crop top and a bandolier, swinging from a chandelier

I had a fairly decent weekend, all in all. Yesterday I woke up in Des Moines, grabbed breakfast from the cafe downstairs, and drank coffee in the lobby while working on various tings until it was time to check out. Then I drove to the Michaels store in West Des Moines to find some decorative paper - I'm on a bit of a kick of making my own planner inserts since I can't find one that is perfect for all my needs, and I wanted some paper for the covers. After completing that errand successfully, I drove south, stopped at the Starbucks in Indianola and did some journaling, grabbed some steaks at Fareway, and drove home.

When I got here, I unloaded my car, relaxed a bit, took a quick nap, and then helped Mom water the planters in town (for what is likely the last time this year). Then I made dinner for Mom and [censored] to celebrate my birthday - I was going to make them take me out, but my place of employment sent me a gluten free pie for my birthday (that arrived mostly thawed because UPS doesn't deliver here on Thursdays) and so I decided to cook so we could eat pie after. Cooking was about as easy as it gets, since I just grilled ribeyes and boiled some of the last of this year's sweet corn - and the pie (a mixed berry with a nice crumble-type top) was v. tasty with vanilla ice cream.

After Mom left, [censored] and I watched the rest of the Cy-Hawk game. Iowa State lost almost all their players last year after our head coach left, so we knew almost no one on the field - but it appears we have a surprisingly good quarterback, so we'll see how the season goes. Unfortunately the Cyclones lost right at the end, but it was closer than might have been expected given how the roster turned over, so I'll take it.

Today I meant to be in it to win it, but I spent too much time lying in bed scrolling on my phone. Then I made coffee, talked to [censored], did various tings around my room, did some hurried harvesting of my garden, and then generally had trouble getting into anything the rest of the afternoon because it started raining and really didn't let up. However, I did write for awhile (while sitting at my desk instead of on my chaise, shocker). And then I ran to town to get groceries, came home, and grilled burgers and hot dogs + made some caprese salad for dinner. The burgers turned out perfectly, if I do say so myself, and [censored] and I ate them (+ more pie) while watching 'Stuart Fails to Save the Universe' and some clips from various Conan podcasts.

And now I need to unwind so that I can go to bed at a reasonable hour - goodnight!

victim of luck

Happy birthday to me! I had an excellent day, thanks for asking - I took it off from work, and I spent the morning puttering around and doing some tings that have been lingering on my to do list for a long time. Thus accomplished, I showered, ate some peanut butter, and drove to Des Moines. 

My destination was the Lexus dealership, where I test drove a couple of cars - zee Audi is still going strong, but it's eight years old, and it's hitting the age and mileage for increasingly expensive repairs (and I'm also starting to hanker for something new). So I drove a couple of options, which were both great, and also both different enough that I need to sleep on it before deciding. 

To do the sleeping, I decided to stay in Des Moines - I was in the mood for a nice evening out, so I checked into a hotel, and then had a long and delicious meal (including one of the best pork chops I've ever had, and a flourless chocolate cake because why not). The bartenders were entertaining, I did some good journaling, and the bar was empty enough that I didn't feel too rude texting various people and talking to Chandlord when she called. 

But now I need to sleep - goodnight!

out of the sea, into the fire

I have had very little to report this week - or rather, I did a lot of things yesterday, but not all of them are appropriate for the blog. I was completely useless on my day off on Monday - the weather was unexpectedly grim, and I didn't feel like doing anything noteworthy. However, I did try a new recipe for dinner; I made a picadillo recipe out of the Nopalito cookbook, and it was relatively quick and extremely delicious.

Picadillo is actually not crazy dissimilar from a bolognese sauce or some kind of Maid-Rite - it's ground beef, onion, carrot, potato, canned diced tomatoes, jalapeño, tomato paste, and some spices, cooked up until everything is perfectly done. I chose to eat mine inside some corn tortillas with refried black beans, but the picadillo would be awesome in stuffed peppers (or stuffed into just about anything else). [Censored] happened to be home and also enjoyed it, and we ate while watching some TV and catching up.

Yesterday, I was too busy with various civic engagements to get much else done - I had an economic development board meeting in the morning, and then I had to vote in a special election, and then I had a city council meeting directly after work. These kinds of days are good for catching up on gossip and bad for doing anything else, but I enjoyed myself. And the special election went the way that I wanted it to - we were voting to extend/renew the local option sales tax, and the vote went overwhelming in favor (with the exception of two of the smallest towns in the county, where the yes/no tied, which is a real bummer because putting on a future special election ballot would cost $8000, which is pretty silly in a town where only 2 people turned out to vote and they disagreed with each other).

