someone pour me up a double shot of whisky

I had a v nice weekend, even though it was colder than I would like (I was, perhaps, born to be a snowbird - or maybe eighteen years in california made me weak). Yesterday, I got caught up on various personal tasks that I had been putting off, which felt good. I also made a very delicious dinner - I was in the mood for something cozy, but also beefy, and so I made beef and noodles and mashed potatoes. The beef and noodles are an instant pot recipe that turns out perfectly every time (although it always takes longer than I think it should), and you wouldn't know it's gluten free except for the fact that the noodles soak up every ounce of liquid. And of course, since we're Iowans, we have to put our starch on top of another starch - which is a good thing, since my mashed potatoes are perfection.

So I made supper, and Mom came in to eat, which was v. nice. I'm sure she would have rather had prime rib, but sometimes I would rather not put on a bra and real pants to go to dinner (although that's probably not strictly required at the place we go to for prime rib). After dinner, I cleaned up the kitchen, watched a little bit of Olympics, gave up on it, and read for a couple of hours - I'm deep into a book called THE INFORMATION, which I'm quite enjoying, even if I can't explain it.

Today was a bit more of the same - I spent the morning at my desk doing a variety of personal tings, and I also did four loads of laundry, put together some drawers that I'd ordered six weeks ago, tidied up my room, finished unpacking from Carlsbad, etc. And then I made a fresh batch of mashed potatoes to go with last night's leftovers, which [censored] and I enjoyed. I probably should have watched the Olympics closing ceremonies tonight, but I have been unusually disengaged this year - instead, I cleaned up the kitchen, folded the last of my clothes, and did an hour and a half of work so that tomorrow morning goes just a wee bit smoother.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

don't bother fixing your hair if you've got nothing to wear

I had a long day of slogging, mostly because I shadowed an interview at 9am and then conducted an interview until 5pm, and I had meetings in between. But everything was fine, all in all, and then I slacked off to reheat various tings from the freezer stash. [Censored] wanted vegetable beef soup, and so I grabbed a cube of that - my souper cubes are a delight when it comes to freezing leftovers and then being able to stack them later. And I decided to eat some chicken chile verde that has been in the freezer way too long (but luckily was still delish). Of course, I couldn't defrost them in the microwave together, so the heating up process took a bit - but we were both satisfied and didn't have to do any real cooking so I'm calling it a win.

After that, I could have watched Olympics, but instead I retreated to my room and wrote/journaled/debated myself about various tings. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

even when the paths are all crookedy

The weather is turning, and I have a slow building headache that I blame on the cold. Today was mostly fine - I got plenty of sleep, had ham and beans for lunch, and knocked off at 5 to drink a glass of wine and do some journaling before dinner. I'm sure I should have worked, but that's a problem for Future Sara. 

Instead, [censored] and I ate last night's leftover pasta (still tasty) and watched the Olympics. I was delighted for the gold medalist in women's figure skating - she was my favorite at Worlds, and her comeback has been quite inspiring. I've been much less invested in this Olympics than usual, but at least I've been able to enjoy some good moments. 

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes

I've had a pretty good couple of days - busy, since I'm back at work, but it could be worse. Yesterday I had a million meetings, but I went out to Mom's for supper. She made me ham and beans (is that appropriate for Mardi Gras before Lent??), which were quite tasty and much appreciated. And then I came home and caught up on Olympics coverage - the women's short program had some unfortunate developments, but I was distracted by a project I'm working on and so wasn't completely invested. 

Today was more of the same, but luckily it was sunny, which always improves my mood. I had far more meetings than I like to, and I didn't really have time for lunch. So I cut out at five, bought some groceries, and made a new to me recipe. It was an orzo and chicken casserole, which was kind of funny bc I realized that orzo is meant to be shaped like rice - but since gluten free pasta is predominantly rice, that may have been an unnecessary processing element. 

But the dish was delicious, and I ate it while watching Olympics, which was great. And now I need sleep - godnight!

go for launch

I have been back in ye olde Iowa for a couple of days, but I haven't had the desire to blog (mostly because I have been staring at screens for other tings). Saturday's travels were about as smooth as they could be - I made it out of the rental house by 6:10am, and so had plenty of time at the airport to grab breakfast and coffee (and a little early morning free rosé) at the Chase Sapphire lounge before flying out. My connection in Denver was about as tight as I ever allow it to be (58min), but luckily we were early and my gates weren't as far apart as they sometimes are, so I had time to grab a Mediterranean bowl from Garbanzos on my way to boarding. I even had time to eat it in the gate area, so I wasn't a monster and didn't have to take food onto the plane.

