three or four degrees

I made it to Denver after the smoothest possible trip - I did leave the house 25 min later than I should have, but I still had time for breakfast at the Des Moines airport before flying out. I my dozed must of the way, and then took a meeting from a comfortable chair at the airport before heading into the city.

The rest of the day was good - I chatted up the desk staff at the hotel, and then I picked up a poke bowl before slogging through meetings and varied tings. The day ended with a private dinner related to my job, which went quite tasty and fun. And now I need to go to sleep immediately since I have an event at 7 am - goodnight!

you push mе in circles to the edgе of the earth

Today was a mad scramble - I'm leaving tomorrow for a v. abbreviated work trip to Denver, and I had to do a million things today to get ready. When I woke up, I wrote for a tiny bit of time, and then I finalized a program that I had to give tonight at my PEO meeting. Then I did some work, showered, had a meeting, and sped into town to get allergy shots so I wouldn't get too far behind on them.

Things were so hectic thereafter that I had to talk to Adit on the phone while I drove home, where I dove straight into four hours of meetings. I was fortunately able to grab some cottage cheese as I ran upstairs, and one meeting ended early enough for me to make a sandwich, but it was all touch and go. However, I survived. And then as soon as I was done working, I started packing - luckily I'd thought about outfits last night, and I made a list that was sufficiently strict so that I could avoid checking a bag. This should be easy peasy for a three-night trip, but I do like to have many outfit options, so I feel quite proud of myself for how minimally I packed.

I didn't quite finish packing before I had to eat some dinner and speed into town for my meeting. It was all good, and my program was fine (it was about writing, which I theoretically know something about even though I have little to show for it recently), and then we sat around and ate snacks. Then I came home, finished packing, removed the last bits of gel polish from my nails, trimmed my bangs, watered the plants, and generally got fully ready to go.

And now, I need to go to bed - all that I have to do in the morning is shower, make coffee, and grab my makeup and glasses. But I have to do all of that early enough to get out the door by 6am, which is a v. unwelcome time for me to leave the house. So it's definitely time for bed - goodnight!

breezeblocks

I had a long day of slogging today, as per usual. Happily I had leftovers so I didn't have to worry about food; [censored] and I both had leftover chili for lunch and leftover chicken and rice for dinner, which was a delight. Sadly the dinner happened while watching the start of an abysmal Iowa State basketball game, and I didn't stick around to watch more because I had tings to do. 

Unfortunately I also have to do a million things tomorrow, so I'm going to bail on this early and go to bed - goodnight!

i'm going to wichita, far from this opera forevermore

Today was the usual Monday slog - I got up fairly early (for me) and did a bit of writing before work, which felt good. Then I had a variety of tasks and meetings all day, as per usual. One meeting ran way over, so I turned my camera off so that I could go to the kitchen and throw together some chicken and rice and slip it into the oven before my next meeting. This was key, since it takes two hours to cook and I wanted to eat before eight p.m.

As it turns out, it took closer to two and a half. I managed to find some bone-in skin-on chicken breasts the last time I was at whole foods, which are seemingly impossible to find around here. This is how the chicken and rice casserole of my youth was made, so I was excited to try it. And the result was excellent, although the breasts were too large and so it took a long time to get to the right temp. But it was #worthit and I'll have to buy the entire stock of bone-in breasts next time I see them. 

While we were eating, [censored] and I watched the SNL concert from last weekend. It was a mixed bag and my least favorite of the 50th anniversary shows, but still entertaining (and Cher is still incredibly hot even though she's 78). We also discovered that the B-52s are contemporaries of Snoop Dogg, which we didn't know - somehow "Love Shack" seems like it came out much earlier than 1989.

But now that I have imparted all this wisdom to you, it's time for bed - goodnight!

you in the sea, on a decline, breaking the waves

I had an unusual weekend, but it ended well. Yesterday I woke up at the absurd hour of 5:45am so that I could brew some coffee and make myself look presentable before joining [censored] on an early drive to Kansas City. We went there to attend visitation for the wife of Gram's cousin Jimmy (who I'm guessing most people call Jim, but eighty-four-year habits die hard). We saw Jimmy somewhat regularly as kids because we used to have family reunions on that side of the family, but I hadn't seen him since Gram's funeral in 2019.

