tonight I'm cleaning out my closet

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And now I really need to sleep - goodnight!

i need you to come on, come on, come on, come on

Apologies for not blogging for a couple of days - I had a v. hectic travel day on Saturday, and I needed some extreme downtime to catch up. I slept slightly later Saturday morning than intended, and that should have been fine because I'm pretty capable of getting through SF quickly (on a normal day). But first I spilled a bottle of water in my backpack as I was leaving the hotel. Luckily, I had stolen two new backpacks (and a duffel to put them in) from the swag closet at the office, so I swapped all my stuff into a new, dry backpack and tossed the other backpack into the duffel. But this set me back a few precious minutes...

...which became material when traffic around the terminals was incredibly backed up, and there was no way to avoid it because ubers can only drop off in a specific location. When I did get out, I discovered that the lines at terminal 3 were massive, and I had to stand in one of them because I had to check the aforementioned stolen duffel with one stolen backpack and one wet preowned backpack. Since I was standing in line anyway, I also checked my roll-aboard. But the checked bag line was long even with premier access, and then I discovered (to my chagrin) that they removed the CLEAR lanes in terminal 3, so I had to stand in the regular precheck line like a peasant. In fact, I was still in that line when my plane started to board...

...but I quickly escaped security and had time to grab a coffee before boarding. It was a mediocre coffee from one of the worse cafes since I didn't have time to stand in line, but it saved me.

So I flew to Denver with no issues, but I had to switch from the B terminal to the A terminal, which is always an unwelcome development. I just had time to grab some chips and guac before boarding, which I snarfed on the plane. And then I got to Des Moines with no issues, other than the fact that one of my bags did not make it with me. I knew this in Denver, since the app now says these tings, but I didn't know which bag went with which tag. So I waited at the baggage claim with baited breath to find out whether I had all my real belongings (in my rollaboard) or a bunch of backpacks (and also, strangely, a pair of Carhartt overalls in my size that I also absconded with from the office) in a stolen duffel bag. Luckily my real belongings arrived, and so I submitted a claim via the app for my stolen duffel and was on my way.

I drove home with no issues, and a couple of stops to wash my car, pick up Starbucks at the beautiful new Starbucks in Indianola, and pick up sweet corn. Then I got home in time to have dinner with Mom and [censored] - Mom made chicken and noodles, which were v. tasty. And then I slept the sleep of the dead for many hours.

Yesterday was basically a wash - I was wiped out from traveling, and while I intended to do a million things, I instead unpacked (a win), did a bit of garden stuff, and also did a whole lot of nothing. I did make cheeseburgers to go with some sweet corn, and I even toasted the buns (which made my freezer burned gluten free bun almost edible), so at least there was that.

Today was basically a slog - I got up early and was not productive enough this morning, but I made up for it by working until 7:45ish. Then I made baked some frozen french fries to go with my leftover cheeseburger (which was way more satisfying than it sounds) and watched a couple of episodes of SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE, which has been recommended to me many times by many people. And now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

show me an open door

I had a nice but hectic last day in the city of sin. I didn't sleep well, woke up too early, got ready, and walked to work with a stop at Philz to pick up my last gigantic coffee of the trip. Then I did some work, did some interviews, took a walk with Adit and got a pretty tasty gluten free Korean savory pastry, ate a v quick lunch (salmon and rice), did some more interviews, did a bunch more work, and finally left a little after five.

When I got back to my hotel, I hurriedly packed - as usual I am taking back much more than I came with, so I'm checking a bag, but at least the wait in Des Moines usually isn't too bad. I also laid down for seven minutes before pursuing my next plan - I went over to Adit and Priyanka's for dinner. Claudia and Chandlord came too, and each time one of us walked in, the kids demanded to know which "crazy lady" this was.

So we hung out with the kids for a bit (my favorite was when Kaaviya said her name was Cowviya in a past life, and then rammed me in my belly like she had horns). Then we ate a variety of snacks, drank a variety of artisanal wines, ate takeout pasta, and had ice cream bars that I determined, with v little evidence, were gluten free.

And now, I desperately need to go to bed since my flight leaves in nine hours. Goodnight!

take it easy on my heart

I had another wonderful, extremely hectic day in the city of sin. I didn't sleep well last night, but I forced myself to stay in bed until 6:45. Then I got ready, took a call, walked to work (with a stop at Philz), and had an absolute jam packed day of meetings. 

