Monday, May 08, 2023

we can remember swimming in december

Apologies for not blogging yesterday - I made an uncharacteristic error and burned my burrito bowls, which took the wind out of my sails. Or, driving for six hours took the wind out of my sails - my niece, Allie, is getting married next month, and we had a bridal shower for her near Cedar Rapids. I helped host it with the groom's brother's girlfriend, and she did 98% of the work (I brought an easel) - she's much craftier than I am and also had leftover stuff from previous showers, and also had access to more stores. So I let her run with the decor, and she made the private room at a local restaurant look amazing. I did throw cash at the problem by paying for the stuff she bought, as is my habit, so I didn't feel like a total deadbeat.

So the shower was really lovely and Allie was very happy, but it was a long day. My mom picked me up at seven and I drove her car up to Cedar Rapids, where we set up for the shower and then hung out waiting for an hour for it to start (we set up very early and everyone else was on time). Then we had brunch, which was v. tasty (and $1 mimosas, which do not exist in California). And then Allie opened her presents and we took some photos - so when it was all done, it was 2:30pm and I still had to drive me and my mom three hours to get home.

However, we made it, and I recuperated just a bit before making dinner. The burrito bowls somehow got the burn notice on the instant pot, which hasn't happened in several dozen iterations, so I was annoyed. They were actually done and totally edible (except the burned rice bits on the bottom), but they weren't quite as delicious as they should have been. [censored] still ate them for dinner last night and lunch today, though, and I have a bit leftover for tomorrow, so at least there's that.

Today was comprised of a variety of attempts to be productive. I got up early to drop my car off to get detailed (thanks for the ride, [censored]), and then I made some cold brew and wrote off and on all morning. It's still v. slow going, but I did some plotting stuff that I'm happy with. At some point, [censored] and I had lunch. Then, I unpacked some replacement parts for my kitchen/bath to replace a couple of items that we thought were wonky (they were ordered months ago, but I finally picked them up in the last couple of weeks). This turned out to be a hilarious activity because 1) the mirrors we were replacing have somehow self-corrected and stopped being warped in the last three months, which was unexpected, 2) one of the drawer boxes is just as screwed up, if not more, than the box it's supposed to replace, which was a surprise since it was ordered specifically to replace a quality issued. You would think they would have checked it better.

sssanyway, we dealt with that stuff, and then I spent the afternoon doing various tings - cleaning / tidying, taking care of some mural festival stuff, etc. When [censored] left, I had him drop me off to get my car, which looks fantastic - I'd forgotten that the interior was black instead of grey, so I'd say the guy did a great job with it. Then I took out my trash, ate a ham sandwich, and sat on my balcony brainstorming characters.

And now, I need to stop regaling you with minutiae and go to bed - goodnight!

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