shine a little light on my soul

I am in a Springhill Suites by the airport, which is a v v v far cry from the Montage in Cabo, but all dreams come to an end eventually. I woke up well before sunrise today thinking many thoughts, and so I actually got out of bed, grabbed coffee from the coffeeshop, and went down to the beach to watch the sunrise. While Cabo is on the Pacific side of Mexico proper, it faces east across the Sea of Cortez, and so sunrise is over the water (instead of sunset, which my California dwelling memories are more accustomed to).

Luckily the rain was gone and the sunrise was gorgeous, so I enjoyed myself. Then I went back to my room, finished packing, ate a room service omelette, and then went back to the beach to catch 90min of sun before wrapping up my trip. I had a farewell Paloma (I usually don't drink tequila at ten am, but this felt necessary), warmed my skin, and then showered etc before saying goodbye. I don't know if I'll go back to that particular resort simply because I don't know if I would want to repeat myself, but I would go back to Cabo again anytime. 

Then I went to the airport, where everything was remarkably smooth, and I grabbed lunch before boarding. I was seated in the midst of a remarkably obnoxious set of people, but I did some journaling despite them. We got to Denver on time and I was glad I had a three hour layover because the walk from the gate to the start of customs was almost fifteen minutes, and I was glad I had global entry because I sailed through.... But then had to wait 20-30 min to get my bag so I could go through customs and recheck. Then I had to go through regular security again, which in Denver is typically a shitshow...but this was my first time experiencing their new security setup and I was through in five minutes, which is unheard of. 

So all in, it was over an hour from landing to getting back through security, and then I still had to get to the far stretches of the b gates. But I had time to grab food, and I made it to the gate just as they started to board. My flight was uneventful and I slept the whole way, and landing in Kansas City was a breeze.m, but I decided I didn't want to drive 2.5hrs after all of this. So I'm ensconced in a hotel and need to sleep - goodnight!

lonely boy

I had an unfortunately boring day in Cabo - it rained until sunset, which is very rare (they get less than ten inches of rain a year, and one of those inches happened today). So I couldn't go to the pool, and everything was a little worse than I wanted it to be. But rain is better than snow, and I still had some excellent food, and I had a final cocktail with my favorite bartenders, so it all could have been much worse. And I did some writing / journaling / reading, so really, it was still a good vacation day.

But now I'm going to go to bed early so that I can hopefully take advantage of some sun in the morning before heading to the airport - goodnight!

all my favorite colors

I had an excellent but v lazy day - mostly because it rained, which made me decide to cancel my plans to leave the resort. Instead, I wrote this morning, had a late breakfast, and spent the afternoon in the spa, where I had a great massage and spent some time getting rained on in the hot tub.

I spent this evening eating various tasty things and drinking various tasty tequila drinks at Marea, while also plowing through an interesting book on the social implications of AI. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

oh think twice, it's just another day for you and me in paradise

I had a v lovely and lazy day in Cabo. I was supposed to go to a tamale making class today, which I had been looking forward to - but the presence of Irish Matt changed my plans, and also the fact that it will probably rain all day tomorrow made me want to spend today enjoying the sunshine. It didn't help that the class was almost an hour away, which felt like a real burden. So I cancelled and I have no regrets, although perhaps I'll have some regrets when I want to eat tamales this winter and can't.

Instead, I grabbed an early coffee and wrote on my balcony until I was too hungry to continue. Then I had a v tasty breakfast, followed by as much pool time as I could handle - I don't do well getting too hot, but with the clouds rolling in this afternoon, I was mostly shaded the whole time. I read a book (BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD, which is a strange and cozy little book by a Japanese author, featuring a bizarre coffee shop with time traveling properties). I really enjoyed it, and it also made me cry profusely while I was reading + eating tacos, which probably made me look insane, but c'est la vie.

Eventually, I showered, put on a dress, and went to Irish Matt's hotel. Security is tight at all the resorts and they didn't want to let me in because somehow the front desk hadn't given my name to the gatehouse - or they thought I was a prostitute, since most prostitutes show up at four pm.  But I got in, hung out with Matthew at the pool, and then Matt and Scott and I had a v tasty dinner and drinks and a whole bunch of fun stories. 

But now I'm back at my hotel and falling asleep at I type, so it's time for bed - goodnight!

but you can never leave

I had an absolutely fantastic day in paradise, no cynicism or tuesday scaries allowed. I woke up just as the sun rose, which I saw from my balcony. Then I walked over to the cafe and grabbed a cold brew, which I drank while sitting on my balcony and journaling for awhile, which was illuminating. Then I grabbed breakfast - I had huevos rancheros today, and while no one can beat Tony's huevos rancheros from my favorite cafe of my Marina-era youth, these huevos were pretty delightful.

I then spent most of the rest of the day at the pool, where the weather was absolutely perfect. I had a couple of margaritas, some excellent nachos, as much water as I could drink, and enough sun to give me some tan (and perhaps a slight amount of redness around the edges of my right shoulder and hip, which were the most exposed to the sun). The pool here is v. nice, and as expected it wasn't too crowded - the lack of the Thanksgiving/Christmas crowd is really playing out in my favor.

The real surprise of the day, however, was that I completely upended my planned solo trip....because in an extremely weird and serendipitous moment of fate, Irish Matt and I somehow discovered that we are both in Cabo this week. I have not seen Irish Matt since a month or two before the pandemic, when I visited him in LA; we had had some zooms since then, but it has been a v v long time. However, he texted me randomly yesterday morning, and as we exchanged pleasantries we found out that I was already here and that he was flying in last night.

So, of course, that was amazing, and we had to get together. He's traveling with another friend (Scott), whom I hadn't met but who is from Dodge City, Kansas, and so Matthew and Scott came over to my hotel for dinner tonight. Irish Matt actually came early, so we grabbed a margarita at the bar that I went to last night (and I was v. pleased to show the bartenders that I have a friend). This turned into a second margarita when Scott came, and so we were 45mins late to our dinner reservation, but clearly no one cared (or if they did care, this is a "the customer is always right" kind of place and so they didn't say anything). Eventually we adjourned to our dinner reservation at Mezcal, where we sat by a firepit and had some absolutely incredible Mexican food (a take on a tamale, some excellent fried rice with clams, some hamachi crudo thing that is so 2019, a birria and tortillas that was outstanding, and various amuse bouche things and flan for dessert). And my margarita at Mezcal was total perfection, so I'm riding high on tequila and life (mostly life).

It was, as always, an utter delight to see Matthew, and we had much to catch up on (and Scott and I had much to learn about each other). I think I'll meet up with them again for dinner tomorrow, so I'm pretty pleased about that.

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

you can check out anytime you like

I had an excellent day in paradise, although I find myself looking for the little things that imply that this place is just as fallible to the whims of nature as any other (the small vanguard of ants trying to make it to the snacks in the spa; the possible mouse I saw out of the corner of my eye near the beach bar). I woke up at sunrise, although sunrise was obstructed by clouds. I had excellent enchiladas for breakfast and wished all my breakfasts could be enchiladas.

And then I spent the day at the spa - first to get a desperately needed manicure, and then to relax before a body treatment. I'm sure the main pool was also dead that since the resort is v quiet in the week after Thanksgiving, but I had the spa's adults only pool basically to myself for four hours. So I journaled, read, ate fish tacos, napped, etc, and it was glorious. 

Then, I spent an absurd amount of money to be tortured - I like massages a lot, but I had not done a wrap before, and it turns out it's for the best if I never do one again, because I was simultaneously overheating and claustrophobic and wondering if I would have survived infancy if 80s infants were swaddled in sleep sacks the way today's infants are. But luckily the wrap part was relatively brief (and I rebelled immediately and unsnapped myself to pull my arms out before the service provider had even finished the swaddling). And the massage was excellent, so I may go back later this week, although there will be no wrapping allowed. 

After that, I relaxed, showered, and spent a few lovely hours at the bar of the restaurant I went to last night, where I read a bunch and talked to the bartender and ate some sushi. And now I'm going to go to bed - goodnight!

dance monkey

I have arrived at my vacation destination (Cabo San Lucas), thanks entirely to the fact that on Thursday I switched today's flight to leave from Kansas City instead of Des Moines. A delta plane slid off the runway in Des Moines last night and shut the whole airport for many hours; no one was hurt, but I would have been very injured if I had missed a whole day of my trip.

Flying out of KC was easy - they remodeled the airport since the last time I flew out of there (probably over a decade ago), and the whole experience was quite easy. I worked all the way to Houston, worked some more while eating lunch, and got done with enough tasks that I could sign off without guilt for the remainder of the day. I read a book on my flight to Cabo, and when I landed in Mexico it was all as smooth as it could possibly be. 

Cabo is perhaps almost embarrassingly touristy - all the signs are in English, all the airport immigration/customs people spoke English, everyone takes dollars, and you could almost imagine you're in a fancy enclave of LA instead of in Mexico. The resort I'm staying at is particularly fancy, and everything so far is lovely.

Since I'm pretty wrecked from the trip, I was pretty chill today - I drank my welcome margarita on my balcony, then unpacked, walked around the property to get my bearings, and had an early dinner. They know about my crab allergy and my gluten issues, and so I had some tasty sushi that they assured me wouldn't kill me. The only bummer is that it might be cloudy all week, which is extremely unusual here, but we'll see how it unfolds.

And now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

nothing on the screen, it's that kind of night

I spent the last couple of days doing family stuff and also planning to avoid/evade/escape the snowmaggedon that descended on Iowa last night. Yesterday I woke up in time to make brunch for the metro dwellers before they headed north - I think people had originally planned to hang out longer yesterday, but the imminent snow changed their minds. After they left, I cleaned up around the house, did various tasks, made various lists, etc, etc. And [censored] and I went out to Mom's to have Thanksgiving leftovers, which were nearly as delicious as they were the day before. 

