i did a doodle you used to do when we were five

I am suddenly too tired to blog and I should have gone to bed two hours ago, but if I go to bed right now I can salvage the night. I had a pretty good day, all in all - I went to the office, left early to drive back to Denver, worked at a coffee shop (Method) for an hour, and then met Katie for dinner at Bar Dough and a drink at Lady Jane. We had much to discuss and much to plan, so we hung out for quite some time - and now I'm deeply in need of my bed and a solid eight hours of sleep. Goodnight!

my dear we still have everything

I went back to the office for the first time since my leave started today, and my badge didn't work. This was a hilarious way to start the morning, since I wondered if I had been surprise-terminated - but it turned out that there was some bug in the badging system and I happened to be affected. And now my badge works again...but after going to the office for all of one day, I kind of wish it didn't, since I'm definitely a better version of myself when I'm writing and napping and cooking than I am when I'm staring at videoconferences and complaining about the quality of the free snacks.

sssanyway. My day was fine overall, and I had lunch with Andy (who was one of the only other people in the office today). And I skipped out a little before five to meet my friend Sara for dinner at my beloved River and Woods - she had completely forgotten about it in the pandemic, and I haven't been there since I no longer live in Boulder, but it was still a delight. We hung out on the patio for a couple of hours, and I reacquainted myself with their poutine, and we had a great time.

Then I drove home, caught up with Katie for a bit, and generally leaned into some sloth. And now I'm going to try to go to bed early so that I can repeat similar feats tomorrow - goodnight!

so tell me where to put my love

Today was my first day back at work, and I was supremely unenthused. So, I got plenty of sleep, grabbed a cold brew from Starbucks, and eased into the work day. And I ended it by walking down to Blue Pan to have a pizza (the parma italia, which is v. non-midwestern since it has prosciutto and arugula, but I love it) and some pinot gris so that I could unwind from the indignity of having to go back to work.

And really, that's all I have to report - it's probably better for me to go to sleep instead of trying to come up with content for you. Goodnight!

walking through the desert of the indus valley

I am back in Denver after an extremely long day of driving - I meant to leave yesterday, but after taking care of house stuff all morning, I looked at hotels along my route and found they were mostly sold out. So I stayed yesterday (and made supper for the family - a delish shrimp alfredo) and got on the road this morning.

The drive was uneventful, but I lost 30min to construction on I-80. When I got home, I unloaded some tings, ordered sushi, and checked my work email since tomorrow is the end of my leave of absence. And now I need to sleep and hope I remember how to wake up for work - goodnight!

the beaches of cheyenne

I have nothing to report today, other than that I intended to be in bed at least 30min ago. I am, of course, deeply unhappy with today's news and fairly pessimistic about what it means for both my own health choices + choices for other women, as well as the very clear signals sent that there will be similarly terrible decisions for any other rights that rely on a belief that the Constitution guarantees individuals a right to privacy. I wonder how many women will die of ectopic pregnancies or complicated miscarriages because they can't get adequate medical treatment, and what fucking stupid takes I'll see on Facebook justifying those women's deaths to 'save the babies' who were never viable to begin with.

sssanyway.

I was pretty lazy today, although I mostly stayed off social media - instead, I slept until almost ten, foam rolled, journaled, played with my planner, made some eggs, took a nap, ate a salad, etc. I'm always pretty fried after driving across Nebraska, and today was no different. [censored] showed up at some point, so we chatted for a bit, and I also unloaded my car (which was the main reason I came this weekend). And we went to our parents' for supper - we picked up Mexican takeout, and my mom made strawberry shortcake, and all in all it was delightful.

And now, I should sleep so that I can head back to Colorado (and get some house stuff done before I leave) - goodnight!

uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, cinco, seís

I have made it to ye olde Iowa after a v. long day of driving, and I'm not particularly excited about turning around and going back in a couple of days. However, there was some stuff in Colorado that needs to be in Iowa, and I could spare the time to make the trip this weekend, so I did it.

