or am I origami, fold it up and just pretend

I got a lot done this weekend, which felt great... but now I'm heading into the work week feeling like I could use another day, or possibly week, or maybe month of time to get things done. Yesterday I did some writing in the morning, as well as various other tings on my laptop, and then I spent the afternoon tidying up my office, doing laundry, and taking care of various other household tasks. While the weather was certainly nice enough from a temperature standpoint that I should have been outside, it was overcast and seemed to be threatening a storm most of the day. So I had quite a productive chunk of time in my office instead, which felt unusually good.

Eventually I got ready, and then [censored] and I picked up Mom and we went to Seymour for dinner. My steak was so rare that I almost sent it back, which is unheard of for me - I don't think I have ever had a steak that I thought was too rare. It's like they forgot to cook one side of it, which, since it was a really thin ribeye, maybe could have worked out to all of our advantages, but in this case it was simply too rare for my tastes. However, that means it will make for an excellent reheated steak if I actually cook the other side and make some eggs to go with it, so I'm looking forward to having leftovers later this week.

Today wasn't quite as productive because I struggled to get enough sleep, but I woke up this morning and did some good writing until about noon, which felt great. Then I messed around online for a while and procrastinated just a little bit too much, but I eventually made it outside. I spent several very nice hours planting things on my patio - I've now planted basically all of the vegetable plants that I purchased, although I still haven't finished my seedling experiment. I'm trying growing peppers in grow bags this year because I felt like they got too much heat and sun in my raised beds last year. So now I have several grow bags with poblanos, anaheims, and jalapenos sitting on my patio, and I have a couple more peppers to plant once I get a bit more dirt. 

I also planted almost all of the flowers that I bought - at least the annuals that go into containers. I skipped planting a dahlia because it was looking a little sickly anyway, and I also discovered that the nursery pot it was in was a very nice home for a toad that looked like it didn't want to be disturbed. I still need to plant some perennial succulents that I bought, and so I'm hoping that this week I can clean out some of the bed next to the house so that I can get those in the ground.

By the time I was done with all of this, it was almost 6:00, and so I cleaned up, took the trash, and watered one of the containers on the main strip in town. Mom and I are in charge of watering this week, and usually there are eight containers to water. But I walked downtown this afternoon to check them, and we'd gotten just enough rain yesterday that seven of the eight didn't seem to need any water. We'll need to water everything tomorrow, but at least I was able to take care of the one pot today without any issues.

Then I came home, took a quick shower, and made chicken and chorizo burrito bowls in the instant pot. I hadn't made them in so long that I had to look up the recipe, which is almost embarrassing, but they turned out just as good as they always do. And then I came upstairs with good intentions to write, but I didn't get as much accomplished as I wanted to. So now I'm going to go to bed early, hope I get more sleep than I did last night, and wake up early enough to hit it hard tomorrow. Goodnight!

i'm either busting at the seams or i'm broke down

I had a lovely day in the metropolis, but now I'm safely ensconced back in my small town life. I woke up after a sufficient quantity of sleep, got ready, and then walked to the nearest Starbucks so that I could load up on caffeine. When I got back to the hotel, I worked for three hours and was shockingly productive - especially shocking since I feel like I haven't been productive in weeks (that is, of course, a gross exaggeration). Then I picked up a sandwich from Palmer's Deli in the Skywalk, came back to the hotel, worked for another hour, and finally packed up and left.

My next destination was West Des Moines. I had an allergy appointment late in the afternoon, but I needed a place to take a couple of meetings from. I found a new Starbucks that is quite nice, settled in, and was able to take my calls without any issue. I also made a quick detour to Floor and Decor to look at tile - when a staff member came up to me and asked if I needed help, I said that I was in the very beginnings of a design and construction of a bathroom remodel. This was factually accurate, although I didn't say that the number of bathrooms is between three and six, depending on various tings that might happen in the next couple. But I always enjoy looking at tile, so it was a fun detour.

