the moon is on my side, i have no reason to run

And just like that, it feels like summer, and my room is now too hot instead of too cold. I really appreciate Marvin's foresight in putting the master bedroom over the garage, where it is exposed to the most temperature fluctuations. Clearly he didn't read any medieval romances which explained how to put the lord's main room in the most temperature-friendly part of the castle.

sssanyway, today was good - and I'm happy that it felt like summer, since I am in a 100x better mood when it's sunny and warm. I did some writing this morning, which was fine. I had a chat with a friend, then took care of some tings, and then had lunch (a jarred cobb salad, which is always tasty). Then, I went for a walk, partially to snoop -- [censored] ran an errand and reported back that the city council meeting had changed dates, which was tres interesante because I was planning to go to the city council meeting to bring up an ordinance issue (more on that in a sec).

So, I went for a walk and chatted with the city clerk to verify the timing of the meeting. Then I walked some more, and headed out toward the town cemetery; on the way, I ran into Ross, who was driving back from either his farm or the cemetery, and we chatted in the middle of the road until someone finally (many minutes later) needed to get through. Then I ran into the town mayor, which was illuminating. Then I came home, did some writing, and showered.

I did go to the city council meeting, and I won't go into detail here, other than to say that I expected to live here for more than nine months before going to a council meeting to ask them to enforce their ordinances against livestock in town. It seemed to go fine, although we'll see what actually happens - I'm guessing it's not the end of this story, but who knows!

Then, [censored] and I grabbed Mexican for dinner (we went into the restaurant, and the server brought us cheese dip before she even took our order, so I'd say they know us). And then I came home and did some internet procrastination. And now I need to sleep, since I have early mornings the next few days - goodnight!

stuck in a vial

I wasn't sure I would make it to my destination today because it was unexpectedly quite snowy this morning when I was getting ready to leave the house. I knew there would be bad weather around Des Moines, but I had thought my part of the state would avoid almost all of it - however, huge flakes of snow were falling as I was trying to get myself out the door.

Luckily this morning wasn't really a scramble - I got up, made some coffee, showered, repacked a few tings after reconsidering my wardrobe choices, and talked to [censored] while touching up my nails. Then, I drove to the airport and didn't run into any issues. I made the genius (self-described genius; your mileage may vary) move of parking in short term parking just to check in my suitcase, which, since Des Moines' short term parking is very close to the terminal under a covered walkway, meant I could get my bag in without having to drag it through a lot of slush. Then I drove to an economy lot, dropped my car, caught a shuttle (as the only passenger on the shuttle) and was back at the terminal in less than ten minutes. Iowa has some downsides, but the convenience of the airport isn't one of them.

However, I am rusty at the travel game - I somehow forgot to dump my water bottle, and I had to leave security and go through it a second time. But despite that, I had time to grab a salad at the bar before boarding my flight. My flight to Denver was smooth (except for some final turbulence), and I had just enough time to grab an iced coffee on my walk through between gates before boarding my flight to Portland.

And now I'm safely ensconced in my hotel for the night. I have zero plans in Portland because I wasn't sure that I would get here tonight or that I would have time for anything tomorrow, since I'm leaving almost immediately for the coast - but I will get to sleep in tomorrow, so there's that. And I'll probably dream of my fantasy novel tonight; I spent both flights + a couple of hours after getting to the hotel reading THE GOLDEN ENCLAVES, which was the third and final book in a fantasy series that I should have finished when it came out a few months ago. I'd been saving it for a rainy day, and this was definitely a rainy day (literally, not metaphorically), so I picked it up and then read it pretty much straight through. My book isn't anything like that book at all, but all books are interesting to throw into the well of my psyche, and this one was a little more interesting than most.

And now, I need to sleep - goodnight!

this song's about the beach

Today went almost comically awry on the construction front - things have been proceeding nearly perfectly, but things cannot always be perfect, and today was the day that proved it.

Part of it was my fault (a miscommunication + a possible mistake on the part of the person who sold me tile, which led to me requesting Randy to remove the last bit of backsplash so we can re-trim it), and I did not enjoy having to request a redo even though Randy was, as always, v. nice about it.

