Can you believe that, at the end of the year, I actually thought I might get this posted within the first week of 2026? Ha ha ha! Nice try, optimism! It’s like you thought I wouldn’t be sick for a whole month during a busy semester start! Anyway, here are…
Better late than never! This quarter has been a unique whirlwind, as I’ve been teaching summer-semester classes for the first time as well as working within structured writing development program. It’s been very productive and also new to me. Here are some smaller things that helped me stay happier day-to-day:…
We’re already well into Q2, so I can say with the certainty of retrospect and the vividness of recency that everything on this list helped me get through Offspring’s first few months at daycare and my own first semester teaching a new-to-me-course. I’m hoping several will continue to help through…
Totally squeaking in while these three months are still technically last quarter! Above all, said months were busy, but these little bits of fun and coolness helped make them less stressful. a New York Times digital subscription The New York Times offered first-time subscribers a full year for only $20,…
If I were choosing based entirely on the impact on my life, this list would be full of diapers and bottles and so forth, but I’m sticking with my plan of not including baby-centric things. Still, you can tell that baby life has been getting easier to manage, because I’ve…
The astute observers among you may have noticed that it is, in fact, no longer 2023, and, moreover, it hasn’t been for over a month. You are correct. However, for all of that time, I’ve either been heavily pregnant or had a newborn to take care of. (Hooray! We’re all…
It’s been a while! I’ve been working with and around health challenges which have made it tough for me to get things done on the schedule I’d prefer. So here’s what was making my life better these past (gasp!) two quarters. Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention-And How To…
This winter has been busy and stressful, but I’ve still found a little time to enjoy things. Here are a few of them: A new toothbrush When I realized that my decade-old electric toothbrush was brushing only half-heartedly even with its ancient battery fully charged, I knew I had to…
2022 ended with a busy three months, but they weren’t so busy that they precluded little things that brought some joy. Here are a few of them: brushing my teeth before I shower Sometimes, I delay showering at night until it’s way too late, and then I don’t want to…
Wow, so, as you can maybe tell by the date of the post, the third quarter of this year was difficult! Before the school semester started, I realized I needed some time to rest, so I purposely toned down a lot of my usual activities, like forcing myself through exercise…