The Weekly Wrap: July 27, 2025

Monday marks two weeks until the end of our kiddo's first year of summer camp. It also marks the end of summer. After these two weeks, we have a week of family vacation before I head home to start the fall semester. I am both ready for the transition to fall and dreading it's arrival. 

I am simply done with this awful humid weather. It's been one of the stickier summers in memory, and I dislike that I feel I need a shower every time I come in from outside. I also miss our students. The library is too quiet in the summer. Sure, that break is nice, but I derive energy from the randomness that is the reference desk. The library feels less alive and more lonely without people in it.

BUT, there are so many things left on our summer to-do list. We haven't been to the pool nearly enough! I have yet to go get ice cream! We haven't eaten outside enough! So many of my summer work projects are still half done. Plus, I have not prepped nearly enough content to get my through the fall semester. 

Most importantly, I am not ready for my kiddo to go back to school. Her 1980s style, swimming every day, outside 90% of the time summer camp has been remarkable. She wakes up excited every morning. She gets ready on her own because she wants to be first to the bus pick up. She smiles all the time - even when she forgets to reapply bug spray and is covered in bites.

She likes school, but she adores camp. Her confidence in who she is and what she can do has exploded. Camp has let her explore so many new things, be among friends, and relish the freedom of a childhood summer. 

​I envy that.

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• The bell ringers. [The 51st]
• The benefits of farm dust. [WaPo - gift link​]
• We need more shade. [The Atlantic - gift link]
• Yet another problem with AI. [ARCLog]

• If you've never felt the need to have "the talk," consider why. [Up First]
• But why manufacturing jobs? [Planet Money]
• This interview may be the thing that gets me to finally read The Great Gatsby. [The Daily]
• I would like to visit this tiny bakery. [Atlas Obscura]

• I feel like I need to build this for my kid. [The Q]
• We wrapped up our viewing of this year's Tour de France. After several weeks of nightly bike racing, it feels weird to be turning on something else. This year's tour results weren't exactly a surprise, but there was still plenty of drama to keep things interesting. [Le Tour]

• I don't know why I pick recipes that require an oven during the heat of the summer, but cheese tortellini with tomato and basil was worth it. Roasting the tomatoes deepens there flavor. I had a serving as is and another serving with a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar. Both were good. [Eating Well]
• At least I balanced an oven recipe with a nice salad. Cashew crunch salad with sesame dressing was fantastic. I, as always, used bagged coleslaw and bagged shredded purple cabbage to make things even easier. The hardest part of this recipe is whipping up the dressing. We served our salad with some shrimp as added protein. [Pinch of Yum]
• For my lunch meal prep, I really wanted to like petite pasta salad with corn, tomatoes, and feta. While it was refreshing, the flavor was mostly just there. I think the pasta soaked up too much of the vinegar. Also, I really wanted to add kalamata olive, but I think that would have clashed with the corn. [WaPo - gift link]