[insert olympic theme song here]

My mini retreat is already drawing to a close, and I should go to bed so that I can get some solid sleep before driving back to Denver in the morning. Today was nice, though - I got up and made some coffee, then wrote on the balcony for awhile. It was a cool, crisp morning, which is v. different from how hot Denver is, so I luxuriated in it. I spent the rest of the morning / early afternoon taking care of some personal tings, and then I made a breakfast sandwich, took a nap, and showered.

I spent the rest of the afternoon writing off and on - nothing particularly impressive from a pure word count standpoint, but I'm developing some much needed clarity on some of the issues these characters face, so I'll take it. Eventually, it was time for dinner - Barbara and I went to a place called Modis, which was surprisingly excellent. I had a snapper with some pineapple fried rice that was the opposite of what I usually order (I was going to go for steak), and it was top notch.

Then we came home, and I watched some Olympics (including a v. exciting men's 4x100m swim medley), packed up my stuff, and did some more journaling. And now, as I said, I should probably go to bed - goodnight!

we are made of old rocks and salt

I didn't sleep well last night, so I was dragging today, which was an unfortunate start to my three day weekend. But I had a good day despite that. I spent the morning moving around in an attempt to get my stress out - I showered, used a softball as a foam roller to work out the tightness in my calves, and eventually walked around Breckenridge for an hour. It was a gorgeous morning and I'm glad I got out, because the afternoon turned cool and stormy and tomorrow promises more of the same.

I spent the afternoon writing, napping, and perhaps doing a bit too much on Twitter. Eventually, Barbara and I went out for dinner - we went to a Mediterranean restaurant that was quite delicious, so I felt satisfied. Then we came home and I watched some Olympics before doing some personal business.

And now I need to sleep so I can get more done tomorrow - goodnight!

if I could find a way to see this straight

Hello from Breckenridge! I slogged all day without breaks, and then my friend Barbara showed up at my house so that we could drive up into the mountains. I'm here for a mini writing retreat and I have high hopes of getting some things done - so we'll see what happens.

But now sleep is more important than other updates, so it's time for bed. Goodnight!

feeling hot hot hot

No blog tonight - I did a bunch of work today, did some stuff around the house, ordered takeout from my favorite Indian place, and did more work tonight while watching the Olympics. And I have a million things to do tomorrow as well, so I think it's time for bed. Goodnight!

so open, then snap shut, yeah, but here we are

I need to get off my laptop and go to bed. Today wasn't particularly onerous, but I didn't get quite enough sleep and was dealing with some challenging coworker situations, so that didn't exactly help my mood. But I ended the day with dinner and a margarita with my friend Sara - I drove all the way up to Longmont to see her, which should be a sign that our friendship is for real. We had a delightful and hilarious time, and then I got to see her husband (whom I also work with) which was hilarious in its own right.

Then I came home, sent a few emails, and told myself I had to be done by now so that I could unwind a bit and go to bed - let's see if that works out for me. Goodnight!

somewhere between dust and the stars

I'm safely back in Denver and ready to go to bed. Today was mostly uneventful - I woke up, showered, packed, grabbed some coffee and then worked for five hours or so. I'd secured a late checkout, so I was able to get some stuff done, which was nice. Then I met a coworker for a snack at Tartine Manufactory (which was slightly annoying because they were way too aggressive about clearing away all the outdoor tables well before they closed, so it felt rushed).

