little did you know your home's really only a town you're just a guest in

I am feeling tired at 9:48pm, and I'm going to valiantly attempt to go to bed right away so that I don't get a second wind and stay up until 2am. Today was fairly productive, though - I didn't get out of bed until after ten, but I got a lot done this afternoon. I'm getting close to being able to host guests next weekend, depending on whether and when those guests decide to spend the night.

I mostly focused on the downstairs this afternoon, and I tackled the worst chore first - I washed the pendant lights above my kitchen island, which get grimy because they're also about the stove. Every time I wash them I live in fear of breaking them, which is why I don't wash them often enough - but they'll look great until I made a stirfry again. I also took down my Christmas decorations. I had planned to leave them up since we're doing Christmas with Aunt B next weekend, but I realized that if I left them up for that, they would be up until sometime in February due to my travel schedule. Hopefully we can still get in the holiday spirit without a tree in the corner of my living room.

Sometime in there, I also said goodbye to [censored], who had to journey north. I also dusted and vacuumed the living room and guest room, washed the guest room sheets, vacuumed the carpets in the basement, tidied up the dining room, and did various other tings. Eventually, I was out of steam, so I ate some leftover pizza, scrolled for awhile, and did some day job stuff that I was putting off. I'm still putting off some of it and will have to get up early tomorrow to finish it, which is another incentive to sleep soon. So on that note, goodnight!

ra-ra-rasputin, russia's greatest love machine

I failed to get up in a timely fashion this morning because I went to bed at two a.m. (which is not what I intended to do when I blogged, but my phone got the best of me). So I was in bed until 10:30, and then I made coffee and got around in a v. desultory fashion.

However, I was slightly more productive than yesterday - I showered, then checked on the house next door (where there is no water leaking despite me completely ignoring it for the last month - but I do have temperature sensors and cameras, so I know it's not inhabited by squatters or at risk of freezing). Then I ran into town to grab a couple of tings for dinner. I threw a chuck roast into the slow cooker along with some beef stock, lime juice, vinegar, onion, and a bunch of spices, and the smell of it cooking for five hours was nearly enough to drive me mad with hunger.

While it was cooking, I did some other random tasks and cleaned my room. This included setting up the new shop vac that I'd ordered several months ago so that I could try vacuuming my bedroom with it. I hadn't shared this fact since I was quite sad about it, but I lost one of my favorite earrings on thanksgiving (a diamond stud my parents gave me). I was sure it had to be in my room, but after repeated searching of the carpet, my clothes, etc., it was nowhere to be found. [censored] suggested using the new shop vac before it had any other debris in it, and I finally got around to testing it. The pile in my carpet is such that an earring could easily get hidden within it, but I wasn't looking forward to spending many minutes/hours carefully sweeping every inch of the room. Happily, though, I heard something hit the inside of the shop vac within the first minute of my attempt - and my earring was there, looking none the worse for wear. So that was a real win, even if I accomplished nothing else.

This meant I could finally actually vacuum my room, which I've been avoiding due to the missing earring. I did not do that today, but I did dust and clean my bathroom and generally clean up. I threw together some mexican rice in the rice cooker and let dinner finish making itself. I also inspected my basement, where [censored] discovered a leak today - unrelated to any water pipes, and relatively fixable, but still quite annoying (and darkly funny that we were worried about the abandoned house next door instead of the basement).

Then I shredded the beef barbacoa, heated up some refried beans, and ate with [censored] while watching last night's SNL. The beef was amazing tonight, and I'm looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow. And after we were finished with SNL and cleanup, I came upstairs and read for the last few hours - I started THE GOLDFINCH, which came out several years ago, and which I only picked up because we're reading it for a book club at work. So far so good, but I'm curious to see where it's headed.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

sometimes there's airplanes you can't jump out

I am back in Iowa after a slightly chaotic day yesterday. Nothing terrible happened, but I woke up slightly later than I should have, decided to prioritize a final cup of Philz over packing (#worthit, even though it ate 30min since I had to drive there and back), and then had a meeting that took 45min instead of 30. Because of all of this, I had to scramble to pack, shower, and return my rental car. I made it through security in time to grab some food, which I ate as I watched the first half of my plane board, but I was in my seat before final call, so I guess it was all fine.