So, we decided that we would drive down to pay our respects. We only went to the visitation, which was probably odd since we'd driven so far - but we didn't want to stay all day, which we suspected would happen if we stayed for the funeral, since it would transition into lunch. We talked to Jimmy for about as long as one can talk to someone in a receiving line, and he said how much fun he always had roller skating with Gram, which I'm sure was true. We also talked to his brother Tom, and then to some of the other cousins (Terry and Sheila, and Geoff and Lynn), and then we snuck out the back as the funeral was starting.

I'm really glad we went, but it was a long morning - we were back home by 12:45pm, and I had high hopes of getting tings done, but instead I took a long nap and got v. little done. I did make chili, which felt like an accomplishment. But I went to bed feeling v. lethargic and unenthused...

...so I woke up this morning determined to have a better day. I mostly succeeded - I stayed off my phone until well after lunch, and I got some good journaling / writing done this morning. I also got groceries, did some stretching, walked downtown to pay my gas bill and inspect some mural stuff, and wrote a bit more. I ended the day by making cheeseburgers and french fries, which were not the best (the burgers were pretty good, but the fries I bought were somehow not great). Then I spent the rest of the evening doing a bit more work, and now I'm ready to call it a night. Goodnight!

can music save your mortal soul

I had a long-ish day - not that it was bad, it was just unusual. I took my parents to Des Moines so my dad could see his cardiologist, which meant three hours of driving, thirty-ish minutes in a waiting room, an appointment, some detour through the 'gift shop', and then a stop at McDonald's where I definitely gluten'd myself because I really wanted chicken nuggets as a reward (they were #worthit and usually don't make me feel bad anyway, which makes me question whether the breading is as fake as the meat).

So anyway, the appointment went fine, and while it was way too cold outside, at least the sun was out for the drive. When we got home, I vegged for a little bit, took a shower, and then ended up trapped into a two-hour discussion about finances and taxes with Adit and the finance person. This was supposed to take thirty minutes, but instead dragged on until 6:30, which was my limit for discussing taxes other than my own.

By that point I was hungry, so I reheated last night's pasta and supplemented it (since there wasn't enough for me and [censored]) with a package of gluten free gnocchi and a jar of pasta sauce as a second dish. I ordered the gnocchi awhile ago and hadn't tried it yet, but I was pleasantly surprised - it tasted pretty good, and since it boils in less than three minutes, it makes for a fast dinner. The jarred pasta sauce was also good, although it would be better if I added sausage (that's what she said). But for a ten minute meal it was pretty winning.

Then I sat around and procrastinated, and then I came upstairs and just did half an hour of work that I could no longer put off. And now I need to go to sleep immediately - goodnight!

clearest blue

I was probably slightly too leisurely this morning, but I got up and did some excellent journaling/writing before work, which made me happy. Then I showered and slogged for a bit before running into town for an economic development board meeting. This morphed into a meeting about murals that I'd called with a slightly different group of people - one of the murals was damaged due to wind and we have to figure out what to do about it. This will probably not be the most fun thing to deal with, but at least we have the money to fix it, so it could be worse.

After that, I came home and had meetings off and on until almost seven. Then I made a v tasty pasta with Italian sausage and Swiss chard, which perhaps I should call alpine pasta due to the names of the ingredients. [Censored] even likes it despite the not-standard-for-Iowa ingredients (there are no tomatoes, but there is lemon zest).

And then I cleaned up the kitchen, did a couple of work things, messed around online, etc. Goodnight!

in a screaming ring of faces i seen her standing in the light

I had another day of slogging - not as intense as yesterday, but more intense than I would have preferred. I got up and had time to make coffee, journal, and shower before my unusual ten am meeting - unusual bc I almost never have meetings before eleven, but this meeting was with someone on the east coast, and it was great to do it before my day got bogged down.

