go slow

I had a v lazy couple of days, which wasn't my intent, but c'est la vie. Yesterday I did a whole lot of nothing, from what I can recall - although I did make potatoes au gratin to eat with the leftover pulled pork for dinner, which was pretty tasty. And [censored] and I watched the second half of the Billy Joel documentary, which was pretty great. Oh, and I met my latest great-niece - Allie and Chris came down and brought Mya, who is less than three weeks old and v v cute (and somehow already trying to roll over, which is shocking).

Today I attempted to be more productive, with mixed results. I was prepared to get after it, and then [censored] for a text from Cheri offering him some stuff out of their shed before they tear it down. Since their shed was Gram and Granddad's shed, I decided to go along for the ride and check tings out. There were a couple of old metal signs that were cool, and Jake had found our dad's initials and handprint in some concrete that was poured in 1978, so that was bittersweet.

After we came home, I messed around in my garden and harvested my only butternut squash. Mom and I also went downtown to water planters, since it's our week to water. And I spent the afternoon journaling, planning, and taking care of various lists - not completely productive, but I have a better handle on what I need to get done. 

And now I need to sleep so I can get up early and do all the things I should have done this weekend - goodnight!

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!