take back your wonderful life

The goodbyes continue apace; today was a lot, and I'm rapidly nearing the end. I had to be at the office by nine, where my boss's staff said goodbye to me (including an overly long playing of most of 'Paperback Writer' to start). Then I had meetings pretty much straight through until four; some of them were goodbyes, and some of them were work meetings where I pretended to still be deeply involved in whatever outcomes I definitely won't be around for.

I then said a somewhat hilarious goodbye to an admin whom I share a closet full of stuff with (long story), and then I went across the railroad tracks to Sanitas for a going away party. It was a funny choice for a going away party location for me because I don't drink beer, so my only option was a fairly terrible grapefruit-flavored hard seltzer - but the person who organized it (Morganne) knew this and cleared it with me first, and I was fine with it because I didn't want to overindulge. I had one hard selzter, which is a far cry from the million tequila shots at my last going away party in 2015. And I had some delightful conversations [listed for my own memory: Morganne, Alice, Alisha, Caroline, Carol, Sarah-Frances, Aaron, Matt, Vicky, JM, Sara, Melissa, Lexie, and perhaps a couple of others whom I'm blanking on]. It was an excellent turnout, especially for covid year three, and I was happy to hang out with all of them before the end.

After, I briefly went back to the office to get some stuff out of my trunk and put it into the closet full of stuff - these tings were shipped to my house in March 2020 because the office shut down while tings were in transit, and have been sitting here for over two years, but it's time to get them back onto company property. I also grabbed the last of my personal belongings and said goodbye to the building - if I don't ship my laptop/badge back next week, I'll still have to go in one more time next weekend, but I said my farewells just in case.

Leaving was, of course, bittersweet, but overall I'm v. happy about it. Then I drove home, ate some leftover thai, and took care of some stuff. And now I'm going to go to bed early and hope I can get enough sleep to sustain me through my last day of work tomorrow - goodnight!

my dear we still have everything

I went back to the office for the first time since my leave started today, and my badge didn't work. This was a hilarious way to start the morning, since I wondered if I had been surprise-terminated - but it turned out that there was some bug in the badging system and I happened to be affected. And now my badge works again...but after going to the office for all of one day, I kind of wish it didn't, since I'm definitely a better version of myself when I'm writing and napping and cooking than I am when I'm staring at videoconferences and complaining about the quality of the free snacks.

sssanyway. My day was fine overall, and I had lunch with Andy (who was one of the only other people in the office today). And I skipped out a little before five to meet my friend Sara for dinner at my beloved River and Woods - she had completely forgotten about it in the pandemic, and I haven't been there since I no longer live in Boulder, but it was still a delight. We hung out on the patio for a couple of hours, and I reacquainted myself with their poutine, and we had a great time.

Then I drove home, caught up with Katie for a bit, and generally leaned into some sloth. And now I'm going to try to go to bed early so that I can repeat similar feats tomorrow - goodnight!

i can bring the vibe down from ten to zero

I drove, I worked, I drove, I watched Bridgerton. That pretty much sums up the day. I guess I started it with some tea and journaling, which was nice. Then I went to Boulder, where I slogged all day. The office is still bizarrely empty, which means I have every nice lounge space and every amenity to myself; I had a quick chat with [censored] while sitting in a closed lounge meant for fifteen people (it has two comfy chairs, a long table, and several nooks filled with pillows built into the wall, with ladders to reach them - it's near an area called the Beehive, and the nooks do feel very hive-like).

So, I had breakfast and lunch, both of which were tasty. I had a bunch of meetings, including one with someone who is likely my new manager (yes, #8 in 4.5 years) - luckily I knew him many years ago, so at least that was fun and easy. And then I skipped out to run some errands and then go to Caroline's house. She invited me, other Sara, and Alice over to have cheese and watch the first couple of episodes of Bridgerton Season 2, which I had refrained from watching until now. So far so good, although it's a slow burn and my brain is struggling to recollect what happened in the book vs. what is happening in the show.