Today, I awoke to a winter wonderland - but it wasn't as wintery as it could have been. I packed (possibly over packed), watered plants, cleaned the kitchen, talked to [censored] and briefly to my mom, and finally got on the road around 2:30. I was supposed to fly out of Des Moines tomorrow, but I made a snap decision to fly out of Kansas City instead, which I think was the right call since there is no snow down here and many flights in Des Moines are cancelled. But I decided to come down before dark, and so I spent the evening safely ensconced in the hotel, pretending to work but mostly spacing out.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

you're a world away but you're still the same

I had a v lovely Thanksgiving, and I hope you did too. I got a decent amount of sleep last night, which helped me power through this morning - I did various kitchen tings, made a pumpkin custard for dessert, browned some chorizo for the queso I wanted to make today, portioned out the cheese, and packed various tings to take to Mom's for the feast. I also put a clean duvet cover on the guest bed, which should be enough of an onerous task for anyone on any day. And then I showered and headed out to Mom's, where I was the last to arrive, as per usual.

Aunt Kathy, Drewbaby, and Sammie came down for the day, and we had a v nice, lowkey Thanksgiving. Mom made all the usual fixings - corn casserole, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, gravy, and turkey. I was in charge of carving the turkey this year, which was of course bittersweet - I carved it the last couple of years anyway since the electric knife interfered with Dad's defibrillator, and I want to say I did an acceptable job this time. But dinner was v. nice, even if we all seemed to end up in food comas while watching football after.

So we sat around and did basically nothing all afternoon. But then I rallied to make the queso and also a big batch of guacamole, both of which were excellent if I do say so myself. So we ate that and ended up playing Codenames, which was quite fun - we decided to go generational with the teams, so each team had one Boomer, one elder millennial, and one younger millennial. That ended up being Sammie, Mom and I against Andrew, [censored], and Kathy, which was pretty evenly matched. They won all three of the first set, but we won all three of the second set, so it ended in a tie. It was no Rail Baron, but it also ended way earlier than Rail Baron (albeit later than [censored] seemed to want), so I'll take it.

Then the millennials came to my house, while Kathy stayed over with Mom, and we're all safely ensconced and awaiting brunch tomorrow. There's a major winter storm on the way and so I don't think people will linger, but we shall see. Goodnight!

does this mean you're moving on

I had a pretty low-key day - any day when I only have three hours of meetings is chill in my books, and I was able to get some stuff done that I've been putting off. There are still some tasks standing between me and real vacation, but I think I can get them done relatively easily, so we shall see. 

Anyway, I wrapped up around five, did some various house and laundry tasks, and then braved the grocery store for some last supplies. I should have done more prep tonight than I did, but I didn't get enough sleep last night and it was affecting my desire to do anything after dinner tonight. But I have tings laid out for my last prep stuff tomorrow morning, and then I can celebrate Thanksgiving in style (if "style" includes an unnecessary number of dips).

But now I need to sleep if I'm going to get everything done in the morning - goodnight!

damned if you don't

I had a v uneventful day - I was surprisingly fairly productive despite it being foggy this morning and incredibly windy this afternoon, but perhaps that was because I am on the verge of vacation and am feeling the urge to get everything done before I go. Or perhaps it's because half the company is already on vacation and so I don't have as many meetings. Either way, I got up and did some work before my first meeting, then did some slogging, and then took a break to have leftover Indian food from my Des Moines excursion for lunch.

I slogged some more this afternoon, and I had meetings until six because that was the only time I could get a certain subset of us together for annual planning conversations. But then I slacked off and made chili for dinner, which I prepped while also cleaning up the kitchen, packaging some hamburger I bought last week, and generally getting tings done. [Censored] and I enjoyed the chili while the wind continued howling outside, and then I came upstairs, took care of various tasks, did some journaling, etc. But I have failed to go to bed because I was just aimlessly scrolling / dozing, so I need to rectify that immediately - goodnight!

damned if you do

So, yesterday, as I said, was fun - I spent some time exploring the East Village, and I bought some spices and stocked up at a surprisingly excellent Asian grocery store. Then I grabbed lunch at an Indian place in West Des Moines, braved the hordes at Costco to replenish my hoard, stopped at Target, picked up something at Barnes and Noble, and then went deep on buying stuff at whole foods. I feel much better prepared for winter than I did, even if I'm not at all prepared for the apocalypse.

Today I was as productive as it's possible for me to be on a mostly normal Sunday. I did a whole bunch of house tasks, including two that I hate enough to always pull off - changing the filters in the air purifiers in the living room + my kitchen + my bedroom, and then also cleaning the pendants on my kitchen island.  And I changed the guest room sheets, but couldn't be bothered to finish changing the duvet. 

At some point this afternoon, I also experimented with making spicy fried chickpeas from Nopalito, with some success. I also made a tasty chicken and pineapple dish with a sauce that was verging on too spicy, but it was delish.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight, n

drift away downstairs

I had a v. v. lovely day in the city of corn, but I'm now wrecked as a result. I woke up feeling well-rested, and I went downstrais to grab some coffee so that I could get into the mood for the day.

The mood, unfortunately, was productivity - but I had some fun this morning that probably doesn't count toward getting ready for Thanksgiving and my upcoming vacation. However, I am falling asleep writing this, and so anything I write will likely be a little questionable.

So,  I shall regale you with today's treat=timed tomorrow - right now, it's time for bed. Goodnight!

hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks

I ended the week with another long slog, but I did it from an unfamiliar location, which made it easier to tolerate. I had an appointment early this morning to get Botox in my jaw, which was v necessary since my jaw still doesn't feel quite right after the extreme clenching episode I had in SF a few weeks ago. I also wanted to take the chance to stock up on groceries before winter/the apocalypse, but I really needed to work all day, so I couldn't shop after my appointment. 

So instead, I came downtown and checked into a hotel (free because I have an absurd number of Marriott points). I thought I'd have to work from a coffee shop for a few hours, but they have me my room at ten a.m., which was a delight. So I grabbed some coffee, settled in, and had meetings from 10:45 to 6:45, with one small break around 5:30. I did take one of those meetings from my phone so I could walk down the street and pick up an excellent gluten free sandwich from Palmer's, and the meetings were all generally fine, so it could be worse. 

After I was finally done, I went downstairs, grabbed a glass of wine, sat in the lobby, and decompressed until my takeout sushi order arrived. After I ate, I sat at the bar and had another glass of wine and journaled. And now I need to sleep, since I have a million errands to run tomorrow and not a lot of daylight in which to do them. Goodnight!

i'm on fire, but i'm trying not to show it

I have nothing to report today - I got up after not quite enough sleep so that I could get ready and go into town for an 8am board meeting. That was accomplished in due course, and then I came home, made another giant cup of coffee, and got on with my slogging for the day. I still have far more to do than I can possibly catch up on, but I was a little more in it to win it today, so I at least got through a couple of critical things. I also had some entertaining meetings and ended the meeting day with book club, where we discussed WILD DARK SHORE, which we all mostly loved despite v. mixed feelings about various sections.

After that, I messed around for awhile, put a baked potato in the oven, and then worked until it was done. I ate it with some leftover steak, and then unfortunately got back on my work laptop - I was somewhat in the zone, and really needed to get something done that I should have done two weeks ago, so I powered through to the end. And now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

come kiss me salt water

Yesterday was slightly thrown off because I stayed up reading until 1:30am on Friday, so I slept in to avoid wrecking my whole weekend. I took care of some tings around the house, and then I went to Centerville to do a mini stock-up run. There are many tings I need to go to Des Moines for, but I needed non-chicken meat and some other staples, and the weather was nice, so I decided to go for a drive. My errands were accomplished in due form, and now I have chuck roasts and hamburger and some illicit pork products that I intend to eat when [censored] isn't around, so that's all great.

Last night, since it was over seventy degrees yesterday, I went out to Mom's and grilled some new york strips that had been sitting in my freezer. I somehow hadn't grilled them during actual grilling season, and they were too nice to waste, so I grilled last night even though the fact that it was seventy didn't magically extend the daylight until eight p.m. like normal grilling season. Mom made fried potatoes, and she had some gluten free brownies that had been given to her after a garden club meeting, so it was all pretty tasty.

Today, I got like nine hours of sleep, and then I spent the morning doing various tasks + writing a lot in my journal. I did some other random things this afternoon - supervised [censored] spraying the creeping charlie (a weed, not a neighbor), ran out to the round barn to check the temperature, did some laundry, did some dishes, took the trash, etc., etc. And I made burrito bowls, which I haven't made in a v. long time. They cooked and then were eaten while [censored] and I watched last night's SNL, which was pretty funny. And then I came upstairs, crawled into bed, and decided that I needed to do one task before going to sleep, which kept me up another hour. But now it's time for bed - goodnight!

just leave that well alone

I have not been in it to win it at all this week. Wednesday I attempted to slog with mixed results, and then had a library board meeting, sped home and ate while talking to a coworker, and then went back into town for a secret society meeting that filled me with melancholy. Thursday was also a wash from a production standpoint, although I at least made fresh mashed potatoes to go with the last of the leftover beef and noodles, which I graciously shared with [censored].

Today was just slightly better - I had an allergy appointment at 8:45, but luckily it was a telehealth check-in with my doctor, not shots that required me to go into town. Then I had meetings off and on, but it wasn't as hectic as it sometimes is, and I wrapped up by 5:30. I made chicken and rice for dinner, which [censored] and I ate while watching an SNL episode that we missed.

