now i'm not breaking, the train's just shaking

I'm v. tired, but my living room is fully painted and looks great. [censored] and I got to my house to paint this morning and discovered that the furnace wasn't running properly last night, so it was approximately sixty degrees (and there may be a longer-term problem with my air conditioner that is a problem for Future Sara). That took the wind out of our sails, so we sat on the floor and drank coffee and contemplated. That contemplation led to me running an errand in the morning that I'd intended to save for afternoon - I went to a carpet store to finalize carpet for installation in February. It's basically the only carpet store in the county, which made it easy to decide where to go - and I think I picked something good, but we'll see how it looks when it gets installed.

Then I came home (after a quick stop at city hall (aka a single room on Central Ave) to check on my water bill, which is sent by one of my high school classmates) and got to painting. We decided to go the conservative / high prep route and mask the walls with paper / plastic rather than attempting the fast-but-risky method of using a paint shield, so it took a couple of hours to mask the room (even with [censored]'s fancy scaffolding). Then we took a quick late lunch break at our parents' house before coming back to my place and finally painting the ceiling. This got paint and dust everywhere, but it went about as smoothly as it could have gone, so no regrets there.

After we were done, we sliced through plastic to be able to get to our rooms, and I took a much-needed shower. Then we went to our parents' place for dinner - Mom made delicious beef and gravy over mashed potatoes, which was pretty great. It would have been nice to take the rest of the night off, but instead [censored] and I came back to my house, pulled down all the plastic / masking / tape, put away the dustcloths, vacuumed, and put all the furniture back in place. The paint looks awesome, as far as I can tell at this point - [censored] did a great job taping near the ceiling, and the blueish-white color is perfect. We capped it all off with some episodes of Letterkenny, which was a great way to end the night.

However, I'm v. tired and yet need to contemplate painting tomorrow while also doing a million things to prep for a major winter storm on Saturday + consider going back to Colorado this weekend (although Colorado is not a great place to be either - hopefully all my friends who live between Denver and Boulder are safe, because the fires there today were horrid). Goodnight!

boom clap the sound of my heart

I am safely ensconced in my bedroom in my parents' house, which does not smell like fresh paint (unlike my house). Yesterday and today were spent mostly in service of painting my living room and [censored]'s room - since we're using a paint sprayer, it required a ton of masking and other prep work, which I spent hours on yesterday and more hours on today. At least today we took a break and came to my parents' house for lunch (which for me was nachos from the leftovers of our taco bar with my sister, which were delish).

We did successfully paint the walls in my living room this afternoon, and so far they look awesome. The previous owner had chosen a yellow that was not at all cheerful, with a maroon accent wall that only accented the hideousness of the yellow. I replaced it with a white with blue/grey tones, and it already looks way better even though everything is still taped. We still have to do the ceiling tomorrow, and then [censored]'s room, but this was a big win.

However, we didn't want to untape doors or stairways that would let us get into our rooms tonight, and it's really quite full of fumes, so we came home early for dinner (roast beef! Thanks Mom!) and decided to spend the night. And now I need to sleep so I can recover in time for tomorrow - goodnight!

get out quick 'cause seeing is believing

I intended to go to bed an hour ago, but if I can write this in the next five minutes I still might make it to bed before midnight. Today was a nice bridge between holidays and housework, though - I did basically nothing this morning, other than drink coffee and talk to [censored] about things that we should be doing (but had no interest in doing).

I spent the afternoon mostly focused on organizing my office - it's still quite barren-looking since it's like 400 sq ft and I only have a desk and a chair and (thanks to today's efforts) a small cart with office supplies. I guess I also have a yoga mat and a foam roller, but that's not exactly high decor. But I put the cart together and arranged the office supplies I picked up at Staples last week, and that made my nerdy office-supply-loving heart happy. I also unpacked the lamp I'd ordered - it's perhaps laughably large, but I have a large desk and it provides a lot of light (important, since Marvin didn't understand the importance of light fixtures when he built this house). So now my desk is set up less than a week before I'll be leaving - but better late than never, and I'm looking forward to writing from this desk in the future.

I also took a long break to talk to Katie, from whom I've been separated for far too long. Then I went out to my parents' house to scrounge for leftovers for dinner - my ham balls were still delicious today, if I do say so myself. And I ended the night by watching two episodes of Letterkenny before messing around upstairs and journaling a bit, so all in all, it was a good day.

