Early Friday morning, I had - what I like to think of as - a guilt free hour.

My body woke me up just before 6am to use the restroom. Since I've been nursing a mildly tweaked back, I was more awake than I wanted. I climbed into bed thinking I might sneak 30 more minutes of sleep. I opted not because, on mornings like these, I usually end up more tired than if I had just gotten up.

That began my guilt free hour. This was early morning time where, since I should not be awake, I could enjoy the quiet and not do anything productive. Should I have exercised. Maybe. Should I have gotten a jump start on work since our kiddo was home for a planned daycare closure. Probably. Should I have done one of the ninety other things on my to-do list that are easier done uninterrupted. Perhaps.

But I didn't. Because this was a guilt free hour.

Instead, I cozied under a blanket on our couch, relished an actual hot cup of coffee, and read the news. I can't remember the last time I perused the entire front page of both CNN and the Washington Post. This is the most informed I've been in months. (Honestly... not sure I like that.)

What do you do when you have an unplanned early morning?

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I’m getting on a plane in a week and I needed a book that could travel well. I perused my shelves and opted to pick up The Cheese Chronicles: A Journey Through the Making and Selling of Cheese in America, from Field to Farm to Table by Liz Thorpe. I enjoy a good cheese and am looking forward to learning more about it as a food culture. So far, this book just makes me want to enjoy a lot of charcuterie boards.

*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org

• The problem with parking. [The Deleted Scenes]

• How music is used to punish. [Culture Study]

• This travel essay was the best thing I read all week. [The Bittman Project]

• I guess this is good to know. *she says before getting on a plane in a week* [WaPo - gift link]

• Find a better word to describe how you're feeling. [Feelings Wheel]

• GIFs are going out of fashion and I, for one, am sad about that. [The Atlantic - may be paywalled]

• The history of pants. [Every Little Thing]

• This is a good example of how we should handle things honoring the Confederacy. [Atlas Obscura]

• Forcing people into boxes is problematic. [The Indicator]

• The kinds of questions kids ask versus what adults ask. [NPR's Book of the Day]

• This could be an uncomfortable listen for some. Should we compost humans? [Science Vs]

• I will watch anything Jessica Chastain is in. This week, it was Ava. This is an assassin action flick but there's more to it than that. Lots of character study to go with the action.  Also, John Malkovich is in it and I love the flair he brings to his roles. That said, the pacing was slow and the writing wasn't great. This had a lot of potential but was not the full package. [Netflix]

• Does Liam Neeson make any movies outside of the genre where he punches things? We watched the latest installment, Memory, this week. It does a great job of calling out Neeson's age in a way that makes the story more compelling. There was a lot going on with this one beyond your typical action flick. [Amazon Prime]

• Why is this so mesmerizing? [Brick Bending]

• If you offer me banh mi, I will eat it. This week, I made tofu banh mi. I skipped the recipe's tofu prep in lieu of my method of cornstarch and pan frying. I should have stuck with the recipe's panko breading. That said, the whole sandwich was good. The pickles were fresh and the mayo added spice. I will make this again. Probably soon since I made far too pickled veggies. [PureWow]

• I love cassoulet but a true cassoulet takes too much time for a weeknight. This skillet pork chops and beans was reminiscent of the dish but was a lot less work. We sous vided the chops which made it even faster. I loved the crunch from the crouton crumbles. [Real Simple]

I adore decorative gourds. Some parts of my city use them beautifully. [dccitygirl]

Laundry symbols are a foreign language to me. Laundry Lens is an app that can decipher them for you. Now if only someone could explain to me why anyone would make children’s clothing dry clean only.

My response this week if anyone attempts to add anything to my calendar.