This was a rush of a week.

I had a bunch of things to wrap up for work while preparing to leave town for two weeks. No matter how many lists we have to keep us on track, that last night at home and the few hours before we leave are always chaos. I love going places, but I hate the anxiety that comes with preparation and the actual travel. 

Now that we are settled, I can breathe. Yes, I will be working remotely for the next week, but the grandparents are providing daycare services and I can sneak out with my laptop to work on their screened in porch if I want. (Or even sit on there lawn. Their grass is that suspiciously soft kind that feels really nice on the toes.)

I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to be more productive than usual this week. First, there's no worry about daycare drop-off and pick up. Second, a new workspace always comes with productivity vibes. Third, I saved a bunch of work I know can be done in smaller bursts. Finally, the following week is vacation time and I always have the urge to clear out my task lists before logging off.

Dare I say, I am excited about this work week? I love my job and rare is the day I grumble about work. But there is something about this week that has me hopping.  I'm eager to get a bunch of things done.

Now I get why my brother is enjoying the digital nomad life so much.

Leave a comment

I’m halfway through Death by Dumpling. It’s a true cozy mystery that focuses more on characters than anything else. The Husband asked me how it was and the best I could find was “It’s not as good as Hamish but it’s lot better than the guy who drives the Miata.” That will make sense if you read cozy mysteries.

• Google docs has some fun features. [@thatroblennon]

• How to limit what you share on LinkedIn. [WaPo - gift link]

• I was today year's old when I learned about heavy duty mayo. [The Takeout]

• Much of college offered financial aid is a crock. [Slate]

• Why pigeons are urban residents. [Every Little Thing]

• How do you define "household?" [The Indicator]

• This sounds like something out of a Doctor Who episode. [Atlas Obscura]

• I did not know that MSG is the taste of umami. [Short Wave]

• WOW! [@TheFigen]

• Netflix has really been pushing The Gray Man. We gave in and watched it. This movie feels like James Bond meets Jason Bourne but with worse writing and more unbelievable action scenes. That said, it was still a lot of fun. [Netflix]

• On the Husband's night to pick our movie, he went with Army of the Dead. He warned me ahead of time that it was zombies. I can do intense action but horror films make it hard for me to sleep. That said, I can definitely handle zombies when there is humor. These zombies start out in Vegas and there are some true laughs to be had at the start. Then things exit the humor and really get going. This film was shockingly good. It added new levels to the zombie lore and was unexpectedly complex. [Netflix]

• Army of Thieves is a prequel to Army of the Dead. It focuses on the safecracker who is a bit of a character. This movie is a bit slower as there are almost no zombies. It fell back on heist tropes but was still a good watch. There was a great narrative arc to the story and it sets up Army of the Dead nicely. [Netflix]

• This week was a lot of eating down our fridge before we left. I made skillet shrimp fajitas to help us use up some tortillas and sour cream. I cheated and used a packet of fajita seasoning. Even with having to peel the shrimp, this dinner came together in about twenty minutes. Love that. [Taste & Tell]

• We had some carrots to eat up, so I tossed together an easy honey dijon chicken sheet pan meal. The chicken took longer to come to temperature than I wanted so the surface dried out a bit. That was easily fixed by making a honey mustard dip. I used whole grain mustard for that and it was fantastic. [Tasty]

I have one of those pre-printed packing lists that's great for a single person. The Husband did us one better. Before our first major trip with the kid, he made a packing list in Google Keep. He dumped everything we needed in that. Then, when the trip was over, he archived it. Now, we have a master packing list to work from instead of making a new one each time. We just update what we need and change the amounts based on how long we'll be gone. Plus, when we don't need something, we can move it down the list to a Do Not Need section instead of deleting it. That way, we don't forget the item for another trip. It's eased my anxiety about forgetting stuff. [Google Keep]

I stumbled upon a story about a chaotic Italian sandwich maker of posts videos on Tik Tok. I feel down the rabbit hole for about an hour. That reminded me of the pic I took of a sandwiches in France… and now all I want is to eat bread and cheese.

Having trouble finding what to read next? Check out Recommend Me a Book. It shows you a page from a book with no other details. You can try multiple samples until you find one you like. When you do, you can reveal the title and author so you can track the book down.

I am going to find a way to work outside for at least a few hours this week.