Oh, and for posterity, yesterday was good too - I made delish scrambled eggs for my houseguests (happy birthday, Aunt Kathy!) before Kathy, Drewbaby, and Drewbaby's girlfriend left to go to Kansas City for a Chiefs game. Then I went to my parents' house, where it was a mad scramble to get ready for another Christmas - my sister and her kids and their kids came over, so I had to wrap some more gifts and then help my mom with the meal (it was served around 2:30, so I guess I'll call it dinner). We did a taco bar, which was perfect for the quantity and quality of people we had (fine china and a full Christmas dinner would have been wasted on the five kids under the age of ten). It all turned out well and there were only a handful of tears from a handful of children and adults, and only one child was forever traumatized by the stories they heard from my dad, so I think it was mostly a success.

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

can you meet me halfway

Merry Christmas! I had a v. nice day in ye olde Iowa, as is usual on Christmas. I had to set my alarm to wake up in time to open gifts, which was a bit of a bummer since I typically prefer sleeping in (and never get to on Christmas). But the usual gift opening tradition was nice, and I got some lovely gifts (mostly for my new house), so that was a delight. I also enjoyed giving the gifts that I gave, which included a relatively useless tool for my brother's stocking (I delight in giving him useless tools that I mostly pick up in museum gift shops) and a pill holder for my dad made from teak from the deck of the USS Missouri (where the surrender of Japan was signed, and which is now in Hawaii as a museum).

After present opening, I took a shower, and we had brunch (breakfast casserole and blueberry muffins, courtesy of Mom). I also took a bit of a nap because I absolutely had to. Then, the full festivities began - Aunt Kathy, Drewbaby, and Drewbaby's girlfriend Sammie came down for the day, and so I spent the rest of the day cooking / drinking / hanging out. I made a pineapple upside down cake (gluten free), which was v. tasty. I also made ham balls, after a hilarious mishap with the grinder in which I forgot one of the parts and so ended up extruding ham through a single grinder hole in a way that shot ham across the kitchen. But in spite of that, the ham balls were ultimately delicious, especially paired with Kathy's layered lettuce (an Iowa specialty) and cheesy potatoes. And I made cranberry margaritas in the middle of the afternoon and had a big cheese / charcuterie platter (x2), which made for great snacking.

So, all of that was great - and obviously meant I spent my whole day hanging out in the kitchen (which is mostly where most people hung out). We had dinner and continued hanging out for awhile; eventually, [censored] and I brought Kathy / Drewbaby / Sammie to my place in town so that they could avail themselves of guest beds. They toured my place and generally agreed with common sentiments (the bathrooms are horrible and everything else is huge), and we hung out a bit longer until it was clear we were all falling asleep.

And now I really need to go to bed so I can repeat some hostessing activities tomorrow - goodnight!

right at the borderline

I am v. tired, which is not my preferred state for Christmas Eve before two solid days of socializing, but I think I'll be able to power through. I spent this morning cleaning up my house and putting paint-type tings away so that I can host overnight guests tomorrow - the guest room looks great (if you like a vaguely dangerous vibe lacking in any outlet covers) and my kitchen / living room are as good as they're going to get for now (which is saying something, since the big bay window is covered in cardboard / styrofoam to block people from seeing in from the main road). I also did three loads of laundry, vacuumed, etc., so at least that's done.

Then I got roped into helping with a Google-related activity - or, I should say, I brought this on myself, since I agreed to help my dad order security cameras, and today was the nicest day of the next ten, so it made sense to install them. [Censored] and I have a gentlemen's agreement that [censored] is responsible for all tech support of the parents' wired devices and I'm responsible for wireless devices, but these floodlight cams operate in a strange purgatory because they're hardwired into the electrical system (something I can't do) but then are a wireless device from a connectivity standpoint.

So, I spent a couple of hours helping install some cameras - which was, hilariously, a three-person job, mostly because my dad had to lift [censored] fifteen feet in the air on a telehandler platform so that [censored] could wire the cameras, and then I had to install the firmware update, get it onto the network, etc. I'm glad we got this phase done, but it definitely took awhile. And somewhere in there I found out that you can buy a can of soda (aka pop) at the lumber yard for $0.40 (not a typo), so that's a fun fact.

