’s referenced pretty frequently in pop culture. What I didn’t know was that it’s set in New York City in 2022. If you think climate change predictions are bleak now, you should see what they thought today’s world would be like in 1973. New York City is packed with 30+ million people, many of whom sleep on the street. (As of 2019, NYC’s population was just over 8 million.) Temperatures stay in the 90’s year round. There’s not enough electricity or fuel, so cars lay rusted in the street, and homes are dark. Most people have never eaten fresh meat or plants, or even seen a tree. Food and water is distributed by the government on Tuesdays. Wealthy people can purchase strawberry jam for $150 a jar. Elderly, or anyone who is tired of living can simply choose to end their life with a few signatures. (So some things are a little closer to reality than others.) Even though it was a little grim, everyone enjoyed watching it, and making fun of the video games and technology that seemed futuristic in the 70’s.

Another highlight of the week included seeing my grandmother for the first time in more than six months. She received both doses of the COVID vaccine and has been allowed to leave her nursing home without fear of needing to quarantine in her room upon returning, so my mother brought her to Ocean City for a long weekend. We got to visit on Sunday when the weather was fantastic. Despite turning 90 in October and having to live under some pretty tough restrictions, she’s held up well thanks to lots of regular phone calls, and now that she can get out, she’s hoping to make up for lost time.

Sunday was Laetare Sunday, also known as Mothering Sunday, and it’s when the UK celebrates Mother’s Day. It’s also when we observe Mother’s Day in our home, so Tony surprised me with flowers and the kids contributed sweets and homemade artwork. Today on the feast of St. Joseph, we’ll do a few things for Tony, including picking up some fresh St. Joseph cakes from the local Italian bakery. Have I mentioned lately how great it is living in this town?!?!?

We’ve also crossed over the midway point of Lent thank goodness. I made my usual mid-Lent confession of cheating at all. the. things. I’ve tried to give up and our priest gave me the usual, “You still have plenty of time to work on them.” pep talk, which really doesn’t help my pep at all. Our Easter break starts Holy Week and runs through Easter week. One of the great things about homeschooling everyone this year is being able to take longer breaks again. I never realized how choppy the public school year was until I enrolled the boys. It never seemed that way to me as a child, but nowadays, most breaks start and end mid-week, or with half-days. Plus, there’s lots of random in-service days scattered throughout the year when you least expect it. I don’t know how working families can accommodate all the crazy schedule changes. I’ve always liked taking a long break at Christmas and Easter, but I changed things with our homeschool when the boys were in school since I had to stop homeschooling many of the weird days they’d get off or come home early. This year was the first in a while I could finally take the breaks I wanted again. The school stretch between Christmas and Easter breaks is our longest, but once we come back from Easter break, I know the remainder of the year will fly by, and that most certainly will help my pep…also because I’ll be eating sweets again.

Apologies for my Takes appearing late last week. Technical glitch I assure you! Hopefully this week’s post goes through with no issues! Link your posts up below and be sure to include a link back to this post so your readers can find the rest of the Quick Takes. I look forward to reading your posts!