Share Four Somethings Saturday: June 2020

How is it already June? (Also how is it already afternoon? I’ve been working on this post since yesterday!)

This has certainly been a year like no other. I don’t think we’ve had this much upheaval since hubby lost his job or the birth of one of our kiddos. (Come to think of it, I think it’s been a while since we had a “normal” year. Maybe we have to change the definition of normal.)

But nevertheless, June has held it’s own joys and challenges and I’m pleased to be linking up again for Share Four Somethings Saturday!

Something Loved

I have struggled to find a quiet place to work since the quarantine began. Even now, all of the usual summer activities have been canceled which means I’m on 24/7 kid duty. This is something I’ve always had trouble with, my typical place of work is my kitchen table in the middle of most of the daily action.

My only other option was to sit on my bed which led to all kinds of back problems. But my husband spent today picking up a few brackets at Lowe’s and sawing an extra board in half (an extra board, that it so happened we’d already stained for a previous self-project and had an extra) to create a standing desk station in our bedroom and a single shelf I can use for my TBR pile. It doesn’t look like an office area, but it gives me a place to work without taking over our bedroom or hurting my back.

House projects are not his preferred use of time so, while acts of service is not my primary love language, the fact that he sacrificed time on his day off to make sure I would finally have a quiet place to write and do household management tasks makes me feel loved.

Something Read
I’ve not been reading nearly enough, and I needed to get back in the groove. So after way too much time spent on the internet and social media, I decided to do a good binge reread. After finishing up The Bridge to Belle Island last month I decided to go back and reread nearly every Julie Klassen book. When I reread, I can read a lot faster so there is the satisfaction of getting through more. Because Klassen writes in a particular genre of historic fiction, I can fairly well immerse myself in the era which also saves time when going from one book to the next.

I did drop some money on a few Kindle editions I didn’t already own due to lack of library access but it was well worth it. I was especially pleased with Lady of Milkweed Manor which was a fascinating look into wet nurse practices in the Victorian/Edwardian era. It was one of Klassen’s earliest published works and the in-depth research shows in its detailed and believable telling.

I still have a few non-fiction books I’m working my way through, but it felt good to just read, read and keep reading without having to make a ton of decisions about what to read next or struggle to get into a new author’s style or genre. My sleep may have suffered, but overall it’s been great.

I may take a break to read the latest from a few other favorite authors (Katherine Reay has a new one I’ve been anxious to read). But I’m also excited to try another binge reread at some point soon. Probably Elizabeth Camden next, but we’ll see. I haven’t been through my full collection of Lawana Blackwell in a few years either.

Something Treasured

It’s been a struggle for my introvert soul to be stuck with my kids non-stop for the last three months. That’s made it difficult to want to hang out with them and very hard to find fun things to do with them. I feel like my husband is better at this, perhaps because despite working from home, he isn’t WITH them all the time.

But for my daughter’s birthday this month, we decided to have a girls’ movie night with me, my mom and my sister. As the only women in the family (we are ever so outnumbered by boys and men at this point) we thought it would be a nice tradition to start.

We introduced my daughter to the movie Fly Away Home which was a childhood favorite of my sister’s and mine. (We also got Chick-fil-a as a treat, which is always a crowd-pleaser). We also had a small family party and set up some one on one playdates now that our community is slowly coming out of quarantine and it’s warm enough to hang out outside. It wasn’t the big party I know she would have liked, but she said it was still a memorable birthday.

Something Ahead
Date nights! While we aren’t there yet, I’m so looking forward to date nights. While we are still being careful, we have begun seeing family again which means hopefully my gracious mother will be Ok with babysitting again soon. This means, even if we have to find a restaurant with outdoor seating and walk around a park afterward, my husband and I may actually get a night out without the children.

Until then, and even after, we have decided to devote one night a week to eating dinner just the two of us. The kids will go to their rooms early, though they don’t have to sleep. But we decided that three months of barely being able to finish a sentence until we’re too tired to formulate words is not doing our relationship any long term favors. We’ve hit a wall and we don’t want this quarantine to do permanent damage to our relationship.

This first dinner wasn’t great. I mean the food was good but it was a hassle making two meals and we got interrupted by kids multiple times. We were both especially tired and honestly wondered if it was worth it. But we’re going to keep going anyway. The night may change, sometimes we may get take out, and I’m sure we’ll still get real out of the house dates sometimes. But this is something we are making work for the sake of us, and our marriage and the happiness and stability of our family.

It’s your turn to share! Link to your #sharefoursomethings post or leave them in the comments here!