maybe wave if i pass you

Happy almost new year! It will be midnight here in ten minutes, but I hope to be done with this post and have the lights out by then. I spent the last couple of days being a city person - as I mentioned Monday, I drove up to Des Moines Monday night so that I could accomplish a variety of errands yesterday and today. Yesterday's primary errand was getting my car serviced, which went fine; they are v. eager to sell me on an upgrade since my car is seven years old, and I will perhaps get eager to upgrade because my car is worth increasingly little and any future repairs will be increasingly expensive thanks to zee germans and their car designs.

However, yesterday was not the day to shop for a car (unless it was, due to end of year sales, but I didn't have time). Instead, I slogged most of the day - almost everyone else was off, but I had several hours of planning meetings, which went well. And I took advantage of being in a city by doordashing some thai food to my hotel room door while talking. The thai food was actually somewhat mediocre, but I was so excited about being able to order it that I didn't care that much about the quality.

After I wrapped up for the day, I met up with Drewbaby and Sammie for a drink and dinner. Yes, I had just seen them this weekend, but it was fun to see them again. We had a drink at my hotel, and then walked to Roca to have dinner, which was quite tasty. And then I was going to get a bunch of stuff done last night, but instead dozed / slept, which I suppose was better.

This morning I got up reasonably early, grabbed coffee, showered, packed, and drove to West Des Moines, where I hung out at a Starbucks for a bit. Then I got my hair cut - I'm a little iffy on the woman I've been using, even though I like her, because I feel like she gives me too much of a 90s midwestern mom/Jennifer Aniston blowout + I think she messed up my bangs this time, but luckily blowouts wash out immediately and my bangs grow fast. After my hair cut, I ran several mall errands at poisoned myself with mall chinese food, which was mostly worth it. Then I grabbed a few groceries and came home.

I spent the rest of the night doing very little beyond eating cheese and playing some Animal Crossing, and now I need to go to bed so that I can accomplish much more than that going into the new year. Hopefully 2026 brings many lovely things for all of us - goodnight!

i'd fake my death if it weren't such a mess

Yesterday I was too wiped out from family time (Iowa family, not Adit, although he's exhausting too) to blog - we had a delightful Christmas, but Becky and Brian left at seven am Sunday instead of Monday due to weather threats, and I woke up to see them off because I was sleeping in my illegal hidey hole in the basement and so I couldn't help but hear them moving around as they prepared to leave. I went back to bed after saying goodbye, but I mostly dozed for an hour before getting up to entertain my remaining guests. 

The Des Moines Metro crew ended up sticking around for brunch at my mom's house, but they left around noon, which was not a moment too soon since a storm hit around the I-80 corridor and made travel v difficult. In my neck of the woods it just got bitterly cold and a little icy/snowy, and I took that as an excuse to do as little as humanly possible yesterday. 

Today I had to work, which I was almost grateful for after a week of family time - again, Adit is exhausting too, but my only meetings today were all with him and they were a welcome change from making ham balls, lasagna, gf garlic bread from scratch, and other labor intensive endeavors. When I was done for the day, I packed a bag and absconded to Des Moines - I have an appointment to get my car serviced tomorrow, so I decided to come up tonight and have a hotel to work out of while my car is in the shop. 

The drive was uneventful, and I spent some quality time at the bar eating dinner + making many lists + getting into a TMI convo with the guy next to me, who was stranded in Iowa due to flight cancellations and was the type of interesting character you only meet at a hotel (my favorite). And now I'm going to go to bed so I can focus tomorrow - goodnight!

now you're just somebody that I used to mow

I had an excellent Day 57 of Christmas break (or at least that's what my energy level thinks today is). When I got up this morning I was immediately #inittowinit (after making coffee) because I needed to make all the food before going out to my mom's for lunch. I tried a new to me gf garlic bread (monkey style) that turned out quite well - I think it would be even better if it had proofed longer, or if I had had time to chill the dough before forming the loaf, but it was an admirable (albeit time consuming) first effort. 

Becky and [censored] were generally hanging out in the kitchen throughout this and helping with tings like peeling zucchini and sprinkling flour on my hands. Drewbaby and Sammie arrived around 10:30 and also hung out, so they got to participate in the light chaos of me putting together a quadruple batch of zucchini lasagna (perhaps double what we actually needed, but I didn't want anyone to starve). Then I sent others ahead to put stuff in Mom's oven while I took a quick shower before heading out. 

Lunch was pretty tasty, if I do say so myself - we also had Mom's ribbon salad, and a Caesar salad, and the lasagna was great. Then we hung out all afternoon - I got them to play Vibe Check with pretty fun results (although Brian will never accept that I think Amsterdam is pretty mid).

