heavy foot

I woke up yesterday morning in Cedar Rapids, and I could have kept the streak going of not stepping foot outside while I was in the city, but I decided that I wanted Starbucks more than I wanted to be able to claim that I had taken the trip entirely indoors. So I got ready, said farewell to [censored], and went to Starbucks, where I fueled myself with cold brew and did a tiny bit of work before hitting the road.

My drive was uneventful, and faster than usual since Iowa raised the speed limit to 60 mph on July 1st. I think that this is likely to result in chaos as people figure out which road signs have been updated and which haven't, but so far I haven't been in any accidents, so yay me. When I got home, I immediately stepped into meetings from 12 to about 5, which was not the best welcome back that I've ever had - but it set me up to be able to go into the weekend without thinking too much about work.

After I was done working, I did various things around the house, and then I picked up Mexican food for me and [censored] since I didn't feel like cooking. We both tried new things, and both of us thought that they were too bland compared to our old things, but at least we didn't starve.

Today was great, mostly since I didn't have to work. So I took care of various things, loaded my car to drop stuff off at the second hand store, and went to Indianola to run a variety of errands. Then I came home, unloaded groceries, and took Mom to Lucas (yes this is backtracking) to check out the last of this season's plants at the greenhouse. We basically struck out, but it was a nice drive. 

I then spent the evening working on cleaning my garage fridges, journaling a bit, watching more than I expected of a Savannah Bananas game, etc. And now I must sleep - goodnight!

may be vader someday later

I have had an extremely eventful couple of days, but you shall only get the highlights that I may wish to look up and fact check later.

Monday I woke up, wrote, worked, and then ran into town to attend a campaign event for Rob Sand. Unclear if he has any real shot at governor, but I think he's the most likely one to be able to do it (although he should be a shoe-in given how Iowa is dropping on all measures of budgets, economic growth, education, water quality, etc after ten years of one party rule - doesn't matter which party it is, bad outcomes start happening if one party is in charge for too long). He had a decent turnout and I enjoyed visiting with various people there, so I'm glad I went. Then I came home, worked more, talked to Katie, wrote some more, etc. 

Tuesday started with a doctor's appointment, which went great. Then I bought another house, as one does. Then I went home and slogged all day, with a break in the late afternoon to pick up the key (singular) to my new property. And then I went to the museum to screen a documentary someone made about the walldogs and the mural festival, which was really awesome. It brought back some good memories, and it was fun to watch it with Nancy, Brenda, and Bonita (+ Cindy and Jeannie, who were volunteering at the museum that day). Then I spent the evening mostly relaxing bc I was spent.

Today was a whirlwind - I got up, made cold brew, packed some clothes, watered all my outdoor stuff, etc. Then I had four hours straight of meetings, and then I grabbed my bag and a pack of salami and some leftover pizza and hit the road. I met [censored] in Cedar Rapids, which involved three hours of driving (slightly less since they raised the speed limit), and I took calls during two of them. 

So by the time I got here I was fried, but I checked into the hotel, met [censored], and we grabbed an early dinner in the hotel restaurant. If I play my cards right I might not step outside in Cedar Rapids on this trip - I parked in a garage, took the skywalk over, ate in the hotel, and our concert was in an arena attached to the hotel. So it was about as convenient as it can possibly be if you ignore the three hour drive on both sides. 

The concert was Weird Al Yankovic, who is an excellent performer. The opener was Puddles Pity Party, and I didn't know what to expect, but he was surprisingly hilarious - a 6'8" clown who has some recurring Kevin Costner bits, which you definitely had to be there for but were great. And Weird Al was awesome - he played a lot of favorites, and the overall production was great. 

And now, after the very onerous walk down the hall from the arena to the elevator (I got less than 5000 steps today and I think most of them were tending my garden and packing), it's time for bed - goodnight!

angels of the silences

I had a pretty quiet weekend. Yesterday started off well, and I did some decent writing - but I took a break to go to Dad's shop to inspect various tings with Mom and [censored], which bummed me out a bit. [Censored] is doing all the (literal) heavy lifting on cleaning things out, which makes sense since I don't know what most of it is (and the stuff I do know has very little value, like dad's old grill sitting in the weeds). He had someone come yesterday to consider buying some random stuff related to directional drilling, since only a driller would need those particular items - and that seemed to go well, although the guy blew a tire on the way home and [censored] had to go rescue him since he was pulling one of our trailers when it happened.

So anyway, while [censored] was dealing with selling things, I slipped into a bit of a funk, helped along by a very cloudy day. It's too bad since it was the last cool day for the foreseeable future, but whatever. Then we picked up pizza to take to Mom's, and I got to admire the progress she's made on her gardens, so that was great.