However, it wasn't all bad - some of the meetings were fun, some were unintentionally fun, and all were fine. I snuck out a three for a quick glass of wine with Baz, and then I led a rebellion and lured the rest of the office out for happy hour around five (I kept telling them it was 6:45 in Iowa to make it seem more respectable). Six of us had drinks in the basement of a nearby bar, and it was a v entertaining conversation.

Then I came back to my hotel, ordered a pizza, should have done a bunch of work, and crashed instead. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

i found someone to carry me home tonight

I had a hectic day, but it was bookended by some quite moments. I had trouble staying asleep last night, so I finally rolled out of bed at 5:45 (45mins before my alarm, and three hours before I prefer to wake up), went downstairs, and had some coffee while journaling and also planning my day. Then I showered, took the muni to the office, walked around the corner to grab an iced latte and a v. tasty gf lemon loaf, and then settled in to slog.

My day was almost entirely meetings, which was more meeting time than I wanted, and not nearly enough work time, but c'est la vie. I also spent quite a bit of time dealing with various construction matters - which was fun, but also deadly because the hvac seems to have given up the ghost and it was like 84 degrees (not exagerrating) on that side of our office. But I absconded with a new-old-stock sweatshirt that was given out an event from before my time and that I've coveted since I joined, so at least there is some reward for being involved in this remodel (beyond virtue, which is supposedly its own reward I guess). And after I do some more office stuff tomorrow and Friday, I will feel like my trip out here was a success.

When I was finally done, I caught the muni back to my hotel, where I v. uncharacteristically decided to read a book instead of immediately guilting myself into working. So I sat in the hotel bar, had some guac and chips, had some carnitas tacos, and had some pinot noir while reading REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES. It's technically almost work since we're reading it for book club, but I'm enjoying it so far. And it was certainly a better way to spend an hour than reading Reddit.

Eventually, I brought my second glass of wine upstairs (despite knowing I prob wouldn't finish it, which has proven true), and I had a long and v. overdue chat with Katie. We haven't talked in ages, so it was good to catch up (and tell her all the ridiculous turns my career has taken recently). And then I did log on to do some desultory work and get ahead of tomorrow (if such a thing is possible). And now I'm going to sleep - goodnight!

urban coyote

I was surprisingly energetic for how relatively little I slept last night - I got up around 6:45 #inittowinit, and went ahead and showered, made some coffee, and ordered a breakfast burrito from the cafe downstairs. In true "San Francisco is living in the future" vibes, it was delivered to me by the hotel's robot, which looks like a trash can on top of a roomba and has an opening from which to retrieve your food. All in all it was a v. pleasant experience and I would use it again, even if it was apparently drunk and stuck in the hallway tonight when I got off the elevator.

I ate the insides of said burrito with a fork while participating in my first call of the day, and then I threw away the tortilla and walked to the office (with a stop for Philz coffee along the way). Then I slogged relentlessly all day, because I had a million meetings (you gotta pay the cost to be the boss). All in all the meetings were good, but I was starting to hit a wall by the end - mostly because our office was, for some reason, eighty degrees, which is about 10-15 degrees hotter than I was expecting to be in San Francisco in August.

Anyway, once I wrapped up meetings, the finance team and I (did I mention I'm now somehow running the finance team??) went out for a team dinner. We ended up going to the restaurant at Restoration Hardware - it's a bit of a bizarre thing that they have a restaurant, since they're a furniture store, but then Nordstrom also has a great line of cafes within their stores, so I suppose there is some precedent. Of course, Restoration Hardware's restaurant has palm trees growing inside and almost every surface is covered in marble, so that was a bit wild.

So the three of us had a very fun, leisurely dinner and were there over three hours, which I think counts as team bonding. And then I walked back to my hotel (past the remaining pedestrians pouring out of the Valkyries game), and now I'm going to go to bed early for SF and late for Iowa. Goodnight!

there she goes

I am in the city of sin after a v uneventful day of travel. Well, not completely uneventful - I spent the morning working, getting allergy shots, wrapping up house stuff, etc. I drove to the airport without issues, but there were supposedly storms in Denver (as usual) and so the inbound flight was delayed. And then after we boarded we sat on the runway in Des Moines for another hour.

But I was supposed to have a three hour layover in Denver, so while this shortened it to 90min and destroyed my dreams of hanging out in the Amex lounge, I still made my flight with no stress, and the second leg was smooth. And now I'm ensconced in my hotel and ready for bed - goodnight!

then she says she needs affection while she searches for the vein

I had a shockingly productive day for a Sunday, which was v. welcome after doing nothing yesterday. It helped that I got up at seven and managed to stay off my phone completely for five hours - an unheard of feat in these parts.