After we were done with the cameras, I had to scramble around my house, figure out what groceries and clothes needed to come to my parents' house, take a shower, etc. I got to my parents' house later than I had planned, but I took a fifteen minute break before commencing the next phase - I made zucchini lasagna for Christmas Eve dinner, in an homage to the lasagna that my grandma used to make every Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, her china is in the wrong basement (my Denver one, not any basement in Iowa), but it was easier to eat it on normal plates anyway. I also browned some sausage for tomorrow's breakfast casserole, and I cleaned up after dinner so that the kitchen will be ready for tomorrow's activities.

After supper, I had to wrap a whole bunch of presents, and now I'm finally done and partially unwound. So, I'm going to try to get at least seven hours of sleep before commencing tomorrow's festivities - goodnight!

trying to catch me riding dirty

I probably should have gone to bed an hour ago, but I needed some time to unwind, and I did so while sitting in bed and aimlessly browsing on my laptop. Today was pretty good, all in all - I finished painting my guest room, and it looks really good, but I'm glad that task is over. I did it later in the day than I had planned because I spent the morning running other errands - mostly going to discuss carpet options with the carpet lady, then washing my car since it was over fifty degrees and my car was filthy, then picking up seven gallons of ceiling paint at the lumber yard (and paying last month's bill just in time for them to charge the paint to my next bill).

But I eventually started painting, and I didn't quite finish when I wanted to - I had to take an extended break so that [censored] and I could pick up takeout Mexican and take it to the parents' house for supper. I probably should have wrapped presents tonight, but instead I came back to my house and painted the final wall. And now, I need to sleep - I have a million things to get done tomorrow and not a million ounces of energy, so I'm going to have to prioritize. Goodnight!

wake up in the morning feeling like p diddy

I was a very accomplished home owner today - I succeeded in painting my guest room (at least the first coat) and so far it looks great. The paint color is called Shady Lady, which is an appropriate homage to the very red, very silky bordello-like sheer curtains that were in the room when I moved in - but Shady Lady is a v nice blue, and I think it will look great with new blinds and new outlet covers that aren't '80s gold.

However, that exercise took most of the day, mostly because I'm very slow and very particular about cutting in, and also the guest room is approximately 14*15 and so is larger than your average metropolitan area guest room. This production speed does not bode well for the living room or office, both of which are more like 450 sq ft each, which is hilarious because I think many of my SSN Francisco living situations could have fit in one or two rooms of this house. But this house is in the middle of nowhere and I can't order food delivery or walk anywhere for (good) coffee, so there are tradeoffs.

sssanyway. [Censored] showed up in the late afternoon, so we chatted while I finished painting. Then I took a shower and went to my parents' house, where we had last night's leftover chicken and wild rice soup and I inspected my day's deliveries (long story but I don't have a mailbox at my place, so things get delivered to my parents, which is mostly good since all presents will be unwrapped there, but is probably getting old for the delivery drivers). I came back to my place around nine, and [censored] and I watched too many YouTube videos, which was great. And now I need to sleep so I can keep doing house stuff tomorrow - goodnight!

where did you come from cotton eye joe

I have nothing of interest to report today - I stayed up way too late last night, so slept way too late, and so I decided not to paint today (which is what I should have done). But I did run to the grocery store for my parents and retrieve some packages that were left outside their garage. Then I spent the afternoon taking care of tings around the house, cleaning and organizing my bathroom with the things I got in Des Moines yesterday, and making chicken and wild rice soup. I made the soup while listening to the SmartLess podcast (Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett) interview Tom Hanks, which was a fun way to spend my cooking time.

Eventually, I took the soup out to my parents' house - my dad had a meeting, so my mom and I ate without him. He did show up and have a bowl after we were done, and he liked it better than he usually likes chicken, so I'll take it. I probably should have stayed to wrap presents, but I wasn't feeling it - so I came back to my place, cleaned my kitchen, wrote a tiny bit, and messed around online.

And now, I'm going to try the miraculous feat of going to bed before midnight so that I can get up tomorrow and get things done - goodnight!

let me relinquish and start to distinguish my past

No blog tonight - I went to Des Moines to pick up a million things, and I was mostly successful in that endeavor (although there are no grapefruit to be had, so my dad's Christmas ambrosia is at risk). When I got home around five, I talked to Alyssa and did a bit of a workout, and then I finished unloading my car, ate a frozen enchilada, put things away, journaled, procrastinated, etc.