And then, after watching some more TV, I came upstairs and read WILD DARK SHORE in one sitting. I'd heard about it in Okoboji and ended up picking it for my work book club, and I decided I should get started since book club is on Tuesday. I loved it, although it kept me too engrossed to put down for the early bedtime I had planned for myself - and it totally wrecked me. It was set on a remote island near Antarctica where a family was watching over a seed bank, and there was a real apocalyptic vibe, which is especially appealing/appalling to read in November when it's seventy degrees and I could only sit on my balcony for five minutes this afternoon before a bunch of bugs tried to eat me. But anyway, I highly recommend it (the book, not the apocalypse).

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

russia's greatest love machine

I have not at all been in it to win it the last couple of days - yesterday was a v. annoying slog in an attempt to start catching up, and today was technically a holiday (but my company doesn't really seem to go fully off on holidays, which is also annoying on days when I would like to be off).

But I caught up on a few tings this afternoon, did some laundry, and also made a tasty experiment for dinner (salmon with feta, tomatoes, and olives + some roasted potatoes - it would have been better with fresher salmon, but it was quite good and no one was here to complain about having to eat it but me). And now I'm going to go to bed and hope that I get off to a better start tomorrow - goodnight!

if you leave the light on, then i'll leave the light on

I am safely back in ye olde Iowa, although perhaps my silence the last two days inadvertently implied that I got caught up in the vortex of government-induced flight cancelations (or perhaps I should say "lack-of-government"-induced?). My flight on Friday was v. early, and getting through TSA in Vegas was a bit of a jhoke, but I made it through with enough time to grab my last venti cold brew of the trip before boarding. I also had three hours in Denver, which I spent walking around and eating - my flight from Vegas landed only one gate away from my Des Moines flight, but I took the train to the C concourse to try to get into the Amex lounge, found that it was packed, and so went to B to grab lunch at Cantina Grill before going back to A for my flight.

That is not particularly interesting. And happily, my flight was dull too - we got to Des Moines a few minutes ahead of schedule, my bags came out quickly, and I got on the road. I talked to Adit for most of the drive about various work tings, while also casually avoiding fifteen or so deer who tried to murder me at various points. When I got home, I had just enough time to drag my bags out of my car and change before [censored] and I went into town to meet Mom and Aunt Dee for dinner at the Mexican place. Yes, I had Mexican twice in one day, but I had no regrets. They just recently reopened after many months, and while I had seen some of the staff at the sister establishment in Leon, this was the first time I'd seen Juanita in many months - and so we had to tell her in broken Spanglish that Dad passed away, since she asked about him as soon as she saw us. Her dad also died recently, which is part of why they've been closed, so that was all pretty sad. But the food was excellent, and it was great to see Aunt Dee - she spent a couple of days with Mom, but since I was gone the whole time, this was my only chance to chat with her.

Yesterday, I was a wreck all day - I got nine hours of sleep Friday night, and yet I kept dozing off during the day and barely remember what I did, beyond getting some tings organized. I did harvest some jalapenos and poblanos that miraculously grew into November, so I'll need to make something with them this week. And I got a second wind around nine, so I did some personal tasks until midnight-ish.

Today I had grander ambitions, but it was more of the same. I did write this morning, which felt good. And at some point I bought groceries, cleaned the kitchen, and then produced beef and noodles in the instant pot. My gluten free recipe is a keeper, and they are excellent with mashed potatoes (which I made copious quantities of, which is still barely enough for me and Mom and [censored]). Mom came in to eat dinner with us, which was nice, and we talked about various local happenings.

Then I cleaned up the kitchen, watched last night's SNL (Nikki Glaser was a great host) with [censored], and retired to my room. And now I should sleep, since I need to get back into the work game tomorrow - goodnight!

scare your sons scare your daughters

I'm v tired and ready to sleep in my own bed, but I've had an excellent conference experience. Today was a little more low-key than expected - I got up early, got coffee, and journaled before taking a work call that I didn't really want to skip. Then Anne and I walked to the conference center, where I saw another AI talk that was v inspiring. After that, Anne, Veronica, Barbara and I had lunch at Cheri's, which was perfect - it was on the rooftop at Paris, and the weather was gorgeous, so it was an excellent place to eat (albeit more expensive than the food court, which is also expensive).

After that, I did one finance meeting for work, and then I tried to go to another panel. However, it was extremely boring - and they also announced at the start that the keynote with James Patterson was cancelled bc he had a last minute illness. So I decided not to stick around, and instead walked back to the hotel (with a stop to buy a pajama set that I'd had my eye on all week, plus some v unnecessary sunglasses sold to me by a woman from Mt Ayr).

We were going to have dinner at 6:30, but since we all skipped out of the conference, we had dinner at 5:30 instead. We went to a dim sum place at the Palms that is an outpost of a place that Anne went to in Hong Kong, and it was extremely tasty - I'm sure I partially glutened myself, but the baked pork bun was #worthit. It was a perfect end to the trip, and I left feeling warm and satisfied. 

Now I'm all packed up and need to get up in 6.5 hrs to head to the airport, so it's time for bed. Goodnight!

dancing on my own

The conference was v good today - unlike yesterday I took the whole day off (except some the email time) and attended multiple sessions, most of which were excellent. We are most definitely cooked from an AI standpoint, but it's going to be interesting to watch as everything keeps changing ever faster. 

I also had a good day on the personal front - Katie called me unexpectedly this morning, so I talked to her, and my friends and I had lunch at a tasty crepes place and dinner at an excellent Mexican restaurant. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

you look as good as the day I met you

I had an excellent conference day despite having to take a couple of phone calls, so that was good. I woke up early to write, fueled by a venti cold brew, and it was everything I wanted. Then we went to the morning sessions, which are good - I especially liked the guy who talked about the cube of creativity, which was great.

Then I had to do some day job work, so I grabbed lunch and holed up at a table in the main every space, where I looked like I was in a club to the people on my conference call. It was better than one of my later calls, which looked like I was straight up in a Barbie dream house. 

After that, we had dinner at a restaurant in Paris that we've been to before. I also discovered that I won my election for city council tonight, which is both exciting and terrible. And now I must sleep + goodnight!

vampire

No blog tonight - I am v tired but I had a great day in Vegas. I worked for most of it, starting as soon as I got up (fueled by Starbucks from downstairs), but I took a break to have lunch at Bang Bar (a momofuku establishment), and then I had dinner at the Gordon Ramsay Burger place, which was excellent. I also discussed a lot of AI topics with my friends, which is always interesting. 

But now I need to sleep - goodnight!

off to see the wizard

I am extremely tired but cannot go to bed yet because the mechanical shades in my room aren't working and theoretically they are sending someone to fix them. Today went about as smooth as it could, though - I grabbed coffee from the lounge, did some writing/journaling with decent results, and then showered, repacked, and headed to the airport.

Check in was pretty smooth, and I tried out the Amex/delta lounge briefly but discovered that they didn't have great gf options, so I went to a Mexican restaurant and ate lunch before boarding. My flight was smooth and on time, and getting out of the Vegas airport was equally smooth.

So now I'm ensconced in my hotel and ready for this writing conference to begin. Barbara and Veronica got here before me, and Grace and Anne arrived shortly after, so we caught up for a bit before going to dinner at a restaurant at the Venetian. I still find it funny that they have a whole area made to look like being outside on the Grand Canal, but it's a pretty pleasant place to eat.

Then I came back to my room with the plan to go to bed early, but after doing a bit of unpacking I found that my shades wouldn't close. Luckily the front desk finally sent someone (after I reminded them) and they got them to work, so I don't have to try to sleep with an eye mask and an unfiltered view of the strip. Goodnight!

apple crumble

I’m sitting in my room after a long but fruitful day in Seattle. I woke up this morning relatively early, even for my current VC life, and I got coffee from the lounge before settling in to my room to write in my journal. It was v rainy and atmospheric, especially thirty floors up, and while the atmospheric clouds were cool to look at, they confirmed that I must never live in Seattle because I would have seasonal depression three hundred days a year - and then it’s just depression, not seasonal depression.

Anyway, I wrote and did various tings for quite awhile, and also went back to the lounge to eat and grab more coffee. I know I sound insufferably bougie, but it amuses me that the lounge at a Sheraton or Marriott (which is accessible only if you have, like, platinum status, which I do) serves the exact same powdered eggs that you get with any free breakfast at a Fairfield or Courtyard. Granted, this breakfast also had better coffee and an amazing view, but I’m just saying that perks aren’t what they used to be (but are probably still better than no perks at all).

At some point I took a twenty minute nap because I had gotten up too early, and then I showered and ventured out into the world. I stopped in at the flagship Nordstrom (technically Nordstrom Store #1) just to see it, and while it was beautiful, it just made me nostalgic for the old SF Nordstrom flagship that was even better and is now dead. I also grabbed some dry shampoo at Sephora to replenish my supplies, and then I went to a couple of Korean/Japanese stationery shops, which is basically my holy grail in any city. After I bought all of their products, I had a late lunch at a French bistro, then wandered through Pike Place Market and bought a variety of dips and snacks for Ritu and her family.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening hanging out at Ritu’s house. I did not say much yesterday because I was too tired, and I will perhaps not say much tonight either. But Ritu’s brother and sister-in-law (+ their two adult kids) and her sister were in residence the entire time. I’ve met them all several times since I went to Shelly’s wedding in Germany many years ago, and they also all grew up in ye olde Iowa, so it all felt very familiar. Due to the traditions around Hindu funerals they can’t really leave the house, cook, use open flame, or do much of anything else until the rituals are all completed. So I took them snacks yesterday and today, and other friends and neighbors dropped off or ordered food to keep them all going.

