cash me outside

So tired... Today was a good day at work, but I came home feeling tapped out, and so got nothing done beyond some stuff around the house and a bit of desultory journaling. So, I'm going to sleep and hope that I have more energy tomorrow - goodnight!

three motels

My phone kept guessing that I was trying to say "three morels", because it's clearly more likely that I would talk about mushrooms instead of cheap hotels. This is very on brand.

Unfortunately, it's also on brand that I worked a lot today - I wrote before work, slogged from 9 to 4:30, bought groceries, made a tasty batch of chicken chile verde (better than my first attempt, likely because they had all the right peppers), and then worked again for another three hours or so. I also had to do a bunch of mortgage stuff, which is a delight - I'm looking forward to being done.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

step on the glass, staple your tongue

Today was a lovely day, which is a good thing since I may have stored up enough happiness to get through the winter storm warning on tap for tomorrow. I got up earlyish for a weekend and actually wrote before my brunch plans, so I felt pretty smug about that. Then I had brunch with Kelly at River and Woods - their breakfast sandwich is so tasty, and the company was pretty great too.

Then I came home and did a bunch of stuff around the house all afternoon before spending some quality time on the phone with my parents - my dad had some better gossip than usual to share, which I was all in on because I love gossip (er, I mean, I'm a student of human nature, which sounds way better). Then I drove into Denver for dinner - my friend Barbara is in town to visit her daughter, and since her daughter works with me, I got invited to crash their festivities. We went to Bar Dough, which was just as good for dinner tonight as it was for lunch a few weeks ago - their gluten free pasta was perhaps the best gluten free pasta I've ever had. And it was great to see Barbara - I hadn't seen her since my Oceanside retreat, which is approximately when I went totally off the grid for a couple of months and lost touch with everyone, so we had a lot to catch up on.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

so i find you and hold you down

I was singularly lazy today, which was probably what I needed - I'll be with people the next couple of weekends, and I was in Iowa last weekend (seems hard to believe, since it feels like forever already), so my inner hermit needed to hermit the fuck out. I mostly succeeded at that goal - after staying up until 2:30am reading, I slept until 9:30, went down to make coffee and peanut butter toast, sat on my couch to eat the toast...and ended up rereading SYLVESTER until 2pm. It's another Georgette Heyer; I didn't read the whole thing, but there are some particularly funny moments in this one, as well as a quote that was engraved on my old Motorola phone six years ago, so that was fun (but v. lazy).

Then I realized I was starving again, so I showered and walked over to Kalita Grill, where I had v. tasty mediterranean food. On my way home, I stopped at the Benjamin Moore store nearby to look at paint colors again - this is my third visit there, and in three visits, not a single person has said hi to me or asked if I needed help. So I probably won't be buying my paint there, but I felt no shame at taking like a hundred of their paint chips.

Then I came home and was mostly slothful for most of the night - it's way more fun to look at paint and art and a variety of decorating sites than it is to do anything productive. But I did manage to write for almost an hour, since I was feeling inspired by my Georgette Heyer binge read. And now I really need to sleep, since I have actual social plans tomorrow and also need to get actual things done - goodnight!

albino alligators

I stayed up way too late rereading one of my favorite Georgette Heyer novels - THE UNKNOWN AJAX, which has one of the more entertaining climaxes of any book I've read. I also reread half of THE MASQUERADERS - and together, they may have unblocked something I was mulling over about my current approach.

But I stayed up way too late doing that - it's 2:30am, oops. Still, it was a nice break after slogging all day. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

I see it I want it

No time to blog tonight - I slept really fitfully last night, probably because I worked late and tried to go straight to sleep without unwinding. So, no writing happened this morning. Instead, I got ready, took an early meeting from home, then went into the office and slogged until 5:30. Then I had dinner with Sam at Corrida... She and I had been trying to get together for awhile, and we both wanted to try this restaurant. It ended up great - I inadvertently had too much gluten, but I had a nice gin and tonic while watching the sun set over the mountains, so that was great. But now I really need to sleep - goodnight!

the beat is a chemical

Today was a v long day with some fun in the middle of it. I got up in time to write for half an hour, although it was slow going this morning - I'm a bit stuck on the hero's motivation, so it was somewhat painful, but better than nothing. I took one meeting from home because I couldn't quite get out the door in time, then went to the office and had a bunch of meetings until 3:30.