And now, I'm going to stop procrastinating and go to bed - goodnight!

give a little of what you have left

I need to go to bed immediately if I'm going to get up before 10am tomorrow (a rare feat this week). Today was good, though - I painted the ceiling of the guest room, and that trial of the paint sprayer went really well. The downside is that spraying itself takes approx twenty minutes and setup/cleanup takes like two hours (it should probably take less than this, but I'm slow due to rereading instructions multiple times to make sure I'm not going to accidentally inject paint into my skin, which sounds like a really bad way to give yourself a disfiguring injury / toxicity / infection). But the upside is that painting the ceiling only took twenty minutes and I *think* it looks good, although dried paint in daylight may tell a different story.

I ended up not going to my parents' house tonight and instead opted for a shower (I wore a respirator and safety goggles and covered my hair, but my forehead got a lot of paint splatter on it) and a sandwich. And, I prepped for a trip to the city tomorrow - I have to get some groceries and some house stuff, but I'm trying to make it as efficient as possible by preordering things for curbside pickup so that I'm not tempted to go in and spend a) time and b) money picking up random tings. And that's why I need to go to bed - a trip to the city involves three hours of driving + whatever errands I run there, and I want to get on the road and be relatively efficient. Goodnight!

the walls are way too thin

I had a less lazy day than yesterday, so I'll take it. I did, however, sleep until almost ten, so I really need to go to bed approximately 2.5hrs earlier than I've been going to bed (aka I should go to bed right now). When I got up, I took care of some more Christmas shopping, ate some yogurt, and then made chocolate chip chewies for my mom's birthday. It's a miracle that they turned out well - I thought I had all the ingredients, but discovered in the middle of mixing that I had bought almond extract instead of vanilla, which would have been a disaster. So, I had to abandon the dough in the middle and run to my parents' house to borrow their vanilla. Then, it appears that my oven is running at least 25 degrees lower than stated - the cookies baked, but they took longer than they should have. All that said, the cookies tasted amazing and were pretty close to perfect, so at least it all worked out.

After I baked, I talked to [censored] for awhile - clearly neither of us wanted to be productive because we talked about very little for a very long time. But I did manage to get some tings done, and I also washed the walls in my guest room - I am not going to go so far as to say that I'm determined to paint tomorrow, but it seems like it would be a good idea to do it so that I can see how much time and materials to budget for the rest of the project.

Eventually, I went out to my parents' house - as mentioned, it was my mom's birthday today (happy birthday, Mom!), so we hung out. We ended up ordering Mexican food for dinner, which I went into town to pick up, and my chocolate chip chewies were v. well received. My dad had also made candy this afternoon (chocolate peanut clusters), based off a recipe he got from the guy who runs the lumber yard, so the house was v. chocolatey.

And now, I should really go to sleep if I'm going to paint tomorrow - goodnight!

all your diction dripping with disdain

I was v. lazy today - I was going to paint my guest room, but instead I watched four hours of YouTube videos on how to paint my guest room. In that time, the person whose channel I was mainly watching probably could have painted the whole room, but I have #noregrets because I wanted to pick up some new techniques before getting started.

Beyond that, not much of note happened. I did have a happy hour with my friend Sara, whom I hadn't talked to in quite awhile - it was virtual, of course, but it was still delightful. Then I went out to my parents' house, where I mooched supper off of them and also ordered some more Christmas presents. And then I spent the rest of my evening making lists and measuring and generally plotting what to get done while I'm here.

And now I should go to bed so I can accomplish something tomorrow - goodnight!

check your passport, it's no trick, take the chapstick, put it on your lips

It's almost one a.m., but if I go to bed now it will still be earlier than I managed to go to bed last night. Today panned out pretty much how I wanted it to, though - I got up too late to get quite as much done as I intended, but I enjoyed what I did do.

The main task for the late morning was starting a bolognese sauce that takes approximately five hours to cook. It's not a complicated recipe, but each step has to cook down, and then it has to simmer for at least three hours after that. The end result was excellent and well worth the effort, but it did require some chopping / stirring / monitoring for quite awhile.

Once it got to the simmer stage, I spent the rest of the afternoon doing house stuff - I put together a console table for my living room (which took awhile, since it involved 32 bolts), washed and changed my duvet cover, and vacuumed most of the carpeted areas of the house. Eventually, I had to stop doing house stuff and shower, and then I took my sauce and some other items and went out to my parents' house.

