the city's gonna love you and leave you alone

I have had a fairly boring couple of days, which is why I have not been blogging - it's all work meetings and household tasks and watering plants (my own and the town's), with some attempts at journaling and writing sprinkled in. It's finally warm enough that I can consistently work on my balcony - although that just reminds me that I want to do several big outdoor projects involving my balcony and deck and maybe a fence and also the gazebo, and potentially a fire pit too. So sitting outside isn't as relaxing as it could be, but it's better than being inside. 

However, I have nothing else to report and a million things I want to do tomorrow, so it's time for bed - goodnight!

i'm on fire, but i'm trying not to show it

I had my usual Monday - got up fairly early, tried to write (with limited success), started working, ended up taking a meeting in my pajamas, and then got ready so I could slog through meetings the rest of the day. I did run into town quickly to grab milk for tonight's dinner, so at least there was that. But it was too hot to work on my balcony, and various neighbors were burning various tings, so I decided to stay inside and attempt to focus.

By 5ish I was done, and then Mom picked me up so that we could water the planters downtown. When I got home, I inspected my plants (rabbits are attempting to eat them before they can produce anything tastier than leaves), took a break, and then made dinner. [Censored] was home tonight, unusually for a Monday, and I had picked up some swiss chard in Des Moines on Friday, so I made this rigatoni with sausage and chard and lemon zest that I occasionally make when the stars align. It's quite delicious, and it's not that much more effort than any other pasta dish - but since it requires chard, and I can't get chard within 75 miles of here, it's a rare treat.

So we ate pasta, and then I cleaned up, came upstairs with the intention of getting something done, and instead procrastinated completely. And now it's time for bed so that I can reset tomorrow - goodnight!

or am I origami, fold it up and just pretend

I got a lot done this weekend, which felt great... but now I'm heading into the work week feeling like I could use another day, or possibly week, or maybe month of time to get things done. Yesterday I did some writing in the morning, as well as various other tings on my laptop, and then I spent the afternoon tidying up my office, doing laundry, and taking care of various other household tasks. While the weather was certainly nice enough from a temperature standpoint that I should have been outside, it was overcast and seemed to be threatening a storm most of the day. So I had quite a productive chunk of time in my office instead, which felt unusually good.

Eventually I got ready, and then [censored] and I picked up Mom and we went to Seymour for dinner. My steak was so rare that I almost sent it back, which is unheard of for me - I don't think I have ever had a steak that I thought was too rare. It's like they forgot to cook one side of it, which, since it was a really thin ribeye, maybe could have worked out to all of our advantages, but in this case it was simply too rare for my tastes. However, that means it will make for an excellent reheated steak if I actually cook the other side and make some eggs to go with it, so I'm looking forward to having leftovers later this week.

Today wasn't quite as productive because I struggled to get enough sleep, but I woke up this morning and did some good writing until about noon, which felt great. Then I messed around online for a while and procrastinated just a little bit too much, but I eventually made it outside. I spent several very nice hours planting things on my patio - I've now planted basically all of the vegetable plants that I purchased, although I still haven't finished my seedling experiment. I'm trying growing peppers in grow bags this year because I felt like they got too much heat and sun in my raised beds last year. So now I have several grow bags with poblanos, anaheims, and jalapenos sitting on my patio, and I have a couple more peppers to plant once I get a bit more dirt. 

I also planted almost all of the flowers that I bought - at least the annuals that go into containers. I skipped planting a dahlia because it was looking a little sickly anyway, and I also discovered that the nursery pot it was in was a very nice home for a toad that looked like it didn't want to be disturbed. I still need to plant some perennial succulents that I bought, and so I'm hoping that this week I can clean out some of the bed next to the house so that I can get those in the ground.

By the time I was done with all of this, it was almost 6:00, and so I cleaned up, took the trash, and watered one of the containers on the main strip in town. Mom and I are in charge of watering this week, and usually there are eight containers to water. But I walked downtown this afternoon to check them, and we'd gotten just enough rain yesterday that seven of the eight didn't seem to need any water. We'll need to water everything tomorrow, but at least I was able to take care of the one pot today without any issues.