I then played hooky for a few hours - I was overdue for a catchup with a coworker, so we went to Pizzeria Locale and had pizza and rosé, which is about as lovely of an afternoon as one could ask for. The subject matter wasn't entirely lovely since things have been pretty stressful at work for a lot of people, but it was still a really nice way to spend a few hours.

Then I came home and napped off the rosé, and then I worked for the last three hours - I had a couple of performance reviews to finish writing for tomorrow, and I also had a conference call with someone in India. Yes, performance review season never ends - I spent hours writing calibration notes a month and a half ago, and now that it's time to deliver the reviews I have to translate those notes into polished prose for the actual review. But I'll be done on Monday, and then I can go back to pretending this process doesn't exist until it starts again in September.

And now I really need to sleep - I may let myself off the hook for writing tomorrow morning since I have an 8:30 meeting, but I don't really want to, so let's see if I get enough sleep by going to bed right now. Goodnight!

sipping on straight chlorine

I'm trying to go to bed right now so I can get eight full hours of sleep - I didn't quite get eight last night, and it wasn't enough to recover from my flight and put me in a better position for today. That said, today was much better than yesterday (at least from not wanting to fall asleep in the office). I got up in time to write this morning even though I had an eight a.m. meeting (which I took from home, since I had time to shower after writing but couldn't get into the office). Then I went to the office and had meetings almost all day, although I had just enough non-meeting time to get a couple of important things done.

I did leave promptly at five, though - I had happy hour / dinner with Caroline. We went to a wine bar in Louisville (which calls itself "/pôr/" because that's fancier than saying "pour"), where we each had a glass of wine and split some burrata and some ahi tuna nachos. My glass of wine was good; I wasn't super impressed with the food, but it was gluten free, so I won't complain too much (and really, it was totally fine; I just expect my nachos to be more nacho-y and less of a bed for a bunch of seared tuna to rest upon).

So Caroline and I hung out for ~2.5hrs, which was a v lovely way to spend an evening. Then I came home, took care of my dishes, did about thirty minutes of day job stuff, and now it's time for bed. Goodnight!

shuffle to the left let's glide now

I meant to go to bed an hour ago (the story of my life). Today was a v. v. long day - I woke up at 3:45 after a few hours of fitful slumber, which is the equivalent of waking up at 2:45am in Colorado. My flight was at six, so I left the hotel at 4:45, took the shuttle for a few minutes, and was through security by five - the DSM airport is remarkably efficient. That gave me time to grab an iced coffee before boarding, which was an attempt to wake up...

...but I took half a dramamine before takeoff, which may have knocked me out. I did write for a little bit on the flight (in between naps), and then we landed around seven a.m. When I got to Denver, I grabbed another iced coffee, grabbed my car, and drove to the office, where I made it in time to enjoy some free breakfast before the long slog began.

So I worked all day with varying degrees of energy, came home a little before five, messed around on my phone, and took a v. necessary nap. Then I did three loads of laundry and worked for an hour on day job stuff, and then I changed my sheets and unpacked and tried to straighten up. And now, it's definitely time to sleep - goodnight!

cowboy hat from gucci

I'm in a hotel room a few minutes away from the Des Moines airport, and this episode of #smalltownlife is rapidly coming to a close. I spent the day hanging out at home, eating a final breakfast, chilling on the patio with my mom, driving around with my dad, etc. Around four, [censored] and I said our farewells to the parents, and then drove up to see Aunt Kathy and Andrew. [Censored] left me there, after trying to fix [censored], and I hung out with Kathy and Drewbaby until the sun went down. Then Drewbaby drove me back into Des Moines and dropped me off at this hotel - my flight tomorrow is at six am and this hotel has a shuttle, so it's the easiest way to handle an early flight (and the kindest way to do it for the family who might have to take me here).

