Tuesday, August 30, 2016

this was all you, none of it me

I'm back in San Francisco and I need to go to bed, but I had quite a successful retreat. I slept a little later this morning, but I considered the story while I was in the shower, and I'm feeling good about where it might (maybe, possibly) be headed. When I went downstairs, I spent a couple of hours chatting with Barbara and Lisa + taking care of a bunch of other random to-dos and emails that I'd neglected over the weekend. Then, Lisa and I went across the street to Starbucks to get coffee, since the french vanilla flavored Keurig coffee wasn't doing it for me at all - I probably should have sucked it up and driven to the real Starbucks, since the coffee at Safeway was lukewarm and tasted like burning, but the caffeine content was what mattered, so at least that was a success.

When I got back to the house, I did a bit more work, and then I made myself an omelette (with cheddar, leftover salmon from last night, and pesto on top with some roasted potatoes on the side - last night's leftovers turned into an awesome breakfast). Barbara sat with me on the deck while I ate, and it was so idyllic - the beach and lake were mostly empty since most people were back at work, and the view and the weather and the sun were all perfect.

After I ate, I wrote for another hour or so and got several more pages of Lucy's story, so that's great. But at four p.m. I had to throw in the towel so that I could pack all my stuff (it's remarkable how much my stuff got strewn about the house in less than seventy-two hours) and load up my car. Lisa and I said our goodbyes to Barbara and were on the road by five, and we made excellent time - there was no traffic, and I got out of the mountains before the sun started shining directly into my eyes, so we made it to Walnut Creek (where I dropped her off) by 7:45, which is a new record. After I dropped her off, I found a Chipotle and grabbed dinner since I was starving and knew I wouldn't be able to make it home (and that there would be no food in the fridge when I got here). Then I drove the rest of the way home, making it here by 8:45, which would have been good time from Tahoe even if I hadn't stopped to drop Lisa off and have dinner.

When I got here, I failed to unpack - I just messed around online and got ready for bed instead. And now I need to sleep - I want to work in the morning, and I have a writing date in the afternoon and dinner plans in the evening, so it's back to my usual grind. Goodnight!

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