And now, I'm safely home and in need of sleep - goodnight!

still up with the sunrise, white lines in the hillside

I went into the office again today - now that I've been in three times, it's starting to feel a little normal. Of course, my office will never actually be normal - I found a secret room today (only because I was told there was one), where pushing the right set of boxes revealed a room with arcade games inside. I also discovered a meditation room, where I tapped on a Tibetan singing bowl for awhile and felt marginally more relaxed. And I had breakfast with Tomas and lunch with Caroline, so that was a delight.

In the afternoon, I hosted another 'treats and greets' event for a bunch of people in Boulder - I'm not entirely enthused about going back to the office permanently because I want to spend more time in Iowa than I'm going to be encouraged to in the future, but it is good for my mood to get all the sunlight in the office + all the people interactions. Then, after work, I remembered that there's a mall right next to the office - I had completely blocked it out of my mind that I used to do a lot of my errands in Boulder, because it was easier to go to Target or Sephora or Home Depot or Nordstrom Rack right next to the office while waiting out rush hour. It's amazing how many tings used to be common parts of my life two years ago and now are just...forgotten habits that may or may not return post-pandemic.

So, I went to Anthropologie to look for a dress for next weekend's wedding (I think I succeeded, although it may be slightly ridiculous due to the cut/pattern), and then drove home, messed around, ate some leftover chili, etc. And now I'm determined to go to bed legitimately early so that I can get enough sleep tonight after a week of fitful slumber - goodnight!

if the end comes soon i'll be here, i'll be here with you

It has been almost two full years since I last went into my office building, but I went back today and it was surprisingly glorious. My building had been undergoing renovations before the 'rona (which had been a thorn in my side, because I am involved in site stuff and had to deal with a lot of complaints because apparently people don't like it when ceiling tile dust falls into their food during lunch). But two full years with no one in the building meant that the facilities team could spend as much time and energy as they wanted in making the building better. And, since I'm still technically responsible for site stuff, my team ended up in a v. nice spot - facing the mountains, with outdoor balcony spaces on either side.

It was bizarre to go back, though - I weirdly almost teared up when I got there and saw some fresh macarons that the kitchen staff had made for an event I was hosting, since it's been so long since I've had any office amenities. I was hosting a welcome back event (optional) and it was great to see some people I hadn't seen in a long time - there are a lot of people I like whom I don't get to actually see in the meetings I'm usually in, so it was pretty energizing to see them.

Of course, I can revert to being spoiled and jaded easily; my lunch had too many vegetables and lentils, so that will take some adjustment. And don't assume I'm suddenly going in every day - I probably won't go in for another couple of weeks, since I'll be in San Francisco next week. But it was really nice to go in, so we'll see what happens.

I eventually drove home (rush hour reminded me that I don't like it, but it's not awful) and met up with a coworker for dinner. We were supposed to go to El Camino, but the line was 20+ minutes. So we went across the street to Mead Street Provisions, which I've never been to - but they had really nice gluten free bread, and I got a great gf sandwich and an excellent bourbon cocktail. My coworker and I have been trying to meet up for months, but between her relatively new child and my various issues, it has taken months to make this happen. So it was nice to socializing in person, even if I have definitely hit my people wall today.

And now I need to sleep so I can do a million things tomorrow - goodnight!

is it time to lead or is it time to die? time to raise hell or walk on by?

I had the kind of day that recharges my extroverted soul, although now I'm tired and eager to crawl into bed. I actually went into the office today for the first workday since March 2020 - it was a bit bizarre because it was a ghost town, but otherwise good. Going back right now is entirely optional and it's clear that not many people are taking them up on the offer, but that meant parking was easy and I didn't have to wait in line for food or the barista, so all in all it was pretty great.