Of course, that meant loading the car this morning, so I didn't get out of Denver until almost 10:45am. But I made it all the way with only a couple of gas/bathroom stops + a longer break to sit down and eat dinner at Runza (an apparently Nebraskan chain I had never heard of until I started driving I-80 regularly). And I had a couple of nice chats to break the monotony of the drive - both Ritu and Terry called me, and it was great to hear their voices.

And now, I'm rather desperate for sleep, but I've been engaging in bedtime procrastination. It's time to rectify that. Goodnight!

and they work my nerves that's why i cannot sleep at night

Today didn't go exactly as planned, mostly because the smoke detector in my bedroom chose 3:30am to give up the ghost and start chirping at me. The chirps in my smoke detectors are more like three insistent beeps every minute, so there's no sleeping through it - so I had to go to the basement, find my batteries, come back upstairs, get a ladder, and change the battery while still half asleep. I don't know why I wrote this out, since (almost all of) you know how to change smoke detector batteries, but still. Ugh.

So, I was pretty lethargic this morning from too little sleep. But I did a million things around the house this afternoon, which felt good. I had a v. tasty cobb salad for lunch and a poke bowl from a new-to-me place for dinner, and it was a delight. And I spent some time on my newly-cleaned patio and wrote for a bit as the sun went down, which was good for me and also good for any mosquitos who feasted on me (but bad for the ones I killed).

And now, I should really sleep - goodnight!

won't wash my hair, then make 'em bounce like a basketball

I'm v. tired - for my last week of leave, I am embarking on way more manual labor than I usually prefer to embark upon. Today was good, though, even if I'm tired - I took care of a lot of tings around the house, made myself some tasty eggs for breakfast and a v. tasty cobb salad for lunch, and ran an errand to Lowes. I also got my carpets cleaned, which was way overdue - I was incredibly impressed with how well the guy did, since there was a stain on my basement stairs that the previous owner hadn't been able to get out, and this treatment lifted it completely.

While the carpet cleaning was happening, I stayed outside and took the opportunity to do a bunch of yardwork. It wasn't cool today, but it wasn't as miserably hot as it has been, so I trimmed some branches and did a lot of leaf blowing to get the dirt and debris off my patio. I really haven't spent any time out there this spring / summer (mostly because I haven't really been here), but cleaning it off makes it a much more appealing place to hang out.

Eventually, the carpet cleaning was over, so I came back inside, ordered a pizza, and then tried to restore everything that I had picked up off the floors. And now I really need to sleep so that I can do more house stuff tomorrow - goodnight!

i am feathered by the moonlight falling down on me

Today was more hectic than I wanted it to be - I'm t-minus-one week from returning to work, and I'm trying to cram in a bunch of tings before that happens. This morning was a routine blood draw for a checkup I have next week, and it took awhile because their computer systems were down. Then I grabbed some cold brew to make up for my lack of caffeine, came home, and took a covid test because my phone had auto-notified me of an exposure.

My test was negative, so I set out for my social activity of the day - I had plans to meet Caroline for brunch at a French place near her (which I trusted would be good, since she is French). We sat outside and enjoyed quiche (I should not have eaten the crust, but it was #worthit), and generally had a lovely time catching up. It made me think about work a little more than I wanted to, since Caroline has escaped my org but is still in touch with some people - but that's a problem for another day.

After brunch, I picked up an order at Container Store, dropped a bunch of stuff at Goodwill, and came home to attempt further purging. That mostly resulted in a nap. But I rallied this evening, especially after eating some sushi - I got a decent amount done, including some v. important sorting in my office, which is where all papers go to die.

