i talk to streetlights down on every corner but they don't know where i have to go

I should have gone to bed an hour or two ago, but when has that ever not been the case? Today was lovely, though, despite my insufficient sleep. I woke up, made some coffee, and wrote for a couple of hours, which is always a good way to start the day. Then I devoured some leftover burrito bowl, took a shower, tidied up a bit, and gave [censored] a ride to [censored]. And then I went to the grocery store to pick up a couple of tings for New Year's Day, since I have no desire to go to the grocery store tomorrow and much need to make some food.

After I got home and put away my groceries, I had approximately five minutes to gather myself before heading out to the parents' house to play games. We played a few rounds of CAMEL UP, the game that [censored] got me for Christmas, and it remained quite fun - and despite feeling like we're getting better at the strategy of the game, all four of us each won a round, so clearly we haven't settled into some sort of strategic stasis where one person usually wins. This delights me, since all the train-based games are [censored]'s domain, and I like that the camels have thwarted his usual dominance, even if it's temporary.

Then, [censored] and I went into town to pick up Mexican take-out since our beloved restaurant has reopened, and we took it back to Mom and Dad's so that they could benefit as well. It was quite tasty, although I kinda wish I had never had Mexican food at the place we went to in Moberly last week because now nothing can compare to it. And then I came home, hung out in the living room for awhile, came upstairs, painted my nails, sent some semi-urgent emails (but probably not to you), and now need to contemplate bed. Goodnight!

you beat my heart from miles away

I woke up this morning feeling far better than I expected or deserved to - while I didn't get enough sleep last night, I certainly paced myself better than I have in the past with Katie, and so I got ready quite easily. Katie grabbed coffee for us while I was in the shower, and then we packed up and grabbed breakfast in the (very lovely) cafe next to the hotel lobby. And then I drove her to her in-laws' house so that she could reunite with her family, and I said my sad farewells in their driveway.

After I left her, I went to West Des Moines, where I grabbed some stuff for my house at Menards. Then I holed up at a Starbucks for a couple of hours and wrote, which felt great - I really miss writing in coffee shops, so it was a pleasant interlude. Then I grabbed groceries at Whole Foods (and ate some takeout sushi), grabbed a couple of tings at Target, and came home. When I got here, I took a brief nap almost as soon as I had finished unloading my car, and it was enough to fuel me so that I could make dinner (burrito bowls, as per usual).

Then, [censored] and I watched a couple of hours of comedy stuff - mostly a new Trevor Noah special, as well as some shorter videos from various sources (including old clips of the Smothers Brothers). And then I came upstairs with plans to go to sleep, but instead I wrote for the last couple of hours. I kind of want to keep going, but I think sleep is more important, so I'm going to give it a shot. Goodnight!

baby, i'm faded, all I want to do is take you downtown

I am, v unusually, in downtown Des Moines. Katie, a true member of the race of Joseph, is in town for one night only, and I kidnapped her from her in-laws to force her into a night of fancy frivolity.

I did do some non-frivolous things this morning, but I made it up here to pick her up around 3:30. We promptly checked into the Hotel Fort Des Moines - this plan came together 48hrs ago and we got an amazing deal on one of the most iconic hotels in the city, so I snapped it up. We had dinner at Malo, which is a Mexican place that my family went to after seeing Hamilton back in 2018 (so, a little bittersweet since that was one of my last excursions with Uncle Mark, although I didn't know it at the time). Then, after a sedate two margaritas, we were back in our room by 7:30, and we gossiped in bed (and discussed various questionable solutions to the problems of the day) until ten....

... But then we rallied and went down to the hotel restaurant and had a drink and chatted in the lobby until after one. There's a speakeasy here that we didn't explore, so that's an excursion for a different day. And now it's almost two, and I should go to sleep so that I can return Katie to her family and get myself back to the rivers and the lakes that I'm used to. Goodnight!

another dream...the monster's running wild inside of me

I was a little too sloth-filled today - I did a wee bit of writing tonight, but the rest of the day was pretty much a wash. I chalk up some of it to having trouble falling asleep last night, and then my alarm clock didn't go off because the power was shut off at some point last night and my clock apparently doesn't keep itself going without power. It has been so long since I've used an alarm clock instead of my phone that I hadn't even considered this possibility - so better to discover it now than on a day when I really needed to wake up.

sssanyway, I did some random tings throughout the day, read a bunch of stuff, and also ate delicious leftover ham balls, twice baked potatoes, and salad. And eventually I escaped the house and met up with Brenda for a drink at the newly-reopened Mexican restaurant - she was in my dad's class in high school, and she's now the museum director. We worked together a lot on the mural festival and had much to catch up on, so it was nice to see her.

