a new foundation

I'm in the death march phase of the move - so nothing exciting happened today and yet I still got 13,000 steps on my Fitbit without leaving my house. However, the basement (where everything went to die during the pandemic) is almost entirely done, and I've made a dent in the kitchen. [Censored] was a trooper and packed a bunch of stuff too, and I'm definitely grateful that he came out and dealt with other tings while leaving me to my expertise (dishes and books).

I ended the night by logging into my work laptop to sign my exit letter and figure out the logistics of returning stuff, which was all bittersweet but ultimately exciting. And now I need to sleep so I can dig through the last of my stuff tomorrow before the movers come Tuesday - goodnight!

just a quiet prayer for congo square

Another day of packing in the books. This morning was all about the garage, which is almost entirely packed up - and just in the nick of time, since it's going to be a million degrees in there the rest of the weekend. After we packed the garage, I ran a couple of errands and picked up sandwiches at Snarfs, and then [censored] and I took care of some tings in the dining room. And then, in an effort to conserve energy + sanity, I took a brief nap.

At some point, someone showed up to take a dining table and chairs, and then we spent some time packing tings in the basement. Eventually, we broke for Chinese takeout (delish) and then watched some comedy stuff while I took care of various online activities related to moving.

And now, after this v. boring post, it's time for bed - goodnight!

my rhymes and records, they don't get played

I had a v. lovely if occasionally stressful day of moving and hanging out. [censored] and I got up in time to prep for an electronics pickup - thanks to Denver extorting Google and Apple into paying for free electronics recycling, I was able to get rid of a couple of monitors, several other electronics, and the crazy microwave that was in my Iowa house when I bought it and that I lugged here to dispose of. I also had an electrician show up to fix something that the inspection turned up, and discovered how much of a racket electrician charges are here. Luckily I'm moving someplace where no one adheres to code or gets anything inspected, but I'm glad I got done what I got done today.

sssanyway, because of the aforementioned racket, [censored] kindly installed some new smoke detectors so that I didn't have to pay the electrician mafia. Then we had lunch at El Camino - I adore their nachos, and it was lovely to eat them while sitting in one of the coveted window seats. This went a long way toward making up for last night's dinner abomination. After El Camino, I didn't get as much packing done as intended, but I did sell some bookshelves and a desk chair, and dealt with some other house activities.

At some point, Aunt Becky and Uncle Brian came over, bearing tings that they brought out to Colorado when they moved here and that I will now be returning to ancestral soil (i.e. if you come for tea, I now have silver for it). We went to Blue Pan and chatted outside while waiting for a table, and then got a nice window spot. It was a perfect night for hanging out - not a million degrees and also not monsoon-y. I introduced them to the delights of Detroit-style pizza, and it was nice to hang out for a few hours.

Then we came back to my place, Aunt B/Uncle B went home, and [censored] and I did laptop-type work - for me, mostly change of address stuff and other things that have to get done before I move. And now I think I should sleep - goodnight!

i'm daydreaming in black and white

Packing continues apace... I'm almost done upstairs, with the exception of some clothes, so I'm feeling good about progress. Progress stopped for a bit this morning bc I picked up [censored] from the airport - [censored] v graciously volunteered to come out and help with tings I couldn't do by myself. Many other people offered various amounts of time, but [censored] has a unique blend of being v handy and also recognizing when I'm annoyed/about to get scary, which is a key set of skills for dealing with me when I'm stressed.

So, we rendezvoused at the airport, came to my house, and then had brunch at Bacon Social House. It was quite tasty, and it also made up both sleepy. But when I recovered, I packed the remaining stuff in the guest room, as well as most of the stuff in my room. And I sold my couch, which was a dream come true.

Then, [censored] and I had a surprisingly terrible dinner at an Italian place that I'd ordered takeout from during the pandemic and enjoyed. This might be the worst meal I've had in Denver, which was in unfortunate. So, [censored] and I drowned our sorrows in blizzards from Dairy Queen.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

all my friends are heathens take it slow

I had a v busy day of packing - my office is all done, which is probably one of the harder rooms for me given that I hoard paper. It only took 26 boxes, so I guess that's good, right?

But I'm glad I'm done with that room; ice been doing some purging in other areas the last few weeks, so hopefully I don't have much to throw out or decide about. I also took a break to get a haircut - in a continuation of my midlife crisis, I cut at least six inches off, which was overdue. It's still below my shoulders, but it doesn't feel as heavy and seems to move better, so I'll take it.