But now, I really need to sleep - goodnight!

me to make you my art and make you a star and get you connected

Happy father's day to all who celebrate - and especially to my father, who had to make do with a card because I wasn't there to celebrate in person :)

I was not feeling entirely in it to win it today, mostly because I was tired (I weirdly woke up at 5:30 and almost got out of bed before finally falling back to sleep) and feeling lethargic. But I managed to cross some stuff off my to-do list - I'm taking a Marie Kondo(ish) approach to my closet and attempting to purge as much as I can. I filled three garbage bags (plus another bag with some shoes) for donations, and another garbage bag of stuff that is rags, so I feel pretty good about that. I also did some organizing in my garage, and some laundry, and I made some v. delicious eggs (and baked extra bacon for salads this week).

Of course, there were intermittent periods of laziness during that productivity (including a nap, which was v. necessary). And, I also talked to my parents and to [censored], all of whom were in fine form. And now, I think I should go to bed so that I can hopefully be better rested tomorrow - goodnight!

when you're not looking, she's stealing your basquiat

Today was infinitely more productive than yesterday, which is probably because yesterday I didn't have any tequila. I got sufficient sleep, ran to Starbucks, and spent the morning cleaning in my basement. I'm winnowing my hoard of foodstuffs that I acquired during the pandemic, which is particularly unfortunate because I was barely here to cook last year - I remember cleaning my basement on Labor Day weekend and making a list of things I should cook before they expired, and then my dad went into the hospital that weekend and I've barely been here since then. So, I made some piles of tings that are still good, tings that need to be thrown away, and tings that will expire in the next few months that should perhaps be donated to a food pantry in case I don't get around to using them. I still have a lot to organize down there, but it was a good start.

At some point, I took a break to talk to Veronica - we hadn't caught up since Kristen's wedding in April (which seems absurdly long ago, now that I think about it), so we were v. overdue. I also ate lunch, dumped many many cans of expired/flat sodas that had been sitting in my hall closet, took a nap, went grocery shopping, and generally took care of business.

Eventually, I went to Katie's house - I hadn't seen James and the girls in awhile, so it was nice to hang out. We had takeout Indian food, and I showed up with my mobile bar (in this case, the makings for aperol spritzes), and it was a much tamer and lower key night than when we had margaritas this week. It was a delight, as usual, and I didn't want to leave - but we were all flagging (the girls actually asked to be put to bed), so I came home around ten. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

when enemies are at the door I’ll carry you away from war

 I was not particularly productive today - I entirely blame the fact that bartaco makes very strong margaritas and very small tacos, which is a very dangerous combination.

However, it was still a good day overall- I went to Starbucks, did some house stuff, recovered by eating a sandwich and taking a nap, and took care of some paperwork. I also logged into my work laptop for the first time in almost a month to make sure I hadn't gotten locked out for inactivity - I was cutting it close, but a cursory glance at my email revealed that I hadn't missed much. And I had Thai for dinner, which is not helping me to meet my goal of cooking more, but is helping me to eat things I can't get in Iowa.

And now, it’s time for bed - goodnight!

I don't know what I don't know

No blog tonight - I had a v nice day and an excellent happy hour / dinner (mostly margaritas, some tacos) with Katie, and that was a delight. But then I came home and picked up a book and somehow read until one a.m., which was not the plan. So now I need to sleep and recover from my book hangover (which feels worse than a margarita hangover) - goodnight!

some things lookin' better, baby, just passin' through

I'm in the midst of a purge of all the tings that I have let pile up in my house, including many tings that I haven't used since before the pandemic (or perhaps even before that). I spent several hours today cleaning out my bathroom - that amount of time shouldn't be necessary for a bathroom, but I tend to hoard cosmetics, and I also tend to get a lot of free samples, and all in all things were out of control.

It was a little sad to toss lipsticks that I didn't wear the last two years, or eye shadows that went bad because I wasn't going to parties. I have clearly lost my appetite for trying new skincare regimens, and instead just stick with the stuff that works for sitting in my house on video calls. But while the purge was painful, I 1) don't want to continue looking at things that I no longer use, and 2) don't want to risk giving myself an eye infection by using makeup that I've had for half a decade. And now my bathroom drawers are much cleaner and better organized, which is a delight.