Today was better, oddly, since it involved a funeral. I got up around 6:30 and wrote this morning, which felt great. Then I did some gardening - I desperately needed to do some Florida weaving on my tomatoes and tomatillos since they're already out of control. I accomplished that in due form, and also watered everything since it's insanely hot. By the time I was done I had less than thirty minutes to eat something and shower, but I managed to get ready (almost) on time.

This afternoon, Mom, [censored] and I went to Kirksville for Aunt Judy's visitation. She was my dad's aunt, and she was always a hoot - I really liked her, although I hadn't seen her in years. She has suffered from dementia quite badly and hasn't really been very verbal for a couple of years, so in many ways this is a blessing. But her daughters invited us to the lunch they had before the visitation, so we went down early to see them. Debbie sat with us, which meant we got to catch up somewhat properly, and we got a chance to chat with Denise as well. And we got to eat some delicious cheesecake that they made using Judy's recipe, so that was pretty special.

After lunch, we went to visitation (across the driveway), and then snuck out instead of staying for the funeral. We had to go pick up the aforementioned trailer that the guy had borrowed yesterday to take the things he'd bought, and then since we had access to a trailer, [censored] and I picked up a 10' countertop for my garage project. Then we came home, and I spent the rest of the evening relaxing / journaling / trying not to overheat.

And now it's time to unwind and go to bed - goodnight!

she's a butcher with a smile

I had a v odd day. I got up early enough to write a bit before work, which was great, and then I had to slog in a v focused manner to get some stuff done before meeting with my boss (and Adit) after lunch. That meeting went well, and as soon as I was done, I went to Des Moines on secret business. The secret business was not accomplished as easily as I had anticipated, and it was compounded by needing to do some day job work in a parking lot, but c'est la vie.

As soon as I was done, I went to see Drewbaby and Sammie and Marcella. We hung out at their place while Marcella ate, and then we went downtown to check out the Des Moines art festival. It was surprisingly impressive - I only walked away with a ceramic piece, but there were many other things that I coveted. They apparently get 2500 applications a year and only take 250 artists, and the quality of everything was extremely high.

So it was fun to walk around, and Marcella was v well behaved until finally being over it right at the very end (acceptable). Then we went back to their house and I picked up my car and drove home. 

And now it's past my recent bedtime and I need my beauty sleep - goodnight!

empty nest

I have been slogging the last couple of days, so it's hard to dredge up interesting content for zee blog. It doesn't help that I'm still mildly congested two weeks after getting sick... I'm mostly cleared up, but every once in awhile I get a hacking cough, which is most unwelcome. 

But yesterday I took a break in the late afternoon to go into town and have a margarita with Brenda and Bonita (they are a generation older than me, but still a good time). And today I did some decent writing before work, and I spent some time on my balcony this afternoon, which almost made up for my 6:30-7:30pm work meeting. 

But beyond that I have nothing to report, and much sleep to catch up on - goodnight!

being clever never got me very far

I have reentered the work world, which is unfortunate since I would rather still be in the writing world - especially since I'm finally starting to feel better and could have used a week of non-congestion with which to write. However, I did get up early yesterday and today to write before work - tbd on how that goes tomorrow since I have not gone to bed yet, but we'll see.

So today I woke up early, wrote, showered, and then slogged until after six (with a break somewhere in the afternoon to water my gardens - I shall perhaps be inundated with tomatoes since all my seedlings survived the transplant shock). Then I threw together an easy supper of roasted chicken breasts, roasted potatoes, and roasted cherry tomatoes. [Censored] turned his into a caesar wrap, while I ate mine with copious amounts of storebought tzatziki and hummus, and I believe we were both quite pleased with our choices.

Sadly, I then made the choice to do day job work for the last hour and a half, which will make me feel a little better going into tomorrow, but does not make me particularly joyful tonight. So I'm going to go to bed and hope for a reset in my sleep - goodnight!

debi tirar mas fotos

I made it back to ye olde Iowa yesterday, after a relatively easy morning of travel - while checking my bag took longer than expected, everything else was smooth, and I had time to eat breakfast in the amex lounge and pick up some coffee before boarding. When I got to Des Moines, I wanted to go see Drewbaby's baby, but the fact that I'm still congested + was probably covered in strange plane germs made me think it wasn't a good idea.

So instead I grabbed a quick lunch at a Mediterranean place near the airport, then stocked up on groceries at fareway. When I got home, I unloaded my car, did various tings, and then [censored] and I picked up Mexican and took it out to Mom's to eat. She has made amazing progress on her gardens in the last couple of weeks, so that was fun to see. And then I came home and went to bed early to start recovering from my trip.

Today I was not really in it to win it - it was rainy and cloudy and strangely cold all day, and that affected my mood. But I got my desk set up for writing again, did some writing, did some journaling, read a bit, etc. And I made chili for dinner, which [censored] and I enjoy quite a bit.

But I've been falling asleep on my chaise for the last hour, so I think I should go to bed and hope for the best in terms of productivity tomorrow. Goodnight!