After all that excitement yesterday, I wasn't feeling totally in it to win it today. I did get various tings done, and I participated in various meetings, but none of that should interest you. And now I need to go to bed so that I can hopefully be a bit more on my game tomorrow - goodnight!

beaches in tennessee

I had a v lovely day of family stuff, although it started a little earlier than I like Sundays to begin. Mom and I drove up to the metro area for Drewbaby's daughter's baptism; I have been in that church for three events (Uncle Mark's funeral, Drewbaby and Sammie's wedding, and now Marcella's baptism), and I'm glad the count continues to go up with good events.

Marcie was a trooper during the baptism and didn't cry at all, and the service itself was nice. After, we hung out and ate cake with the congregation, and then the family had lunch, which was v. tasty. I got to catch up with Aunt B for a few minutes, and I got to hold the baby, and all in all it was a pleasant way to spend the day.

After we were done at the church, Mom and I swung by Aunt Kathy's house to check out a family furniture piece that may make its way back to southern Iowa (it went to Oklahoma and back in a covered wagon, so hopefully [censored] and I can get it here in some sort of modern conveyance). Then we drove home, with a couple of errand stops on the way. And then I vegged for awhile before making myself an excellent girl dinner (2 of my own tomatoes, which tasted perfect with a ball of burrata mozzarella and some olive oil / balsamic glaze / basil), having a glass of wine, and doing a bunch of stuff on my laptop until now.

And for posterity, the rest of my weekend was uneventful - I spent Friday flying back to Iowa (via Kansas City) and had dinner with Mom and [censored] after I got home. Yesterday I did various tings around the house, cleaned a lot of random tasks off my desk, and made spaghetti (with sauce from the freezer) and garlic bread for me and [censored]. And now I need to go to bed so I can accomplish a bunch of stuff with my day off tomorrow - goodnight!

cut me down where the water meets the sea

I had a v nice day in the city of sin. I got up in time to journal before work, and then I showered and took a meeting from the hotel before grabbing a waymo to work (so I could take another meeting from the car without issues). When I got to work I had many meetings, and some chicken and hummus, and a v tasty iced coffee (which I enjoyed during my favorite meeting of the week).

When I was done with meetings, I skipped out early to meet Claudia for happy hour at Waterbar. This was the perfect happy hour location for us since we were able to share two dozen oysters and some fries, and we each had two glasses of wine, and the bill was surprisingly cheap for SF (but still expensive compared to ten years ago, or to Iowa). We had an excellent time catching up, and I got to see photos of her child (who continues to be one of the cutest children ever), so that was all a delight.

When we were done, I walked Claude to the ferry, caught an Uber to my hotel, and packed in advance of my departure tomorrow. I should have done more work, but I wasn't feeling it, so I vegged instead. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

feel the rain on your lips

I had a lovely day in the city of sin, but I'm deeply ready to go to bed. I took a waymo to work, had a couple of meetings, grabbed coffee with Timothy, had some more meetings, and then had a meeting/lunch with an external vendor. They took the finance team (and me) to Restoration Hardware for lunch, which was quite entertaining - I do not know why a furniture store has gotten into the restaurant business, but since they did, we might as well enjoy their overpriced (but perfectly cooked) entrees in their marble-encased Palm Court.

After lunch all I really wanted was a nap, but I had several more meetings. When I was done, I took a waymo out to Ocean Beach - this took longer than a human would have taken since it's so cautious and follows all speed limits, but I also felt fine dozing off on a way that I do not feel safe with a random human driver, so this was an intentional trade-off. I was early to dinner, so I spent an enjoyable fifteen minutes sitting outside in the sun....

... And then I met up with Anne, Grace, Barbara, and Veronica at Beach Chalet for dinner. We were way overdue to catch up, so we spent a lot of quality time talking about work and life. It was wonderful to see them, even if seeing writer friends makes me wistful about my career choices (although Restoration Hardware gives me other reasons to feel fine about those choices).

But now I desperately need to sleep - goodnight!

california succumbed to the fault lines

No time to blog tonight - I had a nice day full of many meetings, and I ended it with a quick drink with Martha before heading back to my hotel. I was wiped out when I got here, so I ordered Mexican takeout (delish) and generally chilled/worked in a desultory fashion until now. But now I must sleep if I'm going to have any hope of being productive tomorrow - goodnight!