Of course, that meant that I had to commute to the office, which was a good reminder that I don't like commuting. But the commute wasn't terrible enough to ruin my day, and I grabbed Starbucks on the way (something I never did in the beforetimes). Today was part of no-meeting week, but I somehow managed to only have 90mins free between 9:30 and 4:30 - still, I'll take it. I had lunch with someone who joined my team / company during the pandemic and so hasn't gotten to meet anyone in person, and we also had our 1:1, so it was fun to get some in-person interaction. And I took advantage of the free food, but I don't know if it's worth driving 45min each way for...

Eventually, I called it quits on work and met up with Caroline for dinner at River and Woods. This is where I used to go alllll the time when I lived in Boulder, but I hadn't been since pre-pandemic. It was as great as I remembered it, and seeing Caroline was great too. One of my favorite servers was still there, still remembered me, and was happy to see me - so I convinced Caroline to stick around the bar for another drink, which was advantageous for me because mine ended up getting comped (yes, I have that kind of sticking power with places, and I'm glad my 'give me free alcohol' mojo still works despite not getting any practice during the pandemic).

Then I said goodbye to Caroline, drove home, and messed around online until now. And now I should really sleep - 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!

when i get home boy you better not be there, you're long gone

Today was hectic, in a good way. I had meetings very intensely from nine to five, and that required a lot of mental energy (and a takeout lunch). But I managed to sign off around 5:20 and drive to Lafayette. On the way I talked to [censored] briefly, who was in surprisingly good form considering he found two (mostly) dead bats in his garage when he got home last night (one never wants to find bats of any kind anywhere near one's sleeping location). And then I met up with Sarah-Frances for happy hour - we hung out at Community and caught up on work and life, which was a delight.

Then we moseyed down the street to a Mexican restaurant, where we met up with another coworker who is brand new to our place of work and so hasn't really gotten to meet anyone in person yet. We had a v. delightful, v. long dinner, and it was a great way to spend a warm Monday night. But even though I have a million work things to do and should probably take a stab at them now, I'm going to go to bed and hope that I wake up tomorrow in time to do them. Goodnight!

toss a coin to your witcher

I had an extremely #treatyoself day, which felt like a good way to relax a bit in the midst of all the chaos that is my job + the end of the world. I spent the morning journaling / making some plans, and I also did a bit of yardwork - my neighbor's catalpa tree is gorgeous in summer, but is a real pain in the ass right now since I have pods all of my yard. I want to do some more outdoors stuff tomorrow - today was really gorgeous (almost seventy), and tomorrow looks like more of the same.

But I had to stop eventually, shower, and drive to Boulder for a massage. No, you should not feel sorry for me. My job paid for an 80min massage at a v. fancy spa in Boulder (I won an award like a year and a half ago and finally decided to redeem it). So I drove up early, had some sushi for lunch, drank some pinot grigio, and then unwound in the steam room and the sauna for a bit before the massage. The massage was really excellent - my body was pretty tense, as per usual, but the massage helped. I could have happily relaxed there all day, but I eventually decided that maybe I should come home and be productive.

However, when I got here I wasn't particularly productive after all - I washed some dishes, emptied the dishwasher, put away some tings, and ate some leftover pasta, but none of that was very impressive. And, instead of working tonight like I probably should have, I watched the first two episodes of The Witcher, which has been on my list for ages. It's ridiculous and so far I'm into it, but we'll see.

And now I need to sleep so I can seize the day tomorrow - goodnight!

deep beneath the cover of another perfect wonder where it's so white as snow

It's snowing in Boulder. Not just little flakes - big, stick-to-your-eyelashes flakes that swirled around as I walked to my car, accumulating on all the trees and bushes and flowers that seem to be as over this shit as I am. This is apparently Denver's latest accumulating snowfall since 2002, and this is a record I would like to have opted out of, thank you very much.