Then I went to the airport and hung out in the Amex lounge, which was a delight - they had surprisingly good food and also my favorite Seghesio zinfandel, so it was a nice place to do a bit more work and talk to my parents. It also happened to be directly across from my gate, which was convenient. My flight was easy, but unfortunately the drive home took close to an hour (should've been thirty minutes) due to construction on I-70. But I'm home and ready for bed, so I'll take it. Goodnight!

we were perfect when we started, i've been wondering where we've gone

I had a fantastic day in the yay area, thanks for asking. I didn't get quite enough sleep last night and so I was dragging this morning, but I got up in time to shower, grab coffee, and get myself to Berkeley in time for a ten a.m. rendezvous with John and Jess. Normally when we get together at that hour it's for breakfast (never brunch) at Saul's, but today we drove up to Healdsburg for a winery excursion. Lauren (aka Subz) hosted a belated 40th birthday for Nathan today, and when she found out I was coming into town she added me to it, which was super fortuitous and incredibly fun. And the fact that I got to spend some quality car time with John and Jess was definitely an extra bonus.

So, we spent the afternoon at a winery called Reeve, which I really enjoyed. It was a perfect day up there - the weather was great and everyone was eager to see other humans, so it was lovely. I ended up sitting in the middle of a table with John and Jess and some others to my left, but I mostly talked to the group on my right (Anthony, Domain, Andy, Zaia, and a split between Lauren and Nathan). The conversation meandered between meaningful topics and jicama, both of which I can contribute a lot of words to. And the food was gorgeous and the wine was even better (but since I basically drank Jess's tasting in addition to mine, and also went deep on some leftover rosé at the end, I may not be an impartial judge).

Sadly, all fun must end eventually, and John and Jess were definitely late getting back to their sitter, so we eventually said our farewells and drove back to Berkeley. I said hi to Ian briefly, and then John v. kindly gave me a ride over to Claudia's so I could hang out with her. I hadn't seen her for the same seventeen months that I hadn't seen anyone else, but the last time I saw her she was eight months pregnant, so I was v. excited to meet Téo. I am sorry to tell the rest of you that he might be the cutest baby of all time and that everyone else's baby is just in the race for silver at this point. Claudia ordered Thai food, which was delish, and we hung out and caught up for a couple of hours (never enough, but I'll take it).

Then I caught an Uber back to the city of sin, took a million ibuprofen, and am going to go to bed early since I need to work all day tomorrow before going to the airport. Goodnight!

you just need a better life than this

I had a gorgeous day in the city of sin, but now I need to go to bed asap so I can recover for tomorrow. The day started off with iced coffee and egg bites from the Starbucks down the street, and then I got a massage / bodywork session that undid a bunch of tension (which I'm sure I'll redo in due course). Then I sat at a coffee shop in the Richmond and journaled for awhile, which always feels great.

I then met up with the original Jen Lui for an extended lunch experience. Her birthday was yesterday (happy birthday!) and happily she was free to come up to the city today despite the fact that I just made all these plans this week. She met me on Clement Street and we hit up two different dim sum places + a place where Jen could get some roasted duck and barbecued pork to take home with her. We got the dim sum as takeout and headed to the Presidio, where we spread out a picnic blanket and snacked on dim sum while discussing life and enjoying the sun and views of the water (and not quite enjoying the wind, but it was bearable). I hadn't had har gow or siu mai or egg custard buns or anything with taro in at least eighteen months, so this was a total win (even if we over ordered).

Jen and I hung out for almost four hours - we've had pandemic zoom calls, but we had a lot to catch up on and it was so lovely to hang out in real life. We also grabbed boba tea (sans boba since I was so full, but the tea was delish) before parting ways, and it was pretty much a perfect afternoon.

Then I came back to my hotel, took a nap, took a quick shower, and talked to my parents. Then Chandlord picked me up to take me to Adit and Priyanka's for dinner, but this got me waylaid into stopping at her friend Sarang's house to do a favor for him, which led to a hilarious conversation that also made us unfortunately late for dinner. But dinner got back on track, and we had a lovely, lowkey conversation, and longtime readers will be shocked to know that the four of us didn't even finish a bottle of wine, which is v. sedate and adult-like compared to my usual shenanigans with Adit.

