Well, we did accomplish both goals today, kind of. A) everyone exercises and B) we work on the communist apartment.
I went for a quick run this morning. I didn't realize it was raining until I got outside, so I shortened my run a bit. The kids all did PE With Joe.
Eric wrote down in the basement "cave" in the morning. We left for LeRoy Merlin after lunch, with these instructions to the kids: "You need to go outside and play!"
We got regular phone updates as we were driving there, shopping, and checking out. "Someone doesn't want to go outside. Someone is sad because they wanted to go to a friend's house but our family's rules don't allow that with Covid. Someone is ready to go out but their siblings aren't." Etc...
As we were driving home, they finally got out the door!
So what did we buy today? More hardware, masonry tools, shower waterproofing kit, chemical anchor, a few big pieces of lumber for the front mezzanine. We also tried to buy OSB but apparently there's a national shortage and the store is out of the thickness we need for maybe a month or more. Ack! Instead we decided to install a treated pine tongue-and-groove subfloor. It was available, it was the right thickness, and it was the same price as the thickest OSB.
So we strapped everything onto or into our car and headed home.
Besides her usual selection of fantasy/sci fi books, Zari has been reading all sorts of books that Eric often uses in his university classes. Let's see...here are some of the titles that I can remember:
- Ethan Frome
- The Awakening
- Their Eyes Were Watching God
- As She Climbed Across the Table
- Unless by Carol Shields
- The Autobiography of Malcolm X
When I put Zari to bed tonight, she was talking about Malcolm X's autobiography. She's about 1/3 of the way through, right at the part where he goes to prison. She couldn't stop remarking on how terrible and unfair things were for Black people at that time. (I say "were" but "are" is probably still appropriate, given the widespread disparities in anything from prison sentencing to maternal and infant mortality. Anyway, back to what I was saying...)
She was trying to find a way to express the sense of guilt and complicity she feels due to her own ethnic/racial heritage--you know, being part of the privileged group that benefits from a racist system. I'm glad that she can be aware of these things and that she's upset about the injustices around her.
Oh, for whatever reason this winter, we've had mold growing all over! It's on most of our wooden furniture and behind many objects that are close-ish to walls (not necessarily exterior walls--could be anywhere). It's so bizarre.
We haven't changed our heating or ventilation. We keep the apartment heated the same as we always have. We're not doing anything different this year compared to all the other years. So why all this mold? I've been spraying everything down with vinegar and then scrubbing it off after it sits for a while. This is driving me crazy.
We already have a dehumidifer in the attic bedroom; it's normally 85% humidity up there in the winter without the dehumidifer. I might need to buy another dehumidifer for the living room/kitchen and run it constantly.
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