like so much deja vu

I had today off, which was a nice interlude in the middle of the week. It was rainy off and on most of the day - nothing particularly impressive, but certainly much-needed. I slept in, and then I spent most of the day doing various household chores that I never seem to want to do on the weekend. This mostly meant fully cleaning my bedroom / office, doing a bit of work stuff, going to the grocery store, etc.

Since my weekend plans are currently up in the air, I invited my parents over for dinner tonight to ensure that I would get to see them in case I'm not around. I made shrimp alfredo, which my dad really likes, and it's pretty easy for me to throw together since I usually have frozen shrimp in the freezer. We had a nice chat over dinner, and they stayed long enough to see [censored], so that was all a delight.

After they left, I cleaned up the kitchen, talked to [censored] for a bit, and then came upstairs to fold laundry, mess around online, and do a couple of work tasks. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

all you talk is money, money

I had a pretty good day, although the timing of it was odd - I got up much earlier than I usually do so that I could go to a 7am meeting of the Optimists Club. I was there to hit them up for money on behalf of the library board, and I think it went well - but I also got my second invitation to join them, and I feel like the third invitation invokes some required bond, so I maybe should avoid their meetings for awhile.

After the meeting, I finished my coffee (at the bowling alley, which is not a usual 7am gathering spot most places) while talking to Mark, whom I hadn't seen in quite some time. Then I came home and got into work mode (although I did take a quick shower at some point, since I didn't have time to shower before the meeting). I slogged through most of the day and into the early evening, and I did a lot of the slogging from my balcony even though it was far too hot to be outside and my fitness tracker indicated that I was 'stressed' because of it.

At some point it was time to call it a day, so I filled a bunch of water jugs and went downtown (if you can call it that) to water the planters. Then I came home, ate some supper, sat on the balcony and journaled until I couldn't see, and then started reading a book (NINE PERFECT STRANGERS, which I'm enjoying quite a lot). And now I need to go to bed - I have tomorrow off for Juneteenth, and I think I'm going to take it easy. Goodnight!

tangerine come on back to me

It was a million degrees today, and I spent most of it inside slogging. However, I had to emerge from the safety of my air conditioning to take out my trash and water the planters in town. This required filling sixteen milk jugs with water and then dumping two gallons each into the various planters on Central Ave. The errand was about as efficient as I could make it, but it still felt too hot at 7pm to do it.

However, then I came home and ate a sandwich and wrote on my balcony - it was also too hot on my balcony, but it was shaded and there was a breeze, so it could have been worse. And now I need to go to bed since I have many tings to do tomorrow - goodnight!

she drives me crazy

Happy Father's Day! I did not do that much today, but I certainly did more than yesterday. I did a couple of loads of laundry, cleaned my new fridge with baking soda to get any residual plastic smell out, tidied up various tings, etc. I also wrote for three-ish hours, which I will definitely take. And my mom and I watered a bunch of flower planters in town - now that I'm part of Garden Club I have to water sometimes during the summer, and mom and I signed up for this week together. Of course it's going to be like a hundred degrees all week, which makes watering both necessary and annoying, but it feels good to do something for the town.

In the evening, [censored] and I went out to Mom and Dad's house for dinner. Dad grilled v. tasty hamburgers, and Mom made baked beans, and we also had salad and potato salad and fresh watermelon. It was a nice way to end the weekend - although since we usually eat there on Saturday, I am now slightly confused about why I have to work tomorrow.

But that's a problem for future Sara (in about ten hours) - goodnight!

fine young cannibals

I had a v lazy day today, which was not my intention - but it was gloomy for part of the day, and that often has a high chance of wrecking my focus. However, I did make chili for dinner at [censored]'s request, and we watched some fine comedic programming before I came upstairs and wrote in bed for awhile. 

And now, I'm going to go to bed and hope to carry this late night momentum forward to morning - goodnight!

making it spin or else you win

Things have been pretty dull around here - not that working is any less dull than my writing life, but there are days when I don't feel like blogging because nothing happened.

And then there are days like yesterday where I don't feel like blogging because a lot happened and I needed to go to bed. Yesterday was jam packed - I had a bunch of work, and then I had a library board meeting, just barely enough time for supper, and a PEO meeting. Today wasn't quite as hectic, but I had to go to the dentist, which required driving thirty miles to the next town over. Luckily the dentist was fine, and I was able to grab a couple of things I needed at Walmart before heading home and slogging.

I slogged off and on pretty late since I wasn't around in the morning - but I did take a break to journal on my balcony. And now, I think I shall go to bed, since I have a similar combo of errands + slogging tomorrow. Goodnight!

whether you're rin tin tin or anne boleyn

Today was a pretty good day, all in all. I got up early ish since I had a delivery coming this morning, and it's a good thing I did because they got here fifteen minutes before their two hour window. I treated myself to a new standing freezer and also a new fridge for the garage - the freezer felt v necessary since I need to stock up on food differently with a job, and the fridge was a splurge so we can have more room for drinks and leftovers. Costco had some good Memorial Day sales and also inexplicably offered free delivery despite me living eighty miles from the nearest store, so that all worked out. 

After the delivery, I chatted with [censored] for awhile, and then I slogged all day. It was pretty nice as slogs go - I talked to Adit for a couple of hours, and I also spent the entire day working from my balcony. Eventually I threw in the towel and made pad Thai for dinner, which was delish. And now I need to unwind and go to bed - goodnight!

i'm almost me again, she's almost you

I really did not want to do literally anything that I did today, but I somehow managed to drag myself through most of my task list. I cleaned my bathroom this morning, which I was overdue for. I did three loads of laundry. I planted the last things that I hadn't planted, and we'll see if they perk up since I should have planted them two weeks ago.

I also did a lot of cleaning in the garage - I'm getting a new garage freezer and fridge delivered this week, which required moving a bunch of stuff. Much of the stuff in the garage was sitting there because I hadn't taken it to the basement because of the HVAC project, and then I never bothered because I was lazy and didn't need the space. But it all looks much better, so I'm glad I got it done even though it was a slog.

And now, I'm going to try to go to bed early (for real!) - goodnight!

you're too sweet for me

I've been falling asleep while trying to write this, so I'm going to keep it brief. Yesterday I indulged my vanity by taking a v. quick, v. early trip to Des Moines to get my haircut, and then I came home and slogged for the rest of the day. Today, [censored] and I dropped my old stove off to donate it to the local secondhand store (it has only been sitting in my garage for eighteen months!), and then my mom and I went to the cemeteries to pick up the decorations she'd put out for Memorial Day.

We ended our cemetery tour with some soft-serve ice cream in Seymour, which was a nice treat. Then I came home and spent the afternoon doing various tings around the house. [Censored] went above and beyond and installed a new thermostat for my upstairs hvac zone, which was the final icing on the cake of that project. I cleaned up some stuff in the garage in preparation for a delivery I have coming this week. And eventually [censored] and I picked up Mexican food and took it out to the parents' house, where we had a nice time talking about various tings we've learned from recent D-Day coverage.

And now, I need to sleep - goodnight!

corn

I had a decent day, all in all; I didn't sleep particularly well last night due to the neighbor dogs early on, but I wasn't really worse for wear because of it. I had some meetings off and on, and I also got some work done - nothing particularly exciting, but better than sometimes, so I guess I'll take it.

By 5:30 I was feeling done, so I thought about taking a nap and instead sat on my balcony and journaled for awhile. Then I made burrito bowls because I am a good sister and [censored] deserves some joy in life. We watched some country music videos while eating, and then [censored] rewarded my patience by showing me John Oliver's segment on the corn industry, which is well worth watching. His pieces are comedic, but they're incredibly deeply researched and include clips from decades of past reporting on corn and Big Ag. I thought it was pretty nuanced. If I could make that kind of piece regularly, I would quit my job and do it - but given how long it's taking me to write a book, making a weekly twenty-minute heavily research video seems out of my comfort zone.

And now, I need to sleep since I have an errand to run early tomorrow - goodnight!

we took a little bacon and we took a little beans

I had a pretty decent day, but it was a bit discombobulated because I had to get up early for an 8am doctor's appointment. This was the second day in a row that I had to leave the house early, which was a real indignity; yesterday, I had to go into town by 9:30 to meet with some of the economic development board to discuss the budget. Today's doctor's appointment was pretty quick, so I was home by nine, and then I had to convince myself to focus on work.

Luckily I was vaguely interested in the stuff I had to do today (and one of those things was talking to Adit for an hour, which is always a delight). I did take an illicit nap for twenty minutes to make up for getting up early, which helped. And I ended the day with a long-overdue chat with Alice and Kelly, who were on my team many ages ago - it's almost impossible to believe, but I left my previous job two years ago this July (and two years ago right now I was on leave and had already decided to resign). It was nice to chat with them both, and since Alice is still on my old team, everything she told me verified that I made the right call to go.

sssanyway, after that, I did a tiny bit more work, then sat on my balcony and took care of various personal tasks. Eventually, [censored] got home and we talked and I was treated to an extensive history of 1950s country music. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

head in the clouds but my gravity centered

Today was the usual Monday - I had a bunch of work and a bunch of meetings, but I got to briefly discuss whole house generators in one of those meetings, which would make [censored] proud. And I did some of my work from my balcony - it was super sticky out, but being outside is way better than being inside. I'm not sure how I'll fare when I have to do my job inside during the winter, but that's a problem for Future Sara.

But for now, the best way I can help Future Sara is by going to bed - goodnight!

helter skelter in a summer swelter

I had a pretty good day today, despite potentially committing involuntary birdslaughter. I slept until almost ten, which was amazing. Then I successfully stayed off my phone and was able to write for quite a few hours - broken up, of course, by the need for coffee, and lunch, and dinner. It all almost went off the rails before it began because I went around the front of the house to move my doormat (which was in danger of getting birdshit on it due to the birds nesting in my front door wreath) - and when the mama bird flew out at my approach, three baby birds jumped out after her.