Then Chandlord brought me back to my hotel, and now I need to sleep so I can pursue more fun tomorrow - goodnight!

when life leaves you high and dry

I had a perfect day in the city of sin, except for the fact that I'm old and so turned down an 11pm invitation to go to karaoke with Adit. I got up this morning, grabbed some Starbucks from down the street, and did a tiny bit of day job stuff. Then I showered, made myself up, and took a (hilarious) lyft to the other side of the city for lunch at Beach Chalet.

Ocean Beach is my usual meetup place with Veronica, Grace, and Barbara; we used to go to Cliff House, but Cliff House has been lost to time, so we went to Beach Chalet instead. We had far more to discuss than we could cover in two hours, but we're going to see each other again in the coming months (including a Tahoe retreat if people don't move to Duluth first), so this was a nice little appetizer.

Then I got a mani / pedi at my favorite nail salon in the whole world (Silk), and it was great - I hadn't seen them in forever, but they still remembered me and it was nice to hear how some of them were doing. And then I dashed to the Page to meet up with Katrina. Katrina and I have chatted occasionally during the pandemic, but it was far more fun to do it over margaritas (even if outdoor seating here reminds me that San Francisco is totally frigid and I was shivering at five p.m. - note to self that it's 95 in Denver, which is one thing Denver has going for it (until it snows in September)). So we caught up for a couple of hours, and also got some takeout guac from Little Chihuahua to add to the margaritas, so that was great.

Then I came back to my hotel, switched into jeans instead of a jumpsuit and added a sweater under my jacket, and met up with Chandlord. We walked to North Beach and purposefully chose a mediocre restaurant, which was truly mediocre - my wedge salad wasn't a wedge of iceberg lettuce and instead was a bed of romaine, and Chandlord's pizza was bad enough that she abandoned the leftovers. But the restaurant set a v low bar for the conversation, which we exceeded, so I think the night was a success.

Then we walked back to my hotel and laid on my bed and talked until I was starting to fall asleep. And now I need to sleep for real so I can get through tomorrow's round of engagements - goodnight!

but just because it burns doesn't mean you're gonna die

In a rather last minute turn of events, I'm sitting in bed in a hotel room in San Francisco, elated to have returned to the fog-filtered golden light of my youth. I booked this trip last weekend on a total whim, after a text thread with the usual suspects reminded me that I have friends here. I also feel fairly confident that the delta variant and other personal plans will make travel west dicey the next few weeks, so I'm making hay while the sun shines.

So I worked all morning, and then left for the airport around one. I got to the airport in time to have a glass of wine and some burrata, which made me better able to survive the slight delay to my flight.

Then I landed in SFO, and even though it's been almost eighteen months since I've been here (the longest gap in my adult life by approximately fourteen months), it immediately felt just right. I took a Lyft into the city of sin, driving down streets that used to be my commute. I checked into one of the last hotels I'd stayed in here, and they welcomed me back as though I'd never left. I had dinner at a random place across the street, and I journaled and people watched and daydreamed of other lives and other times.

And now, I should sleep - in true fashion, even though I only planned this last weekend, I have managed to book almost every hour of the next three days, so I need to get some sleep so I can make it count. Goodnight!

we both said it's a beautiful try

I need to go to bed immediately - my life right now is meetings and more meetings, and unfortunately tomorrow they start at 8:30am rather than a more civilized time like 9am. But I'm taking Friday off for some last minute shenanigans, so I just have to make it through tomorrow so that I can get to the weekend in style.

But since all I did today was work, and since that is neither interesting nor discussion-worthy, I think I should cut this off early and go to bed. Goodnight!

ceo, entrepreneur, born in 1964

I had a decent day but it was nothing to write home about. I had meetings most of the day, all of which were good but none of which were amazing. I also chatted with Alyssa and with Terry, so I feel like I got some quality girl time this afternoon. And I ran to the mall to return something and pick something up (the Nordstrom anniversary sale giveth and taketh away). On the way there and back, I talked to [censored], so now we're properly caught up with each other.