I did the same purge to my laundry room, which is a catch-all for junk, and I also took care of a bunch of trash in my basement. The incentive for so much trash removal was because tomorrow is an extra trash pickup day - but even with everything I tossed, I recycled what I could recycle and composted what I could compost, so I didn't fill my normal trash bin. I still have a lot to purge (especially clothing, which has truly spiraled out of control as my wardrobe has 90% shifted from work/going-out clothes to yoga tights and strange jumpsuits), but I felt good about today's dent.

I also got sufficient sleep, took a nap, and ate a poke bowl to make up for not enjoying the poke bowl I ordered on Monday (my fault for trying fried garlic on it, which was overpowering). And, more exciting, I caught up with Jess for awhile - we hadn't talked since I was in SF in March, so it was nice to hear how she's doing with her new coaching business (which sounds great!).

And now, I'm going to wrap this up and wind down before bed - goodnight!

my heart's crippled by the vein that i keep on closing

Today was mildly more productive than yesterday - I got some solid stuff done this morning, which felt great (especially after eight hours of sleep). I then drove to Boulder to see my eye doctor - my checkup was fine, although my left eye insisted on getting slightly worse.

Then I came back to Denver, and I had a long (and overdue) catch-up with Heather (aka dear respected madam). We talked about work and life and kitchen remodels, all of which I enjoy discussing. Then I should have used my kitchen to cook, but instead I went to El Camino and brainstormed/journaled for a bit. But I capped myself at one margarita, came home, and read a book, which felt great.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

like there's a change in the weather

I had a relatively productive day for my first day back after an all-day drive across Nebraska. I slept until nine, but then I made it to a coffee shop by 10:30, where I worked/planned my week. Then I had a poke bowl for lunch (something I cannot get in Iowa) and spent the afternoon taking care of tasks / napping a bit. I also talked to Alyssa, ordered takeout from Postino (but made a meal plan so I can grocery shop tomorrow), procrastinated, and did a few more tings.

So, it wasn't the most exciting day, but I'll take it. And now I need to get ready for bed - goodnight!

you get another hand soon after you fold

I have no energy to blog tonight - but I have successfully returned to Colorado after a v. long, v. boring drive across Nebraska. The only highlight was discovering a newish Starbucks in Kearney (in a new hotel across from where I usually stay when I stay in Kearney), which was v. nice and allowed mobile ordering. The biggest lowlights were a severe thunderstorm warning (but I skirted the edge of the storm and saw some rainbows) and having to detour around what looked like a v. bad semi accident where the truck had completely burned.

The other lowlight, of course, was having to spend 10+ hours driving. But I made it in one piece and am ready to seize the last two weeks of my leave of absence. I should have come back yesterday, but I spent too long packing + chatting with [censored], and when I thought about leaving to come partway, I discovered that hotels along the route were 2x what they normally are. So I spent yesterday doing other house stuff + going to buy steak with my dad, and I enjoyed brats and baked beans with the family last night instead of subsisting on road food like I did today.

But now, I should really sleep so that I can enjoy my day tomorrow - goodnight!

with your hair falling into place like dominoes

I had quite a lovely day, but I've officially stayed up too late again, which may hamper my plans tomorrow. I spent most of the day with my mom - we had to get her a new phone because she is still using a flip phone from literally 2007, and it's about to die due to the end of the 3G networks. Needless to say, there aren't any flip phones now that will last for fifteen years, and smartphones definitely won't. But we went over to the next town to get a new phone, with a stop at a cemetery (that was not at all along the way) to pick up flowers from some ancestors' graves.

The phone errand was a success, although it won't make up for the fact that the switch had to happen. Then we went down the street so that I could tell my appliance store guy that they delivered the wrong washer - he was so visibly upset that he's back in my good graces. And he wrote me a check for the difference, so all's well that ends well.

Then we had lunch at the hotel (delicious cobb salads and even more delicious homemade potato chips), and also bought groceries. We stopped at another couple of cemeteries on the way back, and of course the only time it rained all day was when we were outside picking up flower arrangements. But we made it back without getting too wet, and it was great that we had a nice afternoon together.