As it turns out, the sauce was well received - when I got there, I boiled some water, made gluten free spaghetti, and also made garlic bread (technically texas toast with garlic) while heating the sauce back up. My dad seemed to enjoy it, which was kind of a surprise because 1) his appetite isn't always great and 2) he sometimes turns his nose up at my non-midwestern recipes. And my mom seemed to enjoy it too, both because of the taste and because she didn't have to cook it. So, everyone was a winner!

After that, I spent some time figuring out Christmas gifts for my sister's family, which took awhile. Then I came back to my house, tidied up the kitchen, and ordered some more stuff for my house. And now, I need to sleep before I completely ruin the morning - goodnight!

stacking up my house of cards

I forgot to blog last night due to slight post-travel delirium - I made it back to ye olde Iowa safely, grabbed some groceries on the way home, and also had dinner with my parents. I'm sad that my Hawaii vacation is over, but I'm excited to do some projects and also hang out here for the rest of the holidays.

Today, though, was strange - we were anticipating severe winds and weather, but they didn't arrive until later in the day, so I theoretically had time to do stuff in the morning. This mostly involved unpacking, doing laundry, etc., and also taking care of a few work things that were time-sensitive and had to happen today. I also cleaned my fridge, which was way overdue since it wasn't properly cleaned when I moved in and I hadn't had time or inclination to deal with it earlier. And, someone came to measure the house for new carpet / flooring - this is perhaps not the most pressing problem with the house, but the carpet in most of the house is approximately 33 years old, and so while they maintained it well, it seems like a good idea to replace it before I fill the place with furniture (but ideally after I paint).

I didn't go to my parents' tonight due to the storm - instead, I hunkered here, which was the right call since my parents lost power and I didn't. The wind was quite extreme at times, but as far as I know I don't have any real damage - time will tell when I inspect in the morning. This storm also hit my brother's city pretty hard, which is unfortunate since they're still recovering from last year's derecho, so hopefully this didn't cause too much additional damage.

And now, I really should sleep, which is what I should have done two hours ago - goodnight!

how'd you like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island

Unless something changes in the next thirty minutes, I will not be spending Christmas on Christmas Island...or any other island, unless you consider ye olde Iowa to be an island of some sort. I'm sitting in my seat for my flight from Honolulu to Denver, with a layover there before proceeding to Des Moines. Today was an idyllic last day in the tropics - I got up early, lazed a bit, grabbed coffee, and wrote for awhile. Then I met up with Heather and we spent the day at the pool - I had what was probably my last rum of the year, and also definitely my last suntan. It was pretty perfect by / in the pool, and I wasn't ready to leave....

... but all things end, so eventually I went to our room, packed, showered, and readied myself for departure. Heather and I had one last dinner at the restaurant in the hotel, which was perfect - we sat outside as the sun set, and said our goodbyes in style. Getting to the airport and to my plane was smooth, and hopefully I'll sleep most of the way to Denver. All told, this trip (Seattle + Honolulu) was incredibly excellent, but I'm ready to get back to my regularly scheduled life. Goodnight!

i made a million dollars and i spend it on girls and shoes

It's pretty hard to beat Hawaii in terms of vacation destinations, but I probably don't need to rub that in. Today continued to be idyllic - rather than eating the subpar/overpriced hotel breakfast, I ran across the street to pick up iced coffee and eggs at Starbucks. Then, I wrote for an hour, which was semi-productive - I feel like I'm slowly, slowly feeling my way into this story, which is great, but I'm also impatient and want to be in it *now*.

Then, I met Heather (aka dear respected madam) by the pool and hung out for a few hours. I didn't spend the whole day there because I feel like I'm perilously close to starting the burn phase - my skin is slightly prickly, and if I'm not careful, I'll tip over into lobster land. I know red is a traditional Christmas color, but I'd rather not be coated in it this week, so I'm trying to stay safe. But I did spend a few hours there this morning, and have a piña colada and a poke bowl, so I got the best of everything before escaping the killer afternoon heat.

Then I talked to my parents, who were in fine form. I also messed around a bit and generally relaxed until it was time for today's main event - Heather had booked tickets for a sunset catamaran cruise tonight, which left from the beach next to our hotel, so we did that together. It was pretty perfect - ninety minutes on the water + an open bar (which just meant mediocre-but-drinkable mai tais on tap) + a double rainbow over Waikiki. I felt vaguely seasick right after we boarded, but the dramamine I surreptitiously took before boarding + the fact that we got under way quickly saved me. The whole ride was v. pretty and the boat was fun, so it was definitely a worthwhile activity.