Then there was a possibly misglued bit of laminate that may or may not have led to a chip on the edge of the island countertop. It's repairable, and [censored] v. helpfully went above and beyond by going to the store and chatted up the guy in charge, whom he knows, to organize the fix. But this did not make anyone's day any happier.

And then, there was a very slight cutting mistake...again, repairable, but by this point I think we all thought the day was cursed (since all of these issues were highly uncharacteristic, and taken together were almost statistically impossible), so hopefully tomorrow is better.

And finally, completely unrelatedly, Claudia messaged me to say that Hong Kong Flower Lounge closed at the end of 2022, which is a real bummer. This was the home of the infamous "Shrimp or Feet?" game that we played in our early twenties, and I have many fond memories of many hours spent eating dim sum there, before Claude and I discovered our mutual gluten sensitivities (which explained why we always fell into headachy comas after dim sum). So, that was an extra dose of sadness to round out the day.

sssanyway, these are the joys of home ownership and remodeling, so all in all it's totally fine. But I was quite distracted by all of this, which impacted the rest of my productivity. I did get an hour and a half to do some writing stuff this morning (in between the tile conversation and the first counter issue), so I'll take that as a minor win and move on.

The rest of my day was pretty uninteresting, and I spent way too much time on my phone while lingering around the construction (+ decompressing from it after), so I need to unwind and go to bed. Tomorrow is another day, and hopefully tings are smoother then. Goodnight!

cut me down where the water meets the sea

Today was okay, but I'm thoroughly ready to retire my paint sprayer and never see it again. When I woke up, I felt like I was developing the cold that [censored] has, which is definitely not what I want. So, I made a vat of hot tea (followed by another vat a few hours later), and I also made a bigger than usual breakfast (hashbrowns with my v. tasty scrambled eggs) in an effort to ward off the plague. We'll see if any of it works, but at least I got through the day.

At some point, [censored] and I finally rallied and finalized our painting prep so that we could paint the garage ceiling. This continued to take longer at every step than I would like for it to take, since we're meticulous about prep and already had too much stuff in the garage, and the garage is hard to seal since we need access to almost every door. But we got everything sorted out, set up the sprayer, mixed up all the paint, and then painted the ceiling. And by that I mean I did the majority of the setup, but [censored] painted the entire ceiling, since [censored] is an excellent/masochistic buddy who is sacrificing spare time to make my house more pleasant. The painting took exactly one hour, with copious breaks to clean/defog goggles -- so, one hour of painting to 20+ hours of prep / cleanup continues to be the paint sprayer ratio.

Despite that, the garage looks great and I'm really glad we got it painted before we permanently fill it with all sorts of stuff. After we were done, I cleaned up a bunch of stuff and then made dinner (chicken burrito bowls in the instant pot), which [censored] and I ate while watching several episodes of CHARMED (I'm calling it research). And now I must sleep - goodnight!

hypnotized by you if i should linger

I had a v. nice last day in Denver, although I should perhaps have rearranged my schedule to go home a day earlier given that I didn't have much to do today. My brunch plans unfortunately fell through, so I spent the morning writing in the lobby (and wrote a v. weird scene that I wasn't expecting, which was kind of fun). Then I took myself out for lunch - I went to Hapa Sushi, which I enjoyed, but it really doesn't compare to getting any sort of Japanese food in SF, so it wasn't as good as I sometimes remember it being. Then, I walked around Cherry Creek for a bit and stopped into some home stores to browse products that I might want to order for my house in Iowa.

But at some point I had no interest in browsing, and no interest in buying anything, so I came back to my hotel, relaxed for awhile, and then did a couple of hours of work at the hotel bar. Then, I got an uber to tonight's plan, which made it utterly worth staying in Denver today - Katie and I had a v. lovely dinner at Bar Dough. We were supposed to have dinner at Fifth String, but they had a plumbing problem and canceled our reservation. So, Katie and I split a bottle of rosé and two gluten free pizzas (one of which was notably better than the other) and caught up for as long as we could sit there. I miss seeing her as much as I did when I lived here, but luckily I can always lure her into a chat about gossip from our hometown, so I'm sure we'll talk as much as we usually do.