Then I ordered takeout for mi hermano (and myself), came home, and ate with [censored]. After we chatted for a bit, I came upstairs and attempted to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, with mixed results. I did get some writing done, but I also discovered that one of my favorite techno DJs is now in his fifties (makes sense when I consider how old I am), and also married a girl that he met when he was like 48 and she was 19, so that was a downer.

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

mahna mahna

Merry Christmas! I had a delightful holiday, thanks for asking. It did require getting up at 6:50am, which is far too early, but that was necessary if I wanted to shower and make coffee before going to my parents' house for our approximate usual start time. [Censored] and I made it there almost on time, and we all spent a leisurely couple of hours unwrapping presents. Many fine gifts were given and received, and I'm happy with what I got - mostly a mix of cooking-related items, fountain pen items, and a couple of rogue games from [censored].

After we opened presents, my mom made brunch - we had the usual breakfast casserole and blueberry muffins, plus some delicious ambrosia that Dad put together yesterday. Then, we took a brief break - [censored] and Mom went to town on an errand, and I went to my house and took a brief-but-necessary fifteen minute nap. I also grabbed the twice baked potatoes that I made yesterday as my contribution to tonight's meal. And then I went back to my parents' house, where...

...we played one of the games [censored] gave me, which is called CAMEL UP. It looks a little odd and gimmicky since it has a pop-up 3-d palm tree and the dice are dispensed by a pyramid. However, we discovered that it's actually a ton of fun - just enough strategy to feel interesting, but a lot of random luck to keep things fresh. We played three games, and [censored], Dad, and I split the wins, which was much more distributed than when [censored] wins 80% of Ticket to Ride games in a season. So, it was pretty fun and I would definitely play it again if I can convince everyone else to.

Then we had dinner - Mom made brisket, which we ate with twice baked potatoes + leftover layered lettuce and apricot salad from yesterday. And then [censored] and I came to my house since the weather was getting much colder and it seemed like we might get some freezing precipitation. At this point, I am almost on the verge of a second wind, but I think I should go to sleep before I allow that to happen. Goodnight!

it's surprising wise men looked to the horizon

Merry Christmas (as of four minutes ago)! I had a pretty good day, but it was almost entirely in service of getting ready for Christmas instead of celebrating Christmas Eve. I did sleep in, which was a bonus, but I then went straight into food prep. I made twice baked potatoes and ham balls, with a break while the potatoes were doing their first bake to eat a leftover burrito bowl. I made far more potatoes than were necessary for four people for Christmas dinner, but I intend to freeze many of them so that Future Sara (and potentially Future [censored]) will be happy.

I also made more ham balls than necessary - I had decided that, since I had to get the meat grinder out, and since the ham my mom bought was three times as large as necessary, that I would make an extra batch of ham balls and freeze them for future festivities. Getting the grinder out was a bit of a trick, since it required reorganizing the basement (and by that I mean untarping everything that [censored] had tarped when the HVAC project was ongoing). But I found the grinder, made one batch of ham balls and baked them for freezing later, and made another batch to take to my parents'. And then I had approximately fifteen minutes to shower...

And then I went to my parents', dropped the ham balls in my dad's care, and took my mom to Sewal to a Christmas Eve program. Their church closed ages ago, but it's still somewhat maintained, and it was nicely decorated for the festivities. We sang several Christmas songs, heard several others sing solo/group endeavors, and listened to Ross read the Christmas story. It was a nice event and I'm glad we went, despite the rain and soggy roads.

Then we went home, and I talked to my dad until the timer went off on the ham balls - at which point I discovered that the oven wasn't actually working (even though it was on), and the ham balls were nowhere close to done. Luckily, the other batch that I'd made came in handy - [censored] went to town to retrieve it, and we quickly reheated it in the microwave, and they were delish. My mom had made layered lettuce, apricot salad, and sweet potaotes, so it was all tasty.

