The husband and I have jobs that overlap in weird ways. When he talks about his work, I generally understand what he means (and vice versa). But, we long ago realized that we can't edit each other's work writing.

I'm in academia; he's in the legal field. Our writing styles are very (very) different. 

Academic writing tends to be a bit... verbose. When I'm working on academic articles, I tend to fall into the trap of thorough explanation and lingo. That drives the husband batty. He wants to edit out specific things that I, by professional conventions, need to leave in. In the legal field, you only answer the question asked. You don't usually add backstory or context like you do in academia.

He once asked me to give a draft he was working on a read over. I wanted to change some things to, in my mind, make them more understandable. He took one look at my revisions and immediately changed everything back. Turns out, the revisions I was suggesting would have different legal interpretations. Apparently specific words signal things to lawyers and courts. 

It's fascinating how one language can be used in so many ways. We're using the same words, but the context in which we all work changes so many things.

What are the quirks of writing in your industry?

From my window, I can see the buds on the trees are getting ready to burst. I am very ready for warm weather and the burst of spring foliage. I missed being surrounded by greenery and flowers. 

Here's what made me smile this week:

• Reading about my colleagues amazing work
• Kiddo excited to join a local protest
• Toasted sourdough bread
• Free local events that are also kid-friendly
• Walking home without a coat
• Kiddo snuggling with her dad while they read together
• All of my student appointments showed up this week
• Finding a new way to connect with my friends 

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

You know what makes for unexpectedly good background noise to work to? Teppanyaki cooking videos. They are all over YouTube and I find that they give great "third place" vibes.

Here's what I've been up to:

1. Accreditation Visit Prep: Our University's accrediting body visits campus next week as a part of our affirmation work. We are in our last rush of preparatory work, tour and meeting planning, and gathering additional material the review team requested. It's a lot and it's stressful, but I am feeling good about the visit. I will feel even better once it is over. This has been a two year plus process and I'm glad we're nearing the end.
2. Review Portfolio: The library faculty promotional portfolios were due last week. This week, the small review team I'm on is drafting our comments and ratings. We're getting things in to shape for our formal submission at the end of the week. It's a lot of annoying paperwork BUT I love actually reading everyone's portfolio. I work with an amazing bunch of people and we are just kicking butts in our roles. 
3. Brackets: My March Madness bracket is easy to do. I just guess. The kiddo, on the other hand, picks according to mascot. I downloaded mascot pictures from all 68 teams. Then, I pulled up each pairing so the kiddo could pick her favorite. In the past, this has led to the most busted of brackets. This year, it's not bad. She has Florida winning it all. Meeting Albert during her spring break last year probably tipped the scales...

Two of these covers are prettier than the other.

Y​ou can see my complete TBR list on Pinterest.
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*Items featured here are Bookshop.org affiliate link

For the holidays, we added snowflake window clings to all of our windows. While we took down the rest of our decorations in early January, the window clings remain. I figured they were wintery and our kiddo loved them.

But now it's March and we've already hit 70 degrees. It's time for these window clings to come down, but I can't be bothered.

I wonder how long I'll let these linger. If it's anything like the winter-ish covers we have for our throw pillows, it'll probably be sometime in July.

Why is it that the simplest tasks get put off the longest?

I'm so glad I gave myself a life maintenance day. Costco is so much easier when you get there right as it opens. I was in and out in 20 minutes AND I avoided the normal parking lot chaos.

Here's what else made me smile:

• Kiddo and I lucking into a UV light face painting craft at our local library
• Hot coffee
• Ordering dinner from our usual Friday night spot
• Opening a cheap beer on a weeknight and having it hit the spot
• Date night at a wonderful new restaurant
• Submitting my annual faculty portfolio 
• Kiddo's teacher only had good things to say during the parent-teacher conference
• Nabbing a spot in the lot when I had a full trunk to unload
• Spring flowers starting to bloom

It's spring break at our University and I fully expected it to be dead in the library. Monday was not dead. In fact, it was shockingly busy. We go "on call" for reference during weeks like this and I was called out of my office to help no less than half a dozen times. It was a surprise. Normally, you can see tumbleweeds roll through the library during this week.

Here's what I've been working on:

1. Faculty Portfolio: Every year, we have to submit a faculty portfolio for our annual review. It recounts everything we did in the last year. It's an annoying lesson in tedious paperwork and attention to detail BUT you get a massive document of how awesome you are. I've got 13 pages of information with over 75 pieces of supporting evidence. And this is really just a sampling! I'm putting the finishing touches on mine and submitting it later today. I'll be glad that it's done, but I'm proud of everything I've accomplished.
2. AI Tasting Menu: In April, we're hosting an event to let our community get some hands on experience with AI. We're going to focus on three AI platforms. To prepare, I'm doing all my usual logistics and marketing, but I'm also diving deep into the platforms so that I can answer questions and provide directions.
3. Family Meeting Follow-Up: We (finally) held our annual family meeting this last weekend. Now I've got a to do list of items. For most, I'm just sticking deadlines on my calendar but I'm also doing a touch of research for projects. We are well aware that a lot of our goals this year could change - particularly if Congress passes this budget, blows a hole in DC's budget, and I lose my job. (Things are a bit stressful right now.)
   

Our kiddo asks a lot of "Why?" questions. Somewhere I read that, when kids ask this, what they are really saying is, "Tell me more!" So, I do.

A why always leads to me sharing a new bit of information which leads to more whys which leads to more information. On our walks to and from school we've covered everything from the weather to space, physics to dinosaurs, history to social justice issues, and plate tectonics. And this is all from a kindergartener!

But, sometimes, my generalist knowledge is strained. At some point, I simply have no more information to share. Or, in some instances, I simply don't know. (Looking at you physics.) In those instances, I've gotten comfortable saying, "I don't know, but we can look it up." Kiddo seems satisfied with that and we've often picked up books from the library to learn more together.

This is the part of parenting I was looking forward to most. I love seeing her curiosity come to life. You never what's going to catch a child's interest. 

We opened a bag of hazelnut coffee this week. While the flavor is not strong, the aroma is delightful. I love waking up to the warming scent of spice hinting our home. 

Here's what else was good this week:

• Got a decent weekend sleep in
• Snacking on yummy leftover pizza
• Kiddo putting her dolls and herself down for a nap in her play tent
• Stretching out some tightness
• Managed to miss the rain during my commuting walks
• Quick doctor's visit to reup my MMR vaccine
• Kiddo brushing crumbs on the floor "So Hermie [our robot vacuum] can eat."
• The clicky feel of a new keyboard at work
• Getting to pop the windows open for a few hours