my charade is the event of the season

Today was utterly bizarre but weirdly fun, but I'm sure I will be processing this in the back corners of my mind for awhile. I had a rather lazy morning, but then [censored] and I spent the whole afternoon dealing with the detritus of the old house. For those of you not in the know, the house I grew up in is still (as of tonight) standing, but we moved out fourteen years ago after my parents built a new (10x nicer) house and left the old house to the elements (traditional elements in Iowa: air, earth, fire, water, raccoon).

It's finally getting torn down tomorrow, but that meant today was the last chance to rummage through it and see if there was anything left to salvage. Because of the aforementioned raccoons, the place was both a mess (they have been rummaging much more than us, so there are abandoned things strewn everywhere) and also felt dangerous (we didn't see any animals, but were constantly on edge that something would appear from a hole in a ceiling or floor; and the kitchen floor was so soft where it's been continually exposed to the elements that the bathroom was inaccessible and my parents' bedroom felt like a trap).

But [censored] and I maybe possibly enjoyed ourselves - I shouldn't speak for [censored], but I enjoyed myself, and it was all made easier because I was wearing a respirator and goggles and so couldn't smell anything and also wasn't getting anything into my eyes. And I certainly enjoyed myself when [censored] put me on the telehandler platform and lifted me up to the second floor to peer in through a broken window and take some last pictures of our bedrooms - we didn't trust the stairs and also were loath to go anywhere without multiple exit paths, so there was no possibility of going upstairs, but the lift was good enough for one last look.

So, we salvaged a few things, abandoned other things, accepted that we will never know what was left behind in the extremely scary storage room upstairs (we called it the room of doom even when we lived there and no one had been in it in years even before we moved), and generally had a grand old time. By seven-ish we were done with what we could do, so [censored] did a last few things outside and I took a shower so I could drive into town and pick up pizza. When I got home, I took a few last pictures of the exterior right in the best moment of late sunlight, and then we ate pizza and generally relaxed. And then, unfortunately, I had like an hour of work to do, but hopefully I don't have anything else to do while I'm on break.

And now I desperately need to sleep - the crew is showing up to tear things down early tomorrow, and I want to be awake when it happens. Goodnight!

one stop to the rhythm that divides you

I spent most of the day messing around and watching [censored] install a new garage door opener for my parents (the actual motor / chain for lifting the garage door, not a clicker or something). I am of minimal use in these endeavors because my skillset mostly consists of making money so that I can pay other people to do this, but I am capable of handing him various implements and also sitting on a bucket and waiting, so I guess I am an okay first-year apprentice.

This endeavor was not what I intended to do today, but it involved far fewer raccoons than I was expecting from my Sunday, so I guess I'll take it. I also did some journaling, drank some iced coffee, hung out, and enjoyed a tasty supper of bratwurst, potato salad, and baked beans, so all in all it was a lovely day. And we'll see what tomorrow holds, but for now it's time for bed - goodnight!

she listens like spring and she talks like june

I had a v. uneventful day and I ended up in Iowa at the end of it, so I would say everything went as planned. I got an excellent amount of sleep in the hotel in Lincoln last night, and I'm glad that I stopped when I did because I was exhausted and there are not that many places to stop between Lincoln and home (even though it's still a 3.5hr drive at that point).

So this morning I woke up, cleaned up, and got out the door in record time. I also stopped at Whole Foods in Lincoln to pick up some tings for cooking this week, so that was a worthwhile endeavor. Then I grabbed a venti iced coffee and some egg bites at Starbucks and commenced the rest of the drive. As I said, it was uneventful; it was v. pretty in late May across southern Iowa, since everything is still really green and the summer heat hasn't set in yet. I stopped in Mt. Ayr for gas, but otherwise just listened to a bunch of satellite radio, talked to [censored], and contemplated life.

When I got home, I unloaded my car (mostly by loading things into my dad's gater and driving it around to the back of the house, which was worth it. Then my mom and I went to the next town over to buy more groceries - she had been out of a lot tof things, so we had to stock up. The biggest priority for me was that she get bratwurst, and that was accomplished, so I think we can take a break for the rest of the week.

Haha, just kidding, this summer is going to be a lot, and this week has a lot of tasks teed up for completion. But hopefully we get through a bunch of stuff. And now, after abruptly ending this recap because I'm falling asleep, it's time for bed - goodnight!

some kind of hip-hop beat

I'm in a hotel room in Lincoln, Nebraska - I intended to get to Iowa tonight, but I didn't end up leaving my house until after eleven, and that drive just seemed too long. So, I paused for the night, which I think was wise. The drive was entirely uneventful, and I listened to a couple of podcasts and generally chilled. 'Chilled' is, I suppose, literal - it was almost eighty degrees when I left Denver, but it was in the fifties by the time I got to Lincoln. I'm hoping it warms up in the Midwest this week, bc this is a v inauspicious start to my first vacation of the summer.