And then I came home, rebaked the second batch of ham balls to get them to the right temperature, cleaned my kitchen, and embarked on the usual Christmas Eve tradition of wrapping presents with [censored] while listening to ridiculous music. And now I must sleep since the family *insists* on having Christmas morning in the actual morning, like peasants. Goodnight!

disappear in the golden sands

I spent the day doing more family stuff - I got up, showered, helped [censored] with [censored], and made breakfast so that I wouldn't feel hangry later. Then we went to my sister's house to celebrate Christmas with her kids and their kids. It was a nice afternoon and good to see everybody, even if it's impossible to properly catch up with that many people in two hours.

Then we ran some Christmas errands before coming home, and I made burrito bowls, which were as tasty as ever. And now I need to sleep so I can do a million things tomorrow- goodnight!

just find a place to make your stand and take it easy

I should have gone to bed awhile ago because today was pretty tiring, but I caught a second wind (as usual) around eight and so powered through until now. But despite the tiring nature of the day, it was really good. [Censored] and I left the house around 8:40am to head south, since we had a date with my mom's sister for lunch. Aunt Dee lives near St. Louis, and her daughter Moriah was home for the holidays, so we met halfway - which meant eating at a random restaurant in Moberly, Missouri.

So, [censored] drove and I was a kind and delightful passenger for 2.5 hours. We got to Moberly slightly early, which was good - it rained almost the entire way, which made for delay potentials, but [censored] got us there with no issues. I was the one who booked the restaurant, which was a little nervewracking - it's hard to choose an appropriate restaurant where 12 people can sit together, where everyone can enjoy the food, and where they can accommodate my dad and my sister's mobility issues. I was hoping to just take care of the seating/mobility things and was hoping for the best on the food, but we were all thoroughly surprised and delighted. The place (D'Abolengo, for my own future posterity) was legitimately excellent - my enchiladas were covered in a perfect pork/sauce/queso mix, and the dish was one of the tastiest things I've had in awhile.

It was also good to see the family - it's very rare for us to get together since Mo lives in Florida, and I had actually never met her husband even though they've been married for a few years. So, my parents, [censored] and I were there, as were my sister and her husband, my niece and her husband, and Aunt Dee, Mo, Jaime, and Eli. The only person missing was my other cousin Jordan, who had to work -- and my sister's other two kids, but that would have doubled the size of the group with all of their various offspring, so it's probably for the best that they couldn't make it.

Anyway, we had an excellent time catching up, and it was lovely to see them all. Eventually, we parted ways, and [censored] and I made the 2.5 trip home, with a couple of quick stops to buy tings. A five hour round trip is a long way for lunch, but it was #worthit.

We were wiped out when we got home, though, so I messed around on my phone for a long time and came v. close to napping on the couch. I eventually rallied, did some kitchen tasks, ate some leftover Mexican food (from the local Mexican place, which I had for lunch a couple of days ago), and then painted my toenails and fingernails while listening to a couple of podcasts. And now I need to sleep since we have more Christmas plans tomorrow - goodnight!

in the desert you can't remember your name

No time to blog - I went to Des Moines to grab a bunch of groceries today, and I came back exhausted. But I rallied to make rice so that [censored] and I could eat last night's leftover salmon, and I did a load of laundry, and I wrote / worked for the last three hours. And now I need to go to sleep immediately because I have plans tomorrow that require me getting up earlier than I feel I should be required to be (i.e. 7:30am, how barbaric). Goodnight!

spadina avenue

I had a pretty good day, all in all, although too much of my productivity came too late in the day and now tomorrow's plans are in jeopardy. I spent some quality time this morning getting my Christmas cards ready to go - which mostly involved buying stamps, which meant a long conversation with the postmaster about the latest in her life. After all that, she only had one book of Christmas-themed stamps, so I came home and then went into the other town to try their post office. Luckily, they had more stamps, so I returned victorious.

While I was in town, though, I got a few groceries and picked up takeout lunch from the newly remodeled and reopened Mexican place. Their remodel looks nice and the food was tasty as always (albeit slightly more expensive), and I'm delighted that they're back in business. [Censored] and I ate lunch together, and then [censored] had a meeting while I finished stamping my cards. I walked to the post office to mail them (and marveled that it was warm enough to do that on the winter solstice), came home, had a meeting, and then talked to the HVAC guys, who were back to finish one final little bit of work with my system.

Then I ran out to my parents' house to pick up the ham I need for later culinary endeavors, came home, did a bit of work, and made salmon teriyaki with broccoli and jasmine rice. After [censored] and I ate, I procrastinated a bit, but then I cleaned up the kitchen, came upstairs, and wrote for the last three hours.