Then I went to my allergy appointment, and we talked for much longer than was strictly necessary, mostly about waymo's and my extreme crab allergy (okay, maybe the crab allergy was relevant to an appointment with an allergy doctor, but we probably didn't need to go as deep as we did). Then I went to Target to load up on toiletries and Whole Foods to load up on groceries. I had wanted to go to Costco, but it was so hot that I didn't feel like adding more groceries to my car was really feasible without causing earlier purchases to get damaged.

So I drove home, unloaded my car, loaded up my freezer, and then hung out with [censored] until it was time for bed. And now I need to sleep so that I can accomplish all the things tomorrow - goodnight!

always gotta push my luck

I am safely ensconced in a hotel in downtown Des Moines, in the middle of the pursuit of a whole stack of errands. I occasionally need to get enough things done in the city, and without actually taking a day off, that it makes sense to come up, spend the night, and work from a hotel. 

So this morning I got up early, did some work while still in my pajamas, and then threw some stuff in a bag, watered various plants, and headed north. I left a little later than planned, so I stopped at Starbucks in Indianola to take a couple of meetings. Then I proceeded to Des Moines, but I was cutting it too close to figure out lunch, and I even up living dangerously by going to Long John Silvers. I hadn't been there in years (probably since one of Dad's hospital trips), and the gluten is definitely not my friend, but their two piece fish basket still slaps even though the fries are now waffle fries and the hush puppies seem smaller. 

Thus sated/poisoned, I went to my salon, where I got my hair cut and colored. The colorist was new to me, but she was significantly better than the woman I used to see in West Des Moines, so I think I'm sold on switching to this salon. Unfortunately the woman who cut my hair is going on maternity leave (fortunately for her, obviously), but hopefully the interim stylist is just as good. 

So that took awhile, and then I took a meeting from my car, sped to my hotel, checked in, and did three more hours of meetings from here. Feeling accomplished, I eventually went downstairs and had a drink and a steak (both massive) at the bar. And now I think I'm going to go to bed early so I can do all the things tomorrow - goodnight!

say goodbye to hollywood

I'm unusually tired tonight because I accidentally got up unusually early this morning. But I had a good day - I did a bit of writing before work, and then I quickly showered and had meetings straight through from ten to six with an insufficient thirty minute break in the mid afternoon.

After that I was wiped out, so I watered indoor and outdoor plants, did some laundry, and then sat on my balcony and pretended to plan future tasks but instead mostly zoned out. When [censored] got home I had a late dinner of various leftovers while chatting with him. And now I am going to go to bed a bit earlier than usual and hope that revives me - goodnight!

evening glow

I managed to be somewhat diligent at work today, by the skin of my teeth - I wasn't feeling it when I woke up, but I eked out a solid 8-9 hours of productivity (much of which was meetings). By six I was feeling done, and so I went outside and spent a good hour and a half gardening. I also talked to my mom and listened to an audiobook while doing so, which was quite nice. I got more tomatoes planted, planted some peppers and eggplants, got my mint and rosemary going, and generally felt quite pleased with my progress.

Then I ate a brownie, came upstairs with a glass of rosé, and wrote on my balcony until it was dark and the mosquitos started to come for me. Then I ate a late dinner of leftover tomatoes/mozzarella, steak, and baked potato, came upstairs, and wrote some more. And now I need to go to bed immediately if I'm going to repeat any of these feats tomorrow - goodnight!

you bury your treasure where it can't be found

I had a v nice weekend, thanks for asking - it's amazing what sun and eighty-degree whether can do for my mood. Yesterday I spent some quality time in the morning writing, and then I did various yard type activities. I finally got my raised beds fully prepped with additional dirt, and I planted some of the tings that I needed to plant. Then I ran an errand to Chariton to get some stakes for my plants + go to the larger grocery store there. I was in the mood to make caprese salad, and the local grocery store didn't have mozzarella, but luckily I was able to get it there. Then I came home, did some more tings, and eventually went to bed.

Today got off to a productive note earlier than usual, mostly because I was making lunch for family and needed to start the prep early. I put the tomatoes for the caprese salad in the oven (trust me) by 8:30am, and then I spent a couple of hours cleaning the dining room, reorganizing stuff in the garage that was blocking the east door, and getting the grill ready for the first grilling of the season.