My flight to Denver was uneventful, and I grabbed a snack (burrata, which is pretty fancy for a snack, but also gluten free) before boarding my Des Moines flight. It was starting to snow in Denver, and so we were delayed by about thirty minutes for deicing. But the flight was otherwise smooth, and I was in my house by 11:15pm. I chatted with [censored] longer than I should have, but then I retired and v. much enjoyed being back in my bed.

I was pretty lazy today despite my best intentions - but I think I needed a lazy day after a long trip. I made some coffee and sipped it while talking to [censored], and then I messed around online for way too long. I finally ate some lunch, took a shower, cleaned out the fridge and took out my trash, moved a couple of tings from the garage to the shed, and ran to the grocery store. It was chilly today but it's going to be absurd tomorrow, so I'm glad I got some stuff done.

Then I was going to work, but I got sucked into the Iowa State / West Virginia game, which was not a fun game to get sucked into because we lost. As soon as it was over, I ordered some pizza and [censored] and I picked it up to take out to the parents' house. We hung out there for awhile, which was nice, and I was happy for them that [censored] fixed all sorts of stuff for them while I was flitting about in California.

And now, I need to sleep and aim for more productivity tomorrow - goodnight!

knocking on heaven's door

I had a lovely final day in the city of sin. I got up and grabbed coffee downstairs and then relaxed a bit before getting ready, which was v necessary. Then I carpooled into the office for a million meetings, one of which included walking for an hour like a peasant, but it was like a peasant who lives next to a beautiful body of water, so I'll take it. 

After work, we had a lunar new year party at Palette, which is the dim sum restaurant I went to with the friendship renewal crew last month. It was a raucous time, mostly because I sat at the "kids table" (which was the table of people who attended without kids). I felt bad abandoning the actual kids, but as at least one of the kids had an active fever, I felt it was better to hang with the adults and drink some medicinal tequila to stave off illness. 

Either way the kids table was where it was at - I sat next to Adit, and we v competently trolled everyone else at the table. We also created a new drinking game ("call your shot") which is excellent for tables with lazy susans (lazies susan?). All in all it was an excellent evening, and I'm glad I enjoy the people I work with so much. 

After dinner, I came back to my hotel with Jamie and Kleidi, and we had a v delightful afterparty in the hotel bar. And now I must sleep - goodnight!

we'll be counting stars

No blog tonight - I slept fitfully last night and had a bunch of meetings today, followed by a team dinner at Mykonos. All in all it was good, but I need to sleep before I start typing gibberish. Goodnight!

wonderin' if i could sneak out the back

Today was entirely slogging - I got up early enough to sneak into downtown Burlingame and pick up a Philz coffee before doing some work and then going into the office, but I cut it all close. Then I slogged through meetings all day, came back to the hotel (with a coworker who is also staying here), and accidentally took a nap.

But I did a bit of journaling this evening, which is always great. And I ate some takeout thai food, had a glass of wine, and did a bunch of work that I needed to get done, so I'll take it. And now I need to go to sleep so I can rinse and repeat tomorrow - goodnight!

the drugs, the women, the wine, the weed

I did not sleep at all well last night, and I had to get up at six because I needed to do work before work and my meetings start at nine a.m. here instead of the much more civilized hour of eleven.

But despite these tragedies, I persevered. I had a v long slog of meetings, but also a v tasty lunch from a place called Healthyish Republic, which I would happily have again. Then I had more meetings, until I rebelled at five and drove myself and another coworker back to the hotel. I dropped him and my laptop off and then sped to downtown Burlingame to meet Lauren (aka Subz) for dinner at pizzeria delfina. We had many tings to catch up on, which I v much enjoyed. I also realized we're about to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the time we spent in India together, which feels impossible. She did not seem interested in a reunion trip to Hampi, but I still have time to work on her.

