just go ahead let your hair down

I have v. little of interest to share with you today. I spent the day taking care of tings around the house + talking on the phone, and while much of it was worthwhile, little of it was something that deserves memorializing. I guess I did go to New Zealand, but since it was only for twenty minutes and only virtually via my Peloton, that's probably not very interesting either.

However, while I did have some existential life-level Sunday Scaries today, I'm not particularly dreading work this week, so at least there's that. And I painted my toenails, so if the thick bands of dead skin ever fall off my heels, I might look like someone who is ready for a vacation (spoiler: I am definitely ready for a vacation, but I'm not going to get one anytime soon). I also think I'm basically ready for my painters to show up again tomorrow - hopefully we don't have a similar debacle to last time and they actually do the job tomorrow, since I'm more than ready to put my bedroom (and especially my bedroom closet) back together.

And now, I think I shall go to bed (or at least read in it) - goodnight!

and i wanted to blame the roots of the trees for pushing up the concrete but now i know

I was feeling fairly determined today to get a bunch of stuff around the house done; it fell apart at the end when my dinner didn't turn out as deliciously as I had hoped, but up until that point it was pretty good. I had a somewhat lazy morning and made myself french toast for breakfast - that's a rare treat, especially since I usually don't crave sugar and so opt for more savory breakfast options, but it was pretty tasty today.

Then, I finally took down my Christmas tree - I am giving myself a pass on how long it took since I wasn't here for the last three weekends, although that doesn't really excuse whatever was going on in January. I also took down my outdoor wreath, swapped my doormat for my usual non-Christmas one, took down the garland/lights wrapped around my banister, and generally ensured that my house looks seasonally appropriate. I also dealt with the piles of mail in my dining room, took out trash and recycling, etc., etc.

Somewhere in there, I started tonight's dinner - a harissa-rubbed pork shoulder with white beans and chard. This was v. promising - the rub involved harissa (a Tunisian sauce with chili, red pepper, spices, etc), tomato paste, brown sugar, garlic, and vinegar, and the rub tasted great before putting it on the pork. However, the pork came out so dry that it was basically inedible, and the beans were also dry, and the chard was just a mistake. I think the issue was that I had a picnic roast rather than a butt (thanks to a delivery error), which had less fat on it. I also may have used too large a pot for the size of the roast, and so the 1.5c water added to the roasting pan to cook the pork evaporated too much? I added more water when I took it out to add the beans, but then you were supposed to turn the temperature up and leave the pot uncovered for the last 40min, and it was way too dry at that point. I would actually try it again because there were bites that were great, but for an initial outing it was a severe disappointment.

That said, the rest of my afternoon was not a disappointment - I had a friendship renewal chat with Jane, Jen, and Joann, and it lasted for several hours and was a delight. Then I finished eating my disappointing dinner, cleaned the kitchen, messed around online, and finally finished FOUR LOST CITIES. The last city was Cahokia, which was located near present-day St Louis - they had a population of ~30,000 back in 1100AD, which means they were bigger than Paris at the time. It was a pretty fascinating read, although less detailed than a couple of the other sections because Cahokia didn't leave behind anything written and so a lot of guessing at social structure is supposition (although the Sioux / Osage are likely descendants who moved west from Cahokia and share some similar agriculture / art / religious stories).

Of course, the danger of reading nonfiction is that it makes me wish that I had become a history professor so I could have studied this stuff myself - but a) the actual history professors I know haven't exactly had an easy time of it from a career standpoint, and b) this book was written by a journalist, not a historian, so I could theoretically write something like it too.