And now I need to sleep so I can keep crankig tomorrow - goodnight!

i hear a thousand songs but you're the only melody

Okay, so I have a second major life update (separate from quitting my job): I'm also selling my house in Denver. This has, of course, also been in the works for a few weeks - I decided to list it around the same time that I ended my leave of absence, and it has been a whirlwind since then. Of course, the market decided to soften approximately when I decided to list, which was unfortunate timing. However, my house is in a pretty perfect location and very little comes up for sale right here, so, luckily someone decided to buy it.

That means the last few weeks have been a bit of chaos - the house had to be staged, and shown, and then inspected and appraised, all of which caused intermittent interruptions in my usual life. But we're through all of the main steps and everything is looking good, so fingers crossed the deal closes as expected.

This has, of course, been a rather tumultuous decision (and it feels appropriate that I'm writing this in a sudden, dramatic thunderstorm. Or, perhaps the better word to use is bittersweet. I've realized over the course of the past few months that my house no longer brings me joy - I spent so much time isolated in my house over the past couple of years that I don't really want to be here, even if it is functionally just right for my needs. And, unfortunately, I didn't really build a community in Denver, beyond Katie and several (lovely) coworkers. So it's bittersweet in the sense that I'm ready for a change, but I will never know what could have been if I'd moved here and then been able to settle without a pandemic throwing everything into disarray.

But these are feelings to process another time. Right now I'm consumed with moving - I wasn't able to do much packing while it was staged + while I was wrapping up at work, but now I have a week (well, six days) to pack before my movers show up. I'm taking everything to Iowa, which will be an adventure in an entirely different vein. I'm trying my best to purge stuff here before I move, but I don't purge well...so we'll see.

Today, though, was pretty good - the appraisal was this morning, so I took advantage of the fact that I had to vacate anyway to get a mani/pedi. Then I came home and alternated between procrastinating and packing - I did pack 12 boxes of books + several other boxes in my office, so I think I can wrap up office packing in the morning. I also sold my living room rug to someone who came to pick it up, and I think I'm selling my couch to a girl I know who works with me and also lives a few blocks away (she came to inspect it, but since she'd been in my house before she knew she could trust buying a used couch from me). Selling stuff to (former) coworkers is ideal because I can pretty much trust that they'll pay and also not murder me, and I think I've lined up people for just about everything I listed.

And now, I should sleep - my blog is going to be real boring with packing the next few days, but I'm excited to get it done. Goodnight!

i know this for sure, i'm walking out that door

I'm too tired to blog, but I've made it back to Denver. My trip to Iowa was v. quick, but not as quick as I had planned - I was 2.5hrs delayed tonight, which was not what I wanted, but it was what I deserved for booking the last flight of the day.

But I spent the morning finalizing some cabinet choices for my Iowa remodel, and I took care of some other house stuff before heading to the airport. My parents were kind enough to take me, and I got there in time to kill a bunch of time while eating a burger and having a glass of wine and writing and also talking to the guy next to me, who lives in a nearby small town in Missouri but does oil/gas stuff in Israel. Of course, once my flight got delayed further, I had a second glass of wine, and then I succumbed to the allure of fried cheese curds, which did both everything and nothing for my stomach.

And now, I need to sleep - I have a million things to do this week, so I need to get cracking. Goodnight!

and sometimes you close your eyes and see the place where you used to live

I'm fairly content with what I got done today, although it didn't really feel productive - I mostly spent it moving cabinet swatches around my kitchen and looking at them every hour or so as the light changed. But otherwise, my day was good - I also covered some old closet shelves in contact paper to make them more usable, took care of some various paperwork, talked to [censored] a lot about travel plans (which was hilarious, as we discussed basically every permutation and then settled on keeping tings exactly as currently planned), and did some cleanup in the garage. So, I'm leaving things here in better order than they were when I got here, which is all you can really ask for.

At some point, [censored] and I went out to the parents' house for supper, where we had v. tasty cheeseburgers and sweet corn. We also got to watch three kittens fight each other for supremacy on the porch, which was highly entertaining. And then I spent the rest of the night contemplating cabinetry and doing laundry, which is a nice end to Sunday.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

this car drives all by itself

I'm in ye olde Iowa, after a fairly uneventful trip. This was the same flight I took here three weeks ago, but I'm only staying until Monday night - I'm here purely to pick out cabinets, which means I'm looking at swatches in various lights today and tomorrow and then meeting up with the kitchen person on Monday to finalize my choices. I kind of regret coming just for the weekend since I have a million things to do in Denver right now - but once I get back there, I can hermit to my heart's content and order takeout / perhaps see some of the people I didn't really get to say goodbye to at work.