But that's a problem for another day - right now it's time for bed. Goodnight!

i wanna bathe with you in the sea

I was definitely paying the wages of last night's sins this morning - while I've had a steady low-grade stream of wine during quarantine, it's usually been like one glass a night. So even though last night's consumption felt v. sedate and not at all over the top, it was more than two glasses, and so I woke up at one a.m. feeling like I was dying. Clearly my body had been away from Adit too long and I can no longer handle any sort of shenanigans.

So, I slept fitfully last night and had to wake up early because I had meetings literally straight from eight to five, so this was the worst possible day to not get much sleep. But water and coffee and a facial moisturizing mask helped to bring me back to life, and I was v. much in it to win it the rest of the day. I made it through all my meetings successfully, and as soon as I was done, I picked up Katie so we could have one last girls' night out before we both abscond to different parts of Iowa for different lengths of time.

We went to bartaco, where the main server remembered me from a few nights ago, and it was even better than the first time - we had margaritas, and guac and salsa, and four tacos each (steak, duck, carnitas, and pork belly). The tacos were all excellent, but the pork belly was out of this world. And Katie and I had sufficient margaritas to go deep on recurring dreams and past reminisces, which is always a good time. We also both wore absurdly high heels for the first time in forever, and I'm pleased to report that neither of us fell, so I would say that nature is healing.

Then I took her back to her house, where we hung out with her girls for a little bit (they are v. impressed with the remaining new car smell of Aunt Sara's Audi). And then I came home, and even though it's not quite ten p.m. I'm ready for bed - I want to hit the road tomorrow and haven't packed, but I think sleep is more important than anything else. Goodnight!

imma be the fliest chick

Today was a long but lovely day. I had meetings straight through, which was a slog, but I started with iced coffee and got a salad delivered in the middle, so it could be worse. Then I ended at 5pm, talked to my parents for a bit, and then had my friend Kelly over - we hadn't seen each other in person in ages, and so when she texted this morning about an impromptu hangout, I happily agreed. We ordered Mediterranean takeout, and as usual we hung out for five hours instead of two - and it was a pure delight.

But now, even though it's only 10:25pm, I think I'm going to detox and go to bed so that I can be in it to win it for my meetings tomorrow - goodnight!

imma be making all them deals you wanna do

I had a pretty chill day, considering that work was a train wreck. I got up pretty early and made the v. unusual move of ordering iced coffee and some egg bites from Starbucks and picking them up at 7:15am - but that was pretty sweet, since the errand took all of ten minutes and I was able to drink iced coffee on my patio while waking up and contemplating the day. Then I wrote for about forty-five minutes - don't get too excited, since it was mostly journaling, but I'll take it.

Work really wasn't all that bad, but it was a little dramatic because a couple of departures were announced that were definitely going to get some reaction. But I bounced around 5:30 and got my first pedicure in over a year - I've been keeping my nails up on my own, but clearly I haven't been as meticulous as a salon would be because they had to use a fucking cheese grater on my calluses to try to make my feet look like lady feet instead of troll-under-a-bridge feet. I'd never been to this salon before since I used to get my nails done near my office in Boulder, but since I haven't been to Boulder at any point this entire calendar year, finding a place closer to me seemed like a good idea.

Then I came home, poured a glass of wine, and had a long gossipy chat with my friend Sara. And then, tipsy because one glass of wine will do that when I don't eat dinner, I reheated some leftover Indian takeout and watched an episode of Top Chef. This season really is spectacular and I want to do a grand tour of the US to visit all their restaurants. But really, I would do a grand tour of the US to visit a bunch of interstate rest stops at this point, so maybe that's not the highest compliment.

And now I need to sleep so I can accomplish some feats of superhuman effort tomorrow - goodnight!

is it any wonder i'm not a criminal

I had a pretty good day, all in all. For some reason I didn't sleep well last night, so that put a damper on this morning, and I'm going to try to go to bed early so I can reset. But despite that, I got through a lot of stuff today (mostly meetings, as per usual) and took a break to eat leftover Indian takeout on the patio, which was beautiful.

After my meetings were over, I had a few minutes to send some emails before Aunt Becky and Uncle Brian showed up. They're in Colorado this week, and the advantage of blogging every night for 17+ years is that sometimes people offer to solve the problems I mention in the blog. In this case, Aunt B reached out yesterday to say she thought that Uncle B could fix my leaking backflow preventer - and so I gratefully accepted the offer. They came over late this afternoon, and it turns out that Aunt B was correct in her assessment of Uncle B's skills - he was able to replace the valves required to get the backflow preventer to stop leaking, which was excellent news.