After we parted ways, I came back to the hotel, did a bit of work, and also journaled. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

marry me juliet, you'll never have to be alone

I had a lovely day, although I'm crashing hard now. I slept a little fitfully last night, which is not a surprise since my advanced age makes it hard to have more than one or two drinks in a night. But I got up early enough to walk to the nearest Philz for coffee, do a bit of writing, and then shower and pack up all my stuff. Then I drove down to Woodside to meet Shedletsky and Bride of Shedletsky for brunch at the Village Pub.

Village Pub sounds like it might be lowkey, but it's definitely not a Village Inn. It's actually part of the same restaurant group that owned my beloved Des Amis before it closed, but Village Pub has been a mainstay forever (and has had a michelin star for twelve consecutive years). They have a three-course brunch offering, which was truly excellent - and we opted for the additional fourth course, which was a perfect risotto covered in shaved truffles. I did oysters for my appetizer, then the risotto, then a perfect french omelette, and then a chocolate souffle, along with my share of a bottle of sauvignon blanc. When I type all those dishes together, they don't match at all - they were spaced out with plenty of time in between each, so it was almost like four mini-meals (or real meals, since the risotto and the omelette both could have been a single meal in their own right).

So we have a very leisurely almost-three-hours hanging out and catching up, and it was a delight to see them. When it was finally time to part ways, I went to Stanford Shopping Center to check in on my old haunts. The mall continues to get more upscale, but it was also absolutely buzzing compared to most malls these days. I also got some interesting intel from the guy who rang up my purchase at Anthro, and I enjoyed wandering around in the sunshine, so it was a worthwhile way to spend an hour.

Then I drove north, checked into my new hotel, unpacked, and zoned out for quite awhile. I finally rallied to grab a burger from the bar (which was fine but extremely subpar compared to my brunch experience) and do a bit of work. And now I'm going to go to bed and hope that I can get a million things done tomorrow morning. Goodnight!

no grave can hold my body down, i'll crawl home to her

I had a perfect day in the city of sin. I woke up pretty early, and I grabbed coffee and journaled in the lobby until the sun through the windows was too intense for my winter Iowa constitution. Then I looked for dinner reservations for tonight before showering and vacating the hotel.

I took an Uber to the airport, which was out of my way - but I had to pick up a rental car and this seemed to be the best time. Luckily my next stop was nopalito for brunch with Katrina, and there is parking at nopalito (an extreme rarity in SF), so it was smooth sailing.

Katrina was in fine form, although she was wearing the same pants as she did the last time I saw her, which was a bit of a surprise. Then I got my nails done at my favorite nail place before going to Flax at Fort Mason and picking up a bunch of journaling stuff (and bonding with the checkout person and showing each other or annual planners).

I took the embarcadero back to my hotel, where I relaxed, napped, and wrote for a bit. Then I meet John, Claudia (aka Dr Santa) and Chandlord at Mestiza. It was a v tasty meal - they handled our combined gluten free + vegetarian needs quite well. We discussed all manner of topics - aging, aggressive optometrists, the conditions under which someone would leave a group chat, bird flu, alpacas as beasts of burden, etc, etc. 

We continued that convo over a one night celebration at alchemist, and then John dropped me off at my hotel. And now, I desperately need to sleep - goodnight!

I want you to know

No blog tonight - I've already been dozing in bed for two hours, but I finally roused myself long enough to wash my face and take out my contacts, and I don't need to wake up more fully. Today was all slogging anyway - I started with a detour to Philz coffee while walking to work, and then I worked all day. But I got free lunch (the perks of being in the office), and then had a team dinner with Adit and several other folks. We ended by standing in a long line for ice cream, which is not what I normally seek in either desserts or ways to spend time, but the ice cream was ultimately worth it.

And now it's time to sleep (again) - goodnight!