Then I picked up pizza from Blue Pan, came home, did laundry, and did a bunch of nothing. At this point, I think bed is a better choice than working or TikTok (well, maybe not better than TikTok), so I think I should go to sleep - goodnight!

when i get home boy you better not be there, you're long gone

Today was hectic, in a good way. I had meetings very intensely from nine to five, and that required a lot of mental energy (and a takeout lunch). But I managed to sign off around 5:20 and drive to Lafayette. On the way I talked to [censored] briefly, who was in surprisingly good form considering he found two (mostly) dead bats in his garage when he got home last night (one never wants to find bats of any kind anywhere near one's sleeping location). And then I met up with Sarah-Frances for happy hour - we hung out at Community and caught up on work and life, which was a delight.

Then we moseyed down the street to a Mexican restaurant, where we met up with another coworker who is brand new to our place of work and so hasn't really gotten to meet anyone in person yet. We had a v. delightful, v. long dinner, and it was a great way to spend a warm Monday night. But even though I have a million work things to do and should probably take a stab at them now, I'm going to go to bed and hope that I wake up tomorrow in time to do them. Goodnight!

don't be scared, don't be shy, come on in, the water's fine

Today started inauspiciously but managed to pull itself out of the (literal) toilet, so I'll take it. For some reason my fancy dinner last night did not sit well with me - I woke up an hour after going to bed (but felt like it was five hours later) and immediately had to vomit. I went back to bed, slept an hour, woke up, and vomited again. I then slept through the rest of the night, but it was a very weird experience - it almost felt like those times that I got really sick after eating crab, but I didn't have any crab yesterday and also wasn't nearly as sick as I was in those other moments. So, idk, but hopefully it was just a fluke.

Needless to say, the vomiting episodes made me leery to do much today. So I slept in, and then I ran and grabbed iced coffee and washed my car before coming home to hole up on my patio and write. I wrote for a couple of hours (until it was too hot to sit where I was). Then I ate a bagel in deference to my stomach. And then I took a nap in deference to my exhaustion.

After that, I finally dragged myself out of the house - I had to go to the mall to return something and pick up other things, which I accomplished pretty efficiently. Then I came home, ate some ice cream, and talked to my parents (who were in fine form). Then I went down the street to my favorite Mexican restaurant and had an early dinner while writing another couple of pages (this time in my journal, since I haven't been there enough to establish myself well enough to just pull out my laptop, but maybe that time will come). And then I came home and talked to [censored] while he drove home.

Now, unfortunately, it's time for bed - work is looking hectic this week, and I would be best served by going to bed immediately so that I can start the week with a bit more sleep than usual. Goodnight!

like a damn sociopath

I can't blog tonight because I'm too tired and falling asleep on my keyboard and have thus far misspelled most of these words at least once before going back to editing. Today was great, though - I got some tings done talked to my friend Barbara (California Barbara, not Colorado Barbara) for a couple of hours, did some more tings, took a nap, and took care of some stuff outside.

Then, the reason I'm tired is because I had an 8:15pm reservation at Tavernetta, which is approx two hours later than I usually eat. Tavernetta has been on my list of places to try and I would say it hit the mark - the service was great and the food was impeccable. And I went with Jackson and Kelly to celebrate Kelly getting a new role outside my company - I don't want her to leave, but at least our friendship is likely to survive.

And now I'm desperate to sleep - goodnight!

i tell my love to wreck it all

Today was a bonkers day at work, mostly because I had a million meetings and no breaks and half those meetings were ridiculous. But I did write just the tiniest amount this morning. And I was able to abandon the laptop a little before six and run to the greenhouse to spend some money; they do some rewards bucks through the season that are good for up to half off a purchase in early July, and today was the last day to use them. The greenhouse was hopping for a Thursday, since clearly other people had the same idea - but I picked up a couple of new houseplants and some potting soil, so it was worth the trip.

