I took two days off of work this week. I left my kiddo in daycare. That amounted to 16 glorious daytime hours where I could get sh*t done. 

About three times a year, I try to consciously give myself some "life management" days out of the office. On these days, I tackle tasks that are more easily done on a weekday without interruption. Doing this has not only been beneficial to my tasks lists, but also my mental health. I find I worry less and experience less anxiety. Plus, I'm usually able to slip in a few relaxing hours for myself.

This time, I got a haircut, cleaned our condo, did a couple loads of laundry, scanned a bunch of documents, filed more documents, rearranged our foyer closet, did some financial stuff, and organized all the things I need for my taxes.  All the while, I got to empty out my backlog of podcasts and start a great new one (highly recommend The Trojan Horse Affair).

Do you take life management days? If so, what do you cross off your to-do list?

I’m about a quarter of the way through The 1619 Project. There is no way I am going to finish before this book it’s due back at the library (sorry people on the wait list behind me.) While my favorite part of the text is the essays, I am also enjoying the poetry. Normally, I am not a fan of poetry. It’s just not something I gravitate towards. The poems in this book, however, read with rhythm and I am like how I hear them in my head.

• What happens to society when we don't move? [Vox]

• A colleague shared an oldie but a goodie with me - what happens to staplers in an academic library. [The Lives and Deaths of Academic Library Staplers]

• How much does it cost you to drive there? [The Deleted Scenes]

• The lone California parking meter you aren't technically required to feed. [Atlas Obscura]

• A blind taste testing of all the boxed mac and cheeses. [Buzzfeed]

• Let's stop forcing people to hide that they are parenting. [Cup of Ambition]

• A daily parenting timeline. I feel this in my bones. [Evil Witches]

• Of midges and the monument. [Mental Pivot]

• Why do we assign morality to cleanliness? [Mothers Under the Influence]

• Why these cities are different colors from space. [Greater Greater Washington]

• Volcanos aren't bombs, but they can go BOOM! [Short Wave]

• How conversational styles can lead to miscommunication. [Hidden Brain]

• The road that makes music. [Atlas Obscura]

• Rats. [Throughline]

• Astronomers have found a lot of exoplanets. [Vox]

• We were so loving our MythBusters binge that we kept going. The regular episodes are fantastic but we watched the 2-hour "Top 25 Moments" special and it was like a comedic review. First, it did a great job of covering the show up to that point, but it helped highlight just how fun and funny this show was. [Discovery]

• The Husband wanted curry for dinner last week. He was craving a recipe that reminded him of a place by his old office. He ended up making the wrong kind of curry, but what he actually made was delicious. This beef massaman thai curry was not an easy meal (we had to track down lemongrass, break out the blender, and peel pearl onions) but it was so worth it. The dish was savory with a hint of citrus and spice. The broth was silky from the coconut milk. I was happy it made leftovers because it means we get to eat it again - but with a lot less work on his part. [Erren's Kitchen]

I like being surprised by new things. This week, I came across a website, Here Before A Million. It’s a randomizer that shows you a YouTube video that has not hit a million views yet. Not everything is a gem, but it is a lot of fun.

I’m doing a lot of transcription work for a research project. You never realize how fast some people talk until you have to write it down verbatim.