So anyway, I worked until seven, and then I started cooking supper. This was not an exciting meal (gf chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries) but it was a tasty one. At some point [censored] showed up and we talked for awhile. And now I desperately need to sleep - goodnight!

cold as ice

No blog tonight - I slogged through a million meetings today, and I need to stop looking at my phone and go to bed. Goodnight!

scared straight

Apologies for not blogging last night - yesterday was a whirlwind because I got up to bid Sarah farewell as she continued her journey west, and then I talked to [censored] for awhile before taking a nap.

Then I sped for Des Moines just to do a grocery run - I was low on meat, especially chicken, and I decided a Whole Foods trip was in order. It was pretty cold for a road trip, but not as cold as it was today, so it was worth it. When I got home, I took care of something at my dad's shop, and then [censored] and I watched the SNL 50th anniversary show. It was quite funny, all in all - there were a couple of skits that I didn't love, but for the most part they were bangers.

Today was much calmer - I had the day off, and it was snowing all day, which made me quite lazy. I did some journaling / writing this morning, and then I spent a bit of time this afternoon at my parents' house since I didn't see them over the weekend. Their driveway was nearly drifted shut, but I made it in and out without issues, which was fortunate. I didn't get as much done the rest of the day as I intended, but that's okay - I did make some soup and listen to an audiobook, and I did a bit more writing tonight, so I'll take it.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

the man who stole the world

I had an excellent day all in all..I got decent sleep, and then I had a v leisurely morning with coffee and chatter. Then I showered before making sweet potato hash for Sarah and [censored].

After we ate, I took Sarah on an abbreviated tour of the local murals - we saw twelve, so it wasn't that abbreviated, but since it was cold we mostly did this as a drive by. Then we came home and I made some chocolate chip chewies, which are always desirable. We also ordered pizza, which [censored] kindly picked up. 

Then we spent an unusual amount of time watching TV - Sarah wanted to watch the writers guild of America awards since she's been getting into screenwriting and is a member of the WGA, and when that finished we ended up watching a long but excellent documentary about 50 years of SNL music. That was a really well done documentary, and I'm glad we watched it.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

guess all the mystique only works in your prime

Today ended on an unusual note, which I shall explain momentarily. It started off fairly normally - I got up (later than intended), made some coffee, and then sped into town to get allergy shots. Then I came home and attempted to get a bunch of day job stuff done, with varying degrees of success. I also did a bit of house stuff, also with varying degrees of success.

So I slogged until fourish, and then I stopped for the unusual note: my friend Vivi arrived for a quick visit in the midst of her drive across the country. Her real name is actually Sarah, but I met her many years ago when I was a baby writer and she was writing as Vivi then, so that was what I called her first. I always used to see her at conferences, and she also stayed with me in SF and Boulder at various points, but I shockingly haven't seen her since 2018 (thanks to the pandemic + the complete breakdown of RWA leading to the end of conferences). So I'm delighted that she swung through my neck of the woods on her way to Seattle.

After Sarah arrived, I immediately plied her with bourbon, and we hung out in the kitchen until it was time for dinner. Luckily I remembered to start the rice cooker on time, and then I made salmon teriyaki and broccoli (which was pretty good, if I do say so myself). We had a v. long and lovely chat until it was clearly bedtime for both Sarah and [censored] - at which point I came upstairs, got my usual second wind, and so am wrapping up at 12:30am as I usually do.

And on that note, I should sleep so that I can get up and hang out tomorrow - goodnight!

i can't ignore the crazy visions of me in LA

I've been slogging, or attempting to slog, pretty relentlessly the past couple of days - I say attempting to slog because I had a headache off and on and wasn't feeling in it, but I have still crossed some things off my list. Yesterday we also got several inches of snow, which was pretty to watch, but the cold doesn't make me any more enthused about getting things done. 

