The Weekly Wrap: December 19, 2021

Our kiddo's daycare is holding a mini spirit week the next few days. On Monday, the kids will wear a festive outfit. Tuesday is red or green. Wednesday is pajama day. Not gonna lie, I am envious of the fun.

This reminds me of my high school. The week before homecoming, we always had these crazy dress days. (I also dominated at our annual food twister event, but that is a story for another day.) I loved how everyone could chose to participate by doing crazy hair, dressing in PJs, or wearing their outfit backward. It was something simple but it was fun. It also created a sense of camaraderie.

I want this in the workplace. Why can't we have spirit weeks? Why can't we get everyone to wear a crazy patterned onesie or capes or their fanciest outfit or zaniest hat? While we're at it, let's have some office/cubicle/door decorating contests - let them be funded by companies and done on work time. Call it team building if you need to.

I know this stuff is not a replacement for, ya know, higher wages, reasonable hours, work/life balance and general respect and kindness in the workplace, but it would help. Work should be a little bit fun.

What thing from childhood do you wish you could bring to the office?

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• Succulents for your home and how to care for them. [PureWow]
• The library within a library. [Capital Daily]
• Mmmm.... brie. [PureWow]
• In the quest to find jeans that fit right, a look at the history of women wearing pants and the harmful image of the idealized female body. [Burnt Toast]
• We sent a probe to the sun. [Physics]
• The pointy shoes of the medieval era. [Atlas Obscura]

• Where mailing letter depends on faith and fate. [Atlas Obscura]
• On historical inflation and food costs. [The Indicator]
• This classic episode about the economics of the Christmas tree market is worth a full listen. [Planet Money]
• Making space accessible. [Short Wave]

• Making noodles. [Tasty]
• This is a delight. [Hogpodge]
• One of my favorite finds of the pandemic was teppanyaki cooking videos. There's something relaxing about watching someone make incredible food on a flat top grill. My go to creator is Aden Films. His videos are all ambiance and almost no talking. I started using them as background noise when working on writing projects. Be warned - they may make you hungry. [Aden Films]

• The husband's company usually hosts a holiday party but... COVID. This year, in lieu of the party, his team did home cooking. We got ingredients sent to our home; then the team jumped on Zoom and cooked together under a professional chef's instructions. The meal was skirt steak, crispy potatoes, and a sour cream chimichurri. It was FANTASTIC! I especially loved the sour cream chimichurri.  He basically made regular chimichurri in our blender and then mixed some of it into the sour cream. It was great on the steak - and on the chicken tacos we made the next day. [Julie Harrington]
• We're trying to eat down our freezer to make room for holiday stuff. To finish off a bag of frozen shrimp, I made creamy lemon orzo with peas and shrimp. It's kind of like a risotto but with a lot less stirring. [Cooking Light]