sssanyway, I got to the airport early enough to have a proper breakfast, and then I slept most of the way to Des Moines. [censored] picked me up and we made a stop at a home improvement store to get some stuff for my house; I am capable of paying for things but not capable of lifting things over pickup tailgates, so I was perhaps only marginally useful for this errand. But we got what we needed, and [censored] only [censored] a little bit, and then we drove to southern Iowa. Along the way, we stopped at Taco John's - the one we went to has the weirdest drive-through I've ever seen (a u-shape that is v. difficult to navigate), but I was v. pleasantly surprised by my Super Potato Olés (basically nachos but with tater tot rounds instead of chips), and also happy that they were gluten free.

It's a million degrees here, so we didn't feel like doing much after getting back to my house. We did run out to the parents' house to say hi, drop off sweet corn, and pick up the cabinet samples that my mom had graciously retrieved for me. Then I made some cold brew coffee, took care of some tings, took a brief nap, took a brief shower, and ran to get a few groceries. Eventually, we had dinner with the parents - my mom made sweet corn (the first I've had this season, and it was great), and my dad grilled brats and hot dogs, and it was all tasty. There was also leftover pineapple upside down cake for dessert, so I'd say I got my carbs in for the day.

I then spent the rest of the evening saying that I needed to do stuff / sleep while instead watching YouTube videos with [censored]. But I came up to my office an hour or so ago and actually did do some tings, so at least I have that feeling of mild accomplishment to lull me to sleep. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

if you're holding your breath it's no wonder it's yet to find you

Today was my de facto last day of work (although I still have corp access for another week). It was a bit of a bizarre way to go out, as so many departures have been during the pandemic - I worked from home rather than driving to Boulder, and it really didn't sink in that today was my last day because I just took care of some standard tasks and had a few meetings and didn't really change up my usual Friday work from home routine.

Of course, it will sink in soon, and it was sinking in during the last meetings with people this week when hanging up the videoconference carried an extra bit of weight. And while today's meetings were mostly bittersweet, and while most people are casually assuming I'll be back at some point, I'm feeling completely delighted by my decision to leave. It's the right time and the right move, at least for now, and I can't wait to get through the rest of my upcoming transitions and get cracking on my book.

But the book is a story (ha) for another time. After I was done with work today, I alternated between taking care of house tings and relaxing - house tings are pressing, but I'm also tired, and I'm sure there are emotions bubbling beneath the surface that are making me want to sit on a couch with a glass of wine rather than doing other, more useful tasks. But I did fix a couple of minor tings around the house, sell a bookshelf to a coworker, mess around with some office organization, etc. And I packed for tomorrow - I'm taking a v. brief trip to Iowa to finalize some cabinets for my remodel there, so while I had v. little to pack, I still needed to get ready so that I can go to the airport earlyish tomorrow.

And now, I should sleep - goodnight!

take back your wonderful life

The goodbyes continue apace; today was a lot, and I'm rapidly nearing the end. I had to be at the office by nine, where my boss's staff said goodbye to me (including an overly long playing of most of 'Paperback Writer' to start). Then I had meetings pretty much straight through until four; some of them were goodbyes, and some of them were work meetings where I pretended to still be deeply involved in whatever outcomes I definitely won't be around for.

I then said a somewhat hilarious goodbye to an admin whom I share a closet full of stuff with (long story), and then I went across the railroad tracks to Sanitas for a going away party. It was a funny choice for a going away party location for me because I don't drink beer, so my only option was a fairly terrible grapefruit-flavored hard seltzer - but the person who organized it (Morganne) knew this and cleared it with me first, and I was fine with it because I didn't want to overindulge. I had one hard selzter, which is a far cry from the million tequila shots at my last going away party in 2015. And I had some delightful conversations [listed for my own memory: Morganne, Alice, Alisha, Caroline, Carol, Sarah-Frances, Aaron, Matt, Vicky, JM, Sara, Melissa, Lexie, and perhaps a couple of others whom I'm blanking on]. It was an excellent turnout, especially for covid year three, and I was happy to hang out with all of them before the end.

After, I briefly went back to the office to get some stuff out of my trunk and put it into the closet full of stuff - these tings were shipped to my house in March 2020 because the office shut down while tings were in transit, and have been sitting here for over two years, but it's time to get them back onto company property. I also grabbed the last of my personal belongings and said goodbye to the building - if I don't ship my laptop/badge back next week, I'll still have to go in one more time next weekend, but I said my farewells just in case.