This was quite a shock, and I didn't know what to do - the birds were definitely fledglings and seemed *almost* capable of flight, but not capable enough to get back up to the nest. They all hopped/sorta flew away from me, though, and I was too stunned to do anything. After a bit of googling and consulting the Audubon Society page, I determined that I should leave them alone - and as far as I could tell, they all made it to the base of the nearby tree that the mama flew to, so hopefully they make it.

sssanyway, I spent the rest of the day mostly writing. I took a break to make supper - I made potatoes au gratin and baked a ham that had been sitting in my fridge, and it all turned out quite well. After I cleaned up the kitchen, I said goodnight to [censored], came upstairs, put fresh sheets on my bed, and wrapped up some stuff I was working on. And now I should sleep so I can switch into corporate mode tomorrow - goodnight!

grapevine

I did v. little today, which is fine considering I worked late last night and needed a day to recharge. I did take care of some minor tasks, and I enjoyed my coffee, took a leisurely shower, and spent some quality time thinking about writing (with my eyes closed, but I count it) for a couple of hours on my balcony.

Then I threw together a batch of chocolate chip chewies, and [censored] and I went out to Mom and Dad's for dinner. Dad grilled brats and hot dogs, and Mom made baked beans, and it was all quite tasty. After dinner, I continued to do virtually nothing - for some reason I've been mildly obsessing over the Ottomans recently, but I think I've learned just about everything I need to know about them, so it soon will be time to find a different wikipedia hole to go down.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

lead is terrible in flavor

I have little to nothing to report today - I did far more work on a Friday than I ever want to, which may make up for taking the last four Fridays basically off.

I didn't really get started until after ten, and I took a break after lunch to go to the lumber yard and talk about doors (as one does). I also spent some quality time this evening sitting on my balcony (made less quality by the incessantly barking dogs next door), and then ate leftover salmon and chatted with [censored] for awhile.

I spent the rest of the evening messing around online. At ten p.m. I was going to wind down, but instead I talked to Adit (some people call him the cat) about some work stuff for thirty minutes while he wandered around the Mission. It felt like old times, but I was getting paid to talk to him, so I guess that's maybe an upgrade? Then I did some work based on our conversation, and now I really do need to sleep. Goodnight!

rolling waves

I worked all day today and actually felt pretty productive, which was a big improvement over earlier in the week. It wasn't a total slog, since the morning was pretty quiet - but I did inadvertently work until seven, and then I did another hour of work just now. But my 6-7 meeting was with Adit, so that's not so shabby. And I did most of my afternoon work while sitting in the sun on my balcony, which always lifts my spirits.

After hanging up with Adit, I took a break to make dinner (my beloved spaghetti all'amatriciana with bacon and red onions, which I haven't made as often since that was what I was making when I cut my finger and fainted last summer). I finished just as [censored] got home, so I talked to him for awhile. And now I need to sleep since my first meeting tomorrow is at the unholy hour of 9:30am - goodnight!

sense of space

I have absolutely nothing to report - I did indeed have some Sunday Scaries yesterday (yes, it was Monday), which made getting back into work a little rough today. Luckily no one else seemed to be in it to win it with work either, so my meetings were relatively light and I didn't have anything super urgent to sort through. And I had some delicious cheese and salami for dinner thanks to my stockpile run to Des Moines on Saturday, so things certainly could have been worse.

But now I'm going to try to unwind and go to bed - goodnight!

but now you double as a papermaker

I had a lovely day yesterday and another lovely day today - no Sunday Scaries in sight, so I presume they will be repaid with interest tomorrow. Yesterday, I kicked off the morning by chatting with Veronica, which was very long overdue. Then I did various tings around the house - mostly picking up sticks from the rather incessant storms, and also organizing my supplies in the basement so that I have a better idea of what I have vs. what I need. The day ended at my parents' house, where they made bratwurst and potato salad and baked beans and coleslaw - all my favorite summer foods, and a v. nice conversation to go with it.

Today, I decided to go to Des Moines to stock up on groceries and other supplies. Having a day job is really cramping my style - I like to do these kinds of errands in the middle of the week, and now I have to go on the weekend like a chump. But I started my errands by trying out a new-to-me nail salon for a pedicure - I have actually never gotten a pedicure in Iowa before, but now I can cross that off my bucket list. I really liked the place I went, and it's conveniently located near the mall / Costco / my wine store, which means I can work it into my regular rotation.

After my pedicure, I grabbed a quick salad for lunch, and then I did speed runs through the wine store and Target. I skipped Costco because I really only needed one thing there (which I can order from Costco online) and knew I would somehow spend $300 buying thing adjacent to that one thing. But I did go to Whole Foods, where I spent a rather exorbitant amount of money on groceries to get through the next few weeks.

Then I drove home, and after I put my perishables away, I lounged on the couch and chatted with [censored], who spend the day working on [censored], which will benefit both of us greatly. Then I made brunch for dinner - I haven't been making brunch the last few months, which was been a real bummer, but I was in the mood for hash browns and bacon/onion/mushroom-filled scrambled eggs. [Censored] and I ate that bounty while watching the latest Neal Brennan comedy special on Netflix. At one point we realized that we were hearing thunder and seeing lightning, so I put my car in the garage, but it appears that everything skimmed around us.

And now, I need to unwind - goodnight!

when i leave don't save my seat, i'll be back when it's all complete

I didn't blog yesterday because I had a supremely boring day (well, interesting work-wise, but nothing I can share here). I had hoped that would turn into some decent sleep - but instead, the weather radio went off at 3:30am, and it sounded just dire enough that [censored] and I decided we should stash our vehicles. I had actually just decided not to stash mine and go back to bed when [censored] yelled up the stairs asking if I was putting my car in the garage, so I decided to do the responsible thing instead of the thing that would give me an excuse to buy a new car.

So we took [censored]'s truck to park it in a covered building, and then I got my car in my garage, which is a tricky enough feat when I'm wide awake and a little more nervewracking when I'm bleary-eyed. Then I tried to go back to bed, but I had a pretty severe stomach ache and also the weather radio went off another five times. We didn't end up having any damage, but Iowa is leading the nation in number of tornadoes this year, and I can confirm that my sleep has been disturbed too much.

So I was really dragging this morning, but I had to get up and go to breakfast with the Garden Club. For some reason (probably my relative youth + ability to do manual labor), they invited my to join, and for some reason (probably my extroversion) I said yes. My mom is in Garden Club and there's an 80% overlap between Garden Club and the other club I'm in with her, so needless to say I knew everyone there. Breakfast was nice and I felt appropriately welcomed into Garden Club, so hopefully I can go to meetings fairly regularly (although they're during the work day, so we'll see).

Then I came home, nursed my still-aching stomach, and was not nearly as productive as I needed to be (but probably more productive than I wanted to be). Eventually I wrapped up, took a brief walk to see [censored], and then spent the evening mulling over a shopping list, looking at freezers for my garage, etc., etc. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

sleeping is giving in so lift those heavy eyelids

I had a v. busy day. It was quiet to begin with, which is the joy of having a pacific timezone job in the central timezone. So I talked to my friend Tanya at 11, and I didn't really get deep into work until lunch. I'm paying for it now, since it's 1am...but I'm getting ahead of myself.

So I had meetings all afternoon, and those spawned more meetings, which meant that I had to abruptly hang up on Adit at 5:45pm so that I could rush into town and have dinner with some people from Missouri who are wanting to have a mural festival. About twelve of them came up and saw the murals on their own before meeting me and Brenda (from the museum) for dinner and a v. long conversation about how to run a mural festival. They have a really great group, but understandably find it a little daunting to get going - but I hope they do, because now I'm excited about having a bunch of communities in southern Iowa and northern Missouri with murals and other artistic attractions.

The conversation lasted 2.5 hours, partially because the restaurant is notoriously slow at serving a big group of people. But I had fun reliving the festival, and my burger was decent and my chardonnay was also marginally good. Then I came home and immediately hopped on another call, which lasted 1.5hrs (which was 1.5hrs longer than I wanted to spend on a video conference at 8:30pm). I took a break after the call to say hi to [censored], and then I eventually came upstairs and worked another hour and a half.

Needless to say, I'm ready to crawl into bed, so I'm going to cut this short - goodnight!

bad moon rising

Today was a fairly exciting day - lots of meetings, lots of dogs barking, lots of hail, one tornado warning, one margarita, several reacquaintances, and one long chat with my beloved bestie.

The work stuff was all fine - I alternate between feeling like I'm competent and feeling like I still know nothing, which is tricky, but several of my meetings today felt like they veered toward competent. However, as soon as my last meeting was over, the two weather radios in my house + my phone + the town tornado siren announced that there was a tornado warning. I gathered some tings and went to my living room (yes, next to a bay window; no, not recommended) to watch the forecast and see where the possible tornado was at. It didn't seem terribly risky, but it started to hail (fairly small) and the wind really picked up, so there was a brief moment when I decided to go to the basement. But I came back upstairs almost immediately, and everything died down and it was sunny again.

So when that fun thirty minutes was over, I took one last quick meeting and then dashed into town to go to a meeting of a local charity to beg them for money for the library. They met at the Mexican restaurant in town and bought my meal, which seemed a little unnecessary since I was the one begging them for money. I knew most of the guys there (as well as the handful of wives who were seated separately and having their own little gathering), and it was pretty entertaining - and lucrative, since they granted my request, which means the library can keep going with ebooks/audiobooks another couple of months.

Then I came home, did a bit of work, and talked to Katie for a long-overdue chat about life and #smalltownlife. Sadly we had to wrap up after an hour and a half (because we're old, not because our parents were yelling at us about the long distance bill). And then I messed around online, did some clothes browsing, and did a bit of work.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

just like heaven

I made it back to ye olde Iowa - the drive home from the airport was a little gruesome because it was after midnight, and there was substantial lightning the whole way and heavy rain for the last twenty minutes of it, but I survived. My day in Tucson was v. nice before my travels commenced - I got up early enough to have several cups of coffee on my balcony and do some writing-related work for a couple of hours, and then I packed, showered, checked out, and met Lauren for the brunch buffet. We had a leisurely meal and then sat by the pool for a final session - I didn't bother putting on my swimsuit, but it was a v. chill way to end the weekend.