But now, I'm desperate for sleep - tomorrow is an office day, in that I want to write and also work on my taxes, so wish me luck with that. Goodnight!

put your record on

I'm suddenly too tired to blog, probably because I stayed up until midnight, which is an hour later than I've been staying up recently. I had a decent day, though - I slogged all day, but I took a break to turn last night's chicken tinga leftovers into a quesadilla with a whole bunch of guacamole on the side, and it was delicious. And I stopped a little after four to go down to Aunt B's - she's in town for the week, and I managed to catch her before she sees anyone else, so it felt relatively safe. We hung out for a couple of hours, and it was definitely worth the drive (although I will say that I will be more careful not to miss my exit in the future - I accidentally missed the exit off I-25 to her house, and then the next exit was seven miles away and it added twenty minutes to my trip).

And now, having spent the rest of the evening doing absolutely nothing, it's time for bed - goodnight!

are you fed up yet

I've been seriously unmotivated since coming back to Denver - or rather, the things I'm motivated to do are not the things I should be doing. I awoke this morning to a winter wonderland - 6-8" of snow, gleaming in the sunlight. The storm last night was over by the time I woke up, and the sun was shining almost all day - so while there is still plenty of snow to be found, it wasn't as dreary as some of the snow days I had in Iowa a couple of weeks ago.

I did have a decent morning - I ate oatmeal and did some writing, and I will most certainly take that. Then I worked all day, although I had a break for a call with Alyssa, which was great as always. I wrapped up around six (with a call with an aspiring writer at work, which I enjoyed) and then tried a new dinner recipe - I made chicken tinga tacos with a side of brussels sprouts, and they were delish. Basically, it just required pureeing tomatoes, chipotles, onions, and garlic in a blender, then browning some spice-rubbed chicken and finishing the chicken by simmering it in that sauce. They were delish and I'm excited to eat leftovers for the next couple of days - although I have some ambitious recipes planned to try this weekend, so we'll see if anything tops the tacos this weekend.

Then I cleaned up, messed around, and put a foot peel on my feet (perhaps a mistake, but my heels are cracking and I think I managed to keep the peel from touching my ankles, which was the mistake I made last time and resulted in feeling like I had burned skin that wasn't meant to be peeled). And now I am going to read or write or something and go to bed - goodnight!

keep it to myself and in my heart

I'm falling asleep on my chaise with my contacts open, which is not a recipe for success - I need to go to bed immediately. But I'm being lulled to sleep by the snowstorm outside - it was forty degrees at 5pm when I went to the post office, and now we've received several inches of snow and are in a sudden winter storm warning.

Luckily I have plenty of groceries (as well as a warm house) to see me through, so I think I'll be fine. And now I'm going to try to make it to my own bed - goodnight!

it isn't that much but it's a good start

I think today was good overall, although I continued to have a headache. I got up early enough to write for an hour before work, and I had some delightful ideas for zee book, so I'm planning to keep that energy going tomorrow.

The rest of the day involved slogging. But I ended around 5:15 and ran over to Kelly's with the intent of just picking up a package that had gotten delivered there in case I was out of town when it arrived...and I ended up staying for dinner (and drinking two capri suns, which I feel like I haven't had since college). My willpower was weak in the face (nose) of the pork tacos they'd cooked in their slow cooker, and I also know she and her husband already had covid because she was super sick and missed approx two weeks of work last fall. So, I'll have to hope that Colorado's falling case count + the relatively low chance of catching it again mean we were all safe from each other.

Sssanyway, it was great to see her and her husband, and so I enjoyed the evening and was still home before eight. Then I did some more day job work since I'm feeling behind, but I finally threw in the towel around ten. And now I am going to read a bit and go to bed - goodnight!

tell me what you're trying to hide

Today was a classic transition day - I was exhausted from the drive, likely under-nourished from eating cheetos the whole way (#noregrets), dry from the altitude, and dislocated from three weeks away. So, while I did two loads of laundry, changed a light bulb, ordered groceries, and generally took care of tings, today was not amazing.