So I did some writing this morning, and then I messed around in my garden. It was already almost too hot at 9am, and definitely too hot at 11 - the temperature was bad enough, but the humidity was punishing. I cleared out the last of my blighted squash and cucumber, leaving one cucumber plant and one butternut squash as the sole survivors of that bed's carnage (well, and some rosemary that is going gangbusters). And I added some more support to the tomatillo that is becoming a tree, and the poblano pepper that is suddenly showing signs of shooting up. Hopefully there are still two full months to the growing season and some of these tings recover from all the heat and rain we've had, but we shall see.

Just when I thought I was done outside, [censored] asked me to help pick up sticks - and since it was because he had removed a couple of dead branches that were torn out by a recent storm, I decided I should probably assist. By the time we got most of the sticks, I was really done outside - I didn't even try to sit on my balcony this afternoon since it was clearly a fool's errand.

So I showered, ate some leftover eggplant and tofu stirfry, and did a whole bunch of stuff this afternoon. That mostly involved packing for a last-minute trip to California, which I am making in as lightning-quick a fashion as possible - out tomorrow night, back early Saturday. I also did a bunch of stuff around the house, took care of various paperwork, and finally finished sending my tax info to my CPA (still within reason for the extended filing period, but perhaps late if you're a 'must file in April' type).

At some point I also made supper for me and [censored] - simple roasted chicken breasts and roasted baby potatoes, which are easy and also tasty (per my taste buds; your mileage may vary). And now, I need to wrap up so I can do a million things (mostly work related) before leaving tomorrow - goodnight!

i saw the ruins at my feet

I did not get nearly enough done today, and I blame 1) the fact that I was insanely productive yesterday, and 2) that it was entirely too hot and I wilted like my garden is.

I did, however, get up, make coffee, journal / plan a bit, shower, and run into town by 10am to help with the library's annual book sale. It's Old Settlers this weekend, and we do the book sale as a fundraiser. It was a pretty chill couple of hours - we had more help than we needed, so I mostly talked to Heidi and occasionally whoever came in to look at books.

We were done at noon, so then I walked around the square, but it was murderously hot - the feels like temperature was already pushing 100. So, it was pretty empty, especially compared to my memories of it in my youth. But I got a plate of pulled pork as part of a benefit for a deputy who suffered a lot of house damage in the tornado/wind event that hit Lineville last week, which was tasty. And I ate it while walking around and looking at the decorated windows. Uncle Mark, Dad, and Aunt B would all have class reunions this year, so that was pretty bittersweet since Mark and Dad were both recognized in their classes' windows.

And then, I was too hot to even consider staying for the parade, so I came home and basically did absolutely nothing all afternoon. I ran back into town later for some groceries, and I took a shower to improve my mood, and then I prepped some accoutrements for taco salad and took them out to Mom's. Obviously we had taco salad for dinner, which was tasty. And now, I need to go to bed - goodnight!

say goodbye to hollywood

I had a breath melting kind of day - but annoying, but just back to back to the point I couldn't think. I stopped around six to water my gardens, and then I made dinner (chicken Alfredo that [censored] deeply enjoys).

I probably should have worked after that, but I was not feeling it, so [censored] and I watched the first half of the Billy Joel documentary that came out recently. It's super well produced, and it's amazing the guy wrote so many bangers, so I'm glad we watched it.

And now I need to sleep because I'll probably have another brain melting day tomorrow - goodnight!

reputation

I have reverted to my workaholic ways enough that I need to put my adjustable bedframe to use and prop myself up to avoid too much stomach acid waking me up in the middle of the night. This doesn't happen that often compared to the bad old days at the goog, but I would prefer for it to not happen at all. 

Still, I'm not actually that stressed - just busy in ways that are incompatible with my laid-back small town life. Yesterday was pretty decent, and I was more slothful than I should have been - I journaled, and spent an hour talking to my mom, and generally focused but not too much. I guess I also had a board meeting of the local economic development group at 8am, so I take back everything I said about being slothful. 

Either way, I paid back yesterday's relative ease today, since I had a million things to do, got a few dozen more, and wasn't able to get through nearly all of it. But I slacked off to make dinner (an eggplant and tofu stir fry since no one else was here to eat it), and it turned out pretty well, although I would have preferred a different sauce. As I was eating [censored] got home, so we talked while I did a bit of multitasking. And now I'm going to go to bed early and hope I can do a million things tomorrow - goodnight!

like a race car driving away from the scene

I had a pretty good day, all in all - I woke up fairly early and immediately got into some work stuff, which resulted in me crossing off a task that I've been avoiding for weeks. Then I showered, ran to the post office, sat through many meetings, did various other tasks while in those meetings, and occasionally chatted with [censored] while refilling various beverages and grabbing various snacks.