So, my sprinkler system is ready to go for the summer approx 2-3 weeks earlier than I thought it would be. To celebrate, I took them down the street to El Camino - it's my favorite nearby Mexican restaurant, and Katie and I ordered many quarts of takeout margaritas from them over the course of the pandemic. Still, it was v. nice to sit on their patio instead of mine, and that meant I could order nachos - their nachos are incredible, but would not be good for takeout, and so I hadn't had them in over a year.

So we ate and talked and generally caught up, and it was lovely. Then we came back to my house and they left for their house in Castle Rock. I probably should have worked tonight, but I mostly sat on the couch and watched videos from this week's SNL, and I have no regrets. But as I said, I slept poorly last night and want to correct that tonight, so it's time for bed - goodnight!

hey, must be the money

I had the Sunday that I wanted to have, for the most part. That meant getting up and running to Starbucks for iced coffee, then getting my car washed (including washing the inside rubber floor mats), running a couple of errands, etc. Then I talked to Veronica for a bit - she was in fine form, and I probably won't be around for chats the next few weeks, so I'm glad we caught up.

Then I ate some lunch, took a nap, and almost decided not to do anything at all. But I rallied to go to the mall, where I returned something and planned to shop and buy some new tings. However, my phone notified me that my garage camera had spotted movement, which looped me into the fact that my garage door hadn't closed when I left. So, rather than buying anything, I sped home and shut my garage door. Luckily nothing was stolen, but still, it was a rather annoying and abrupt end to my mall excursion.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon / evening talking to [censored], talking to my parents, and doing a bunch of random stuff around the house (things like changing lightbulbs, organizing closets, etc. that I haven't had time for while I've been driving back and forth the Iowa the past few months). I had intended to cook tonight, but the garage debacle also meant that I didn't go to the grocery store, so I ordered Indian takeout instead.

And now, I should sleep - I have a v. busy four days at work, and then I'm going to Iowa and taking next week off, so we'll see how that goes. Goodnight!

so tell me when it kicks in

Today was my first weekend day home in a v. long time where the weather also cooperated to get tings done. I woke up this morning without the hangover that I probably deserved after last night's excursion with Katie - but then, I am much better at pacing myself in my late thirties than I was in my late twenties (or maybe it's because Adit's not in Denver, unclear). So I messed around and made coffee and wrote to-do lists, and also made myself a rather decadent breakfast sandwich with egg, bacon, and cheese.

Then I hit the yardwork - I hadn't really had a chance to clean up this spring since I've been in Iowa so much, and I needed to get things situated so that I could turn my sprinklers on. That took many hours over the course of the late morning / afternoon, but I'm pleased with what I got done - my compost cart is completely full of various yard debris, my yard is mowed (or rather, string trimmed - it's a small space, so I just used the string trimmer to avoid the hassle of mowing), my back patio looks well kept, and my sprinklers are on. Unfortunately the backflow preventer is dripping, which is not really a surprise given that I had a plumbing issue over the winter - but otherwise the system seems to be in decent shape. So, I'll have to find someone to fix that, but at least it's not super hot yet and we're not in a drought, so this should all be fine.

After all that, I was dirty and wiped out, so I took a bubble bath with some extra bath salts for my muscles. My calf is almost fully healed after the injury it sustained six weeks ago, and I didn't really notice any issues today, but I want to keep it that way. So I enjoyed my bath, then called my parents - and after that call, and knowing that my dad seems to be on the road to recovery, I decided to postpone my drive back another few days. I had planned to drive home tomorrow, but I was wrecked from yard work and have a v. busy work week ahead, so I punted and am going home Friday instead.

So, since I didn't have to pack and load my car and shut up my house tonight, I promptly shut down instead - I reheated some pasta, poured a glass of wine, and watched a couple of episodes of Top Chef: Portland. This has to be one of their better seasons - all of the chefs, even the ones who were eliminated early, seem awesome, and I again wonder whether the pandemic and the restaurant shutdowns meant they got even better contestants across the board than they normally would have. So now I'm dreaming of food and restaurants and travel, but it will still be a bit before any of that happens.

But there is hope, and I'm starting to think about travel and where I might go (no offense to Colorado, Iowa, and Nebraska, but I would like to add at least one more state to my repertoire this year). That's a dream for another night, though - right now it's time for bed. Goodnight!

i am an idiot walking a tightrope of fortune and fame

Today was a delight. I started working at 8:15ish, which is earlier than usual, but that part was sending emails while sitting outside on my back patio for the first morning this season. The trees are shedding insane amounts of finished blossoms, so the patio furniture doesn't stay clear for long - but it was warm enough to sit outside in a tank top, which is so fucking overdue after nine months of the worst winter in several decades in Denver, so I will take it.

