and now i feel like a blackout, new york city grid max out

I had a v. productive Sunday, which I did not do to upset [censored] (although since [censored] usually does more than I do, I guess any day that I am more productive is a bad day for [censored]). I got up this morning and wrote for awhile, and things are really starting to cook. Then, I did some literal cooking - I made the usual Sunday breakfast, which was as delicious as it usually is. [Censored] and I ate while watching coverage of last night's White House Correspondents' Dinner, which was a good replacement since SNL wasn't on last night. And we watched some John Mulaney clips while digesting, which was entertaining.

Then, I cleaned the kitchen (including dusting all the doors and cabinets). I also washed the pendants, which needed it - putting oversized clear glass pendants in was a great design choice, but they show grime quickly, and that's not good considering that I'm usually pretty lazy. But they're clean now, so I'm pretty pleased with myself.

I also did a brief peloton ride, wrote a tiny bit more since I'd had an idea while cleaning, and took a shower. Then, [censored] and I picked up Mexican takeout, which was great except for the fact that they forgot to give us our tortillas. I had corn tortillas in the fridge, so I was fine, but [censored] had to make do without, which was pretty tragic.

Then I did some stuff for the mural festival, which involved a mail merge (and [censored] v. graciously loaned me a laptop with Word on it so I wouldn't have to figure out a janky mail merge workaround in Google Docs). I got all the envelopes printed that I needed to print, so I'm hoping I can get this mailer out tomorrow.

And now, I definitely should go to bed - goodnight!

i think you better turn your ticket in and get your money back at the door

Today was a pretty standard Monday - I managed to overcome my extreme resistance toward all things work and actually got out of bed in time to do a bit of stretching before showering / starting the day, which was better than nothing. And at some point in the middle of the day I did a quick Peloton ride instead of napping, so I think I'm basically an Olympian.

The rest of my day was full of meetings, but they were all fine, so I'll take it. I spent the evening doing some house things, doing some slothful things, doing a few more work things, and doing some personal bill-paying type things. And with that extremely scintillating update, it's time for bed - goodnight!

i'm bulletproof, nothing to lose

The Sunday Scaries that I mostly avoided over the weekend have somehow morphed into Tuesday Scaries, which was a very unwelcome development. Things weren't bad today, all in all - I wrote before work, and my meetings were all fine. But I was not feeling particularly motivated - there are a lot of things up in the air right now, and navigating that + gossiping with people took most of my energy.

After work, I sloughed off and talked to Terry, which is always welcome. Then I should have eaten the salad I made last night, but I ordered thai food instead. I also rode my Peloton - my legs were a little tired from yesterday, so it made for an unnecessarily hard ride, but it felt good to do something (and not do it in the hundred+ degree heat outside).

Then I painted my nails, talked to [censored], and took care of some personal activities. And now I need to sleep - I would like to write tomorrow before work, but I also have an earlier start time for my first meeting, so we'll see what I accomplish. Goodnight!

nice to meet you where you been

As I expected - nay, planned for - I had a v. unproductive day today to make up for how productive I was yesterday. However, I didn't really feel significant Sunday Scaries - I probably should have, but I've avoided a lot of work emails over the past two weeks and so don't feel connected enough to worry about whatever I'm getting into tomorrow. Hopefully the reentry won't be too brutal...

Since last night's shenanigans kept me up late, and since I heard my friend Sara leave relatively early this morning (she snuck out quietly, but I heard the chime of my security system tell me that the front door opened), I stayed in bed and lazed until my heart and body didn't want to laze anymore. Then I ran to Starbucks to get iced coffee, came home, and spent most of the late morning journaling / planning / contemplating while sitting on my patio.

Eventually it got too hot to be lazy outside, so I moved my laziness inside. I did, at some point, decide what I'm cooking this week and order groceries, since my fridge was completely barren (confession: there were vegetables in the veg drawer when I got home from my travels, but the squash/zucchini were so rotten that they fell apart as I was pulling them out and I had to wash the whole bin. clearly having a separate veg drawer that I don't see unless I open it can cause some problems when I'm cleaning out the fridge pre-travel...). I also talked to my parents, who seemed to be in fine form. And, happily, I rode my Peloton for the first time in a couple of months - I would say my calf is almost fully healed, and so I felt pretty safe attempting a bike ride, but I took it easy to avoid turning the occasional twinge into a full-blown reinjury. Hopefully now that it's healed and I'm back in Denver for awhile, I can get back into Peloton and get some exercise.