Then I went to the airport, which was just as easy to navigate as Des Moines is, and so I had plenty of time before my (slightly delayed) flight. My flight from Denver to Des Moines was also slightly delayed due to weather, but everything was mostly smooth. And now I need to sleep and get ready for the week ahead - goodnight!

tree of life

I had an excellent, restorative day in Tucson. I started with a coffee, followed by a v lovely massage. The spa here is excellent, so much so that I was  tempted to rebook my flight and stay a few more days...

But I need to get back to the grind, so that's out. After my massage I grabbed some more caffeine, and then rendezvoused with Lauren for a v tasty lunch. We spent the afternoon by the pool, talking to the other characters... And when it was only us left, we discovered that we could pick up a random phone in the pool area and order room service to the pool. So we got some guac and some piña colada and had a v nice late afternoon catch-up.

Then we got ready and headed into Tucson for some different vibes. We had a drink at a coffee place/bar  I the would go to anytime if I lived in Denver. Then we had dinner at the Coronet, which was perfect. My steak was the best I've had in awhile - it was served "on the forest floor", which was so unique that I'll remember it 

But for now I'm falling asleep writing this, so I'm going to bed - goodnight!

it's a dry heat

I successfully reached my destination today, but it wasn't without its challenges. The first challenge was waking up at 5:15 after five hours of sleep, but I accomplished that mostly successfully. I made it out the door within a few minutes of my stated goal, armed with a large cold brew for the road, and was wide awake for my drive to Des Moines. It was really pretty this morning after several days of rainy weather, and the sunrise was almost enough to make me consider becoming a morning person (but my body has other plans).

So I got to the airport without incident, parked, was the only person in the TSA precheck line, and so had time to grab breakfast and do some work before boarding. This was pretty key, since if I had planned to eat in Denver I would have died. I was supposed to have an hour and twenty minutes for my Denver connection...

But first, my flight to Denver attempted to leave early, and then was held on the runway in Des Moines for twenty minutes by Denver air traffic control. We made up some of that in the air and were going to be just a few minutes late...but then we landed in Denver and there was no gate for us, so we sat on the tarmac for thirty minutes. I got a notice from United that they were boarding my flight as I was getting off the plane, and my departure gate was at least ten minutes walking from my arrival gate (and could have been much worse).

So I sped to the new gate and made it with time to spare - but was forced to gate check my bag, which I found to be a travesty. The second flight was smooth and I did some good sleeping + journaling, but then I had to wait awhile for my bag in Tucson, and I was not thrilled by that.

However, with all those extremely minor complaints out of the way, I can say that the rest of the day was a success. I had a nice Uber driver from the airport to my hotel, and when I got here I promptly rendezvoused with Lauren (aka Subz) for a girls' weekend. Terry was supposed to be here as well and unfortunately had to cancel, but Lauren and I were still down for some broiling in the desert.

Lauren had already been here awhile and eaten lunch, but she hung out with me while I ate lunch (a v. tasty sushi bowl). Then we parted ways to check into our rooms, and I'm delighted by mine - a nice view of the mountains (and a bit of freeway, relatively unobtrusively), and an extremely comfortable bed in which I took a twenty-minute nap. I met Lauren at the pool outside my room, and we had a really lovely couple of hours - it's absurdly hot here (and will be 99 degrees tomorrow) but the pool was great, and some sun after all the springtime rain is nice.

Then we got cleaned up, grabbed an uber downtown, and had tacos at a restaurant owned by one of my favorite former Top Chef contestants. The tacos and salsas were excellent, although I overordered because I thought I was hungrier than I was. Then we walked around briefly but realized we were both crashing (Lauren didn't switch time zones, but she did get up at three), so we came back to the hotel, and I inadvertently napped while catching up on twitter. So now it's time for bed for real - goodnight!

sucker love is heaven sent

Happy birthday to [censored]! Sadly I don't have time to regale you with facts about [censored], partially because [censored] doesn't want me to share facts, and partially because I need to get up super early to catch a flight. 

But today was good - I got up, baked a lemon cake for the birthday celebration, and then slogged all day with few breaks. But someone was late to a meeting and I used it to put cheesy potatoes in the crock pot, and I was able to get the ham balls in the oven on time. So, by the time [censored] got home and the parents came over, we had a mini feast.

But then I had to scramble to pack, and hopefully I didn't forget anything, but we'll find out tomorrow. Goodnight!

baia do sancho

Today was entirely too busy, but also lovely. I got up this morning and did a bunch of work, and then I took a break for lunch with my mom. We met up with a woman (Ann) who works in tourism for the state of Iowa; my mom worked with her many years ago when my mom did some tourism stuff, but probably hadn't seen her in twenty-five years. I connected with Ann at a conference I attended last year and she guessed who I might be related to based on my last name, which was pretty funny.

So, Ann was in the area for a meeting, and she reached out a few weeks ago to see if we wanted to have lunch. We met up to eat salads at Outlaw, and we also toured a bunch of the murals. We showed her around the ones in the main town, drove up to Millerton to look at one of my favorite murals, and then came back to my town to see the five murals here. At that point, I needed to get back to work, but my mom took Ann out to the Round Barn, so I would say Ann got her money's worth with the grand tour.

After I got home, I slogged pretty aggressively until sixish. Then I ran to town to get some groceries, came home, did the second of three loads of laundry, ate some leftovers, and had a work meeting with a guy in Japan whom I hadn't met yet. Then I did more laundry, painted my toenails, did some other personal tasks, and worked for the last couple of hours to get ahead of some stuff, since I'll be offline all weekend.

And now, I need to sleep and hopefully recharge before morning - goodnight!

under the table and dreaming

Today was not particularly interesting for you - I slept, I woke up, I showered, I poured some cold brew, and I worked. I find much less to dread about this job than I did in my last job, so that's a real positive - but my body is still not quite used to having a job at all, and so I found myself in desperate need of a nap at four (which I took). Then I ran to the grocery store, came home, threw some rice in the rice cooker to go with the chicken taco meat I was making all afternoon in the crock pot, and worked for another hour.

Eventually, it was time to take a break / eat - so I closed the laptop, went downstairs, heated up some refried beans, and shredded the chicken breasts. The rice was a new-to-me recipe for making Spanish rice in the rice cooker - it probably would have been better the old-fashioned way (toasting the rice in oil before letting it simmer), but this method was easy and foolproof, which is a real bonus.

So, [censored] and I ate tacos (well, tacos for him, taco bowl for me) and watched various tings on tv. Then I came upstairs and worked for another hour and a half or so. This is not as onerous as it sounds, but I'm trying to go to bed earlier so that I can get up earlier and either get work done so that I don't have to work at night, or get writing done so that I can stop feeling guilty about not writing. Either way, it's time for bed - goodnight!

integrity, faith and crocodile tears

Today was a supremely Mondayish day - I had a bunch of meetings, and it rained pretty steadily (and sometimes quite briskly) all afternoon. But all in all the meetings were good, and I stopped around six to relax a bit before dinner. Dinner was quite easy, since I made fresh spaghetti to go with some spaghetti sauce that had been languishing in the freezer. And then [censored] and I were both saying we should go to bed early, but instead explored the ramifications of remodeling my bathroom (spoiler: it will be a huge pain, as remodels are, but probably worth it).

And now, I need to unwind and go to bed - goodnight!

let's lay in the dead grass, stare at the stars

I'm quite tired - I wouldn't go so far as to say that I did too much manual labor, but I certainly feel like I did enough. I woke up earlier than I wanted to this morning and lazed in bed for awhile, and then I went downstairs, poured some cold brew, and talked to [censored] for awhile. [Censored] is embarking upon a [censored] project, which may result in making some changes to network names for the wifi, and I had a v. entertaining time brainstorming new network names with [censored].

At some point, I knew I needed to get with it, so I took a shower and seized the afternoon. I helped [censored] pick up sticks after [censored] hauled away a big tree limb that I lost in a storm a coupleo f weeks ago - I do not particularly enjoy picking up sticks, but we made good progress. Then I repotted another indoor plant and also planted most of what I bought at the greenhouse yesterday - so now I have 8+ containers of stuff, with the potential for more on the way.

At some point, I took a break to run out to Mom and Dad's and wish Mom a happy mother's day. We chatted for awhile, which was nice, and felt like our usual Sunday calls in person instead of on the phone. Then I came home, put on pants instead of shorts, and ran into town to pick up a couple of groceries + takeout from the Mexican place. [Censored] and I enjoyed it at the bar in my kitchen, and then we watched a bit of last night's SNL. And now, I desperately need to sleep - goodnight!

the cloud is moving nearer still, aurora borealis comes in view

I had a lovely Saturday all in all, despite not crossing much off my to do list. I slept in, took a quick shower, and picked up my mom so we could go to a greenhouse. On the way, we stopped to see the Humeston mural from last year's festival, since Mom hadn't seen it installed. And we went to the general store across the street - I always forget how much they have stocked, and I found some good stuff for my kitchen.

Then, we proceeded to the greenhouse. One of the employees said this is their busiest two days of the year, and it was certainly busy, but we were able to navigate just fine. I'm still not planning to plant much this year because I have several yard projects (build fence, put in water hydrants, possibly redo the deck) that will potentially alter where I should plant stuff. But I got flowers and herbs for containers, so at least I can spiffy up my balcony and some other key areas.

Eventually, we came home and I dropped Mom off before coming to my house, eating a sandwich, and collapsing. I chilled for a little too long, but eventually I got into my shed and pulled out my gardening containers, got out dirt and various gardening tools, etc. But rather than plant the stuff I bought, I repotted several houseplants that were long overdue for fresh pots and soil. Hopefully I didn't kill any of them, but we shall see.