Then I came back to my hotel and did a whole lot of nothing, which means I should go to bed so I can get up and pack in time to head to the airport. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

and they work my nerves that's why i cannot sleep at night

Today didn't go exactly as planned, mostly because the smoke detector in my bedroom chose 3:30am to give up the ghost and start chirping at me. The chirps in my smoke detectors are more like three insistent beeps every minute, so there's no sleeping through it - so I had to go to the basement, find my batteries, come back upstairs, get a ladder, and change the battery while still half asleep. I don't know why I wrote this out, since (almost all of) you know how to change smoke detector batteries, but still. Ugh.

So, I was pretty lethargic this morning from too little sleep. But I did a million things around the house this afternoon, which felt good. I had a v. tasty cobb salad for lunch and a poke bowl from a new-to-me place for dinner, and it was a delight. And I spent some time on my newly-cleaned patio and wrote for a bit as the sun went down, which was good for me and also good for any mosquitos who feasted on me (but bad for the ones I killed).

And now, I should really sleep - goodnight!

i see no volunteers to co-sign on my fears

I have officially stayed up way too late, which means I will probably sleep in way too late, but that's all fine. Today was good until the end; I slept in, made coffee, made some eggs, journaled/wrote, and generally enjoyed my morning. Then I ran to the next town over to talk to the person who is going to sell me some cabinets (and get some new samples), and I also grabbed some groceries. Then I came home and put everything away just in time to talk to Alyssa.

I then settled in for a nice night of reading Met Gala gossip, but got sidetracked by the news about Roe possibly being overturned and was utterly furious at how this is a clear and obvious step toward abrogating a whole ton of rights that have made my current life and the lives of most of my friends possible. I took a break from that to finish one last task for the day job, and I also did some planning for tomorrow and crossed a few tasks off the to-do list. But now I need to go to sleep - goodnight!

if you live like that, you live with ghosts

I worked from home today, which saved my life - it has become deeply important to me that I can do a bit of work and drink a lot of coffee and stay in my pajamas until 30min before my first meeting, and this is obviously not possible when my commute is 45min and a shower/some makeup/actual pants are required on office days. Work was fine, all in all, but I was not particularly productive - by afternoon, the effects of the week were hitting me, and I mostly wanted to rest my eyes. So I got a bit more done, but I also talked to Katie (we have not caught up in ages as she's been super sick) and also to James (her husband, whom I also have not caught up with in ages).

Eventually, when it was marginally respectable to end the day, I ran a few errands, picked up some groceries, and got food to make tonight. I was going to make risotto and cook some scallops to go along with it, but the scallops at the fish market were $66/lb, which was exorbitant enough to make me think twice. So instead, I went across to my favorite little cheese shop and got some chorizo sausages so that I could try a Barefoot Contessa recipe instead. The recipe was for 'baked raclette', and it involved boiling and slicing fingerling potatoes, sauteeing the chorizo sausages, mixing the potatoes/sausages with some salt/pepper/thyme/white wine, and splitting the stuff across four individual baking dishes. Then, you cover the potato/sausage mix with slices of raclette cheese and bake for ten minutes so the cheese gets all melty and bubbly. All in all, it was excellent - it obviously wasn't what I had planned to have, but for a pivot it was v. welcome.

Then I spent the evening mostly procrastinating / half napping, and I should have gone to bed hours ago but it's suddenly after midnight. Goodnight!

i look around and sin city's cold and empty

I had a v. stressful work day, but it's over and I have a four day weekend, so I'm deeply relieved about that fact. I went to the office and slogged all day (mostly meetings), but I snuck out for an early drink with my friend Lorena. We haven't seen each other in years, obvi, since the pandemic ruined business travel, but it was a delight to see her (and a delight to have a nice tea-infused cocktail at Absinthe).