I spent the day being quite productive, with a break to eat some leftover spaghetti and another break in the afternoon to take a quick nap (the joys of working from home). Eventually, it was time to throw in the towel, slather on some refreshed makeup, and drive over to Katie's to pursue our evening activities. She and James got a babysitter for the first time in a year, and so the three of us walked over to Root Down for an early-ish dinner. Root Down was a favorite before the pandemic, and it continues to be a favorite now - especially since I was able to reserve outdoor seating, which is on their perfect covered outdoor patio. The drinks were a delight and the food was absolutely perfect - we had the usual devils on horseback (bacon wrapped around cheese-stuffed dates) and arepas, and then Katie and I split a steak and some scallops, and it was the perfect meal. The three of us also discussed a variety of ridiculous topics, including alien threesomes, so it almost felt like life is getting back to some semblance of normalcy.

After that, James went home to relieve the babysitter, and Katie and I kept the party going by going to Lady Jane for a nightcap. We scored a table on their patio as well, far from the madding crowd (things have really accelerated in Denver - we went there two weeks ago and it was dead, but tonight we had to wait ten or fifteen minutes and it was totally full). So we discussed #smalltownlife and childhood and adulthood (and more alien threesomes) over wine for me and beer for her, and it was perfect.

At that point, it was ten p.m. and we were feeling snackish, so we hopped down the block to bartaco and grabbed a second dinner. bartaco has the pandemic ordering situation down to a science - we didn't have a server, just an app to order and pay through - which was odd because the inside definitely feels like a real, upscale restaurant and not some sort of fast-casual order-online kind of place. But it was nice that no one was hovering, and at that time of night it was pretty empty - so we got our tacos v. quickly. My pork belly taco was incredible, and the carnitas were great too - so I would definitely go back at some future date.

But that future is a ways away - I'm going to Iowa on Sunday, and Katie will be in Iowa all of June (but on the opposite side of the state from my parents), so our fancy dinners will have to go on temporary hiatus. And luckily I didn't go overboard with the drinks - I need to do a million things tomorrow, and nursing a hangover isn't one of them. So hopefully I can get some sleep and hit it hard tomorrow - goodnight!

dancing in the moonlight

No blog tonight - I had a good day and I ended it by making spaghetti all'amatriciana (spaghetti with bacon, red onions, crushed red pepper flakes, and tomato sauce for those of you who don't like Italian words). But I had a lot of screen time and way too much conversation, and now I need to detox and sleep - goodnight!

please don't make any sudden moves

I had an okay day, all in all, although I had a headache most of the evening - I think maybe the botox I inject in my jaw to keep it from clenching (thanks, 2020!) is wearing off. Or maybe I was just stressed, or hadn't had enough water, or had too much sugar, or didn't eat at the right times - my body is certainly finding ways to remind me that I am aging into decrepitude and can't bounce back as quickly.

sssanyway. Despite that, I had a good day - work was fine, and I had a tasty lunch (leftover salmon / mashed potatoes / brussels sprouts) + a v. tasty dinner (takeout thai food, which was especially good because I haven't had thai food in months). I also spent some time at lunch using my leaf blower on my patio, which was v. fortuitous because it was still nice in the evening and so I was able to sit outside on my patio furniture for the first time in months. This was the first day that felt like summer might almost be here, and I'm hoping it stays clear because sun is always good for my mood.

And now, I should probably consider going to bed - goodnight!

i can see the end as it begins

It's definitely time for bed - I had a rare 10-11pm meeting, and while I'm thankful that they're much more rare than they used to be in previous roles, I'm still feeling tired and cranky for having to take this one. The rest of my day was pretty good, though; I had some meetings, got some work done, and then headed north to meet up with Caroline for dinner.

Caroline and I have seen each other a couple of times during the pandemic, but it was all backyard patio stuff. Tonight, we met in Lafayette, near her new house, and had v. tasty Mexican food (and even tastier margaritas) at a restaurant that just happened to be one of the last restaurants I went to before coronavirus shut everything down. The evening was delightful - we had a lot to catch up on, and it was also wonderful to have enchiladas served on a real plate instead of soaking into a to-go container.

After dinner, we went to her new place so that I could get a tour. Then I drove home and talked to my mom on the way - my dad's latest surgery today went quite well, so that's a hopeful sign. And then I journaled, did my meeting, and am now contemplating bed - goodnight!

cruel professor, studying romances

I have nothing of note to report tonight. My return to work was as brutal as it usually is on Mondays - I got up in time to make coffee, foam roll my back, and wash and dry my hair, but I really wasn't feeling in it to win it.

However, the meetings I had were good ones, and I was able to stop around five so that I could make dinner. I made a seared salmon with spicy red pepper aioli, some brussel sprouts, and mashed potatoes, all of which really hit the spot. And I talked to my dad for a little bit, which was nice - he's going in for another procedure tomorrow, so hopefully that goes well.

Then I cleaned up my kitchen, did a couple of loads of laundry, and watched Top Chef while giving myself a gel manicure. And now I think it's time for bed so that I can get up tomorrow and hopefully be a little bit more put together - goodnight!

prove yourself, you are the move you make

First and foremost, happy birthday to [censored]! [Censored] turned [censored] years old today, and usually we do not get to celebrate in person since I'm rarely in Iowa in mid-May. But since we were in the same location, we got to eat the lemon cake that I baked for him last night, and I coerced him into blowing out some candles, so that was v. exciting.

