and when it heals it beats for you

I had a v. unusual day. It was quite rainy this morning and I felt a distinct lack of motivation to do anything, but I forced myself to go to Des Moines to stock up on many tings. The day job is putting a cramp in my style when it comes to being able to do these errands on weekdays, and I know every weekend between now and Christmas will only get worse in terms of shopping.

So, I made a speed run through Costco, Whole Foods, Menards, and Target, and I also got my nails done, and I somehow still made it home by 5:15. I unloaded the many tings from my car and was looking forward to a relaxing evening + getting some work done, but [censored] discovered that the sump pump wasn't working, which was not a pleasant revelation given that we've gotten a lot of rain and will soon get some more. So I went ahead and fixed dinner (with brunch items) while [censored] scrounged for supplies, and we ate while watching last night's SNL.

Then, we spent more time than either of us wanted to messing around in the basement - it was really all [censored], but it was a two-person effort to try to pump water out of the pit and into any drain in the basement that could handle a fire hose of water. The issue still isn't resolved, but to be clear, my basement wasn't flooded - and hopefully [censored] can figure out a solution in the near future.

But for now, that's a problem for Future Sara (or, more likely, Future [censored]) - for now it's time for bed. Goodnight!

i got edges that scratch

Apologies for not blogging the last couple of days - I was trying to be diligent with work and also with bedtime, and that often eliminated my desire to sit on my laptop/phone and write a post before bed.

Yesterday was lovely, though - I worked all morning, and then [censored] and I picked up takeout and went out to Mom and Dad's for a rare Friday lunch. Aunt Kathy had come down to hang out, so we all ate together, which was v. nice. And then we took a tour of my new holdings, which were a pleasant surprise for some people since everyone was expecting a garbage dump based on the last neighbor. That's not to say that it's amazing, but for my purposes, it will suffice.

I spent the rest of yesterday slogging until almost eight p.m., and then I ate leftover chicken and mashed potatoes while watching 'Stargate' with [censored]. Today, I got up with more urgency than I usually do on a Saturday (but still not exactly early) because I had volunteered to host a writing thing at the library at 10am. No one showed up, which suited me just fine - we didn't really publicize it much, and NaNoWriMo is basically defunct this year, so people who don't follow the library on Facebook were unlikely to see it. But I got a couple of hours of writing done, which I will totally take.

Then I went across the street and voted, and I felt v. lucky because there happened to be no one in line in front of me when I got there (although someone walked out as I walked in, and three or four people were behind me by the time I was done). Then I came home, ate lunch, did some tings with [censored], and then spent the rest of the afternoon organizing my office papers. Eventually, I stopped so that I could make some chili for dinner, which hit the spot, and then I spent the last couple of hours doing various online things.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

i'd be the man

I have absolutely nothing to report - yesterday I worked, and today I didn't feel well (headache and ears plugged up) and so mostly didn't work.

Oh, I guess I bought a house today, so I did do something. But that only took fifteen minutes, so does that really count?

The house is conveniently located next door to my current house, and now conveniently will not have a dog chained up in the yard barking 24/7 because I will not put a dog there myself. I'm still not sure entirely what I plan to do with it - whether I plan to make it into a nice guest cottage / short term rental, or whether I will just let it fall into the earth and not be a home for future meth heads. Either way, I'm excited to have it, and we'll see what happens!

But now, after eating dinner with [censored] and watching too many tv shows that are throwbacks to my teenage years, I need to go to bed and hope my headache disappears overnight. Goodnight!

and keep your money, i got my own

I have had a v. chill couple of days to recover from my trip. Yesterday I did almost nothing before going out to Mom and Dad's for dinner. Today, I did a little more than almost nothing (but not much) - I took care of some random tings, ran into town to get groceries, and spent most of the afternoon / evening attempting to organize all the things in my office that have slowly been spiraling out of control. I took a break at some point to get takeout Mexican with [censored], which was v. tasty.

And that's all I have to report - perhaps the week will be more interesting, but in many ways I hope it is completely uninteresting. Goodnight!

sycamore tree

I made it back to ye olde Iowa after a busy day at work and a long but easy set of flights. I thought about staying in Des Moines tonight, but I decided I wanted my own bed, which is where I am now. And now it's time to sleep - goodnight!

a stranger with your doorkey

Sorry for not blogging last night - I had a wonderful day and fell asleep as soon as I fell into bed. I spent the morning working from my hotel, and then went in for a bunch of meetings. But I was free by 4:30pm since we had a team dinner (just for the women on the team, so Adit had to stay back, which I'm sure made him sad). We went to a sushi place at Post and Polk, and we did the omakase tasting menu - which meant the chef just kept giving us pieces of sushi, all of which were perfectly presented. It was all absolutely delicious, and the company was excellent too - I like the women I work with and it was fun to see some of them in person.

When we were done, a couple of people peeled off and then five of us continued the party with a drink at Members Only. And then there were only two of us left, and we ended up meeting Adit and his friend Raffi for a final drink. That was fun, but by the time I got back to my hotel it was almost midnight and I needed to sleep immediately.

Sadly, my aging metabolism can no longer handle five drinks in seven hours with the same aplomb that it used to, and so I slept quite poorly last night. But I rallied and got to the office in time for some meetings, some free lunch, etc. And at the end of the day, I took Caltrain to Burlingame, where I met up with Barbara and Anne for a much-needed writer dinner at Pizzeria Delfina. It was great to see them, and hopefully it won't be quite so long before our paths cross agin text tme.

And now sleep is finally coming for me and I need to go to bed - goodnight!

nature is healing

I had a pretty good day - my neighbor woke me up while doing a call at six a.m., but otherwise I got my day off to a good start. I spent the day mostly in meetings, with a break for some team takeout for lunch, which was 10x the socializing I usually get at lunch + infinitely freer/more convenient food.

When I finally got back to my hotel after many discussions, I chilled for a bit and then went down to the bar to grab dinner. I know the bartender from when she used to work at a different hotel, and it's a bit strange to have known a girl bartender for five years, but I'll take it. And tonight felt like it was fully back to pre pandemic hotel bar scene - someone gave me a painting after talking to me for awhile, and another couple propositioned me for a threesome, so I'd say I'm fully back to my old self (note: my old self didn't take threesome propositions and my new self didn't either, but isn't it nice to be asked?).

And now, after a very demure two glasses of wine, I'm going to go to bed and aim for a lot of productivity tomorrow - goodnight!