After we got back, we changed quickly and then successfully walked in to Taormina (a Sicilian Italian restaurant near the hotel). I had an excellent mushroom risotto, which is definitely not something I'm likely to get in Iowa unless I make it myself, so that was great. And then we came back to the hotel, after doing a bit of shopping, and now I really need to sleep. Tomorrow is my last day here and I leave tomorrow night, so I have many things to do + relaxing to accomplish in the morning. Goodnight!

you don't ever wanna step off that roller coaster and be all alone

I had another great day in Hawaii - today was warmer and I felt like I got a little too much sun, but otherwise it was lovely. I continue to wake up absurdly early, so I put on some clothes and journaled downstairs while drinking coffee and watching some ducks (cute: ducklings!; not cute: two adult ducks fighting over their little patch of koi pond). Then, Heather (aka dear respected) madam and I had breakfast before staking out our pool chairs for the day.

Today was almost cloudless, which sounds paradisiacal, but in reality it just meant that there was no break from the sun. That meant I spent more time hanging out in the pool today - it's only 3.5' deep, so even I can hang around in it comfortably, and it's definitely meant for lounging rather than swimming. So, we hung out and talked; we had lunch by the pool; I tried to read a book about writing and storytelling but mostly just lazed around. At some point I awoke with a jolt from whatever half-nap I was in and decided I needed to get some air conditioning immediately or else I was going to die, but once I cooled off from that moment, the rest of the afternoon was smooth sailing.

Towards the end of the afternoon, I came upstairs and showered - Heather was already in our room, since she gave up on the sun before I did. Then we wandered around and window shopped for a bit before grabbing dinner at Buho - a Mexican place that I came to when I was here for a writing conference oh so many years ago. It was not as good as I remembered from a food standpoint, but it's open air on a rooftop, and my covid wariness certainly appreciated that.

Then we came back to the hotel and I took care of some personal business while Heather read. And now I should consider going to sleep - goodnight!

fight the break of dawn

I spent the entire day lying in the sun and I have #noregrets thanks to diligent application of sunscreen (well, maybe a slight regret, since I didn't drink enough water and have a wee headache). I was up absurdly early because I went to bed so early last night, so I snuck out of the room, grabbed a coffee, and journaled while the sun came up. Journaling while the sun comes up is not something I normally do, but it was nice today.

Then Heather (aka dear respected madam) and I had an early breakfast, which put us in position to dash for chairs when the adult pool opened at 8am. This was basically like an old time land rush, but for two chairs by the pool instead of a plot of farm ground. I got us some great chairs and I didn't get shot or stampeded, so I felt v. accomplished.

We then hung out pretty much all day (although I took a break in the morning to shower after my daring feat of securing chairs). I even had lunch at the pool - a poke bowl that was actually slightly preferable to yesterday's, but not as good as Wednesday's and also overpriced. Heather and I talked a lot, which was great. And I spent the afternoon reading most of THE CRUEL PRINCE, which I'm really enjoying, and I'm definitely going to finish it in bed tonight.

At five, though, I heroically put the book down (today involved a lot of heroics) and got ready for dinner. Alyssa meet me and Heather at our hotel, and we went to Noi Thai, which weirdly has a location in Seattle, a location in Bend (where Heather lives), and a location here. It was delicious, and it was fun to introduce Alyssa and Heather to each other.

And now, I'm going to finish my book and go to bed at another absurdly early hour - goodnight!

say you don't know me or recognize my face

I had a fantastic day in paradise - I woke up stupidly early, but that's par for the course. So I had an early coffee, and then I did some writing - the story is starting to coalesce and I don't want to lose it, so I sat in the lobby and wrote for a bit of the morning hours. Then I took a walk and got a poke bowl - it was farther away and not as good as yesterday's poke bowl, so I don't think I'll be going back, but it was still nice.

Then I spent the afternoon hanging out by the pool and reading a book (THE CRUEL PRINCE by Holly Black). Somewhere in there, Heather (aka dear respected madam) finally arrived - she was supposed to get in earlier, but her first flight was delayed and she missed her connection, so she missed most of the sun. But I greeted her in the lobby when she arrived, and she unpacked / we explored for a bit. Then we went out for a totally fantastic dinner at Stripsteak (a Michael Mina restaurant in Waikiki) - it was over the top good and I feel a little ill from how good / rich / intense it was, but we were both delighted with the experience.