However, I did not stay all day to celebrate - I flew back to Denver this afternoon, although I anticipate that I'll only be here a few days and will likely drive back to Iowa next weekend. So, [censored] was forced to celebrate the birthday by driving me to Des Moines in the rain, which is probably not what he wanted to do. When I got to the airport, I had time to grab some food before boarding - and I got upgraded on my flight, which was v. exciting. The airports were shockingly full - Denver was a madhouse, and felt like pre-pandemic levels of travelers, which I was honestly not excited about because I do not like large groups of people anymore. But I made it here entirely uneventfully, picked up my car, and grabbed a few groceries on my way home so that I have something to eat tomorrow.

And now I think I'll try to go to bed early - I haven't gotten enough sleep the last few nights, and it would be nice to rectify that this week. Goodnight!

i drank champagne with kings and queens

I'm too tired to blog tonight and had intended to go to bed two hours ago. But suffice it to say that my dad got out of the hospital today, and I only spent five hours or so sitting around (one hour at a Starbucks patio with my journal, four hours in the hospital parking lot - but that included a random visit from my sister and two of her kids, and I also spent most of the time sitting on a sidewalk instead of cooped up in the car). On the way home, we stopped at Long John Silver's at my dad's request, which I haven't had in at least a decade because of the gluten, and I have to say their deep fried fish is still amazing.

Then we got home, I took a nap, and then I ran into town to get a few tings at the grocery store. A little later, [censored] and I picked up Mexican takeout, and then the four of us ate and talked until 10:30ish. During that time, I also baked a lemon cake for [censored]'s birthday, and I hope it turned out okay - we'll find out tomorrow (or rather, today). And then [censored] and I watched too many youtube videos, and now I desperately need to sleep - goodnight!

blue are the people here that walk around

I'm way too tired to blog tonight. Today didn't go quite as planned - my dad had stents put in his leg, and it was supposed to be outpatient, but while the surgery went well in the sense that it opened up blood flow, it was a lot more stenting than they expected to do and they had to admit him overnight.

So, [censored] and I spent another six hours or so sitting in our favorite parking lot at the hospital. We ran an errand beforehand to get some stuff at Sam's Club, and I left the parking lot a few times to get a couple of tings at a grocery store, pick up a Starbucks order, use the bathroom, etc. We were also joined by Aunt B for awhile, and while the public safety car kept creeping past us to see why we were there so long, we were generally undisturbed.

Mom finally left the hospital sometime after eight pm, and we decided to stay in a motel tonight. But since she smokes and the only motels with smoking rooms are pretty dire, this was perhaps a questionable decision. My room (non-smoking) is fine, but since I have been fantasizing for months about staying in a fancy hotel with a spa and room service, it's a real kick in the teeth to instead be staying in a room with flickering lights and no shampoo.

So after we checked in, we went to Perkins (a Denny's equivalent) at 9:30pm. The food was really good, or at least really needed...tater tots and gravy go a long way toward making me acquiescent about a bad motel. Then [censored] noped out of staying here under the pretext that someone needs to feed the cats tomorrow, so he left at 10:30pm and should be at my parents' house at midnight.

So at least I have this room to myself, and at least the air conditioner finally started working so it's not a million degrees. And at least we're fifteen minutes from the hospital and hopefully my dad will get out tomorrow. We shall see, we shall see. Also, I need to check on my hobo stab insurance before I go to sleep, so I think it's time to sign off. Goodnight!

sleep the day, let it fade, who was there to take your place

I'm back in ye olde Iowa after a thoroughly uneventful travel day, which almost felt like a vacation because it involved french fries and not answering work emails. I woke up this morning and made coffee, took care of final house tings, trimmed my bangs (the most important part of my preparations), showered, finished packing, etc. Then I drove to the airport, which I used to go to so frequently that it was almost annoying, but since this is only my third plane trip in the last fourteen months, it still feels fresh and novel. Okay, maybe not fresh, since I'm still paranoid about catching covid (especially because I don't want to bring it back to my dad - or my mom for that matter). But definitely novel.

I got to the airport early enough to have lunch, so I treated myself to a caesar salad, french fries, and a glass of sauvignon blanc (that + the dramamine I bought in the airport ensured my survival on the v. turbulent ascent out of Denver - dramamine for the motion sickness, sauvy b for the nerves). The Denver airport restaurants are mostly reopened, perhaps at reduced hours, but capacity has been cut, so the tables were spaced out enough that it felt pretty safe. Then I strolled to my gate just in time to board, stowed my carry-on, and spent the whole plane ride (with the exception of five minutes of ascent when I thought I might panic vomit) reading THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO. So far so good - I'm about halfway through and I am enjoying it, although too soon to tell if I'll end up recommending it.