But I took a walk after work because it was in the fifties, which *was* amazing. My dad continues to improve, which is also amazing. And I relaxed most of the evening - tomorrow is soon enough to tackle some of the projects on my list.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

all my favorite songs are slow and sad

I'm back in Denver, after the v. sad realization that the only states I've been in in almost a year are Colorado, Iowa, and Nebraska. Colorado and Iowa are great, but I hate driving across Nebraska (and yet it continues to be my destiny). This is the one-year anniversary of my last week in California, and it feels like a lifetime ago....

sssanyway. Things seemed to be going well when I said my farewells to my parents this morning, so hopefully my dad stays on the mend. I left them with the threat that if I have to come back to cook for them, I'm cooking garbanzo beans, so hopefully that's some motivation. After I packed up my car and ate some breakfast and said goodbye to my parents, I hit the road - the drive is officially ten hours and twenty minutes, but I think I lost fifteen minutes because I stopped four times, so it was more like ten hours and thirty-five minutes. Usually I speed just enough to almost keep up the pace, but still, I feel like I made pretty good time.

The drive grows ever more boring since there is nothing new to see, but I had a long chat with [censored], so that helped. I also listened to an audiobook called CHATTER by Ethan Kross - it's about our internal monologues and how to reshape them (which is key, since my internal monologue veers mostly between arguing with coworkers + being worried about not writing enough + tallying up my quarantine stockpiles). It was really interesting and sort of made me wish I'd gone into neuroscience after undergrad - and it was a good audiobook to listen to while drowning out my internal monologue on the drive.

When I got home, I dragged most of my stuff inside, ordered Indian takeout, and took a quick shower. Then I had a family dinner zoom - we hadn't talked in weeks, so when John suggested a zoom tonight, we all showed up. Priyanka didn't join, and Sam was offscreen, but otherwise it was a full quorum: Claudia (aka Santy), Chandlord (aka Vidya), John and Jess, Adit wearing a v. fashionable sweatshirt, and Ritu and Bill (+ a very creepy doll that Bill left on screen as a placeholder before they could actually join). We had much to discuss, which was accomplished, and we also went a little too deep on discussions of influencers and SPACs and how to wipe off a cake.

And now, I'm completely wiped out and need to sleep since I have to work tomorrow - goodnight!

lorenzo's on yokohama tires, bling bling

I am headed back to Colorado tomorrow unless snow and the roads conspire against me, so today was mostly spent in preparation. That included packing, loading my car, cleaning up the downstairs, putting away things I'd taken upstairs, etc., etc.

However, it wasn't all work - I took a long break when Aunt B came down to see my dad, so we all hung out for awhile. I also took a nap, which was v. welcome. And, of course, I ate supper; my mom took over the kitchen again, and she made v. tasty steak with baked potatoes and some veggies and some sauteed onions/mushrooms, all of which were delightful.

So, that's pretty much all I have to report - I just spent more time than I intended looking at my laptop, so I should probably shut it down and aim toward my bed. Goodnight!

grey clouds roll over the hills

I have v. little to report today. I had a fairly productive day in front of my work computer - I had relatively few meetings, and I actually used my non-meeting time to get some stuff done rather than ignoring it and zoning out during my breaks as sometimes happens on Fridays. I also had a break to eat a cobb salad and talk to my mom - this may not seem very exciting, but as I'm going back to Denver on Sunday and will a) be able to order lunch (which is a plus) but then b) will eat it by myself (which is a minus), my lunch today was overall better than usual.

After I was done with work, I hung out a bit and watched some 'Tales of Wells Fargo' with my dad (a vintage western tv show that was basically propaganda for how great Wells Fargo was as a stagecoach / banking company back in the day, sometime before they started creating fake accounts to pad their books). Then I ordered Mexican food and drove into town to pick it up. While I can't get food delivered here, I'm delighted that the Mexican takeout is so delicious. When I got home, we ate supper, and I regaled my parents with what I know about Pompeii (much of which I knew before starting to read FOUR LOST CITIES, but I learned more tonight!).

