i trace the faith to a broken down television and put on the weather

Happy New Year's! I'm writing this at 12:36am in the Central timezone, but it will likely qualify as my last post of 2018 by the timestamp on my blog. 2018 was an interesting year for me - I met some important work and personal goals, so theoretically should have #noregrets, but the accomplishment of those goals happened by abandoning most of my writing and accidentally deprioritizing a lot of relationships. I didn't intend for either of those things to happen - but things got ridiculous at the day job this spring, and it's like I blinked and discovered it was December, and have no memory of how I got here.

Of course, I do have memory - and there are some great ones from this year. I did a lot of traveling in 2018, and had some amazing times with friends and family in multiple states (and with Dom Perignon in Paris, who is almost like family). I'm happy that I moved to Colorado, which is a great state (you should all move there). And I do actually like my job a lot, which is why it's sucked up so much of my energy this year.

But for 2019, I would like to rebalance my life - more writing, more friendships, more community in Colorado, more family (and family time), more kettlebells. I would also like to write a couple of books, buy a house, and take a vacation that involves neither writing nor family (no offense to anyone involved in either of those activities, but I need to recharge occasionally). And if I can do all of that while still feeling decently fulfilled in my job, that would make for a pretty great year.

As for today - it was all pretty uneventful, although [censored] won at Ticket to Ride: Europe yet again. I watched some tv with my mom after, and then [censored] and I rang in the new year by watching a replay of Johnny Carson's 1975/76 new year's eve broadcast (weird). Yes, I'm hermity, and no, I don't care.

Now, though, I need to go to sleep, dream of the new year, and wake up relatively early so that I can pack and prepare for my return to Colorado. Happy new year to all of you, and I hope you have a great 2019!

i wanna get better

I had a pretty mellow day, all in all. I had to get ready slightly faster than planned since we forgot to take a photo of the four of us yesterday to send to some friends in Ukraine, and so we had to accomplish that while we still had other people around - and since I didn't want to look homeless, I decided I shouldn't be in my pajamas. Also, Aunt B and Uncle Brian came over this morning (after spending the night in town) so that they could pick up Drewbaby and take him north with them.

This was the perfect excuse to also send some other random stuff north, and [censored] seized the opportunity. When it was time for the family to leave, I drove [censored] into town, where we met Aunt B/Uncle B/Drew B so that we could unload some things and load some other things. [censored] has made some great progress dealing with the hoard that he has acquired, and he took advantage of Aunt B's truck and Drewbaby's destination to get rid of a 50+ year old bicycle that used to belong to Uncle Mark. It's unlikely that Uncle Mark will ride it again, but if he does, I definitely want pics.

sssanyway. After that saga (in which Aunt B rescued a small stepstool whose name was apparently 'Benchy', although Benchy has seen better days and needs serious refinishing to fit in with her current decor), my aunt, uncle, and cousin headed toward Des Moines, and I came home and was lazy most of the rest of the day. I took a nice nap, did a bit of work (personal work, not day job work), talked to my mom, ate, and generally did very little. We ended up playing Ticket to Ride: Europe tonight, which [censored] won, which was unfortunate (I mean, I'm happy, I guess).

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

you call her jabberjaws

Merry Christmas again! Today was Wampler Family Christmas (tm), which meant that my dad's brother and sister and their families arrived at some ungodly hour to spend the day together. The hour was less ungodly than usual because every family member stayed up way too late last night watching the Iowa State / Washington State game, but they still got here between ten and eleven, which is impressive since it was a 1.5-2hr drive for everyone other than us.

We spent the day in our usual haze of eating all the random food that showed up, telling stories about all the random people we've known, and listening to Gram's same two or three questions interjected at random (but v. frequent) intervals. Gram's dementia is truly shocking; she walked into our house and asked whose it was, and kept asking that all afternoon, even though we've lived here for eleven years (and on this property for almost forty) and she's been in this house over a hundred times. Another bit of her long-term anchor has slipped; she no longer knows where things are located between the towns in our county, which used to be an immutable map in her head since she was born here and has spent eighty-eight years in and around these parts (with some time living in other towns, although she always came back to visit her parents / my granddad's parents before moving back in the sixties).

sssanyway. We had some awesome smoked turkey and ham for lunch to go with all the variety of fixings that showed up, and then we did the family white elephant, which was as ridiculous as usual. I ended up with two 20+ year old bottles of alcohol that will probably poison me, and a bongo that I can play as I'm going blind from the alcohol. Drewbaby (my cousin) chose the gift that he was destined to have - [censored] put in a book for how to cope with being the child of hoarders, which Drewbaby is (but we're all children of hoarders and destined to become hoarders ourselves, so c'est la vie). And we generally all had a v. entertaining time.

The rest of the day was spent with more eating, more merriment, and some quality time drinking Aunt Kathy's gift (she chose a bottle of margarita mix, and I was happy to supply the tequila, although I eventually switched to Bailey's on the rocks, followed by some of Aunt B's malbec). Gram went back to her assisted living facility, and the rest of us hung out until the wee hours. For Uncle Mark and Aunt Kathy, that was only eight p.m. since they drove home tonight; Aunt B and Uncle Brian stayed until ten since they have a hotel room in town; and Drewbaby is sleeping on our couch, so he stayed up with me and [censored] and our parents, talking about a lot of adult topics until it was finally time for all of us to sleep.

So I guess I should go to bed - goodnight!

brand new sounds in my mind

I've had a v. lazy couple of days in ye olde Iowa. And by that, I mean I've accomplished virtually nothing - although today I did manage to pack up a box of stuff to ship to myself, take care of some work stuff (only 30min, but v. necessary), and make some chocolate chip chewies. I've been feeling very hermity and avoidant of all things related to my social life, which has not been great for my connections with friends - but hopefully after this break I'll be ready to reengage.

sssanyway. I did leave the house yesterday - I tramped around in the muddy fields looking for some missing cats (they showed up later, totally unconcerned, of course), and I also went into town to have supper with Hannah, one of my friends / distant cousins from high school. We went to the Mexican place in town again, and while I should not have eaten the dessert due to the gluten, I couldn't help myself because it was a cheesecake chimichanga (cheesecake filling wrapped in a tortilla, deep fried, and covered in sugar/cinnamon), which was so fucking good.

Tonight was less pleasant, since I stayed up late watching the Alamo Bowl w/my mom and [censored], and Iowa State lost, which was rather unfortunate. But now I need to sleep since we have family stuff happening tomorrow - goodnight!

feeling that it's gone can change your mind

Merry Christmas! I had a very lovely day in ye olde Iowa - it started slightly later than planned because I slept through my alarm (my body apparently decided that waking up at seven a.m. was barbaric, although my parents get up at four, so this was a compromise). However, I bolted awake at 7:22, so we weren't too far behind schedule. The 'schedule' consisted of our usual opening of stockings and gifts, which was initially interrupted by Gram calling every five or ten minutes until we unplugged the phone.

After that, it was all smooth sailing. We all got our usual assortment of things that no one else was interested in - my mom mostly got garden/kitchen stuff, [censored] got a lot of tools, and my dad got train collectibles. My haul was primarily cookbooks, fountain pen/ink accoutrements, a new corkscrew and some thermos-style wine glasses, and a variety of tools that [censored] picked out for me. I also got a set of vintage copper-colored canisters that matched the set my grandma always had on her counter, which is pretty cool. [censored] got Gram's set today (which had gone out to Colorado and back courtesy of Aunt B), but they're pretty indistinguishable from each other; my set came from the secondhand shop in town. I swear that it wasn't jealousy that caused me to accidentally throw one of [censored]'s lids in the trash while picking up all the wrapping paper. Luckily, [censored] realized it was missing tonight, since my dad had already taken the trash into town and tossed it into his business dumpster; so, [censored] was able to rescue it before the dumpster gets emptied in the morning. Christmas was saved!

We spent the rest of the day hanging out, relaxing, etc - unless you were my mother, in which case you made breakfast casserole and muffins, and then later made prime rib, all of which was delicious. We also played two games of Ticket to Ride: Europe, which was pretty unsatisfying for me since my dad won the first game and [censored] won the second.

And now it's time for bed - I hope that you all had a v. merry Christmas! Goodnight!

what if i'm far from home? oh [censored], i will hear you call

Merry Christmas Eve! Today was entirely full of family stuff, which has left me a bit exhausted. I didn't get quite as much sleep as I would have liked, but I got up in time to help my mom a little (I made the corn casserole, which was a real honor to be entrusted with such an important dish; I also peeled the potatoes, which is less glamorous, and did the dishes after everyone left, which is even less glamorous than that).

My sister's family came over today for our usual Christmas Eve festivities. There are a couple of little kids on that side now - my oldest niece has two kids (a nine year old and a one year old), and my nephew married a girl who has a three year old, so they were all super fun to hang out with. We did the usual Christmas dinner (at lunch, as per midwest tradition), then opened presents, and then watched the three year old dance around until it was time for everyone to leave. All in all, it was a lovely afternoon.

After they left, I did the aforementioned dishes, and then [censored] and I wrapped presents, which is our other Christmas Eve tradition. I also DJ'd our wrapping session, which was entertaining; we discovered that we often like the same songs for different reasons, since I tend to notice the flute-like melodies and [censored] notices the bass lines (not entirely unreasonable, since I played flute and [censored] played tuba in high school). Also, I showed [censored] the totally ridiculous music video for Annie Lennox's "Walking on Broken Glass" (starring John Malkovich and Hugh Laurie), and [censored] one-upped me with the also-ridiculous "Rock Me Amadeus" video. When your family starts to get you down during the holidays, do yourself a favor and watch those videos. It's the best gift Santa could give you.