Then I came home, reheated some pasta, did some personal business stuff, and did some work business stuff. And now it's suddenly midnight and I must sleep immediately - goodnight!

pour a little salt, we were never here

I'm slipping deep into my stupid workaholic ways, which is unfortunate as I realized tonight that summer is basically half over if you consider that Colorado has snow in May and could very well have snow on Labor Day. But the lure is strong - I can easily succumb to situations that involve helping others, and since so many people are out and other people are stretched thin, I feel like I need to pull some weight.

But today was good - my VP meeting went well, and it probably wasn't because of the manicure I gave myself last night, but I'm going to assume that it helped. I had meetings all day, then took a break to make some of my favorite sausage / chard pasta, which is pretty delicious and also reheats well. I then did some mindless scrolling on twitter and tiktok, and then I worked for an hour and a half to get on top of my email.

And now that I've done that, it's time for bed - goodnight!

cut out all the ropes and let me fall

Today was a pretty good day, especially considering that I didn't quite get enough sleep to start it off. I had meetings the whole day, which should surprise no one, but I also had decent coffee + leftover steak and scalloped potatoes + a good meeting with my boss, so I'll take it. Then I had a session with Alyssa, which was also a delight.

Then I scrambled to get out of the house and over to Katie's - she had invited me for dinner, and we stayed in at her house so that we could also hang out with James while watching the kids. James made us palomas to drink, and then we had beef skewers, corn on the cob, and green beans, and it was all quite tasty. I also had an entertaining time observing their cats (who for some reason seem to love me); I would make a joke about pussy-appropriate activities here, but I am both a good friend and a lady, so I shall refrain. And we discussed a variety of topics, mostly related to jobs and also to houses in rural areas.

Eventually, it was time for the girls to go to bed and for me to take care of tings, so I came home, tidied up around the house, and gave myself a fresh gel manicure. I probably should have prepped in a slightly different way for a meeting with my VP tomorrow, but I felt like a manicure would serve me better than anything else. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

waking up to find your love's not real

I'm suddenly too tired to blog - I pushed hard today, which is not my usual 'conserve energy on Mondays' approach, so we'll see how I feel about that decision tomorrow. But I got up this morning and did some business and made coffee and wrote before work, so I felt accomplished even before opening the corporate laptop. Then I slogged from ~10 to 5 without any real breaks. At that point, I talked to my dad for awhile, and then I made dinner - I went fancier than usual for a Monday, which meant potatoes au gratin (aka Barefoot Contessa's version of scalloped potatoes) and grilled ribeye, and it was a total delight.

However, I still had a million things to do for work, and the rest of the week is looking brutal (context for why it's all brutal: I'm down two managers and so am managing a bunch of people directly + things always get brutal in the summer due to our usual planning cycles + everyone is burned out and taking breaks). So I worked from 8-11, which at least put me into slightly better shape for tomorrow, but isn't enough to get me all the way to feeling good about things.

But that's a problem for Future Sara; right now, it's time for bed. Goodnight!

that's the impression that i get

I have nothing of interest to report - today was slightly more productive than yesterday, but it wasn't much to blog about. I took care of some personal business-type tings this morning, and then I mostly continued to be hermity and avoid people. I did, however, wash my sheets and my guest room sheets and did a couple of other loads of laundry, which was better than nothing. And I miraculously accomplished the most pressing order of business - I made a grocery run, which was way overdue, and so it's possible that I'll be able to feed myself this week. 

When I got home from the grocery store, I had to clean out my fridge to make room for the new stuff and toss things that were rotting. Then I called my parents - they seemed to be doing well, as are their cats and dad's foot and all the other usual things we check in on. Also, three rose bushes have sprung back from the dead by the old house - they were climbing up the south side of the house and we didn't move them before the destruction, so we just assumed they were gone. But life finds a way, and apparently they're coming back up from the ground, so that's exciting. And grass is growing where the house used to be, so that will be a trip to see when I go home next time.