So I awoke in a fairly foul mood - I didn't get enough sleep last night, and so rather than getting up and writing, I hit snooze for an hour. I did sit at my desk at home for awhile then, but it was to take care of some mundane stuff. Then I showered and went into the office, where I had a relatively quiet day - I didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but it was better than nothing, and it was probably the last kinda-relaxing day I'll have in awhile, so I tried to take advantage of it.

I ended up leaving at 5:30 and having happy hour/dinner with the other Sara. There are actually many Saras and Sarahs around (two Sarahs sit within ten feet of me, and I just hired another one), but this particular Sara is great. We went to Boulder Depot and spent several hours gossiping, which was super fun - and we exchanged numbers at the end, so I think it went well and that we're going to be real friends now. This turned out to be v. beneficial for her, since she left my laptop in my car when I dropped her off at the office - luckily I went into the office to pick up a package, so she was able to get it with no drama.

Then I came home, messed around online, did a desultory bit of email work for the day job for the last hour, and then did a bit of book business. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

step on the glass, staple your tongue

Today was a lovely day, which is a good thing since I may have stored up enough happiness to get through the winter storm warning on tap for tomorrow. I got up earlyish for a weekend and actually wrote before my brunch plans, so I felt pretty smug about that. Then I had brunch with Kelly at River and Woods - their breakfast sandwich is so tasty, and the company was pretty great too.

Then I came home and did a bunch of stuff around the house all afternoon before spending some quality time on the phone with my parents - my dad had some better gossip than usual to share, which I was all in on because I love gossip (er, I mean, I'm a student of human nature, which sounds way better). Then I drove into Denver for dinner - my friend Barbara is in town to visit her daughter, and since her daughter works with me, I got invited to crash their festivities. We went to Bar Dough, which was just as good for dinner tonight as it was for lunch a few weeks ago - their gluten free pasta was perhaps the best gluten free pasta I've ever had. And it was great to see Barbara - I hadn't seen her since my Oceanside retreat, which is approximately when I went totally off the grid for a couple of months and lost touch with everyone, so we had a lot to catch up on.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

sipping on straight chlorine

I'm trying to go to bed right now so I can get eight full hours of sleep - I didn't quite get eight last night, and it wasn't enough to recover from my flight and put me in a better position for today. That said, today was much better than yesterday (at least from not wanting to fall asleep in the office). I got up in time to write this morning even though I had an eight a.m. meeting (which I took from home, since I had time to shower after writing but couldn't get into the office). Then I went to the office and had meetings almost all day, although I had just enough non-meeting time to get a couple of important things done.

I did leave promptly at five, though - I had happy hour / dinner with Caroline. We went to a wine bar in Louisville (which calls itself "/pôr/" because that's fancier than saying "pour"), where we each had a glass of wine and split some burrata and some ahi tuna nachos. My glass of wine was good; I wasn't super impressed with the food, but it was gluten free, so I won't complain too much (and really, it was totally fine; I just expect my nachos to be more nacho-y and less of a bed for a bunch of seared tuna to rest upon).

So Caroline and I hung out for ~2.5hrs, which was a v lovely way to spend an evening. Then I came home, took care of my dishes, did about thirty minutes of day job stuff, and now it's time for bed. Goodnight!

heavy as a feather when you hit the dirt

I had a pretty good day, all in all - I slept until almost nine and was feeling a bit lethargic after spending eleven hours in bed. But I took care of a whole bunch of personal stuff today, ran a few errands, did a couple of loads of laundry, and spent a very nice hour in the mid-afternoon writing part of a scene for my new book while eating pizza at Pizzeria Locale. I think they gluten'd me this time - the pizza tasted different than usual, but I got a white pizza this time (delicious garlic oil and mushrooms) and so didn't really question it. However, the bill didn't have the upcharge for the gluten free crust, and I have a bit of a stomachache, so that was a bummer. But I probably shouldn't be eating this much pizza anyway, so now I have a good reason to toss the leftovers.

