the water is warm, but it's sending me shivers

I had a lovely day - it started a bit quiet because I was so tired and so stayed in bed until after nine, but then I rallied, ate some oatmeal, took a shower, and drove to Colorado Springs to see Barbara. We hadn't seen each other in several months, since I've been in Iowa a lot and have generally not been available in person or virtually recently, so we were way overdue to catch up. I met her at her permanent house, which she has temporarily vacated for a massive renovation - the renovation is getting close to done, and the kitchen is so gorgeous that it makes me want to demo and redo my kitchen immediately.

So, Barbara gave me a tour of her house, and then we went out for brunch. The food and the juice at the place we went were really good - I haven't had breakfast out in awhile, so the skillet hash hit the spot. Also, the waiter was a little hilarious in an almost-too-much way - he complained deeply about how much some other tables were demanding of him, but also offered to add vodka to my juice if I met him in the employee parking lot. I'm taking that as a sign that nature is healing and that I will get back to my usual 'odd interactions with strangers' game as soon as things open up just a bit more.

When we weren't dealing with the waiter, Barbara and I had a delightful, meandering conversation about life and writing, which is what I always enjoy about spending time with her. We went back to her house and hung out some more, and I would have liked to stay all afternoon - but it was raining off and on and I was flagging, so I said my goodbyes sometime after three and drove back to Denver. On the way, I talked to my parents and was shocked to hear that they were about to eat some of the boneless skinless chicken breast I left in the freezer - I'm hoping this isn't a sign of some dire personality shift.

I basically collapsed into bed and took a nap as soon as I got home, which is not what I normally do at six p.m., but that's what I did today. Then I made myself some boxed gluten free mac and cheese, which is not exactly a delicacy, but it hit the spot. I also planned some stuff for this week, did some laundry, and talked to [censored] about our plans for next weekend, so at least I salvaged some productivity tonight.

And now I think I'm going to fold towels and then perhaps read and go to bed - goodnight!