[Censored] left before I was done with meetings, so I kept working until around 6:30. Then I baked a potato, took care of various tasks, ate, cleaned up the kitchen, etc. And now I need to sleep so I can repeat these feats tomorrow - goodnight!

i hope you find your dream

I am seeing some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of how busy I am - which is probably wishful thinking / laughably naive, but allow me to indulge myself.

I had an okay weekend despite everything. Yesterday I tackled the fact that my bedroom and office were getting out of control - I hadn't fully unpacked from my SF trip, and so I needed to do several loads of laundry and put away many tings (I always come back with more stuff than I leave with, especially when these events usually give out new backpacks, sweatshirts, water bottles, etc., etc.). My desk was also a disaster, and I had many packages that needed to be repacked for returns (the Nordstrom Anniversary sale giveth and taketh away). But now everything is tidied up, which makes it easier to focus, so hopefully that bodes well for the week ahead.

Last night, I made supper for Mom and [censored] - I made prosciutto-wrapped chicken breasts stuffed with an herbed cream cheese and bacon, which are v. v. tasty. I hadn't made them in ages, and I'm glad I remembered that they exist. We all hung out for awhile while they finished cooking, and the wait was worth it, if I do say so myself.

Today was unusually productive for a Sunday - I did some writing this morning, did more laundry, took care of the remaining paperwork on my desk, and then worked on my taxes. Yes, taxes are due in April, but I filed for an extension because of everything going on, and my CPA would like the info now before it all gets too late. I got pretty close to done before deciding I needed to take a break, and so I'll have to look at it with fresh eyes tomorrow.

Then I messed around for a bit, played with my garden, sat on my balcony and journaled, and made supper. The chicken last night was so good that I made it again tonight (Mom got last night's leftovers, but [censored] and I wanted more). We ate it with the last couple of ears of corn that I picked up last weekend, and it was pretty delish. Then I cleaned up the kitchen, procrastinated for awhile, folded clothes, and did a wee bit of day job work.

And now I need to go to bed - but not before wishing a happy birthday to Katie, my sister from another mister! Goodnight!

and darling, never settle, settle, settle

I have continued to be v. busy at work, which has been helpful for taking my mind off life. Wednesday was a blur - I worked until seven on Wednesday before picking up pizza for me and [censored]. Thursday was slightly better, since I had time to throw a bunch of beef in the slow cooker to make barbacoa, which [censored] and I ate with hash browns instead of tortillas in homage to our Iowa roots.

So by today, I was ready for a bit of a break. I worked for three hours this morning even though I told everyone I was off, which was nice bc I was able to focus on a couple of things and have a nice chat with Baz. And then I made huevos rancheros for lunch and relaxed for a bit before going with Mom and [censored] to look at headstones for Dad.

This was not exactly a fun errand, of course. But it's been three months tomorrow (or thirteen weeks today, depending on how you track these things) since he passed, so it was time to organize this. And I think the stone we went with will look quite nice, so I'm glad we got that accomplished.

After we selected a stone, we went to a lawnmower dealer so that [censored] could explore all the possibilities in stock. Mom and I had little interest in the proceedings, so we stood outside and talked in the heat and humidity (I think the heat index got up to 105 or something absurd, but we were in the shade with a breeze, so we survived). Then we came home and parted ways. Originally, [censored] and I were planning to hit up the Mexican food truck in town - the restaurant has been closed for a few months, but their food truck was open tonight, and we were going to patronize it. However, I then realized I'd rather have real food than food truck food / takeout for the third night this week (v. uncharacteristic for us to order anything, let alone two food trucks and pizza). So we rather ridiculously ended up driving to Leon to eat in their sister restaurant. This was the right call since the food was great, but it certainly added more driving than I was expecting today.

When we got home, I attempted to do some work but mostly chilled (heated?) on my balcony and then wrote for a bit inside. And now I need to sleep so I can do a million things this weekend - goodnight!

shut your mouth and see straight through me

I have dipped immediately back into a million tasks to do at work, thanks to being off for most of the last two weeks (well - I was working all last week, but as I was doing event-related stuff, it was not the kind of work that actually crosses tings off my to-do list).