And now, I need to go to bed immediately, since I have a million pre-Christmas errands to run tomorrow. Goodnight!

shine bright like a diamond

Nothing to report tonight either - I did a whole bunch of little stuff that needed to get done, which felt great in the moment and yet didn't feel like much of an accomplishment by the end of the day. But I am reminded that it could always be worse, and at least all these small things are off my list. And now, it's time for bed - goodnight!

again last night I had that strange dream where everything was exactly how it seemed

I have nothing to report today - I spent most of it being fairly productive, at least in terms of setting up some stuff for next year. I also went way too deep into productivity apps - Evernote seems to be in the process of giving up the ghost and I need to find an alternative, and I'm also trying to figure out how to make some Frankenstein combo of online to-do lists + paper planners + journals work for me. We shall see, we shall see.

I did take a break in the afternoon to take a birthday card to my mom, and I also fed myself (tuna sandwich for lunch, leftover noodles and fried eggs for dinner). And while tonight feels like a night where I could stay up all night, it's already one a.m. and I should probably sleep.

But before I close, I would be remiss if I failed to wish a happy birthday to my mom! and also to Chandlord! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

shivers and cold champagne

I had a pretty productive day today, which was a good thing because I have a million things to do this week. I spent some time this morning journaling in bed, and then I finally got up, made some coffee, ate a granola bar, and talked to [censored]. We watched the Weekend Update portions of last night's SNL, but we didn't keep going because we both knew that we'd stop being productive entirely if we watched another hour of YouTube videos.

I spent most of the afternoon doing office stuff - including literal office stuff like dusting, rearranging my bookshelves, etc. I also washed my sheets, cleaned out the fridge, and other similarly interesting tasks. Eventually, [censored] left and I experimented with supper - I was in the mood for something spicy and Asian-ish, and I had almost zero groceries, so I read a few recipes online and then improvised. What I came up with was rice noodles with sauteed onions, brussels sprouts, ginger, and garlic, which I tossed with a sauce of peanut butter, chili oil crisp, soy sauce, mirin, and miso paste. The sauce recipe wasn't an improvisation, but the other ingredients were - I had no mushrooms, no green onions, no cilantro, no tofu, and nothing else, so I used more yellow onion than the recipe called for and also sliced up some brussels sprouts that were about to go bad.

Overall, the verdict was probably a 7/10, would definitely eat again but would keep tweaking. I liked the sauce, which was basically a spicy peanut sauce, but I thought that the recipe called for adding the ginger/garlic way too soon, and I think they probably scorched a bit from overcooking. Green onions would have been a big improvement. And the dish needed some protein -- I did fry an egg to put on top, which helped, but tofu or shrimp or chicken would be a nice addition.

Anyway, it was still tasty and I will happily eat the leftovers. Then I cleaned the kitchen, took a long-overdue shower, messed around online, and finally forced myself to write a couple of pages so that I have a headstart on thinking about what I'll write tomorrow. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

i'm staring at the asphalt wondering what's buried underneath

I had a fairly lowkey and boring day. I slept later than intended (which is true pretty much every day when I don't have to be someplace early), and then I made coffee, took a shower, and went into town to get allergy shots. Then I came home and ate lunch with [censored] (leftover burrito bowls).

I did manage to get some writing done this afternoon - not quite as much as I would have liked, but I will take it. Then, [censored] and I went out for dinner, since I didn't feel like cooking. We went to one of our usual spots, which thankfully wasn't super busy - I ill-advisedly ate some cheese curds and the breaded fried onion bits on top of my burger, which is probably why I feel like I'm lightly dying. But they were delicious, and the fries were as good as always, so I have no actual regrets.

Then we came home and I intended to get more work done than I did tonight, but I mostly browsed hotels in advance of my writing retreat in January and daydreamed of warmer climes. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

silhouettes when our bodies finally go

I have nothing to report - I woke up feeling like I might be getting a cold, but I took it easy and seem to have shaken that feeling off. I did talk to my HVAC guy for awhile, who dropped by with my bill, and who is always entertaining. I also dialed into a board meeting that I skipped going to in person since they wouldn't have had quorum without me. And I ate leftover spaghetti for lunch, which was tasty enough.