It is, of course, all quite sad; Ritu’s mom had been declining for awhile, but they didn’t quite expect that she would pass quite as early as she did. Luckily Shelly made it to the US just in time, although her daughter can’t come due to a passport issue, which is rough. And in a sort of intellectual, compartmentalization kind of way it was interesting to see how other families handle mourning and logistics (which is, perhaps, the only kind of way that I could think about it while still not so far from my own mourning and logistics).

So anyway, I hung out until late evening, and then decided that I should say my farewells before I started to melt down as badly as the children from too many snacks + lack of sleep. And now I probably should go to bed (even without availing myself of a free wine at the bar) - while the time change may help me out tomorrow, I do have to get with it in the morning so that I can go to Vegas. Wish me luck on the next phase of my journey - goodnight!

letter of grievance

I am in Seattle, for a trip that was both planned and not at all planned. I spent yesterday working from my hotel in SF in deference to my energy levels and also to my jaw, which was still sore (but getting better, since work is calming down and I seem to be less stressed). I also packed in advance of today's trip shenanigans. 

When I realized some time ago that I would need to be in SF this past week and Vegas next week (two wildly different and unrelated activities), I decided to dash up to Seattle for a v overdue visit to Ritu. However, sadly, Ritu's mother passed away this week. I still came to Seattle, but rather than spending tonight going from deep on nonfictions, I'm hanging out with the whole family.

I would say more but I keep falling asleep and deleting what I've written. But it is an honor and a privilege to spend time with another family in the midst of their grief. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

raise the roof

I am beyond exhausted, v is why I'm my already in bed by 10:30. Today was mostly wonderful, although I need far more sleep than my I siggiin... And now I'm going to go to bed, which means sleep is imperative. Good nihn

getting lost forgetting time and space

I'm deeply exhausted, but I'm still having a good time with my work obligations in the city of sin. Today was the main conference day, and so even though I only got four hours of sleep and awoke feeling like death, I made it to the presidio by 7:30 as required. I did spill coffee on myself unusually badly and unfortunately early, but a shout wipe was surprisingly effective at taking care of it. And I enjoyed hanging out with various co-workers while waiting for guests to arrive, so that was fun. 

The rest of the day was uneventful - the summit was v smooth, lunch was good, I did not get nearly enough done with all other aspects of my job but nobody else did either, and I ended it by eating a shocking amount of sushi. This was made even more shocking because we had an eight pm dinner reservation at flour and water in North Beach, where I also ate some excellent gluten free deep dish pizza. And I drank more wine than I wanted, but not nearly as much as last night, for which I'm grateful.

And now I need to go to bed so I can survive another day of being on tomorrow - goodnight!

tension headache

I had a lovely day, including getting up early and writing before going to event rehearsals (and talking to a lonely Uber driver on the way). The only fly in the ointment was that my jaw is acting up and has been v tense, which means it's beyond time to get Botox, but it's like half the price in Iowa that it is here, so hopefully it calms down without me having to take emergency measures. 

But despite my jaw, I went out for a casual team dinner at Penny Roma, followed by more casual drinks, which was probably a mistake (as they always/never are). And now I need to go to bed immediately because I have to be in the presidio by 7:30, which is five and a half hours away, which is far too soon. Goodnight!

somebody told me to believe in better times

I had an excellent, v hermity day in the city of sin, which was exactly what the doctor ordered. I got up fairly early and journaled for quite awhile in the lobby, which felt great. And then I spent most of the day doing spa things - sauna, sweating, bodywork, facial work, etc. I feel pretty wonderful for it, too, even though perhaps I should have done it yesterday because now it's going to be hard to leave this space of relaxation as soon as I wake up and go to work tomorrow. 

But that's a problem for Future Sara - for me, now, it's time for bed!

started staring at the passengers waving goodbye

I have been v remiss about blogging the last few days [and I even named [censored] for the first time in over a decade in yesterday's post, which I have now edited], so allow me to give a slightly deeper update.

Wednesday was still a hard slog despite feeling like what my team got done on Tuesday should have been enough. I worked basically straight through all day, ate a chicken quesadilla for dinner (thanks to myself for making chicken taco meat in the crockpot all day), and then I sped into town and went to a meeting of the local secret society. Numbers are dwindling, so I couldn't skip, but it was nice to see everyone even if I wasn't entirely relaxed. Then I went home and talked to [censored], who had gotten home while I was out, and did a bit more work before going to bed.

Thursday was more of the same, but even more intense - I got up early to write/work, then had allergy shots, and then I voted early since I'll be out of town for election day. I also picked up a couple of tings at the grocery store and got my picture taken for the paper - I can't remember if I mentioned it, but I'm (perhaps ill-advisedly) running for city council, and the paper wanted to run a photo + my responses to a questionnaire. We'll see what happens!

Then I slogged the rest of the day, finished phase two of my big project, took care of some things around the house, and had dinner with Mom and [censored] and Ludlows. The food is pretty good, but I was v. excited to see on facebook that the Mexican restaurant in town surprisingly reopened on Thursday for the first time in several months. Hopefully it stays open - they looked packed when we drove by even though they hadn't pre-announced they would be open, so I hope that encourages them to stick around.

Then I went home and packed like mad for my trip, went to bed, and got less than six hours of sleep before waking up and heading to the airport. I was pretty wiped out from the last couple of weeks of incessant slogging + illness, so I tried to chill a bit on the planes (mostly inadvertently, since I kept falling asleep), but I took a couple of meetings during my Denver layover from the Amex lounge. My trip was totally smooth, so I got to SFO around 3, was at my hotel by 4, and then relaxed / unpacked / did a bit of work / changed.

And then Chandlord came over, and we had a drink at the hotel bar while catching up on life. Then we met Adit at Hed 11, as I mentioned last night, where we had an 8-course tasting menu that was quite good. It was Thai food, which I always enjoy, and I could have eaten much more of the khao soi and also more of the duck. We had a nice time catching up, and I was v. virtuous and back at my hotel by ten / in bed by eleven.

Today I tried to relax as much as possible - while I usually try to pack in as much friend time as possible on these trips, I was too tired / busy / stressed to plan anything, and I realized I kind of just want a weekend to myself. I was supposed to see Katrina today for brunch, but she was sick, so I took advantage of my lack of plans. I spent the morning journaling, drinking coffee, and eating a late breakfast, and then I showered and went to my favorite non-Japanese stationery store (Flax in Fort Mason) to load up on notebooks and stickers. Then I got a mani/pedi at my favorite nail place, and then I walked to Fillmore to go shopping. I browsed multiple places and bought a couple of ridiculous tings (ridiculous mostly because I don't have a lot of opportunities to wear interesting things these days), and was quite happy. I also had an early dinner at Pizzeria Delfina, where my fave pizza was delicious as always.

Then I came back to my hotel and inadvertently got sucked into work for a couple of hours, but that was fine because it means I won't have to do it tomorrow. And now I'm going to go to bed - I have grand plans for an offline spa day tomorrow, and I want to be well-rested to enjoy it even more. Goodnight!

wrecking balls inside my brain

I'm exhausted and falling asleep already, but I'm safely ensconced in the city of sin.  The last couple of days were a whirlwind of tasks, which meant I had to pack in a rush last night after having dinner with Mom and [censored] at Ludlows.

Anyway today was great, but also exhausting. I had an impromptu eight course Thai tasting dinner at Hed 11 with Adit and Chandlord, which was excellent. And now, even though there is much else to report, I'm going to bed - goodnight!

i'm on fire, but i'm trying not to show it

I got through the first phase of the major project I've been slogging on at work recently, which felt great - but I'm completely wiped out and somehow need to get through all the stuff I've dropped in the midst of this chaos. Today was good, though - I got up early enough to write before work, which is probably partially why I'm tired, but it was worth it. And then I showered, sat through many hours of meetings and tasks, and completed the project stuff around six.

At that point, I was v. tired, so I took care of stuff around the house instead - such as trying on tings that I've been ordering online, starting to figure out my packing list for my next trip, making frozen fish and fries for dinner, taking care of some online errands, refilling my fountain pens, doing some more packing/outfit evaluation, etc. And now, I think I'm going to go to bed early and hope that my energy rallies by morning. Goodnight!

where no one knows your name

I actually got up early this morning and wrote, which was nice. I was feeling quite cozy after I turned the heat on - perhaps not necessary, since it was 65 in the house, but I thought I would rather find out now if my furnace isn't working. So I enjoyed curling up on my chaise with my journal and my coffee, and then I took a shower, and then it slowly degraded from there.

First I did a bit of work, and then I went into town to get allergy shots (and a flu shot, in preparation for more traveling). Then I came home and slogged excessively all day - to the point that I actually made a couple of mistakes, which is v. rare for me and indicates that I'm probably not fully recovered. At some point in the afternoon our internet provider came to troubleshoot the fact that [censored] and I keep losing internet, and I have some hope that he fixed the problem - we'll see if I get booted off any calls this week.

[Censored] left around five, and I continued working until about 6:30, when my brain was utterly fried. It was so fried, in fact, that all I could do was read an issue of Conde Nast Traveler - and I managed to pick the issue that was basically 85% lists of the top hotels / resorts / cruise ships / airports / etc around the world as voted on by various readers (some of whom seemed to have questionable taste). But this was about as much as my brain could handle, so I'll take it.