Then [censored] and I went out to Mom and Dad's, where Dad grilled some truly excellent burgers and Mom made some equally excellent fried potatoes and baked beans. I assume Dad's bratwurst was also excellent, but I was so full from the rest of it that I had to save my brat for tomorrow.

And now, after a v low-key evening, it's time for bed - goodnight!

if you've got an impulse let it out

I'm in Kansas City, which is unusual for me - but the trip was worth it. I got up and worked all morning, but I crossed off all the tasks that I needed to get done, so yay for me. Then I hurriedly ate some leftover chili, packed, and [censored] and I got on the road by two.

There was v. little traffic on the way here, and we reached the hotel a bit before five. Our room had a bit of a weird beeping noise, but we called the front desk about it and then went downstairs to eat in the bar; by the time we got back, someone had been in the room and the beeping noise was gone, which was a real plus since we didn't have to switch rooms. This is the same hotel I stayed in with Caroline last summer, and I quite like it - it has a v. nice 1920s vibe, and my steak and glass of wine were tasty (and the fries were even better).

Then, [censored] and I both changed and walked to the concert. It took all of five minutes to walk from our hotel to the T-Mobile Center, which meant that it was closer to walk to the concert here than it was to walk from our cars to the festival that we went to on Saturday. It was also about thirty degrees warmer, which was a real plus, and I maintained a pleasant body temperature through the whole performance.

We got to the venue early enough to watch the opener (Slow Pulp), and then the main show started. It was a dual header of Death Cab and Postal Service (which, iykyk, have the same frontman), and they played their 2004 albums (Transatlanticism and Give Up) from start to finish. The Death Cab album is gorgeous but can be melancholy, so it's good they started with that; Give Up is more dance-y and upbeat, even if the lyrics are still moderately depressing. All in all, the show was gorgeous - and v. v. nostalgic, since those albums were on heavy rotation my first year out of college, when I was young and everything was still ahead.

And now, after a v. easy walk back to the hotel and some unwinding, it's time for bed - goodnight!

where is my mind

I had a v. low-key day, all in all - several meetings, but they all went fine. I took a couple of them while sitting on my balcony, enjoying the sun and the vague scent of manure from some nearby farming activity. I probably could have done without the manure smell, but if I can take some meetings from my balcony all summer, I'll be a pretty happy camper.

Eventually, I wrapped tings up and ran into town for a library board meeting, which was fun. Then I came home, took care of a million personal tasks, made some chili for dinner so that I would have leftovers tomorrow, and painted my nails in anticipation of wanting to look a little more chic tomorrow. As I was wrapping that up, [censored] came home, and we listened to some entertaining podcasts and chatted about various things until now.

And now, I should either do a bit of day job stuff or go to bed - goodnight!

every claim you stake

I definitely got in it grind today, even though I didn't want to - my weather radio woke me up a couple of times last night, but I went back to sleep because severe thunderstorms aren't enough to faze me. But still, my sleep wasn't exactly sufficient. So I powered myself up with coffee and a shower and got ready for the slog ahead.

Not that the slog was bad - it's nice to feel like I'm starting to understand some things. And I took a walk at lunch, and I also sat on my balcony with a glass of wine and my journal (and a convo with my mom) for a couple of hours. Then I ate some leftover steak with a fresh potato, did some laundry, and worked for a couple more hours. For some reason I'm much happier working from 9-11pm than I am from 9-11am, so I bring this upon myself.

But now I need to sleep- goodnight!

so i crossed my thoughtless heart, spread my wings like a parachute

Sorry for the lack of blog the last two(ish) days. Saturday was really a ton of fun, but it was a little brutal being cold for ten+ hours. It was even more brutal because I didn't know a single song (other than when they played The Pixies on the speakers during a set change), and so couldn't even warm myself up by singing. But despite not being a country music fan, I enjoyed the music - there were some really excellent bands there, and there are worse ways to spend a Saturday than sitting in a lawn chair and listening to live music.

sssanyway, after all that excitement + the massive extrovert rush of a week at a work event in San Francisco, I hit the wall hard yesterday and got almost nothing done. Luckily, I came back a bit today - I worked all day and felt reasonably productive, which is a good thing since Mondays are meeting-heavy. I wrapped up just as [censored] was about to leave, and he dropped me off in town to pick up my car, which I got detailed since the gravel dust around here is impossible to keep off my fancy Audi interior.

Then I came home, took one more meeting, and then took out my trash, messed around with some stuff, and ate dinner. Then I spent the last couple of hours quite happily sipping a glass of wine while setting up a new journal. I had convinced myself several years ago that bullet journals (especially aesthetically pleasing bullet journals, with washi tape and stickers and markers) aren't worth the time spent setting them up. But I was frankly missing the aesthetics, and with a new day job I have to get on top of what I'm doing. So we'll see how the new journal goes - but if nothing else, I have more washi tape than anyone can use in a decade, so playing with some of it seems like a worthwhile usage.

And now, I need to go to bed so that I can be #inittowinit tomorrow - goodnight!

every day i'm workin' on the illinois river get a half a day off with pay

I had a very cold, very entertaining day - I have never been to a country music festival before, but there's a first time for everything. Unfortunately, it was about twenty degrees colder than I would have liked it to be, and also quite muddy. And the wind didn't help ...

... But I'm getting ahead of myself. I got a ton of sleep last night, which helped me survive today. Then I showered and took care of some tings before meeting [censored], Drewbaby, and Sammie in Indianola for lunch. The f...

.... And this was longer but I deleted half of it while falling asleep and I can't write it again. Suffice it to say I'm home and bundled up and going to bed - goodnight!

might be over now, but i feel it still

I had a v. v. long day - I woke up at four to get ready and head to the airport, which I timed just right to check a bag (full of swag that I acquired on this trip) and grab an iced coffee before boarding. I happened to be sitting next to someone from my old life, who is working in the Boulder office - but we had zero to say to each other, so we said hi, avoided eye contact, and studiously read until landing in Denver.

When I got to Denver, I had a three hour layover and felt pretty queasy from the turbulence over the Rockies. I didn't know whether champagne or ginger ale would cure me, so I had both while sitting at a wine bar and working for a couple of hours. Sadly, while I was sitting there, my flight was delayed for an additional two hours. So I had a long chat with Adit about some work stuff, hung up with him, looked at my phone - and discovered that my flight had been undelayed and was going to board in eight minutes.

While I'm glad I wasn't delayed, this caused more frenetic movement than I had planned to have during a three-hour layover. I grabbed a burrito bowl to go, dashed to my gate and got there just as they were boarding my group, and then sat in my airplane seat and scarfed down my food like a monster while boarding finished. I hate taking smelly food on planes, but not as much as I hate fainting from hunger, so #priorities.

The flight was on time and uneventful, and I slept a bit. When I got to Des Moines, I retrieved my bag, drove home, said hi to [censored] as [censored] was departing, and then met my parents for dinner. And now I desperately need to sleep since I have unusually social plans tomorrow and I'm not at all prepared (physically or mentally) for them. Goodnight!

we were both young when i first saw you

No blog tonight - nothing interesting happened today, although I feel like I barely made it through since I'm so tired and slightly sore/sunburned/hoarse from yesterday's shenanigans. But I'm all packed up and ready to go back to ye olde Iowa, and going to bed now would enable me to get six hours of sleep before catching my early flight. Goodnight!

with arms wide open under the sunlight

I'm v. v. exhausted - even my extroversion has hit the slightest bit of a wall. But I guess that's to be expected, since I have been at work events for twelve hours straight today (on top of all of yesterday). However, today's events were all play and no work, and they were mostly in the sun, so I don't think I'm going to complain.

I started the day with some work + leftover pizza + shopping around Fillmore, and then I caught an uber over to Golden Gate Park. We had a three-hour pickleball tournament, which was approximately two hours and forty minutes longer than I actually wanted to play pickleball. But it was a v. fun time overall - I can see the appeal of the game, and even though my team lost badly, I would be open to playing again. But it got infinitely better when I could stop playing and just sit in the sun while drinking sauvignon blanc, which is what I did...

Then, when it was over, I came back to my hotel with a coworker and let her use my shower so that we could both freshen up before dinner. Since we had some time, we bought some stationery at Maido (my beloved Japantown haunt) and then grabbed a few oysters and some rosé at Little Shucker. This tided us over nicely for the thirty minutes before dinner - the whole team gathered at Copra, which is an Indian restaurant that replaced Dosa (also an Indian restaurant). The food was excellent, as was the conversation, and as was the chai. I probably could have ended there...

...but of course we ended up at Festa and did several hours of karaoke. The big boss expensed all the drinks and song requests, which was kind. I must say that it's v. v. strange to sing Nickelback's "Photograph" with Adit while at a corporate event, but I think we got the crowd amped, which is all that mattered. It was pretty clear pretty fast that approximately four of us knew the Oasis/Creed/Red Hot Chili Peppers era of music, but overall it was quite a fun evening.

And now, I need to sleep so that I can get to the office and perhaps start doing real work again - goodnight!

stop coming back to you

I had an excellent day in the city of sin - it was v long and I was under caffeinated, but the event that I'm at went well and a bunch of us hung out after. But I've been falling asleep for an hour while trying to write this, so I'm going to go to bed - goodnight!

there's a hole in the sky with your name in the cracks

Wow, I'm exhausted - but the day was as smooth as it could be, so I guess I'll take it. I woke up at four a.m. in a cold sweat - actually, I woke up at 3:59am and shut off my alarm before it could wake up Joann. I'm guessing the shower I took to deal with the cold sweat probably woke her up, but I attempted to sneak out as stealthily as I could. I made it to the airport by five, which was cutting it closer than I usually do for my six a.m. flight - but the Des Moines airport is easy and I didn't need breakfast, so I made it with time to spare.

I slept most of the way to Denver, where I had a longish layover - so I had a leisurely breakfast and drank coffee while doing some day job work. Then I caught my flight to SF, which I also mostly spent sleeping. You would think that all this plane sleep might have refreshed me, but since I came into today with a deficit from all the fun this weekend, I'm still catching up.