When I got to Des Moines, Des Moines airport proved to be as delightfully easy and efficient as always - between the point when my airplane touched down on the runway and when I was sitting in my rental car was less than fifteen minutes, and that was with the plane taxiing to the gate + me walking slowly to preserve my almost-healed strained calf muscle + a stop at the bathroom.

So, I made it back to southern Iowa with no drama and just in time for supper. My parents can get a perfectly prepared whole smoked chicken from a neighbor for $8, which is absurd (per my citified price estimates) and v. delicious, so we had smoked chicken and salad and baked potatoes. Then I took my dad for a drive to find him some cookies, which we don't usually have around because my mom and I can't have gluten (but my dad certainly does, and his foot situation is cramping his style of getting gluten on the sly when he's out and about in his normal routines). It was a really nice night for driving around and looking for cookies, even if cookies are hard to find in rural Iowa - the sun was just setting when we set out, and so we drove around and examined things (and managed to score some rice krispie treats that weren't great, + some brownies that may be made without any real adherence to food licensing rules but are apparently pretty good).

After that, we got home and talked to my mom for awhile, and then it was time for them to go to bed and for me to sit in my recliner in their basement and watch tiktok videos. That seems like such a cliche, but it was a good break. And now I need to sleep - we're going to Des Moines tomorrow for another procedure (on my dad, not me, obvi) so hopefully that goes well. And hopefully [censored] and I don't have to spend more than a few hours sitting in a car staring at our favorite tree in the hospital long-term parking lot, but we shall see. Goodnight!

he can't keep his wild eyes on the road

Today was another work-filled day. I have nothing to report from that, other than that I just did an hour or two of work tonight to try to catch up before flying back to Iowa tomorrow. But I had a break at midday to eat a poke bowl, and I had a break in the afternoon to talk to Alyssa, and I also spent the evening talking to Katie + packing + watering plants + taking care of house stuff. I would say that things are generally in good shape for my departure, even if I probably should have gone to bed an hour ago.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

do you love your neighbor? is it in your nature? do you love a sunset? aren't you fed up yet?

I have nothing to report today - I got a lot of sleep last night, did some work today, and made slow cooker carnitas for dinner. And that, truly, is about as much excitement as I had for today - so I'm going to sign off and try to rest my eyes for the night. Goodnight!

a hundred and five little blades in a line

No blog tonight - I've spent too much time looking at screens today. It started last night, of course - staying up two hours later than planned to (re)read things about Soviet Russia that I mostly already knew was perhaps not the best use of my time. But I slept well and deeply, so even though I was scrambling this morning to get work stuff done that I should have done last night, it was all good.

So I spent the day working, with a lunch break for a tuna melt. I also did some work stuff + some personal stuff tonight, while reheating yesterday's pasta + making egg muffins for breakfast for the next couple of days. And now I need to sleep, or at least shut down my laptop - goodnight!

this isn't what i signed up for

I had a pretty good day, although I definitely didn't get enough sleep going into it - after staying up way too late reading, I slept fitfully and was awake well before I got my usual 7-7.5hrs. But I pulled myself from bed, made an iced coffee, and showered - since I didn't shower yesterday, I considered this a triumph. Then I had a morning call with Veronica, which was, as always, a delight.

After talking to V, I made more iced coffee, made myself hash browns and fried eggs for lunch, and then did some stuff around the house - laundry, kitchen cleaning, stretching, talking to [censored], etc. I also forced myself to leave the house to get groceries. This was not a big errand, since I am going back to ye olde Iowa for a few days at the end of the week, but I needed a couple of things to get me through so that I don't just eat takeout all week (not that there is anything wrong with that!).

When I got home, I talked to my mom for awhile - she seemed to be doing well, and she called me back to report that a calico cat that had been missing for several days had just turned up, so that was a highlight. Then I made supper (the tuscan sausage and chard pasta that I had made a few weeks ago - so simple, so good), cleaned the kitchen, folded my laundry, etc.

And then I finished the book I was reading last night - it was A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW, which I'd started a month ago and then not felt like reading while I was in Iowa. Also I hadn't felt like reading it because I didn't want it to end. But it was incredible, and also right up my alley for obvious reasons:

• I'm obsessed with zee russians
• I'm obsessed with aristocrats and class issues
• I'm obsessed with fancy hotels
• I'm obsessed with fancy meals and fine wines
• I'm currently obsessed with how extroverts make an entire world and life out of a v. constrained environment, which basically describes my pandemic experience

If you don't know why those bullet points are relevant to this book, the basic gist is that, in 1922, as the Bolsheviks are tearing up the old Russia to make way for the new one, a thirty-something aristocrat is sentenced by a tribunal to life under house arrest in the Metropol Hotel in Moscow. He likely should have been shot, but he'd written a poem that inspired the revolution - so they let him live, but he could never leave the hotel again. He was quite the character, and the hotel itself felt like a character, and the period through which the book is set is, of course, fascinating.

sssanyway, I quite enjoyed it and have now spent two hours going down a vast and deep wikipedia rabbit hole instead of sleeping, so it's time for bed.