Then I ate a v. late dinner, took care of a couple of personal/local tings, cleaned up the kitchen, etc. And then I was going to go to bed, but I happened to see a couple of things I needed to respond to, so I ended up working for 45mins. And now I really am going to go to bed - goodnight!

come home late in the morning light

I am still not 100% recovered, but I continue to improve. I got plenty of sleep last night, and I had a nice morning - I made coffee, made more coffee, ate a gluten free muffin, and wrote in my journal. I'm at the end of a journal, which is a rare and exciting time, so I tested out some options and may have figured out which one I'm going to use next. I was going to order more refills for it, but the refills are from a company based in Malaysia, so I decided I didn't want to deal with potentially paying tariffs on a shipment that always would have been exempt under previous rules. And no, this doesn't mean I'll find an American company instead - American paper is all garbage compared to journals produced by other major participants in WWII (Japan, Italy, France). But I think these refills are sold at my favorite stationery store in SF, so maybe I'll stock up there instead.

sssanyway. I spent a little too much time procrastinating this afternoon, but I did convince myself to go outside and clean up my gardens. This involved ripping out my cucumbers, thanking my eggplants for their service, and cleaning up most of the tomatillos (except the load-bearing parts that are supporting the tomatoes that are still trying to make it). There are still some peppers and tomatoes that are bravely racing the frost - and they're racing my imminent departure for another work trip, but we'll see if any of them make it. There are more peppers on my plants right now than there were through the entire summer combined, and I need to find a new solution for next year because I would dearly love to have a huge pepper crop and wasn't able to make it happen this year.

So, my garden is somewhat tidied up, and [censored] let me throw stuff in his tractor bucket (and then into his compost/stick pile), which was v. kind. I spent the rest of the afternoon showering, taking care of random tasks, talking to Drewbaby and Sammi, etc. And then, despite my firm intention to not cook today, I made breakfast for dinner - I was in the mood for hashbrowns, so I made hashbrowns and scrambled eggs. Sadly I had to do a couple of hours of work after that rather than watching tv or relaxing, but a couple of hours of work tonight is a couple of hours I don't have to do tomorrow (or rather, a couple of hours that I can devote to other, different work).

And now I need to sleep before I wreck my nascent recovery - goodnight!

cruel professor studying romances

I am still on the mend from my illness, and so I was far more tired today than I wanted to be. But despite that, I had a decent enough day overall. I woke to an unusual amount of fog and a reminder that winter is coming, but then it turned into a sunny day that was good for my mood. 

So I made coffee, ate a muffin, read a bit, and did some desultory things online before deciding I couldn't spend the whole day on such endeavors. And then I showered, are some leftovers, and spent the afternoon cleaning my office. I finally got my closet put back together and everything reorganized, which is v satisfying. I still have some minor tasks that I want to do, and I desperately need to dust and vacuum, but at least it's finally tidied up again.

Eventually it was time to make dinner, which was super easy because I just thawed out a couple of jars of Grandma Barb's spaghetti sauce and made some pasta to toss in with it. I don't know who Grandma Barb is - she's not my grandma - but whoever did have her as a grandma was lucky because this sauce recipe is great. 

Mom came over as I was cooking the pasta, and so she and [censored] and I had a v nice dinner together. Then I spent way too long scrolling on my phone while [censored] watched Family Guy, but I eventually escaped my phone, came upstairs, and wrote a few pages in my journal. 

And now, I need to sleep in order to further my recovery. Goodnight!

easy come easy go

I am feeling better, although I perhaps pushed it too hard today. I had a haircut scheduled in Des Moines for 9am, and I didn't really want to go, but there was not another good time to do it, so I sucked it up and left the house at 7:30. The drive and appointment were smooth, and on a different day I might have worked from coffee shops all afternoon so that I could do some shopping after. 

However, I'm still not 100%, and I have too much work right now, so I just hit up Trader Joe's for some gluten free stuff, grabbed an unsatisfying lunch at the worst Chipotle in America, and then headed home. I stopped at the new Starbucks in Indianola to grab coffee and also take a meeting, drove the rest of the way, and had three hours of meetings as soon as I got home. 

By then I was beyond hitting the wall, so I closed my laptop, did some laundry, scrolled mindlessly for awhile, and finally made dinner (Elmer's chili). And now, after have dozed for awhile and procrastinated on bedtime even longer, it's time to sleep. Goodnight!

all i need is to be struck by your electric love

I am feeling marginally better today - I still have a sore throat, and I hit a wall sometime this afternoon, but I'm certainly much better than I was on Tuesday. Unfortunately, I still had to work more than I wanted to today. This seems to be a theme right now, and I certainly hope it stops being a theme, but we shall see.

Anyway, I worked pretty relentlessly, but I also stopped to make some huevos rancheros for a late lunch, which was tasty. I tried sitting outside because it was eighty degrees (ominously, for mid-October), but there were too many bugs trying to eat me, so I retreated to my office again. And I finally took a break to talk to my mom, try on some clothes I ordered, do some more work, and then eat dinner with [censored]. We had the last of the leftover bratwurst + a baked potato (for me), which was not exactly an exciting dinner, but was better than both cooking or starving.

And now that I have done another chunk of work and also folded laundry (how industrious of me), it's time for bed. Goodnight!

I'm feeling unstoppable

The title is a lie - I have the song stuck in my head, but I'm feeling v stoppable since I'm still sick. Yesterday was a total shit show - I was v ill, but I basically had to work straight from nine to six because there were a couple of critical things that absolutely had to get done or else I was blocking ten other people. Of course, most of those people were also sick, since it seems that our v fun team dinner last week was a super spreader event. But I got my tasks done just in time to be rewarded with an aura migraine, which I get rarely - but when I do I literally can't see straight since my vision gets all these crazy jagged edges. 

So I spent the rest of last night mostly chilling and doing some online shopping (after I could see again, but before I had full judgment back, so we'll see what shows up).

Today was slightly better, since I got some sleep and had a somewhat more chill day. My throat is starting to improve a bit, so hopefully the worst is behind me. And I had leftover pizza for lunch + leftover layered lettuce and potato salad for dinner (with some pulled pork that I pulled from the freezer, which was perfect). And now, I'm going to go to bed and hope some more sleep is restorative - goodnight!

when the wine runs out

I am still sick, which is a real bummer. It's especially a bummer because I was supposed to have today off, and instead I was off but also sick, which is most certainly not an upgrade. And now I have to somehow catch up throughout the rest of the week while still being sick, which is not what I wanted to do this week.

But today wasn't all terrible - I journaled, napped a bit, ate some leftover pizza, napped/relaxed some more, did a bit of work, got groceries (out of necessity), and made myself a box of gluten free mac and cheese that expired six months ago but was still pretty good. And then I did some work because I absolutely had to. And now I'm going to go to bed and hope that I recover somewhat overnight - goodnight!

dang

I think I brought a cold back from SF - I wasn't feeling great last night, and it got worse today. I spent yesterday relaxing to an almost nauseating degree, and then I picked up pizza for Mom and [censored] before watching last week's SNL and going to bed early. 

Today I lazed about in deference to my possible cold, although I got some good writing done. I also continued to chip away at cleaning my office, which is becoming dire. And then I went out to Mom's to grill brats to go along with the potato salad and layered lettuce she made. It was warm today but fall is steadily approaching, and this may have been the last grill session of the season. 

And now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

her soul slides away

I felt much better than I deserved to feel this morning - definitely tired and vaguely hungover, but not nearly as bad as the chronicle of last night's team dinner (and after dinner drinks, and after after dinner grubstake) would suggest. This was a relief, since I had to pack and go to the airport, and it would have been v upsetting if I had felt worse.

So I packed, showered, took one meal from the hotel, and then headed out. I had enough time at the airport to have Andale for lunch, which used to have much more presence in the Bay Area and now it's basically just at the airport. My flight was originally on time but had to return to the gate for a cargo issue, so we got into Denver 15ish minutes late. This was a problem bc my layover was about as tight as I ever allow myself to schedule, and my Des Moines flight started boarding as I was getting off the SF plane.

Luckily, I was only ten or so gates away and didn't have to switch terminals, so I had time to grab an iced coffee on my way - but still one of the last five or so to board. The second flight was uneventful, and then I drove home safely despite seeing many deer.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight?

that's my quant

I'm very sleepy and getting moreso by the second, but I had a v nice day. It involved an unnecessarily long ride to breakfast, but otherwise it was nice. Then I threw in the towel and went out for happy hour, which turned into team dinner, which turned into the after party, which turned into drinks elsewhere, which turned into a two am trip to grubstake for a plate of cheese (working with Adit is strange, but at least I have someone to go deep with when it's time for grubstake).

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

go back jack do it again

I had a busy but very good day in the city of sin. It didn't start out well since I felt like I food poisoned myself last night - I slept v fitfully and my belly hurt all night, which was unfortunate. But I rallied this morning and went to work, where I had like seven 1:1s in a row and most of them involved grabbing coffee. Somehow this didn't shred my stomach even further, and somehow I was still sleepy enough this afternoon to need to grab a coke zero, which implies that my body is either perfectly adapted or not at all adapted to modern life. 

So I had a late lunch, which felt like it went straight into an early dinner - the finance team (of which I am unexpectedly the leader of) had an early dinner reservation at Burma Love, which meant we were there in time for happy hour. This turned into three drinks for a couple of us, and one drink for the guy who seems to only drink after sunset. We hung out there as long as we could, and then we went to Orbit Room, which was the hot bar of 2008 when craft cocktails were coming onto the scene, but now feels tired (at least on a Wednesday) and is still playing Interpol and Massive Attack from the early 2000s. But it was fun and I would do it again, even if I didn't get anyone to go to martunis after. 

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

you need to calm down

I have nothing to report and I've already been dozing for awhile - I spent the whole day at the office, then had a quiet night in at the hotel. I meant to catch up on work stuff but failed bc I was too tired, so now I need to get up in the morning to work on things - but that should be doable if I actually go to bed instead of just lounging. 