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

til there was nothin left to burn and nothin left to prove

It's my last night in southern Iowa already, although I'll be in Iowa tomorrow night as well - but that night will be spent in a hotel near the airport, since my flight back to Denver leaves at six am Monday. Today was a rather idyllic day - I woke up in time to have breakfast with my parents, and then I spent most of the day outside. It was over seventy degrees, which made it perfect for sitting on the back patio. The ground still looks like spring, since it's getting green but most of the trees haven't unfurled their leaves - but the sun and the warmth felt like May instead of April, and I'll definitely take it.

Drewbaby came down to visit this afternoon - we'd seen him at dinner on Thursday, but we didn't have a lot of time to talk, so it was really nice that he came down. We spent some quality time on the back patio, mostly talking about nothing (although Drewbaby got to hear about the paper route that my dad and his dad had as kids, as well as how it used to be totally fine to send a seven-year-old and a twelve-year-old several hundred miles unescorted on a train). We also went into town to see Gram, which was about as depressing as expected - she still recognizes me, but I look about the same as I did when I was six, so it helps that I've been remarkably consistent with my hair style over the decades.

Then Drewbaby drove home, I did a bit of writing, and my parents and [censored] and I eventually had prime rib and baked potatoes at home. And now, unfortunately, I should go to sleep - goodnight!

the people of the town are strange, and they're proud of where they came

Just like the past two days, I spent much of today driving up to Des Moines and back. [censored] bought a [censored] from Uncle B and needed a ride up to retrieve it, so I volunteered as tribute. We stopped in town first so that [censored] could run into the courthouse while I washed my car, and then we drove up to the city. The drive was entirely uneventful and filled with pleasant conversation, although it took slightly longer than I would have liked because I couldn't speed aggressively - the cops are out for a 4/20-related drug dragnet all weekend, and my car here still has Colorado plates, which seemed like a good way for me to get tased.

sssanyway, I dropped [censored] off at [censored], then went to a Caribou Coffee and wrote for an hour. The writing was great and the Caribou Coffee was quite nice, so that was a lovely way to spend an hour in the city. Then I drove home, although I met [censored] in Indianola, where we had a quick lunch at [censored]. The rest of the drive was good enough; when I got home, I made a quick stop at the house, then took [censored] into town to pick up [censored] (and drop some stuff off at the secondhand store).

Then I came home and was v. lazy the rest of the day - I journaled a little, took a long nap, read a little, and then enjoyed supper with the family. I spent a couple more hours hanging out in the kitchen talking to my parents - but now I'm wiped out and it's time for bed. Goodnight!

your hand in mine is all i want

I'm in ye olde Iowa, where I arrived yesterday after a day that was simultaneously v. relaxing and a total mad scramble. I woke up at seven yesterday and was going to write, but instead drank coffee and dealt with house stuff (both the house I'm buying and the house I'm renting). Then I showered, tidied up a bit, started packing....and suddenly realized there was a risk I was going to be late.

So I finished packing in a rather panicked fashion, then drove to the airport. I was actually early enough to have a salad and a glass of rosé at Elway's, which calmed my nerves a bit - which was a good thing, since it was turbulent going both up and down. [censored] picked me up, and we had supper at a Mexican restaurant called Old West (not sure why their 'fajitas Montana' had pineapple in it, but I didn't try it, and if that was the only weird thing on the menu, I suppose I'll take it). Then we drove home, after a brief stop at a v. sketchy home improvement store, and I spent the rest of the evening talking to the parents.