Then I did a bunch of personal administrative stuff, messed around online, made dinner ([censored] deserved burrito bowls, although [censored] deserves burrito bowls even more often than I make them), watched some music videos with [censored], and then scrolled somewhat mindlessly until now. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

good tidings we bring

I had a fairly successful day today - I got a lot of sleep, and then I made coffee, took a shower, and did my nails. I do miss getting manicures when I'm not on the coast, and I was tired of my nails looking shabby, so I filed, buffed, and then added several coats of gel polish. They look pretty great for an amateur attempt, so hopefully they last.

Then I talked to Tanya for a bit, did some online work, ate a v late lunch, did some more tasks, and took the briefest of naps. Then I went into town for the Christmas party for my secret society - I helped plan it, so I got there early to set up, but it was all a breeze. Dinner took a little too long to come out and I was starving, but I had fun talking to everyone and liked my salad when I finally got it. I also followed someone else's lead and got a "punch" (with Malibu rum and peach schnapps), which felt a little naughty and very tasty.

Then I came home, talked to [censored] for awhile, and decided I should go to bed. Goodnight!

do you believe in life after love

I was weirdly busy today, and it didn't help that I stayed in bed until after nine a.m. because I read late last night and the night before last. I took a shower, made some coffee, and went into town for allergy shots - they unfortunately hurt today, which I did not enjoy, but I'm reminding myself that they've been worth it. Then I came home, printed some stuff, ate a quick sandwich, and went back into town to have a meeting about the mural festival. We're planning some activities for the spring, and I really need to get back in the game so that I can take care of some tasks, but that's a problem for Future Sara.

Then I came home again and spent the afternoon taking care of a variety of business tings. When I was finally done, it was after six, so I ate a quick snack and made spaghetti all'amatriciana for dinner. It was tasty, as per usual, and I was glad that I ate something real instead of heating up something from the freezer. And then I spent the rest of the evening theoretically working, but actually procrastinating.

Now, it's not quite 10:30 and I'm starting to feel the suspicious edges of a second wind - but I want to go to sleep before I convince myself to stay up until two. Goodnight!

so kiss me on the cheek, make it a long goodbye

I had a pretty decent day, when I let it be easy. I did some writing this morning, ate lunch with [censored] (leftover scalloped potatoes and ham, delish), and then procrastinated too much in the afternoon. But I took a bit of a walk, which helped me reset (even if I spent half the time walking and half the time, it seemed, standing around waiting for a train to pass through town).

So, I wrote in the late afternoon before and after [censored] left, and it was great. I also talked to Terry, all too briefly. I ate a frozen gluten free pizza for dinner (not, perhaps, the most exciting option), and then I was going to write again...but instead, I realized I probably wouldn't get anything done, and so instead I finished reading ALIF THE UNSEEN, which I had started reading last night. It won a bunch of awards ten years ago and I'm just now getting to it, but I enjoyed it quite a bit, and it was relevant to the strange fantasy/scifi hybrid that I'm currently writing...

But now, I really need to sleep so that I can do the tings I need to do tomorrow. Goodnight!

i will find any way to your wild heart

I didn't blog yesterday because I was in too good of a mood, and I almost didn't blog tonight because I was in too bad of one. Not that anything substantively changed - if anything, it should have been reversed, since yesterday was dreary and miserable, while today was at least sunny and less windy. But the human mind is a mystery.

So, yesterday, I spent most of the day reading a "nonfiction" (I use that incredibly loosely) research book about secret societies, which gave me some little kernels of ideas but mostly made me roll my eyes. I also made scalloped potatoes and ham for dinner, which was a real win (especially since that meant leftovers today).

Today, I probably should have done more of the same, but I didn't feel like reading this morning. Instead, I mostly procrastinated, and somehow wasted most of the day. I think I did a few things that I had been meaning to do online? Actually, I remember what I did - I tried to start laying out my planner for next year, which made me anxious and surly from trying to narrow down my goals while also setting them up in such a way that I might have hope of accomplishing them. And I had a v. tasty ham sandwich, which was something.

I finally took a shower, and then walked into town to drop my water bill payment in the slot at city hall. That perked up my mood a bit, and a little later I ate leftovers with [censored] and watched most of last night's SNL, which was funnier than usual.

