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!