Leaving was, of course, bittersweet, but overall I'm v. happy about it. Then I drove home, ate some leftover thai, and took care of some stuff. And now I'm going to go to bed early and hope I can get enough sleep to sustain me through my last day of work tomorrow - goodnight!

neon burning up above

I'm tired and have a headache, but I believe the headache is from some slight dehydration related to spending too much time sitting in the sun while saying goodbye to people. Today was full of goodbyes - I had three goodbye 1:1s, and then a team meeting that was entirely dedicated to telling me how awesome I am and how much people will miss me (which is both gratifying to the ego and also v. awkward). Saying goodbye is tough since I genuinely love my team and I've worked with many of them for close to five years, but I also know it's time.

After my team meeting, I had lunch with Tomas at Boulder Depot. Tomas has the dubious honor of having worked with me all three times I've worked for my current employer; we shared a cube last time, and he moved to Boulder during this stint, so we've had a long ride together. He took me out for my goodbye lunch last time, and he took me out again today, which was a delight. A glass of sauvignon blanc when it's 100 degrees out is not the best idea, but hanging out with Tomas was, so it was great to catch up.

Then I had a bunch of meetings, took care of some tings, and drove home around five. When I got here, I wanted to do nothing, so I ordered sushi and did nothing for a brief period of time - but then I scrambled to do a million things between sevenish and now, including taking advantage of tomorrow's trash pickup to clean out my fridge, toss a bunch of stuff, etc. I also did laundry, took care of some work tasks, and generally tried to get on top of what needs to happen in the next couple of days / weeks.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

just like me she was a victim of the night

Oof, I had a hectic day. I worked from home this morning because I was expecting a delivery, and as soon as it showed up I wrapped up one more meeting and then drove into the office. It's hilarious that I'm still going since I really don't have to (for reasons I shall divulge shortly), but I wanted to go in today and see some people in person. That involved running into someone else who had only come in for lunch, and then feeling like I had the barista to ourselves when I had a meeting with Andy. But it was still a nice way to spend a few hours, even if I had a lot of work I wanted to get through.

However, the reason for my blog silence in general and my hectic time specifically is: I have officially resigned (again) from my place of employment. This has been in the works for the past few weeks and was actually public at work a couple of weeks ago, but my last day is this coming Friday. I'm pretty delighted overall by this move, since I've been somewhat underchallenged for awhile - and, more to the point, I'm eager to get back into writing and write this fantasy novel that I've been messing around with.

So, that's all pretty great. Of course, it's not great that the economy / world has chosen now to become more unstable - but I can't wait forever for the perfect time to leave.

I have other life updates to share, and other emotions about this change - but for now, I need to sleep since I have a million meetings and an equal number of goodbyes tomorrow. Goodnight!

in a screaming ring of faces, i seen her standing in the light

I'm too tired to blog, but at least I'm able to announce it tonight - last night I fell into bed so exhausted that I'm not sure I even remember climbing into it before I went to sleep. I will recap what turned out to be an unexpectedly epic weekend tomorrow, but for now I'm going to bed - goodnight!

back in the ussr

No blog tonight...I got up to some shenanigans today, including a long lunch and a five course Russian tasting menu (with a nap in between, and a bottle of Georgian wine instead of vodka shots). I'll update tomorrow - goodnight!

don't you remember, we built this city on rock and roll

No time to blog tonight...I had a full day at work, and then I spent the whole night doing a whole bunch of house tasks. And now I must sleep - goodnight!

now you'll be missing from the photographs, missing from the photographs

I didn't sleep well again last night, so hopefully whatever is going on in my head/stomach resolves itself and doesn't keep me up. Today was lovely though - I went to the office, distracted some people, ate salmon, and generally didn't do much. Then I drove to dinner and had an awesome dinner with Katie at the bar at Fifth String. It was one of those perfectly mellow evenings where we talked about old school romance novels and Cambodian killing fields and climate change and #smalltownlife and all sorts of other big and trivial tings.

And now I need to sleep and hope it's better than last night - goodnight!

good girls stay alive

No blog tonight - I slept terribly last night because I woke up at three with a stomach ache (an issue that used to happen frequently, but is more rare now), and I stewed over the many tings I have to do until I finally fell asleep around five. So, I was not in it to win it today.

But, I went to the office, which meant I mostly gossipped and distracted others and ate free ramen. And I skipped out early for a happy hour with Sarah-Frances, which was a delight. And I even ran errands after, then did some work tonight, so I somehow rescued the day from the defeat that it started with.