And now I should probably sleep - Christmas morning is almost here. Goodnight!

but the restlessness was handed down

The last couple of days in ye olde Iowa have been fairly uneventful, all in all - I am definitely in the mood for uneventful at the moment, so it's living up to my desires. Yesterday, I unpacked from my trip across the Great American West, spent quite a bit of time hanging out in the kitchen, and also ran into town to buy some [censored] for [censored] (and some Mountain Dew for me). And I tried to help [censored] with [censored], but he doesn't trust my sorting skills - I know nothing about anything in [censored], so while sorting through a box of the contents of my granddad's junk drawer from 20+ years ago, I tried to throw away what I thought was a fake candle and what [censored] insisted was a usable part of an old rain gauge. So, I have been banished to the safety of the house, which is fine with me since nothing in the house is covered in [censored], and the house also has heat.

sssanyway. We had supper in Seymour last night, where the prime rib was fine and the deer heads on the walls were wearing their Santa hats. Today, I got up relatively early (for vacation), had breakfast with the parents, and then did a bunch of bits of nothing. However, I wrapped half of my Christmas presents (the half that is due tomorrow), so at least that was something. We had supper in town at the Mexican restaurant that opened there a few months ago - it was super tasty, and it's also the only thing in town open on Sunday night, so that was a win all around. We also ran into my old social studies teacher, which is always entertaining.

Then we came home and tried the new Ticket to Ride: Europe game that I'd bought - it's really quite different from the America game from a strategy perspective, so it will take some getting used to. But my dad won one game and I won the other, thus ending [censored]'s dominance, so I'll take those results.

And now I really need to sleep - goodnight! 

i'm weak, and what's wrong with that

I'm typing this on my personal laptop, which I was too lazy to pull out last night, and so I can use a shift key like a normal human again. Oddly enough, this laptop has a new keyboard too - but that's because I had to get the battery replaced (laptop, thank you for saying that the battery needed serviced less than two months before AppleCare expired, since the battery replacement was free). When they replaced the battery, they noticed that I had worn away multiple keys, so they replaced that too. So, it feels like I'm typing on an all-new laptop, even though this one probably has a few more years left in it.

sssanyway. I awoke in North Platte after getting less sleep than I wanted but enough sleep to ensure that I could make it across Nebraska without falling asleep. I quickly got ready, loaded my car, and ate some so-so hotel breakfast while doing a couple of quick personal and work things. Then I spent the day driving from North Platte to my parents' house. It was entirely uneventful - I stopped in Grand Island for gas and soda, then in Lincoln for an excursion to Whole Foods to pick up some stuff for home + a late lunch, and finally in Clarinda for McDonalds coffee and fries to carry me across the finish line. I took Highway 2 from Lincoln to home this time; I think I usually take 34 or go all the way up to I-80, but 2 is technically faster although it's a two-lane road with a lower speed limit for most of it, so idk. But the drive through Iowa was pretty even if Nebraska was super boring, and I didn't get speeding tickets anywhere, so that was pretty exciting.

I pulled into my parents' house around 5:30, which meant I only drove the last bit (which I know best) in the dark. Then I spent the evening talking to them, eating supper, and hearing some truly ridiculous tales of [censored]'s current efforts to deal with [censored], which involves renting a dumpster and generally coming to grips with the despair of [censored]. I found this all vastly entertaining, which I'm sure didn't help [censored]'s mood, but I may help him with this project tomorrow, so I may be singing a different tune tomorrow night.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

she left a little letter said she's gonna make a stop in nebraska

most of today looked like most of my days - i had a whole bunch of meetings, without enough time to eat lunch, which means i scarfed half a sandwich and left the other half to sit on my desk drying out until i was able to eat the rest of it at three p.m. sadness.

also, my left shift key is broken on my work laptop, which is SUPREMELY IRRITATING 9i accomplished that capitalized anger with the caps lock key, but without the caps lock key i end up closing parentheses like this0.

so i spent the day in meetings, carrying around my laptop and the wireless keyboard that i had quite fortuitously bought for myself a few weeks ago when i got sick of the cheap wired keyboard that my company provided for me. but i left the office around 3;30, picked up a prescription, ran home to throw a couple of things in my car, and left boulder around 4pm to head toward iowa. i'm taking the rav4 on what is likely its final journey across the great american west - surprisingly, there hasn't been much fanfare in the towns that we've passed through, but i guess it's the holidays and people are too busy to commemorate the final passing of an old but noble steed. so, i sped across colorado as quickly as possible, then dropped to the speed limit upon entering nebraska 9the cops like to pull over people from out of state for any reason, but especially colorado plates since it's a well-known fact that we're all carrying multiple pounds of marijuana0.

i arrived in north platte, my usual stop, at 9pm central time 9eight pm mountain time0, and checked into a room in my usual hotel. then i went to my usual ruby tuesdays for a quick, somewhat late supper. yes, it's weird that i have my 'usual' places on i-80, but i've done this drive many times. i was happy to see that the guy who served me the last two times i was in north platte has either succeeded in his dream of leaving north platte, or has at least gotten to take thursdays off / maybe got a better job at applebees, because he wasn't at the restaurant while i was eating. hopefully he's being a ski bum as he dreamed of - but im biased, because of every state i've ever driven through / lived in / visited, i dislike nebraska more than any of them. and that includes oklahoma, where i spent several nights sleeping on a couch waiting for [censored] to be done with [censored].

sssanyway. now it's time for bed, since i have six more hours in the car tomorrow. goodnight1

some people got the real problems

I had a fairly hectic day - meetings as usual, and also emails, but also an illicit mid afternoon break to get my nails done before taking off for the holidays. When I left work, I had to do a bit of last-minute shopping; then, I came home, ate leftover pizza, started packing, took a packing break to call someone in Singapore, and then finished packing by ten. However, I wanted to write some more christmas cards for people at work - the Mountain View people are going to miss out until after the holidays, but I powered through a bunch for people in Boulder.

But now I should really go to bed, since I need to load up my car tomorrow (not that onerous, other than the fact that I want to haul a tv back with me) before heading to the office for one last round of meetings before vacation. Wish me luck with that. Goodnight!

tell her that I miss these little talks

Happy birthday to my mother and to the Chandlord! I surprised neither of them, although I thought about it - instead, I worked all day, left the office a little early to buy stamps, and then spent the evening at Pizzeria Locale, where I drank wine and chatted up the bartender and wrote Christmas cards for the people at work (which are more time sensitive than the cards for my friends, since I'm leaving in two days and want to put them on desks before going).

But even though it's only ten pm, I'm calling it a night - goodnight!

say no to this

I had a v. exhausting day, started off because I didn't get enough sleep last night. I had meetings straight from 9:30 to 5:00 without any break at all, which wore me out, and then I went to a coworker's birthday dinner. We went to Jill's, which is a restaurant in the St Julien Hotel - I'd been there for drinks before, but never for dinner. I had some tasty tots and then some salmon that was pretty good, but it wasn't totally enough to revive me.

I was so wrecked when I got home that I sat on the stairs for twenty minutes reading the news, then played some mindless color matching game on my phone (I never play games on my phone, but I needed something totally mindless). And now I'm going to go to sleep and hope that tomorrow is a bit more sane (although it's unlikely) - goodnight!

strike the harp and join the chorus

Today was infinitely more productive than yesterday, most likely because I awoke feeling like a normal human rather than a burned-out wreck. I took care of some stuff around the house this morning, spent an absurd amount of time brushing my hair (I didn't wash it yesterday, so it was still half-curled from Friday and absolutely full of hairspray to achieve that level of hold), showered, and then walked over to River and Woods to have brunch with Kelly. We both love that place, although we've never been together, so I think the wait staff and bartenders were shocked to see us together. The breakfast sandwich cured whatever remaining issues lurked in my body, and it was fun to catch up with Kelly outside of work.

Then I came home, messed around a bit (I did five loads of laundry today, which required a lot of effort), and then spent some time taking care of my RAV4, which has been sadly neglected (did I tell you I bought an Audi?). There's a good chance that I'm going to drive it to Iowa this weekend, so I checked up on it, drove it around, and cleared out the stuff that needs to stay here (like my rusty railroad spike, my heavy duty prybar, and a couple of pairs of shoes). Then I came home, called my parents, called [censored], and dealt with more laundry.

I left the house again (shocker) to run to Apple to pick up my laptop and to grab dinner at Motomaki. Then I came home and finished dealing with the laundry, remade my bed, and spent the last three hours doing day job stuff so that I'm not quite as scrambled and stressed in the morning. Only four more work days until vacation - I think I can make it, but no promises.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

silent disco

Sorry for not blogging last night - I spent the night in Katie's guest room and didn't go to bed until almost three, which was not conducive to writing (or to today's productivity). Yesterday was my company's holiday party, which was in Denver, and I took Katie as my date.

Of course, this required extensive primping - I left work by three so I could curl my hair and then drive to Denver. I finished getting ready at Katie's, after we ate some tasty food, and then we said goodbye to James and the girls and went out. Our first stop was a coworker's preparty, which was delightful - and only reaffirmed my feeling that I want to live in Denver.

We eventually went to the real party, which was fun, although we didn't eat enough. I hung out with a bunch of people there, and we stayed until the end... At which point some of us went across the street to the Sheraton, where we sat in the same bar that I drank at several times during RWA and had one last drink.