Still, I got some great writing done while sitting at the bar, so I'll take it. Then I came home, talked to my parents for awhile, and spent the evening taking care of more business (and also reading too much news on my phone). And now I really need to sleep - I have to be in Denver around 9:15 and I'd like to write in the morning (and possibly swing by the office to eat free breakfast rather than having to make anything myself) - so sleep would be a good idea. Goodnight!

you steal the air out of my lungs, you make me feel it

I got up this morning and wrote before work, which means I accomplished that feat every day this week - for the first time in a v. long time. So, I'm pretty happy with that. However, it may have used the last of my willpower reserves - I was really tired at work today, and the hour and a half that I had to do stuff in the middle of the day was mostly wasted since I wasn't feeling it. It probably didn't help that it was grey and cold and spitting snow; I'm ready for summer to come back and mean it this time, but we're not quite there yet.

So I came home around 4:30, read for a bit, took a bit of a nap, read some more, and ate the rest of some soup that I'd defrosted on Wednesday. I really just wanted to stay in tonight, but it was my friend Natasha's birthday party - she's the whole reason why I'm in my current job, since she's the one I met up with a year and a half ago who told me that my old team was moving to Boulder. So, despite my desire to stay in bed, I put on cuter clothes and drove over to Lafayette. I only stayed for an hour - I didn't want to drink due to both the driving and my desire to get some sleep tonight, which made the dancing a little less appealing. But I talked to some people I know, and that was enjoyable - and met a woman whose name I've heard for a decade but whose path I've never officially crossed, and perhaps we shall be friends now if the desire to grab lunch is still alive when the week starts again.

I was home again by 9:30, read for a little bit, fell asleep with my book on my face, and am now ready to actually go to bed. Yes, I'm officially old - but #noregrets. Goodnight!

in all the good times i find myself longing for change

Today was a full-on onslaught of all the things that lure me fully into corporate america - money, status, prestige, fine wine, etc. My VP's boss is in town, and my VP also happened to have an all-hands today, which meant I had three hours of meetings with them - and I had to present a couple of things at my VP's all-hands, and also moderate a Q&A with the big big boss. We also had an official opening of our new space, including a ribbon cutting, and so I had to do that before scrambling to do some work for an hour since I'd ignored everything in favor of getting through all of the stuff that absolutely had to be done today.

But I left at 5:30 so I could drop my car off at home and then walk to Frasca to have dinner with my VP's boss and the rest of the Boulder site leadership team. I've been wanting to go to Frasca for awhile - it's next door to Pizzeria Locale and owned by the same people, but Frasca is super fancy and has won a whole bunch of James Beard awards. I shudder to think how much the bill ended up being - we had a four-course tasting menu in a private room, and the big big boss was in charge of ordering wine. Since he's French and v. v. vocal about his love of French food/wine and disdain for American food/wine, we started with a very nice champagne, then had at least three different, wonderful red wines throughout the meal. At some point I heard him say that he was going to be more reasonable with the next wine or else Sundar would fire him - which I doubt, but also, the first wine tasted like a gift from heaven and was served in a glass that was probably more expensive than any bottle of wine I would buy, so I would guess his expense account is far more luxurious than mine.

sssanyway. The food was perfect - I pretended for the night that I have no issues with gluten, and I don't regret that choice because their bread was amazing and the pasta was one of the best things I've tasted in awhile. Actually, that's a lie, because the wagyu steak and the amazing mashed potatoes in the next course were even better than the pasta. I also spent a lot of time talking to Michael and Mike about the good/bad old days from a million years ago, so I had a surprisingly fun time considering that it was a work dinner and I was attempting to be on good behavior.

But now I need to sleep off the wine so that I can get up early and do all the work I should have done tonight. Goodnight!

choking on the splinters

I had meetings straight through from 8:30 to 5:30, which was not conducive to getting work done. I should have worked tonight when I got home, but instead I went to River and Woods, where I had a v. ridiculous evening - this is the second time in a row where I went there with the intent of journaling, and instead met someone involved in the pharma industry who asked for my number. But it was a v. good way to relax and ignore the many multitude of things I should be doing, so I'll take it.