But now I need to sleep so I can be more awake tomorrow - goodnight!

this beat is a chemical

I have nothing to report today, although I am getting close to making some Grand Announcements (tm). Today was pretty quiet for the most part, though - I worked from home, which meant I got a poke bowl for lunch, which was less delightful than usual because they forgot to put any sauce on it (and I live for the sauce). But after work was over, I walked to my beloved Blue Pan, which I was able to get a seat at the surprisingly empty bar and eat a v. tasty pizza while doing some journaling and chatting up the bartender. And then I spent the rest of the evening taking care of house and online chores, which was boring but necessary.

And now, I shall go to sleep and leave you in suspense - goodnight!

i'll be back when it's all complete

I felt much recovered from last night's headache when I woke up this morning - it probably helped that I got a lot of sleep, which is a feat I want to repeat again tonight. I also spent the day mostly relaxing - I messed around the house, got some coffee from Starbucks, and did some planning/journaling. Then I went to the mall to pick up something that I had ordered from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale - I was v. restrained this year, and I also didn't buy anything else at the mall, although I did have a v. tasty salmon niçoise salad at the Nordstrom cafe.

Then I came home, messed around some more, and eventually went to BookBar to pick up a few books I'd ordered. I hung out there with some cheese/meat and a glass of rosé while brainstorming a bit for my novel, and that was pretty delightful. Then I came home, relaxed a bit, realized I was still hungry, and ordered takeout from Himchuli. And I crossed a bunch of tings off my to do list, so all in all it was a nice day.

But now I need to sleep so that I can accomplish many other feats of productivity tomorrow - goodnight!

like i can tell that my luck's gonna change

I had a pretty good day, but I flew back to Denver and the scramble to get ready took it out of me. It started by not getting enough sleep the last couple of nights (hence the lack of blogging), and so I was super tired when I woke up. It didn't help that I woke up early to say goodbye to [censored] before he left on an errand, and then instead of going back to sleep, I randomly drove to the next town over to take another v. brief look at cabinet options.

One of the things that happened yesterday was that a guy came over to give me a quote on remodeling my kitchen in Iowa. I've been talking to someone about cabinets, but it was in a somewhat non-decision-making way - but Randy finished most of the inside of my parents' house when they built it, and he's generally acknowledged to be the best around. He took a look at the project and decided he can fit me in in November(ish), which would be great, but requires ordering the cabinets in the next few weeks. Of course, I'm still dithering between going bold with paint, going with the boring light color I originally scoped, or taking a left turn and going for a walnut/white mix that might be the winner.

In classic #smalltownlife vibes, though, Randy quoted me an initial price per hour (which is relatively low, especially compared to what I would pay anywhere else), and then without even being prompted offered to cut another $5/hr off that because of my family. Small town vibes are taking me far - [censored] also got my mail started because he ran into our mailman at a store and told him we'd put up a mailbox (which he'd seen and admired) and were ready to start getting mail there. And [censored] called his friend the county assessor and got a long-gone hot tub taken off my tax assessment with approximately 30sec of conversation. There are disadvantages to #smalltownlife (namely, I continue to be depressed at the lack of food delivery), but many tings are easy to get done.

sssanyway, after my errand this morning, I hurriedly shoved some clothes in a bag, tidied up a bit, and then caught a ride with my parents to Des Moines. They dropped me off at the airport, which felt like old pre-pandemic times before I started driving most trips. I was through security in five minutes and had a salad while doing some writing. My flight to Denver was uneventful, but it took me approx 30min to get out of the airport - getting out of the airport and into town takes almost as long as the flight itself.

When I got home, I crashed - I took a nap, messed around, ordered sushi for dinner, and nursed a massive headache that was likely caused by weird sleeping, weird eating, and altitude. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

paint it black

I didn't do as much day job work as I should have today, but since it's unlikely that they will fire me, I decided to accept it. I spent the early morning (early-ish....but well before my first meetings of the day) spraying my office ceiling with [censored]. [censored] did most of the actual spraying, which was v. kind, but I feel like I pulled my weight on the setup/cleanup. My office turned out super well - I need to touch up a couple of places, but for the most part I'm delighted.