But it was finally time to be done when last call happened there, so Katie and I went to her house, talked a bit more, and went to bed. This morning was a bit brutal since I didn't get nearly enough sleep (or water), but I put on the fuzzy robe I'd brought with me and hung out in the living room watching Planet Earth documentaries with the girls. James also saved our lives by going out and getting breakfast burritos, so that went a long way toward reviving me.

I eventually came home, but was pretty worthless the rest of the day. In fact, the only thing I got done was watching this week's episode of Top Chef, which is a dubious accomplishment to cross off a list.

But tomorrow's another day, and I need to get a lot done then, so now it's time for bed. Goodnight!

in a tidal wave of mystery

Most of today was taken up by mandatory fun - I organized a decorating contest, so people were decorating their cubes and I was wandering around providing moral support. Of course, I also had actual meetings, all of which added pressure, so taking a break to decorate was a good stress reliever.

I came home at a good time, though, and got a bunch of Christmas shopping done, and didn't work even though I probably should have. And now I need to sleep - I have some work to do tomorrow, and then I will get rest and go to Denver for my holiday party, which should be great. Goodnight!

you're just a boy who's afraid of the dark

No time for fun today, although it was sushi day at work and I had long enough to stand in line and get some tastiness before continuing with my meetings. When I left, I hit up a party supply store to get some stuff for work, then went to an Anthropologie, came home and ate some soup, sat around for a bit, and then had a 9pm call that I had to present to, which was way later than I wanted to be doing such activities.

So now it's obviously time for bed - goodnight!

dustland fairytale

I had a totally ridiculous day (in a mostly good way). I remembered that I own cowboy boots, which I hadn't worn in over two years since I obviously didn't take them to Bali and kinda forgot about them after that. I found a ring that I lost last week (on the second wearing!), glinting up at me in the dirt outside my apartment now that all the snow is fully gone. I had four hours of meetings in which people claimed to 100% agree with me while probably hating my guts. I spent fifteen minutes trying to make a tuna melt in a panini press that was only heated to 140 degrees, only to discover that the cheddar was smoked cheddar, which ruined it. And I stayed at the office until after seven, which was unfortunate...

So I tried to go to Verde to decompress, but they were full. I ended up at River and Woods, which was a way better call - it was like a bizarro version of River and Woods, with different bartenders than usual, and a particularly raucous foursome who were clearly coworkers, clearly drunk (they'd been drinking through dinner and moved to the bar at the end), and so loud/distracting that they bought me two glasses of wine. But I had a long conversation with one of them (who seemed more sober than his friends), so the wine and entertainment more than made up for the wiring I was going to do tonight...

But now it's time for bed - goodnight!

mdma got you feeling like a champion

It's Monday (insert Garfield cartoon here), which is pretty much all I can say about today. Luckily it started off with some fun, since my team did a white elephant gift exchange. And then I had some meetings, but not as many as usual, and I left the office around 4:30.

When I got home, though, I had to take care of some house stuff (mostly dishes and laundry), and then I spent some quality time talking to [censored] and then my parents about Christmas lists and possible purchases. By the time I was done with that, I was starving, so I reheated some soup, took a nap, and then worked for the last couple of hours. Yes, sad, but it was all necessary.

And now I'm going to bed - goodnight!

when the radical preach come to get me released

I was surprisingly productive today - I took care of a whole bunch of to-dos, ran a bunch of errands, did some Christmas shopping, and made some v tasty chicken and rice soup to get me through the week. But now it's time to sleep - goodnight!

you can go your own way

I was supremely lazy today. I slept ten hours, then lazed in bed, and finally got up to make some scrambled eggs and toast and tea. Then I journaled for quite awhile, then took a break to play Civilization.

I did escape my house for a bit... I went to Pizzeria Locale, where I had wine and chatted with the staff (I found out where they get their gluten free crust, which I need to procure), and and also read some of THE ANCIENT PATHS. Then I came home and played some more, but in the interest of not wrecking myself for tomorrow, I'm going to bed at eleven rather than starting up all night. Goodnight!

terra nova

No blog tonight...I worked from home today, so I heard no good gossip and also just lived on gluten free bread (I'm desperate for groceries). I also spent some quality time this evening finishing a game of Civilization (twice! because I got to both the space victory and the diplomatic victory within two turns of each other, so I wanted to see what they both looked like). And I watched last night's premiere of Top Chef Kentucky - I adore Top Chef, so I'm glad it's back for another season.

But now it's time to sleep - goodnight!

tonight is your night

I stayed home sick from work today, and so I slept most of the afternoon - which is why I'm still up at two a.m. My inner night owl refused to go to bed when I was relatively well rested, and I'll probably pay for it tomorrow. So it's time for bed - goodnight!

hello there, the angel from my nightmare

Today was meh. You can guess, if you've been paying attention at all, that it was full of meetings... Although I did have time to stand in line for the made to order latkes, so it could be much worse. But the meetings required me to talk a lot, which left me somewhat wrecked.

So I came home, talked to my parents, and then went to Verde, where I ate my feelings (I don't eat my feelings that often, but Mexican food is my usual go-to). Then I stopped at the grocery store, came home, tidied up, and realized I would much rather go to bed than answer emails, so here I am. goodnight!

trying to make some front page drive in news

So, I successfully got ten hours of sleep last night, which was super restorative and made today much better than it could have been. However, we didn't have Taco Tuesday like we usually do, which was so upsetting that I almost cried....especially since I then defaulted to my usual sad sandwich, discovered after I made the sad sandwich that it had mold on the crust, didn't have time to make anything else since I was already late for a meeting, and so just cut around the mold and ate the sandwich anyway. sssanway, it's a good thing I got a lot of sleep last night, because in that moment I was hanging on by a thread.

But the rest of the day was fine, and then I went out for happy hour / dinner with some women from work (Sam, Morgan, and Becca - Becca is visiting, but Sam and Morgan both work in BLD and both are great). We went to Emmerson, which felt super fancy and perfect for #girlsnightout - even though I had some salmon that didn't come with nearly enough carbs to satisfy me. Then I came home, did a bit of work, and now need to go to bed asap - goodnight!

primadonnas of the gutter

Today was pretty much unpleasant. I unfortunately had a headache for most of it, but I knew going in that this would be true....and so rather than going to my actual office, where I would be at risk of having to talk to people even when I wasn't in meetings, I went to the nicer main office, where I could hide in solitude whenever my calendar was empty. Of course, I only had like 90min of emptiness today, and some of that had to be used for eating lunch, but those 90 empty minutes maybe saved my life.

I left around five, went to Nordstrom Rack to return a bunch of stuff (and got suckered into buying a pair of jeans and some pajamas), grabbed takeout from Motomaki, and came home. I talked to my parents for a bit, then ate my takeout, and then sat on the couch and did absolutely nothing. I watched half an episode of "Love It or List It" (can you tell I'm in house-buying obsession mode?), then kind of watched some "House Hunters", then talked to Katie for half an hour or so, since yesterday wasn't enough time to cover all of the topics we needed to cover.

Also, I experimented with a new toy - I bought a Coravin during a Williams Sonoma Black Friday sale, and I have to say I'm in love. I tried it last night, because I wanted a glass of wine but didn't want the 2.5-3 I would have had if I had convinced myself that I needed to finish the bottle quickly so that it wouldn't go bad. The Coravin sticks a needle through the cork, extracts wine, and replaces the wine with argon gas, thus keeping the wine in the bottle from going bad. I've wanted one for a long time but never bit the bullet...but this was a good investment if it enables me to have a glass of good wine without feeling compelled to drink the whole bottle in 2-3 days. Not that I wasn't drinking good wine before, since I have expensive tastes and refuse to compromise taste for savings, but drinking good wine is also what compelled me to finish it fast.

sssanyway. The glass of wine was v. useful, but I probably got more use out of the fact that I completely boycotted work tonight even though I have a lot to do. I need to make this week a little less insane, so we'll see whether I accomplish that or whether I succumb to the tyranny of my calendar. Goodnight!

we'll give ourselves new names, identities erased

Today started too early for my tastes, since I got up at 6:15, but I succeeded in going back to sleep for almost an hour, which probably saved my life. I then spent the morning taking care of business before going to Denver and meeting Katie for lunch. We went to The Universal, which I've gone to with her before - it's really delightful. We had to wait ten minutes or so for a table, but that wasn't bad for that particular establishment. I had pork green chile on grits with poached eggs, and it was insanely good - so insanely good that I was tempted to gorge in it long after I was full just because the taste was incredible.

Of course, the company was incredible too, even if we had many things to talk about, not all of which were pleasant. We also drove by a house I've had my eye on - I'm pretty sure I want to buy in Denver, but this is the first time I've actually driven by a house. The houses in that neighborhood are all insanely close together, so close that I almost wonder if I'd be better off buying a new townhouse with a soundproofed shared wall, rather than a Victorian with less than a foot between the eaves of it and the house next to it. But while the lots are tight, there are backyards behind them, and the neighborhood (which is where Katie lives) is very walkable and not too bad of a commute from Boulder.