Of course, I left feeling high on life, tripped as I was walking home, and felt like I broke my hand (not really, but I definitely injured it), so I was reminded that I am no longer a youthful ingenue. But I think I'll survive...although bed is a v. good idea right now, since I have to get up early to do the work I should have done tonight. Goodnight!

i got all pig iron

Today was a v. long day in the pixel mines, as my friend Shedletsky would say. I woke up at 6:15, but I didn't write - instead, I started working on day job stuff as soon as I poured my coffee. I don't regret that, because spending three hours at my desk at home getting things done was incredibly helpful in terms of making me feel like a decent human later when my meetings started.

Still, it made for a long day. Eventually I took a quick shower, took a meeting from home, and then went into the office for another string of meetings. I managed to leave at 4:30, though, and met up with Katie at Blackbelly. The only advantage of the government shutdown is that she drove up to see me rather than me having to go to Denver - and I remembered the fact that she eats as much meat as I do, so I took her to a butcher-focused restaurant that I've been wanting to go to since few of my other visitors have been into that kind of scene.

It turned out to be a v. nice place for happy hour - she had a burger (which is probably what I really wanted, in retrospect), but I decided to try something new. So I went with their crispy pig ears, which the server described as 'bacon french fries', which is pretty much what they were. They came with a fried egg on top and some perfect red pepper jelly underneath, and it was surprisingly delicious (although rich and perhaps not actually filling enough). I also got the broccoli, which was tasty as well. And I caught Katie up on everything she needed to know about southern Iowa, so that was a fun way to spend a couple of hours.

Then I came home, messed around the house, tried on some stuff that I'd ordered online, and then did another hour or so of work for the day job. I'm trying to get caught up on a million things that have been lingering, and I don't know how successful I'll be since I'm about to go out of town, but we'll see what I can make happen.

But now I'm going to read for just a bit and then go to bed - goodnight!

finished symphony

I had another great day in Boulder - the new year is off to a great start if you ignore the day job, which I've successfully done so far. I woke up in time to trim my bangs, shower, and throw together a frittata before John, Jess, and Ian came over for breakfast. The frittata turned out v. tasty, as usual, and I also had a bunch of berries (which was key since that's mostly what Ian wanted, although that turned into him force feeding them to John). Ian ran around my house a bit after, disappearing upstairs for a minute and then yelling down the stairs, "Auntie Wamp, can I play with this?" Since it turned out that 'this' was my rotary cutter, which was possibly the most dangerous thing he could have found in my house with only thirty seconds of searching, we decided that he could not play with it.

But despite my cold-hearted denial of his desire to play with my rotary cutter, we had a good morning. John and Ian went to a park, and Jess and I went to do the free tour at the Celestial Seasonings plant, which is based in Boulder. I don't drink much Celestial Seasonings because almost  all of their 'teas' are herbal infusions (no tea), or tea that has been overly flavored for my tastes - I mostly likely my tea without any flavors, unless it's a nice Earl Grey. But the tour was pretty interesting - they produce something like 1.6 billion bags of 'tea' a year, so the factory was cool.

After that, Jess and I grabbed a quick lunch at Boxcar, and then she went back to their hotel and I came home, napped, and journaled/wrote in the afternoon. We were supposed to rendezvous at Pizzeria Locale at 5:30...but at five, I idly wondered why I hadn't gotten a confirmation today, and then discovered it's because I'd made the reservation for next Saturday. Extreme rookie move. So I dashed over there without much hope, since it's v. hard to get a table there on weekends. I put my name in and they said they'd probably be able to seat us at the pizza bar around the same time as my original reservation, but that a table would be a two hour wait. Resigned to fate, I got a glass of wine - but also chatted up the staff whom I've befriended there, and suddenly a table appeared. We had to vacate it by seven, but that was more than doable - and I was pretty happy that I would be able to show my friends the full Pizzeria Locale experience (although my actual Pizzeria Locale experience is usually drinking three glasses of wine and reading a book at the bar, but this was acceptable too).