After I talked to my parents, I didn't get much else done - I had to make my bed, fold a bunch of laundry, and take care of a few more tings, but it was mostly a quiet evening. And now I need to sleep so that I can write before work tomorrow - goodnight!

oh valley of plenty

I had a v. lazy, hermity day, which is what I guess I needed. I did spend some quality time cleaning up my patio - I had enough cut-up branches and sticks to fill my compost cart (approx 30min after it got emptied this morning), so I got all of that disposed of. I still have two big yard totes full of more yard materials, but those are safely chilling near my fence until the compost cart gets emptied again. Then I used my leaf blower to clean off the patio, and all is right again.

I spent some quality time this afternoon doing nothing, although I did take a nap and a shower, which feels like an accomplishment. Then I went out and had a steak at five p.m., which was rather early, but also rather late because I didn't really eat a proper lunch. I spent an hour and a half brainstorming some stuff for the book I'm working on, and wishing I were at Des Amis instead because their steak and wine were better - but Des Amis is long gone, and I'm not in San Francisco, so I guess tonight's steak will have to suffice.

Then I came home and watched four episodes in a row of THE WITCHER - yes, it came out ages ago, and yes, I watched the first four episodes sometime around the start of the pandemic, but I had never finished it. I decided that tonight was the night, and I powered through all four hours in one go. All in all I thought it was a good series with some interesting storytelling choices, and I'm glad that the next season was able to get made during the pandemic because I'm looking forward to it.

And now, I think I should sleep - I have some tings I want to get done tomorrow, so I think it's time for bed. Goodnight!

i need the cheat codes

I have nothing of note to report tonight - I did get up in time to write before work, which was a good accomplishment. Then I slogged all day, but it was all rather mundane. And I eventually stopped, ordered some takeout for dinner (I should really get groceries, but #quarantinechef is not in the mood) and have spent the last several hours backing up my laptop - I need to get it checked because it's been repeatedly rebooting overnight, but that means backing everything up in case my hard drive has to get reset.

And on that v. boring note it's time for bed - goodnight!

don't do me like that

No blog tonight- I had to slog pretty hard all day, so there's nothing of interest to say there. But I finally closed my laptop at seven and walked to El Camino, where I had a margarita and some nachos and also journaled and people-watched. And I chatted up the bartender, who hadn't seen me in forever and comped my second margarita, so nature is healing.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

at some chinese restaurant in san francisco, my fortune told me i’m on the wrong road

Katie and I went out for an epic evening of margaritas, so I guess nature is healing or something. But before I got to the margaritas, I had a day of slogging. I was going to write this morning, but I got an email at 7:30am from my sprinkler guy asking if he needed to pick up an irrigation control box before getting to my place by nine. This was quite a surprise, since he had previously confirmed he would be here on July 19....and [censored] just replaced the box that the sprinkler guy was supposed to do. But I seized the moment, told him I didn't need the box but did need him to fix a broken zone valve and still fix some of the heads, so he got here around nine and did a great job fixing the rest of my system. So, that's a relief, since I can now leave my water on all the time without a leak and can also run my sprinklers from anywhere in the world thanks to my new control box.

Then I slogged for the entire day - I had a bit of a break at lunch, but not enough to feel luxurious. During my last meeting, I texted Katie and asked if today was the day that we would get margaritas together - we hadn't seen each other since late May, which feels impossibly long ago. I was in Iowa, and then she was in Iowa, and then unfortunately her grandmother passed away in souther Illinois, and so we've been as ships crossing in the night the last few weeks.

Happily, Katie succumbed to my lure of margaritas, and so we went to bartaco to catch up on the million things we've missed in each other's lives. This required many tacos, many margaritas, some tasty ice cream, some subpar churros, and a lot of conversation. We were there for almost four hours, and I think we made a valiant effort at scraping the tip of the iceberg of what has transpired in the last few weeks, but it will undoubtedly require some additional summit-level discussions to properly square all the many and varied topics away.