As soon as I got to SFO, I grabbed an uber and went to the work conference I'm attending. Today was mostly a prep day, so I helped with what prep still needed to happen when I got there - and got to meet people in person whom I hadn't met yet. Everyone seems to be a hugger, which is nice if you're into that sort of thing (which I am).

Sometime after three it was clear that I had no more useful services to provide, so I checked into my hotel, unpacked, and then ventured out on a couple of errands (buying a laptop sleeve for my new work laptop, and buying socks since I somehow only packed three pairs and prob need more than that). I also grabbed a pizza at Delfina, since I couldn't fathom waiting to eat until 7:30pm with other people who were going out (nor could I fathom going out in a group of twelve).

I've been casually falling asleep for the last hour, so I think I'm going to go ahead and go to bed - tomorrow is an early day and I need to look a little more put together than I sometimes do, so I should go to bed. Goodnight!

on the road again

I had a v action-packed final day in ye olde Iowa. My friends and I spent the morning doing v small town things involving tractors and excavators thanks to [censored]'s tutelage. Then, I furiously packed, watered plants, etc - originally I was just going to drop my friends at the airport, but now I have to go to San Francisco from Monday to Friday. So I had to pack up alongside them.

We made it out of the house by three, and we took a detour to Lineville so they could cross Missouri off their bucket lists (and see a couple of murals). Then we drove to Des Moines, where we checked into the Hotel Fort Des Moines, which is still lovely. We had dinner at Fong's, which was a little ridiculous, mostly because the server dropped one pizza into the second pizza, which startled everyone. 

Then we had a final drink at the hotel bar, said our farewells to Jen and Jane (who are down the hall), and Joann and I chatted a bit while getting ready for bed (and while I painted my nails). But now I desperately need to get a few hours of sleep before my flight - goodnight!

electric love

I had another excellent day in ye olde Iowa. I started by doing a bit of work stuff that I couldn't avoid, and then my friendship renewal crew and I got a VIP tour of the round barn from my mom. I've done the tour several times, but it's always fun, and my friends enjoyed it. 

Then we picked up Casey's pizza and introduced my friends to the concept of taco pizza. I got some cheesy potatoes started in the crockpot, and then we went to the museum. I gave them a speed run tour since the weather looked dicey, and also continued to reinforce that I know everyone (even though I don't) because I knew the couple who werebg î a  volunteering.

After, we drove around my town for a bit and saw all five murals. We got back just in time for a storm - I dropped off my friends picked up [censored], did a quick swing to make sure my dad was still okay at his shop, and then came home to prep dinner. My parents came in to join us and we had a marvelous time.

I wish to tell you many other things, but now I need to sleep - goodnight!

don't hesitate to maybe overcompensate

I had a very lovely day despite a lot of rain in the morning and a lot of possible tornadoes in the evening. I dragged the friendship renewal crew into town to grab a donated check for the library (long story), and then we looked at the farm aid mural, drove through millerton to look at the tattoo mural, and proceeded on to- -  Pella. It's a v Dutch town that throws a big tulip festival every year, and while we're a week too early for the festival, that's probably a good thing because there might not be any tulips left by next weekend. 

When we got to Pella it was raining, so we immediately had lunch - the bison poutine was outstanding and my corn chowder was great. The rain stopped during lunch, so we walked along the canal (and had a hilarious encounter with some cold-looking gen Zers), and then we explored all the tulips in the town square. They really made all of us want to plant tulips, which was probably the point. We also walked by the mill, walked to the sunken gardens, did some shopping, etc.

We stood in line at the famous bakery for quite awhile, which was #worthit, and I also introduced myself to a friend of my dad's who runs a butcher shop. Thus fully sated with all things Dutch, we drove home and took a bit of a break before having dinner in Garden Grove.

Dinner was a delight and v tasty, and we heard some excellent [censored] stories and saw some possible meth heads while leaving, which I think added to the Iowa experience. Then we spent the evening glued to the weather reports - there were a lot of tornadoes around, but none that endangered us, so hopefully the damage elsewhere isn't too bad.

And now I desperately need to sleep - goodnight!

you can beat the heat if you beat the charges too

I'm blogging from my basement, which has never happened before - but I'm testing out sleeping down here in case I ever want to put a guest here, and so far so good. More to the point, I have three delightful houseguests this weekend, and by putting myself down here, everyone gets their own space (although one space is an air mattress in my office).

So today was a blur of getting ready - I had to work for far longer than I wanted to, and then I scrambled to finish cleaning, doing laundry, showering, etc. But I left just in time to pick up Jen, Jane, and Joann from the airport - we're having a friendship renewal weekend extravaganza, and we're v unusually doing it in Iowa.

We kicked things off in style by having dinner at Johnny's (where I always used to go on airport runs). Then we grabbed some groceries in Indianola and headed home. Unfortunately the weather looks like it's going to oscillate between garbage and actual danger most of the weekend, so we'll see what we do. But so far so good - we got home, settled in, and then had a v leisurely bottle of champagne while chatting with [censored] (who v graciously shared his name with the friendship renewal crew).

Now, though, I desperately need to sleep so we can pursue all sorts of fun tomorrow - goodnight!

down bad

I was v productive today - still not enough, but better than usual. I worked at this new day job all day - and by the way, I made official and permanent this week, which is exciting. I took a "break" around five to vacuum downstairs, and then I did a bit more work until I had to leave for a meeting of my secret society. 

I walked in the door the moment we were supposed to start, which is how it usually happens. I wanted to skip tonight because I have so much to do, but I'm glad I didn't - over snacks afterwards, someone told a story so hilarious that it was worth the price of my annual dues.

Thus entertained and energized, I came home, said hi to [censored], did a wee bit more work, and cleaned my kitchen. This included wiping down the pendants, stove, fridge, etc in addition to the usual countertop cleaning. It really doesn't take that long, and yet I always find it all to be daunting - maybe I'll remember this next time, or maybe I'll procrastinate on such tasks for another couple of months. 

But now I need to sleep - I have a million things to do tomorrow and not nearly enough time. Goodnight!

if my eyes were closed, i could follow where you go

Despite going to bed super late last night, I didn't struggle today - probably because I slept until 9:30 to make up for it. There are serious advantages for night owls to work in a time zone that is two hours ahead of most other people, and I took full advantage today.

Still, I did do a lot of slogging - but I took a long break around dinner to take a walk, do some laundry, bake a potato, etc. I had to do more work tonight, but it should make tomorrow easier, so it was a tradeoff I'm willing to make. But now it's time for bed - goodnight!

somebody told me to believe in better times

Mondays are going to be very Mondayish for the foreseeable future - it seems to be the most meeting-heavy day for my new gig, and I was in meetings from 10:30 - 3:30 without a break. And I'm in a meeting now (from 11pm - 1am, theoretically) in preparation for an event next week.

But it wasn't all terrible - the meetings are pretty interesting, and the people are great, which is a real upside compared to some previous experiences I won't name. And I took a nap this evening and did some tings around the house. Unfortunately, though, I have no other interesting tidbits to share - and as soon as this meeting is over, I'm going to bed. Goodnight!

would you believe me now if i told you i got caught up in a wave?

I have nothing to report - I did house stuff basically all day. I did write for just a little bit this morning, but otherwise cleaning was more important than anything else. After a day of effort, my bedroom, office, and dining room are fully clean, the guest room has fresh sheets, my living room is dusted, and my garage is somewhat tidied up. [Censored] also went above and beyond with various tasks, and so this feels like a v. worthwhile spring cleaning sprint even if I didn't have guests coming later this week.

So, while today felt v. productive, it's v. uninteresting from a blog standpoint - and that means it's time for bed. Goodnight!

if the line ends out on the road there's a story meant to be told

There's lots to do, as we like to say around here, but I think I'm going to go to bed. I wasn't as in it to win it as I wanted to be this morning, but I did get around and drop of some returns at the post office before grabbing some groceries. I spent the day doing a variety of household tasks - I'm in the midst of a major cleanup before my friendship renewal crew arrives next weekend. Some of the tasks involved [censored], as they often do. I took all the books and stuff off my office bookshelves so that [censored] could anchor them to the wall - they have never threatened to tip, but I intend to have someone sleep on an air mattress in my office, and I would feel quite horrible if they were crushed by all my books. [Censored] also put up the towel bars / robe hook that we'd been meaning to put in the main floor bathroom for a year, so this was quite an improvement.

Beyond that, I also did quite a bit of reorganizing in my bedroom and office, finally finished unpacking from my trip, etc. At some point, it was time for supper, so [censored] and I picked up Casey's pizza and took it out to our parents' house, where we had a lovely time hanging out for awhile. And then I spent the rest of the night putting all my books back on my bookshelves, tidying up my desk, etc.

And now, it's time for bed - tomorrow is all the vacuuming, dusting, and making of beds, so wish me luck. Goodnight!

i need to forget, so take me to florida

I had a lovely day, all in all. I woke up feeling a little sick to my stomach, but I rebounded and got on with my work day. I'm still figuring out the rhythms of this work-from-home situation - you would think that I would be a pro at it after the pandemic, but the rhythms of this job are pretty different (i.e. many fewer meetings), and I'm also still getting up to speed.

But I slogged most of the day, with a pleasant surprise call from Ritu in the middle of it. So we chatted until I was too hungry to keep talking, and then I ate some leftover chicken taco meat and slogged the rest of the day. I also had an impromptu meeting with Adit (some people call him the cat, but clearly no one at work does) - it's v. nice to have a built-in friend at work from the get-go when I'm trying to figure things out.

Eventually, the work day came to an end, and I repeated yesterday's post-work excursion in reverse - I drove [censored] to [censored], where I dropped him off to pick up his truck. Before we left the town where it was serviced, we grabbed dinner at Toot-Toot - we'd driven by it yesterday and I didn't intend to eat there, but I looked it up after and it shockingly had 4.5 stars on Google. It's a buffet-style place and the buffet tonight was $18.99, but they had prime rib, ham, burnt ends, fried catfish, several kinds of fried shrimp, steak, and a whole bunch of other stuff. It was all pretty tasty considering the spread, and it was worth glutening myself at the time.

