girls are faking, goodness saking

I had another excellent day in the desert, and Vidya is still here, so I think she's having an okay time too. I got up pretty early, did some journaling, and then drove Chandlord to her time share presentation (which she was required to attend to get this room basically for free). Then I hung out at the pool until she got back (without purchasing a time share, which makes her stronger than I probably would have been).

Then we went into Palm Desert to grab brunch, which turned out to be great - we went to a delish Mexican place where the chilequiles were on point. We wandered around the shops for a bit and bought some truly ridiculous clothes, and then we came back and spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool. 

Eventually we went to the nearby JW Marriott, which had a fancier vibe, where we had cocktails and fries, and then I had a sushi roll and a glass of rosé. And then we came back and watched "Wine Country", which was quite silly and fun. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

jack trainer

I don't know about Chandlord, but I had an excellent day in the desert. I woke up absurdly early due to the time difference, and I drove off site to grab Starbucks as fuel for my morning. Then I came back and did some journaling while Vidya woke up. Then I showered and hung out by the pool while she finished getting ready, and we drove into Palm Springs to avail ourselves of the various tings to do. 

So we put our names in for brunch at Farm, and we window shopped nearby while waiting for a table. Brunch was really excellent, and the vibe was good (for me, at least; unclear if Vidya is enjoying herself at all, but I am delighted). Then we went to various shops and browsed various things, but other than an expensive pair of reading glasses, I was quite frugal. 

Then we came back to the resort, relaxed a bit, and spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool. We grabbed dinner at the only restaurant at the resort, which was tastier than I expected, and we ended it early when the winds picked up and we started tasting sand instead of salt. We got an impromptu golf cart lift back to our room, and then we watched "Lost City", which we have actually watched together before, but I always like Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum. Again, not sure Vidya is enjoying herself, but c'est la vie I guess. 

And now it's time for bed - but not before wishing [censored] a happy [censored]! Goodnight!

I heard you calling on the megaphone

I had a lovely day in Palm Desert, thanks for asking. I got up early enough to write for a bit, and then I got ready, packed, checked out of my room, and caught an Uber back to the airport. When I got there, I rendezvoused with Chandlord and also picked up a rental car, which we very much need since things are spread out in the desert.

Vidya and I grabbed brunch downtown, which was a delight. Then we checked into the hotel (again) and luckily our room was ready. So we spent the afternoon hanging out at a variety of pools, soaking in a bunch of sun, and generally catching up.

After we showered, cleaned up, etc, we went back into Palm Springs, where we grabbed a drink at Truss and Twine, and then had a v tasty dinner at Eight4Nine. The crowd around here is v eclectic - we saw some moms potentially getting their daughters drunk, a lot of surprisingly cut dresses, and also a lot of gay men. So far so good, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the weekend. 

And now I'm exhausted and need to go to bed - goodnight!

it all just takes over you

I have arrived in Palm Desert after a long but uneventful travel day. My morning was pretty easy peasy since my flight wasn't until 11:30, and I got to the airport in time to eat breakfast before my flight. Today was the first day that the Des Moines airport had new numbers for their gates - after flying out of the A concourse (either A2 or A4) my entire life, suddenly I was flying out of gate 25. This is all in preparation for their new terminal, which should be quite nice. Still, it was v strange, and I'm glad [censored] saw it on the news and told me last night, or else I would have been super confused. 

Anyway, I had a long layover in Denver, so I grabbed a burger at Elway's and then took a glass of wine to go so I could sit in a random gate area and talk to Adit and Baz. Then I boarded and slept most of the eat to Palm Springs, but the landing almost made me vomit, and I've felt pretty off the rest of the night. 

So I Ubered to my hotel, where I did not settle in bc I have to check out and switch rooms tomorrow. Instead, I took a walk around to check things out, grabbed a smoothie, and sat on the balcony while the sun set. My balcony view is perhaps better, but the balcony has no mosquitos, so it's a trade off.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

and we always use the same tired lines

I have been v. busy the last couple of days - it's always a bit chaotic during Iowa Week (tm), which is the week when I have my economic development, city council meeting, and library board meeting within 36hrs of each other. Of course, I also am supposed to do my day job in that period, and also feed and groom myself, so that adds some complexity. And in this particular week, I happen to be leaving tomorrow to go on a weekend trip, which added even more baggage (pun intended).

So I slogged relentlessly yesterday between my 8am economic development meeting and my 6pm city council meeting, and then I came home and sat on my balcony and did a bit of writing. This morning I got up and wrote before work, and then slogged all day before my library board meeting. When I got home, I immediately started packing (while talking to Adit briefly, and occasionally answering various messages). I took a break to eat a late dinner around the time [censored] got home, and so I talked to him and we filled each other in on all the gossip we acquired in 48hrs (which is, as usual, quite a lot).