And now, I really need to sleep - it's only 9:22pm, which isn't going to help with my jetlag, but sleep is more important than pride at this point. Goodnight!

wave after wave, wave after wave

I had a great first full day in Hawaii - I mostly spent it getting settled, which felt delightful. I got up stupidly early due to the time shift, so I showered, ate breakfast, and then wrote for a bit. I also did laundry - while I packed pretty well for this trip, it was cold in Seattle and I didn't stick completely to my wardrobe plans there, so I needed to freshen a couple things up.

Then I went out exploring, bought some sunscreen and snacks at a pharmacy instead of the overpriced, and ate a delicious poke bowl - I'm a little worried that the poke bowls here will ruin me for my favorite poke bowl delivery in Denver, but that's a problem for Future Sara (and there will be several weeks of poke bowl drought when I'm in Iowa after this). I also got a manicure at a strange little hole in the wall place where they asked me after if I wanted to meet their cat, which made me glad I wore a mask the whole time since it probably saved me from some allergies. And I spent the afternoon napping / relaxing / brainstorming this book / brainstorming a Christmas shopping list, so that felt great.

I did end up leaving the hotel again - Alyssa, whom I've mentioned here regularly for the past ten+ years, lives in Hawaii now (I met her in the bay area, but she grew up here). So she picked me up around five, and we had a delightfully long dinner at a restaurant down the road. We focused our attention on fish, and it was great - we shared some excellent scallops and a really nice steamed fish with some ginger and scallion congee. I also had a mai tai in a v. cute pineapple-shaped glass, and I can say with certainty that that mai tai was better than the one I had here last night.

Alyssa was in great form and we had a lot to catch up on, so we chatted for a few hours, and I felt v. lucky to get to see her in person. And now, I really need to sleep - my friend Heather (aka dear respected madam) arrives tomorrow, and we have many plans after that, so I need to get some rest. Goodnight!

she's the last true mouthpiece

I'm completely exhausted since my body still hasn't adjusted away from Central timezone and I just threw it two hours even further away, but I had a v. nice day (all things considered) and am now in Hawaii (Oahu to be exact). I woke up in the middle of the night at Ritu's and got an email that my flight was delayed three hours - this was due to the crazy storm they had here over the weekend, which knocked out power to the Maui airport and affected my inbound plane. But by the time I got to Hawaii tonight (three hours later than planned), the rain was gone, so that's lucky.

Since my flight was delayed, this morning was a little more relaxing than I intended for it to be. Bill dropped me off at the airport around ten, and I checked in and spent some time in the AmEx lounge, which was nice. It would have been nicer if I were still hanging out with Ritu (preferably there, on our way to somewhere fancy), but at least I got some quality time with her the last couple of days.

After I boarded, it was all smooth sailing. I read all of THE LAST GRADUATE, by Naomi Novik - I had been saving it, and I knew I would be annoyed at the end because of the requisite cliffhanger at the end of the second book in a trilogy, but it was excellent.

I also, serendipitiously, saw a parade of Pearl Harbor and other WWII vets - my Uber driver couldn't get me all the way to my hotel due to closed streets, so I walked the last five minutes dragging my bag. I paused to see quite a few of the vets, though - with the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, there aren't a lot of survivors left, so it was nice to see the parade.

Then I settled in, grabbed dinner at the restaurant downstairs, and settled in some more. And now I really need to sleep - it's only 9:32pm here, but I could use ten hours of sleep while still getting up early enough to do some fun things. Goodnight!

this is hungry work

No blog tonight - I'm falling asleep, which always leads to weird typos like last night. But I had an excellent day - Ritu and I snuck off to downtown Seattle, where we saw the Chihuly glass museum and had a decadent lunch. She also took me to the first Starbucks location, where I got a mug you can only get there, so that was exciting.

But I deeply need to sleep before my flight tomorrow, so it's time for bed - goodnight!

but when you close your eyes

I had a fantastic day in Seattle - Ritu is wonderful and the Cascadia fault didn't kill us, so I'm taking it as a win. I didn't get nearly enough sleep to start things out, but that's CCTV CCTV par for the course when seeing Ritu and trying to cram two years of friendship into two days.

