In honor of my summer birthday, I took the coming week off from work. The library is already slow, so it's the perfect time to use some annual leave.

With my week off, I've decided I'm going to do one BIG productive thing a day. The rest of each day I will just putter about doing whatever floats my boat.

But the chore I don't want to do is recycle our electronics. We've got an entire bag (plus a computer monitor!) sitting in a bin in our front closet. This chore is such a pain. There's nothing local. Our city's pop-up collections are sporadic at best. And it seems the stores that collect materials change their rules or costs all the time. 

Inevitably, as soon as I tackle what we've already collected, something else will appear that needs to be recycled. It never ends.

So I'm just going to ignore this chore.

It's my birthday week, after all.

When the kiddo and I stepped outside this morning, she immediately covered her nose and mouth and declared the air "disgusting." The Canadian wildfire smoke has smothered our area in a smoky haze. It is unpleasant. I'm grateful that our kiddo's camp has alternative stuff planned in case the air quality gets even worse. I would completely understand if this outdoor camp opted to close for the day, but I'm glad they have options.

Here's what else made me happy:

• Reading in the shade at the pool
• Rewatching Project Hail Mary
• Kiddo has been artfully arranging her stuffies while making her bed every morning
• The campus bus arrived early most days
• I opted to workout while watching the rerun of that day's Tour de France stage
• An easy return drop off
• Kiddo yelled "Go, Red!" every time Norway touched the ball during their last World Cup match
• Knowing I have a week off next week

Over the past few years, I've discovered how much I love helping people dig into their personal archives. Every person is the archivist of their own life. I've greatly enjoyed helping people learn how to tell, save, and share those stories. On Friday, I hosted a webinar in our personal archiving series on one of the trickiest parts of that work: knowing what to keep.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Before you start, do some prep work
  • Make a list or spreadsheet of what you have
  • Identify other stakeholders - family members, friends, local libraries, historical societies
  • Write down your goals and any constraints (time, space, money) to keep you focused
• Ask some key questions about each item
  • Is it irreplaceable?
  • Does it tell a story?
  • Is it in usable condition?
  • Who would care about it?
  • What would it take to preserve it?
• Some things are almost always worth keeping
  • Vital records - if you need it to prove identity, ownership, or connection, keep it
  • One-of-a-kind photographs of people or places that no longer exist
  • Personal correspondence documenting significant relationships or events
• Some things are often safe to let go
  • Duplicates (You don't need every photo from every vacation)
  • Items kept out of obligation rather than genuine value
  • Digital files with no context or identifying information (Random screenshots, anyone?)
• For the maybes...
  • It's okay to keep things for now and decide later
  • Ask yourself: am I keeping the object or the memory? A photo or scan can preserve the memory without keeping the item
  • Ask others - sometimes you need permission to let something go or find a reason to keep it
• Prioritize what's at risk
  • Old photos, obsolete media, and fragile materials should move to the top of your list
  • Your phone camera is a perfectly good digitization tool
  • Store physical items in cool, dry, dark conditions using acid-free materials
• Bonus tips to make the work easier
  • Record yourself talking through what you find - your voice is part of the archive
  • Download your social media content before platforms change or disappear
  • Bring in a family member - the conversations are as valuable as what you find
  • Start with one box, one folder, one album and go from there

Curious enough to learn more? The recording is available on my library's YouTube page. I hope it helps you take one step toward preserving your own story.

I love it when work provides food. At lunch time, I'll be tabling at a new student orientation. Unlike previous orientations, I remembered that there is food for me! Since I have to run from orientation to running a webinar, I will be eating while chatting with all of our news students. I'm looking forward to the chips I know will be there.

Here's what else made me happy this week:

• Having the option to drive when we need it
• Buying a dress to try simply because it intrigues me
• Kiddo had the forethought to save the fabric strap for me to fix her broken lunch box clip
• Facilities responded to the leak in the library quickly
• Texting with my brother about the Tour de France...
• ... and second screening each day's stage while I was working
• A big salad for lunch
• Kiddo squeaking with joy when a friend showed up at gymnastics

I read a lot of books with my kiddo. Kid Reads is a biweekly look at what we've enjoyed recently. ​

I tried to start this intro a dozen separate times. I went through numerous topics and first sentences. None of my attempts stuck.

Was it the heat dome? Maybe.

​Was it my to-do list running through my head? Possibly?

Mostly, however, nothing felt right. 

So we're not forcing it. It's a holiday weekend after all.

Here's the Wrap.

The kiddo has camp today. The husband and I both have the day off. This is a rare occurrence. We're not doing much thanks to the heat dome. But this is a nice moment to just breathe and putter.

Here's what else made me smile:

• Bought a pinwheel for the kiddo, but it delighted me
• Trying a new restaurant (and loving the food)
• Wine flights
• Kiddo tried to sell us her homemade bracelets for $10 a pop
• Cold showers after being outside
• Baking a new treat for a party
• Shopping with the bestie (even if we didn't find anything)
• Refreshing mocktails
• Kiddo yelled "Lantern fly!" before stomping on it with all her might

You Are Here: From the Compass to GPS, the History and Future of How We Find Ourselves
Hiawatha Bray
​
I finished my last book and decide to read a few chapters of this. I'm still not in the mood for non-fiction, but I find this look at how we figure out where we are interesting. The book isn't strictly chronological. It follows one development and goes back and follows another, but each of the chapters is laid out in a way that shows you how advances in technology are both parallel and build on one another.

You ever see something that makes you think, "Huh. I wonder how that works?" 

That was me earlier this week. While walking home, I saw something normal - a garbage truck emptying dumpsters.

But it was doing so at one of the embassies across from my office. (#DCLife)

My brain immediately went into overdrive about the logistics. How does embassy trash work? Are the trash/recycling companies and workers vetted? Are only some people allowed to empty the bins? Do embassy staff take the dumpsters out of the embassy for the trash company? Are there special rules for shredded documents?

How does it all work?!?!?!

Embassy trash is a mix of regular garbage, normal paperwork, foreign resident information, and, possibly, classified material. There has to be some sort of unique process. It's not like embassies hold all their refuse and fly it out in diplomatic totes. (Or maybe some do...)

I have so many questions.