Then I came downstairs, finished the section on Pompeii, started the section on Angkor Wat, and accidentally fell asleep. Then I spent some time ordering a new journal, since I'm about to finish the one I'm currently writing in. And now I need to sleep so I can start packing tomorrow - goodnight!

and the walls kept tumbling down In the city that we love

I had a very nice day, all things considered - it wasn't below zero outside, and there was some sun, and my mom made my favorite cheeseburgers and fried potatoes for dinner. I was also oddly productive at work - if you work with me and are reading this, I'm of course *always* productive, but today felt particularly so. I also journaled and drank coffee before starting my day, so all in all it was pretty decent.

My last meeting didn't end until 6:30, but at that point I was officially done and had no intention of picking work back up again. So I went upstairs, opened a bottle of wine, and enjoyed dinner with my parents. I hung out in the kitchen for a couple of hours after that; I couldn't talk my dad into playing canasta, but we at least had a nice lazy evening.

And now I think I'll read some more of FOUR LOST CITIES - I finished the chapters on Çatalhöyük, which was one of the earliest cities in the world (8000 years ago, in Turkey, where they had yet to discover roads and so built enough housing for 5000-10000 people as a sort of honeycomb of rooms with ladders up to rooftop exits). Next up is Pompeii, which ended in fire instead of slow decay, so I'm kind of excited about that. Goodnight!

cutting lines and blurring truth

Today was a good day, if you like people getting out of hospitals and don't mind dreary weather. I slept in a bit more than planned, but that was probably wise since the aforementioned dreary weather didn't help me to feel in it to win it.

But I slogged for most of the day, with a break for one of my beloved bologna sandwiches (yay midwest). And, even better, my dad got out of the hospital today and is back in the house, where I can subject him to my citified cooking regime. Tonight was all leftovers, and the mix of ham, chicken and wild rice soup, and sausages and peppers was a bit odd, but it was all still tasty and was far easier than me or my mom whipping up anything new. And since I have meetings until 6:30 tomorrow night, I think I might get out of cooking tomorrow altogether...but we shall see.

sssanyway, it's great that Dad is on the mend, even if his boot isn't exactly my style (but then, high heeled suede probably wouldn't be the right choice for his current needs, so I guess I'll allow it). I hung out with my parents from the end of my last meeting around 5:30 until almost nine, discussing lost cities and phosphorus and the psi at which natural gas moves through pipes and rural music venues in the 1970s (among other topics). And then I came downstairs and slogged for the last ninety minutes, which officially, *finally* mostly cleared my inbox after letting it suffer these last few weeks.

And now I'm going to read some more about lost cities and go to bed - goodnight!

give all that you got on the sword

Today was a day for slogging - my mom and dad were at the hospital and [censored] went home last night, so I had the house to myself and no excuse to avoid the dreaded inbox for my day job. The sun was shining, which brightened my mood - sure, it was like -14 when I woke up, but at least the sun was reflecting back off the mountains of snow that have accumulated and will cause fresh new miseries when they finally melt.

So I slogged, with a break to have a v. delicious cobb salad for lunch. I also took a break for a horrifying moment when I managed to pull a three-inch-long hair out of my eye - I had a sudden burning pain in my eye this morning and when I looked in the mirror I couldn't find the usual eyelash. But when I pulled my eyelid back I thought I saw something...and sure enough, I managed to fish out a strand of hair that must have come from my bangs and somehow fully immersed itself in my eye. This is truly a portent of the end times, even if all the snow and bitter cold aren't.

By 5:30 or so I was done with meetings, and then I watched a company meeting while doing last night's dishes (and took a break to talk to Aunt B). Then my mom came home and we ate leftover soup (with a side of leftover mashed potatoes as a vehicle for butter) and caught up on how my dad's day went. Then I did a bit more work, said goodnight, came downstairs, and have messed around until now.