And so I think it's time to do that - goodnight!

you wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me

I had a pretty decent day in the city of sin, but I worked the entire time, so it probably could have been better. I guess I journaled when I woke up, which was nice - while this hotel is shabby and deep in the tenderloin (one of my favorite haunts), it does have free coffee downstairs, which I availed myself of to fuel some writing. But then I worked while eating breakfast, took a couple of meetings from my room, and eventually went to the office.

The office was pretty fun today because several people came in (and Adit was there too, which was fine I guess). I slogged through many meetings and generally tried to get tings done, with marginal results. 

And then the finance team and I had dinner at a tapas place with our auditors (not Adit), which was pretty fun for a work dinner. It's bizarre that I'm on finance now, but I'm finding it entertaining. And now I need to sleep bc I'm exhausted, but I also have to get up early tomorrow to do all the things I should have done tonight. Goodnight!

wheels up

I am safely ensconced in the city of sin, after a v early start to the day. I made it to SF without issues, and then I spent the afternoon running various errands (mostly getting my nails done, which always makes me think I'm ready to re-enter city life).

But I'm falling asleep while typing this and I desperately need to go to bed, so that's all for now. Goodnight!

boom clap

I need to go to bed immediately because I need to get up in approximately six hours, but I've had some good (albeit chaotic) days. Thursday and Friday were extremely work-filled, but Thursday got a little better because the Mexican food truck happened to be in town, so [censored] and I were able to get takeout instead of me having to cook. Hopefully they reopen their restaurant someday, but we shall see. Friday was more work, and I slogged straight until it was time to pick up Mom. We went to Seymour to eat steak, which was v. tasty - although I've had enough beef this week to last me a bit, so I'm looking forward to eating other tings in the city of sin.

Today was relaxing until it turned into a scramble to finish packing. I spent some quality time this morning journaling over coffee, which was v. nice. I also started packing, although I didn't finish. And I remembered that I had smoked salmon in the fridge just before it expired, so I had a much tastier lunch than I was expecting to.

Then I met up with Sammi (there are, perhaps, a confusing number of Sammis in my life now) and we went to a local flower grower's place for a fall event they were throwing. There were a handful of vendors and some live music, and we stood around and drank root beer and talked for a couple of hours. It was 85 degrees here today, which is worrisomely warm for October, but it made for a nice afternoon, and Sammi s great.

Then I picked up groceries, swung by my mom's house to give her some flowers and say hi/bye, and then came home and took care of gardening stuff. My peppers might just make it if we get another couple of weeks of warm weather, which is how things are looking, and there are some tomatoes that are trying to get across the finish line too. So I watered and pruned, and then took care of various other chores, and then made supper. [Censored] had requested taco salad, and since he will be the one to eat all the leftovers, I decided to indulge him. It all turned out well, as per usual.

Then I scrambled to clean the kitchen, water all my plants, pay bills, take care of various tings, pack my suitcase, etc., etc. And now I need to wind down and go to bed - goodnight!

reasons to stay, reasons to go

I had an excellent day in Okoboji, with several great workshops, a v nice lunch with a writer I met from Illinois, and only a little bit (well, two hours) of day job work. But I'm v tired and I want to get eight hours of sleep before I have to do a half day of conference stuff and then drive home tomorrow - so I'm calling it a night. Goodnight!

what can i say, i'm survivin'

I had a pretty excellent day at this conference - I got up earlier than desired (but after enough sleep), and I made it to the conference site at 7:15 to register. Then I sat around for two hours, most of which was spent intro'ing the speakers - which was worthwhile in the sense that it convinced me to go to a couple of workshops that I might not have considered, both of which were my favorites of the day.

Then I went to four workshops, with a break for lunch in between, and they were all uniformly good (with the exception of some moderation issues in the first one). By the time I was done, I needed some downtime and also wanted to make sure I had enough food to eat (gluten free is often not easy at these things, although they did have a gluten free bun for their maidrites). So I came back to my hotel and then went to a restaurant down the street, where I devoured a burger while some no-see-ums devoured me.

At that point, I was tempted to just come back to my room and work, but I rallied and went to a showing of a documentary about Iowa and pie that was made by someone who is in attendance at the retreat. The film was pretty fun, so I'm glad I saw it. But then I did come back and work for three hours, which was three hours longer than I wanted to work today - but I got done the things I had to get done, so hopefully tomorrow can be a wee bit more chill (but prob not).

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

spin me like a globe

I am having a wee bit of an adventure this week - I am currently ensconced in a motel in Okoboji for a writing conference tomorrow and Tuesday. It's primarily Iowa writers, primarily memoir and blogging and other forms of reporting, and I've been looking forward to it for awhile. 

Of course, despite looking forward to it, it was a mad scramble to get out the door today. I helped (sort of) [censored] put together a plant stand for Mom while I drank my first cup of coffee, and then I realized I should start packing immediately since that had somehow still not happened at nine am. So I threw a bunch of stuff in a bag, took a shower, watered plants, cleaned the kitchen, watered my garden (the peppers are in a race against the first frost to produce something), and finally headed north.

I stopped in the metro for a couple of hours on my way - I meet Drewbaby and Sammie for lunch at Barn Door, which was pretty tasty. They kindly provided last-mile service for some business cards that I had shipped to their house - I haven't been to a writing conference in forever and forgot that I would want business cards until Wednesday this week. By that point it was too late to order to the hinterlands, but I could get overnight delivery to Des Moines. So we had a nice lunch and caught up on life, and my business cards are perfect, so it's a win win. 

Then I went to my usual spot to get a manicure, which always makes me feel polished (pun intended). And then I grabbed Starbucks and headed north. 

The drive was uneventful, and I alternated between a Trevor Noah podcast about AI and the Taylor Swift channel on Sirius. I pulled into Okoboji shortly before sundown, and I think there are only four or five people at the hotel - it's off season here, and I'm guessing anyone here is at my conference, but we'll see.

After I checked in, I walked ten minutes south to a restaurant I drove by on the east in, which was pretty good. And now I'm going to go to bed early since registration starts at the ungodly hour of seven am (Midwesterners are dumb) - goodnight!

laughing but the joke's not funny at all

Yesterday was way busier than I intended for it to be - I thought I would have some time to do real work, but instead I kept getting dragged into meetings, which cramped my style. I did sneak out in mid-afternoon to go to Garden Club - Mom had the program, and it was at Emmy's house, so I wanted to go. It was a nice interlude, albeit pretty much the exact opposite of my day job meetings; we ate a lot of treats and discussed attempted murders, which was pretty fun.

Then I came home, was in meetings until six, and then was too brain dead to do anything (especially cook), and so [censored] and I grabbed Mexican and I was in bed by ten. Yes, this is v unusual, which should tell you how wiped out I was.

Today was pretty good, though - I got nine hours of sleep, and then I spent the morning writing and the afternoon cleaning my office. I also got groceries, did four loads of laundry, took care of my plants, froze some tomatillos, and made scalloped potatoes and ham for supper. [Censored] and I took the potatoes and ham to Mom's, where it joined forces with her baked beans to make a winning meal.

After I got home, I cleaned up the kitchen, came upstairs, made some lists, and mostly failed to do anything on them. And now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

like the control

I had another v busy day - so busy that I didn't even have time to put on makeup, beyond a swipe of mascara to look a little more awake. But all the various meetings and tasks were fine, and I took some time in the middle to fry bacon and make myself a perfect BLTA. Granted, I was listening to a work call on my headphones the whole time, but it was still a tasty interlude. 

When I finally wrapped up, I sat on my balcony until the bugs started to get me, and then I made a version of a caprese salad with tomatoes from my garden and some balls of mozzarella. [Censored] and I ate this with the leftover pasta that I made the other night (which wasn't great, but was also no effort, so I'll take it). We also watched the end of TWISTER, which was ridiculous as usual. And then I lured Katie into calling me, which was a total delight.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

defying gravity

I've had a couple of pretty brutal days at work - mostly because there are a million things going on and I am somehow involved in approximately 800,000 of them. So yesterday was a long slog, and I woke up today and slogged again.

But tonight I cut out at 5:45 and went into town for the first PEO meeting of the year. We had a dinner hosted by some of the members, with roast beef and green beans and potatoes and some dessert, and it was all pretty tasty. The group is dwindling, so only nine people were there, but it was a nice evening. I also chatted with Mom briefly in the parking lot, so that was good. And then I came home, did a bit of work, talked to [censored], and did some personal stuff to round out the night.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

johnny rosin up your bow

I had another bananas day at work - nothing bad, just more than I could get done, and all with tight deadlines. I continue to remind myself that at least it's all pretty interesting, and at least I have become friends with these people, which is more than I can say for many of my previous forays into workaholism.

But getting up at 7 and then slogging relentlessly until 5 made for a long day - not long in the context of life in corporate america, perhaps, but my brain was moving at a meltingly-quick pace for most of it. So I v. gladly took a break to meet up with Mom, Kerry, and Jerry for dinner. We went to the Brick, which used to be Ludlows, and also simultaneously used to be the Legion Hall and the flower shop (depending on whether you're tracing the lineage of the establishment by the new establishment's current building vs the old establishment's previous building). Whatever it's called now, the food was pretty good - I had a ribeye and some fries, and the salad bar was reasonably tasty. It was fun to see Kerry and Jerry on this trip, so hopefully we'll see them again sometime as travel and life allows.