This was all in preparation for a v. exciting visit - Drewbaby and Sammie and Aunt Kathy came down for the day, and they (obviously) brought Marcella (aka Drewbaby's baby). Kathy also brought ribeye, which was almost as exciting as the baby, but not quite. And Mom brought a pineapple upside down cake, which was v. tasty. We had a fun time hanging out today, and many stories were shared, and if Marcella comprehends any of it, I'm sure she will be eagerly awaiting more wonders that southern Iowa may hold for her in the future.

So, we hung out all day, and then everyone left (including [censored]), and suddenly I had the house to myself. I needed a bit of time to recuperate, which turned into not getting much done, but that's okay. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

love's the loudest sound

I have had a v boring week and I have nothing to report, which makes blogging feel somewhat excruciating. I worked all day yesterday, then got allergy shots, and then met Mom at the cemetery to decorate Dad and Gram/Granddad's graves. Dad's headstone got installed a couple of weeks ago, and it looks quite nice - of course, I would prefer if it did not need to exist, but since it does, I'm glad that it's taken care of. Then I came home and made elmer's chili for dinner, watched some SNL with [censored], and did various tasks until around midnight.

This morning I woke up late thanks to the late night, spent the morning attempting to write with mixed results, and then did a bunch of random stuff around the house / yard this afternoon. I need to get my plants in the ground, but that requires a bunch of prep, and I've been quite slow. However, I made some progress this afternoon before taking a break to make brownies for a belated treat for [censored]'s birthday. Then we went out to Mom's house, where I grilled brats, which we ate with some v tasty potato salad and baked beans that Mom made. It was a very nice day for being outside and grilling, and I hope that we finally warm up and stay warm, because this cold / cloudy spring is starting to get to me.

But now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

stick season

I have had v little to report since coming home - I was pretty wrecked on Tuesday thanks to the long travel day, and that feeling partially continued into Wednesday.

Yesterday I was a bit more able to get some tings done, which I did - and then I slacked off to go into town and have a margarita with Brenda and Bonita. Brenda and I had meant to get together for awhile and finally made plans after seeing each other at a board meeting last week - and then she invited Bonita so we could discuss various mural-related things. It was nice to hang out with them, and also nice to take a break from my laptop, so I'm glad we did it. 

Then I grabbed takeout for me and [censored], got some groceries, came home, relaxed/almost napped, and then miraculously wrote from nine to midnight. Of course, that made this morning a bit rough, but coffee went a long way toward helping me. I gave [censored] a ride to pick up his [censored], and then I came home and did day job stuff quite diligently all day. I wanted to write again tonight, but my brain refused, so I did some journaling and various other small tasks and generally chilled. 

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

giving up a part of me that no one needs to know

I'm back in ye olde Iowa after a very long travel day yesterday. When I woke up yesterday morning, Chandlord and I finished doing some packing, and then we hung out in the hot tub and pool for a couple of hours. But all good things must come to an end, and so we showered, got ready, and vacated the resort. Then we went to downtown Palm Springs, where we walked around and shopped for an hour, and then had a leisurely lunch at Clandestino. It was yet another delicious meal to cap off our trip - my tacos were tasty, and their chips and guac were perfect. Then we made a brief detour to see a gigantic statue of Marilyn Monroe, which would not have been worth anything more than the half block that we walked to see it. And then we drove the eight arduous minutes to the airport, where we dropped off the rental car, checked in, and hung out before our flights.

I had originally planned to go to San Francisco with Chandlord last night, which would have meant being on the same flight around 7pm. But my travel plans for the next few weeks have changed, so I took a 4pm flight to Denver instead. My flight was uneventful, and when I got to Denver, I had time to grab a mediocre ahi tuna bowl and a decent enough glass of rose at Mercantile in the A Concourse. I usually don't eat in the A Concourse, but since United has expanded there, sometimes I don't have a choice. Then I boarded my flight to Des Moines, and I was very glad that I was upgraded at the last minute because the flight itself was pretty rough. Iowa was having all sorts of weather last night, and there was major turbulence in the last half hour of the flight. Luckily, I had taken dramamine, but it still made for a pretty brutal re-entry.