But now it's time for bed, and by bed I mean thirty minutes of reading a book I started last night (FOUR LOST CITIES, which is about...four lost cities). Goodnight!

my bunker underneath the surface

It is absolutely bonechillingly, dangerously cold in ye olde Iowa - I can't remember if it got above zero today, but it was certainly well below zero by tonight. It also started to snow again around 5pm, which was most unwelcome. And it's so cold that the heated water dish we keep outside for the cats (who have spent the last four days hanging out in their 'condo', which is full of straw and cats) can't entirely keep the water from freezing, so my only venture outside today was to break the ice that had formed around the rim and add fresh water. That three minutes outdoors was enough to convince me that any further time outdoors would be foolish at best.

The rest of my day was moderately relaxing - I had the day off, but I got up somewhat early and spent the morning / afternoon taking care of some personal tings (like starting the dreaded tax prep) and taking a nap. Then I made chicken and wild rice soup for dinner (which will also be dinner tomorrow), and I prepped mason jar cobb salads so I have lunch the rest of the week. [censored] headed back to his residence late this afternoon (where it is something like -22), and then my mom came home, so I still had someone to eat my tasty soup with. Luckily it sounds like my dad is doing okay, so hopefully that trend continues and he can come home later this week.

And now, I am rather desperate for sleep - goodnight!

but brutus is an honorable man

Today was bizarre but lovely. I spent most of the day watching Shakespearean theatre in Dutch, which is not what I usually do in ye olde Iowa (or anywhere else). It's likely that none of you recall my blog post from 17 March 2017, when I went to a six-hour play in London called ROMAN TRAGEDIES. However, I recall it - it was a v. inventive, interesting piece of theatre, mashing together Shakespeare's CORIOLANUS, JULIUS CAESAR, and ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA into a six-hour play set in a 21st-century newsroom, replete with tickers counting down the minutes until major characters' deaths, tvs and cameras all over the stage filming and reproducing the action as it happened, etc.

So, since that production was amazing, I've followed the acting troupe on Instagram ever since, and so I discovered they were doing a one-night-only livestream of the play today. Of course, evening in Amsterdam (did I mention they're Dutch? so it's English subtitles) is morning here, and so the play started at 8am. I didn't bother to get up for Coriolanus, but I settled in just in time to watch Coriolanus die and segue into Caesar.

Watching it on TV was definitely a bit different - the audience piece of the live performance was really cool, because for most of it you could actually mill around onstage, buy a drink at the onstage bar as the play was happening, and sit in the middle of the action. But I also got to really see the actors up close, and that brought its own delights. And I could stay in my pajamas and then shower during a longer intermission, so that was a bonus as well.

Another bonus was that I somehow tricked [censored] into almost five hours of Dutch Shakespearean theatre - he came into my room to find out what I was doing just as I was settling in, and he ended up hanging out and watching. Since he got sucked in, we used a scene change to move my Chromecast from my bedroom to the bigger tv in the downstairs living room, where we were able to watch in some bit of comfort (not total comfort, since it was -5 degrees out and the heat in the basement is not totally keeping up).

Needless to say, I quite enjoyed the play, and it was a very welcome break from the same-old-same-old. However, spending five hours basically watching subtitled tv was not how I usually spend my days and it somehow took a lot out of me. So I spent the afternoon recovering a bit, and then I cooked supper - I tried a new sausage and peppers recipe from Barefoot Contessa, along with mashed potatoes, and they were delish.

My mom also came home from the hospital somewhat early because it's so cold and the roads are so bad - the road outside our house is not a priority for the country road crews, and she barely made it, Luckily it's #smalltownlife and she knows who grades our roads, so she called him to find out when he'd be starting out in the morning to clear at least part of the road. So, fingers crossed she can make it back to the hospital tomorrow or else my dad will be quite bored.

And now, I really need to sleep - goodnight!

tell me do you hate me or do you want to date me

The first half of today was supremely lazy - I slept until almost ten, which significantly altered my averages sleep for the week (I've been averaging 6.5hrs, which is not enough). Then, groggy, I mostly sat around and made to-do lists that I had little real intention of completing. In my defense, it was brutally cold and under five degrees and snowing off and on this morning; the sun did come out later, but that wasn't enough to warm things up to anything bearable. But today will probably feel like a pleasant memory by the time Monday and temps around -16 roll around....