Then I went to Octavia for an early dinner with Terry to celebrate a) her wedding and b) the fact that we were seeing each other in person for the first time since her bachelorette in February 2020. I'm glad we got a bit of solo time before the wedding stuff fully kicks off - it was v. nice to catch up on life, and that conversation probably requires more than the span of a single meal. But tonight was a good start - we split some delicious sweet potato tempura and also a mozzarella with beets that was excellent. I had their pork with some beans and a bunch of dill, and it reminded me of Ukraine - we ate a lot of pork there, and things were covered in dill, so while this was objectively 10x better than anything I ate in Ukraine, the flavor profile triggered some memories.

Then I dropped Terry at her hotel, came back to mine, and worked for the last three hours to wrap stuff up before going on vacation. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

pull it out of park put it in drive

I'm sleepy - I had meetings earlier than usual this morning, and I stayed up for an 11pm version of a meeting that I could have attended tomorrow instead (but I preferred to watch it in my pajamas). Today was good, though - I had some entertaining and bizarre meetings, which are my jam. Then I went to my parents' house, where I gratefully scrounged leftovers for dinner. And then I came back to my house and watched the Olympics before my late meeting - I continue to be astonished and disgusted over the Russian doping issue, and it will be interesting to see what comes of this.

But now, I should really sleep so that I can make it to tomorrow's meetings - goodnight!

i can't sleep 'cause my bed's on fire

I'm still sick; perhaps this blog will become a plague journal like so many great plague journals that have gone before. I don't know that I'm any worse, necessarily, than I was yesterday - but my throat is sore enough that it makes it hard to sleep, so I'm tired and cranky and generally over it.

This meant that I didn't read a book, which is what I should have done - I mostly just alternated between napping, snacking, and doom scrolling, with a little journaling thrown in for the hell of it. I also did a wee bit of day job stuff tonight - that definitely wasn't what I wanted to do, but someone else on my team is also sick and so a thing that's due tomorrow is dangerously close to slipping through the cracks, and so I decided I should probably do something about it.

And now, I'm going to crawl into bed and see if I can sleep for more than two hours in a row before my throat wakes me up (or before I have to pee because I drank too much water / tea to keep my throat soothed today). Goodnight!

no colors anymore, i want them to turn black

Today did not go as expected, and I am choosing to find it hilarious rather than admitting that it's actually not, in fact, hilarious. [censored] and I had grand plans to paint today, and [censored] had already taken down blinds and removed outlet covers, etc. when I got up. I made some coffee and started taping trim, and all was going swimmingly...

...until [censored] went to the basement for something and discovered that my hot water heater had died and sent a river of water across the basement. Of course, the river did not go to the floor drain because that would be too easy; it mostly headed for the corner where [censored] had stored some stuff. Luckily it only got a few boxes wet; unluckily, some of those boxes were books. But also luckily, [censored] discovered the problem before anything got worse, and was able to shut off water to the house and prevent a catastrophe.

So this, of course, changed today's plan. [censored] and I pushed the water to the drain (using a long-handled squeegee broom helpfully left by the previous owner, as though he's had water down there before....). Then we went to our parents' house to shower and eat, which restored a bit of my mood. Then we went to the lumber yard, where I picked up more paint chips while [censored] loaded up a water heater in his truck. I also established an account at the lumber yard so that I can just charge stuff and they'll bill me later - this is a nice thing about #smalltownlife, since 1) I established the account just by giving them an address (but that was probably easier bc they know me and my family), 2) now [censored] or I can charge house stuff there and I get an itemized bill at the end of the month without having to track what I'm spending on each project every time I go in. Store accounts used to be all the rage - the convenience store I worked at in high school allowed store charge accounts, so people could just sign a ticket and pay the bill later. But I don't think they're a thing in the coastal elite places I have spent most of my adulthood....

sssanyway. [censored] is a complete boss when it comes to home improvement projects (and also, strangely, has a master plumber license despite never having been a plumber), so he drained my old water heater, hauled the new one down to the basement, and is in the process of hooking it up + fixing some other plumbing weirdness while he's at it. While he did that, I kept prepping for painting, which will happen someday. We took a break to go to Mom and Dad's for supper - leftover Thanksgiving was just as tasty as original Thanksgiving. Then we came back into town, and [censored] did more plumbing stuff while I started prepping the living room for paint + measured all the windows for new window coverings (which will have to happen someday, unless future guests want to sleep in a guest room with the previous owner's red chiffon saloon/bordello sheer curtains).

