i want to come over, to hell with the consequence

I had a long but productive day of looking at screens - I got a new monitor yesterday thanks to work, and it (at least temporarily) made a difference in my ability to focus. I got up at a reasonable hour, did a couple of hours of work while sipping my coffee, took a quick shower, and ran into town to get allergy shots. Then I came home and slogged until six, which felt quite productive.

As soon as I was done with meetings, [censored] and I went to Chariton (third time this week, which is a new record) to look at some garden supply stuff at Bomgaars. Then we decided to have Mexican food up there for dinner rather than driving back to our town. The service was a little slow, but the food was excellent and I enjoyed my margarita, so I would def go there again.

And now, even though this post is boring, I'm too tired to try to spice it up - so I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight!

catch a rare type specimen

I drove 120 miles today, but in the end I didn't really feel like I got that far. Probably that's because the 120 miles were two trips to Chariton, both of which were to take mom to the eye doctor. The first trip was planned, and it was just a quick check up. But she had also been waiting for new glasses, and when we were up there this morning, they still hadn't come in. Of course, about an hour after we got home, they did come in, and so we went back up there rather than trying to do it tomorrow or Friday. I'm glad she was able to get them since it will dramatically improve her ability to see, but it wasn't quite the afternoon that I expected.

However, that wasn't really that big of a deal. Even though I had a lot of work that I intended to get done, none of it was super pressing, and so this was as good a day as any to make a couple of road trips. I didn't really wrap up until 6:30 because I had a meeting after we got back from the second trip. Then I went downstairs, did a bit of stuff around the kitchen, baked a potato, and had a late dinner. I was ready to eat just as [censored] walked in the door, so I ate while catching up with him, which was nice. And now I need to go to bed so that I can do all the things tomorrow that I intended to do today - goodnight!

my heart runs on gasoline vapors

I have been staring at screens for way too long, so I shall keep this brief. When I woke up this morning, I felt relatively #inittowinit, so I got out of bed, made some coffee, and journaled for awhile. I'm sure the sunlight helped - my mood is always better when it warms up, and today was almost perfect.

Sadly I had to work inside most of the day, but I got through all my meetings in due form, and I managed to squeeze in a little personal business too. I was finally done around six, and then I got to sit out on my balcony and write for awhile. Eventually I came inside and ate some food (a v. unusual dinner of apple, peanut butter, and cottage cheese - I had other food, but I had zero desire to eat any of it) and tidied up the kitchen. And then I switched into sweats and did some work until now.

And now, I can sleep the sleep of the just (or at least the screen-blind) - goodnight!

lead me to the right side, keep this rolling

Apologies for not blogging the last couple of nights - I had a whirlwind end to my week, including breakfast in NYC, a long and much-needed coffee with Emily (all of my coworkers are my favorite, but she is first among them), lunch and various meetings, etc., etc. My trip home was complicated by some stalled vehicle or accident in an NYC tunnel, which made my Uber ride to the airport 90min instead of 45min, which meant I did not have time for a leisurely lounge experience like I had intended. But other than that, my trip was smooth, and it was good to get home.

I spent the weekend doing a variety of household and writing things - I got fully unpacked from both SF and NYC, got my room and desk reorganized, etc. I spent more time than expected yesterday afternoon talking to the neighbors - or rather, the heirs of the neighbor who passed away earlier this year. And then I sped into town and grabbed groceries so that I could cook. I made ham and potatoes au gratin for dinner last night, and Mom came in to eat with me and [censored], which meant I had to turn the dining room back into a dining room instead of a greenhouse (with mixed results, since I couldn't move my seedlings). But dinner was v. nice and we had a good chat, so it was worth it.

Today was more of the same - I actually wrote for three hours this morning, which was excellent but also made my brain feel a little melted. Then I ate lunch and vegged for a couple of hours, and then I spent three hours doing yard work. This resulted in cleaning out part of one bed in front of my house and putting down fresh mulch, which was definitely an improvement even if there is still much work to do. And I am guessing I will be sore tomorrow, since my fingers all seem to hurt and I think my arms and legs do too, but hopefully I can get back outside as the week progresses.

I took a break to put a roast chicken in the oven, and then I finished it with some roasted potatoes and a caesar salad, which [censored] and I v. much enjoyed as the fruits of our labors. And now I need to go to sleep - goodnight!

it's giving me divine feelings

In a surprise turn of events, I am in NYC for less than thirty six hours, which was not in the cards when I went to San Francisco last week. This is entirely a work trip (sorry Terry and various other NYC friends) - I took the only direct flight here this morning, and I shall return on the only direct flight tomorrow afternoon. And I have a million meetings in that time period, so personal time is basically nonexistent.

But today's travels were smooth despite getting up at four am. I made it out of the house on time, and I had time to grab an omelette at the airport before boarding. I slept most of the way to NYC, grabbed an Uber, dropped my bag at the hotel, went to the office, and ate sushi while chatting with Gary. Then I grabbed coffee with Finn, did some meetings, went back to my hotel when my room was ready, and did more meetings until after seven.

By then I was done done, so I went to serafina and had a v mid gf pasta (but a v nice glass of cab) while writing a bit. And now I need to sleep immediately if I have any hope of being on tomorrow - goodnight!

tell me where will it end

No blog tonight - I had a v busy day, starting with allergy shots, then six hours of meetings, and then a city council meeting. When I got home, I had to furiously take care of all the tings that I needed to get done tonight, and now I have to go to bed if I have any hope of getting up early tomorrow. Goodnight!

wish i didn't know now what i didn't know then

I did not blog yesterday because I had a long day of travel - it was all smooth, but I had to get to the airport in time for an 8:30 flight, and since I had to check a bag and also wanted to eat breakfast beforehand, that meant leaving my hotel at an unfortunate hour. However, my flight to Denver got in twenty minutes early, which gave me just enough time to grab a glass of rosé and a caesar salad with salmon for my last 'city' meal before heading back to the countryside.

My flight to Des Moines was on time, and my bag made it within three minutes of my arrival to baggage claim, so I was in my car v. quickly. I stopped for Starbucks on the way home, and then I zoned out to a Trevor Noah podcast while completing my drive. When I got here, I caught up with [censored] and we got takeout Mexican since I didn't feel like cooking. This does not count as a 'city' meal, although it is certainly more convenient than trying to cook after traveling all day.

Today should have been a slog, but I played a bit of hooky. I got up this morning and worked, and I sat through several meetings, but I slacked off at 2:30 to take my mom to one of our favorite greenhouses. I usually don't make it there this early in the season, and they had quite a good selection - but I also don't know exactly what I want to plant, so I didn't load up as much as I could have. But we had a v nice time examining all of their plants, and we got lucky to not end up with rain / tornadoes, so I'll take it.

When we got home, I dropped her and her plants off, and then came back to my place, put my stuff away, said goodbye to [censored], did various household chores, and then ran back into town to grab various dairy products + pizza (not something I usually do, but I have many many things I have to accomplish this week and cooking is not something I have time for). Then I came home, ate, unpacked, did some laundry, tidied up, worked for a couple of hours, etc. And now I need to go to bed because tomorrow is going to be an overwhelming slog - goodnight!