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!

you bury your treasure where it can't be found

I had a v nice weekend, thanks for asking - it's amazing what sun and eighty-degree whether can do for my mood. Yesterday I spent some quality time in the morning writing, and then I did various yard type activities. I finally got my raised beds fully prepped with additional dirt, and I planted some of the tings that I needed to plant. Then I ran an errand to Chariton to get some stakes for my plants + go to the larger grocery store there. I was in the mood to make caprese salad, and the local grocery store didn't have mozzarella, but luckily I was able to get it there. Then I came home, did some more tings, and eventually went to bed.

Today got off to a productive note earlier than usual, mostly because I was making lunch for family and needed to start the prep early. I put the tomatoes for the caprese salad in the oven (trust me) by 8:30am, and then I spent a couple of hours cleaning the dining room, reorganizing stuff in the garage that was blocking the east door, and getting the grill ready for the first grilling of the season.

This was all in preparation for a v. exciting visit - Drewbaby and Sammie and Aunt Kathy came down for the day, and they (obviously) brought Marcella (aka Drewbaby's baby). Kathy also brought ribeye, which was almost as exciting as the baby, but not quite. And Mom brought a pineapple upside down cake, which was v. tasty. We had a fun time hanging out today, and many stories were shared, and if Marcella comprehends any of it, I'm sure she will be eagerly awaiting more wonders that southern Iowa may hold for her in the future.

So, we hung out all day, and then everyone left (including [censored]), and suddenly I had the house to myself. I needed a bit of time to recuperate, which turned into not getting much done, but that's okay. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

love's the loudest sound

I have had a v boring week and I have nothing to report, which makes blogging feel somewhat excruciating. I worked all day yesterday, then got allergy shots, and then met Mom at the cemetery to decorate Dad and Gram/Granddad's graves. Dad's headstone got installed a couple of weeks ago, and it looks quite nice - of course, I would prefer if it did not need to exist, but since it does, I'm glad that it's taken care of. Then I came home and made elmer's chili for dinner, watched some SNL with [censored], and did various tasks until around midnight.

This morning I woke up late thanks to the late night, spent the morning attempting to write with mixed results, and then did a bunch of random stuff around the house / yard this afternoon. I need to get my plants in the ground, but that requires a bunch of prep, and I've been quite slow. However, I made some progress this afternoon before taking a break to make brownies for a belated treat for [censored]'s birthday. Then we went out to Mom's house, where I grilled brats, which we ate with some v tasty potato salad and baked beans that Mom made. It was a very nice day for being outside and grilling, and I hope that we finally warm up and stay warm, because this cold / cloudy spring is starting to get to me.

But now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

stick season

I have had v little to report since coming home - I was pretty wrecked on Tuesday thanks to the long travel day, and that feeling partially continued into Wednesday.

Yesterday I was a bit more able to get some tings done, which I did - and then I slacked off to go into town and have a margarita with Brenda and Bonita. Brenda and I had meant to get together for awhile and finally made plans after seeing each other at a board meeting last week - and then she invited Bonita so we could discuss various mural-related things. It was nice to hang out with them, and also nice to take a break from my laptop, so I'm glad we did it. 

Then I grabbed takeout for me and [censored], got some groceries, came home, relaxed/almost napped, and then miraculously wrote from nine to midnight. Of course, that made this morning a bit rough, but coffee went a long way toward helping me. I gave [censored] a ride to pick up his [censored], and then I came home and did day job stuff quite diligently all day. I wanted to write again tonight, but my brain refused, so I did some journaling and various other small tasks and generally chilled. 

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

giving up a part of me that no one needs to know

I'm back in ye olde Iowa after a very long travel day yesterday. When I woke up yesterday morning, Chandlord and I finished doing some packing, and then we hung out in the hot tub and pool for a couple of hours. But all good things must come to an end, and so we showered, got ready, and vacated the resort. Then we went to downtown Palm Springs, where we walked around and shopped for an hour, and then had a leisurely lunch at Clandestino. It was yet another delicious meal to cap off our trip - my tacos were tasty, and their chips and guac were perfect. Then we made a brief detour to see a gigantic statue of Marilyn Monroe, which would not have been worth anything more than the half block that we walked to see it. And then we drove the eight arduous minutes to the airport, where we dropped off the rental car, checked in, and hung out before our flights.

I had originally planned to go to San Francisco with Chandlord last night, which would have meant being on the same flight around 7pm. But my travel plans for the next few weeks have changed, so I took a 4pm flight to Denver instead. My flight was uneventful, and when I got to Denver, I had time to grab a mediocre ahi tuna bowl and a decent enough glass of rose at Mercantile in the A Concourse. I usually don't eat in the A Concourse, but since United has expanded there, sometimes I don't have a choice. Then I boarded my flight to Des Moines, and I was very glad that I was upgraded at the last minute because the flight itself was pretty rough. Iowa was having all sorts of weather last night, and there was major turbulence in the last half hour of the flight. Luckily, I had taken dramamine, but it still made for a pretty brutal re-entry.

By the time I got to Des moines, it was 11:30pm. I was able to get my bag pretty quickly, but I didn't make it home until after 1am - and next time I should probably stay in the city overnight, because the drive was very unpleasant. I also shouldn't have tried to get up this morning and have my regular slate of meetings because I was really not feeling in it to win it. But I made it through the day, worked until about six, and then [censored] and I picked up pizza because I didn't have any inclination to cook. We ate while watching this week's SNL season finale, which featured Will Ferrell and Paul McCartney and was overall pretty delightful. And then I came upstairs, did various tasks, and I'm now ready to crash so that hopefully I have enough energy to be more productive tomorrow. Goodnight!

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!