I’m burning like a fire gone bright on saturday

I had a v long but reasonably productive day, especially considering I was not in it to win it when I woke up. I had many meetings, as per usual, but I fueled myself rather unusually with a baked potato for lunch (which I miraculously remembered to take out of the oven reasonably on time). I also turned on the heat in the various properties around my vast estate, so hopefully I do not break in pipes as the temperature finally drops.

I was supposed to be done working around 5:30, but then I talked to Adit (no one calls him the cat, especially at work) for like an hour and a half, which was productive but also meant I was starving by the time we parted. So I heated up some picadillo, which I ate while catching up on several episodes of Scrubs with [censored]. And now I need to go to bed because I have many many plans tomorrow - goodnight!

got a feeling that I'm going under

I've had a v busy but also somewhat relaxing couple of days. I had a ridiculous amount of meetings yesterday, especially since I had my economic development board meeting and allergy shots in the morning and also had a city council meeting in the evening. But it all went well and I didn't get yelled at in anything, so that's pretty exciting. 

More exciting was the fact that I had today off for veterans day; however, I got woken up at seven by the sound of a lot of construction outside. At first I had some vain hope that someone was fixing something at the gas station, but then it turned out that they were adding blacktop to the road - still a worthy endeavor, but I wish they would have started later. However, I got up and did a whole bunch of random stuff - nothing noteworthy in its own right, but I crossed off a lot of tasks. And I had a library board meeting, followed by some quality time in the kitchen to make a big batch of beef picadillo so that [censored] and I have something to eat later this week. 

But now I need to go to bed since I most assuredly don't have tomorrow off - goodnight!

no time to quit now, just time to get it now

I had a v nice day, but now I'm tired and am going to go to bed even though I had intended to work tonight. I had a long but pleasant day of meetings, and I snuck out for half an hour to walk around town - it was seventy degrees today and felt like the last nice day of the year, so I was determined to get a little bit of sunshine.

I had meetings until six, and then in an effort to decompress I started looking into various tings for my Spain trip - and while the downside was that I hyperfocused on it and didn't eat dinner (leftover pasta) until after 8:30pm, the upside is that I have a lot of fun tings planned. I am more on top of planning this trip than I have been in well over a decade - I think I have something booked (a tour, entry tickets, a meal, whatever) for almost every day of the trip. My goal is to avoid dithering while I'm there and just see stuff, and hopefully having things booked in advance will help with that.

But now I need to go to bed since I have a v. full day tomorrow - goodnight!

possibility days are impossible

I had a pretty decent weekend, although I worked for more of it than I wanted to. On Friday I slogged all day, and then ended early to go to a visitation - a woman who was in PEO with me, and was also v active in Extension and 4-H, and was also the mom of a former high school compatriot of mine. She was a v. nice lady, and it was sad to see her go - but she had also been having health issues, so perhaps it was a blessing. Mom and [censored] and I all went to pay our respects, and then we came home before I decided that I didn't want to cook, and so I went back into town to pick up Mexican takeout for me and [censored].

Yesterday I did some slogging for the day job and some planning for my Spain trip, which is coming together in ways that I'm quite excited for. As dusk approached, I went out to Mom's and lit the grill for what is almost certainly the last grilling night of the season - tonight would have been nicer, and last night was almost too brisk (I don't like wearing puffer jackets near open flame), but Mom had one last package of bratwurst that needed eaten. So we had brats and fried potatoes and baked beans, and it was all quite delicious.

Today I also slogged more than I wanted to (several hours this afternoon, and another couple of hours tonight) but I'm hoping to feel caught up enough by my Spain trip that I can avoid taking my laptop. It wasn't all work, though; I enjoyed my coffee in a leisurely fashion, did various tings around the house, and also made a creamy chicken and mushroom pasta for dinner. [censored] and I enjoyed it while watching last night's SNL, which was mostly funny but also fairly unmemorable. And then I came upstairs and did some work, and now I need to sleep - goodnight!

somehow we mixed up goodbye and goodnight

I had an excellent day yesterday, although I was dragging due to staying up until two a.m. watching election results. I am unfortunately completely slammed at work, so I didn't get to fully contemplate this week's sea change, but still. After all my many and varied meetings yesterday, I took a break to v uncharacteristically make myself Indian food - if I lived in a city I would have ordered takeout, but I had some paneer (cheese) that needed used, and so I made palak paneer in my instant pot + butter chicken and butter paneer on the stove. The palak paneer recipe was a new effort, while the butter chicken was made with a spice packet and some cream/butter/tomatoes - but all of it turned out very well.

So I feasted last night, and then [censored] had to deal with the smell of food he had no interest in eating, but c'est la vie. Today I woke up and immediately had to go to town for allergy shots, and then I came home and slogged relentlessly all day. I should have done more work tonight than I did, but I was feeling fried, so I drank a glass of wine, ate leftovers, and chilled until now.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

e pluribus unum

I have been watching election coverage since I finished work, and I'm delighted - but mostly I'm relieved. It was beyond time for the people to stop putting up with the corruption, grift, and strongman-worship of the current incarnation of the republican party. I hope this is the start of a realignment that leads to having a more serious, legitimate conservative party that actually cares about balancing a budget and letting people live freely instead of the absurd spending and abandonment of civil rights that we've seen these last few cycles.

But mostly I just hope we get back to a functioning government - which will take more than one election to solve. And so I'm going to go to bed and see what tomorrow brings - goodnight!

write a letter

I had an entirely uneventful travel day yesterday - I got up in time to journal,  and then I packed and ate one last room service breakfast before dropping off my rental car and going to the airport. I was absurdly early because I'm used to Denver taking a long time to get through, but security was a breeze, and I killed time with a slightly disappointing soup before boarding. I made it to Des Moines on time, and got home in time to have dinner with Mom and [censored] - Mom had made vegetable beef soup, which was much better than my lunch soup, so that was exciting. 

Today I was about as lazy as I anticipated I would be after my trip. But I took care of a few tasks, made some lists, grabbed groceries, and made chicken and rice for dinner. [Censored] and I enjoyed it while watch SNL, which was a fairly weak episode but still entertaining. And then I spent several hours reading the book for this week's work book club - we chose THE CORRESPONDENT, which was quite good, and I devoured it in one sitting. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!