After dinner, I came home, did nothing for an hour, talked to one of my coworkers for work and funsies, and then did some work just to get the most pressing tings done. And now I am going to rest my eyes and go to bed - goodnight!

you turned my airlock on

I had a pretty good first day back - I didn't do nearly as much as I wanted to, but I got fully unpacked and did some good planning for the week ahead. I also spent the evening at Mom's - her cousin Kerry is visiting, along with Kerry's husband Jerry, and so [censored] and I had dinner with them. Given the lack of options on a Sunday night here, that means Casey's pizza, but that's always tasty.

Eventually, Kerry and Jerry went to their motel, and [censored] and I came back into town (although I will see them again for dinner tomorrow before they head out). And now I need to go to bed so I can slog through a million things tomorrow - goodnight!

collecting trophies for the songs they wrote while we lived in the shadow of the moon

I am back in ye olde Iowa after a v. long but uneventful travel day. I was able to get sufficient sleep last night to make up for Thursday's shenanigans, and I grabbed a bit of breakfast and some coffee downstairs before showering and putting my last things in my suitcase to head to the airport. My hotel last night was <10min by uber to the airport, and I went through Terminal 2 to avoid the construction chaos of Terminal 3, so this travel day was much smoother than my last attempt to depart SFO.

My flight to Denver was uneventful, and I spent my layover in Denver eating nachos and drinking a margarita at Cantina Grill, which is exactly how a layover should be spent. My flight to Des Moines was also uneventful, and I landed a little before 9pm CT - so after stopping for gas, I got home around 10:30. Then I talked to [censored] for a bit, and then I came upstairs to do a small bit of day job stuff that I probably should have done on the plane (but I preferred to sleep on the plane, so no real regrets there). And now I need to go to bed so I can do a million tings tomorrow - goodnight!

we're as simple as we want it to be

I had an excellent day yesterday - a lot of work, but also they got me cake and treats from Mariposa, which was great. We all went out for happy hour at 5:30... Which turned into far more than a happy hour because Adit, Geoff, Timothy and I stayed out until midnight.

So, I was dragging today, but I survived. I woke at five to say goodbye to Chandlord, who was leaving before I needed to, and then I went back to bed. Eventually I got up, and then I packed everything in to my bag and then to the office. Jamie, Jackie and I were the only ones who came in, so we did a variety of tings together. It was all pretty painful since I was short on sleep and also didn't eat enough yesterday, but c'est la vie. 

And now I need to sleep  - goodnight!

synaesthesia

I had a pretty lovely day, all in all. I got enough sleep, woke up early, and went to Philz to work for a couple of hours before my meetings started. Then I slogged all day (with some entertaining side conversations with Adit about T-shirts, which are somehow part of our job responsibilities), and it was all generally fine.

And then I caught a waymo to Ocean Beach to see Veronica and Adam. I took a waymo even though they tend to be a little slower (since they have to obey stop signs and speed limits) because it's almost forty minutes to get across the city and I didn't want to be exposed to a driver's conversation and cologne for that long. Veronica and I had a v tasty Indian takeout dinner, and the place she ordered from had gluten free naan, which was a rare delight. And of course catching up was great, so I'm glad I made the trek to the far west side of the city of sin.

And now I'm safely ensconced in Chandlord's guest room and ready to sleep - goodnight!

shake shake shake

I'm too tired to blog - I got up sometime after five but before six and showered, then took an Uber to the Philz closest to my office so that I could get some early morning work done in peace (and with the biggest coffee possible). I was at the office for an eight am meeting, and I slogged until four, when I took a break to go to Burlingame and have dinner. Of course, I was very early to dinner since I was so desperate for a break, so I did a bit of window shopping and then sat at Starbucks for 90mins and did some minor work tasks that were appropriate for the level of thinking I was capable of. 

Then I met up with Anne, Barbara, and Veronica for dinner at Pizzeria Delfina. The service continues to be weird, but I had a v tasty pasta (instead of my usual gf mushroom pizza) and it was a delight. And it was great to see my writer friends, even if we were missing Grace and people were going through various calamities. Anne gave me a v unnecessary ride (from Safeway back to delfina), and then I took an interesting Uber ride with a Nepalese guy and we talked about the revolution. And now, I desperately need to sleep - goodnight!

Then I took an Uber home

young dirty love, come get us strung

I'm safely ensconced in Chandlord's house, sacrificing my hotel room because hotels are $1000-5000/night this week due to a conference (SF is so back). Today was a bit disjointed as a result - I didn't sleep super well, and so got out of bed later than planned, and then had to grab coffee, shower, pack, etc. 

But I took a couple of meetings from the hotel, then went into the office to take more meetings, have lunch with Adit and Baz, and generally do various work things.. Then I came to Chandlord's, unpacked, went across the street to one of my old favorite cafes, and worked for a couple of hours before ordering Thai and generally chilling. 

And now I need to go to bed so I can slog tomorrow - goodnight!

peace of mind

I have had a v. eventful few days. Work continues to be a slog, which is why I haven’t had the energy to post at the end of the day - but it’s a (mostly) fun slog, so I am not that resentful of the increased demands on my time.

So, let’s see what we missed (what you missed in reading + what I missed in documenting):

Thursday was my birthday (#neverforget), and I celebrated as soon as I woke up by having a funfetti cupcake instead of a granola bar with my coffee. I spent the day slogging through a variety of tings and also fielding texts from a variety of people - the advantage of a 9/11 birthday is that it is remembered by people even if they don’t have it on their calendars, so I feel like I hear from more people than average (and then feel guilty because I definitely don’t remember everyone else’s birthdays).

After I was done with work, my mom, [censored] and I went to Garden Grove to celebrate my birthday at one of the only restaurants around that was open. I always love their cheese curds and fried pickles even though they certainly are not gluten free; I also had a southern Iowa lemonade, and the bourbon made up for the fact that my burger wasn’t as good as it usually is. So, we had a nice birthday dinner, and I ended the day feeling very loved (especially because someone at work refused to add me to a 9-11pm meeting because it was my birthday, so I went to bed while everyone else slogged).

Friday was chaotic = I got up and went into town to get allergy shots, and then I slogged through more meetings than I like to have on Fridays. I also had to pack to leave for SF, which made things more chaotic. But since I was originally supposed to fly out Friday night, the fact that I didn’t leave until Saturday morning made it just a wee bit more manageable. So I got packed up, watered all my plants and gardens, organized things, and also made dinner - I baked some chicken breasts, cooked the last of a pack of bacon that was going to go bad before my return, sliced up some fresh tomatoes and some leftover mozzarella, and [censored] and I had a surprisingly delicious dinner (and I left him with leftovers, assuaging my guilt at also leaving him with plants to water).

Saturday, I flew to SF. My flight was at 9, which meant leaving home at 6…and I only left twenty minutes later than planned, which is luckily not a problem when flying out of Des Moines. I parked in the garage, walked straight through security with my carry-on, and had time for a glass of nerve-calming rosé at the bar before boarding on time. My flights were both smooth from a timing standpoint, but unfortunately I was banking on eating on the Denver->SF flight, and they didn’t end up offering any food because there was too much turbulence.

So I landed in SF early but starving. Since I didn’t have to pick up a checked bag, I grabbed a late lunch at a restaurant at the airport before taking an uber into the city. I checked into my hotel, fully unpacked, and then went to my absolute favorite mani/pedi place, were they cleaned up my hands and feet and made me feel ready to seize a week of girlbossing in the city of sin. After that was done, I came back to my hotel, took a much needed twenty-minute nap, put on fresh clothes, and rendezvoused for some much-needed family time.

Adit (no one calls him the cat), Chandlord, Claude and I met up at True Laurel for drinks (aka cacktales), and my boulevardier went a long way toward restoring me after my travels. Then we had dinner at Flour + Water, which has gotten v. good for gluten free. The four of us now arrange our seating by our joint dietary preferences - Claude and I avoid gluten and eat meat to compensate, while Adit and Chandlord are veg only but eat as much gluten as possible. We split all the veg/gluten free salads on the menus, and then Claude and I split an excellent gf pasta + some salmon. This might be my new fave gf pasta in the city, which is v exciting since a place called Flour + Water is not typically welcoming of our gf sensitivities.

We also (of course) ordered a bottle of wine + another couple of glasses after. This is sedate compared to the outings of our twenties and thirties, but still felt like going big given our advanced ages. We spent most of dinner playing a game we dubbed ‘Vibe Check’ - the person in the hotseat had to pick a number between 1-10, where 1 is worst and 10 is best. The other three then went around and asked category questions - e.g., if someone asked ‘Biblical characters’ (as Claude did of me), then the main person had to name something within that category that matched the number/ranking they were thinking of.

As it turns out, we know each other quite well - they got that I had picked a 4 (for reference: my biblical characters was Paul bc I acknowledge his role in promoting the church and writing great letters, but do not appreciate his misogyny or how judgy he was after his Damascus conversion - and Claude guessed exactly how I felt; my other answers were all similarly mid), and for the rest of our rounds we all got within 1 of the person’s number. As games go it was quite fun and not nearly as dangerous as games involving shots, so I would 100% recommend.

Sssanyway, after we finished dinner (with an excellent chocolate budino), we walked a few blocks to meet up with Michael, who is friends with Chandlord and Claude. We hung out in his lobby with him and his partner, and drank some truly atrocious canned Paloma drink (lukewarm 52-proof tequila and grapefruit is really not good, but I drank it anyway because I’m polite and also have no boundaries). We chatted about a variety of topics related to book bindings, house renovations, SF neighborhoods, etc., and it was all generally delightful.

Adit and Chandlord then went with Michael to the Stud (and later to Grubstake, which I’m very sad to have missed, but I couldn’t have survived until 1:30am PT / 3:30am CT after waking up at 5am CT). I walked Claudia back to her car, grabbed an uber from there, and then came to my hotel and fell asleep with the lights on because I was too tired to think.