So I was lazy this morning, but I eventually showered and forced myself to accomplish some tings. Since my dad is still in the hospital, my mom was there all day, and so [censored] and I took care of a variety of house / life issues. For [censored], that meant running some errands and then dealing with the drifting snow that was blocking our driveway. For me, that meant cleaning out the fridge, vacuuming, and then making dinner.

Tonight's dinner effort was a ham that had been sitting in the fridge downstairs + potatoes au gratin + baked beans. All in all I was delighted with the results:

• cooking a ten pound ham for three people was perhaps overkill, but I love ham, and also now there is ham + a ham bone in the freezer for future meals and/or soups
• the potatoes au gratin were a modified Barefoot Contessa recipe - I've made her version with fennel and onions a couple of times, but tonight I skipped the fennel/onions since it makes the texture a little different from the usual midwestern scalloped potatoes of my youth. The non-fennel/onions version turned out excellently, and super easy - just potatoes, gruyere, heavy cream, and salt and pepper, baked until bubbly and browned on top, and completely comforting.
• my baked beans weren't quite as perfect as my mom's, but it's challenging to get them just right because there is no recipe, just eyeballing the amount of brown sugar / ketchup. However, they were totally good enough, especially since I haven't made them myself in at least a decade, so I'll take them

Everything was ready shortly after my mom got home from the hospital; unfortunately for my dad he was stuck there eating hospital food instead of this feast, but it sounds like he had a good day overall, so I'll take that.

And now, I suppose I should go to bed - goodnight!

waste away the whole afternoon

No updates - I slogged in the morning, then spent the afternoon getting groceries, procuring another heated water bowl for our outdoor cats, etc. And I'm insanely tired tonight - fitbit says I'm only getting ~6.5hrs of sleep per night, which is not enough for my delicate constitution. So it's time for bed - goodnight!

she's one in a million girl

More slogging, more problems. Personal life was fine today, although I was tired; work was also fine, but I mostly just went through a slew of meetings without actually getting work done.

But I threw in the towel around 5, took a quick nap, and then drove into town to pick up takeout pizza from Casey's (sometimes a taco pizza is really what you want). [censored] and I ate together before my mom came home from the hospital, and then I hung out with her while she was eating and unwinding. Then I came downstairs, took out my contacts, and meditated, which is probably something I should have done hours ago.

And now, since I'm falling asleep before I'm even in bed, I think it's time to sleep - goodnight!

but don't fall in love

Today was another slog. Work was fine, although it included one of those presentations where I get to speak for approx sixty seconds to a senior VP, which required two weeks of prep. But my sixty seconds went well, so I will take it. Then I slogged relentlessly until around 5:30, when I paused to make supper - lemon chicken + roasted fingerling potatoes.

I held supper until my mom got home, so by the time my mom and [censored] and I were done eating, I was completely out of steam. And I remain completely out of steam, so even though I have a ton of work I need to do, I'm going to go to bed and see if I can do it tomorrow (answer: I can't because I have meetings straight from 9:30 to 5). So, wish me luck with whatever I don't get done tomorrow - goodnight!

you can look inside another world

Today was iffy, if I'm being honest. My dad had to go back into the hospital today due to ongoing issues with his infection, which is obviously not what any of us were hoping for (well, maybe the hospital was hoping for it for revenue reasons, but I can't think of anyone else who might have been rooting for this). Because of covid (aka destroyer of dreams) only one person a day can be with him, and so while my mom can spend as much time there as she wants (which is a good thing!), [censored] and I cannot avail ourselves of the dubious comforts of the hospital while he's there.