And finally - happy mother's day to all the mothers out there (especially to mine!), and hugs to those of you whose mothers aren't here to celebrate. I hope you all had a delightful day!

all the bad things disappear

No blog tonight - I had a very lazy day (and a nice long chat with Ritu), and almost went to bed at 9:30, but I picked up a book and suddenly it's 1:30am. So I need to go to sleep immediately - goodnight!

i'll be all you need and more

I'm v. tired but I had a v. lovely day (or at least a v. lovely end to it). I woke up this morning in time to have some fairly leisurely coffee before getting started with work, and work itself was not too onerous - I got through most of my inbox backlog (which was a miracle in and of itself) and got some actual work done, and also had some good meetings, so that was all great.

Then I sloughed off slightly early to get ready for my evening plans - Katie and I hadn't been out to dinner in fourteen months (although we've seen each other all the time in quarantine), so we decided to break the seal tonight. We had six p.m. reservations, but we were both not feeling it in terms of work (Katie because she had taken the afternoon off, me because I was tired), so I went over to her place a little before five and we grabbed a drink before dinner. Our first stop was Lady Jane, which we used to go to often in the beforetimes - I had a tiki style drink with an umbrella and everything, which felt like a v. warm welcome back into the fold of people who sometimes go to bars.

Then we went to our dinner reservation - I had booked us an outside table at The Fifth String, and the weather was perfect for it. If anything, it was a little too perfect - it turns out their outdoor tables are still in little greenhouses, which would have been great in winter but was roasting for the first bit of our dinner. However, it cooled off soon enough, and the food and cocktails were so amazing that the temperature didn't matter. Fifth String is where Old Major used to be, and while we always liked to go to Old Major for the ambience and the location, Fifth String has way outdone Old Major in terms of food. My cocktail was perfect, and Katie and I went all in on food - we started with oysters (and omg I've missed oysters), which were delightful. Then we split two prix fixe menus (i.e. ordered things and then shared them) - the appetizers were a wagyu carpaccio and a hamachi crudo (the carpaccio was almost too decadent, since the raw beef was covered in some incredible bites of other things; but the hamachi was just right). The mains were a Japanese pork dish and a halibut on top of the most perfect buttery mashed potatoes. For dessert, we had a strawberry pie and a v. nice sorbet. All in all, the food was to die for, especially after a year of eating takeout or #quarantinechef endeavors.

Of course, it's allergy season and so now I have a sore throat and am convinced I have covid, but other than that it was an incredible night. Katie and I discussed many and varied tings over the course of approximately four hours together, which was way overdue since I've been in Iowa. We ended the night sitting in my car and talking like we often do, and I could have kept talking forever...

...but I'm also old, and clearly that's true because we both paced ourselves and didn't get drunk despite the temptation of those killer cocktails. So we said our farewells and I came home, and now I'm considering bedtime. Goodnight!

stand and deliver

I have nothing interesting to report today - I slogged most of the day, which was neither good nor bad. I took a break from 5-5:30 to do nothing + put a chicken in the oven to roast, then I had one last meeting before calling it a day. It was nice out for the first time this week, so I spent some quality time on my patio cutting up the limbs that had fallen in my yard during one of the recent snowstorms - I still need to use a saw or some other cutting implement to take care of the two main limbs that were too big for my loppers, but I got all the extraneous branches and twigs off and into my compost cart.

Then I finished making dinner (roasted chicken, roasted broccolini with cheddar, and a baked potato - pretty good!), ate dinner, cleaned my kitchen, and then relaxed the rest of the evening. And now I really should go to bed - goodnight!

who needs a house out in hackensack...is that what you get with your money

I had a good day today - I started it by writing a ridiculous email to the office about seating charts, and I'm always happier when I can start my day off by writing jhokes about nonsense and sending them to a couple of hundred people. I then slogged my way through meetings, but none of them were too onerous. I spent about fifteen minutes sitting on my back steps to enjoy the sun during my lunch break, which was well timed because immediately after that, we had twenty minutes of thunderstorm + hail, and then it was sunny again and you never would have guessed there was a storm. Colorado weather is a trip.

So I worked all afternoon, took a break to talk to Alyssa, and then had one unusually late meeting from 6-6:45. After that, I talked to [censored], talked to my parents, and ate leftover stirfry. Then I had a call with Subz - we hadn't talked in ages, so it was really nice to hear her voice for an hour.

