The Weekly Wrap: February 7, 2021

DC received it's first real snow in years at the beginning of this week. My winter loving husband was a fan. Our toddler was neutral on the subject. I enjoy snow but am not a fan of the cold. I prefer to watch winter weather from the comfort and warmth of our home.

​Luckily, while the weather did reduce our daycare's operating hours, the storm itself was more pretty than disruptive. It ended in the kind of snow that coats everything and makes the world look like a powdered donut. 

Now onto the things I enjoyed this week.

---

• This article on how work-life balance is a cycle and not an achievement was a timely reminder. [HBR]
• Tips for how to read more this year. [BuzzFeed]
• This thread just feels like it's messing with me. [Twitter]
• When the search for a roommate ends in a nightmare. There's a cautionary tale about the housing affordability crisis threaded throughout this story. [Curbed]
• A new theory into what may have killed nine Russian winter adverturers. Yetis were once a possibility. [WIRED]
• Does pasta have an expiration date? [PureWow]
• Recreating a pub menu from Pompeii. [Atlas Obscura]
• The meaning of Biden blue. [Curbed]
• This thread is both funny and offers insight on how we presume people know what we mean. And by "we" I mean upper-middle class, white people. [Twitter]
• One person's experience administering the COVID-9 vaccine. [Huffpost]
• A colleague I very much admire shared this piece on bias in academic writing with me. [Inside Higher Ed]

• If you miss random conversations with people, you're not alone. [Short Wave]
• How one woman's remarkably request to find her daughter fought back against the cartels. [The Daily]
• The history and why of food TV. [Gastropod]
• The why behind the weight of M&Ms. [Planet Money]
• That side gig comes with a side of taxes. [Life Kit]
• 1177 BC [Throughline]

• On Monday, we finished the second season of Narcos: Mexico. The final conversation between the two leads was supposed to be a big payoff, and while I LOVED how it was played out, parts of it felt unearned. I am very intrigued to see what comes out in season three. I figure El Chapo has to play a HUGE part.

• We try to eat vegetarian every Monday. This week, I made Budget Bytes Spicy Coconut Vegetable Stir Fry. It was good although, since we tried cauliflower rice last week, we decided to serve it over that which just made this dish a giant pile of vegetables. Still good - just a lot of vegetables. I also opted not to use all the sauce because it would have drowned our chosen vegetables. The leftover sauce went into the freezer until I can think of another way to use it.
• We're trying to be the kind of parents who have a kid that eats what we eat. Some meals, particularly those that involve carbs and cheese, go over better than others. When we try a new dish, I like to make sure it includes at least one ingredient our kid has enjoyed before. This week, I made creamy lemon orzo with peas and shrimp. She LOVES peas so I figured she would pick those out. Nope. Ignored the peas. She did, however, eat the shrimp. I'll take it.