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.

This was an odd week. 

Monday was a plain old workday.

I took Tuesday through Thursday as annual leave to handle the weirdness that was the rest of the week.

Tuesday, schools were closed for the DC primary elections. (Many of them double as polling places.) Kiddo and I ran errands in the morning, and went to the pool in the afternoon.

I took Wednesday off because it was supposed to be the last day of school (they usually close early), so I figured I'd be squiring the kiddo around. But thanks to snow days earlier this year, an extra day got added to the calendar. Wednesday, instead, turned into "deep clean your cabinets while the kid is at school" day.

Thursday ended up being the actual last day of school. I pulled the kiddo from after care early (they were closing ahead of schedule anyway) so she could make it to a neighborhood party.

Friday was a holiday, but the husband had to work, so the kiddo and I had a full day together.

Oh, and it's Father's Day weekend so our rhythm of who wakes up with the kiddo is all thrown off.

​My brain is confused.

​At least camp starts tomorrow. That will bring some semblance of routine back into our lives.

While making dinner this week, I thought of all the stupid things I do... even though I know they're stupid. 

That non-exhaustive list includes:

• Cooking bare foot. I'm one dropped knife away from losing a toe.
• Walking while looking at my phone. I’ve rolled and/or twisted my ankle more than once.
• Working out bare foot. I don’t want to clomp on our downstairs neighbor but I do lose ankle support.
• Going for walks on humid days without water. This is a recipe for heat exhaustion.
• Keeping passwords on Post-Its. Not exactly secure...
• Moving furniture or other heavy things while alone. Just asking for an injury here.
• Climbing on the counter to reach an upper cabinet instead of getting our stepladder. Laziness wins out over safety.
• Eating food I know has been sitting out too long. Despite having had food poisoning before...
• Parking under iffy trees before storms cause a safer spot was too far away. Again, laziness wins out over smarts here.

What stupid things are you guilty of doing?

Did you know after care is closing early the last day of school? Did you hear about the end of year party? Are you signed up for summer camp? Did you donate to this? Did you enroll for next year yet? Now? How about now?

Enough already!

Our school has been blasting the same messages across multiple platforms over and over and over again. I'm developing a tic from all the notifications. I'm also genuinely worried that something actually urgent is going to get lost in all the reminders.

Then again... the number of questions that get asked in the school WhatsApp group because people didn't read the emails....

Kaetrena Davis Kendrick is a regular keynote speaker at library-related conferences and events. She’s all about wholistically improving the profession of librarianship.

One thing she often talks about is “glimmer gathering.” This is the idea of saving, in some way, the moments of goodness in your life. It’s a mindfulness practice that helps you notice, appreciate, and share positive experiences. The goal is to build a deep well of emotional well-being you can draw from.

I love this idea, but I’ve waffled about saving my glimmers. I’ve started - and deleted - folders on my phone more times than I can count. Same thing on my desktop. I even started (and deleted) a folder on Google Drive. Small things make me happy, and I want to save them - BUT - I’m also very much someone who doesn’t like keeping things forever. I hate clutter, even digital clutter. These two sides of my personality are constantly at war.

I keep coming back to this question: if I’m not going to revisit these items, what’s the point? The whole purpose of glimmer gathering is to remember those moments.

Then, this week, something obvious hit me: a Pinterest board. (*forehead smack*)

I review all my Pinterest boards monthly. I scroll through every pin, board by board, organizing material and deleting anything I’ve finished with or that no longer serves me. This review is a habit I’ve already built into my calendar.

So this week, I started a Glimmers board. It only has a few items on it so far, but I’m excited to watch it grow - now that I know I’ll actually be coming back to it.

I get a lot of random emails for people with a name and/or email address similar to mine. Every week, something that is clearly not random spam lands in my inbox. I presume this happens because someone mistyped an email or misread a handwritten form. The perils of being an Me(a)g(h)a(y)n(n).

I find these diversions entertaining. My favorite was a series of emails each with a personal image of an adorable dog attached. I've also received welcomes from wildlife organizations, local stores, food purchases, and clothing retailers. There is one recipient who, given the various senders, has political interests that are quiet divergent from my own. Another recipient must be a staunch defender of the second amendment.

After a brief moment of amusement, I just delete these emails as they hit my inbox. (Although the person sending vacation photos did get a response that they had the wrong address.)

Anyone else enjoy these email antics?

My brain does not want to be reading non-fiction right now.
​
After a slew of romantasy and hockey romances, I was going to pivot to another romance series. I requested what I thought was the next book from my library, but after reading one sentence, it felt familiar. I dove into my reading list and confirmed that I had, indeed, read that book - and the next one - already. Bummer.

I have more books on my hold list, but they're not ready yet. In the meantime, I picked up the non-fiction read I use to fill gaps like this. My brain has other plans.

Instead of the 40-50 pages I've been managing lately, I'm falling asleep after two. Last night I think I managed two paragraphs. My brain is clearly not in the mood for anything educational at night.

Recently, I read a Culture Study newsletter where an interviewee was asked, "If you could follow only one Instagram account forever, what would it be?"

I found that idea intriguing, so I went through my feed to determine who I would pick. At the start of this process, I followed 84 accounts. Narrowing down the list was not that hard.

The first thing I did was discard the people I know in real life. (This is the bulk of my follows.) I adore their posts, but I can also get the same updates (probably more) in the group chat.

Next, I discarded any accounts I follow strictly for local updates. Again, I have different ways of getting this information. I also tossed out the libraries I follow. Love what they showcase, but those accounts are  too "work" focused for me.

Then, I looked at what was left and tossed out anything I follow "just for fun." These are the accounts that bring me joy but do not add a richness to my life. It was a surprising amount of web comics and comedy.

This left about about four accounts for me to seriously consider. In the end, my pick came down to the fact that this account posts a mix of content, brings me joy, provides some intellectual stimulation, is aesthetically pleasing, and shares something I can't get in other ways.

In the end, Ainsley du Rose came out on top. She lives in Paris (my favorite city) and chronicles her work as a home pastry chef. She provides walking tours of the city (and travel content whenever she leaves town). Ainsley also showcases small businesses, some fashion and design, her dog, and local events. It's the mix of the food, travel, style, and cute dog that won me over.

Another upside of this thought exercise was that I ended up clearing out my follows. 

Welcome to Maycember for those who celebrate.

May. The month of many things.

May. Where the end of the public school year meets summer planning.

May. Where it's college graduation season, and all of the end of the academic year tasks and events that come with it.

May. Where you need to dig out of all the winter/spring needle task items you haven't done yet.

May. Where all you want to do is be outside but, instead, are stuck inside getting things done.

May.

The month that promises a break but immediately lies about it.

I hosted a blackout poetry workshop for my library this week. It was not as well attended as I hoped it would be. (Thank you to the professor who brought her class by in the last hour!)

While I waited for people to drop by, I made a few blackout poems for myself. It was a meditative experience. It forces you to focus on the words - just the words - before you find a greater meaning in the text. Then, you have to carefully black out what you don't want. More than once, I had to change course when my sharpie went a bit too far in the text.

One of the poems turned out so well I decided to paste it into my bullet journal. Not only did the text speak to me, but I was able to decorate the page with the perfect image clipped from a magazine. 

Despite the low attendance, I plan to bring the workshop back. It's a great way to engage with a literary form that can be intimidating.