Today was otherwise fine, though - I worked all day, and then had a library board meeting, which I was able to get to because [censored] kindly cleared the driveway. Then I came home and ate leftover chicken tortilla soup that I made last night. [Censored] also introduced me to the Liberty Mutual commercials featuring Limu Emu and Doug, which I had somehow never seen, and for some reason we went v deep on them. They were oddly hilarious, although I don't think I'll switch insurance anytime soon. 

Then I spent some time prepping the guest room because I have a friend arriving tomorrow, and now I need to sleep - goodnight!

it's snowing in baltimore, fifteen miles east

My day was almost entirely consumed by work - I've been grinding in an attempt to get caught up after vacation, with mixed results. But work went fine, so I have no complaints. I also did a v. minor amount of prepping for tomorrow's snow - I went to my dad's shop to drag his dumpster inside, and I got my car into my garage. I'll be curious to see how much snow we get tomorrow, and I'm hoping that the snowy conditions don't impact my mood as negatively as cloudy conditions do.

I took a long break around dinnertime to talk to Katie - we hadn't caught up in awhile, so we chatted for about an hour. As we talked, I prepped dinner, which required a lot of knife work, which felt appropriate for the subjects of conversation. I made a sheet pan full of roasted butternut squash, brussels sprouts, red onions, and chicken, along with a dijon/maple syrup/balsamic/olive oil marinade, and it turned out great. I've made it before, but it's been a minute, and this is a good meal to prep ahead and then freeze for Future Sara.

So after we got off the phone, I ate a serving of the chicken/veggies and relaxed for a bit. At some point [censored] showed up - [censored] never comes back on Tuesdays, but given tomorrow's conditions, it was probably wise. We talked for awhile, and then I came upstairs and worked off and on until now. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

are you my friend? are we locked in?

I had a very focused day of work activities, spurred partially by having more to do than I could get done, and also by the fact that Mondays tend to be meeting heavy. But all in all I was pleased with what I did manage to get done, and I have high hopes for tomorrow (although with fewer meetings I often tend to sabotage myself, so hopefully I can avoid that fate).

I had to end slightly early because I had an unusual 6pm Monday meeting. My secret society usually meets on Wednesdays, but tonight we had a joint social/meeting with the Corydon chapter. Of course, I know most of them as well - they're heavy on teachers and former teachers, so there were many familiar faces. It was fun to hang out with them; less fun to move into a standard business meeting, but I survived.

Then I grabbed a couple of tings at the grocery store, came home, took care of a few personal tasks, should have worked, and instead caught up on Reddit. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

a minor

I had a much more productive day than yesterday - still not maximally productive, but I'll take it. I spent the morning doing some writing/journaling and various other tasks, and then I decided to go to Walmart as it's the nearest purveyor of okay produce (can't get Swiss chard or mint, but can get limes and Brussels sprouts, so I'm calling it a win).

When I got home, I dropped a couple of things at my parents' house, and then I came home, put away groceries, relaxed fit a bit, and then continued to do tasks. Eventually I turned on the super bowl, which was already on progress - I missed the beginning of the shellacking, but I certainly saw the middle and end. While I'm nominally pro-Chiefs, I'm more pro-Niners, and so this was somewhat satisfying to watch after I saw them beat the 49ers last year (at a party in the SF area, which made it even worse).

But I wasn't actually that invested, so I watched while doing various tings on my laptop. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

denial is a river

I had a pretty annoying and ineffective day - I didn't get as much done as I wanted to, and I spent too much time buried in my phone while ignoring my to-do list. I did manage to finish unpacking from my California trip and put things away, do some laundry, etc, so at least there's that.

I ended the day with dinner with the parents and [censored] at our usual prime rib place, which was nice. Then we came home, and I continued to do very little, and now it's time for bed. Hopefully this means I got the Sunday scaries out of the way early and can focus tomorrow - we shall see. Goodnight!

the weather ain't been bad if you're into masochistic bullshit

I have nothing noteworthy to share - I woke up this morning after not nearly enough sleep, and then I slogged all day. Luckily my meetings were all good, and I remembered that I could have tuna salad on toast for lunch, so things definitely could have been worse.