After I dropped Mom and her groceries off at her house, I came to my place and took care of some tings. I eventually went back out to their house for dinner - I continued setting up the new phone, and then partook of steaks and potatoes like a good midwesterner. At some point, [censored] showed up, which is why I stayed up way later than planned (and also haven't packed).

So, now I should really sleep - I want to get back to Colorado tomorrow, but I'm not sure it will happen. We shall see, we shall see. Goodnight!

forces of evil in a bozo nightmare

I was quite productive today, all in all. My new washer showed up, and it is lovely but also wrong - for some reason they brought a very slightly different model that is likely $100 cheaper than what I paid for. However, I didn't really want the other model and had only ordered it because it was in stock. This is something I will deal with tomorrow. But in the meantime, I did several loads of laundry today, which was great.

I also did a lot of other cleaning throughout the day - my bathroom (including the shower, even though I hate cleaning showers), part of the downstairs bathroom (not including the shower, because I'm not a saint), mopping half the basement, etc. And I put out new solar lights, which is exciting. Some of my neighbors might have preferred that I spent that time weeding instead of putting out lights, but I love lights and hate weeding, so whatever.

Eventually, I went to my parents' house and had dinner - my mom made me my favorite cheeseburgers and fried potatoes, and it was a delight. I also showed her some photos from Italy, which brought back good memories. And I sadly didn't get to see any new kittens, although they are getting old enough to emerge soon - but it may not happen until I get back to Colorado.

After dinner, I came home and watched the first January 6 committee hearing. I watched the live Jan 6 coverage all afternoon/evening when the riot first happened, and it was clear at the time how violent it was and how close it came to disrupting the quintessential American value of a peaceful transition of power. The committee did an excellent job of pulling together a lot of information, including:

• video compiling the timeline, which was really sad to watch - it's just shocking to see people beating cops and searching for politicians to kill
• the testimony from an officer who was injured to the point of blacking out before she got back up and continued to fight for several more hours
• video testimony from Trump officials (including Barr and Ivanka) about how they'd repeatedly told Trump that evidence of election 'fraud' simply didn't exist (and, as Barr said in his testimony, after eighteen months he's never seen any compelling evidence of anything that would have changed the outcome) 

They're laying out a clear case for how Trump and his circle used the false concept of a stolen election to incite their followers to violence, and that the Proud Boys / Oathkeepers were engaged in a seditious conspiracy to shut down the vote count and ensure that Trump illegally stayed in power. And the hearing didn't have any of the grandstanding I've come to expect from congressional hearings - they treated it like a prosecution's opening statement, not an opportunity for personal soundbites.

Beyond that, I'm just sad. It continues to shock me that principled, staunch conservatives like Liz Cheney (voted with Trump 97% of the time until Jan 6), Bill Barr (a devout Catholic who supported Trump at every turn until deciding he couldn't support efforts to overturn a valid election), Mike Pence (another devout Christian who was completely loyal to Trump but felt he had to uphold his Constitutional duty; Trump later told his staff on Jan 6 that the insurrections had the right idea by chanting that they were going to hang the VP), and others are promptly and completely excommunicated by the GOP for voicing any criticism of Trump. The party has completely lost its moral and ethical center, and engages in obfuscation and whataboutism to avoid any responsibility for how close Trump came to a coup and how dangerous the moment continues to be.

But even though they're trying to act like this is solely a political witchhunt...there is tape of many of them (both politicians and Fox News pundits) begging Trump to stop the riot, and evidence of others, after January 6, trying to get presidential pardons for what they did. As Cheney said in the hearing - 'there will come a day when Trump is gone, but [the GOP's] dishonor will remain.' I just hope there's some accountability for all of this, because otherwise, we're headed down the same road as Germany in the 1930s. Hitler's first coup failed, but too many people were too complacent (or too supportive of his fascist ambitions) to stop the next one.