And now, I should really sleep - I'm useless with the plumbing projects, but I'm hoping to paint tomorrow even if [censored] isn't available to contribute to that cause because he's doing other even mightier causes. Goodnight!

awakening

I meant to go to bed an hour ago, but as long as I'm asleep before midnight, I'll take it. I had a not-totally-ideal morning, mostly because I woke up already thinking about work and definitely didn't want to be thinking about work before seven a.m. But I was able to make coffee and drink it outside while working on slides for a couple of hours, which is better than it could have been.

Later in the afternoon, I drove to Boulder for the first time in possibly ten months - I had an optometrist appointment, and since my optometrist is near the office that I no longer go to, it was a much longer drive than I'm used to making in the afternoon. My visit went fine (my right eye is getting worse, but I don't need bifocals, so I guess I'm not old yet!), and I'll have new contacts in a couple of weeks, so I'm happy about that.

Then I actually *went into the office*, which was completely bizarre. My actual building isn't open yet, so it didn't really feel real - I went to the main office in Boulder, and since I got there at four p.m., most of the amenities (such as they are in the time of covid) were shut down. But I stole some Andes mints, and I ran into a coworker whom I hadn't seen in seventeen months, and I took one meeting from a conference room, and it was all novel and interesting. Not novel and interesting enough for me to commute there if I don't have to, but novel and interesting nonetheless.

Then I met up with my friend Nicole for dinner - we went to a fantastic sushi place that she frequents, and it was great to catch up with her. She left my company a couple of months ago, so we gossiped and I got to hear about how things are in her new venture, and it was all great.

And then I drove home, messed around online, and packed since I'm leaving for Iowa tomorrow afternoon. I still have a couple of things to throw in the suitcase, but I'm packed enough that I may be able to get some work done tomorrow before I go. We shall see, we shall see. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

i spin on a whim, i slide to the right, i felt you like electric light

I continue to be in mostly a bad mood, thanks to a wide-ranging variety of perfect storm factors. But I started my morning with coffee, a shower, and a playlist based on 'Machinehead' by Bush, thus proving that when stressed I revert to the angry music of my teens and early twenties. Hopefully my stress levels will go down in the next few days, but we shall see.

So, I spent the morning / afternoon working and attempting not to think about anything stressing me out (not entirely possible, since some of my meetings added to it). Then I spent the evening drinking a margarita, eating frozen enchiladas and an ice cream bar, and watching the Olympics. It's entertaining to watch world class athletes at the peak of their athletic performance while eating the most unhealthy meal I've had in awhile - I highly recommend it. I finally logged in and did an hour and a half of day job stuff to get a little bit more caught up from being out Friday, so I can go into tomorrow without things being quite as bad as I expected.

And now I need to go to bed and hope that my stress factors start getting better soon - goodnight!

cause i'm a vintage girl hangin' with the flashback kids

I have nothing particularly insightful to say today. I took the day off, which was theoretically good for recharging, although I don't feel recharged - but I didn't have to spend much time on zoom today as a result, so that seemed to help. I mostly spent the day taking care of tings around the house - I made a bunch of egg muffins for upcoming breakfasts, which I think are delicious. I also dropped [censored] off in town, and used that as an excuse to drive out to the park and inspect the reservoir where Katie and I used to spend lazy summer afternoons rowing around the lake in a rowboat. Those were simpler times, albeit simpler times in which I was exposed to far more farm runoff chemicals than I am now.

Later, I roasted tomatoes for a caprese salad - this is not something I usually make in Iowa, and I discovered as I was prepping it that the balsamic vinegar expired two years ago, so I made an impromptu trip to town (the other town) to buy balsamic (after [censored] almost tricked me into believing he might have some lying around, which was obviously false in retrospect). Then I chatted with Katie for awhile, which took her by surprise since she wasn't expecting me to answer. And then I finished making dinner - I reverse seared some ribeyes, finished the caprese salad, and made mashed potatoes, and they were all delish.