That trend continued today - I spent most of the day hanging out in the kitchen, showing them photos and videos and paint chips, among other things. However, we had to leave the comfort of our middle-of-nowhere to drive up to Des Moines. We had dinner with Aunt B, Uncle B, Aunt Kathy, and Drewbaby at a Brazilian steakhouse that opened last year. It was really really delicious - lots of different, excellent meats (although I ate three of the sausages, even though they were probably the cheapest thing there, because I couldn't help myself), and lots of tasty sides and salads.

Of course, it was weird that Mark wasn't there, and will continue to be weird. But there's nothing anyone can do about that - so now that I'm home and in my bed, I think I'll sleep. Goodnight!

hall of fame

I was really not in the mood to get up this morning - but I managed to force myself out in time to write before work, which was a minor miracle. Then I slogged straight through from 9 to 4:15, drove to my nail salon, answered email for an hour while getting a pedicure, and then took an enforced break while I got a manicure. There are worse ways to spend an afternoon, although there are also certainly better ways.

Then I ran to Sephora to pick up a couple of things for my trip, went to Motomaki to eat salmon and rice and avocado for the last time in a few days, and stopped at Whole Foods to grab coffee for Iowa + coffee/cream to have here when I get back. I came home after that and did a couple of hours of day job stuff - I'm in fairly good shape at the moment, but I should probably do a couple more things in the morning, and I definitely need to do some work on Sunday if I want to survive next week.

And now I need to sleep - you'll notice that nothing above mentioned anything about packing, taking out the trash, tidying up, etc., so I need to do all of that in the morning before I head to the airport. Ye olde Iowa awaits - goodnight!

it feels good to be running from the devil

Some parts of today were good - the inspection for the house I'm buying was today, so I spent a few hours there this morning making sure everything was up to snuff. I also had dinner with Heather (aka dear respected madam) - she's in town all week to deliver a training, and I went to the session this afternoon. It was awesome to see her, and hopefully I'll lure her back for another visit soon. And I also wrote this morning, so I'm keeping my hopes alive.

But mostly I was sad - the Notre Dame fire was devastating, and I was distracted during the training by checking the news on my phone under the table to see what was happening. I love Paris, and Notre Dame is one of the most stunning buildings I've ever experienced - it's hard to believe so much of it was lost, and also hard to believe that so much of it was saved. It was also one of the inspirations for the young adult fantasy that I keep messing around with, and I had intended to set a major scene there - because who could ever imagine that it would be gone before I could finish the book?

So, I'll probably dwell on it for awhile...but now it's time for bed. Goodnight!

heavy as a feather when you hit the dirt

I had a pretty good day, all in all - I slept until almost nine and was feeling a bit lethargic after spending eleven hours in bed. But I took care of a whole bunch of personal stuff today, ran a few errands, did a couple of loads of laundry, and spent a very nice hour in the mid-afternoon writing part of a scene for my new book while eating pizza at Pizzeria Locale. I think they gluten'd me this time - the pizza tasted different than usual, but I got a white pizza this time (delicious garlic oil and mushrooms) and so didn't really question it. However, the bill didn't have the upcharge for the gluten free crust, and I have a bit of a stomachache, so that was a bummer. But I probably shouldn't be eating this much pizza anyway, so now I have a good reason to toss the leftovers.

Still, I got some great writing done while sitting at the bar, so I'll take it. Then I came home, talked to my parents for awhile, and spent the evening taking care of more business (and also reading too much news on my phone). And now I really need to sleep - I have to be in Denver around 9:15 and I'd like to write in the morning (and possibly swing by the office to eat free breakfast rather than having to make anything myself) - so sleep would be a good idea. Goodnight!

how am I the lucky one

I had an awesome day, thanks for asking. I got up around my usual time, made some coffee, and wrote this morning - yay me. I also got a massage, had lunch at Cured, did a whole bunch of financial stuff, etc etc.

The evening was all about relaxing - I drove to Katie and James's, and we had a drink at a new bar/distillery down the street, then had dinner at Kobe An. They had a babysitter to enable all this fun stuff, and I feel like we made good use of it.