Today was a great recovery day though. I woke up fairly early, grabbed coffee downstairs, and then chilled and ordered room service breakfast. I also ran over to Chandlord’s to get a set of keys from her - SF hotels are cheap this weekend but out of control this week, so I’m checking out tomorrow and staying with her. Then I came back to my hotel, showered, and walked to the Embarcadero…

…where I had lunch (don’t call it brunch) with John and Jess at Coqueta. I was in the mood for tapas and paella, which I never get in ye olde Iowa, and Coqueta delivered. My salt air margarita was perfect, and the paella was fantastic - and the patatas bravas (fried potatoes if you’re Iowan) were so good that we got a second order. It’s warm in the city right now, so we sat outside, and we people-watched and water-watched and caught up on life in general, and it was all a delight.

After we parted ways, I did basically nothing for a couple of hours (and finally gave up and took a proper nap). Then I grabbed a chai from the Yemeni coffee shop down the street, came back to my room, and wrote for a couple of hours. Eventually I realized I was finally hungry again, so I grabbed a burger and a glass of wine from the hotel bar. And now, I need to start unwinding so that I can hit the work slog hard tomorrow - goodnight!

you could show a little grace, but maybe things just went a bit too far

I had another v v busy day, but things weren't quite as bonkers as yesterday, so I'll take it. I also had smoked salmon and cream cheese on toast for lunch, which made me quite delighted - there are advantages to going to Des Moines and having new types of food in the fridge as a result. And I snuck out at 4:20 to go to town for a library board meeting, so at least I got out of the house and saw more people than just the same usual suspects that I see on video all day every day.

When I got home, I did some laundry, made myself some gluten free funfetti cupcakes for reasons that will become apparent tomorrow (#neverforget), walked downtown to pay my water bill(s), and did a variety of other tings. I also spent half an hour on a late work call while eating leftover curry (better the second day, as is often the case), and then I talked to [censored], and then I did some more work.

And now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

grab your wings, this is a storm we're meant to ride

I have had an absolutely insane couple of days at work, which is not how I like to live these days, but c'est la vie. Yesterday was a long and brutal slog, and I went to bed early in hopes of getting up early so I could get tings done today. But I woke up unexpectedly at 4am feeling migraine-ish, and so I canceled on a local board meeting and stayed in bed until eight.

That meant that today's slog started literally as soon as I got out of bed, headache or no. So I took a shower, fueled up with a bunch of coffee, and had many many hours of meetings (while also trying to multitask during some of them). I took a break around seven to make dinner, which turned out surprisingly well - I had an expired can of green curry paste in the basement that I'd never tried to cook with, but while I was awake at 4am I had read some tips for how to doctor it (including many people who said that most thai restaurants in the US use this brand of canned curry paste instead of making their own). So I cooked it up with eggplant from my garden, some chicken, and some fresh basil, and it turned out amazingly well. It was just on the verge of spicier than I wanted, but it was quite good, so I'll have to try their other pastes.

However, after I ate, I had to get back to the slog, including a 10pm meeting with an hour of debrief after. The only advantage of any of this, frankly, was that today was the four-month anniversary of Dad's death and I was too busy to think for most of the day, which I guess is maybe better than the alternative? Or maybe it's not, but workaholism certainly does help mask some things occasionally.

And now I am well and truly done (mentally, not task-wise) and am going to bed. Goodnight!

ensenada on my mind

I had a lovely day in the city of corn - I slept surprisingly well and deeply last night despite being in a strange place and also having a pretty stressful week, so I woke up later than planned and quite refreshed. The "later than planned" timing was by doubt influenced by the fact that I set my alarm...but it was my bedside alarm (at home) instead of my phone. At least [censored] wasn't home and hearing what sounded like a bird had gotten into my bedroom, so no one was alarmed (pin intended).

Anyway, I got ready, checked out, and went to the mall shortly after it opened, where I happily browsed many stores, bought a pair of black jeans (accomplishing my main mission), and had a slow late lunch at cheesecake factory. Then I went to Target, browsed a couple more stores, did a minor stock up at whole foods, and headed south.

[Censored] happened to land in Des Moines around the time I was wrapping up, so we met for a v tasty Mexican dinner in Indianola. Then I drove home, unloaded, and chilled until I started to fall asleep while looking at my phone. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

I will possess your heart

I had an unexpectedly chaotic day - I woke up thinking it would be chill, but instead I had many meetings and many discussions. It wasn't all day job, though - I also got allergy shots and mailed things and took care of some courthouse business, so at least I got that done.

At 5:30 I decided to play hooky and drive to Des Moines - I want to do a big shopping run tomorrow, and I decided to come up tonight so I could see Drewbaby and Sammie. They picked up Thai food and we drank some wine while watching the Chiefs game (against the Chargers in Brazil) on one TV and the North Polk game on another. The Chiefs game was disappointing, but Drewbaby's alma mater won, so the night wasn't a total wash.

Then I drove to West Des Moines and checked into a hotel so that I can hit the shopping early and hard tomorrow. Goodnight!

i play my music in the sun

I stayed up way too late working last night, which made this morning a bit of a slog. I've been strangely enjoying getting up early enough to get a head start on my day, and that didn't happen today - I still had time for coffee, of course, but I was definitely not feeling in it to win it. It didn't help that I had a million meetings and many important tings were happening in all of them, which left me feeling wrung out and headachy (but also strangely motivated) by the end of it.

But I did make myself some v. tasty bacon and eggs and toast for lunch while listening to a meeting, so that felt like a real win. I also slacked off at 5:45, checked my garden (more eggplant incoming!), and then went with Mom to water the planters in town. We also had dinner together - we changed cars after watering (since the watering jugs were in her trunk, but I would rather drive to dinner) and went to Seymour for ribeye. I also stocked up on their after-dinner mints since I don't have them in my life as often as I used it. The building next to them looks like it's about to collapse, which gives me pause about lingering outside too long, but at least the food is still good.

Then we came home, and I spent the rest of the evening chilling/procrastinating and then doing about an hour of work to get ahead of tomorrow. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

like the old days

I have nothing to report - I have been slogging hard the last two days to take advantage of some focus time while [censored] is gallivanting off in Orlando like the world traveler that he secretly wants to be. Yesterday I did manage to get out of the house and tend to the town's planters with my mom - but there was no need to water today, since we got rain off and on throughout.

So that's all I've got for you, since I need to wind down and go to bed - goodnight!

go slow

I had a v lazy couple of days, which wasn't my intent, but c'est la vie. Yesterday I did a whole lot of nothing, from what I can recall - although I did make potatoes au gratin to eat with the leftover pulled pork for dinner, which was pretty tasty. And [censored] and I watched the second half of the Billy Joel documentary, which was pretty great. Oh, and I met my latest great-niece - Allie and Chris came down and brought Mya, who is less than three weeks old and v v cute (and somehow already trying to roll over, which is shocking).

Today I attempted to be more productive, with mixed results. I was prepared to get after it, and then [censored] for a text from Cheri offering him some stuff out of their shed before they tear it down. Since their shed was Gram and Granddad's shed, I decided to go along for the ride and check tings out. There were a couple of old metal signs that were cool, and Jake had found our dad's initials and handprint in some concrete that was poured in 1978, so that was bittersweet.

After we came home, I messed around in my garden and harvested my only butternut squash. Mom and I also went downtown to water planters, since it's our week to water. And I spent the afternoon journaling, planning, and taking care of various lists - not completely productive, but I have a better handle on what I need to get done. 

And now I need to sleep so I can get up early and do all the things I should have done this weekend - goodnight!

tonight I'm cleaning out my closet

I had a v hectic week, so today I was pretty chill in an effort to offset. Yesterday was decent, though - I only had four hours of scheduled meetings + a couple of hours of people needing to talk in an impromptu way, so I was able to get a little bit of work done. And then I drove to the next town over to have dinner with Hannah. I took some of my leftover pulled pork, and we made nachos and hung out on her patio for a couple of hours. It was nice to see her, and hopefully I'll see her again before the weather precludes outdoor activities. 

Today, as I said, was chill - I woke up, made coffee, did some paperwork type things, showered, walked to the lumber yard, and then went to town to run a couple of errands. I wasn't super productive after that - mostly because I was doing random things until going with my mom to Virginia's 100th birthday party. We didn't stay long, but it was good to see her, and they had a v nice turnout.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon starting to clean out my office closet, which means I have a huge mess in my office. At some point I picked up pizza, which Mom and [censored] and I ate together. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

and i've known you all my life but i knew you long before that tune

I have had a brain-melting couple of days at work, which is too bad because I would rather lie in a hammock and read a book and maybe write the book that is just barely starting to percolate behind my eyeballs. It's not all bad, since I generally like the people and the problems are interesting, but I could use a few fewer meetings/candidate interviews and a few more hours to get work done.

But Tuesday and Wednesday were fine, and I ate some tasty things in there (a BLTA with a tomato from my garden, some fish tacos that I made last night). Today, I roasted a pork butt, which means the house smelled like roasting pork for ten hours. But it was #worthit, since the pork turned out perfectly. I used the digital thermometer that I got for Christmas, which bluetooths to my phone, which was great because when my temperature alarm went off on my phone in the middle of a meeting that I deeply wanted to get out of (at 6:15pm), they all heard it and I was off the hook.

So I wrapped the pork in foil, tidied up, shucked some corn, and boiled it while shredding the pork. Mom came into town to join me and [censored], so we had a v. nice dinner. And then I cleaned up, was going to relax, instead talked to a coworker for an hour, finally did relax for a bit, and then sent a couple of work emails (one of which took way longer than it should have).

And now I really need to sleep - goodnight!