John/Jess/Ian arrived just after I scored the table, and we ordered some v. tasty stuff - the pizza that I usually get (a spicy pepperoni-type pizza), along with a pear pizza that Jess chose (delicious!), and some broccolini that was insanely good. We also got the little arancini balls to start, which I loved, and the whole meal was just about perfect. After, we took Ian out to 'hit the town' (it's super cute when he says it), but he wasn't as in the mood for another bar as we were, so we went back to the hotel and hung out in their room until it was time to say our goodbyes.

And now I should sleep - it's back to the usual grind tomorrow, since they're leaving super early and I have a bunch of stuff to do in preparation for the week/month ahead. Goodnight!

tell the waitress i'll come back to zanzibar

I had a somewhat lazy day at work - meetings mostly straight from 9:30 to 4, but there was still time to mess around and joke about dead plants, have lunch (which turned out to be a meeting), and also participate in a very abbreviated happy hour. But I left at four and got my nails done, which was necessary since I'd been peeling the gel off my fingernails while avoiding getting anything done. Then I came home, ate, prepped my house, texted with [censored], and went out and bought groceries.

This is all necessary because John and Jess and Ian are visiting this weekend (yay!). They got in tonight and are staying at the Boulderado, so I went over there after they got checked in to say hello to them. The hotel is really cool (old Victorian with a working person-operated Otis elevator), and their room is v. nice, so we hung out in it for awhile and ate leftover chips and salsa from the Mexican food they'd picked up on the way. John put Ian down while I talked to Jess, and then eventually Jess went to bed and John and I went down into the basement to have a drink at License No. 1. This is probably my favorite bar in Boulder, since it's rather speakeasy style and has a bunch of intimate interconnected rooms. Tonight was hopping, since they had a live band that was quite good, so John and I had a drink and discussed life, and it was all quite lovely.

But now I should sleep since their child will wake them up v. early and that means we will be having breakfast earlier than one might desire (but at the same time that I usually have breakfast). Goodnight!

got a machinehead

I'm back in Boulder after a too-quick trip to ye olde Iowa. I woke up this morning in time to be much more leisurely than usual about getting out of the house - it helped that I hadn't overpacked for this trip, so throwing things back in my bag was a breeze. I had breakfast with my parents and [censored], did a bit of online stuff (it's Black Friday, which is the main holiday of the year for my acquisitive heart) and then said my farewells to southern Iowa. I'll be back in a month, but I really wasn't ready to go....

...but I had to, so let's move on. My parents took me to the airport and dropped me at the curb, and I continue to marvel at how efficient DSM is - I was upstairs and through security in five minutes, leaving plenty of time to grab some iced coffee before boarding my flight. I wish every airport made it so easy. Of course, it helps that there are only a handful of gates, so walking to the gate isn't the endless march that it is in Denver, but still, I like it.

I alternated between reading (THE SILK ROADS, of course), napping, and actually writing for about an hour (I know, I'm shocked too). After we landed, I moved quickly through the airport, found my car, and drove home, where my apartment was only sixty degrees and I had no groceries. So, I took myself out for a very early dinner at Pizzeria Locale, where I actually tried a new pizza (shocking, since I always get the same thing), chatted up the bartender, and read a couple of chapters of a book about the Knights Templar. I'm not done with THE SILK ROADS, but I was feeling like picking up something else, so I went in the Templars' direction instead. I had an idea for the gargoyle book while I was on the plane, so I figured doing some more reading in that vein isn't a bad idea even if I'm not sure it's what I want to work on at the moment.

Then I came home, played a bit of Civilization, then realized I was too tired to play Civ, so sat on my couch and did nothing for a bit. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!