The Weekly Wrap: September 1, 2024

This week, our kiddo started kindergarten. She handled the transition great. As expected, she was sleepier than usual most nights. All the new things are a lot to handle.

One new thing is that she now walks to school. Well, we've always walked to school, but her daycare was two miles away so she was pushed in a stroller. This week, we left the stroller behind and she walked the 0.75 miles on foot with us.

We adults can make this walk in about 10 minutes. With the kiddo, we budget 20 minutes into our schedules. This is not just because she walks slower but to accommodate her need to stop and explore. This week alone we stopped to look at a bunny, several black squirrels, bugs of some sort crawling on the sidewalk, and a fruit snack wrapper. This is in addition to stopping to adjust a shoe or sock and to say her legs are tired.

As much as I want to just get to school (or home at the end of the day), her butterfly childness is a good reminder to stop and see things around us. Part of our walk parallels a fenced nature conservancy. I hope we'll get to see a deer one day. They've been known to stroll there and I think our kiddo would love to see one up close.

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• I've never seen this before and I've lived in some old homes. [apartment therapy]
• A delightful library story. [LA Times - may be paywalled]
• A good question to ask. [gkogan]
• I honestly didn't know that green onions and chives were different. [The Takeout]
• Travelling across the country by train - illustrated. [WaPo - gift link]

• When time is scarce, we behave differently. [Hidden Brain]
• Climate change is making some locations uninsurable. [99% Invisible]
• The economy and invasive species. [Short Wave]
• NIL is giving college athletes business savvy. [The Indicator]

• I wish I had known this years ago because I've always needed other people to open jars for me. [@jordan_the_stallion8]
• Jackpot! is an action romp starring Awkwafina and John Cena. I went in with no preconceptions and found it better than you’d expect. The storyline is kind of The Purge meets The Hunger Games but made as a comedy. I enjoyed it as a mindless Friday night flick. [Amazon Prime]

• The change to our school pick-up schedule means I can try slightly more complicated meals on Thursday nights. This week, I made one skillet bourbon chicken. I subbed chicken breast for thighs because that is what we had. This was really good! I was surprised by how much the bourbon flavor came through. Next time, I'll thin out the sauce a touch more. We served this with roasted chopped broccoli. [Eating Well]
• We no longer get our farm share (bummer), but we still had an eggplant on hand from our last pick up. I tossed together a pasta recipe as my meal prep that ended up being surprisingly good. I cubed and roasted the eggplant and then tossed it on top of linguini I had coated in jarred tomato sauce. We also had half a block of leftover feta. I chopped that up and and added it to my lunch containers. At work, I microwaved everything together and the feta sort of dissolved. What resulted was a fantastic combination - salty and umami.