We shall see, we shall see. When we were done, I dropped Katie off at a Christmas market downtown - I would have gone, but I wanted to get home and take care of stuff. So I came home, did some tings, and called my parents (and found out some sad news - the wife of the guy who built their house died relatively suddenly of metastatic lung cancer, which was a shock since they'd been over there for dinner in September and she wasn't sick then). Then I did some more tings, including laundry, and also did a bit of day job work while watching TV (I tried to avoid the Garth Brooks concert, but I didn't completely succeed). And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

i can feel the hands of fate

I had a pretty lazy day, all in all - I had to get out of bed so that I could shower, eat, and run some errands, but that wasn't all that onerous. I did spend some quality time at an art supply store near CU campus - but they didn't have as extensive of a selection of notebooks as I would have liked, so I didn't walk out with much. I also tried a Thai place for lunch - I have yet to find good Thai food here, and this attempt was an abject failure (the pad see ew was okay, but the chicken that came with it was breaded and fried, which was neither good for my gluten issues nor tasty enough to be worth it). These are the days when I miss SF....

But the rest of my day was good enough. I took a long nap in the afternoon to make up for some of last week's stress, and then spent the evening taking care of a bunch of personal stuff - so at least I was productive for the end of the day even if the afternoon was a wash. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

don't wanna touch you but you're under my skin

Sorry for not blogging last night - yesterday was a decent day at work, I guess, since I spent the last ninety minutes of it hanging out at TGIF (TGIF is now on Thursdays, and yes it's weird) and drinking wine with some coworkers. I was recently named the 'site champion' for my group in Boulder, which some people tried to convince me means I'm obligated to hang out more because it's "good for culture"...and I'm not going to argue with them when it means drinking wine instead of working, even if the wine was too sweet.

But when I got home last night, I had a couple of hours to relax, then I had calls with India from 9-10, and then I worked until midnight. Luckily I didn't have to get up super early today, but my time in the office was a ridiculous slog...I was booked straight from 10:30-4, which meant I had to be late to a meeting just to grab a salad on the way. But I left at five, dropped my car off at home, and then went to River and Woods, where my favorite bartender (Lauren) was working. So I sidled up to the corner of the bar and spent a few hours drinking wine, eating poutine, talking to Lauren, journaling a bit, and reading some of a book that I picked up at the Boulder Bookstore a few months ago ('The Third Horseman: Climate Change and the Great Famine of the 14th Century'). Then I came home and was utterly useless since I was too tired from the week to do anything.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

take those familiar pills

I still have a splitting headache, but other than that, today was a good day. I was in the office by nine, where I slogged fairly brutally - meetings all day except an hour at lunch, but I spent that hour working, so I had to eat a sandwich while sitting in my one o'clock meeting rather than enjoying my lunch like a normal human.

However, I left a little before five to have dinner at Verde with Christine, so enchiladas and a margarita and a great conversation went a long way toward restoring me. And when I got home, I spent the evening taking care of personal stuff, so it was nice not to think about work for a few hours.

And now I'm going to go to bed early since I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night - goodnight!

now they're going to bed, and my stomach is sick

I had a headache all day, which didn't help my mood. However, I didn't go into the office until 11:30, which did help my mood - I stayed home and worked at my desk instead, which was way preferable to working at my office desk and talking to people.

But I had to go in for some meetings, which wasn't the worst thing in the world since the main meeting I had to do in person was a scotch tasting with my old director. This had been in the works for almost a year, and it finally happened today - granted, it was in a conference room and we were drinking out of plastic cups, but it was still fun. There were only five of us, and it was an entertaining group, so that was a nice way to end the day.

Of course, it didn't really end then - I then spent some time talking to Kelly about work and personal stuff, and then I went to chipotle to grab food, and then I spent an hour on my couch doing nothing. But then I had a call with India, and then I did another hour and a half of work, which was unfortunate. But now it's time to sleep - goodnight!

blister in the sun

I had a v. lovely, v. hermity day. I actually got out of bed a little after seven, which is shocking, and I spent the morning messing around with research stuff (starting to type up notes from THE SILK ROADS). Then I left the house for my only commitment of the day - I got a massage in an effort to keep my neck from seizing up, since I'm feeling somewhat relaxed but know I'll wreck it all again as soon as I go back to work.

On the way back from the massage, I stopped at Boxcar, but the environment wasn't conducive to reading (too many kids, not enough patience). So I grabbed some v. tasty goat cheese from the butcher/cheesemonger that shares space with the coffeeshop (yes, Boulder is v. ridiculous), came home, and made scrambled eggs with goat cheese. This was a delicious choice, even if it would have been nice to spend a bit more time in the sun this afternoon.

After that, I did a bit more stuff around the house, then called my parents - we had a v. abbreviated conversation since I was just there two days ago, but Sunday traditions must be maintained. Then I did some more laundry, remade my bed with fresh sheets, and finished unpacking from my trip. I also made dinner - a very tasty, very poorly planned shrimp stir fry. It was poorly planned because I didn't actually look at the ingredient lists for any stir fry sauces when I went grocery shopping yesterday and so didn't have oyster sauce (which seems to be in many stir fry recipes online) or ketchup (which is some bastardized American replacement). However, I found one with garlic, soy sauce, and honey, and so I threw that one together and was v. happy with the results.

Also, after thirty-seven years, I have finally actually made jasmine rice from scratch. Yes, this is a ridiculously long wait. In my defense, I grew up in corn and potato land, not rice land. I've also made many other rice dishes - spanish rice, many risottos, wild rice soup, etc. But plain cooked rice is not something I grew up with. It turned out great, though, and I made extra so I can make fried rice later this week - I'm looking for things I can make at home so quickly that it's easier than stopping somewhere on the way home, and stir fries may be the only thing that fits that bill.

sssanyway, after successfully making rice and feeling way more accomplished than I deserved to feel, I ate my tasty dinner, cleaned the kitchen, and then spent the rest of the evening reading a book about witchcraft (it was written in 1959 and I think the guy was both too close to his subject matter and ignorant of everything else, because at some point he loftily declared that the witch trials that killed ~200,000 people over the span of three centuries in Europe were the "foulest crime and deepest shame of western civilization"....and I'm like, dude, allow me introduce you to the Middle Passage.) And now, sadly, I need to sleep - it was great to take almost a week off from work, but it's back to the grind tomorrow. Goodnight!

the human touch is what i need

I had a fairly productive day, all in all, despite the fact that I woke up at four a.m. overheating and having what seemed like an anxiety fever dream (I put my heaviest comforter on my bed last night, which was a mistake, and for some reason woke up at four a.m. sweating and thinking of overdue expense reports and slides for work weirdly conflated with the fact that I haven't written a book this year or met the love of my life....this is not a good combo of thoughts to wake up to in the middle of the night, obvi).

But I managed to go back to sleep, then get up in time to run an errand this morning. After that, I went to Boxcar, where I ate lunch and had coffee while writing for an hour. Then I came home, threw in some laundry, messed around for a bit, took a brief nap, and then dragged myself back out of the house to get a mani/pedi. When that errand was accomplished, I went to the grocery store to load up on food for the week (Whole Foods was as calm as I've ever seen it - most people other than me probably still have leftovers).

Then I came home, tidied up my kitchen, put away my groceries, ate some supper, and spent the last couple of hours messing around with database software. I have a database of Regency research that I haven't really updated or used much in the last few years - I did a bunch of research for my first series, but my second series required less research (and the research I did ended up stored in Scrivener rather than in a database, which was good enough). However, I've been reading a lot of medieval history in case I ever get back into the young adult book, and that stuff could benefit from a database since it's all complex and interwoven.

So, I got my software going again (it's been so long that it wasn't even installed on my latest laptop, which is almost three years old), restored my old database, and am back in business. Yes, this was a v. fun, youthful way to spend a Saturday night. But now that I'm done with that, it's time for bed - goodnight!

got a machinehead

I'm back in Boulder after a too-quick trip to ye olde Iowa. I woke up this morning in time to be much more leisurely than usual about getting out of the house - it helped that I hadn't overpacked for this trip, so throwing things back in my bag was a breeze. I had breakfast with my parents and [censored], did a bit of online stuff (it's Black Friday, which is the main holiday of the year for my acquisitive heart) and then said my farewells to southern Iowa. I'll be back in a month, but I really wasn't ready to go....

...but I had to, so let's move on. My parents took me to the airport and dropped me at the curb, and I continue to marvel at how efficient DSM is - I was upstairs and through security in five minutes, leaving plenty of time to grab some iced coffee before boarding my flight. I wish every airport made it so easy. Of course, it helps that there are only a handful of gates, so walking to the gate isn't the endless march that it is in Denver, but still, I like it.

I alternated between reading (THE SILK ROADS, of course), napping, and actually writing for about an hour (I know, I'm shocked too). After we landed, I moved quickly through the airport, found my car, and drove home, where my apartment was only sixty degrees and I had no groceries. So, I took myself out for a very early dinner at Pizzeria Locale, where I actually tried a new pizza (shocking, since I always get the same thing), chatted up the bartender, and read a couple of chapters of a book about the Knights Templar. I'm not done with THE SILK ROADS, but I was feeling like picking up something else, so I went in the Templars' direction instead. I had an idea for the gargoyle book while I was on the plane, so I figured doing some more reading in that vein isn't a bad idea even if I'm not sure it's what I want to work on at the moment.

Then I came home, played a bit of Civilization, then realized I was too tired to play Civ, so sat on my couch and did nothing for a bit. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

i'm high as a kite i just might stop to check you out

[censored] wanted me to make sure I documented the fact that [censored] won [censored] [censored] out of [censored] times that we played this week. And now the fact shall live on forever!