So in other words, it was a delight to see her and I feel v. grateful that my best friend from forever lives within ten minutes of my house. And I also feel v. grateful that my best friend from forever likes tequila and tacos, although I would still love her even if she didn't. And now, I need to consider going to bed since tomorrow looks like another epic slog - goodnight!

riding the storm out

Today was the last day of my long weekend, so the Sunday Scaries were actually the Tuesday Scaries. I got up this morning a little before six to bid farewell to [censored], and I intended to just sleep for another hour before getting on with my day - but instead I slept until nine. I guess I needed it, but it threw off my morning.

However, I then went to a new-to-me coffeeshop and wrote for almost three hours, which was a total delight. I haven't written in a coffeeshop in forever, and while this one was still maintaining social distancing and isn't fully back to normal, it was back to normal enough that I was supremely happy to be there and writing again.

Then I should have run errands, but I was feeling v. lazy, so I didn't. I did, however, have a call with Alyssa; we did some stretching and breathing exercises which helped since I seem to have tweaked my whole right side while doing stuff this weekend and my calf and neck were both stiff (thanks for reminding me that I'm getting older). And then I ordered sushi, did some stuff around the house, took a brief walk before getting rained out, and wrote for another hour.

And now I'm going to try to go to bed early so that I can write before work tomorrow (or at least have a more relaxed morning than I sometimes do) - goodnight!

he never smiles, he keeps it candid

[censored] is still here, even though he had intended to leave sometime this afternoon. This is to my benefit, as it meant that he did more projects today instead of skipping town. It wasn't all work - he did have a friend from grad school come over, and so we hung out on my patio for a couple of hours. But after that, it was back to the house slog. Today's list included finishing installation of my irrigation control box, installing three new smoke/CO detectors, hanging a mirror, doing some more surreptitious chopping at the tree of heaven debris over my fence line, removing the forming materials on the cement that is now shoring up my fence, putting on a new outlet cover in my backyard, and cutting some dead branches out of my tree that were hanging perilously over my garage.

At some point, that was enough stuff for today, and [censored] loaded his truck with the intent of leaving tonight. But he wanted to do a bit of work for his job first, so I took a shower and napped briefly and called the parents to see what they were up to. Then I picked up pizza from Blue Pan as a farewell dinner for [censored]. However, after eating he decided that he didn't want to head back to [censored] tonight after all, so he kept working and I did a bunch of organizational / financial stuff to try to figure out what absolutely needs to get done tomorrow during my final vacation day.

And now, I should sleep - [censored] is supposedly leaving early tomorrow, and I want to get up to see him off. Goodnight!

he knows all the words to mr. brightside

[censored] and I had another great vacation day, although vacation day seems like a cruel misnomer. I took it a little easy this morning and mostly rearranged things in my living room (making space for more books, moving a table with plants on it, etc), but then we got cracking on outdoor activities. [censored] spent most of the morning creating a method to shore up my fence, which is sagging badly under the onslaught of my neighbor's untrimmed overgrowth. So [censored] cut some wood to create forms for cement, and then he mixed and poured cement around the fence pillars so that it will harden up and support the fence. We'll see how it looks tomorrow, but that seems like a good short-term solution to me!

While [censored] was doing cement work, I did a bunch of cutting of tings - I broke down all the stuff [censored] cut down yesterday so that I can compost it over the next couple of weeks, which was all a good endeavor. I also helped [censored] with some stuff related to my irrigation line, which was going to get buried under [censored]'s fence solution. And I ran and got some groceries and we also order sandwiches from Snarf's, which were a total delight.

Sometime in the afternoon, Aunt Becky came over - she's in her Colorado house as of yesterday, so we invited her up for supper. She got here early enough that we were able to hang out for quite awhile, and I made caprese salad (roasted tomatoes + mozzarella) and the proscuitto-wrapped stuffed chicken breasts that [censored] like, with some mashed potatoes for good measure. We had a lot to catch up on, and it was nice to do so over tasty food (even if my dining room now feels like my office to me and may feel like that forever).