We were back at their house around 8:30, and I hung out there until almost ten - but the desire to sleep in my own bed outweighed my #fomo around not having another drink with them. So I'm home and falling asleep as I type, which means I should sleep - goodnight!

you steal the air out of my lungs, you make me feel it

I got up this morning and wrote before work, which means I accomplished that feat every day this week - for the first time in a v. long time. So, I'm pretty happy with that. However, it may have used the last of my willpower reserves - I was really tired at work today, and the hour and a half that I had to do stuff in the middle of the day was mostly wasted since I wasn't feeling it. It probably didn't help that it was grey and cold and spitting snow; I'm ready for summer to come back and mean it this time, but we're not quite there yet.

So I came home around 4:30, read for a bit, took a bit of a nap, read some more, and ate the rest of some soup that I'd defrosted on Wednesday. I really just wanted to stay in tonight, but it was my friend Natasha's birthday party - she's the whole reason why I'm in my current job, since she's the one I met up with a year and a half ago who told me that my old team was moving to Boulder. So, despite my desire to stay in bed, I put on cuter clothes and drove over to Lafayette. I only stayed for an hour - I didn't want to drink due to both the driving and my desire to get some sleep tonight, which made the dancing a little less appealing. But I talked to some people I know, and that was enjoyable - and met a woman whose name I've heard for a decade but whose path I've never officially crossed, and perhaps we shall be friends now if the desire to grab lunch is still alive when the week starts again.

I was home again by 9:30, read for a little bit, fell asleep with my book on my face, and am now ready to actually go to bed. Yes, I'm officially old - but #noregrets. Goodnight!

your heart ain't in it

I've already fallen asleep, so this will be brief. Today was a fast and brutal slog - I wrote before work, had a meeting at 8:30 that I took from home, and then had to clear snow off my car and go to the office. I worked all day without a break, then left at 5:30 to have dinner at River and Woods with my Boulder team + two people who are visiting from California.

So, that was all fun, but I need to sleep. Happy birthday, Aunt Becky! And goodnight, everyone!

i think she knows

Today was a bit of a weird day. I got up early enough to write for almost an hour before work, which was good. But the day felt ominous - there was a blizzard incoming, but it was raining when I left the house this morning. That switched to snow around late morning, and while the snow wasn't slick, I decided to come home around three and take my last couple of meetings from here.

Unfortunately, I had to spend many hours on financial stuff - both all the disclosures / info for my mortgage application, and some follow up stuff on my 2018 taxes. I found out that I owe a rather crazy amount of money for 2018 - which would have been annoying even in the best circumstances, but is even more annoying when I'm also spending a lot of money on a house. Most of the people I've talked to in both the tech world and the writing world had similar nasty surprises with their taxes this year, so I got to bond over text with a few friends, which I guess was the only silver (more like dirty grey) lining.

Luckily I had some beef stew in the freezer, so I thawed it out and comforted myself with that. I also comforted myself with a glass of wine, and felt proud that I didn't make it five glasses while coping with the tax situation. And I did some laundry and tidied my kitchen, so at least I got some other stuff done.

And now I need to sleep - I don't know whether I'll be able to write tomorrow since I have to be at work at 8:30 and also have to remember to clean off my car. We'll see, we'll see. Goodnight!

we were meant to live

No blog tonight - I got up this morning in time to write for an hour before work, then had meetings straight from nine to five with no break. Then I had dinner with Tolu at Bramble and Hare - Tolu is part of the old friendship renewal crew and is in town for a summit, so it was great to see him again.

And now I need to sleep and see what tomorrow brings - it was 75 today and we have a winter storm warning tomorrow, so it could be interesting. I did have fun this afternoon explaining that "winter storm warning" has an actual definition, and that it's not just a friendly heads up that today was warm and tomorrow will be cold. I love watching Californians' first winters here.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

one shining moment

I had a great day - I got up early and was able to write for ~45mins before getting ready and going into the office. It was over seventy degrees today, so I wore a dress and pretended that it was summer. I had several meetings, but I also had several hours to actually get some work done, which is so unusual that it felt luxurious - and I also took advantage of that time to get some serious stuff done. I had a v. tasty lunch and actually sat in the cafe to eat it, rather than stuffing it down my throat while trying to talk in a meeting. I may have bought a house. And I talked to my parents, texted with [censored], and then worked some more while watching basketball (Texas Tech's loss may have been the only down-note today, but I'm happy for Virginia).