By the time I got to Des moines, it was 11:30pm. I was able to get my bag pretty quickly, but I didn't make it home until after 1am - and next time I should probably stay in the city overnight, because the drive was very unpleasant. I also shouldn't have tried to get up this morning and have my regular slate of meetings because I was really not feeling in it to win it. But I made it through the day, worked until about six, and then [censored] and I picked up pizza because I didn't have any inclination to cook. We ate while watching this week's SNL season finale, which featured Will Ferrell and Paul McCartney and was overall pretty delightful. And then I came upstairs, did various tasks, and I'm now ready to crash so that hopefully I have enough energy to be more productive tomorrow. Goodnight!

girls are faking, goodness saking

I had another excellent day in the desert, and Vidya is still here, so I think she's having an okay time too. I got up pretty early, did some journaling, and then drove Chandlord to her time share presentation (which she was required to attend to get this room basically for free). Then I hung out at the pool until she got back (without purchasing a time share, which makes her stronger than I probably would have been).

Then we went into Palm Desert to grab brunch, which turned out to be great - we went to a delish Mexican place where the chilequiles were on point. We wandered around the shops for a bit and bought some truly ridiculous clothes, and then we came back and spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool. 

Eventually we went to the nearby JW Marriott, which had a fancier vibe, where we had cocktails and fries, and then I had a sushi roll and a glass of rosé. And then we came back and watched "Wine Country", which was quite silly and fun. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

jack trainer

I don't know about Chandlord, but I had an excellent day in the desert. I woke up absurdly early due to the time difference, and I drove off site to grab Starbucks as fuel for my morning. Then I came back and did some journaling while Vidya woke up. Then I showered and hung out by the pool while she finished getting ready, and we drove into Palm Springs to avail ourselves of the various tings to do. 

So we put our names in for brunch at Farm, and we window shopped nearby while waiting for a table. Brunch was really excellent, and the vibe was good (for me, at least; unclear if Vidya is enjoying herself at all, but I am delighted). Then we went to various shops and browsed various things, but other than an expensive pair of reading glasses, I was quite frugal. 

Then we came back to the resort, relaxed a bit, and spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool. We grabbed dinner at the only restaurant at the resort, which was tastier than I expected, and we ended it early when the winds picked up and we started tasting sand instead of salt. We got an impromptu golf cart lift back to our room, and then we watched "Lost City", which we have actually watched together before, but I always like Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum. Again, not sure Vidya is enjoying herself, but c'est la vie I guess. 

And now it's time for bed - but not before wishing [censored] a happy [censored]! Goodnight!

I heard you calling on the megaphone

I had a lovely day in Palm Desert, thanks for asking. I got up early enough to write for a bit, and then I got ready, packed, checked out of my room, and caught an Uber back to the airport. When I got there, I rendezvoused with Chandlord and also picked up a rental car, which we very much need since things are spread out in the desert.

Vidya and I grabbed brunch downtown, which was a delight. Then we checked into the hotel (again) and luckily our room was ready. So we spent the afternoon hanging out at a variety of pools, soaking in a bunch of sun, and generally catching up.

After we showered, cleaned up, etc, we went back into Palm Springs, where we grabbed a drink at Truss and Twine, and then had a v tasty dinner at Eight4Nine. The crowd around here is v eclectic - we saw some moms potentially getting their daughters drunk, a lot of surprisingly cut dresses, and also a lot of gay men. So far so good, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the weekend. 

And now I'm exhausted and need to go to bed - goodnight!

it all just takes over you

I have arrived in Palm Desert after a long but uneventful travel day. My morning was pretty easy peasy since my flight wasn't until 11:30, and I got to the airport in time to eat breakfast before my flight. Today was the first day that the Des Moines airport had new numbers for their gates - after flying out of the A concourse (either A2 or A4) my entire life, suddenly I was flying out of gate 25. This is all in preparation for their new terminal, which should be quite nice. Still, it was v strange, and I'm glad [censored] saw it on the news and told me last night, or else I would have been super confused. 

