it was rare, i was there, i remember it all too well

Happy new year from ye olde Iowa! Today was mostly spent preparing for the winter storm that is rolling in to start the new year - we're supposed to get 9" of snow tomorrow, with wind chills below zero, and I believe it because the wind is already turning brutal outside. So, I tried my best to accomplish things today - I did a bunch of stuff around the house, did a couple of loads of laundry, and made delectable scrambled eggs. I'm v. happy to report that my living room looks awesome - the paint color is perfect, and the finish looks really great. However, my wrists are on strike and do not want to paint anymore, so [censored] and I abandoned the thought of painting [censored]'s bedroom this weekend, which is a good thing.

I also went to the grocery store, donated a ton of soda cans (you can get redemption money for them in Iowa, but I didn't want to go to the redemption center), hauled a bunch of trash to my dad's dumpster, and wandered around my yard pulling flags from where my dad had called in locates for my utilities in November. Now we know where the utility lines are buried, which is helpful - and pertinently, they are not buried in the path that would be required to run power out to my gazebo, so that may be a project for this spring.

However, by the time I did that, it was really starting to cool down, which made it an unpleasant task. I also went to the lumber yard to pick up a paint sample to test on my office, and while I was waiting, someone (locals would know him for his auction action) came in wearing a mask (unusually; I've never seen anyone wear a mask in the lumber yard) and then casually drop that he has covid after we'd been talking for five minutes. So I guess 2022 is going to continue along the lines of 2021 for the near future.

sssanyway, after I was done with all my tasks, I went out to my parents' house and made dinner - a v. tasty chicken mushroom parmesan with mashed potatoes. [censored] and I are holing up at my house for the snowstorm tomorrow so that we can work on tings and be closer to various equipment and services if needed, but we had a v. nice dinner before the storm arrives. Then we came back to my place and watched some TV to ring in the new year - Michael Che's comedy special, followed by a random mockumentary called "Death to 2021" that was a recap of everything that happened this year, which was pretty hilarious.

And now I need to sleep so that I can get things off on the right foot for 2022 - goodnight!