After we were done eating, Aunt B went home and [censored] and I made a Home Depot run. I had told him I wouldn't make him go to Home Depot four times on this trip, but he has gone twice (and I went to Lowes without him yesterday), so it's a good thing he's leaving tomorrow before we can hit his limit. We picked up a couple of tings + a new irrigation control box, which [censored] installed tonight.

And now, I'm falling asleep in my chair and I need to get up and at 'em tomorrow to get tings done before [censored] leaves. Goodnight! 

super villain with a manifesto, dang

This was one of the most productive vacation days I've had in recent memory (well, tearing down the old house was pretty productive, but in a destructive way, and also unlikely to impact my day to day). [censored] is an excellent house guest because he does not want to do anything fun or go anywhere or take advantage of any activities - instead, he just powers through a massive to-do list of projects that would require me to find multiple service people and spend hundreds of dollars on.

Today's projects: [censored] cut down four small trees, hung a new light fixture, and installed a keypad opener for my garage door so that I can get to my garage from the alley side. I played some role in most of this (like helping with some of the tree cutting, and also touching up the ceiling paint since the new light fixture's plate was slightly smaller than the old one) - but it definitely wouldn't have happened without him. And the new light fixture is awesome - it only took two years to get rid of the light fixture that I hated from the moment I walked in, so now I can move on to obsessing about other things.

At some point in the afternoon, I made a quick trip to Lowes and then picked up a couple of things to make dinner. We continued to make progress through the afternoon, but eventually it was time to clean up. I then made supper (spaghetti carbonara) and we sat around and talked about my sprinkler system (as house guests usually do). We have more projects lined up for tomorrow, but so far so good.

And now I need to sleep if I'm going to be useful tomorrow - goodnight!

i've made charts and graphs that should finally make it clear

I had a great day, all in all, and now vacation can begin in earnest (and by 'vacation' I mean that I'm going to be doing house projects all weekend). I had to work today, but I started it with Starbucks and had lunch with [censored] at Chipotle, so it wasn't bad (and the one meeting I had was great). Then, [censored] and I went to Home Depot, where we purchased many things to support the projects that we're doing this weekend (and by 'projects we're doing', I mean 'projects he's doing').

When we were finally done at Home Depot, we came home, unloaded, and ate takeout Thai food. Then [censored] fixed the broken light switch in my basement, which is great news since my basement has become a total mess since I haven't been able to turn on lights and organize things better. And then I watched the season finale of Top Chef - it was a great season, and it will be interesting to see how they handle the fallout of the finale due to some information that apparently came to light after the season was taped.

And then [censored] and I watched some more tv, and then I laid in bed for awhile and enjoyed some quiet time. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

lawyers guns and money

I had a long but lovely day. Today started with interrupted sleep - my carbon monoxide detector chose 4am to give up the ghost, so I had to figure out how to get it to stop chirping so that I could sleep. I also had a meeting with my boss at 8:30, so I had to get up and get with it earlier than usual.

Despite all that, my day was good (albeit still too many meetings). At some point, [censored] rolled into town - he is visiting for the weekend, theoretically to take a vacation but mostly to fulfill a bunch of house projects for me. Yes, this is a good thing, [censored] can come back anytime.

However, this visit isn't actually free, because I went to see Micky and the Motorcars with him, which is a country music band that I would never listen to if left to my own devices. The concert was at Globe Hall, which I've also never been to - turns out they serve barbecue and a full bar, and then the concert is held in a room directly adjacent to the restaurant. So we got there early enough to have barbecue and a drink, and then we went into the concert area just in time to snag one of the last barstools along the wall.

I thought both the main act and the opener were clearly v. talented, so I enjoyed myself a lot. I also thought that several of them looked like Lord of the Rings characters, which was apparently not supposed to be my takeaway.

But now I'm exhausted from lack of sleep last night, and I have to get up and get some tings done tomorrow - goodnight!