So, we said our farewells this morning and hopefully the new antibiotic gets some traction. After he left, I attempted to buckle down on work - that was not so successful early, but I did manage to get into some semblance of a groove this afternoon. I was done around 5:30, so I made black bean chili for dinner, and then went ahead and made a frittata so we'd have leftovers to eat for breakfast/lunch tomorrow. My mom came home sometime around 7:45, so she got some of the soup before [censored] and I ate it all, and she also got the pleasure of finishing the dishes when I accidentally grabbed the still-hot frittata pan (with the intent of washing it, not thinking about how recently it had come out of the oven) and burned the palm of my hand. Luckily the burn doesn't seem too bad - there might be one small blister, but it's not as bad as the time I burned a circle in my hand while doing a flaming shot in college, so I'll take it.

And now, I should probably sleep - it's hard to keep my head in the game when there are so many games I'm trying to keep my head in (family, writing, work, feeding people, health, etc), but sleep would undoubtedly help my energy. Goodnight!

oh, you, telling me the things you're gonna do for me

Another day in the online mines. I spent most of the day slogging, although I canceled some meetings to make it less onerous on myself. I also had a coaching call with Alyssa before starting my day, and she was a delight (and gave me a lot to ponder). And I met with the big boss, which was v. therapeutic (not something one usually says when meeting with one's VP, but I am #blessed and will take it).

And now, despite all the tings I feel like I should be doing, I'm going to go to bed - goodnight!

tell your friends that you're okay, you're never gonna see them anyway

It was apparently Super Bowl Sunday or something?

j/k, I kind of half watched the game, but it was not going in Kansas City's direction early and I didn't really care enough to pay attention. I guess I should be happy as an almost-forty-something that Tom Brady has demonstrated continued relevance, but as I'm not willing to do the TB12 diet or literally anything else that Tom Brady has done to make himself into a football automaton, I don't think he's actually much of an inspiration for me.

sssanyway. I was more productive than yesterday, but that was a v. low bar to meet. I did a couple of tings around the house this morning, made some coffee, showered, ate some yogurt, etc., and then had a chat with Veronica - we didn't write this time, but it was delightful to catch up. Then I ate some lunch and fortified myself to tackle the great outdoors. In this case, the great outdoors was approximately 3 degrees and snowing, which made it more grim than great. But I was determined to get my car cleared off and put into my parents' garage in case I need access to it this week - it's supposed to be in the negative temperatures every night this week, with more snow coming, which makes getting out tricky if your car isn't covered. So I defrosted, brushed, scraped, etc., and I managed not to freeze to death mostly because I have heavy ski mittens + a hat with ear flaps + was wearing one of my face masks to protect from frostbite instead of covid.

Later, after my parents were home from my dad's doctor's appointment, I drove into town to get some groceries - I waited for them to get back so that I wouldn't risk meeting them on the road, since meeting someone on the road right now is v. treacherous. The country roads haven't been bladed or plowed or any other kind of treatment in recent memory, and most of them just have tracks straight down the middle with treacherous drifts and ditches on either side. Luckily, I can drive four miles into town and four miles back without meeting anyone, which was the case today.

So I grabbed groceries, came home, and made two dinners: tater tot casserole for tonight, and chicken tortilla soup for future meals this weeks. Both turned out amazing, if I do say so myself - I think I have perfected my gluten free tater tot casserole, although this version could have used just a bit more salt. And while I didn't eat any soup tonight, I tasted it and I think it meets my standards.

And now, after having done some journaling and a few other tasks, I think it's time for bed - goodnight!

out of control but you're playing a role

I got 8.5hrs of sleep last night, which was v. much needed. Still, today was pretty unproductive - there were many things I could have done, but none of them felt exciting to me and so I blew just about everything off.

However, [censored] and I took care of some tings in the garage while my parents were at one of my dad's doctor's appointments, so I guess that's something. I also walked out to the mailbox to get the mail - this should not be impressive, but it was approx 8 degrees and dropping fast when I did so. And I made a v. tasty salmon + spicy red pepper aioli + mashed potatoes for dinner, and the end result was delightful.

