somewhere between the soul and soft machine is where i find myself again

I'm v. v. tired and I spent a lot of money today, but all in all those things are good problems to have. Or, at least, they will provide some of the supplies I need to fix other problems. [censored] and I left around 8:45 this morning to go to Des Moines, and we spent nine hours either driving or walking around big box hardware stores looking for stuff.

This was helpful for me because 1) some of it was not stuff I would have known what/how to buy; 2) [censored] took his trailer, so I was able to get a Best Buy Black Friday deal on a 70" tv and haul it home without having to pay for rural delivery; 3) we can fit a lot more stuff in one trip in [censored]'s truck and trailer than I can in my Audi. We picked up the tv first, then went to two different Menards (a Midwestern version of Lowes) and one Lowes, with a stop somewhere in there for lunch at Panda Express (not as good as [censored] or I remembered). I bought a variety of light switches and sockets, a kitchen faucet, a showerhead, a toilet, a whole passel of wall registers to replace old/broken hvac vents, a laundry sink (for a project in which I might get a sink in my garage, which would be v. handy), and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Of course, just because the stuff is now sitting in my garage doesn't mean that anything will actually change or get done - and the first step (for me) is painting (even if the first step for [censored] likely involves some plumbing). But I feel prepped to make some significant progress over the next month or so, so we'll see what happens.

When we got back to my house, we unloaded and were both pretty fried, but I tidied up the kitchen before heading to my parents' for dinner. We ate a bunch of leftovers to clear out the fridge in anticipation of tomorrow's feast, and then I experimented with an apple peeler / corer for a possible recipe tomorrow. Eventually, [censored] and I came back to my place, and I tested the oven to make sure it works (answer: pretty sure!). And then, I organized my bedroom and put as much stuff away as I could given I have no drawers or shelves.

And now, I really need to sleep - I didn't get enough last night, which didn't make today any easier, and I need to get up and bake before Thanksgiving dinner. Goodnight!