Today was Thanksgiving, and while it was not the best Thanksgiving I've ever had, I guess it wasn't the worst. The worst was probably the one I spent on campus my sophomore year, which involved going to the dining hall and eventually Jack in the Box with Angela....so we have quite a ways to go before hitting that nadir. But today was pretty lazy, all in all. We went into town to the community Thanksgiving, which my grandparents started forty-some years ago. We took Gram, and it was all horribly depressing, since she barely knows us and definitely doesn't know almost anyone else. I also blew her mind when she asked what year I was in in college and I told her I was thirty-seven. Of course, by the time she called my dad tonight, she didn't remember that she'd been out - but taking her was the right thing to do, so c'est la vie, I guess.

Then we came home, I took a long nap, my niece came out with her kids for a bit (I did manage to beat a nine-year-old at Jenga and Connect Four, even if I can't beat [censored] at [censored]), and after she left we played a couple of games and ate leftovers from yesterday's Thanksgiving Lite. And now I need to sleep, since I have to get up tomorrow in time to shower, pack, and have breakfast before heading to the airport. Goodnight!


[editor's note: it was Ticket to Ride, and [censored] won four times out of five. gross.]

i have a blue house with a blue window

I had a very lazy day in ye olde Iowa... So lazy that I have basically nothing to share. But we played two games of Ticket to Ride, and I won one of them, so that's good. We also had bratwurst and baked beans for supper, which I always love.

But now it's time for bed - goodnight!

it always burned up there before

I have nothing of interest to report today - although I did start off with a call with Ritu, whom I hadn't caught up with in forever, so that was v. exciting. I would have preferred to keep talking to her forever, but unfortunately I had to work today - I decided to take tomorrow and Wednesday off, but I was working today and actually wanted to get through some stuff.

So, I worked, took some meetings, worked some more, etc. By five p.m. I was ready to be done, so [censored] and I drove to Chariton to have supper with my sister and my niece at the Mexican restaurant up there. The food was actually pretty good - I had enchiladas, as usual, but they were v. tasty and I thought the chips and beans were good. I also ordered a margarita that came in a goblet that felt like it was the size of a pitcher, which was rather surprising - an $8 margarita in southern Iowa will put you under the table, apparently.

But the food was good and it was good to see my sister and niece, so #noregrets. We came home after, and I fell asleep a bit in the car (sorry, [censored]), but woke up when we stopped at the grocery store. Then we actually got home and talked to our parents for a bit - they had gone to a visitation without us, then were discussing train stuff, so we caught up on all of that.

But I still had work to do tonight - I had a call with some people in Asia from 9:30-10:30pm my time, and then I did a bit more work to close some stuff out. But my out of office responder is on my email, and I'm going to close my laptop and try not to open it again until I leave.

And now it's time for bed - after saying happy birthday to my father, who celebrated today by going to a visitation and eating leftovers (birthdays just aren't the same when you get older, I guess). Happy birthday, Dad! Goodnight!

who needs a house out in hackensack

I'm in ye olde Iowa - I got here yesterday after a somewhat uneventful trip that all went slightly but not catastrophically awry. My morning was fun, since I hung out with Katie a bit before she left, but then I had to pack super fast and also deal with texts from my landlord about my downstairs neighbor complaining about "noise" - apparently the kid doesn't realize that I can hear everything he does, from yelling at videogames to having sex while I'm making dinner, and also doesn't realize how good he has it since I'm never there and also live alone and also have never complained about him. So, I look forward to moving out as soon as possible - if me having a conversation with Katie in my living room at night (no music, no TV) was enough for him to find it complaint-worthy, I hope whoever takes over my lease is a bickering couple with a child.

Sssanyway. My flight was pretty delayed due to deicing, so [censored] had to wait an hour and a half to pick me up ... And then it snowed on us the whole way home, which made for some treacherous conditions. But we got home in time for supper, which was delish. I then slept for like ten hours, and I was v lazy today - mostly hung out in the kitchen in my pajamas, which was delightful.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

weapons in hand as we go for a ride

Today was another crazy day at work. It started well enough, since there were some tasty eggs benedict with a great chipotle hollandaise sauce... But I had meetings straight until 4:30, with time to grab a very sad ham sandwich for lunch, so it was all a little much.

But then I came home, tidied up my house, and changed just in time for Katie's arrival. She came up to Boulder for a very delightful girls night out - we went to Upstairs, which is the cocktail lounge/restaurant above The Kitchen (my favorite restaurant in Boulder). I hadn't been to Upstairs before, but it was pretty great - the vibe was peak Boulder, the drinks were awesome, and we had some delicious food (especially some Korean chicken and a cast iron pizza, which was definitely not gluten free but I have no regrets).

Katie very graciously listened to me vent about my job for quite awhile, and we continued over another drink at License No 1 in the basement of the Boulderado. Then we came home and talked until after midnight, and now she's safely ensconced in my guest room in an interesting reversal of our usual nights together.

But now I must sleep - goodnight!

all emptiness and infinite

Too much work, not enough fun. That has been the story of this year...but that's not entirely fair. The reality is that my work and my fun are almost entirely separate, rather than achieving a harmonious blend - when I'm having fun, I'm all in on fun (like going away for a weekend, or doing some marathon of friend catchups while in SF), and while I'm working, I'm all in on work. This week is an 'all in on work' week, which is making my back tense and my heart sad. It's likely that the only thing keeping me sane is that I actually like my coworkers - so work can feel fun, even when, by definition, it's work.

sssanyway. I got to the office a little after nine and had meetings pretty much straight through until five, with a thirty minute break in there to answer emails and grab a sandwich. Then I ran a couple of errands, came home, ate the last of my leftover soup (it was so fucking good, I still highly recommend), took a nap, did a bit of nothing...and then had an 8:30pm meeting with some people in Asia that then led to me working until midnight.

But I'm glad I accomplished what I accomplished, and now I need to sleep - goodnight!

hold the wheel and drive

I had a rather long day - some work stuff was annoying me, so I woke up thinking about it, and it kind of soured my morning. I recovered, though, especially because I had sushi for lunch today (this is the one day of the month when they bring in a local sushi restaurant to make sushi, and everyone goes wild). I ended up staying until six, and then I came home, messed around the house, reheated and ate some chicken and wild rice soup (still delish), and spent too much time playing on the internet.

I forced myself to take a break from screens for a bit and read a chapter of THE SILK ROADS, which remains fascinating even though I'm plodding through it with the speed of a caravan on the actual silk road. Then, unfortunately, I had to do about an hour of work for a last-minute presentation that I had to prep for tomorrow.

But now I'm going to go to bed early and try to avoid my phone in bed so that I can get a full eight hours of sleep - goodnight!

somebody told me

No blog tonight - I had a decent day at work, including listening to an absolutely bonkers talk on burnout that seemed to have nothing to do with burnout. Then I came home, ate some v. tasty leftover soup, watched some tv, straightened up my house, and then worked for the last couple of hours.

But now it's time to sleep - goodnight!

spin above my head and make it right

I awoke to discover that it had snowed even more overnight, so I chose to take some of my meetings from home in hopes that the sun would come out and making scraping my car easier. When I left at noon, the scraping wasn't all that bad - there wasn't a layer of ice under the snow, so that was easy, but it's not easy for someone whose arms are as short as mine to shove a foot of snow off the windshield. But I succeeded, got to the office in time for lunch, and spent the afternoon taking more meetings.

It wasn't all bad, though; one of those meetings was a farewell for Alice, who is moving to London. I am v. v. sad about this (but happy for her because I'm not a monster)...and really, it's okay, because she's staying on my team, which means a) we'll still work together and b) now I have an excuse to visit London once or twice a year. But we had a team meeting that we turned into a surprise celebration for her, replete with champagne in SF and cider in BLD...but I guess I am a monster, because then I cut off the celebration after fifteen minutes so we can brainstorm. Oops.

sssanyway. After that was over, I went out for dinner with the other Alice on my team - we went to Verde, where I had a margarita and my usual enchiladas and we just hung out for awhile. Then I came home, watched some HGTV, and did a few mindless work tasks. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

world serves its own needs, listen to your heart bleed

I am definitely not ready to go back to work, but I suppose that's what I'll have to do when the sun comes up. Today was a good mix of self-care and housework - I awoke to a tremendous amount of snow (I think we got 10+ inches last night and today), so I really didn't have any desire to leave the house. I had to suit up and go, though, because I had a massage appointment. It was a few blocks away on Pearl, so I walked rather than navigating the potentially hazardous parking situation - luckily I've invested in waterproof boots, so the walk was kind of fun despite the fact that it was snowing like crazy the whole time.

My massage ended up being wonderful - my neck and shoulder actually stopped hurting, which was a real win. They've been better the last couple of weeks than they were when they flared up last month, but they feel pretty good right now, so I hope I don't fuck it all up by spending too much time scrolling on my phone like I usually do. Then I came home, did a bunch of laundry, and called my parents - I'll see them next weekend, but we still had to catch up today because it's the tradition.

Then I made dinner - a v v tasty chicken and wild rice soup in my instant pot. This was a different recipe than the one I tried last winter, and I liked this one better - this one had bacon, which is always a good thing, and I was able to substitute gluten free flour for the thickener with no ill effects. While it was cooking, I talked to [censored], who I will also see next weekend. Then I ate my soup, folded clothes, made my bed with freshly laundered sheets, and did a tiny bit of day job stuff to get a jump on tomorrow.

And now I should sleep - goodnight!

you make a mess of me, i'd dance a thousand steps for you

I had an incredibly lazy day... So lazy that even I'm almost ashamed of my sloth rather than accepting it as a #treatyoself moment. I started off pretty well, since I made hash for breakfast (way more effort than eating yogurt). It was delicious - sweet potatoes, yellow pepper, onion, sausage, and a couple of poached eggs on top. If anything, it was a little too sweet - i might use a spicier sausage next time to cut the sweetness. But it was a very tasty start to the day.

