I've officially made it a whole week. I'm pretty sure we are all in one piece. Physically. I don't dare delve into anyone's mental state right now. Least of all mine. 

What I hope is the final hammer dropped on Monday. My husband showed up at home four hours earlier than he normally would. His boss refuses to close until ordered to do so. Even then, rumor has it she's going to keeping car dealerships open is essential. Whatever. At any rate, because business is so bad, cuts are starting to happen. Three service department guys were laid off. Four parts guys. Two secretaries. One tech guy. The tech guy is my husband. The whole last in, first out thing. 

Fantastic. I really wanted to have him home while I'm trying to keep my children from going insane and figuring out how to turn myself into the teacher I never wanted to be. 

On Monday I gave up my reading/work corner. The girls now have it as a school/project corner. This isn't the first time I've given up my reading space. Last winter it was a dedicated Lego zone while Mother Nature kept up pinned indoors. However, I knew eventually I'd get that space back. This time, I have no idea when I'll get a space back. 

Now that I've figured out how to add pictures (I no longer feel qualified to teach my children anything after not being able to locate an obvious button), I'm adding pictures to things. 

The transformed work zone. 

My poor library after I had to move all my stuff somewhere else. 

I have done very little reading this week. Very little reading of books I want to read. I've read plenty of books this week. I think I've made my way through all the Llama Llama books. Lots of Curious George. A smattering of Dr. Seuss. 

I've been entertaining 4 and 5 year old preschool students for the last week. I will probably be entertaining them next week two as their teacher is potentially stuck in Germany for the foreseeable future. I'm exhausted now. I'm become even more exhausted when I think about the possibility of being in preschool for another week. On the bright side, it's a four day work week and those kids still get nap time during the day.

I haven't been out of work for that long. It's only been since last September. However, I've completely forgotten how to be a working mom. I have gotten so use to doing a specific set of chores during the day when my children aren't home. Dishes. Laundry. Grocery shopping. Well I've been gone all week. So guess what hasn't been done? Thankfully the dishes have been done because dishes that pile up on the counter annoy my husband. *It's possible I use that quirk to my advantage on occasion.* 

I had to break down and go grocery shopping last night when my husband got home from work. There are not enough expletives in the world to cover that experience. I stood in line at the grocery story for an hour behind a woman who had FOUR carts full of canned goods and other food. It was the most bonkers thing I have ever seen. That was until I noticed the woman was wearing scrubs and carrying a lanyard with badge from the local hospital. So now I'm thinking to myself, "Does she know something the rest of us don't?" I immediately text my bestie who works for Mayo clinics (THAT Mayo). If anyone knows anything, she does. As it turns out, she's not much help. The previous day she coughed twice during her shift and got sent home. She was told she wasn't allowed to come back to work until she had been tested for COVID-19. 

So now I'm standing in line, scrolling through my news feed. Wisconsin schools are starting to close. Well, Wisconsin is kind of close to Minnesota. Colleges in Minnesota are closing. At least one school district is closing. There is one confirmed case of COVID-19 within 75 miles of where I'm currently standing. I don't want to be one of those worst case scenario people, and I'm not. Even last winter when I was stuck in my house for two straight weeks because of weather, I didn't go out and bulk buy anything. Maybe wine. Probably coffee. Anyway, while I'm thinking about all of this, I turn my grocery cart around without thinking. At this point I'm not worried about needing to quarantine. I've been with preschoolers all week. I more than likely walked out of that room with something. That's just how it is. Instead, at this point I'm thinking, what happens when the governor (has to be local because I have zero faith in federal entities *cough, cough - Cheet-o Man - cough, cough*), decides my children are going to be home with me for the next two - three weeks. Add another jar of peanut butter, a loaf of bread, the chicken nuggets with the fun shapes. Child lunch essentials. I ended up with more than I came in for. 

I get home. My husband helps me unload my van. He is quick to point out that none of this stuff was on my list. I explain my logic to him. He rolls his eyes. In his defense, he has a job in the auto industry. When the economy does what the economy is doing, things tend to fall apart for the auto-industry. I get it. All of this is going down under the watchful eye of my children. 

After everything is put away, after the twins are in bed, my oldest comes to me with a very serious look on her face. 

"Mom, I'm worried."

"About what?"

"School being cancelled and being stuck at home."

"The weather is getting nicer. It's not like you'll be stuck inside."

"Not that. What happens if I run out of books? Can we go to the library tomorrow after school?"

That child is not going to run out of books. She has shelves full of books she's never read. She has a Kindle with e-books she's never read (and access to the library's e-books). She has a pile of library books from last weekend's trip to the library. She's fine. If nothing else, she's going to have to re-read a few things.  

This was a little bit longer post but thanks for hanging in there. I'm just at the point where I'm trying to find some humor in all of this. I found my daughter's concern to be a little funny. Honestly, if I'm her, I'm making sure my mother has enough coffee (and wine) to get through being stuck at home for two-three weeks. 

So, as much as I loved reading my Halloween Bingo books, for the last two weeks I've been longing to grab books that were not fitting any of the squares. 

Something... I don't know, but I ended up looking at Woolf and Lawrence or Ford or more Manning.

And now that I am free to pick any book at random, I find myself standing in front of my shelves (physical and electronic) and none of the buggers seems to call out to me as my next read. 

Gaaah. 

I'm thinking of embarking on another long journey through a fantasy novel. Being that we are in the month of May it means a month-long celebration of all things fantasy in Wyrd and Wonder.

The Name of the Wind pretty much fits the description. The cover alone emits dark and sinister things. I think it is about the devil telling his story -History as it were. I don't know but that is my first impression.

What do you think?

Have you read it?

Did you like it? 

There are mixed reviews on Goodreads, enough to pique my curiosity.

 UPDATE: Chapter One - A Silence of Three Parts
Something like a black spider as large as a wagon wheel called a scraeling, was met by Carter on the road and it killed his horse. He was hurt in the scuffle but manages to bring it back to the Waystone Inn. I think it was dead. But Kote, the innkeeper, is keeping a dark secret that nobody else knows about. It involves demons I'm guessing.

Ah, here is what I found about The Name of the Wind on Wiki. . . 

"In the rural town of Newarre, the Waystone Inn is managed by an innkeeper named Kote and his assistant Bast. It is revealed that Kote is actually the renowned Kvothe: an unequaled sword fighter, magician, and musician, rumored to have killed a king and caused the present war in which the civilized world is embroiled. Bast is Kvothe's assistant and student and a prince of the Fae. Kvothe has gone into hiding and assumed the identity of Kote in order to keep a low profile. Kvothe saves a traveling scribe known as Chronicler from spider-like creatures called scrael, whereupon Chronicler, recognizing Kvothe, asks to record his story. Upon consenting, Kvothe tells Chronicler that this will take three days (corresponding to the planned trilogy of novels).