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!