Although Emily Matchar's book Homeward Bound had been on my radar for a bit, it was Kim Werker's post "I'm an unnatural mother." that got me to move past the preview on my iPad and buy the book.
Today is one of my "work from home" days, where I set up my laptop and iPad on the small dining table (covered by a cross-stitched tablecloth I bought via Etsy), and multi-task, doing paid work alongside things I enjoy that can get done in the background or during short breaks. Today's plans include finishing up a spreadsheet, revising some writing, reviewing a book proposal, pickling a bag of eggplant, making a batch of jelly, and deciding what to do with a batch of jam that turned out bland and oddly gritty. I had coffee and a green smoothie for breakfast, then tasted a batch of homemade sauerkraut (after I took a photo and Instagram'd it, of course).
Kim has been putting out some great writing that has been pushing me to think and challenge myself and how I present myself on social media. The #nogloss challenge, for example, which was interesting to do not just because of how uncomfortable I felt posting a photo of my home office desk, and how I felt the need to defend myself somehow by pointing out that the desks I share in other workspaces are much tidier, but also because that seemed to be a common feeling. In some very real ways, giving you a tidied up version is my job, and in some very real ways, giving you a tidied up version is part of a larger problem. I'm only a couple of chapters in so far, but I can see that Homeward Bound is likely to push me to think about things I'd rather gloss over.
The sauerkraut is pretty good, a mix of green cabbage, red cabbage, lacinato kale, and carrot. It's a bit bland - could have used more time to ferment, or some dill or caraway seeds, perhaps. There's another batch bubbling quietly in my office right now, this one with juniper berries, green onion, and beet shreds in addition to the cabbages and carrot.