Buoyed by all of that, I snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and actually wrote five pages tonight, so at least the day ended in something good. And now I'm going to read a bit more of that dumb book and go to bed - goodnight!

no one will ever read the letters or the lies that i told

I had a surprisingly productive day, although I didn't write much...and also didn't get out of bed until 9:30 thanks to staying up until almost two reading last night. But when I did finally wake up, I showered, made some coffee, etc, and then went into town to get allergy shots.

When I got home, I didn't sit down because I knew I would lose momentum. Instead, I spent the afternoon doing Christmas decorations - I'm not totally in the habit of doing it because I used to always travel (to Iowa) at Christmas and so didn't do my own decor. But I was in the mood to do it today, so I put together my tree, decorated, switched outdoor wreaths, and then put all the boxes and other stuff back in the basement. My living room looks pretty festive, if I do say so myself, but I'm stopping there since I don't need to let Christmas explode al over my house.

Then I cleaned the kitchen, mopped, etc before taking a small break. I had my parents over for dinner tonight, so at some point I threw together some shrimp alfredo, which is delish. They got here just as I was finishing it, and it was super tasty.

But now, I'm falling asleep and need to go to bed - goodnight!

never changed by crooked hearts

It's suddenly way too late to be going to bed - I decided to read for a little bit tonight, which resulted in me reading the whole book in one swoop, as per usual. But today was good - I wrote for a bit this morning, then had a dentist appointment. After, I treated myself to a salad and fries at the Continental, and then I ran some errands. My evening was more of the same - writing, laundry, leftovers, procrastinating, etc.

And now it's time for bed so I can hopefully salvage some productivity in the morning - goodnight!

we're gonna play in the dark 'til it's golden again

I had an excellent writing day, which always means I got v. little else done - but I was happy to make that tradeoff today. I also slept until almost nine, which was even better. When I finally came downstairs, I discovered that it was blisteringly hot - I had set a program on my thermostat last Wednesday to turn the heat up to 82 overnight so that I could get the house nice and toasty before my heating was shut off by the HVAC guys that night, and my thermostat helpfully ran the same program again this Wednesday. So, it was 82 downstairs most of the day because the house doesn't cool off very fast - which was good incentive to stay upstairs at my desk, where it was a relatively reasonable 77.

So I took care of a couple of tings this morning (including looking at concert tickets for a show in May), and then I buckled down to write. I had a good morning session, and then I took a break to prep dinner - I tested a new-to-me slow cooker recipe involving chicken thighs, white beans, and 15-20 cloves of garlic. I added a couple of slices of bacon for good measure, since my chicken thighs didn't have the skin on and I thought it might need some extra fat as a result. While that cooked (for six hours), I made some huevos rancheros for lunch, and then did some more writing.

Alternating between writing, researching, and procrastinating took up most of the afternoon / early evening. Then I ate my dinner, which was quite tasty - it's probably not something I could make for [censored] since [censored] doesn't like chicken thighs, but it was easy and I'm looking forward to eating the leftovers. I also watched the last half of the Iowa State / Iowa women's basketball game - ISU gave Iowa a run for their money despite the juggernaut that is Caitlin Clark, and it was fun to watch.

Then I cleaned up the kitchen, messed around on the internet, and wrote a wee bit more. And now I need to wind down since I have many tings to do tomorrow - goodnight!

we rattle this town, we rattle this scene

I woke up earlier than expected because my fitbit buzzed me at 7:45am with a text from my friendly local HVAC guy, who wanted to know if they could run a gas line at my house today. I usually have my phone on silent and sleep through any text buzzes, but 7:45am was close enough to waking up that my body sensed the fitbit vibration and I opened one eye to check it.

I was pretty surly about getting up since I didn't go to bed until almost one, but I decided I wanted a gas line more than I wanted to go back to bed. So I texted him to say they should come, and I went downstairs to unlock the garage door so that they could get in. I didn't actually see them until they were almost done, since I decided to go ahead and shower - but [censored] was around today, and he knows more about gas lines than I do anyway. Happily, it all went v. smoothly, and now I have a gas line to my patio so that I can use my grill.

However, the shortage of sleep made me pretty low-energy all morning. So I took the opportunity to do a final backup of my old laptop and wipe it so that I could send it back to Apple for a credit - it paid for 25% of my new laptop, which made it worth sending back, but I felt a little pang of nostalgia for it since it has been in my life for several years. Usually I just toss old laptops into my closet and keep them forever, but this one is now on its way to the return facility, which was the right call.