Then I descended into inertia, to the point that I took a nap to take a break from doing nothing. But I eventually showered and drove into Denver, where I had dinner with Kristen (Barbara's daughter, who I recruited for my team a few months ago). Since we started working together we haven't socialized much outside of work, but it was really great to see her and spend a couple of hours pretending we're just friends and talking about all the life stuff we don't talk about in the office. We went to Duo, which neither of us had been to before - it was really cute, perhaps a bit pricey for Denver, but I thought the food was tasty, and obviously the company was great.

But now I need to sleep since I havea very hard day tomorrow - I'm getting a massage, and it's also snowing, so obviously tomorrow will be super (read: not at all) stressful. Goodnight!

don't stop keep it moving put your drinks up

Today was pretty decent, all in all...not quite enough sleep, and I still feel like I'm on the verge of something awful, but I made it through the day. I ended it by getting a manicure, then taking one more meeting from home, then walking out in the subfreezing temperatures to grab pizza and a glass of wine and some journal time, which made me happy.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

find chidi

I'm feeling better than I was yesterday, but I'm still not 100%. It probably didn't help that I got to the office ten minutes too late for breakfast (thanks to staying in bed as long as possible), so breakfast was two string cheeses and coffee. I had meetings basically straight from 10 to 6 (including a lunch meeting that was a BAKED POTATO BAR, which was a delight), which didn't help my recovery.

But when I left, I grabbed dinner at Motomaki, then came home and watched three hours of television without doing any work, which is my definition of total relaxation. I watched an episode of something called 'Lords and Ladles', where three chefs go to an Irish castle and try to replicate a 1600s feast (they showed a bit too much skinning of rabbits for my taste, but it was all in all quite entertaining). Then I watched several episodes of the second season of 'The Good Place', which is still hilarious.

And now I need to sleep, aim for eight hours, and hope I'm even more recovered tomorrow. Goodnight!

when populism, activism, urbanism fail, my cooler head....my cooler head will prevail

I slept for ten hours last night and awoke still feeling somewhat miserable, so I stayed home from work today. That didn't really mean I took a break - but I did cancel a bunch of meetings, so that was better than nothing. Of course, staying home meant I had to feed myself - luckily, I'd bought soup yesterday, which wasn't great but at least served to keep me alive.

I was going to stay home and keep resting tonight, but Katie called me as I was sitting on the couch debating my health. We talked for a bit, and I decided that it was more important to see her than it was to sleep - this may prove to be a mistake in the morning, but for today I have no regrets.

So, I drove down to Denver and got there around 6:30, and we abandoned her family and went to Lola's for margaritas (for both of us) and dinner (for me). This proved to be a good call, since it kept both of us mostly off twitter for a few hours - instead, we talked about real life issues, which are depressing enough in their own right. I'm just gonna say it - getting old is really not very fun sometimes.

But the margaritas were tasty and Katie's company went a long way toward restoring my spirits (even if I probably needed more vitamins and less tequila to help with my actual physical ailments). Eventually, after talking for another forty-five minutes in my car, I dropped her off, drove home, and spent a bit of time watching tv. But now I really need to sleep so that I can get up and perhaps attempt going to work tomorrow - goodnight!

if you only hold me tight

I woke up this morning feeling relatively chipper. Then I went to the office, said hello to someone, and discovered that my voice was gone. Like, super gone - and inexplicably, since my voice was fine yesterday. If I was going to lose it, I should have lost it last week during the event - so losing it now wasn't a good sign.

I thought it was just a fluke, but by afternoon I was feeling distinctly unwell. Sadly, I had to stick it out because I was on a career panel (where I am sure I sounded ridiculous due to the voice). I eventually came home, with a stop at the grocery store to load up on soup, and then spent a couple of hours watching Queer Eye and pretending that I was relaxing.

Sadly, I had a couple of calls with Hyderabad tonight - I didn't feel like skipping since I've been putting all of this off for weeks due to the event, so I wanted to get it done. But I've cleared my calendar for the morning and am going to sleep as much as possible tonight - goodnight!

every now and then i fall apart

I'm exceedingly glad to be home, even though I got nothing done today - or perhaps especially because I got nothing done today. I slept in, then dragged myself out of bed in an attempt to be productive, which was mostly a failure. At some point I realized I was starving, so I walked over to River and Woods and had a breakfast sandwich and some coffee (unfortunately today's coffee was awful for some reason, but the sandwich was tasty). Then I ran a couple of quick errands to pick up packages at my office and buy some coffee beans, and I sat at the coffee place for a bit and journaled (with another cup of bad coffee - I like their beans, but did not like the cafe au lait I got). It's no wonder I had a headache all day, since I just realized all of my coffee was bad and therefore unfinished.

Then I came home and took a nap because I could. I also talked to my parents, and I should have called [censored] after that...but by the time I had finished talking to my parents and eaten some peanut butter (not what I wanted for supper, but better than leaving the house), I had somehow completely forgotten that I had intended to do that. Instead, I took a bubble bath, watched some Queer Eye, and the did a couple of hours of research into the Boulder / Colorado ballot to determine who / what to vote for. My ballot is now filled out - I just have to drop it off tomorrow or Tuesday, and then block off my calendar for Tuesday afternoon/evening to watch the results alone with a bottle of wine and my thoughts. Sounds fun, right?

But now I need to sleep - goodnight!

I'm high as a kite, I'll come down in a couple of days

I slept for almost nine hours last night, but it wasn't enough to fix the damage from this week's massive overextension of my extrovert side + the stress of everything that had to get done. But I made it up and out of Veronica's in time to have breakfast (don't call it brunch) with John and Jess and Ian at Saul's, our usual place in the East Bay. It was incredible how much Ian has changed since I last saw him - he's talking a ton now, and he called me Auntie Wamp, so that was exciting. John and Jess were good too, and Saul's was at great as always, so it was a good morning.

Then I drove to Burlingame, where I grabbed some Philz, mailed some stuff home to myself, and then had lunch with Barbara and Anne. The food was mediocre, but the company was excellent - we caught up and started planning dates for a retreat, so I'm hoping we do something warm this winter.

After we parted ways, I dropped off my rental car and went to the airport early - I briefly considered driving to the beach, but I was way too tired. So I went into the airport absurdly early, had some wine and some food, and generally tried not to fall asleep before my flight was called (tricky, since it was delayed an hour).

But the flight was uneventful - I got upgraded and slept the whole way, which made my after-midnight drive tolerable. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

now I'm just holding on for tonight

The summit is over and was a big success - but I'm completely wrecked. So wrecked that I'm in Veronica's guest room and voted for going to bed early over talking to her even though I adore talking to her. But I'm happy with how everything turned out this week, and I'll be when happier when I've had some sleep. Goodnight!

chandelier

No blog - after a full day of prepping for this event, then an evening of being on (while wearing a Sia wig for Halloween), then a night of team spirit in the bar, I need to go to bed right now. Goodnight!

and now the time has come at last, don't let the moment run too fast

Today went well - lots of meetings, lots of firedrills (which autocorrect told me should be "directors", which is mostly accurate). But the event may go well, and my day ended with a party in my suite - I got the presidential suite because of course, so I invited all my old team for drinks and snacks (which ended up in me ordering pizza and all of us handling several hours in.).

But now it's sleepy time, goodnight!

feels just like i'm walking on broken glass

I had a relatively relaxed day compared to what it could have been - I actually had some free time, which is highly unusual. However, I have also been mostly on all day - I had a work dinner with a MTV-based coworker whom I never see in person, then came to the hotel and spent forty-five minutes dealing with event planning stuff, and then worked for the last three hours.

But it will all be worth it when the event is over and we all get our lives back. Until then, I need to sleep in whatever increments I can get...goodnight!

it's the little things that kill

I made two trips to the Denver airport today, which is two more than I wanted to make. Drewbaby left this morning and I took him to the airport to get a bit more time with him (and to show off my new car - did I tell you I bought an Audi?). Then I went home, read too much Twitter, made breakfast, packed, took a nap, showered, and eventually got out the door to head back to DIA.

On the way, I talked to my dad; we had enough to say that my mom was going to get the short end of the stick if I hung up on arrival, so I went through security and called her back. They were testing a new automated security screening that was super slow compared to human screening - will be interesting to see how that technology develops (although I have concerns over automation reaching the point where it can easily track all of us - it's probably close, the problem is more about analyzing the data from all sorts of random sources than it is about the actual tracking and recognition... But I digress).

sssanyway. I ate dinner at cantina grill and had a margarita (okay, two margaritas... It's medicinal to get me over the Rockies) while talking to my mom, and then I boarded my flight to SF. It was all totally uneventful and I slept/journaled rather than working - I may regret that tomorrow, but tonight I'm relaxed.

And now I'm at my hotel, which is not on strike (yay!) but also hasn't finished the lobby construction project (boooooo...I only care because I have an event here, but hopefully it'll be fine). At this point, though, all I can do is sleep and hope for the best. Goodnight!

how many times can I break till I shatter

I had an amazing day in Boulder - it was entirely fun/relaxing, which is exactly what I needed to get ready for a week of impending disasters. Andrew (aka Drewbaby), his friend Ben, and I got up, showered, and then had brunch at River and Woods. It was totally fucking delicious - their breakfast sandwich is delectable, and the guys liked their meals too. Of course, the bottomless mimosas helped, but it was an excellent start to the day.