Eventually Aunt B prepped a bunch of stuff for tacos, which was a perfect cap (although I forgot to make guac). Then we played a few rounds of scattergories, decided to call the games quits bc the fog was getting intense, and most of us came into town. I was supposed to make ambrosia tonight, but after changing my sheets it was close to ten and I was out of steam, so I gave it up. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

you're too sensitive they said

I'm v v tired, but I have seen two of my three aunts in the same day, which is rare enough to merit a post. I got up a little after seven to get ready so that [censored] and I could pick up Mom at 9ish and head toward Moberly. It's over 2.5hrs away, but it's the half way point to St Louis, and we were meeting Aunt Dee and Moriah and Santi for lunch at our favorite Mexican place.

Lunch was accomplished in due form - Santi is 18mo and v.energetic, but also v cute, and so it was fun to see him. And it's always good to see Moriah and Aunt Dee. Jackie and Shawn came too, even though they were a bit late due to a flat tire. A good time was had by all, and it was great to see them even though it was a long trip for lunch.

Then [censored] drove us home, with a couple of brief stops to get supplies. When we got home I vegged for a bit, and then Aunt B and Uncle B arrived from Colorado. So we all hung out while eating leftovers, and then I talked to Aunt B while making the meat sauce for tomorrow's lasagna. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

jingle jingle

Merry Christmas! I had a v lovely day, all in all, although the weather was dismal (foggy and misty throughout). But I woke up in time (barely) to make coffee, wrap all presents, and take a shower before heading out to Mom's for brunch. She made breakfast casserole and gf blueberry muffins, and my ambrosia turned out quite well (critics say I needed more bananas, which I will take under advisement, but otherwise the 3:2 orange:grapefruit ratio was correct). So we had a tasty and enjoyable brunch, with enough left over to have a snack tomorrow before heading to the next adventure.

After that, we opened gifts, which went as well as it could have given that I went off script and gave [censored] something that wasn't on his list, which is high treason in this household. Then we all relaxed / napped / etc before playing Ticket to Ride. The rules are supposed to be different for three people, but we didn't change them since we wanted to see how the mechanics would work first. Ultimately, Mom and [censored] tied, which was a v. shocking outcome, so perhaps I will petition to change the rules next time.

Then we all came in to town to eat leftover ham balls and twice (thrice?) baked potatoes. I took Mom back home after, since she didn't want to drive in/out of town due to the fog, and then I spent the evening getting ready for this weekend's celebrations before relaxing with some Animal Crossing. And now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

albatross

Merry Christmas Eve! I have been slogging relentlessly the last couple of days to get to this point - yesterday I worked all day, and today I was 'off' but I probably worked harder in the kitchen than I do at the day job.

Nothing that I made today was hard, but it was all time consuming. I made a batch of twice baked potatoes, which I love - and love to have extras of in the freezer. I also made close to three batches of ham balls, which involved grinding six pounds of ham and forming ~55 ham balls. This was all #worthit, though - Mom came in for supper, and [censored] and Mom and I feasted on the aforementioned potatoes and ham balls. Mom and I had originally intended to go to Christmas Eve services, but it was quite foggy, and so we skipped out and ate early instead.

This was probably a good call, since I was v. low on energy after dinner and therefore spent a couple of hours playing Animal Crossing (I opened it last night for the first time in a year and a half, according to the game) and messing around on my phone to relax. This is not what I should have done, since I still need to wrap presents. But then I spent a couple of hours making ambrosia. Dad always made ambrosia on Christmas Eve, and I wanted to continue the tradition - but from a timing perspective, I didn't really account for the fact that while Dad spent a couple of hours segmenting grapefruit and oranges, I wrapped all his presents for him. So this is something I will need to remember in future years, because my tradition of wrapping on Christmas Eve is definitely hampered if I need to spend quality time with some citrus.

Anyway, I think the ambrosia will be good, and I have a game plan for what I need to get done tomorrow morning, so Christmas should be nice. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

holy roller don't go wasting all your time praying for a sign

I worked today, unlike most people in the company - I would have taken this week off, but my Mexico trip was much more necessary and also made me feel a bit behind, so I decided I should get some tings done before the end of the year. However, I wasn't entirely diligent...while I did get some tings done, I also skipped out a little early because I desperately needed to go to Des Moines to grab groceries and a couple of last Christmas presents.

I should have gone yesterday, but yesterday I took care of some house stuff and then spent several hours with Allie and Chris and their baby at my mom's house. Hopefully I'll didn't get them sick - if I'm picking up what [censored] has I'm asymptomatic so far. It was good to see them, but it was not how I intended to get ready for the holidays. 

