keep it one hundred on the land, the sea, the sky

I had a nice closeout to the weekend - or, at least, yesterday was nice, and today was a little too relaxed. When I woke up yesterday, I threw on some clothes and walked down to the Des Moines farmers' market. I didn't buy anything of note since I knew food would get too hot in my car during my other errands, but I picked up a notepad from a stationery store that I like, and I bought flowers and banana bread for Drewbaby and Sammie. All the vegetables looked quite nice, though, which made me wonder (again) why I spend a lot of time any money on my own subpar produce efforts - but I also don't make it up to Des Moines for the farmers' market regularly, so I guess that's why.

After that, I went back to my hotel, ate some breakfast (which was unfortunately very mid), showered, and checked out. Then I went to Drewbaby and Sammie's house to see them, but mostly to see their baby - but since Marcella doesn't talk yet, the adults had to carry the conversation without her. She turned four months old yesterday and is quite cute, and Drewbaby and Sammie seem to be doing well, so it was nice to hang out.

Then I ran some errands - I was going to go to Costco, but I was running late already, so I just went to Whole Foods and did a massive stock-up. I always forget that there's a Fareway in the Half Priced Books strip mall, but I happened to see it on my way to Whole Foods, so I picked up steaks and a variety of other meats. And then I drove home, with a stop in Indianola to pick up sweet corn.

When I got home, I unloaded my car, took care of a couple of quick things, and then drove out to Mom's with the sweet corn and some ribeyes to grill. The ribeyes turned out pretty perfectly, if I do say so myself, and so Mom and [censored] and I had a nice dinner. Then I hung out with Mom a bit longer before coming home and procrastinating and going to bed.

Today was much less interesting - I probably should have assumed I would get nothing done, but since I had had high ambitions, the fact that I did very little makes me feel much worse. But I did several loads of laundry, journaled, wrote a bit, fertilized all my tomatoes and peppers, cleaned up my raised beds a bit, and generally tidied up. And now I'm going to go to bed so that I can attempt to kickstart tomorrow a little more effectively - goodnight!

we were talking to the sunset, throwing dreams against the wall

I had a v nice day, mostly because I decided to take it off. I had intended to get up and at 'em early, but I wasn't feeling a hundred percent, so I slept in a bit and then took my time with my cold brew and some chatting with [censored]. I also did some pantry reorganizing in preparation for a massive restock, and I took care of various tings around the house. 

Eventually, though, I drove to Des Moines - I decided to go to the state fair, which I hadn't been to since before the pandemic. It was a bit of a speed run since it was crazy hot and I was just trying to hit the highlights - but I got an egg on a stick from the egg producers, saw the butter cow, hit up varied industries, checked out the dwindling 4-H exhibits, saw the Big Ram that might set a Guinness record for biggest ram ever, tasted some Iowa wines, and had some excellent gluten free fair food - namely a gf lobster corn dog and some birria pupusas, both of which were quite tasty. 

Eventually, though, I was too hot and tired to continue, so I got to my hotel, napped a bit, showered, and had a late order of fries and a glass of rosé to close the day. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

you were unsuspecting, not unwarned

I have had nothing to report the last few days - I have just been working, and occasionally writing or journaling, and occasionally checking on my gardens. It didn't help that it was cloudy and/or rainy most of the week, which always messes with my mood. 

But I celebrated a solo day in my house on Tuesday by making eight pounds of carnitas - perhaps more carnitas than is strictly necessary for one person (or for two people when one of them doesn't like pork), but I was happy to have it. And work has been fine overall, although it's always tempting to run away. And I had a fun catch-up with my friend Alex from my last stint at the goog - I apparently haven't been back to Boulder in almost three years, which I need to rectify asap.

But now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

and they try to keep us all down

I have nothing of interest to report - I spent yesterday (Sunday) slogging in a truly excessive manner on a variety of personal / writing / house tasks. That felt good in the moment, especially since I managed to be productive despite the weather and my own Sunday inclinations - but I knew that it would probably sabotage my slide into the work week, and I was mostly right about that.

However, I got up this morning and managed to do several things that I need to get done before my meetings started. At some point I took a break to go into town and get allergy shots, which was a necessary evil. And I spent the early evening wrapping up my tax prep - yes, it's four months after tax day, but I filed for an extension, and the time has finally come to settle up.

After I was done with that, I couldn't bear to look at screens, so I journaled on my balcony until the mosquitoes came out, and then I read a bit of a book. And now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

do you know the muffin man

I am running out of lyrics, which makes it hard to motivate myself to blog since coming up with a title is half the battle. I suppose I could get AI to help me with this, but that seems like a silly use of resources - but I supposed I have used resources in worse ways, so idk.

Yesterday I was v. v. productive at work, and then I made chicken orzo pasta for dinner before watching some tv with [censored] and finishing a book (MONSTER OF A LAND, which I quite enjoyed). So, after those feats of productivity, it's not really a surprise that I was somewhat useless today, although I had had higher hopes for myself. I did do some writing, and some messing around with various online tasks. I also consulted with [censored] at various points on the improvements he is making to the garage - [censored] hung cabinets today, which he had built, which is significantly more effort than I put into such things. But they look good and it will be great to have some counter space in the garage, so everything is coming up Sara.

Beyond that, I also did some checking up on my gardens (I am about to be inundated in peppers, and I hope I am similarly inundated in tomatoes). I sat outside for approximately twenty minutes but it was too hot even to sit in the shade. And I purged my bathroom storage to get rid of various expired or disliked skincare and cosmetics, which felt good.

When evening rolled around, [censored] and I went out to Mom's for dinner. She made v. tasty fried potatoes and baked beans, and I grilled hamburgers, and it was all good. And now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

the lights are turning red

I have had many interesting conversations this week since I've actually gone out into the world several times, but as is the case with small town life, it's best not to document those encounters. But I had an economic development board meeting Tuesday morning, city council Tuesday night, a quick meeting with Brenda and Bonita yesterday (over margaritas), and several excursions to water planters in town with my mom. And I have been slogging very diligently this week, which means my brain is a little fried.

So, in an effort to unfry myself, I think it's time for bed - goodnight!

let the beat drop

Today was a very Monday kind of Monday. I woke up, poured some cold brew, and attempted to write with mixed results (not zero results, which is good; but not enough results to satisfy me). I got interrupted by some sirens, which turned into me and [censored] listening to the scanner, which sounded potentially tragic for a few minutes - but even though they had lifeflight on standby for what sounded like a farm accident, the victim refused treatment, so I guess that's good?

After that excitement, I got back to day job stuff and slogged v. diligently all day. This went on until around 6pm, when Mom picked me up and we watered the planters in town. Then I came home, was desperate for a break from all screens, and so sat on my balcony (even though it was too hot) and drank rosé while reading a book, which went a long way toward restoring me.

Eventually, though, I was too hungry to continue. So, I shucked some sweet corn and boiled it, which [censored] and I ate with a container of four ham balls that I'd found in the freezer from Christmas (and were remarkably still pretty good after 7.5mo). Then I cleaned up the kitchen, came back upstairs, and read for another couple of hours. And now I need to go to sleep since I have many meetings and many tings to do tomorrow - goodnight!