This week we celebrated Daniel’s 35th birthday. We weren’t able to have a big party obviously, but Daniel was content with his Mickey Mouse birthday balloons and this meal I made. The real fun was seeing James enjoy the day, playing with the balloons, singing happy birthday (which he 100% thought was for him) and eating cake. It was sooomewhat challenging cooking and getting everything together while trying to keep James from pulling the cake off the counter and making sure he wasn’t going to pop the balloons ha!, but I love seeing him having fun. It reminded me of something I think about on every holiday. Kids make things a lot tougher when trying to figure out logistics on birthdays and holidays, but seeing them experience the joy of “special” days is so, so worth it. It brings me back to when I was a child and how excited I was to celebrate special days, especially the ones that ended with cake :)

I hope everyone is staying safe and cool this summer. I am 35 weeks now and looking forward to meeting my little guy soon (but not too soon!).

This is an astonishing piece of journalism. Ed Yong’s “How the Pandemic Defeated America” is like a thorough autopsy explaining how things got this bad.

We are still watching “I May Destroy You” on HBO and I can’t recommend it enough. This piece from Emily VanDerWerff explains some of its brilliance.

Many workplaces may transition to more remote work even after the pandemic. What will we lose with the end of office culture?

I drink lots of seltzer, there might be some health issues caused by it (too acidic for teeth). But overall it seems fairly harmless.