Then I slogged most of the day, with some leftover pizza to tide me over. Eventually, we had supper at my parents' house - my mom made mashed potatoes and green beans, and my dad barbecued chicken (that he had illicitly gotten for free, which made it even tastier), and it was all good. Then I came home and did some more paint cleanup, talked to a coworker for a bit, and am now getting ready for bed - goodnight!

heads carolina, tails california

I had a pretty good vacation day, but it's back to the grind tomorrow. Luckily the grind doesn't start very early since I'm in the central time zone... so I'm planning to paint the ceiling in my office before starting work. The actual spraying time is about 45min, with time on either side to prep and clean the sprayer, so this seems like a reasonable plan. It's especially reasonable since it was about 85 degrees in my office this afternoon since it's covered in plastic and is officially a greenhouse. It was almost too hot to spend time in there masking the walls, and it was definitely too hot to consider putting on multiple layers to protect against all the splatter that happens when painting a ceiling.

But despite sweating excessively this afternoon, the rest of the day was good. I ran to the next town over to talk to the cabinet lady about plans to improve upon Marvin's odd aesthetics. I also grabbed some groceries before spending a lot of time prepping for ceiling paint with [censored] (who continues to be a most helpful buddy). And I spent some time unwinding, looking at ceiling light fixtures, etc.

And now I need to sleep despite the thunderstorm hanging around outside - goodnight!

i would choke on the rind

Happy 4th of July! I was not at all independent from slogging today - but my slog was self-directed and aimed at painting my office in Iowa, so I can't really complain. I spent most of the morning finishing the preparatory masking efforts, and then I took a break in the early afternoon to go to the local museum with my dad to see a program about the history of trains in the area. It was put on by a guy who seems to be a little younger than me and is writing a book on the history of some of Iowa's ghost towns (I think), which ties into railroads because many ghost towns were either caused by the railroad showing up in places that sucked people away from early settlements, or were caused by the railroad leaving. My town in Iowa is obviously not a ghost town, but it definitely suffered massively from the railroad changing (there is still a railroad, but no passengers and no Y-connector to the other railroad that used to go through the area and is now plowed under).

sssanyway, the talk was interesting, although perhaps too high level for a) my dad, who knows a lot about railroads, and b) me, who knows a lot about history in general. After the talk was over, my dad dropped me at my house (and bought me a coke float for the six-minute ride), and then I finished the painting prep. [censored] was kind enough to do some massive assistance on this project - not much on the prep side, but [censored] sprayed the entire first coat in the room. Since my a/c isn't working super well (tanks Marvin) and it's 95 degrees here, the room we were painting felt like an oven after I'd sealed it all in plastic - but we persevered, and I think it will look great. I did a second coat in most areas after dinner, so we'll see how it looks in the morning.

Eventually, we paused to have dinner with the parents, which was delish. And now, I desperately need to sleep if I'm going to run errands + paint the ceiling in the office tomorrow - goodnight!

why don't we leave here today

 I am in ye olde Iowa again - sorry for not blogging last night, but after my flight and helping (well, mostly watching) [censored] do a bunch of stuff around the house, I was too sleepy to come up with a post. I'm feeling similar levels of sleepiness right now, so much so that I think I'll go to bed even though it's not quite ten p.m. and a ten p.m. bedtime for my is usually impossible.

But today went pretty much according to plan - I spent it prepping to spray paint my office, and I got everything taped, cleaned the walls and ceiling, etc. I still need to finish running masking paper along the baseboards to protect the carpet, and I need [censored]'s help to take down the light fixture and move my desk, but otherwise I'm in good shape.

And, eventually, I took a break to have dinner with my parents - my mom outdid herself with potato salad and deviled eggs to go with the bratwurst and baked beans we often have in the summer, and it was delicious. I'm still trying to figure out how to feed myself multiple meals a day with no takeout / delivery options when I'm here, so it's v. nice to supplement by eating with my parents.

And now, I really need to sleep - goodnight!

i want you to hold out the palm of your hand

I have nothing to report, and since I didn't sleep well last night and need to be up early tomorrow, I should go to bed asap. I went into the office today, which was rather hilarious since I felt like the only person there - there were signs of life in the form of the sound of distant footsteps, and they did serve breakfast/lunch. But I sat in the barista area to work and served myself some cold brew, and at some point someone showed up and asked the barista for a latte, and he said that they were his first customer. This was at noon or something ridiculous, so tings are still a far cry from pre-covid office times...

I did sneak out early (if you sneak out of an empty building, is it really sneaking?) and come home, where I did a bit more work, took care of various house tings, relaxed, etc. And now I need to sleep - I have a relatively early flight to ye olde Iowa tomorrow morning, and I want to get to the airport early enough to indulge in my usual airport breakfast. Goodnight!