Yesterday I slogged the entire day, after kicking things off with early morning allergy shots that I only mildly reacted to. I took a break to make cheeseburgers to go with some sweet corn, and then I was so tired that I was in bed by ten. I intended to get up and slog this morning, but instead I slept in until the grand hour of seven (so luxurious) and got cracking. I had a whole slew of meetings today, but they mostly went well, and my boss actually acknowledged that I might have too much stuff on my plate, so at least there's that.

When I was done with meetings, I sped into town to pick up some groceries and also get takeout from a random food truck that popped up in town. Random food trucks show up occasionally, and I usually find out about them through facebook. This one is Vietnamese and seemed promising, so I got some egg rolls, crab rangoon, and sweet and sour chicken for [censored] + pad thai for me. Vietnamese/Thai is much easier for gluten free than Chinese is, and their menu looked reasonably safe - not safe for celiac, but I think the pho would have been fully gluten free, the pad thai likely was, and the egg rolls were the thai style with rice paper instead of wonton wrappers, so they were safe too. I ate the crab rangoon to my extreme peril since I'm allergic to both crab and gluten, but I suspected that the crab was imitation, and I was correct. The meal immediately put me to sleep for thirty minutes, but it was pretty good and we would do it again if they come through on the right night.

After we ate, I took the aforementioned forced nap, then messed around, talked to [censored], and eventually did another hour of work. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

reveille

Okay, updates since my last real post:

Friday was pretty decent, although I was beyond tired because I got less than five hours of sleep before getting up to pack. Packing took longer than intended, and so I was later leaving than I wanted to - but I grabbed a coffee for the road, and then enjoyed the v. scenic drive from Carmel Valley to Menlo Park. In Menlo Park, I met Shedletsky for lunch - Tina was supposed to join us, but she had to stay back for a dishwasher delivery. So we chatted over paella in a tucked-away little cafe that I'd never heard of before, and it was quite nice to see him.

Then I sped to my hotel to check in, where I dropped my bags just so they wouldn't get stolen out of my car in SF. Then I went to the office, which I did not want to do after four days of offsite work - but Adit and I wanted to inspect the final progress on the remodel before we would both be out of town, so we met the contractor and did a walkthrough. I am ready for this project to be done, tbh, and hopefully it's done pretty soon.

Then I went to Room and Board to check out tables/chairs again, since I do not have access to one anywhere near me here. And then I picked up Adit and we went back to his house to talk shop for awhile before meeting Chandlord. We had a glass of wine at Gemini, and then we did a supper club dinner - it was some Thai pop-up with a communal table for twenty-ish people, which was pretty fun. The food was excellent and mostly gluten free, and we had a fun conversation, and I survived it despite wanting to be asleep at seven p.m.

When that was done, I went back to my hotel and slept for approx four hours before heading to the airport. All my travels yesterday were smooth, although my second flight was slightly delayed, but that just meant more time for me to hang out in the Amex lounge in Denver. When I got home, I drove straight south (with a quick stop to pick up sweet corn) and had dinner with Mom and [censored] before tumbling into bed.

Today was pretty chill and reasonably productive, all things considered - I slept until nine, then made coffee, did some personal work, showered, got groceries, and spent some quality time inspecting and messing with my gardens. Still unclear if I'll get any substantive produce, but it's been fun so far. At some point I took [censored] out to Mom's to get his tractor, and then I came back home, did a bit of cleaning, and made dinner (roasted chicken breasts + sweet corn).

And now, I need to sleep since I have a million tings to do this week to catch up on life. Goodnight!

far across the sea

No blog tonight - I had an excellent day but I'm exhausted and need to wake up in less than five hours to go to the airport. Goodnight!

sky full of stars

 I am v v tired but the event has been a success. I have spent almost the entirety of it working, along with spending some time attempting not to throw up (the waves in Monterey Bay yesterday weren't tsunami level, but they were choppy enough to make me want to vomit during our pre-dinner cruise). Last night's dinner was fun, mostly bc I was seated between Adit and a guy from Minneapolis who was quite interesting. And then I went to bed so I could do it all over again today...

...which I did, although I took a brief illicit break to have lunch with Veronica (who is here with Adam). I then slogged the rest of the day with a v v brief nap, then went to the final dinner, where I talked up the head of the catering group here, also befriended the beekeeper (who is from Pella and is a scion of the Jaarsma Bakery family and used to make the puff pillows at Christmas), and had many varied and hilarious conversations.

But now I'm desperate to sleep bc I need to get up in less than six hours - goodnight!