As a part of the work I do to put together this weekly post, I review the history of my Alexa app. That means I mostly see what music we've played throughout the week. Usually, it's a lot of "Wheels on the Bus," "The Party Freeze Song," and the toddler time station. This week, there was also a Carole King based station. I now have "It's Too Late" stuck in my head. At least it's an ear worm I enjoy.
Here's what I found myself researching this week.
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Project Hail Mary Andy Weir It's been ages since I read a new book within in days of its release. I binge read The Martian, and greatly enjoyed Weir's sophomore effort, Artemis. This book is, so far, in the same vein. It has an all too smart lead character with a sassy attitude. There is a lot more math than this first books and the structure is quite different (current events with flashbacks) which helps this text stand apart from his other novels. I have a feeling this one is going to cause me to read far past my bedtime soon. I will be giving a webinar for ALA's Core Division on Wednesday, June 2 at 2PM (EST). Leading from Afar: Creating a Cohesive Remote Team Remote work and leadership are vastly different from the traditional office experience. It takes a balance of technology, management, and empathy. In this session, the presenter will share best practices for remote leadership that encourage collaboration and camaraderie. The session will identify, examine, and discuss techniques and processes for integrating various skills and activities into your leadership to help create strong and productive remote teams. This presentation will discuss the importance of adopting leadership skills that adapt to the needs of an organization’s individual employees including but not limited to working parents, differing levels of socioeconomic status, accessibility concerns, and home life. The presenter will also share how many aspects of remote leadership can be adapted to in-person and hybrid leadership. Learn more and register here. On Monday, I was doing our usual weekly vacuum when the stick on our upright started feeling oddly loose. Then it just plain snapped off. The damage was irreparable. Even our kiddo, who loves to poke anything with switches and knobs, seemed to assess that we needed a new vacuum. So, the husband read a ton of reviews (Amazon is really less than helpful in that area) and we finally decided on the newer version of our old vacuum. The new machine promises less of a "hair wrap." We shall see. Here's what else has my attention at the moment. WORK
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My (fully vaccinated) parents are here for a visit and I am elated. All I wanted for Mother’s Day was a brief break from parenting and all my mom wanted was some time with her grandchild. So, today I got to sleep in while she took care of the kiddo. We both win and get to sit down to some scrumptious waffles my husband is making. I understand that Mother’s Day can bring up many different emotions, so I want to celebrate the day by moving the apostrophe. On this Mothers’ Day, I want to thank everyone who mothers. To my own mom, thank you for being you. To my mother-in-law, thank you for treating me like your own. To the women who take care of my kiddo at daycare, thank you for making her happy and allowing me to enjoy my own career. To the moms I chat with regularly, thank you for your advice, support, and hilarious TikTok videos. To the women who want to be moms but can’t, for whatever reason, I see your struggles. Thank you for sharing your stories, strength, and resilience. To the women who choose not to be moms, thank you for showing others that there are multiple paths in life.
I wrote a blog post for work about research in real life. It's always fun to show students how research goes beyond finding articles for their papers.
Here is what I found myself looking up this week.
I've only seen one cicada so far but there are many holes in the ground in our neighborhood. They're coming. Unlike many, I am actually kind of excited for this. Since I know the bugs don't bite people, I'm generally not afraid of them. In fact, I hope I can get one to land on my finger so I can show it to the kiddo. My biggest fear is that she'll try to eat it. Toddlers have the oddest palette. Here's what else has my attention at the moment. WORK
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Why Have Kids: A New Mom Explores the Truth About Parenting and Happiness Jessica Valenti After putting a ton of Jessica Valenti books on my TBR board last week, I decided to grab one that was available at the library. I'm nearly halfway through already (because Valenti's writing is just so readable) and I am here for her throwing American intensive parenting and lack of community/government/social support under the bus. She is doing a great job of laying out what so may moms are just burnt out, unhappy, and lost. I spent four evenings of my week scrubbing our bathroom floor grout. This is one of those chores I put off for months. I just didn’t want to do it. But, every time I stepped foot into the room, the dingy grout lines bugged the heck me. Like many projects, the idea of working on it was actually harder than just doing it. Since we have a kiddo who still puts far too many things in her mouth, I wanted a relatively non-toxic, non-stinky method. The internet led me to try the baking soda/hydrogen peroxide method. It was as easy as mix, let sit, scrub, and wipe up. That was it. Something I’ve been dreading for months took, in total, all of 2 hours of my time. And the results are spectacular. Our bathroom is not only cleaner but looks newer. Now I need to attack the kitchen. In a few months… What easy chore have you been putting off?
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