I buried a lede in there - in the midst of an otherwise great day anyway, I think I bought a house. I put in the offer yesterday, got a counter today, and accepted the counter - so the process is underway. I still have to go through inspections and all sorts of other things, but it's still exciting. And bizarre. And totally unlike my life two years ago, when I was hanging out in Bali...but I think this is a good thing. The house is in Denver, so the commute is the only downside - but Denver itself is a major upside, and I'm super excited to move there.

Sooooo - more to come on that when it's actually closer to final. And now I should go to bed if I want to write or do anything else before work in the morning - goodnight!

a little bit genghis khan

I spent today doing many things that are required of adults, even adults who are still technically millennials (but I'm among the oldest of the millennials, and I haven't had avocado in at least two days, so I barely count). Most of my day was spent doing my taxes, or rather, organizing all of my information to send it to my CPA. While this is cutting it close, I've had to file extensions the last two years because of my crazy travel schedule, so by that comparison I'm well ahead of where I should be, thankyouverymuch.

I also talked to [censored] for quite awhile; he reminded me that he had sent me the video to a ridiculous song called 'Genghis Khan', and he was correct in assuming that the video was exactly up my alley in terms of ridiculousness (it has a vibe similar to other ridiculous videos that I like, so don't bother to watch it if you have good taste, but definitely watch it if you are Ritu). But speaking of Ritu, I knew I had heard the song before - and long after watching the video, I remembered that we actually saw this band and heard this song at Boston Calling three years ago (blog post here, which reminds me that we had a truly epic night).

So, that was a nice interlude. I also took a couple of hours off from doing stuff to go to Pizzeria Locale for a mid-afternoon pizza and some quality journaling time; it was absolutely gorgeous today, so it was perfect for walking over there, chatting with my favorite bartender, and tasting a couple of the white wines she was pouring in abundance today. I also talked to my parents for quite awhile - since it was still nice at five p.m., I sat on my balcony while talking, which did a lot of good for my heart and for my vitamin D levels.

And now I need to sleep - morning will come all too soon, and I want to write before work, which means morning will come even earlier. Goodnight!

i need you in my house 'cause you're my home

Today was pretty lovely, although I was entirely too lazy at the end of it. I drove into Denver to meet up with Lou (my landlord / real estate agent) to look at a few houses. I ended up really liking one of them a lot - it's a half duplex, which I wasn't sure I wanted, but the half duplexes are, for the most part, nicer than the renovated single-family victorians (unless you're willing to go over a million dollars, which I am not). This one in particular has much better light than a lot of houses in these neighborhoods, and is also prime walking distance to a couple of great strips of restaurants.

So, I'm sleeping on it, but we'll see. After Lou and I wrapped up, I called Katie and discovered that she and her family were about to grab lunch only a couple of blocks from where my car was - so I crashed their festivities and spent some lovely time with them. It was a gorgeous day in Denver and felt like summer, so we sat on the patio at Bar Dough. I've wanted to try Bar Dough for ages - its chef was on Top Chef Colorado last year and I really liked her on the show, so I had high hopes. The restaurant lived up to them - while I had to get a gluten free pizza instead of a regular one, it was really delicious. Katie and I split it, and it was just about perfect - sausage, prosciutto, some amazing cheese, and garlic oil instead of tomato sauce. I don't often order white pizzas since I like tomatoes, but the garlic oil was perfect, so I was pretty pleased.