When I was finally done with meetings, I ran to the grocery store to get a few tings, and then I made a shrimp and andouille pasta that I haven't made in quite some time. It turned out well, and [censored] and I ate it while watching two episodes of Stargate (the 90s called to get their TV back, but they got a busy tone). And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

house so empty, need a centerpiece

I am back in ye olde Iowa and back to the grind. Yesterday was a whirlwind, which was partially colored by the fact that I had two to-go margaritas on the last night of the retreat (Anne and I had the stunning realization that we could order margaritas before dinner and then get more margaritas for dinner itself since the Mexican place is 200ft from our rental, and they sell margaritas with shrink-wrap sealed tops to go). I had to get up at 5:30am to catch an uber to the airport, which was not my favorite thing. But San Diego has a brand new Chase Sapphire airport lounge, which I happened to walk by - and so I walked in and got free breakfast + two free cups of coffee, which helped me stay alive.

Then I boarded my flight and slept most of the way to Denver. My layover in Denver was just long enough for me to get a burrito bowl at Cantina Grill, and then I flew to Des Moines. My arrival was basically on time, but my trip home was treacherous - we got all sorts of ice yesterday, so my drive was pretty unpleasant. My driveway was so slick that I couldn't walk on it, and [censored] put on his yaktrax to come out and tow me inside like a child learning to ice skate. But I survived, which is all that matters.

Today I was reimmersed immediately into the slog, which meant many meetings, and also weird food choices because I have no groceries and no time/desire to cook. So I had a frozen enchilada for lunch, and then for dinner [censored] and I ate the last of the spaghetti sauce that I'd stashed in the freezer - so I'd say it's time to make another giant batch. It was still tasty despite being frozen six months ago, so Past Sara really did me a solid. [Censored] and I ate it while watching SNL from a couple of weekends ago, and it was pretty funny all around, so that was a nice break.

Then I came upstairs and did some more slogging for the last couple of hours, and now I need to sleep - goodnight!

under streetlights in the city of palms

I had a great last day at my retreat, even though I had to do some day job stuff. I would tell you all about it, but I have to get up in less than six hours to go to the airport, so I think sleep is more important. Suffice it to say that writing + friends + a surprise tarot reading + two to-go margaritas = an excellent time. But now it's time for bed - goodnight!

lost in modern music

I really screwed up my sleep schedule last night, and it messed up my productivity today - it turns out that napping from 9:30-11:30 and then staying up until 2:30 isn't a recipe for success.

But I persevered - I got up and got coffee, chatted with Veronica, did a bit of work, and then took a slightly inadvertent nap from 10 to 10:45am. Then I did a little day job stuff, showered, had leftovers for lunch, and buckled down for the afternoon. I wasn't as productive as I wanted to be, but I still got through some writing, so I'll take it.

Tonight we went out for dinner, as we usually do towards the end of the retreat - and we went to the same place as usual, which was as tasty as it always is. I had a fun convo at my table -- which happened to segregate into the group that ordered three bottles of wine instead of the group that ordered six appetizers, so it all worked out.

Then we came back to the house, and ended up with the OG Montauk crew hanging out in the living room - the six of us discovered that another group of six at the retreat have their own group chat, which is somewhat hilarious. Of course, we also claim V and Steph even though they weren't at the very first retreat in Montauk, which gets us up to eight. But if gang warfare is going to break out at the end of the retreat, I don't know how it will shake out.

But for now I'm going to stick my head in the sand and call it a night - goodnight!

embrace the deep and leave everything

Today wasn't quite as good as yesterday, mostly because I didn't get quite enough sleep, woke up a little too early, and then spent too much time reading the news. I did get myself out of bed and go for a walk around eight - I found an excellent coffee shop by following signs into a parking lot that promised coffee. This is not how I normally find coffeeshops, but it was much better than Starbucks, so I'm happy I did. And I walked around Carlsbad for awhile after that, which was a good way to wake up.