Anyway, I had a long layover in Denver, so I grabbed a burger at Elway's and then took a glass of wine to go so I could sit in a random gate area and talk to Adit and Baz. Then I boarded and slept most of the eat to Palm Springs, but the landing almost made me vomit, and I've felt pretty off the rest of the night. 

So I Ubered to my hotel, where I did not settle in bc I have to check out and switch rooms tomorrow. Instead, I took a walk around to check things out, grabbed a smoothie, and sat on the balcony while the sun set. My balcony view is perhaps better, but the balcony has no mosquitos, so it's a trade off.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

and we always use the same tired lines

I have been v. busy the last couple of days - it's always a bit chaotic during Iowa Week (tm), which is the week when I have my economic development, city council meeting, and library board meeting within 36hrs of each other. Of course, I also am supposed to do my day job in that period, and also feed and groom myself, so that adds some complexity. And in this particular week, I happen to be leaving tomorrow to go on a weekend trip, which added even more baggage (pun intended).

So I slogged relentlessly yesterday between my 8am economic development meeting and my 6pm city council meeting, and then I came home and sat on my balcony and did a bit of writing. This morning I got up and wrote before work, and then slogged all day before my library board meeting. When I got home, I immediately started packing (while talking to Adit briefly, and occasionally answering various messages). I took a break to eat a late dinner around the time [censored] got home, and so I talked to him and we filled each other in on all the gossip we acquired in 48hrs (which is, as usual, quite a lot).

Then I came upstairs, finished packing, and in a miracle I will most likely be able to get 7.5hrs of sleep before waking up and getting ready for the airport. If everything goes smoothly, I will arrive at my destination tomorrow night and be ready to greet Chandlord for some fun in the sun on Friday. Goodnight!

mississippi moon won't you keep on shining on me

I have basically nothing to report - I spent the day slogging, or attempting to slog, mostly with good results. I got up early enough to journal before work, and I also took a break in the morning to inspect various aspects of the yard with [censored], as we do. And then I sat through many meetings, did many tasks, sent many slack messages, etc.

After [censored] left, and after I was done working, I sat on my balcony with a glass of sancerre and listened to part of a SymSys lecture (my old major occasionally does distinguished guest lectures that are open to alums, and sometimes they are interesting) while also doing various personal finance tasks and knocking some minor tings off my to-do list. Then I had a late girl dinner (cheese, crackers, salami, jam), tidied up, and answered some emails I had been putting off (note: every single email I get is an email I put off, unless I answer it within two minutes of receiving it).

And now, I need to go to bed - I have an early meeting in town tomorrow morning, and a city council meeting tomorrow night, and many tings to do between those events. Goodnight!

surrey with the fringe on top

I had a pretty good weekend, all things considered - and of course the primary thing to be considered was that Dad passed away a year ago yesterday. He has been on my mind the last few weeks, as the light changed and began to mirror the wavelengths present when he went to the hospital for the last time, and the trees and fields began to look generally the same as they looked during his last few days at home.

But despite the melancholy of the anniversary, the weekend overall was good. Yesterday, Mom and I went on a greenhouse tour - we went over to Decatur to check out Yutzy's, which was slammed with people doing Mother's Day shopping. It still feels a little too cool to plant tomatoes and peppers, but this weekend was gorgeous, and everyone is in the mood to get outside.

Yutzy's had a reasonably good selection of various things, and I got some pepper plants to augment my seedling experiment, which I am convinced will fail. They also had some nice-looking patio furniture, although tbd what I will eventually do with my deck. After we escaped the madness there, we decide to go to Ellis, which was a bit of a detour - but the detour meant going through Osceola, where we got McDonald's, which is tastier than it should be given how mass-produced it is. Ellis was also quite busy, but I got a couple of nice-looking shrubs that I need to figure out where to plant. And then we went to Bomgaars, where Mom exhibited surprising restraint and didn't buy anything, while I got a peony and something for [censored].