And now, it's time for bed - goodnight!

looks like there's rain up ahead like there's a crack in the heavens

I've been having a v. quiet, v. lazy week in ye olde Iowa. After getting back from Texas on Monday, I've been feeling the need to sit around and do nothing. This was compounded today because I was sitting around waiting for a washing machine to get delivered - and when I finally called them after lunch, I discovered that they had forgotten to schedule delivery. Lol. So, they're coming tomorrow, which is totally fine, but it's unfortunate that my brain can't function when it's waiting for something to show up, since I got nothing done this morning.

That's not entirely true - I did some writing brainstorming, which was good. And I worked on a project to improve my office closet - I decided that it didn't necessarily need painting (or maybe I'm just lazy), but that covering the shelves in contact paper would help to make them less drab. I think this was the right call since the shelves are boards similar to what's in my pantry, and while the paint looks nice in the pantry, the boards themselves aren't necessarily able to be made pretty. So, I covered half the shelves, and so far so good.

Eventually, I went to my parents' house and fed them - I still had bolognese sauce in the freezer, which has paid dividends since my parents like it (or at least my dad does; my mom doesn't like anything that isn't a potato), so I made spaghetti bolognese and garlic bread for them. Then, my mom and I went to a meeting of our secret society, which has lost some organizational discipline during covid, but I had a good time and enjoyed seeing the other ladies in the group. Then I dropped her off at home (with some time to chat with her and my dad), and then I came back to my place and indulged in some bedtime procrastination.

And now I need to sleep so that I can wait for my washer again tomorrow - goodnight!

every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

I have nothing to report today - after getting back from Texas last night, I slept until ten a.m. and was still too wiped out to do much the rest of the day. So I spent the whole day doing pretty much nothing. I will be back in it to win it tomorrow, but for now it's time for bed - goodnight!

she totally confused all the passing piranhas

No blog tonight - my convoy is safely back in Iowa after fifteen hours of driving today, and I'm exhausted and ready for a million hours of sleep. Goodnight!

i'm on a hovercraft to paris with my former best friend

The family reunion is over, and if I ignore the fact that we now have to spend two days driving back to Iowa, it was all pretty great. We started this morning off v. similarly to yesterday morning - I got ready and had breakfast in the hotel restaurant, which was totally adequate for a free hotel breakfast. Then, [censored] and Drewbaby and I drove out to the ranch together, with a v. necessary stop at Starbucks to fortify ourselves for the long drive through miles of scrub and rocks.

When we got out to the ranch, we were there fairly early, so I snuck away to a lounger by a small pool and hid from everyone so I could write for a little bit. My mom joined me there, so we had a nice catch-up before the sun got too hot. Then, everyone had lunch, followed by an afternoon of lazing about, playing more dominoes (I won this time, after spending more time strategizing and less time drinking than I did yesterday), etc. We took a break to go tour David and Melissa's house, which used to be Wendell's house - it's 'near' the reunion site, but back along the crazy long ranch road, so getting there took a bit of time. But it was nice to see how they've updated it - they have an amazing infinity pool and outdoor kitchen overlooking the ranch, and it was almost enough to convince me that I should make a lot of money and move to Texas (but that is almost certainly not the plan).

Dinner was excellent - my dad and Aunt B catered it from a barbecue place in town, and it was one of the best barbecues I've had. The brisket was great, although I was almost more into the sausage (that's what she said), and the potato salad and cole slaw were surprisingly excellent. And then we made our long, slow round of goodbyes, which also included hellos to people I didn't get a chance to talk to, as well as a rather entertaining intro to David's neighbor, who was v. excited about me and where I work even though I am not a celebrity for that (or, arguably, if I am a celebrity, it's for my writing career and not my tech career, but this guy is more into SEO than sexytimes, so I guess to each his own).

sssanyway, eventually we'd said all our hellos/goodbyes, and [censored]/Drewbaby/I drove back to town. This time others had cleared the path for us, so we only saw a few javelinas and a ton of deer. I left the reunion feeling like I would want to come again (since I always love it), although I probably would rather fly and not drive all the way to/from Iowa ever again. Hopefully, Future Sara remembers this and plans accordingly. And now, I should sleep so that we can begin our epic drive north tomorrow - goodnight!