Then I came back, did a bit of writing and other work while sitting in bed, and eventually showered and ate lunch while talking to Anne. Barbara lured me to write outside with the promise of a fire pit - we have been sitting in the gazebo, but it got foggy / windy today and the gazebo wasn't quite as nice. The fire pit was great, though - it was more of a fire stand since it was chest-high (waist-high if you're taller than me), but it put out the right amount of heat to keep us both comfy while we wrote / chatted most of the afternoon. I also took a break to call my parents, which felt very pleasantly like Sundays of old.

Eventually we came inside, and I placed the dinner order while we all talked about business stuff. I was my usual social self during and after dinner, but it was hard to focus. There's a lot of cognitive dissonance going on when the specifics of this retreat -- a house we've stayed at several times, a book I want to write, and easy and plentiful food delivery -- are so standard and mundane. Meanwhile, outside political events are anything but mundane.

One example of a thousand: Musk and his staffers -- several of whom are interns at Musk's companies who dropped out of college and are now in charge of the government despite not being elected or appointed, or potentially even paid by the government -- are accessing and downloading sensitive/classified information and shutting off Treasury payments to groups like Lutheran Family Services. All of this is a clear violation of the Constitution's laws around appropriations and spending, and apparently being done without any of the security clearances or information handling laws that administrations have historically followed.

[If you don't believe me about them targeting Lutheran Family Services, Musk tweeted it himself. He also tweeted that he spent the weekend "feeding USAID through the wood chipper" - even though much of that money stays in the US, and it's a key way we compete with China and Russia's efforts to buy allies around the world.]

While I knew the general shape of this was coming given what was said on the campaign trail, it's still shocking to watch it happen. It's also worrisome to know that many people I love, who are affected in some way by government spending (via funding for their jobs, medicare, the farm bill, social security + social security disability, or even just wanting roads/safe air travel/a functioning post office/a functioning society in general) are in for a lot of pain.

But I need to write a book tomorrow, and this isn't helping me to go to sleep. Goodnight!

if you close your eyes

I had quite a nice day in Carlsbad. I woke up at 5am to the dulcet tones of pigeons on the roof, but I put in the earplugs that I got via amazon same-day delivery, and that solved the problem so that I could sleep until after seven. I did a bit too much reddit scrolling, but then I did some journaling, showered, and went to Starbucks to get a coffee (and do a little browsing in the clothing store next door, which was surprisingly open by nine).

When I got back to the house, I did some good morning writing while watching the ocean and admiring the birds that are still alive to fly in formation over the waves. Then I took a slightly too long break for lunch - but I ordered a gluten free sandwich that was absolutely perfect, so it was #worthit. I spent the afternoon in the gazebo with Barbara, getting a nice amount of sun while doing some more writing-adjacent work.

The evening was also fun - we picked up Mexican food from the place down the street, and happily they do margaritas to go, so that was a nice bonus. I spent the last hour of social time with Anne, Tina, and Christie, and it got as absurd as it usually does with that group, which means it's good that we adjourned at 10:15 because I don't think I could handle another hour without either another drink or some ibuprofen (I'm equal opportunity about my painkillers).

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

electric avenue

I had an excellent day, but I'm v tired. I got woken up too early by door noise, and then kept awake because there seems to be a pigeon infestation on the roof/gutter above my room. Pigeons aren't crazy disruptive (they certainly beat my old neighbor's dog). But still, I ordered some earplugs to get same day delivered from Amazon.

After I was fully awake, I ran to 7/11 I pick up a couple of things, and then I went to a coffee shop for awhile. I alternated between working and playing the rest of the day, and I enjoyed a poke bowl at lunch as well as a fun convo with Barbara in the gazebo. We all also had a v long discussion about AI, which was super interesting.

Then we had dinner, hung out some more, and now I need to sleep - goodnight!