However, now I have a bit of a headache, which means I can't keep doing anything work or house related, which means I need to go to bed. Goodnight!

a staircase up to nothingness inside your dna

I had a decent day despite the gloominess outside - I slogged all morning, and then I ran into town for a meeting of the mural festival group. We had a bit of business to discuss, which was duly handled. Then I came home and slogged the rest of the day. I wrapped up around 5:30 and then drove an hour to [censored] to pick up [censored], who had to leave his truck for servicing. Since we were already out and about, we stopped for dinner at La Bota II (now, technically, La Bota I), which was quite tasty.

When I got home I should have gone to bed, but I instead procrastinated on bedtime until now. But better late than never, I guess - goodnight!

you beat my heart from miles away

I had a lovely day, all in all - I got a bunch of work done, ate the last mediocre leftover salad for lunch (it was not mediocre five days ago, but it was not the best today), did some more work, and took a walk around town. I did a bit more work when I got home, and then I sat on my balcony and listened to the birds and journaled until dark. It's going to be too cold for balcony time the rest of the week, so I'm glad i got some quality time in tonight - even if it meant eating dinner at eight, which is far too late.

By the time I was done eating, [censored] was home, and so we talked for a bit. And now I need to wind down and go to bed - goodnight!

these drinks are breaking up old routines

It was v. hot in my house when I woke up this morning - so it's a good thing that my HVACers showed up to finish hooking up my A/C. When they did my massive HVAC project last fall, they weren't able to put the refrigerant (some would call it coolant, but they would apparently be wrong) into the A/C lines and pressure test it all due to the low temps outside. Luckily they came back today - just in time for me to probably get a tornado tomorrow, and certainly not need a/c for another week or so.

Otherwise, my day was good. If I keep this job, I'm dooming myself to rough Mondays, since I have mandatory meetings straight from 10:30-2:30 with no breaks - but that's not the worst thing in the world. After all, in my last tech job I had seven or eight hours of meetings a day, and so far that has never happened here. I got up this morning in time to take a leisurely shower, drink some cold brew, and do some work before my first meeting, and then I slogged through the rest of the day.

Eventually, it was time to quit, and so I helped [censored] run an errand and also took my ten pounds of ham balls out to my parents' house so that I could use their freezer for them. Then I came home, said farewell to [censored], sat on my balcony to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and my freshly-cleaned adirondack chairs, and made a million lists of things to do. I took a break from the outdoor world to eat some chicken taco meat on top of brown rice - the taco meat was a slow cooker special that I threw together today, and it's so good that I could eat it all the time (and probably will if I have less time to cook). I then sat on my balcony and wrote in the dark, which was pretty lovely - the weather is going to turn tomorrow, so I'm pretending it's summer while I can.

And now, I need to sleep - goodnight!

earned all this money, but they never take the country out me

I somehow did way more than I wanted today and also way less than I intended to, so I'm not sure how to chalk that up in terms of progress. I spent the morning cleaning my balcony - with friends coming into town and the weather heating up, I decided it was time to make my balcony furniture more inviting. So I used my leaf blower to blow dirt off my couch and balcony, scrubbed the adirondack chairs, and scrubbed the railings and any other area that had bird poop on it. It's impossible to get a balcony fully clean, and it's pretty clear that I either need to repaint or do something different at some point soonish, but it's all much nicer than it was. I even lazed outside on my couch after dark tonight and it was pretty much perfect.

After cleaning the balcony, I did a few tings, took a shower, and then made ham balls. This was a multi-hour saga, partially because I had to find supplies (meat grinder, extra baking dishes, etc.) that were scattered throughout my house. I made three batches, which sounds more impressive if I tell you it's ten pounds. And I cooked them all, but by the time I was done, it was too late to take them out to my parents' freezer (since I don't have room in mine), so that will be a tomorrow errand.

By the time I was done with all that, I was pretty wiped out. [Censored] and I ate leftover salmon for dinner, and then I met [censored] at [censored] so I could give him a ride home. I then spent the rest of the evening cleaning up the kitchen, doing some online tasks, etc. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

what if i'm far from home? oh [censored], i will hear you call

I had quite a productive day today - it's amazing what happens if I manage to stay off my phone in the morning. Not that I entirely stayed off the phone - I had an hour-long chat with my friend Sherry, a writer whom I haven't seen since before the pandemic. But I talked to her via my headphones while I cleaned my fridge, which was a good way to multitask. Since I was on a roll with the kitchen fridge, I also cleaned the garage fridge and did some sorting / discarding in my pantry.

Eventually, I ate a salad, showered, and drove to the next town over to grab some groceries. I didn't need to do a thorough restocking, but there were some tings I needed sooner rather than later - and because I was going, I (selfishly) offered to pick up bratwurst for my dad to grill for supper. This was a good move on my part, since bratwurst are always excellent and my mom made her famous baked beans to go with them.

Between getting groceries and eating supper, I took care of a few more tasks and then drove [censored] out to our parents' house. It was gorgeously warm today, although it was too windy to really enjoy it, and the farmers are getting going with their spring planting. It seems a little early based on the calendar, but my body is ready for summer.

Eventually, we came home, and I mostly procrastinated rather than doing anything else (although I did make some lists). And now I'm going to go to bed so that I can get cracking tomorrow - goodnight!

against the grain of dystopic claims

It's 11:36pm, which is later than I planned to go to bed but an hour earlier than I've gone to bed any night this week - so if I can force myself into bed as soon as I post this, I'm calling it a win.

Today was pretty decent - I did a bunch of work, made a bunch of mason jar cobb salads to get through the next few days, and did a bunch more work. Some of that work was done while sitting on my balcony. It was a little too cool since the wind was gusty, but I threw a blanket on my lap and gritted my way through the wind because I was in desperate need of some sun.

Eventually, I was done, and I spent the evening taking care of minor household tasks and doing a bunch of journaling and trying to stay off my phone. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

now we on a mission, tried to turn me to the opposition

I worked today, which is the current par for the course. But I did sneak into town for a couple of things from the grocery store, which I put to good use tonight - I made salmon for dinner, and I also cooked some chicken breasts and bacon so that I can make salads for lunch tomorrow. And I did two loads of laundry, put away some tings from my trip, talked to [censored], etc., so all in all it was a pretty productive day.

It was also Aunt Becky's birthday today - happy birthday, Aunt B! And now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

heard the whistle blow from the wabash

I have nothing to report today - I got up, did a bunch of work, ate some lunch while participating in a long meeting, and did more work. When I was done for the day, I took a walk since it was so nice out, and then I sat on my balcony and journaled for a bit. And then I made a tofu stir-fry since [censored] isn't here and I can eat such abominations when I'm here by myself.

After I ate, I did a handful of minor tasks - but now it's time for bed. Goodnight!

i cooked the books and threw my combinations

I'm feeling astonishingly better, and I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying so. I was quite productive today as a result - I didn't get up all that early, but I also worked until eight p.m. to make up for it...which is much more my style anyway, so that's fine with me.

I also took a break in the middle of the day to eat lunch and look at the eclipse with [censored] - we had about 85% coverage here, but it was a clear sky and very obvious that the light was dimmer even if we didn't get the full effect. And my mom stopped by for awhile, so it's not like my slogging was relentless. 

When I was finally done, I scrounged some leftover chicken and wild rice soup from the freezer, which needed eaten and also hit the spot for my residual covid. Then, I read for awhile - I started THE TERRAFORMERS, and I'm not totally sure about it yet, but I think it's interesting. And now I need to sleep and hopefully get a little closer to this time zone - goodnight!

i whisper secrets in the backbeat

I had a pretty good first full day back in my house - I'm still somewhat congested from the 'rona, but otherwise I'm mostly better. I did sleep late due to the illness + the time change, and then I spent some quality time this morning / early afternoon writing (after much too long not writing). Then I took a shower before settling in to watch the Iowa/South Carolina game.

Sadly, of course, Iowa lost - they were smoking in the first quarter, but South Carolina's depth (and Kamila Cardoso's height) was unstoppable. I'm happy for South Carolina since I like their coach and it's amazing what they were able to do with a bunch of freshmen, but it's too bad for Iowa. But I've also never been an Iowa fan, so I can return to not being an Iowa fan now that the season is over.

After the game, I took care of a variety of tasks (laundry, mail, bill paying, shopping the Sephora semi-annual sale) and then made dinner. [Censored] definitely deserved burrito bowls after being such a helpful buddy while I was gone, so I made burrito bowls - and I'm happy to report that I didn't forget how to make them. Then, [censored] and I dealt with an annoying bookkeeping task. And then, I came upstairs and spent the last couple of hours doing stuff for this new day job - I don't think that will be a regular need, but since I barely did anything last week due to covid, I wanted to kick the week off right.

And now, I need to sleep - goodnight!

i can always change my name if that's what you mean

I'm glad I stayed in Des Moines last night, even though I didn't get much done today as a result - even though I'm feeling better, I should probably take it a little easy the next few days. I slept until after nine, and then I showered, threw my stuff in the car, and grabbed one last cold brew at Starbucks before leaving cities behind and heading into the wilderness.

But before I fully got into the wilderness, I stopped for groceries and gas. I finally got home after 2pm, where I was greeted by [censored], who had made many improvements to the house while I was gone. Since I made zero improvements to the house while I was gone (other than ordering a piece of furniture that showed up today), [censored] has thoroughly upstaged me. [censored] also showed me around some of his various holdings, which always makes for a fun and unusual tour.

At some point, I desperately needed a nap, which I took. Then, [censored] and I went to dinner with our parents - we went to our usual prime rib place, which was tasty. And now, I need to start unwinding and go to bed - I'm not totally tired yet, but I need to start adjusting to the timezone, and tonight would be a good time to make the first attempt. Goodnight!

this ain't texas

I'm in Des Moines after a v uneventful day of travel. I got up today in time for an 8:30 meeting, and I worked most of the morning before ordering some Thai for lunch. Then I said farewell to the hotel where I've stayed for the past two weeks - the staff is all super nice, but I'm looking forward to not seeing them for awhile. 