Then we walked to the stadium, where we watched almost three quarters of Colorado vs Oregon State. CU was way up (to the point that ESPN thought they had a 99.5% chance of winning), so we left in the third and walked downtown to have a drink at the Boulderado. Of course, somehow Oregon State came back and won in overtime, so that was a shock, but I'm glad we left and headed to the bar when we did.

One reason was because, on the way to the bar, Andrew got coerced into helping a street performer with his magic show, which was hilarious. And then it we nice that we beat the crowd a bit - it's homecoming and Halloween, so Pearl was totally nuts. We ate outside at Salt while enjoying the people watching (and slowly getting hypothermia) and a lot of ridiculous conversation.

Then we walked home to change into warmer clothes, but that just meant we watched an amazing dubbed version of something like American Ninja Warrior, which made me laugh harder than ever before. And now I must sleep - goodnight!

making myself crazy

Today was great, mostly because I had almost no meetings and left at 3:30 to get my nails done. I also ran some errands, grabbed a quick dinner at Motomaki, and then spent some quality time dealing with house stuff (laundry, tidying, etc).

But I finally got things in better shape than they've been in the last couple of months, and then I spent a delightful night drinking a glass of wine and watching an episode and a half of the "Queer Eye" reboot. I found it quite amusing, and I could have kept going....

But sometime around eleven, my cousin Andrew (aka Drewbaby) showed up with one of his coworkers in tow - they were in town for work, and so they're spending the weekend with me. We hung out for a bit, but we were all tired, so we're going to bed - there will be plenty of fun and catching up tomorrow, including a football game, so that should be great.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

blame it on my ADD

I awoke this morning in an utterly foul mood - no one's fault, but that's what happens sometimes. So I showered, considered going into the office, and instead worked from home for a couple of hours. Then I walked to the office - I never do this, but I really should since it's less than twenty minutes and I used to walk that all the time back in SF.

I didn't walk straight to my office, though; the nicer office is on the way, so I stopped there for lunch and also took a few meetings from there. I went to my actual office around four, which was absurdly late to show up, but I was just in time for the Thursday happy hour - so I met with someone from my group over chips and Chardonnay (I never choose Chardonnay except for when the other alternative is beer). I had one more meeting after that....

...and then I had happy hour with Nicole. We went to License No 1 in the basement of the Boulderado, where we split a bottle of wine and a lot of conversation. Then I walked her to her rendezvous with her husband - he's only met me when I've had several drinks with Nicole, so he probably thinks I'm a monster, but #noregrets.

Then I grabbed a pizza at Pizzeria Locale, and then I came home, and now it's time for bed - goodnight!

nope nope nope

Too tired to blog - this will all end soon, but a major event/project is happening next week, so it's crunch mode. Goodnight!

victory is ours once we strike the source

I wrote before work and silently shed tears while doing so, so I think things are going splendidly. Then I worked all day, but I had time at the end to repot a succulent that I nearly killed and am trying to revive.

And then I had a long, delightful dinner with my friend Jen at The Kitchen - I've been there three times in the last week and a half, which the waiter pointed out, so apparently I'm memorable. But the bartender gave me some extra wine, so apparently three is the magic number to befriend the staff there.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

you do your brain surgery with a monkey wrench

Today was a v. annoying day. I got up in time to write for thirty minutes, which was great, but it was pretty much downhill from there...had a last minute meeting added to my calendar for 15min before I intended to be in the office, and that meeting was aggravating, and then pretty much every other meeting was aggravating too. Maybe I haven't recovered from last week's overly-extroverted offsite as much as I thought I had....

So, I bounced at 3:30, looking for all the world like a total slacker - but I worked for the last four hours from my couch, so I didn't exactly win the relaxation game. However, I did take a couple of hours to do nothing this afternoon, which helped my mood a bit - and the work I got done tonight made me feel better about some things, so I guess I'll take it.

But now I need to go to sleep - goodnight!

xoxo

I had another v. relaxing day, although I probably should have done many hours of work. I slept until nine, lazed about a bit, got ready, and drove into Denver for lunch with Barbara, who drove up from Colorado Springs to meet me. It was great to spend time with her, as always, and to remember that I'm really a writer even though my corporate whoredom is pulling the leash at the moment.

So, we hung out for a few hours, and then I drove home, took a nap, and browsed houses on Zillow. I also called my parents, who were doing well (or as well as one can do when their refrigerator is broken and won't be replaced for a month - luckily they can make do with the fridge in the basement + the standing freezer in the utility room + [censored]'s minifridge from college). Then I tidied up the house, reheated some leftover pizza, and worked for the past couple of hours. I wasn't a paragon of productivity, though, so even though I still have many things on my list, I'm going to go to bed and hit it hard tomorrow. Goodnight!

love me lights out

I had exactly the day I needed - lots of sleep, minimal interactions with people, delicious food, and some indulgence of my vanity. I woke up at 9:45 surprised that I had slept that late, and I lazed around a bit more before pulling myself out of bed, making some scrambled eggs, and going to Boxcar for coffee and journaling. This eventually turned into lunch and journaling, since I was there for awhile and saw someone else's amazing salad with mozzarella and prosciutto, which I wanted to make my own.

Then I came home and actually worked out - my neck and shoulder are a total mess right now (pain, numbness, etc), and so I used my foam roller for a long time, and then did a bit of kettlebell swinging to try to loosen things up. Not sure if I was successful, but at least I tried. Then I showered and walked back down Pearl to the main pedestrianized area, where I got my hair cut (not by pedestrians - by a legit salon). I followed that up with an early dinner and wine at Pizzeria Locale (my fave), where I did a bit more journaling over my v. tasty meal before calling it a night.

When I got home, it was only seven, and so I decided to watch 'The Good Place' to see what all the discussion is about (I've seen many memes from that show, but never seen it myself). I ended up liking it so much that I binged the entire first season tonight - oops. Luckily the first season was only thirteen episodes, and they're only 22mins long since they're made for network, so I'm not a total monster...but that's way more tv than I usually watch. It was pretty funny, though, so I anticipate future binging in my future.

But now I need to sleep - goodnight!

little dreamer

I was extremely surly today - I really didn't want to go to work, since going to work required talking to people and wearing pants, and neither of those activities were on my list of things I wanted to do today. However, I did force myself into the office, and I managed to stay for over six hours before throwing in the towel and coming home (yes, this is v. impressive, thanks).

When I got home, I promptly crawled into bed and took a nap, which made me feel much better. I then spent most of the evening finishing a game of Civilization that I'd started in August and hadn't had time to finish - it was nice to have a night of totally mindless relaxation. And now I am going to go to bed and sleep as late as I want in the morning - goodnight!

trash fish

I'm too tired to blog - the off-site ended well, and then I drivey back to Boulder and continued the socialization going until almost eleven (work, meeting, drinks at Payback with my old team and new team (which felt like an attempt to get two families to merge after a divorce), and then a hilarious dinner with Alice and Chris at the Kitchen). I would love to tell you all the jokes, but it's time to go to bed. Goodnight!

as night is falling

Second night at my work retreat, and I'm getting close to tapped out on people...but it's all been good so far. I woke up this morning none the worse for wear after last night's wine at eight thousand feet, and I had just enough time to finish some slides this morning before my sessions started. I had to lead a three-hour breakout session with my team, and I think it went pretty well - and I didn't get fired for putting my fist in my mouth last night, so I'd say things are going great, thanks for asking.

After lunch, I had some free time, so I took a quick nap and then got a massage at the spa (my life is very hard - and my whole team hates me, since they signed up for horseback riding or the 'pioneer challenge', which sounded a lot like torture). But I had some meetings from 4:45-6:30, which we took in the bar. Then we had dinner, and an awards ceremony, and then a trivia game (I didn't win an award, but my team won trivia, so I'll take it).

And then me and Alice and Hugues adjourned to the bar, which closed at ten, and so we took our drink (and Matt, who showed up just in time for last call) to the game room, where Alice and I played ping pong and then we talked for quite awhile. And now I need to sleep, since it's back to Boulder tomorrow (after some more team building stuff in the morning). Goodnight!

all i do is win win win no matter what

I'm at an offsite for the next two days, but it's in Colorado, so it almost feels like I didn't travel. But it also feels like I'm in a different world - I'm at Devil's Thumb Ranch, which is where I came for an offsite this summer, and it's even more magical looking in the winter when the snow coats the mountains.

I woke up unfortunately early to pack and get ready to go, and then went to the office to pick up Kristen, Chris, and Alice for the trip into the mountains. We made it here in good time, and the afternoon was mostly work - we're here to be good corporate citizens, so I had to lead some icebreaking activities with my team. We were done at 4:30, so I got to check up on Meghan Markle's fashion choices for her trip to Australia and also take a nap before the socializing began again.

Dinner was lovely, as was the wine (although it was v sedate compared to my last trip here, when there was an open bar until midnight, no managers, and no work expected). We had a "no talent talent show", which I somehow won when I remembered that I can fit my whole fist in my mouth, which astonished everyone so much that they gave me a Home Mini for it (I don't know if they were more astonished that I could physically do it, or if they were more astonished that I did it in front of our director, but I'll keep the Mini even if I get fired tomorrow).

And now it's time for bed, since I have to be on tomorrow - goodnight!

waters of march

Nothing exciting to report today - although I woke up this morning thinking that my heater was broken, since it was beeping at six a.m. and I could tell from the temperature around my nose that it hadn't been on for awhile. But it turns out that my power had gone out for a few hours overnight, so the heater is all good and I think I'll survive.

