bury me in motion

I am back from my trip to Okoboji, and mostly recovered from my illness, although I wish I had taken today (and maybe tomorrow) off. I had a great conference despite being sick - it was a bit of a bummer because I skipped the optional evening dinners in the interest of getting more sleep (and avoiding making things worse by getting rained on all evening), and so I feel certain that I missed out on some serendipitous encounters that might have led to making friends. But it's also nice that I didn't fall asleep while driving home yesterday, and nice that I'm no longer hacking up my lungs regularly (just occasionally), so I think I made the practical choice.

Anyway, yesterday's morning sessions were both great, and I left feeling v. inspired by everything I heard. Then I drove home, which felt like it took forever, but I listened to some podcasts to try to keep myself entertained. I also stopped for groceries (and to eat some late lunch from the prepared foods bar) at Whole Foods in Des Moines, grabbed some gluten free bread in Indianola, and got home in time to unpack my car before going out to Mom's to have dinner with her and Aunt Dee. Aunt Dee came up to visit for a couple of days, but I wouldn't have seen her if I skipped dinner last night - so I'm glad I braved the v. muddy roads to hang out. It has rained a tremendous amount here this week (and month), and there's water everywhere, so the gravel was treacherous - but Mom's vegetable beef soup was #worthit.

Today, I was more in it to win it than I expected to be, but less in it to win it than I needed to be to actually get caught up. However, I did various day job tasks, ate some leftover soup and another grilled cheese for lunch, and then worked the rest of the day (with a long chat with Adit and Emily sprinkled in there to get me through). Tonight, I made a stew with chickpeas, coconut milk, turmeric, and swiss chard; it's something I used to make during the pandemic, and it was a v. viral recipe back in 2020, but I don't make it often now since 1) it reminds me of the pandemic and 2) [censored] has no interest in eating it. But it turned out well, and I read a book while it simmered (instead of scrolling my phone), so I feel v. smug about that.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!