Thus satisfied with our gardening efforts, we came home, and I spent the rest of the day doing various things around the house, all of which felt reasonably productive and none of which are memorable. I should have gone to bed early, but instead I sat down on my chaise around nine intending to work, and instead dozed until I actually went to bed at midnight.

I woke up this morning determined to seize some momentum, so I made some coffee, and then wrote off and on for about four hours. This was v. fruitful and I'm glad I did, but by the time I wrapped up, I had a headache from staring at my screen for too long, and I had missed much of the best part of the time to be outside. I also had various indoor tasks to take care of (four loads of laundry, changing my sheets, etc.). All of this was so much to process that I took a nap. And then when I woke up, I ran to the grocery store, came home, did some plant prep (mostly moving seedlings around and starting to harden off my tomatoes), and then prepped some stuff for dinner.

Around six, I drove Dad's truck out to Mom's (partially to help [censored] get a load of mulch out there, partially to avoid getting my car dirty since I washed it in Des Moines on Friday and like to have at least forty-eight hours where I don't drive it on gravel). I spent some time cleaning the grill, which didn't really get cleaned last year either - I had kept the grates clean, but I was never in the mood to clean the outside, and we didn't use it much last summer. So I cleaned the outside, brush copious cobwebs out of the inner cabinet, cleaned the grease trap, and then fired it up so that I could brush off any remaining residue on the grates.

Once that was done, I grilled three ribeyes and some burgers, all of which turned out excellently (if I do say so myself). I had sauteed some sweet onions and mushrooms to go with them, which were delicious and well worth the 25+ minutes I spent babysitting the sauteeing process (okay, I didn't babysit too closely, since I was taking care of plants during that time). And Mom threw together a caesar salad and baked some potatoes, so it was a pretty perfect meal. [Censored] took a break from mowing in time to eat, so the three of us celebrated Mother's Day in style.

When we were done, Mom gave me a ride back into town, and I took out the trash, dropped off my water bill payment at city hall, and did various tings until now. And now it's time for bed so that I can hopefully bring some of this productive energy to my day job tomorrow - we shall see. Goodnight!

swedish suicide pods

I had a relatively decent day to wrap up the week, although I feel like I got v. little done compared to what I had intended to do in the last month. That is, perhaps, my usual minimization of my actual accomplishment in favor of comparing them to my grandiose visions of what I should have accomplished, but c'est la vie.

I had to get up pretty early this morning to run to Des Moines for my semiannual botox appointment. My jaw was starting to tighten up, and injecting a reasonably large quantity of toxin into my masseter muscles is the only thing that saves me from having the jaw of a linebacker and the worst of the headaches I have always been prone to. My appointment was as brief as it always in - in and out in ten minutes - and it was worth the three hours of drive time to make it happen.

After I finished there, I speed ran some errands - I got my car washed, stopped at Trader Joes to stock up on gluten free muffins, ran to Best Buy to get a new keyboard and mouse, and stopped in at Container Store because they appear to be going out of business / combining with Bed Bath and Beyond, and I wanted to stock up on a couple of tings that I usually get there and am not sure I'll be able to get in the future. Then I grabbed an iced coffee and refilled my gas tank before heading south.

I made it home just in time for my afternoon string of meetings, which I accomplished without fuss (and with quite a bit of laughter in one of them since we were playing with various filters on the videoconference, which added some levity to our Friday afternoon). Then I ran to the grocery store, came home, and made this chicken orzo pasta casserole thing that has quickly become a favorite. While it was baking, I sat on my balcony and made a to-do list (way too long) and soaked up a little fresh air.

Eventually, [censored] and I ate dinner while watching various tings on tv. And now I need to go to bed so that I can accomplish various things tomorrow, or perhaps just embrace a whole weekend of Sunday Scaries rather than saving them up for Sunday night. Goodnight!

i want to come over, to hell with the consequence

I had a long but productive day of looking at screens - I got a new monitor yesterday thanks to work, and it (at least temporarily) made a difference in my ability to focus. I got up at a reasonable hour, did a couple of hours of work while sipping my coffee, took a quick shower, and ran into town to get allergy shots. Then I came home and slogged until six, which felt quite productive.