Work was good, and I left at 5:15 to have dinner with Annie, who is new to my team and visiting Boulder. We went to The Kitchen, which I always adore. When I got home, I did some dishes, then did a bunch of prep for tomorrow. And now I need to sleep since I need to wake up and pack tomorrow - goodnight!

try to wrap your arms around a memory

I woke up in Denver this morning, surprisingly none the worse for wear after last night's escapades. I'm delighted that I stayed over - I'd been worried about the weather, and while I was right to be worried (it was 23 degrees and snowing when I woke up), the snow wasn't enough to interfere with my drive home. But before I drove, I got to have a leisurely morning in Katie and James's house - James made excellent coffee/eggs/bacon, and Katie made some killer roasted potatoes, and I felt v. refreshed and restored.

Of course, in the light of day, our plan to take a vacation to Moldova may not have held up to scrutiny (although I still want to go there someday). And Julia told me that she thought she was getting sick, and then sneezed in my face - four year olds are monsters. But still, it was a great night and a perfect morning, so #noregrets (until I get some crazy toddler virus).

I eventually left, and on the way home I stopped at Target, then went to Ozo to grab coffee beans (I would have gone to Whole Foods, but I wasn't sure I wanted to brave it). When I got home, I promptly did absolutely nothing for a few hours - I should have done a million things, including answering friends' outreach attempts and taking care of work stuff and writing and a bunch of other stuff, but I wasn't feeling it. I did eventually do three loads of laundry and finish tidying up my office. I also called my parents, who were delightful. And I made supper - I was going to make chili, but the inside of my red onion was rotten, so I went in a completely different direction and made spaghetti carbonara instead.

I did, alas, do about an hour of day job stuff tonight - although it was pretty unfocused, so I probably could have been done in fifteen minutes. I also did some personal writing job stuff, which was v. necessary. And now I'm going to go to bed - goodnight!

I wanna be your high heels when you kick it

It's amazing how great a day can be when I don't have to work and also feel like getting things done. I woke up at eightish after ten hours of sleep, made some coffee, and then got an uncontrollable urge to reorganize and purge my bathroom drawers. This slowly had some scope creep, which led to some purging in my linen closet and office as well. But it was all overdue - there was a lot of stuff that I dumped into drawers a year ago even though I hadn't had the stuff while traveling and so it was either unnecessary or out of date, but I hadn't made time to fix it.

I didn't finish everything I wanted, but at one I had to run an errand - motomaki for lunch, followed by Staples to get some stuff for an off-site. Then I went home and showered and talked to Katrina, which was delightful as always.

But I had to cut off our conversation so that I could finish getting ready - Katie and I went out in Denver tonight, and it was perfect. We ended up trying El Five, which is a gorgeous restaurant on the fifth floor, which means we were able to see far off into the horizon while drinking wine and talking about death. #worthit

So, we had an amazing night, then came home and sat in my car and listened to old songs from our your (same same but different, since my Audi is very different from my old 1984 pick up). Then we hung out with James and drank rose, and now I'm going to sleep in their guest room. Goodnight!

i left my body lying somewhere in the sands of time

Today was a decent day, all in all - too much work and not enough time to do it, but I had an entertaining lunch conversation (in which one guy may have revealed that he intends to end up homeless), some decent meetings, and then left at four to get a manicure. I had to do one last work thing after that, but then I talked to Katie about tomorrow's plans.

And then you'll be proud to know that I didn't work or be a hermit - instead I had dinner and drinks with Kelly at Verde (my fave). I had more margaritas than intended, but not as many as I could have had, so hopefully I'll be chipper in the morning. It was fun to hang out, but it's also fun to lie in bed and look at houses on Zillow, which is how I spent the rest of my night. So, all in all, it's been great.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

raining in baltimore

Today was not great. This was mostly because one of the women on my team, whom I have known for ten years and is one of the nicest people ever, is from Panama City, FL, and her parents are trapped in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael. Apparently their house is mostly gone, and her dad has medical issues and both hospitals are out of commission, and she's got no other family in Florida (or the US) to help.

So needless to say, that was sad and stressful. The rest of my day was stressful enough in its own right - I slept in instead of writing, but I had meetings straight from nine to six (with a thirty minute break to get a flu shot and make a sandwich), and then I was at the office until seven. I came home, ate peanut butter, took a nap, and then had calls with people in Singapore and India until eleven. Bleh.

But tomorrow is another day, so it's time for bed - goodnight!

I've become so numb

I wrote for almost an hour this morning (great!). But then I did a ton of day job stuff, with a couple of breaks to watch the snow (yes, snow) and a quick but delicious sushi lunch. I also took a break tonight to watch some TV before doing more work - and now it's time to do it again tomorrow. Goodnight!

five hundred miles

I actually got up to write this morning - I only accomplished the feat for twenty minutes, but it felt good. Then I went to work, slogged as fast as possible until 4:30, left, and walked myself over to my favorite pizza place for pizza, wine, and a bunch of journaling. Sadly this was in my work journal since I needed to organize my thoughts, but it was #worthit.

Then I came home and curled up on the couch with THE SILK ROADS, which remains fascinating (even if I may be an extreme dork for holing up and reading it when I could be doing other things). And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

run this town

I was v. relaxed this morning, but it's back to the grind tonight. I got up rather early this morning and wrote for an hour, and it was all lovely and wonderful and made me feel like I could always do this. But work slowly wore me down as I remembered everything on my to-do list. I did leave the office at five and go to the grocery store to buy stuff to make chili - but by the time I got home, I was too hungry to wait for the chili to cook, so I made an omelette instead. Then I watched some stupid television to relax for a bit, and then I did a few work-related things that were not exciting but were still necessary (like filing an expense report before the system starts sending nastygrams to my boss).

And now I am going to sleep and see if I can pull off similar feats tomorrow - goodnight!

walking in memphis

I'm back in my own bed again - and I'll actually be here for more than a week, which is astonishing. I had a great time in NYC, but it's good to be back, even if I did have to say farewell to Terry without knowing when I'll see her again.

This morning went very smoothly - I woke up in time to grab a quick coffee with Terry before shoving my stuff into my suitcase and going to the airport. I acquired just enough stuff on this trip that I had to check my bag, but the airport was easy, and I had time to grab a tasty hash and a mimosa (and more coffee) before boarding.

My flight was actually early, and I spent it getting my work inbox under control for the first time in weeks. So, when I got home I felt no compulsion to work - I grabbed some coffee beans on the way home, and I washed my sheets and my duvet cover, but other than that I was tremendously lazy.

I did call my parents, though, which was nice. And I crawled into bed at nine and spent the last hour reading a couple of chapters of THE SILK ROADS - I started it months ago and hadn't picked it back up, but it's really fascinating stuff. Oceans rise, empires fall...and it's been going on forever, in places that were incredible jewels of knowledge and progress when Europe was a forgotten backwater. In other words, this book is right up my alley.

But I need to go to bed so that I can write before work - goodnight!

all of the lights all of the lights

I had a fabulous day hanging out with Terry in New York, thanks for asking! She knows me well enough that she let me sleep in, and then she handed me coffee when I got up, so I think we're still besties. Our first stop was brunch at ABC Kitchen, which was delish - we split a carrot salad that was way better than it should have been, and then I had an tasty omelette.

After that, we went to Soho, where we explored Bloomingdale's before checking out the Wing, which is a female co-working space that I really loved. It made me long for my nomadic writer days... But then I bought a fabulous pair of leopard print shoes with tassels, and I was firmly recommitted to my capitalist lifestyle.

We eventually wandered back to Terry's place and finished watching a comedy special called "Nanette" by Hannah Gadsby, which started out super hilarious and then ended up being totally tragic and uncomfortable, which was the point (I recommend, but be prepared). Then we had dinner and a bottle of wine at Mountain Bird, which was awesome - cute/low-key setting with incredible food and lovely servers. My duck was pretty awesome, and Terry and I had a fun time continuing our catch-up over a perfect meal.

Then we met Terry's boyfriend for a drink, where he and I bonded over making fun of Terry, which is how people usually bond in these situations. And now I must sleep, since I'm leaving in the morning - goodnight!

forces of evil in a bozo nightmare

I had a good final day of the conference, but I was ready to be done - I have a lot of day job stuff on my mind and I began to feel like I was wasting my time by sitting at the conference when I could have been working. However, it was useful overall, so no regrets.

I left around 3:45 and took an Uber to Terry's (remember her?) - I'm hanging out with her for a day or two of fun, so I came to her place to drop my stuff so we could go out in search of adventure. Our first stop was the Met to see this year's Met fashion gala exhibit - "Heavenly Bodies", which examined the influence of Catholicism on fashion. The exhibit was awesome - lots of crazy modern couture, but also some old papal vestments. The papal vestments were cool to see - not just for the human history, but also the incredibly intricate and detailed embroidery. The workmanship and artistry was super impressive, so I'm glad we saw it.

Terry is a member, so we went to the members' reception after and had sparkling wine and snacks while talking to a couple who seemed to have a fascinating life as government contractors. Then we adjourned to Mermaid Inn (after I bought a piece of jewelry that I'm calling my birthday present from my parents, who sent cash and instructions to buy something memorable). We ate a bunch of oysters, and then someone Terry knows joined us, and it was delightful.

But now I'm super exhausted and will follow up with you again soon - goodnight!