and the thunder rolled

Day one of the reunion was a smashing success - although any reunion day in which we find the ranch on the first try without taking any wrong turns or hitting any animals is a good day. [Censored], Drewbaby, and I had breakfast at the hotel (and my parents joined us as soon as they were ready), and then we hit up a liquor store and a Starbucks before going out to the ranch. The ranch continued to be a trek to get to, since the 'driveway' is several miles long through a lot of hills and scrub and aforementioned animals.

However, we got out there with no issue, and spent the day hanging out. We've sadly lost a lot of people in the past few years since I was last at the reunion, but it's good that the people who came are still gathering. We had lunch, and hung out, and I introduced some people to aperol spritzes. Drewbaby and I also played an hours-long dominoes game with Julia (one of the last two remaining in my grandfather's generation), her son/daughter-in-law, and Lois (a cousin younger than me, despite the name). It's a little unclear who won due to some scoring irregularities, but it was a fun way to spend the afternoon.

There's really nothing else to report - I continued hanging out and chatting with various relatives, and then David made dinner (pork loin, salad, watermelon, baked beans, green beans, etc). And then [censored] did a masterful job of getting us out of the ranch in the dark without hitting any of the animals in our path - we saw a porcupine, multiple small and large javelinas, more deer than I can remember (including one with a very nice rack), a jackrabbit, a raccoon, a bighorn sheep, and possibly some other things that were missed in the dark.

And now, I need to sleep so we can repeat the fun tomorrow - goodnight!

the rock that says my name

Hello from Kerrville, where we have returned to our usual hotel for our usual pre-reunion night of settling in. Today was unexciting - we got ready in a somewhat leisurely manner, and eventually left Chickasha to continue our southward migration. We are not nearly as majestic as monarch butterflies (or possibly even buzzards), but our migration does involve two large trucks, do at least we're going on style.

[Censored] and I were about five minutes behind our parents for most of the drive, so we all stopped for Dairy Queen in Brady, where I had a Frito pie (Fritos covered in chili and cheese) since it was one of the least gluteny things on the menu. We rolled into Kerrville around five, and I unpacked and messed around until Drewbaby showed up. He wisely chose flying over driving, but he still had a long day.

So, once he was here, we all went to Billy Gene's for dinner. This is our usual place overlooking the river, and it was as tasty as usual (even if the combo of the Frito pie and the cheese smothering my chicken is probably my cheese quota for the week). After, we parted ways with my parents, and had a cousins trip to Walmart, followed by a failed attempt at a liquor store that had closed early. And then we chatted until [censored] lost interest in us, and now it's time for bed - goodnight!

it's getting repetitive, swallow a sedative

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Chickasha, OK, which you probably cannot guess how to pronounce (hint - the Y is invisible). Typically, I would fly to the family reunion as it's impossibly far from everywhere, but my family is caravaning for multiple reasons (health, difference in needs for rooms, 3/4 of us get carsick and therefore can't ride in backseats), and having me as a passenger who could be a driver is a helpful thing.

So, I spent the morning getting ready, packing, foam rolling in anticipation for the drive, etc. [Censored] and I left my house around 11:30, which was later than we had planned - but [censored] is an excellent driver with a need for speed, so we made good time. [Censored] also definitely enjoyed my color commentary about all the tings we passed (mostly dead trees, with some occasional interesting billboards and a lot of cows). We pulled into Chickasha around 7:45 or so, where my parents were already checked into their hotel - and the four of us went to Braum's, which is a Kansas/Oklahoma fast food chain with a dairy/ice cream component. My shake was pretty tasty, so Braum's lives up to its reputation.

Then [censored] and I checked into our hotel, and I did a bit of stuff and am now getting ready for bed. Texas awaits tomorrow - goodnight!