And now I believe it's time for bed - goodnight!

i saw the sun begin to dim and felt that winter wind blow cold

Today was a bust. I'm feeling the 'full year in quarantine' vibes, especially since I couldn't go anywhere today - not that I usually go anywhere, but it's nice to theoretically have the option of walking down the street to my favorite card shop, or drive over to the mall to pick up something unnecessary at Nordstrom. We were supposed to get the biggest snowstorm ever in Denver today, and as of sunset it had maybe snowed 2". Inches, not feet, which is what they were predicting. That said, it's snowing pretty steadily now and the weather forecasts are still saying all that snow is on the way, but we'll see what happens overnight.

sssanyway, I was just not in it to win it today. I forced myself to have a call with Laura (an old coworker from many years ago) this morning since we'd already rescheduled a couple of times, and it was great to talk to her, but I definitely felt like I didn't need to spend more time on videoconference than I usually do. Then I talked to Katie just as the snow was starting to fall and we thought we were in for a blizzard, which turned out to be inaccurate. Then I ate some leftover sausages and polenta and thought about getting some stuff done (aka my taxes), and instead talked to Claudia. She was taking a walk and so we were able to catch up uninterrupted...and then when she got home and Téo was awake, we switched to video so I could see zee baby (who is almost one and is walking, so maybe not quite a baby anymore!). And then after all that effort, I watched tiktok videos and took a nap.

But I rallied somewhat this evening - I made perhaps the best batch of chicken tortilla soup that I've ever made, and I'm v. excited to have those leftovers for the next few days. I did some journaling, which always helps my mood. And then I picked up a book that's been sitting on my shelf forever - A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW, about a Russian aristocrat who isn't executed by the Bolsheviks because of his prior service to the cause, but is confined to house arrest for life in a Moscow hotel. I'm not so far in, but I'm loving it so far - but that's to be expected, since I find Russia fascinating (see: my history minor in college, which was mostly classes about Russia and totalitarianism) and also this guy is basically living the quarantine life since he can get things delivered but can never leave and just thinks about redecorating (again, I'm very early into the book, I'm guessing he doesn't just redecorate all the time).

And now, even though I am tempted to keep reading, I think I'll go to bed and attempt to set myself up for success with the time change. Goodnight!

i've been thinking lately of what i'm missing in the city

Today was not the most productive Friday I've ever had, but it wasn't the worst either. I let myself sleep in a little bit (to 7:30 - how indulgent) and then made coffee and rode my Peloton. I really am liking the bike quite a lot - and I'm also liking the fact that I can get some exercise without forcing myself out into the frigid wastes of a rocky mountain winter.

After that, I showered and just barely made it to my nine a.m. meeting. Then I had meetings until around noon, when I paused to greet a plumber - in addition to my painting debacle this week, I also had a leak in the shutoff valve to my irrigation system, which meant that I needed to get it fixed before I ended up with frozen pipes. The plumber was quick and efficient, and it seems that the issue is fixed, so I'm happy that at least one home project seems to have gone right this week.

Then I ate some takeout chile verde, messed around the rest of the afternoon, got a little bit of work done, and was generally just productive enough to not feel guilty that I wasn't even more productive. When I was done, I dashed to the post office, then came home and spent most of the evening organizing, taking care of household chores, etc.

And now I'm desperate for sleep - goodnight!

i wish i was a little bit taller, i wish i was a baller

Today did not go as planned - I'm okay with that, but it certainly threw a wrench in things. I got up and felt pretty good about finishing the prep to empty my bedroom for the painters, and I got everything taken care of and squared away. I also drank coffee, showered, had some yogurt, did some quick personal tasks, etc., and generally felt on top of things....

Then the painters arrived, and long story short, I overheard a very awkward argument in which the subcontractor decided he no longer wanted the job, and so he walked out before starting. I was actually fine with this as he seemed incredibly dumb - he asked three or four times what paint was going where, which was v. concerning because I am using one (1) color for all of the walls in the master bed, master bath, master closet, and guest bath. Granted, there were two ceilings that needed to be painted white (small ceilings, in the closet and in the small toilet room), but really, one (1) color + two ceilings shouldn't be hard for a painter to remember.