So anyway, I went to Des Moines and did a speed run through a liquor store, target, and whole foods in an attempt to get everything together, mostly successfully. Of course, I have to slog relentlessly tomorrow, and at some point I have to cook and clean and wash bedding and wrap presents and maybe decorate....but that is a problem for Future Sara (unfortunately that future is tomorrow, lol). Goodnight!

don't you miss the breathlessness, the wildness in the eye

Yesterday, I slogged more than I wanted to for a Friday before the holiday, but less than I do on most Fridays, so I guess I will take it. The day ended on a lovely note because [censored] and I took Mom to Seymour for prime rib to celebrate her birthday. The prime rib was particularly good last night, and it was worth venturing out into the cold for - and of course it was good to see Mom after my various city travels.

Unfortunately, though, [censored] seems to have come down with some dreadful illness, which knocked him out last night and continued to knock him out today. We were supposed to go to my sister's for Christmas today, but [censored] was too sick and I was starting to feel funky, so I decided to skip as well in an effort to keep from getting the various infants sick. It was really too bad since I don't get to see the kids very often, but I still feel funky tonight, so I think it was the right call.

However, I didn't really have the energy to do anything else either, which means I still feel quite behind on getting ready for Christmas. But I got some rest, downed a ton of vitamins, and am generally trying to avoid any further disease. I also made pasta for supper (using a jar of Rao's + some sausage and mushrooms), which [censored] rallied to eat while we watched a weird episode of SNL from a couple of weeks ago. And now I need to sleep so that I can hopefully stave off any symptoms and get some stuff done tomorrow - goodnight!

before he speak his suit bespoke

I have been v busy the last couple of days - on Tuesday I packed, ate breakfast, went to the office, had several meetings in a row, did one coffee meeting while walking around the v cute Christmas market in Union Square, and then caught an Uber to LaGuardia. I was cutting it closer than I like, but I got lucky on navigating the airport and was through security and at the door to the Delta/Amex lounge in less than ten minutes. So I had time to grab some food and a glass of rosé before boarding my tiny plane with the emergency rope exits to Des Moines. 

Yesterday I slogged all day, with no fun and nothing to report. 

Today was more of the same, although I left the house to get allergy shots. And my meetings were a little more emotionally taxing than I like, but all in all they were good. I wasn't done until almost seven, and I had no food to cook or eat, so [censored] and I grabbed Mexican. And now I need to go to bed so I can produce another valiant slog tomorrow - goodnight!

my finger is on the button

I have nothing to report tonight - I woke up reasonably early, grabbed breakfast at the hotel while doing some work, went to the office, did some more work, had some meetings, had some more meetings, and ended up eating sushi for dinner at the office bc I had a late ish meeting and a couple of people were also still around. I love that the east coast starts so much later than the west coast, but there is a price. 

Then I came back to my hotel, grabbed a snack at the bar, and attempted to wrangle the rest of my to do list with mixed results. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

i've been looking for a light that i can't reignite again

I had a v. nice, v. chill day in New York. It was snowing when I woke up and snowed for most of the day, which made everything quite pretty (and somewhat treacherously slushy) - and I'm glad I didn't switch my flight to come home today like I had considered, since the earlier flight was delayed by four hours and the later flight was canceled.

Instead of dealing with travel woes, I had a leisurely brunch in the hotel restaurant, got ready, and went to the Nordstrom flagship store at Columbus Circle. I browsed six floors of goods (well, I skipped one) and generally enjoyed being in a store rather than ordering online. I didn't get a pair of boots as I had intended because the shoe section was the most chaotic of any area, but I did buy a couple of tops, and I had a v. tasty mocha from the coffee bar. I also got my nails done at their beauty bar, which made me feel refreshed, so all in all it was a lovely afternoon.

Then I came back to my hotel because I was feeling overwhelmed with all the tings I need to do (personal and work). I still haven't caught up since being on vacation, and I feel like I really haven't been caught up since, like, September - so things are getting a little out of hand and I knew I would feel better if I did various tasks tonight instead of attempting to have fun.

So I had an early dinner in the hotel restaurant, where I had an excellent gluten free pasta - I've been on a pasta kick this entire trip, with no regrets. I brain dumped a million tings to my to-do list while eating, and then I came upstairs, talked to my mom and [censored] about various holiday gifts and tasks, and then did some mix of work, personal, and holiday stuff for the rest of the night.

I should probably push through with one more task tonight, but I'm tired enough that I think I would be better off sleeping and getting up early to do it. So on that note, it's time for bed - goodnight!

west end girls

I got a ton of sleep last night, which helped me feel immensely better this morning - still not fantastic, but definitely close to recovered from the last few days of chaos. I had a chill morning with some coffee and a tasty gluten free lemon cake that I grabbed from down the street, and then I showered and took the subway to the Upper West Side to pursue my plans for the day.