I then spent the rest of the evening taking care of some personal business tasks. And now I should go to bed - it's earlier than I usually go to bed, but I want to get up and take a walk and/or write before work, so early bedtime seems like the right call. Goodnight!

i had a dream, i got everything i wanted

Today was the blizzard that I had expected yesterday - Denver officially got over two feet of snow at the airport, and I would say that my neighborhood is safely at 19" or so. It's truly an insane amount of snow, so much so that it feels unique and picturesque instead of just an inconvenience. It appears to be snowing at the moment, but the winds have died down; when the winds were roaring and it was snowing 1-2" per hour this afternoon, it felt downright treacherous. Apparently this is now Denver's fourth-largest storm ever, and while I'm not looking forward to the aftermath of melting and freezing and general calamity over the next few days, today was actually kind of fun.

I also did my very best to relax today - while I got v. little done yesterday, it hadn't felt relaxing, and I was determined to make today relaxing where yesterday wasn't. I mostly succeeded - I slept more than I have in weeks, and the time change meant I didn't get out of bed until ten. I did some writing and journaling and other forms of recording observations, and I meditated and stretched and foam rolled and rode my Peloton. This all felt pretty great for my body and my spirit. I had some leftover chicken tortilla soup, did some laundry, and talked to my parents - they seemed to be doing pretty well, so that was good to hear. I also baked some banana bread in there - I didn't eat any of it when it came out of the oven, in a remarkable exercise in restraint, but I'm looking forward to breakfast tomorrow.

Then I took a v. long overdue shower before making dinner - I felt like part of yesterday's bad mood was due to the fact that I hadn't had beef in ages, so I cooked a ribeye (using the reverse sear method - heating it in the oven, then searing it in a pan with some ghee), reheated some brussels sprouts in the ribeye/ghee grease, and made frozen french fries in my air fryer. The ribeye and brussels sprouts were perfect; the french fries were too crispy, but I think that's because I only made a single serving and should have cut down the cook time. But all in all, supper cured a lot of what ailed me.

Then I wrapped up the night by folding clothes, making some plans for the week ahead, and reading some more of A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW. And now I'm going to go to bed and hope I actually fall asleep despite the time change - goodnight!

just go ahead let your hair down

I have v. little of interest to share with you today. I spent the day taking care of tings around the house + talking on the phone, and while much of it was worthwhile, little of it was something that deserves memorializing. I guess I did go to New Zealand, but since it was only for twenty minutes and only virtually via my Peloton, that's probably not very interesting either.

However, while I did have some existential life-level Sunday Scaries today, I'm not particularly dreading work this week, so at least there's that. And I painted my toenails, so if the thick bands of dead skin ever fall off my heels, I might look like someone who is ready for a vacation (spoiler: I am definitely ready for a vacation, but I'm not going to get one anytime soon). I also think I'm basically ready for my painters to show up again tomorrow - hopefully we don't have a similar debacle to last time and they actually do the job tomorrow, since I'm more than ready to put my bedroom (and especially my bedroom closet) back together.

And now, I think I shall go to bed (or at least read in it) - 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!

they say these waters aren't what they used to be, but i've got people back on land who count on me

Sunday Scaries were out in full force today, but I managed to salvage some decent times in spite of them. I spent the morning doing a bunch of office stuff (for my writing life, not for my day job life), and then I had a chat with Veronica (we usually try to write together, but today we mostly caught up on life). Then I was supposed to have another friend zoom call, but I was feeling zoomed out from the week + desperately in need of doing tings around the house, so I bailed.

That gave me ample time to take care of some tings - mostly related to painting swatches of paint all over my bedroom and bathroom, since I have painters coming Wednesday to turn my dark, cavelike, not-at-all-my-color bedroom into something that will make me happier (or at least more able to wake up in the morning). I also talked to [censored], since we were overdue for a catchup. And I talked to my parents, of course - it's our usual Sunday call, but I managed to call slightly earlier today (albeit still probably later than it would be wise to, since it usually cuts into dinner time).

However, I wasn't particularly hungry when I got off the phone since I'd had a weirdly late lunch, so I rode my Peloton instead. So far I'm very happy that I bought it - I am actually enjoying it, which is a shocker. Then I took a shower (seven p.m. showers are usually not my thing, but they are when I just exercised), and then I finally heated up some of yesterday's leftover fish chowder. It was much better today - the flavors had melded together, and it was quite tasty. I have way more fish than I will be able to eat before it goes bad, but at least I know what I'm having for lunch tomorrow.

Then I journaled, did some laundry, did some writing stuff, etc. And now I should sleep so I can get some work done tomorrow - goodnight!

all the blue light reflections that color my mind when i sleep

I'm too tired to blog effectively - I didn't get enough sleep the last couple of nights and it's starting to hit me, so I think I'll go to bed as soon as I write this. Today was pretty good despite that - I made some fancy potato fennel gratin the other night and I leftovers this morning, and it was wonderful for breakfast (cheesy potatoes are basically breakfast anyway, right?). I then slogged pretty relentlessly all day, which enabled me to check a couple of tasks off my to do list that I've been avoiding, and that always feels good after it's done.