Then I went to the airport, did some work while waiting there, and flew to Denver. I watched as much of the Iowa/UConn game as I could on my phone - Google has its issues, but I will say that YouTube TV is awesome for being able to watch live TV in situations like this. I had to shut off my phone early in the fourth quarter. But I heard someone scream somewhere on the plane later, and I guessed from the scream (+ the continuation of cabin pressure, which eliminated a door plug failure) that Iowa won.

When I landed, I retrieved my bags and almost drove home... But I decided I was too tired, and that I should be prudent given my recent COVID battle. I actually felt pretty good today, but sleep is probably still important (although I should have gone to bed as soon as I fit to my hotel instead of spending an hour catching up on the news). Goodnight!

possess too much persona

I'm feeling much better than I was earlier in the week - still not 100%, and I still need naps, but I think I'll be able to get on a plane tomorrow, which is all I want to do.

I credit the improvement to sleeping for about ten hours last night, and while that's a feat that I won't be able to repeat tonight due to my schedule, I'm hoping for nine. When I woke up today, I did a couple of hours of meetings, followed by several hours of work. I was starving all day in response to the fact that I barely ate this week, so I got a sandwich delivered from Ike's for lunch (on excellent gluten free bread) and had steak at the hotel for dinner. And I took my aforementioned naps + packed almost everything, so I'll be ready to go at some point tomorrow.

After dinner, I was going to do a bit of work and go to bed - but Chandlord stopped by briefly, so we sat in the lobby and chatted about all the things we could have done if I hadn't gotten sick and missed out on every social activity for many days. But bedtime commences now - goodnight!

we are the people we've been waiting for

I threw in the towel today and surrendered completely to covid in an attempt to speed through the next phase of recovery. While I'm definitely better than I was this weekend, I woke up still feeling a lot of dizziness / headache / general brain fatigue, and it felt like the only way to get over that was to lie flat on my back and not look at a screen.

Since my whole job (life) is basically sitting upright and looking at a screen, avoiding those things is quite difficult. But my boss was pretty supportive of the notion, and so other than one meeting (with Adit, who I didn't need to put on a show for and therefore didn't feel like a meeting), I mostly stayed in bed. And I would say this was the right call - my cough is close to gone, and while my head still isn't quite right, it's way better than it was this morning.

However, this was a supremely boring way to spend the day, and it has given me nothing else to tell you. So I'm going to start unwinding and aiming for bed (even though I slept a couple of times today and it's only 8:40pm), and hopefully by morning I'll be closer to normal. Goodnight!

I keep on falling in and out of love with you

I feel better today than I did yesterday... But I also walked a block and a half to pick up lunch and then needed to take a two hour nap, so what do I know. I did do a bunch of work today, though, and I ate more lunch than I have been, so I think things trending okay.

That said, I'm going to take it as easy as possible the next couple of days so that I can fly home Friday without dying. We'll see how that goes - goodnight!

you're a movie to me, the way you move around me

I'm still sick, but I am slightly improved over yesterday. I'm not feeling quite as feverish/chilled, but my throat is still sore and my cough is an abomination. However, I took delivery of two boxes of Puffs kleenexes, 80 cough drops, four covid tests, and some granola bars, so I think have the supplies necessary to get me through the next couple of days.

I did get up in time to work today, but I worked from the hotel and I'm delighted that everyone seems to default to camera off since that gave my an excuse to hide my ravaged face. I also took it easy and took a nap in the afternoon, which was v. necessary. I also relaxed while watching the Iowa / LSU women's basketball game, which was outstanding. And then I did a bit of work while eating all of the dinner I could force myself to eat (which was not much) - my appetite is not great, and I can't tell if my sense of taste has been affected or if I'm just not in the mood for anything that I can get here since I've already been here way too long.

But that's a problem for Future Sara - right now, I'm going to log off and go to bed since it seems likely that I'll be up throughout the night anyway and should therefore kick off the sleeping party early. Goodnight!

can't reach the moon now, can't turn the tide

So it turns out I have covid. I found this out yesterday, as my symptoms continued to escalate and I finally took a covid test; the line for 'yes you have covid' turned bright pink within seconds, so I'd say it's for real. And even if it's not for real, the symptoms are -- sore throat, bad cough, a lot of tiredness / fogginess.

So, due to this unfortunate turn of events, I saw no one and did nothing this weekend. Yesterday, before things got worse, I went out and bought kleenexes and sudafed and covid tests and warm socks; the kleenexes are gone now, so I'm back to using one-ply hotel kleenex like a peasant, and I may have to doordash some tomorrow. Today, I didn't feel like going out at all, but I needed coffee...so finally, around 1pm, I rallied enough to walk a block and a half to get some cold brew + gatorade + several giant bottles of water. I also ordered a pizza, which I only ate half of since my appetite is questionable.

Unfortunately, I have nothing else to report beyond this litany of woe - I watched some SNL, watched some comedy videos, napped, and mostly did absolutely nothing. And now, I'm going to try to go to bed and see if I can kickstart my recovery with more sleep - goodnight!

the otherlands

I'm unfortunately, suddenly, quite sick - about as sick as I was when I got COVID in 2022, which was not a pleasant experience. I'm sure the petri dish of exposure to so many other people, when I'm getting not enough sleep, has not helped matters. I also remember getting horribly sick when I went back to work in 2013 and 2017... And whether it's going back to work that causes it, or just exposure, is a mystery.

Anyway, I had already decided to work from my hotel today, and I thought I took it easy enough physically.... But everything worsened by early evening, despite taking an extremely unusual 6pm nap. So I got some chicken tortilla soup and a ginger ale from the bar (their food is generally excellent, but my tortilla soup is better) and spent the rest of the evening reading to take my mind off my runny nose. And now, I'm going to sleep and hope that tomorrow is better - but I cancelled the massage I'd booked, so that's how you know it's serious. Goodnight!

i want you to be happier

I had a long but good day in the city of sin. I made it to the office in time to grab an iced coffee down the street before my first meeting, and then I had meetings most of the morning. But some of them were chats with people in the office, which was nice - it's amazing how much better my mood is when I have people around. And I had a tasty lunch, more coffee, etc., so all in all it was a win.

The day ended with a going-away dinner for Adam, which was a nice way to meet a bunch of people (and also say hi to Adit). By the time I got back to my hotel, after walking 12,000 steps and being gone for almost thirteen hours, I had just enough time to watch the depressing last ten minutes of the Iowa State basketball game. And now, I should probably do some tings but I'm going to go to bed instead - goodnight!

but there's only so many streets, so many lights

I had a decent enough day - I hit an ebb in the learning curve at the new gig, since I know basically nothing and am not sure how to go about learning everything. But that's to be expected, so hopefully I emerge from the ebb and get into the flow tomorrow.

Otherwise, I have nothing to report - I worked all day, and then I eventually ended up in the hotel bar, where I was going to journal and then go to bed early... but then in true extrovert fashion I ended up chatting with a couple of guys from Baltimore and getting free whisky from the bartender I've befriended. C'est la vie and I've still got it, I guess. But now I need to go to bed so I can get cracking early tomorrow - goodnight!

so park your lexus and throw your keys up

So in an unexpected turn of events, I have a job. Or, at least, I have a job for a few weeks - it's a bit of an odd situation where we're basically testing each other out to see if we want to work together. This has been secretly, v. v. slowly, in the works for several months - and in a bizarre way. The job was never posted and I think I was the only candidate, and the interview process was v. slow until the CEO decided to just hire me for a month and see what happens.

But so far so good - I started yesterday, and the people are all v. friendly, and I think it could be a really good thing if we continue to get along. I'm not going to say more than that yet. But the only other salient fact is that Adit (some people call him the cat) and V's husband both work here, so the people are pretty well-vetted. And as long as Adit doesn't slip and call me Wampface like he usually does, I'll probably do pretty well.

sssanyway, that's why I'm in SF, and that's why I'm not posting anything fun since I'm mostly sitting on a laptop looking at spreadsheets and zoom calls. But perhaps I'll have something fun to post this weekend - we shall see!

Beyond the job, today was good - I grabbed some Nola-style iced coffee at Blue Bottle (which I love), had a v. delicious lunch with the team, and had a nice walk back to my hotel via Union Square. And now, I think I shall go to bed - goodnight!

baby it's all right now

I had a chill day in the city of sin. I got sufficient sleep, and then I showered, grab a cold brew from the Starbucks down the street, and wrote in the lobby for an hour and a half. Then, I embarked on my one plan of the day: I met Katrina for lunch at Pizzeria Delfina.

We usually meet in her neighborhood, but I lured her up the hill to Pac Heights, and I'm glad I did - the gluten free crust at Delfina is perhaps the best ever, and their mushroom pizza is perfection. We caught up for a couple of hours while eating pizza, and it was a v nice interlude.

Then, I grabbed a new notebook at my favorite store in Japantown, sat in the lobby at the Kabuki for a bit, and came back to my hotel, where I wrote for another hour. Eventually I grabbed some food in the bar downstairs, where I caught up with a bartender I've met several times before (pre and post pandemic) and watched the ISU/Stanford game (I was destined to be happy either way, but I can't wait to see what the ISU women do next year). And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

walking on sunshine

Surprise - I'm in San Francisco. I was supposed to be in Tahoe tonight, but there was a risk of a snowstorm, so V and I made a heroic effort to get out of the house and on the road by noon. We were in the city four hours later, which was decent time considering that we had to stop for caffeine and bathrooms. And while I'm v sad for the retreat to be over, I'm excited for some time in the city of sin.

Not that I intend to do much sinning - I'm here for more productive reasons, and also my liver is too old for its old shenanigans. In fact, when I checked into the hotel, I laid on my bed and did absolutely nothing for awhile. But then I rallied and went downstairs to get a Caesar salad and some salmon...

