During the last confinement I kept a short list of things I did each day that I shared in my Instagram stories. It was a manageable way to record snippets of life during what will surely be a historical time, something my grandchildren will interview me about for school the way we had to interview people who lived through WWII or the Great Depression.
I picked up this daily habit again when the second French national confinement was reinstated at the end of October, but while out for my allotted hour of fresh air this afternoon I thought I might try moving my lists to my blog where I could still keep a simple list, but I could elaborate when I wanted. So, here we go. For my posterity, who won't have any trouble finding out about this time in history unless the internet goes bust. Some days that doesn't seem like it would be a bad thing, right? Moving on...
- Read The Fabulous Showman - I serendipitously found this 1950s biography of P.T. Barnum at the Tuscaloosa Friends of the Library store while having a quick browse with K.J. after a date night where we'd just come from seeing The Greatest Showman at the theater...or cinema as it's called here. (My brain often thinks about what things are called now in Alabama, North Yorkshire, and France, and it's fun to see which word surfaces first.) The movie is obviously a very glossy and shiny version of events, though I'm sure it accurately captures Barnum's joie de vivre.
- checked on the delivery time for a package - We have to be on high alert when packages are coming because we live behind a stone wall, and sometimes people can't find us, and sometimes we don't hear the bell. Today's delivery was from an American online shop with a few items for the holidays including canned cranberry sauce (because I really like those lines in my cranberry sauce), pumpkin puree, and graham cracker crusts.
- read about the Apostle Peter with J
- tried to remember which was the divisor and which was the dividend - My children's math books always insist on learning these terms, and I can never remember. Maybe this time...
- read The Bronze Bow aloud to J
- read about Caesar Augustus in E's history textbook - E mostly reads things to herself now (unless she's tired or finding the language difficult, at which point I eagerly read aloud to her), so my role is merging into that of guide instead of teacher. I try to stay up to date on her reading so I can start riveting dinnertime conversations. 😀
- did some lessons on Duolingo
- did a Pimsleur French lesson - I doubled down on the French today, which rarely happens. Just when I think I've learned some things I go into the world and draw a blank when someone rattles something off at me. My standard reply used to be: Je suis desole. Je suis americaine. (I'm sorry. I'm an American.) This is easy to say and is pretty self-explanatory: I don't speak French. I'm a little more advanced now and will either say: Je ne comprends pas tres bien le francais. or Je ne parle pas tres bien le francais. I don't understand French very well. I don't speak French very well. People have always been kind to me, except for that security guard at the grocery store once...
- graded math
- Marco-Polo-ed a lot
- read about how amazing our bodies are with J
- went for a late afternoon walk
- tried a new recipe for Chicken Korma
- read a little Julius Caesar - E is reading her first Shakespeare play this week, and reading the opening pages was so thrilling. I can't say enough how much I loved our trip to Rome last October. It was so exciting to be in that place where so much human drama was played out, and reading Julius Caesar brought it all back. I also read I, Claudius while we were on that trip, and it made me feel very familiar with all those Romans.
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