By 4:30 or so I decided to let myself be done, so I chatted with Katie to make a plan for tomorrow, then ran to the post office to finish setting up a PO box (I don't need a PO box in normal life, but if I get serious about writing business again, it's good to have a box that isn't my home address). Then I came home, rode my Peloton, poured a glass of chardonnay (probably not the approved post-workout recovery drink), and talked to Irish Matt. We hadn't talked since before the holidays, so we had much to catch up on.

Then I ate leftover takeout from last night, turned on the tv, and spent the rest of the evening watching Netflix while making a meal plan and a grocery delivery order, crossing tings off and adding tings to my to-do list, etc. And now I really need to sleep - goodnight!

put the blame on vcr

I have nothing of importance to share today - I got up in time to do about an hour of work before my first meeting, which was enough to get me a little closer to set up for success. Then I slogged straight through until 5:30, with a quick break for a walk around the block somewhere in there - I had meetings straight from nine to five, with only thirty minutes for lunch, so it was extremely exciting when one of my meetings ended early.

Then I ordered takeout Indian food, and while I waited for it to get delivered, I rode my Peloton. I chose a ride through Golden Gate Park, which made me supes nostalgic - the ride also went by Cliff House, which has now closed, and it was all a bit surreal. Then I took a quick shower, ate, and spent the evening doing a variety of personal tasks (mostly related to cover designs, so that's exciting).

And now I should wind down and consider going to bed - goodnight!

no more contacting please we are sleeping

I was supremely happy to have today off, but of course that just means delaying the inevitable and also cramming a five-day workweek into four days. Still, I'll take today for what it was. I actually slept pretty well last night, despite being distracted before bedtime (hence the failure to post my blog - I sat down at my desktop this afternoon and discovered that my blog was sitting half-written on my screen). And this morning, I got up in time to spend a couple of hours on a zoom with my old coworker/mentor Laura, who lives in San Antonio and who occasionally gets a mention here. We hadn't connected in about a year and a half, so our catch-up was overdue, and it was delightful to chat with her (and exciting to know that she'll probably be in Denver more frequently in the future).

Then I ate lunch, messed around on my computer, and talked to my mom. And then I did a Peloton ride - it was the hardest one I've done so far, which is probably not hard for people who've been riding it forever, but I was v. happy that I did it. The nice thing about having the Peloton in the guest room is that, when I'm done riding and stretching, I can promptly fall back onto a bed, which is superior to the relaxation options at a normal gym.

After that, I showered, ate a v. late sandwich, and ran a couple of errands - Bookbar to pick up a couple of books I'd ordered, and then Sherwin Williams to pick up paint chips for a possible master bedroom painting project. The master bedroom/bathroom/closet is the only room that I didn't paint (other than the guest bathroom) last year, and I think it's time to spice it up (aka finally patch the places where my movers damaged the wall / the removal of my old windowshade screwed up the paint). We'll see what I go with, but looking at colors is always fun.

Then I came home, took out trash and recycling, did a bunch of other tings downstairs, remade my bed, ate some leftover chicken, did a bunch of writing business stuff, folded a couple of loads of laundry, looked at paint chips in my bedroom, etc., etc. And now I think it's time for bed - goodnight!

two hundred miles to clear, chasing a sound i hear

I woke up this morning feeling like I could have slept another five hours, but I forced myself to get up and at 'em. This meant coffee, and some yogurt, and a quick Peloton ride; it also meant getting out of the house around ten, which is v. unusual for me these days.

The first stop was Aunt Becky's - she had a gift that I'd gotten through our family white elephant exchange, so I stopped by to pick it up and say hi. We chatted for a bit, but unfortunately I couldn't stay long - I had a second social commitment today (unprecedented!) down in Colorado Springs, where I had a backyard hangout with Barbara. She's living in a new-to-her house while renovating her old house, so I got a tour of the new house before we sat in the backyard and ordered food from Modern Market. The weather was surprisingly great today - still in the forties, but with the sun and no wind it was pleasant enough to sit outside.

So, we caught up for a few hours, and it was a delight. We also drove (separately) over to her permanent house to see the remodel in progress - the main floor has been completely gutted, and it was exciting to see what it will become. Then, we sadly parted ways so I could drive back while it was still daylight, which I accomplished; I also stopped at Sprouts on the way home to pick up a couple of things I couldn't get at Safeway last night, and I'm feeling pretty well-stocked.

Then I mostly did nothing the rest of the night - I was too tired and too lazy to even turn on the tv, so I mostly laid on my chaise lounge like a fainting Victorian. And now I'm going to go to bed so that I can reclaim some semblance of productivity tomorrow - goodnight!

because i feel disgrace because you're all in my face

I had a pretty good day, all in all - it involved too much day job work early because I didn't work last night, and so when I woke up around 6:15 I did my usual morning routine and then started working for the man. But I got through what I needed to do for work, did a few things on my to-do list that I wanted to get to above and beyond the strictly necessary, and was able to stop around 5:45, so I'm calling it a win.