At some point, I ate lunch with [censored] (leftover burrito bowls), and then I went into town to get allergy shots and drop off my laptop return. Then I came home, did a few quick tings, and talked to Barbara (formerly of Colorado, now of Oregon) for awhile. We had much to catch up on, and it was great to see her virtually. I got off the call just in time to bid farewell to [censored]....

...and then I spent the rest of the evening doing some more organizing of my office. It's getting into pretty good shape, although I have a bunch of stuff to put in the basement or donate -- but my desk and my office supplies are all organized, as is my office closet, and so all is right with the world. I also did a bit of writing, a bit of journaling, and a bit of procrastinating - so all in all, it was a lovely night.

And now, I need to sleep - goodnight!

scandal in the wind

I had a decent day around the house. I spent most of the morning deep cleaning my bathroom after yesterday's toilet installation adventure - not that my bathroom is large enough to require much time to clean, but I was overdue to clean my shower, and I cleaned all the other surfaces too. It is, perhaps, a sign of my age that the end result was exciting, but I suppose I'll take it.

Then I showered, made and ate lunch (huevos rancheros), procrastinated a bit, did a bit of writing, and spent the afternoon working on my office. My office closet is a disaster, and I got a long way toward making it less of a disaster, but there's still work to be done.

Eventually, I stopped doing housework and ate dinner with [censored] - we had a variety of leftovers from the fridge, all of which were delish. We also watched some of this week's SNL, which was bizarre and not particularly good beyond a few hilarious moments. And then I came upstairs, folded laundry, and contemplated my book while laboriously removing the gel nail polish that I'd gotten in San Francisco a few weeks ago. And now, it's time for bed - goodnight!

i'm on that new vibration

Today didn't go according to plan, but it was a v. good detour. I woke up, made some coffee, and eventually settled in to my desk to write - and was there for about ten minutes before [censored] got back from an errand and declared that today was the day to replace my toilet. This has been an effort that we've been putting off for months, but it has been getting more dire - the toilet was flushing/filling in a really strange way, which meant it would run for a few minutes every time I flushed it, and that was not something we thought we should allow to continue indefinitely. I'd bought a toilet a month or two ago, so it was on hand, but obviously this is not a project that I have the skillset for.

[Censored], however, does have the skillset, for better or for worse. If I were him, I would play dumb and let me hire someone to do things around here, but I'm v. grateful that [censored] doesn't do that. The project went reasonably smoothly, although it was obviously a dirty job, and there was a bit of a problem because the flange was broken and [censored] had to devise a workaround to mount the new toilet.

But when all was said and done, my new toilet is installed and seems to be great. I've gotten some real upgrades this week, since my bedroom is now warmer thanks to the new HVAC and the toilet behaves like a modern toilet. Now if only I could write a book, I'd really be in business.

sssanyway, after all that, I did a few tings, put on some makeup, and then [censored] and I met the parents in town for the holiday light show. I thought the outdoor displays weren't as creative this year as they were last year, but there were nearly seventy trees inside decorated by various individuals and organizations, so it was fun to see them all. Then, we went to our usual prime rib place for dinner - my prime rib was better than usual, so I was glad that I had ordered it.

I procrastinated for awhile after getting home, but then I sat down to write for a bit. It was a good session, but I'm falling asleep, so I think it's time for bed. Goodnight!

saturnalia

I had an excellent day, especially because I now have heat fully restored in the house. The HVAC guys mostly wrapped up the project today - they'll still have to come back in the spring to finish the A/C installation, and they need to finish running the gas line for my grill (which I opportunistically added to the job), but otherwise everything is set up. Now I have a zone for my bedroom/office and a zone for the main floor of the house, which should theoretically mean I can make it warmer upstairs without overheating [censored]. Time will tell, but so far it's great.

So I did some writing today, but I was a little distracted because the installation required the main guy (Ron) to be in and out of my office all morning. But I did some work, ate some leftover soup with [censored] for lunch, did some more work, supervised the project, etc., etc. After the guys left, I buckled down for an hour, and then I made dinner. After last night's fried food fest, I was in the mood for something totally different, so I made salmon teriyaki with rice and roasted broccoli. In an absentminded move I accidentally made regular long-grain white rice instead of jasmine rice, so we ate like peasants, but it was otherwise quite tasty.

After dinner, I did some truly mindless procrastination for an hour or two, but then I got into the manuscript and did some brainstorming for the last hour or so. And now, I must sleep - goodnight!