... And inadvertently invited Chandlord to join me. Clearly I wanted to see her or else I wouldn't have texted about dinner later in the week, but she had nothing going on, so she came to my hotel since it's v close to her. She ordered a pizza that took a long time (but that was still better than her pizza at the infamous wedge salad restaurant in 2021), and we caught up v deeply (if you like going deep on the Spice Islands and global nutmeg production). She also came upstairs and laid on my bed for awhile, which was v nice.

And now I need to sleep so that I can accomplish all the things tomorrow - goodnight!

slide into my room

I had a pretty mellow day - after getting so much done yesterday, it was perhaps inevitable that I would crash a bit today. But I got some tings done this morning, and then Veronica drove me to a nearby nail place so I could get a manicure. It was a vain but necessary errands, and the salon was good enough, so that left me feeling good.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon contemplating writing, writing tiny bits, and taking a nap. At some point I realized there was no reason to try to write when I was just refreshing the Iowa State basketball score every couple of minutes, so I watched the end of the game (thanks to the wonders of YouTube TV). It was fun to see them win so handily, and hopefully they'll keep going.

Then, V and I ate takeout Mediterranean for dinner, and I did some laundry and other tasks. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

sand yego

I'm quite fried - I didn't get enough sleep after staying up late reading last night, and I spent approximately ten hours (not exaggerating) working on the website for the mural festival. I should have done it ages ago, but I was never in the mood - and I still am not in the mood, but I want to stop thinking about it. I got all the pages for each individual mural into decent shape, and there are downloadable maps and things. I still need to write up some pages about the sponsors, festival volunteers, more about the artists, etc., and possibly add some more photos, but at least it's in good enough shape that a passing tourist will find some info.

When I wasn't working on the website, I was eating lunch (leftover pizza) or dinner (leftover Mexican) or chatting with Veronica. I did take a break after dinner to start a new book, which I'm enjoying - but I have quite an impressive headache now, so I think I need to sleep. Goodnight!

I can go a little while longer

I had a v nice, v chill day - I got some good writing done, and I also finished reading THE OVERSTORY, which was excellent and also v strange. And Veronica and I picked up pizza for dinner, which was pretty much perfect.

Now, though, it is almost one and I have been trying to go to bed earlier than this, so I think it's time to call it. Goodnight!

system of weights and measures

I had a very lovely day in Tahoe - I did much more than I did yesterday, while still having ample time to follow royal family gossip. V and I both were quite productive, although we took plenty of breaks to chat - and we ordered Indian food for a very early dinner, which was truly excellent.

After dinner, I spent some quality time continuing to read THE OVERSTORY, which I continue to love. And now, I need to sleep - goodnight!

be held back by the substitution

I had a lovely, absolutely lazy day. Adam made sweet potato hash and eggs for breakfast, and then I unpacked, guy myself organized, etc. I did a wee but if writing and journaling in the afternoon, but I mostly drank tea and took a nap. And then Veronica and I had an extended happy hour before eating dinner, and we all retired early. I intend to be more productive tomorrow, but this was a good way to ease into Tahoe. Goodnight!

watch the stars fade

No blog tonight...I made it to Tahoe, and the two hour the difference has hit me already - I've already been asleep for an hour. But luckily my flights were uneventful, and I landed to the incredible news about the Cyclones demolishing Houston, so that was v exciting. Then Veronica and Adam picked me (and my absurd amount of luggage) up, and we came home and ate tacos and went deep on the Kate Middleton situation. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

but i don't care for sugar honey if i can't have you

Sorry for not blogging the last couple of days - I've been scrambling to get ready for my trip, and it has made me both more frazzled and more boring than usual. I'm mostly packed, though - I have a couple of last things to do tomorrow, but then I'm heading to Tahoe for some long-anticipated writing fun with Veronica (yayyyyy).

Beyond packing, there were other tings happening the last couple of days. I had both a library board meeting and a PEO meeting on Wednesday, an economic development meeting yesterday, and allergy shots, in addition to my usual attempts to keep my life in order. There was also much basketball to be watched (and so far so good for the Cyclones). And, I had dinner with my parents and [censored] tonight, which was pretty tasty and a nice way to catch up before my trip.

But now, I need to go to bed so I can get approximately two hours less sleep than I normally do before waking up and finishing my task list. Goodnight!

am i not hot when i'm in my feelings

Nothing to report - or lots to report, if you care about royal family gossip, or how many times I've watched the 'I'm Just Ken' video from the Oscars, or various somewhat secret projects I have going on. Today was pretty chill, though - I got a bunch of stuff done, ran some errands, took a walk, chatted with Caroline, and made tofu stirfry for dinner since I had the house and the menu to myself.

But now, I'm going to try to wind down and go to bed at a more reasonable hour so I can continue my quest to get on daylight savings time (before undoing that work by going to Tahoe on Saturday). Goodnight!

who builds the future? do they care why?

I have v. little to report today - I didn't get enough done, which makes me cranky. But I did get to sit on my balcony for awhile, so it's not all bad news. And I bought groceries, removed the gel nail polish from my nails (which took much longer than I wanted to spend on it, but was worth it), and watched some entertaining videos while I dealt with my nails. In other words, it could have been worse.

But now I'm going to go to bed and force tomorrow to be more productive whether it wants to be or not - goodnight!

i'm enough, and i'm great at doing stuff

I did almost nothing today - I stayed up too late last night, slept too late through the time change, had a bit of an upset stomach that encouraged me to linger in bed, and so finally emerged from my room sometime after eleven. I made myself some v. tasty coffee, which only rallied me enough to watch the Big 10 women's basketball championship, which was a pretty exciting battle between Iowa (not my home team, but I'll cheer for them in some circumstances) and Nebraska (never my team).

Eventually, I helped [censored] with a thing, did a wee bit of writing, and discovered it was already 5:30pm, so I watched the Oscars. While watching the Oscars, I also heated up some frozen spaghetti sauce and made spaghetti for dinner, which was a nice thing to eat while watching awards given for a bunch of films I haven't seen. I did really enjoy Ryan Gosling's "I'm Just Ken" performance though, so that was worth the wait.

And now, I should probably consider going to bed and attempting to get on the right time - goodnight!

sing the wrong lines to my own song, you don't mind

I had a pretty lazy day this morning, but I spent some quality time this afternoon working on a website project that I've been putting off for six months. I took a break at some point to take a wee nap, and then I broke for dinner - [censored] and I met our parents in Seymour, where some prime rib and onion rings made a valiant attempt to revive me. It was nice to hang out for a bit, so it was a v. good break...

...and then I came home and worked on the website for another three hours, which means my eyes are starting to cross and I should really go to bed before I revert to my ulcerous workstyle ways. Goodnight!

doc told me to travel but there's covid on the planes

I'm back in my own bed after a nice mini trip away from it. I slept surprisingly well last night considering I was in an unfamiliar room, and the only downside of that was that I didn't wake up early and write this morning. But I got plenty of sleep, then put on some clothes and went around the corner to grab Starbucks, which was a nice treat that I can't get in my hometown. Then I got ready and checked out of the hotel, stored my backpack in my car, and wandered for a bit.

While I suspect that spending more than a few hours in Iowa City would feel even more claustrophobic than Boulder (a university town I universally despise), it was a nice place to spend a morning. I wandered around some shops, stopped in at the famous bookstore, and had lunch (brunch) at a place called Dandy Lion. All in all it was a good way to spend a couple of hours.

Then, I drove home, with a quick stop in Pella to do some reconnaissance for a spring trip. When I got here I needed a nap almost immediately, and then I rallied to talk to [censored], watch some TV, and scrounge for a v late sandwich when I finally felt hungry. And now, I need to sleep - goodnight!

the tiniest moves you make, watching the whole world shake

I'm in Iowa City for the night, which is a welcome switch-up from my usual routine. I haven't blogged about this, but my nephew had a pretty horrific accident while I was in Seattle - a car fell on him while he was working on it, and it crushed his chest pretty thoroughly. He's been out of the hospital for a bit, and seems to be doing shockingly well considering how badly he was injured - but since he was up for a visit, I decided to drive up to see him.

Since I'm not a morning person, and since I hadn't packed anything last night or finished tings I needed to do, I didn't leave home until noon, which put me at his house around three. His wife works from home and their toddler was down for a nap, so I got to catch up with them pretty thoroughly for a couple of hours. Their older daughter got home from school in time for me to see her too, and all in all it was a v. nice visit. Hopefully he continues to improve, and hopefully I'll see more of them in the next few months.

Then, I drove over to his sister's house to give her some moving boxes, and she and her husband and I had dinner in Iowa City. We went to Basta, which had a v. nice gluten free pizza and a nice cabernet franc from Scarpetta, which is a wine company owned by the same guy who owns the nicest Italian restaurant in Boulder (and my personal fave Pizzeria Alberico, which used to be Pizzeria Locale). We had a lovely time catching up over dinner, and it was nice to be able to walk to my hotel after (even if it was raining the whole way).

After dinner, I settled into my room, but I was too wiped out to do any writing that I had intended to do. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

she's my alma mater

I have little of interest to report - I woke up and wrote for a couple of hours, which was great. Then I changed my sheets and vacuumed my bedroom and office, talked to my mom, ate a v belated lunch, procrastinated, and eventually took a shower. And I messed around with cleaning and inking a couple of fountain pens before journaling for awhile, which always grounds me.

When I was done with all that, I ate dinner - leftover tater tot casserole with a fried egg on top. And then I started reading THE OVERSTORY, which has been on my shelf for ages - and so far it's spookily in my vein of interests, since it starts in Iowa, has an interlude in the Stanford Prison Experiment, continues into silicon valley, etc. It won a Pulitzer and I can already see why, so I predict I'll be finishing it posthaste.

But I'm proud of myself for closing it at midnight instead of listening to the voracious instinct that said to keep going, and I'm going to go to bed before I change my mind - goodnight!