So, they were here approximately fifteen minutes, the manager (who had given me the quote and was just here to help the guy get started + move my bed) was profusely apologetic, and I'm back on the schedule for Monday with a different painter. This is really not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but it means I can't spend the weekend putting my bedroom back together. However, maybe that means I'll take my Christmas tree down....we shall see, we shall see.

After that, the rest of the day was anticlimactic. I had a bunch of meetings, of course, and I ended up with a coaching call with Alyssa. Then I made myself a hemingway daiquiri and called [censored]. After I talked to him, I reheated some beef stew, did some tings around the house, etc., etc.

And now I should either do some day job stuff or go to bed early so I can get up super early to tackle it - we shall see. Goodnight!

you grow up, grow old, or you hit the road 'round here

I'm on vacation, and I made pretty good use of it today. I slept in, which was good for me, but I still had time to make coffee, journal, shower, eat breakfast, etc. before heading to Colorado Springs to see my friend Barbara. Due to this pandemic situation, we had a socially distanced hangout - in any other year, I would not have driven an hour to hang out in someone's backyard when it was only ~50 degrees, but this is not any other year. So we sat outside for three hours, appropriately spaced, and it was a delight to see her. We commiserated on how deeply we both want to travel, discussed writing and life, daydreamed about Venice, etc., and I could have stayed forever...

...but it was, as I mentioned, fifty degrees, so even after I put on my coat it was eventually time to call it quits. I drove back to Denver and hit a bit of rush hour, but I was listening to Brene Brown's podcast with Dolly Parton, who is a total badass, so that got me through. When I got home, I dealt with the latest pile of #treatyoself boxes that had shown up on my front porch, put away some laundry, took out trash, etc. Then I tried a new recipe for pad thai, but I wasn't very happy with how it turned out - I do not have a good sense for stirfries or rice noodle dishes because they're not something I usually make, and so while this was promising, I ended up overcooking the noodles (after thinking I was undercooking them), and the overall dish was a little too dry. Since there was gluten in some of the sauce, which I usually pretend not to know because it's just a little bit, this was probably not worth it since the overall dish wasn't amazing. I might try again with a slightly different technique - the flavor was pretty good, it just didn't finish quite right.

sssanyway, that was a bit disappointing. Then I cleaned up, sat around and did nothing [I've been off twitter for almost 48hrs and I'm jonesing for a fix, but there is no methadone for twitter withdrawal, so I just stared off into space instead], and then journaled for an hour. And now I think I'm going to pick up a book and crawl into bed to read until I fall asleep - goodnight!

did you write the book of love

Thursday in the apocalypse...but it was pretty good overall. I didn't sleep well last night and woke up feeling like I might be on the verge of having a terrible, no-good, very bad day. But I drank coffee, journaled, and managed to pull myself out of the worst of my funk. So that meant I slogged all day, had some good meetings, ate some chili for lunch, took a walk while listening to a podcast, and then slogged some more.

But I stopped at five to make a somewhat elaborate dinner - I tried a new recipe for eggplant parmigiana, and it was fucking delicious. Like, perfect. And the eggplant wasn't breaded, so it was naturally gluten free. Of course, it took longer than I would usually spend on a weeknight meal, but it was worth it - I made a pretty simple tomato sauce (just canned whole tomatoes, oil, garlic, and basil), fried slices of eggplant, cut up some fresh and smoked mozzarella, and then layered tomato sauce, eggplant, mozzarella(s), parmesan, and basil in a baking dish. I cut the recipe in half and made an 8x8 instead of a 9x13 since I would have trouble eating a 9x13 myself - and it was so, so, so good. So, that was #worthit and a v. nice way to end the day.

Then I talked to [censored] for a couple of hours - he was driving and we hadn't talked in a couple of weeks, so neither of us had anywhere better to be and leaned into a v. long conversation. And then I did a tiny bit of day job work to prep for tomorrow...and now it's time for bed. Goodnight!