Then I came upstairs, finished packing, and in a miracle I will most likely be able to get 7.5hrs of sleep before waking up and getting ready for the airport. If everything goes smoothly, I will arrive at my destination tomorrow night and be ready to greet Chandlord for some fun in the sun on Friday. Goodnight!

mississippi moon won't you keep on shining on me

I have basically nothing to report - I spent the day slogging, or attempting to slog, mostly with good results. I got up early enough to journal before work, and I also took a break in the morning to inspect various aspects of the yard with [censored], as we do. And then I sat through many meetings, did many tasks, sent many slack messages, etc.

After [censored] left, and after I was done working, I sat on my balcony with a glass of sancerre and listened to part of a SymSys lecture (my old major occasionally does distinguished guest lectures that are open to alums, and sometimes they are interesting) while also doing various personal finance tasks and knocking some minor tings off my to-do list. Then I had a late girl dinner (cheese, crackers, salami, jam), tidied up, and answered some emails I had been putting off (note: every single email I get is an email I put off, unless I answer it within two minutes of receiving it).

And now, I need to go to bed - I have an early meeting in town tomorrow morning, and a city council meeting tomorrow night, and many tings to do between those events. Goodnight!

surrey with the fringe on top

I had a pretty good weekend, all things considered - and of course the primary thing to be considered was that Dad passed away a year ago yesterday. He has been on my mind the last few weeks, as the light changed and began to mirror the wavelengths present when he went to the hospital for the last time, and the trees and fields began to look generally the same as they looked during his last few days at home.

But despite the melancholy of the anniversary, the weekend overall was good. Yesterday, Mom and I went on a greenhouse tour - we went over to Decatur to check out Yutzy's, which was slammed with people doing Mother's Day shopping. It still feels a little too cool to plant tomatoes and peppers, but this weekend was gorgeous, and everyone is in the mood to get outside.

Yutzy's had a reasonably good selection of various things, and I got some pepper plants to augment my seedling experiment, which I am convinced will fail. They also had some nice-looking patio furniture, although tbd what I will eventually do with my deck. After we escaped the madness there, we decide to go to Ellis, which was a bit of a detour - but the detour meant going through Osceola, where we got McDonald's, which is tastier than it should be given how mass-produced it is. Ellis was also quite busy, but I got a couple of nice-looking shrubs that I need to figure out where to plant. And then we went to Bomgaars, where Mom exhibited surprising restraint and didn't buy anything, while I got a peony and something for [censored].

Thus satisfied with our gardening efforts, we came home, and I spent the rest of the day doing various things around the house, all of which felt reasonably productive and none of which are memorable. I should have gone to bed early, but instead I sat down on my chaise around nine intending to work, and instead dozed until I actually went to bed at midnight.

I woke up this morning determined to seize some momentum, so I made some coffee, and then wrote off and on for about four hours. This was v. fruitful and I'm glad I did, but by the time I wrapped up, I had a headache from staring at my screen for too long, and I had missed much of the best part of the time to be outside. I also had various indoor tasks to take care of (four loads of laundry, changing my sheets, etc.). All of this was so much to process that I took a nap. And then when I woke up, I ran to the grocery store, came home, did some plant prep (mostly moving seedlings around and starting to harden off my tomatoes), and then prepped some stuff for dinner.

Around six, I drove Dad's truck out to Mom's (partially to help [censored] get a load of mulch out there, partially to avoid getting my car dirty since I washed it in Des Moines on Friday and like to have at least forty-eight hours where I don't drive it on gravel). I spent some time cleaning the grill, which didn't really get cleaned last year either - I had kept the grates clean, but I was never in the mood to clean the outside, and we didn't use it much last summer. So I cleaned the outside, brush copious cobwebs out of the inner cabinet, cleaned the grease trap, and then fired it up so that I could brush off any remaining residue on the grates.

Once that was done, I grilled three ribeyes and some burgers, all of which turned out excellently (if I do say so myself). I had sauteed some sweet onions and mushrooms to go with them, which were delicious and well worth the 25+ minutes I spent babysitting the sauteeing process (okay, I didn't babysit too closely, since I was taking care of plants during that time). And Mom threw together a caesar salad and baked some potatoes, so it was a pretty perfect meal. [Censored] took a break from mowing in time to eat, so the three of us celebrated Mother's Day in style.

When we were done, Mom gave me a ride back into town, and I took out the trash, dropped off my water bill payment at city hall, and did various tings until now. And now it's time for bed so that I can hopefully bring some of this productive energy to my day job tomorrow - we shall see. Goodnight!