Then I came home, took a quick shower, and made chicken and chorizo burrito bowls in the instant pot. I hadn't made them in so long that I had to look up the recipe, which is almost embarrassing, but they turned out just as good as they always do. And then I came upstairs with good intentions to write, but I didn't get as much accomplished as I wanted to. So now I'm going to go to bed early, hope I get more sleep than I did last night, and wake up early enough to hit it hard tomorrow. Goodnight!

i'm either busting at the seams or i'm broke down

I had a lovely day in the metropolis, but now I'm safely ensconced back in my small town life. I woke up after a sufficient quantity of sleep, got ready, and then walked to the nearest Starbucks so that I could load up on caffeine. When I got back to the hotel, I worked for three hours and was shockingly productive - especially shocking since I feel like I haven't been productive in weeks (that is, of course, a gross exaggeration). Then I picked up a sandwich from Palmer's Deli in the Skywalk, came back to the hotel, worked for another hour, and finally packed up and left.

My next destination was West Des Moines. I had an allergy appointment late in the afternoon, but I needed a place to take a couple of meetings from. I found a new Starbucks that is quite nice, settled in, and was able to take my calls without any issue. I also made a quick detour to Floor and Decor to look at tile - when a staff member came up to me and asked if I needed help, I said that I was in the very beginnings of a design and construction of a bathroom remodel. This was factually accurate, although I didn't say that the number of bathrooms is between three and six, depending on various tings that might happen in the next couple. But I always enjoy looking at tile, so it was a fun detour.

Then I went to my allergy appointment, and we talked for much longer than was strictly necessary, mostly about waymo's and my extreme crab allergy (okay, maybe the crab allergy was relevant to an appointment with an allergy doctor, but we probably didn't need to go as deep as we did). Then I went to Target to load up on toiletries and Whole Foods to load up on groceries. I had wanted to go to Costco, but it was so hot that I didn't feel like adding more groceries to my car was really feasible without causing earlier purchases to get damaged.

So I drove home, unloaded my car, loaded up my freezer, and then hung out with [censored] until it was time for bed. And now I need to sleep so that I can accomplish all the things tomorrow - goodnight!

always gotta push my luck

I am safely ensconced in a hotel in downtown Des Moines, in the middle of the pursuit of a whole stack of errands. I occasionally need to get enough things done in the city, and without actually taking a day off, that it makes sense to come up, spend the night, and work from a hotel. 

So this morning I got up early, did some work while still in my pajamas, and then threw some stuff in a bag, watered various plants, and headed north. I left a little later than planned, so I stopped at Starbucks in Indianola to take a couple of meetings. Then I proceeded to Des Moines, but I was cutting it too close to figure out lunch, and I even up living dangerously by going to Long John Silvers. I hadn't been there in years (probably since one of Dad's hospital trips), and the gluten is definitely not my friend, but their two piece fish basket still slaps even though the fries are now waffle fries and the hush puppies seem smaller. 

Thus sated/poisoned, I went to my salon, where I got my hair cut and colored. The colorist was new to me, but she was significantly better than the woman I used to see in West Des Moines, so I think I'm sold on switching to this salon. Unfortunately the woman who cut my hair is going on maternity leave (fortunately for her, obviously), but hopefully the interim stylist is just as good. 

So that took awhile, and then I took a meeting from my car, sped to my hotel, checked in, and did three more hours of meetings from here. Feeling accomplished, I eventually went downstairs and had a drink and a steak (both massive) at the bar. And now I think I'm going to go to bed early so I can do all the things tomorrow - goodnight!

say goodbye to hollywood

I'm unusually tired tonight because I accidentally got up unusually early this morning. But I had a good day - I did a bit of writing before work, and then I quickly showered and had meetings straight through from ten to six with an insufficient thirty minute break in the mid afternoon.

After that I was wiped out, so I watered indoor and outdoor plants, did some laundry, and then sat on my balcony and pretended to plan future tasks but instead mostly zoned out. When [censored] got home I had a late dinner of various leftovers while chatting with him. And now I am going to go to bed a bit earlier than usual and hope that revives me - goodnight!

evening glow

I managed to be somewhat diligent at work today, by the skin of my teeth - I wasn't feeling it when I woke up, but I eked out a solid 8-9 hours of productivity (much of which was meetings). By six I was feeling done, and so I went outside and spent a good hour and a half gardening. I also talked to my mom and listened to an audiobook while doing so, which was quite nice. I got more tomatoes planted, planted some peppers and eggplants, got my mint and rosemary going, and generally felt quite pleased with my progress.

Then I ate a brownie, came upstairs with a glass of rosé, and wrote on my balcony until it was dark and the mosquitos started to come for me. Then I ate a late dinner of leftover tomatoes/mozzarella, steak, and baked potato, came upstairs, and wrote some more. And now I need to go to bed immediately if I'm going to repeat any of these feats tomorrow - goodnight!