But now, after that v. boring post, I need to go to bed and hope tomorrow yields more results - goodnight!

every good gold digger's gonna wind up there

I have nothing of note to report today - I slogged, but not entirely effectively since it was Friday and I was feeling over it. [censored] and I went into town and picked up takeout from the Mexican restaurant, which was delicious. I guess it was nice to get out of the house while it's still a balmy 18 degrees, since it's supposed to be below zero for much of the coming week. And I also talked to Katie for a lovely interlude - we didn't have a ton to catch up on either, but we can always make an entertaining conversation.

And now, I've been falling asleep in my chair for awhile, so it's time for bed - goodnight!

in the v.i.p. with the movie stars

Another day. Today wasn't too onerous from a meeting standpoint, but unfortunately they were pretty straight on from 10 to 2, which meant I got hangry somewhere in there (hangry enough that I ate a Kind bar in a meeting and told them that I had used the company's stock gain from yesterday to buy expensive snacks, which in retrospect is a joke that you really had to be there for). However, I didn't have as many meetings as yesterday, and I didn't get angry in any of them, so I will take the win however I can.

The rest of the day was uneventful, with the exception of it feeling like a shadow of ye olde prairie times - I walked out to the mailbox to get the mail and it was 18 degrees with major windchill + blowing/drifting snow, which felt a little dire. And [censored] and I caught a shrew in our hallway - well, [censored] caught it with a trap, but I was the one who came out of my room and was startled to see it. FYI, in this case a shrew is a small venomous mammal similar to a mouse, not a Shakespearean character meant to be tamed. We haven't seen a shrew in the house in several years, so I'm guessing it somehow got in to escape the cold, but I sincerely hope it's not a harbinger of things to come.

I also spent tonight enjoying some of my mom's delicious roast beef, watching Storage Wars (per their inflated valuations of things they find in storage, I think I'm sitting on a gold mine of discarded things in my basement), taking care of some personal business, etc. And now I should really sleep so I can make it through work tomorrow - goodnight!

with your delicate wings, i used to weave

I should have gone to bed an hour ago, but I was working until an hour ago, and it always takes me a bit of time to unwind after a slog. Today was fine, all in all - I had a lot of work and a lot of it was vaguely unpleasant, but I survived it. And I took a long break in the evening to make sweet potatoes with that special chipotle and maple butter + some broccolini with cheddar, which paired well with the hamburgers my mom made.

But now, after giving you as little content as possible, it's time for bed - goodnight!

flying towards the moonlight

Today was certainly much better than yesterday:

- my coffee was better because I cleaned my grinder

- I meditated before work and managed to not get insanely angry at anyone (one meeting came close, but I managed to avoid going into thermonuclear meltdown, so I'm taking the win)

- I had a tasty cobb salad for lunch thanks to last night's efforts

- [burying the lede] my dad got out of the hospital today, which is great news!

- my last meeting of the day included wine, which is a delight

- I got to hang out with both parents tonight over dinner, yay

- then, unfortunately, I worked another couple of hours, but at least I'm feeling moderately caught up and potentially able to focus

And now, I'm going to try to force myself into bed so that I can get up reasonably early - goodnight!

i feel it in my fingers, i feel it in my toes

I'm too tired to blog - I got a decent amount of sleep last night and woke up this morning v. excited to hit the work hard. But my body had other plans - my dad is in the hospital, this was the second anniversary of losing my Uncle Mark, and someone at work got on my absolute last nerve. All of those things combined meant that I sublimated my worry and grief into intense anger at my coworker, which didn't help matters (although I am enough of an adult to suggest a conversation about this issue for tomorrow rather than putting him on blast immediately).

But I was able to stop around six, and I reheated leftover potato soup while also finishing prep work to make some mason jar cobb salads. My mom got home a little before eight and we hung out for a couple of hours, which was great. And now, I really need to sleep - goodnight!