After work, I rode my Peloton - I tried out the 'scenic ride', which meant riding around some landscape with some soothing music. I chose somewhere around Cinque Terre, Italy, and I'm not sure if I felt a little off because I was slightly motion sick or because I was so damned sad that I couldn't be in Italy (probably a combo of both). Also I realized that I may not actually be that happy to be back in a place surrounded by tourists - that now seems so bizarre to me that it might as well be another life. But the ride felt good, and I think I've figured out the right setup for the seat so that my knee doesn't hurt. And I tried a stretching class after the ride and that was great too (as was trying their meditation app this morning), so so far so good on Peloton!

Then I lazed about and ate leftovers for dinner (the last of the chicken and mushrooms + carrots + mashed potatoes from the other night) while chatting with [censored] and Drewbaby via text. I then gave myself a pedicure and a gel manicure - and by that I mean I repainted my toenails (but certainly didn't pamper my feet with a soak and a massage and all the rest of the highlights from pedicures of yore) and then painted my fingernails. While I did that, I watched another video from that romance conference from December - I think I've now watched all of them but perhaps one. While I didn't learn anything from today's video other than how people who write a very short cliffhanger 'book' every two weeks make a depressingly high amount of money on Kindle Unlimited (which I actually already knew, so I guess I didn't even learn that), I'm still glad I watched it and I feel like I got my money's worth out of the conference even if it was virtual.

And now, I should probably consider going to bed - I have a full day of meetings tomorrow and dreams of writing around it, so it's time for bed. Goodnight!

let me introduce you to the featherweight queen

I somehow only got six hours of sleep last night, so I'm going to try to go to bed as soon as I write this entry. I had a pretty productive day, all in all - I started with some coffee, yogurt, and my to-do list, and then I did a Peloton ride. I was not in it to win it today - when I got on the bike I realized how tired my legs still were from Friday, and so my performance was not at all impressive. But I did the whole twenty minute ride, so at least there's that - and as I told [censored] tonight, doing my second ride meant that I cut my cost-per-ride for the bike in half, so that's a win!

Anyway, I think I'm really going to like the bike - it felt good to get some activity in without having to freeze to death to do it. Then I foam rolled, showered, poured some more coffee, and had a virtual writing date with Veronica. We caught up on some tings and then silenced ourselves to write, and I spent a good chunk of time brainstorming and scribbling notes to myself. I'm nervously excited about the writing at the moment, and I want to keep it going.

That means I probably should have written more this afternoon, but instead I knocked a variety of tings off my to-do list, did some laundry, and talked to my parents. I also made a v. tasty dinner - chicken thighs with mushrooms, roasted carrots, and mashed potatoes. The carrots were a new-to-me recipe from Barefoot Contessa and they were super tasty - roasted under the broiler to get a bit of char, then tossed with orange juice, balsamic vinegar, and salt to give it some added oomph. I need to work on my broiler technique, since rather than charring the carrots, I ended up with a bunch of smoke and had to open the windows [I think the sheet pan I was using was too cheap, and so it warped in the heat, and I think that splattered some oil onto the oven and burned]. But overall dinner was super tasty and I'm looking forward to leftovers.

Then I did some more stuff around the house, planned out my week, took a look at some day job stuff to prep for tomorrow, etc. And now I'm going to sleep - goodnight!

one day when the tonguing is done we'll take our leave and go

I slept pretty well last night, but even with coffee I wasn't feeling totally in it to win it this morning. However, I did have several hours of work that needed to get done, and I also had meetings most of the afternoon, so it was a fairly productive work day. And, in the late afternoon, my exercise bike got delivered - I have succumbed to the allure of Peloton despite never intending to get one. I ordered it back during the first week of December, as it was sinking in that I will be stuck in my house most of the winter and desperately need to do something for my cardiovascular health since I do not do anything on the days when it feels too cold to take a walk.

I didn't play with it immediately, even though the delivery people set it up super fast and it was ready to go - first, I had a last work call / happy hour with Sara, and we had much to catch up on. Then I called my parents and ended up talking with (or 'discussing' with, as my gram might have said) my dad for a couple of hours. After that, it was almost 8:30 and I perhaps should have wound down and watched tv like I had originally planned. But instead, I decided to check out my bike setup and I ended up doing my first ride. So far so good - the hardest part was figuring how to clip in, since I've never taken an actual spin class or ridden a bike that requires cleats, and so clipping into the pedals was a bit of an adventure. But once I was in, I felt so victorious that I went ahead and did a ride. I think I'll potentially really like it, but we'll see if my legs feel like rubber tomorrow.

Then I messed around online and with my planner to consider what I need to get done this weekend, and now I think I should go to sleep - goodnight!