Lately, I've taken to making myself a big salad for lunch on Fridays.

It's sliced romaine lettuce and chopped up leftover veggies from our fridge. Usually that means carrots, bell peppers, and cucumber. Sometimes we have tomatoes floating around. I'll also toss in a sprinkling of thick-cut shredded cheddar cheese. The dressing is always ranch.

But, my favorite part, is the protein. I yoink six of my kiddo's dino nuggets from the Costco bag in our freezer and cook them in our toaster oven on the air fryer setting. Once crispy, they get a quick chop before I throw them on top of everything.

There is nothing special about this meal, but I look forward to it every week.

In an effort to use up some leave so I don't lose it at the end of the year, I took today off from work. I just finished a delicious baked good for breakfast and, in a few hours, I'm getting a fancy pedicure. Occasionally, it's nice to just treat yourself.

Here's what else made me happy this week:

• Long chats with some of our students
• Having a supportive group chat
• Cleared out of my backlog email newsletters (finally!)
• The husband handled the kiddo's overnight wake up
• Kiddo sang K Pop Demon Hunters songs all the way to school
• Walking around our neighborhood instead of driving
• Randomly visiting an exotic fish store 
• Both of my student appointments showed up (and were on time)

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

On Friday, my library hosted a webinar on digital privacy. My colleague provided all the information for the event and I ended up adding a few items to my own to-do list. Protecting your digital privacy is an on-going thing and I have let some tasks slip through the cracks. It's scary just how much our devices and various companies know about us.

Here are some quick tips to give yourself a digital privacy check-up:

• Turn off location tracking for apps that don't need it
• Enable two-factor authentication for EVERYTHING
• Change your passwords regularly (and set a reminder to do it)
• Set up and use a password manager
• Consider making your social media accounts private (or at least limiting who sees what)
• Google yourself to see what comes up when people look for your name
• Review app permissions and limit which apps can have access to which information
• Turn on spam call/text blocking
• Update your device software and apps regularly
• Clear browser cookies and history regularly
• Avoid using public Wi-Fi without a VPN
• Delete old accounts you no longer use

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​Most importantly, be careful about which personal information you share online. You'd be surprised how much information people can get from a single photo posted on Instagram.

Last night, I broke into a bar of dark chocolate that my colleague brought back from her trip to Ghana. It was so good. It had the smoothness of a creamy milk chocolate but the deep flavor and bitterness of the dark chocolates I love. I had to hold myself back from eating it all in one go.

Here's what else made me happy this week:

• Knocking some "life management" tasks off my list
• Mornings cool enough for a jacket
• Kiddo singing K-Pop Demon Hunters songs during the entire walk to school
• Baking
• Perfect timing on my metro rides
• My new hair mousse has the same aroma as the resort we stayed at in Mexico
• Kiddo excited to do homework with her babysitter
• Sneaking in a date night dinner after a back-to-school night event

The Crown of Gilded Bones
Jennifer L. Armentrout

I'm halfway through this romantasy and still waiting for it to take off. There are moments of action, but this one is moving a lot slower than the first two books in the series. Also, I'm getting kind of tired with the male lead's constant fawning over our heroine. Like sure, be supportive, but it's page after page. Let's get to some plot!

*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org

I finally went through all of the pictures on my phone. I added these books to my TBR list from all of the cover pictures and screenshots I took over the last 8 months.

I run the community bookcase in our condo building. It usually cycles through novels, political nonfiction (because DC), and hobby related titles. Recently, however, it has been taken over by jigsaw puzzles. Since the bookcase runs on the “Little Free Library” model, I decided to scoop up a few and bring them into work to create a "community puzzle."

The first puzzle was out for less than two minutes before someone was sucked in. By the end of the day, the whole thing was finished! Even better - a student left a little thank you note behind. It completely made my day.

It was a good reminder that trying something new doesn’t have to be complicated or risky. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, nothing lost. But every now and then, those small experiments pay off in the best possible ways.

Also, the entire library team is now on the lookout for puzzles we can add to our collection.

After my last meeting finished today, I jumped offline and took a quick walk outside. It was only 15-minutes of my time, but it was a nice refreshing activity to have in the middle of the work day. I really do need to bring back my lunchtime strolls.

Here's what else was good in my week:

• Football is back! (Even if my team lost.)
• Seeing a "sandwich guy" poster in the wild
• Spending the day as a family jaunting about DC
• Perusing my favorite stationery store
• Giant ball pit!
• Someone offering to take a family picture of us
• Opting for yoga flow sessions as my workouts
• The community puzzle I started at work was a HUGE hit
• Lots of thank you emails from faculty
• Kiddo singing "Part of Your World" loudly 

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