We hung out around the house in a very desultory fashion thinnest I'm mñ333 morning, and Bill made an excellent shakahuaka for breakfast. Then we showered and rallied and went to a zipline park to entertain the kids - Ritu and Bill live on Mercer Island, which feels almost rural / almost like Tahoe despite being in the middle of Seattle. We also grabbed some hot beverages and went downtown to see the Christmas lights, which was fun.

Then we rallied even harder and went to Eden Hill, which had outdoor seating [try again another day, covid]... although it was cold enough before they brought a second heater that maybe I would succumb to hypothermia instead. The food was excellent! And the wine pairings were delicious. And I would tell to more, but I'm already more asleep than awake. Goodnight!

said let it rock and let it roll

Quick, late blog tonight - I spent the morning setting up my new tv with [censored] and settling last things at my house and packing for an excursion. Yes, I'm taking an excursion gym my excursion - but since I've spent more time in Iowa the past few months than I've spent in Denver, it seemed like a good idea.

So this afternoon I drove to Des Moines, parked at the airport, grabbed a salad and a can of wine, and flew to Seattle. This involved a layover in Denver, but everything was super smooth and on time. And I even wrote twelve pages of my new project on the flight, which felt remarkable.

I'm now safely ensconced in Ritu's house - Bill picked me up at the airport, and then they plied me with cake and cheese and wine until two a.m. This is basically like our old second dinners, but in their house since they can't leave their kids in the middle of the night. I could have kept going, but it's four a.m. in Iowa and I'm feeling sleep forcing itself upon me. So it's time for bed - goodnight!

and the light in your eyes, the waves on the ceiling

I should have gone to bed two hours ago, but that's not unusual. Today was a fast and hard slog to the finish line - after today, I'm out of office for a whole month, which is v. exciting. Of course, I had things I had to get done before leaving, but I miraculously got through just about everything that I needed to do, so that was quite gratifying.

Once I was done for the day, I went to my parents' house, where I hung out with them and ate vegetable beef soup. Then, [censored] showed up for the weekend just in time for us all to get in my car and go into town to see a Christmas light display. A bunch of groups and individuals put up a massive light display (with different themes for each of their displays) at the fairgrounds, so we drove through the displays and admired the creativity. We also went into one of the fair buildings, where people had decorated individual Christmas trees - some were touching (a couple of trees in honor of people who died this year), some were hilarious (I particularly liked someone who put up a tree with two large photos of the queen), and there were some cute mini ones decorated by kids. My old 4-H club had a tree, so that was some nostalgia. And we ran into my third grade teacher and her third grade teacher friend, which brought back memories - she was quite pleasant, which is v. much at odds with the literal horror books she made us all read throughout third grade.

Then we stopped at my parents' house, and then [censored] and I returned to my house, where I painted my toenails and we spent a lot of time discussing not much. And now I really need to sleep - goodnight!

last train to clarksville

I'm sleepy and should have gone to bed an hour ago, but I got my inbox down to only 30 left before vacation. Of course, a million more will come in tomorrow, but this was a valiant push. Today was mostly a slog - it didn't start quite as early as yesterday, so I was able to write before work. Then I worked all day, with a brief break or two to walk around my yard - it was a gorgeous day, so it's too bad I couldn't spend even more time outside than I did. I made up for it by making a v. tasty huevos rancheros, so at least there's that.

I was done with meetings a little after five, so I did a couple of quick mandatory trainings and then drove out to my parents' house. They had several packages for me, of course - and they also had steak and baked potatoes, which was even more exciting. So I spent a couple of hours hanging out with them, and that was all good. Then I came back to my house, unpacked some of my packages, and turned a couple of boxes into a bedside table so that I could put a lamp next to my bed. That suddenly made my bedroom light enough to do things in at night, and my bed frame got fixed yesterday - so instead of sitting on my v. uncomfortable couch, I propped myself up in bed and worked for the last two or three hours.

And now, I should sleep - tomorrow is my last day of work this year, and I would like to finish the tasks on my list so I can fully disconnect. Goodnight!

knocking on heaven's door

Today was about as boring as yesterday, but I had to do more work. My meetings started at 8:30, so I didn't write before working - but the slog wasn't terrible, and I only have two more days to go before I take a bunch of time off, so that's exciting.

After work, I ran out to my parents' house to eat supper (leftover soup) and pick up the packages that came in for me today. Then I came home, did some house stuff, did some work stuff, and did some life stuff. And now, I should sleep - goodnight!