There is a tile floor in my office that is lots of little squares. The little squares are blue and yellow. Each color is clustered together to make larger squares that are each 8x8 tiles big.

When I'm in that room, my brain always tries to make new blocks of patterns. This one will be 4x4 of both colors. That one will be a long row. Another will have a four quadrants. Another will be 75% of one color and 25% of the other. ​My brain can't help but see new shapes.  

I'm not sure if this my brain trying to amuse itself during a quiet period or some weird byproduct of spatial mathematics. I'm not bothered by it; I just think it's interesting that this is how my brain works. I notice it with wall paper and carpet designs too. Something about patterns makes my brain go, "Okay, but what if....?"

Do you ever try to make patterns out of other patterns?

I just finished a packet of cream cheese and chive sandwich crackers. I know the filling is entirely fake, processed cheese but I don't care. I love the salty crunch. They make a great desk snack.

Here's what else made me smile this week:

• Having wireless computer peripherals at home
• Watching our kiddo adore her new play sink
• Polishing off the clean out of my "to review" folder on my desktop
• Having an umbrella handy when it started to rain
• Visiting the DC Children's' Museum for the first time
• Laughing at the kiddo when she told an overly inquisitive squirrel to stay away from her donut
• Waking up to a polite dusting of snow

Murder Lo Mein
Vivien Chien

I started the third book in the Noodle Shop mystery series a few nights ago. In many ways, this feels like something I could write. That makes it seem approachable. I'm only a few pages into this, but it's like catching up on a conversation with a friend you haven't seen in awhile - easy and fun. I do get glimmers that this is following into the cozy mystery trope of the lead not being able to pick a "special someone" to focus on. I do find that aggravating after a few books.

Also, I have been on a reading tear this year. I read Cradles of the Reich by Jennifer Coburn in less than a week. (Never good shake the Nazi ick factor on that one.) I read Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur in two nights. A friend and I went to her live show and I want to read everything she's written. This was her first book of poetry and it's a powerful call of womanhood.

*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org.

This was supposed to be our first full week of childcare in the new year. Instead, our kiddo got sick at school yesterday and came home early. We decided to keep her home today as a recovery day. She's napping right now (which she definitely would not have done at school) and I feel vindicated in our decision.

Aside from extra childcare, here's what I've been working on:

1. Research Assignment Design: We finished the first pass of our joint coding (huzzah!). Now we're working on prep stuff for a second round. My colleague is revising the codebook and I'm reviewing our "interesting" code to see if any trends arise. I'm also going to review our research journal to pull out writing ideas and other to do items. It's kind of nice to have this break from reading transcripts for the umpteenth time.
2. Faculty Outreach: A few years ago, I emailed the Deans and Chairs at our University to see if a librarian could attend one of their faculty meetings. Exactly one got back to me to schedule something. I tried it again last week and several responded immediately. I set up some meetings, drafted an agenda, and divvyed up assignments. I am so excited that we get to Kool-Aid man our way into this. I've found that these meetings serve as a helpful reminder that the library a) exists and b) has we can offer.
3. Personal Photo/File Management: I've made time in the evenings to tackle the "To Review" folder on my desktop. I've been naming files and sorting everything. (And making a note to go back and do a deep weed, renaming, and clean up later.) I also managed to share out some pictures to our family's shared album for the first time in 6 months.

It can be hard to know when to stop something. When is enough research enough?

Usually, we say it's enough when you keep reading and finding the same things over and over again. When nothing new comes up, that is usually a sign to stop your research or change tactics. What that looks like changes depending on what you are researching.


This is my not so subtle way of saying that knowing when to stop applies to other things as well. I've been debating sunsetting this series for awhile. While there are endless librarian tricks to share, I think there are better ways to do that. I've decided to end the Tuesday Tips series. I'm not sure if that means taking a break and revamping it, or ending it for good. 

If you ever need research support, I am still happy to provide my expertise.

I've been slow to add books to my TBR list lately. Nothing has jumped out, but these two coffee table-esque titles did.

We're having a milder winter, but my body doesn't seem to know that. 

Most days, while working, I am freezing. I'll be wearing long pants, a cozy sweater or top, and full coverage shoes or slippers. I still fill chilly. So, I toss on a lap blanket. Still cold. On goes the space heater or up goes the heat. Still cold. So, I throw a coat or extra sweater on top of everything. Only then am I mildly warm. 

If there is  a sun beam available, I will do everything in my power to station myself in it. I'm a cat who moves with the day. It's a good thing I've got office chairs on wheels.

In the evenings, I wear my warmest PJs and practically burrow into a pile of blankets on the couch. I toss my hoodie over my head and hunker down to try to reduce the amount of exposed skin. It's not until right before bed that I feel warm enough to peel off a layer.

My body seems unable to produce and trap body heat. I've been known to cuddle my husband with the sole purpose of stealing his. (He is not a fan of my extremities in the winter because they are ice blocks. Oftentimes, I get swatted away.)

I'm counting down the days until warmer temperatures arrive. Tell me I'm not the only one who seems to be cold blooded.

Our kiddo's daycare is closed today. Right now, I am forever grateful that she loves watching Daniel Tiger. This is a rare day with no screen time limits because it means I can actually get some work done. She's happy, I'm productive. That's what matters.

Here's what was good this week:

• The husband and I providing running commentary for each other through an awful, low-budget disaster flick
• Enjoying an afternoon walk alone
• Top Gun: Maverick
• My library holds arrived with perfect timing
• A stash of cookies in our freezer
• Teaching in person again
• Clementines
• Taking the kiddo to an hibachi restaurant for the first time
• Spending some time with friends

Yesterday, I found out that my proposal to speak at the 2023 CALM conference was accepted. I did a little jig in my cube. The conference is not until June so I have some time to prepare. I'm debating if it's worthwhile to harness some of my excitement to outline my session this week. I probably won't get to it, but I'm at least thinking about it.

Here's what I am working on.

1. Research Assignment Design: We are [thisclose] to finishing our first pass of joint transcript coding. We should wrap that up in our working session tomorrow. Then we are going to take a break from that coding to analyze and code the syllabi and assignments. Qualitative research is a long slog, but at least we have a lot to work with out of this data set.
2. Website Updates: I took a break from working on our website because my brain needed it. I'm feeling refreshed and read to tackle this. Today, I put together a survey to gather some "vibe check" data about what people like and don't like about our website. While responses roll in, I'll start working on some of the low-hanging fruit updates like changing our header and updating some links. Then I'm going to tackle updating the nav bar. Once I figure out how to do that, I should be able to roll right through it.
   
3. Annual Planning: Last week, the husband and I embarked on a mission to plan out our annual leave for the year. Between our kiddo's daycare closures, work travel, and other happenings, we wanted to get this down on the books early. We finalized our plan and I got approval for all my leave from my boss. That lead to one plane ticket purchase and price tracking on another. It feels real good to have a handle on this so early.