After we ate, and after Katie's daughters played with a dog that was so excited to be alive that it actually chewed through its leash, Katie and I parted ways from James and the girls. I drove Katie back over the the house I was interested in and we sat outside and stared at it like total creepsters - but Katie is into it because it would mean that we could have impromptu gatherings like today's lunch all the time. She would probably tell me that buying a trailer was a good idea if it got me to move to Denver faster, so I can't totally trust her opinion, but it was still good to get it.

Then I dropped Katie off, drove home, meant to do a ton of work tonight -- and instead mostly relaxed, napped, and researched houses. But I did two loads of laundry, so it wasn't a total waste. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

let it burn

I'm slowly recovering from the jetlag, but not enough to make today easy. It could have been worse - I had a bunch of meetings, but I also had a bit of downtime, although I squandered some of it because I was too tired to concentrate. I also left the office at 5:30, ate an early dinner at Chipotle (comfort food of champions), came home, and put on my pajamas at like 6:30, so you can guess how tired I was.

As I was crawling into bed with a book, [censored] texted me, so we ended up talking for awhile to make up for the fact that we hadn't talked since before I went to Dublin. I also got a text from a Boulder friend who invited me over for dinner, but since I had had Chipotle and was already in my bed, I (hopefully) got a rain check for Sunday. Then, I spent the rest of the evening finishing THE NAME OF THE WIND - it's a fantasy book that I've had recommended to me by several people over the years, but now I wonder if it was only recommended by my enemies - the first book was great, and I want to read the second, but apparently everyone has been waiting eight years for the third book and now I'm destined to join their ranks. Which is, after all, somewhat ironic since I've taken so long to write my next book...but let's just ignore that fact.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

loneliness is tragical

The jetlag was slightly better today than it was yesterday, although I woke up several times in the night and basically only dosed from four to 6:30ish. But I was feeling more refreshed than I had been when I finally got out of bed, which enabled me to take a 7:30am call (from home; I showered but then put on sweats because I didn't have quite enough time to finish getting ready). I then finished getting ready and went into the office, where I slogged fairly relentlessly until five.

But I skipped out promptly so that I could get a manicure (#priorities). Then I ran a couple of errands, came home, ate some peanut butter, and tried to contemplate working but instead am too tired to do much of anything. So I'm going to go to bed soon and hope that the jetlag moves on to someone else - goodnight!

boosters

I survived being back in the office, but barely - I didn't sleep well last night and got a crushing headache this afternoon, so came home at 2:40 and took a fifteen minute nap before the next meetings started. However, I made it through all of them, did a bit of work, and otherwise succeeded at doing the most vital stuff while still being able to crawl into bed at 9:30. And now it's time to try to make up for last night's sleep failure - goodnight!

the name of the wind

I'm back in Boulder after a perfectly uneventful flight... And I stayed up way later than expected (10:30!) by reading a book for the last five hours. This will either force me back into the right timezone quickly, or it will kill me. But the only way to find out is to go to bed - goodnight!

werewolves of london

It's my last night in the UK, and while I'm sad to be leaving London so soon, I'm ready to sleep in my own bed. Today was not ideal - I woke up sick and stayed in bed until nine in an effort to fix myself (it didn't work, but I probably feel better than I would have if I'd pushed harder today). I dragged myself to the office just in time to find that everyone had evacuated for a fire alarm, so I walked back to my hotel, had breakfast, and worked here for a couple of hours instead.

When I finally made it to the office, I had a few hours of meetings and a bit of time to do email. But I left at 5:30 for one last dinner with Alice, Chris, Kristen, and Morgan. We went to the Lighterman, which is in a posh new development behind King's Cross that used to be super sketchy and is now super charming. We had a great dinner as the sun went down (both literally and figuratively, since Kristen and I are leaving tomorrow and I won't see Alice or Chris for at least a month, thus ending a multi-day bonding extravaganza).

When dinner was over, we said our sad farewells, and then I came to my room, procrastinated for a bit, and then packed all my stuff. And now it's time to sleep since I need to get up somewhat early tomorrow - goodnight!