As soon as I was done with meetings, [censored] and I went to Chariton (third time this week, which is a new record) to look at some garden supply stuff at Bomgaars. Then we decided to have Mexican food up there for dinner rather than driving back to our town. The service was a little slow, but the food was excellent and I enjoyed my margarita, so I would def go there again.

And now, even though this post is boring, I'm too tired to try to spice it up - so I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight!

catch a rare type specimen

I drove 120 miles today, but in the end I didn't really feel like I got that far. Probably that's because the 120 miles were two trips to Chariton, both of which were to take mom to the eye doctor. The first trip was planned, and it was just a quick check up. But she had also been waiting for new glasses, and when we were up there this morning, they still hadn't come in. Of course, about an hour after we got home, they did come in, and so we went back up there rather than trying to do it tomorrow or Friday. I'm glad she was able to get them since it will dramatically improve her ability to see, but it wasn't quite the afternoon that I expected.

However, that wasn't really that big of a deal. Even though I had a lot of work that I intended to get done, none of it was super pressing, and so this was as good a day as any to make a couple of road trips. I didn't really wrap up until 6:30 because I had a meeting after we got back from the second trip. Then I went downstairs, did a bit of stuff around the kitchen, baked a potato, and had a late dinner. I was ready to eat just as [censored] walked in the door, so I ate while catching up with him, which was nice. And now I need to go to bed so that I can do all the things tomorrow that I intended to do today - goodnight!

my heart runs on gasoline vapors

I have been staring at screens for way too long, so I shall keep this brief. When I woke up this morning, I felt relatively #inittowinit, so I got out of bed, made some coffee, and journaled for awhile. I'm sure the sunlight helped - my mood is always better when it warms up, and today was almost perfect.

Sadly I had to work inside most of the day, but I got through all my meetings in due form, and I managed to squeeze in a little personal business too. I was finally done around six, and then I got to sit out on my balcony and write for awhile. Eventually I came inside and ate some food (a v. unusual dinner of apple, peanut butter, and cottage cheese - I had other food, but I had zero desire to eat any of it) and tidied up the kitchen. And then I switched into sweats and did some work until now.

And now, I can sleep the sleep of the just (or at least the screen-blind) - goodnight!

lead me to the right side, keep this rolling

Apologies for not blogging the last couple of nights - I had a whirlwind end to my week, including breakfast in NYC, a long and much-needed coffee with Emily (all of my coworkers are my favorite, but she is first among them), lunch and various meetings, etc., etc. My trip home was complicated by some stalled vehicle or accident in an NYC tunnel, which made my Uber ride to the airport 90min instead of 45min, which meant I did not have time for a leisurely lounge experience like I had intended. But other than that, my trip was smooth, and it was good to get home.

I spent the weekend doing a variety of household and writing things - I got fully unpacked from both SF and NYC, got my room and desk reorganized, etc. I spent more time than expected yesterday afternoon talking to the neighbors - or rather, the heirs of the neighbor who passed away earlier this year. And then I sped into town and grabbed groceries so that I could cook. I made ham and potatoes au gratin for dinner last night, and Mom came in to eat with me and [censored], which meant I had to turn the dining room back into a dining room instead of a greenhouse (with mixed results, since I couldn't move my seedlings). But dinner was v. nice and we had a good chat, so it was worth it.

Today was more of the same - I actually wrote for three hours this morning, which was excellent but also made my brain feel a little melted. Then I ate lunch and vegged for a couple of hours, and then I spent three hours doing yard work. This resulted in cleaning out part of one bed in front of my house and putting down fresh mulch, which was definitely an improvement even if there is still much work to do. And I am guessing I will be sore tomorrow, since my fingers all seem to hurt and I think my arms and legs do too, but hopefully I can get back outside as the week progresses.

I took a break to put a roast chicken in the oven, and then I finished it with some roasted potatoes and a caesar salad, which [censored] and I v. much enjoyed as the fruits of our labors. And now I need to go to sleep - goodnight!