First up, I met Sara and JM for brunch at Dagon. I originally met them in Boulder, but they now live in NYC, so I was excited to see them here. Sara's sister is in town and it was great to meet her too, and they also brought someone who used to work in my office in Boulder who I didn't know well but certainly knew of. So, it was a fun brunch time activity, and hopefully I will see them on future NYC trips.

Happily, the restaurant was only a few blocks from Terry's place, so after we were done eating I went over to meet up with her. We hung out with Haseeb and the kids for a bit, and then we went to a cute cafe to have wine and hot chocolate and catch up properly. We continued the conversation over an early dinner at a v lovely Italian place, and all in all it was a fabulous afternoon. It's hard to chat over zoom, so a long and leisurely time together was v overdue.

When it was time to part ways, I grabbed the subway back to FiDi, and I have spent the rest of the evening being v lazy. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

shake shake shake

I have had an absolutely bonkers couple of days and I'm running on fumes, so luckily I had not made plans tonight and am already tucked into bed.

Wednesday I got sworn into city council, as one does, and then I worked all day before going to the peo Christmas party. I made cheesy potatoes for it, and I was joking to people I met with during the afternoon that they were getting to watch my cooking show since I was actively making food while talking to various people. The party was fun, albeit a little bittersweet since some former members came, but all in all it was v nice. 

Then I went home, talked to [censored] for a bit, and then finished packing. Sadly I only got five hours of sleep before waking up to go to the airport. I was cutting it close, but then my flight got delayed, so I was able to have breakfast. I slept most of the way to LaGuardia, and then when I landed I came straight to my hotel, where I took several hours of meetings before throwing on a dress and some makeup and going to my holiday party.

The party was at a restaurant in Brooklyn (Cafe Mado), and it was v v fun and v v delicious. I would have enjoyed sitting with anyone at the party, but I particularly enjoyed that I got to sit next to Adit, Emily, Emily's wife Lauren, and Mitchell, and also got to mingle with everyone else. We then proceeded to take the party to two more bars, which was perhaps ill advised, especially because I got back to my room at three and had to be at work and on relatively early this morning. 

But I survived, tried to hydrate, went to the office, and did a couple of critical tasks. Then several of us went to Friend of a Farmer for brunch with a potential new hire, which was fun - the decor was really great, as was the food, and I liked the vibes. 

I spent the rest of the day mostly in meetings with the interview candidate, other meetings about various things, etc. Then I took the subway back to my hotel, did another meeting, and walked over to Serafina's to grab dinner. They had a decent gf pasta with an excellent pool of burrata on top, so I was pleased. I also got to see the massive Christmas tree outside the New York Stock Exchange, which was gorgeous.

And now it's only 9:15 but I'm going to attempt an early bedtime and try to clear some of my sleep debt + goodnight!

 

up all night

I had a decent day, all in all, but it started earlier than I prefer because I had an economic development board meeting at 8am. This was accomplished in due form, and then I came home and slogged all day with mixed results - my spirit is eager, but my brain is still having trouble getting back in it after vacation. 

But I took a break in the evening to have dinner with my mom, which was nice. Then I came home, talked to my boss (luckily at 8pm instead of our intended 10pm), talked to Adit, and spent some time packing. I'm going to New York on Thursday, and this would normally mean packing tomorrow, but I have other commitments tomorrow and so needed to figure out my clothes plan tonight. I think I'm mostly there, so I can edit my outfits tomorrow and throw them in a suitcase. 

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

i don't know where we're going but we've been coming undone for quite some time

I am back in Iowa, obviously, although I didn't blog last night and so it may not be true since it wasn't documented. I woke up yesterday morning in a bed in Kansas City that was, frankly, an insult after the resort I stayed at in Cabo, and I was pretty surly about it. But I got on the road, made a brief detour to browse various holiday tings at Home Goods, grabbed some McDonalds for breakfast and Starbucks for good measure, and drove home.

Once I got here, I unloaded my car to avoid having everything immediately freeze, and then I talked to [censored] for awhile. Then I took a quick shower and met Mom at the funeral home - they were having a Christmas/memorial service for people who passed away this year (customers??), and we decided to go. They had some nice snacks and did a service with music, a poem, and a quick sermon, which was nice. Of course, it was v. bittersweet, but I was glad I went.

Then, Mom and I went out to the Fairgrounds to see the annual light display, since it was the last night. The outdoor displays were down from previous years, but there were some nicely decorated trees inside, and we enjoyed browsing around them. Then I dropped Mom back off at her car, grabbed some groceries, picked up a pizza, came home, and slogged on some stuff until bedtime.

Today I had to get up and go into town for allergy shots, which I was v. v. overdue on. Then I came home and slogged all day with mixed results. After I finished meetings [censored] was already gone, so I had the house to myself while I did a whole bunch of tasks (laundry, unpacking, tidying, etc). And now I need to fold a final load of clothes so I can go to sleep - goodnight!

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!