The rest of Saturday was also uneventful - my bags came out quickly, my drive home was easy, and I had time to grab Starbucks and get my car washed on the way. Then, [censored] and I picked up takeout from El Vago, which was completely slammed for Valentines Day. And then I went to bed early in an attempt to recover from my mild sleep deficit from the retreat.

Yesterday was supremely low-key - I barely did anything, although I did go out to Mom's and hang out for awhile. I didn't even really do anything that would qualify as cooking, since I just pulled some ham balls and twice baked potatoes from the freezer and reheated them. But that was still a v tasty meal, which we enjoyed while watching some fine Olympics coverage.

Today was better than most Mondays, mostly because I had it off - so I got up and did some journaling / planning this morning, and then I ran into town to get allergy shots. When I got home, I made frozen fish and fries for lunch for me and [censored], since there were no leftovers in the fridge. And then I spent approximately seven of the last ten hours playing with Claude Code - I feel like I need to get more up to speed on the more technical applications of AI, and so I'm doing a little mini project for myself to teach myself some tings. My eyeballs feel like they're about to fall out of my head, but my experimentation today was illuminating, so we shall see what else I come up with.

At some point I took a break to make dinner - [censored] suggested I put leftover queso from Saturday on today's leftover fries, and I realized that I could also add carnitas from the freezer. That sounds kind of sad to combine leftovers from three different meals, but I heated it all up optimally, and the result was amazing. I ate it while watching tonight's Olympics coverage, where I was delighted for the women's bobsled winner (finally got gold at the age of 41, after many other medals!), and was also thrilled that the Japanese pair won the pairs' gold since they were my favorites at Worlds last year. And I kept an eye on the ISU/Houston score, which turned out great. So all in all it was a great night for sports, which may be the only thing humans have left after AI takes over, so I'm glad it all went well.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

i can ride my bike with no handlebars

I had a lovely final day of my retreat, although I'm v. sad that it's over. I spent the morning drinking coffee and writing, and then I ordered a poke bowl and ate it while setting up tonight's dinner order. I spent most of the afternoon outside, writing (perhaps dozing) in the sun, and hanging out with Barbara and Grace in our usual spot. Then I treated myself to half an hour sitting in the sand and watching the waves, which was a lovely end to the day.

Eventually, I went upstairs to join the business meeting, and we interrupted it to take a few group photos as the sun set. Dinner arrived shortly thereafter, and the Mexican place I found tonight seemed much better than the one earlier in the week, so I definitely overstuffed myself. Then I hurriedly packed everything so I could drag my suitcase upstairs tonight - I have to leave the house around 6am tomorrow, and I didn't think I would want to drag all my stuff up the equivalent of 2-3 flights of (outdoor, slightly uneven) stairs at that hour.

But I finished packing quickly, so I was able to spend another hour hanging out with the remaining crew in the living room (Barbara, Anne, Rachel, Tina, and Melissa - Melissa was a new addition this year, but we have much in common since she was at Stanford twenty years before me and also went to the Nationals figure skating competition this year like I went to Worlds last year). And now I should probably go to bed in deference to tomorrow's early start.

But before I go to bed, I should tell you - the friend I mentioned earlier last week who was in the Bad Bunny halftime show? It was Adit, my erstwhile former roommate; some people call him the cat. You can read this post if you want to get the details.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

i've been thinking may...maybe you're right

Today I hit a wall, which usually happens around this point in the retreat - I slept somewhat poorly and didn't want to do anything today. It didn't help that I showered early (to take a single 8am meeting before being off for the day), and ran out of hot water just as I had conditioned my hair. I kept telling myself that the cold was invigorating, but it was really just terrible.

Then I went out and got coffee, spent the morning journaling / dozing, ate some leftover Indian food, and attempted to write outside during the afternoon with mixed results. Then I took a long nap in my bed (after a short nap outside), and awoke with a sudden flash of clarity about some writing tings, which was good. But I didn't have time to pursue them - I met Anne for some mildly illicit behavior on the beach, and we watched the sun go down while freezing and talking about AI.

Then the group went for dinner, which was a bust for me - the food overall seemed to be good enough, but the service was poor and they forgot my entree entirely, and didn't bring it until everyone else had already been done for 10-20 minutes. They did comp it after I complained enough and said that giving me a free dessert wasn't good enough; and then they brought dessert for the table as an apology, but I couldn't eat the dessert anyway. However, they did ultimately give me my entree, and I boxed it immediately so we could leave, and then I ate it while sitting in the living room, which was almost preferable because we could hear each other. In the end, this wasn't the end of the world - but I suspect Barbara and I will conspire to do our dinner out elsewhere next time.

And now, I need to sleep - I have high hopes for the last day of the retreat tomorrow, and I want to be well rested for it. Goodnight!