And now, I believe I shall go to bed and hope that tomorrow goes similarly smoothly - goodnight!

feels like a night to carry a tune

I'm too tired to blog tonight - today was fairly boring work-wise, with at least one chaos meeting to liven things up (with my coworker who 100% agrees with everything I say while stabbing me in the back, but this time I caught him stabbing me in the face, so we shall see how I deal with that!). I ended the day by making a chicken stir fry (pretty good but needs a lot more salt / umami), talking to my friend Nicole, talking to [censored], doing a crossword puzzle, and generally messing around until now.

And now I'm going to shut off my laptop and start winding down - goodnight!

it's so ironic it's iconic i get off on it

Today was the usual brutal Monday reentry into job and life after being away. In other words, I should have been v. productive and instead mostly stared at my inbox and faked my way through meetings. But I did what I absolutely needed to get done, and then stopped around 5:30 to pick up a grocery order at Whole Foods (there were no delivery windows, but ordering to pick up still saved me a lot of time).

Then I came home, talked to my mom, talked to [censored], and did a bunch of stuff around the house (laundry, empty the fridge of my disgusting, ancient foodstuffs, general tidying, etc.). I also made some egg muffins like the ones I was making in Iowa, but something went hilariously wrong, because they puffed up and spilled over the cup edges and melded into each other. Either the eggs puffed up too much due to altitude, or the ingredients I used (feta, roasted red peppers, and zucchini) had too much water and somehow expanded too much. Idk, but we'll see how they taste tomorrow.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

he always holds the door but i found him in a mosh pit

I'm v. v. tired, which is always how I feel after driving back to Colorado. The combination of the drive (which was rough on my still-healing calf, although I think it'll be okay if I'm careful), the interminable miles across Nebraska, and the return to altitude after several weeks away leaves me feeling dehydrated and almost hungover.

That said, today was as good as the reentry day can be. I woke up this morning and got on the road pretty quickly, thanks to the fact that I had leftover Casey's pizza and a Starbucks coffee drink in the motel minifridge so that I didn't have to deal with finding food when I left. I did end up stopping in North Platte for gas, which was a bit of a jhoke because the pump was going so slow that it was taking a minute per gallon (well, actually, 54sec per gallon - I timed it). So I left with only four gallons, grabbed a coffee, and drove to Colorado, where I stopped in Sterling (I think) for more gas and another drink.

I made it home around 12:30pm MDT, unloaded everything from my car, and promptly spent most of the afternoon lounging in bed. I knew that the likelihood that I would feel like doing anything this afternoon was slim, so rather than fighting it, I just changed into some shorts, opened my balcony door to air out my room, and lazed. I spent an hour talking to [censored], who was on his way back to [censored], since we hadn't had enough conversation the last few weeks (and also [censored]'s drive is almost five hours, which is shorter than mine but still can use some phone call distraction to get through it). I messed around on my phone and sort of napped. All in all, it was a lovely, lazy, blurry afternoon, and it was what I needed.

I did rally in time to order dinner from my favorite Indian place (which was strangely not as good as usual), and I did two loads of laundry and unpacked a bunch of stuff. And then I ended the night with a family zoom call - we were overdue for a call. Adit, John, Jess, Claude, Sam, Ritu, and Bill all showed up, so we were only missing Chandlord (and Priyanka, but it was 11pm on the east coast when it started, so Adit was willing to stay up but Priyanka is forgiven). Everyone seemed to be in fine form, and we got to admire Claude's baby, discuss random people none of us have seen in years, watch John eat some birthday cheese, discuss property values and building material costs (a favorite topic for me and [censored], so I had info to share), etc., etc. All in all people were in fine form and it was a delightful way to end the weekend, even if I should have slept two hours ago.

And on that note, it's time for bed - goodnight!

they know your name and they know what you're about

I'm sitting in a motel in Lexington, Nebraska - a town in which I've never stayed before and may never stay again. Usually I would stay in Kearney, or push on to North Platte. But when I got to Kearney, my usual place was full and most other places were too, so I made a reservation for a room in Lexington instead. This is a strange town for the rural midwest - when I looked at restaurants (before settling on a takeout casey's pizza bc it was almost 10pm and that was easiest), I was shocked by how many different cuisines Lexington has for its size, including (apparently) Ethiopian, and also several taquerias that were open super late. I guessed there must be a big meatpacking plant or other job source nearby to make those restaurants successful, and I'd say I was right.

So at least I saw something new on this trip, even if it's not that exciting. Yesterday was a bit stressful with my dad's appointment in Des Moines, but they're home and hopefully things will improve. Today I decided I needed to go back to Colorado for at least a few days to check on my sprinklers and yard stuff, so I packed some tings in my car, ran some errands, talked to my parents and [censored], and said my farewells. I didn't leave until almost three, so I knew I would spend the night somewhere, but I'll get home tomorrow with time to clean (or at least decompress before working Monday). I'll go back to iowa in a week or two, but it will be nice to see my house for a bit.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!