wild cards, men from mars, dressed in stars and stripes

I'm still recovering from yesterday's festivities, but my recovery wasn't too bad today - my post last night was abbreviated because it was 2:30am (4:30am in Iowa) and I was so tired that I was starting to type gibberish, but I actually wasn't that intoxicated from the party. So, other than the fact that I slept like garbage last night, which gave me a headache, I felt mostly fine.

Yesterday was fantastic, though. I ran some errands in the morning (to buy decor for the party) and then had lunch with Chandlord. We went to a ramen place near my hotel, where I ordered a pork dish with rice because I can't eat ramen - it was pretty tasty, and I'm glad I got that instead of the spice that made Chandlord weep silently while she was eating her food. What a fun and interesting experience!

Then, I parted ways with Chandlord and took an uber to the Marina and back to pick up a bunch of cupcakes. I did a bit of work, took a brief nap, and then took care of some party stuff. Jess showed up at my hotel so that she could get ready, since she was already in SF for something earlier in the day, and I roped her into helping me with some decor elements. We shared an uber to the party venue, and she very kindly helped me set up the space. I'm very grateful that she was able to help, since I would not have had time to do everything myself!

Eventually, the party started, and it was a total riot. People were mostly on time and also mostly took it as an opportunity to dress up after years of no parties. The food and drinks were excellent. And I saw a total cross-section of all the major phases of my California life - Stanford people (freshman year and senior year), early coworkers, writing friends, and some connections between the groups. I'm used to seeing these people in separate / smaller gatherings, but it was really fun to see everyone in more of a party mode.

Of course, some ridiculous tings happened. Julie kept insisting on doing shots, but since the bar wasn't actually doing shots, they just poured cocktails into shot glasses - which was much tastier and safer for my liver. We discovered that Jane has a bunch of old photos stored on SmugMug, which I didn't even realize was still in business. John gave me (and everyone else) a Magic card for "The Swamp," which seemed appropriate. Walter came on his own actual birthday, which was great (and I hadn't seen him in forever, so I was glad he and his wife made it). I indulged Chris, Adit, and John, in playing "All the Way Up to Heaven" on the epic playlist. And we had an abbreviated candle ceremony in which Adit read a brief but v. dirty scene from one of my books (and other people gave other, more sincere, toasts), which will live in my heart for a long time.

So we hung out for about four hours, and people slowly trickled out at the end. The final nine went to Last Rites, which was around the block...but Adit and I made the mistake of ordering three punchbowls for nine (reasonable) and then discovering that really, only four or five people were drinking (not reasonable). I didn't need a punchbowl after the cocktails at the party, but I persevered, and Adit and I finished our punch bowl even though we had to give up on the other two. And the final group (Julie, Tom, Rachel, Shari, Chandlord, Adit, and I) was a very solid final group.

I don't think I'll have a birthday party again for a long time - but I have to say that this one lived up to my expectations, and I was thoroughly delighted by it. Happily, I have some time to catch up with poeple more quietly the next few days, but as parties go, this one was pretty great.

So I got back to my hotel around two last night, went to bed, and slept v. v. fitfully. Today, I mostly took it easy - I ate breakfast at the hotel, did some work / writing, ordered a takeout sandwich from Ike's (I do love their sandwiches), took a nap, etc. Then, I walked down to Beretta (on Divis) to meet up with Katrina - she wasn't able to come to the party last night, so it was great to see her. We caught up for three hours over pizza and squid ink risotto, and it was v. tasty (and wonderful).

And now, I really need to sleep - goodnight!

marry me juliet you'll never have to be alone

I had an excellent day in the city of sin. I woke up earlier than I wanted to so that I could walk to the Financial District - my old hair stylist from a lifetime ago fit me in on her day off, and I'm delighted that I got to see her and also got a much-needed hair cut. We caught up on many topics (life, covid, dating guys who were on the Bachelorette), and it was an excellent way to start my day.

Then, on a whim, I caught an uber to Hayes Valley, where I had brunch, did some window shopping, and then stopped in for a glass of rosé and some writing time at Arbor. This turned into extra rosé because the server mysteriously and miraculously said 'the manager said to top you off' and poured me almost a full glass when my glass was empty. I don't know what it is about my face, but I'm glad that my magical free alcohol power still seems to be in full force. Then I ordered another glass just because, as well as some curly fries (also just because) and they gave me a friends and family discount, so I'm v. disposed to think kindly of them going forward.

More importantly, I got several good pages of writing done, and I'm excited about that. Then I came back to Chandlord's and helped her get ready for tonight (while also napping). She had a bunch of people over for dinner - the main event, in my opinion, was Claudia, but Chandlord's friends are pretty entertaining. There was a girl who also writes romance (although hers sounds smuttier than mine), and a bunch of hilarious guys, and some Germans, and various groups of the Indian subcontinent, and a v. strange guy from Texas (definitely the strangest guy in attendance). Our conversation alternated strangely between Malala, ChatGPT, camels, and Tennessee motels, and we ended fairly convinced that AI is going to destroy us sooner rather than later. But this was all excellent grist for the book mill, so hopefully I can write this book before the end.

And now, I really need to sleep so I can pursue additional plans tomorrow - goodnight!

i had visions, i was in them, i was looking into the mirror

I had an excellent day in the mile high city, although I still have no regrets that I've decamped for lower altitudes. When I woke up this morning, I decided to give into to caution and get a covid test, since I was notified via my phone that I'd been exposed (on my birthday, of course, which is par for the course for 9/11 - never forget). So I used Uber Eats to order covid tests from a Walgreens, which arrived in record time. I was negative, as I expected/hoped, but at least I didn't feel like I was knowingly putting people I was seeing at risk.

sssanyway, after testing, I got some coffee and did a bit of work in the lobby. Then, I met up with Aunt B and Uncle B at Cherry Cricket, which is a bit of an institution in Cherry Creek - I'd never made it here because I rarely went out to eat in Cherry Creek before the pandemic, and I never went out here after. But we were able to grab a table on their nicely renovated patio, and we caught up over burgers and fries. We also walked around some home goods stores in the area, and it was a really nice couple of hours to catch up (and to give Aunt B an update on the family china that she foisted upon me, which is safely ensconced in my basement but may not be on display anytime soon - or at least until I buy some sort of china cabinet to store it in).

After we parted ways, I took a long nap, and then spent the afternoon working in the bar. I got some good ideas for my book, which were reinforced by Aunt B showing me some videos of her bees (editor's note: Aunt B stands for Aunt Becky, not Aunt Beekeeper, but both are valid), so I spent some time playing around with that and also ordering some books on folklore. And there's nothing I like better than writing in a hotel bar, so this was v. good for me.

Eventually, I put the laptop away and walked around the block (literally) to meet Kelly at Quality Italian. I kind of half ghosted Kelly when I left Denver, since we're no longer coworkers and so she didn't get an official notice of my departure. But the half ghosting was unintentional, and we made up for it with a long and leisurely dinner. Quality Italian's name sounds like it is an old school pasta joint in a strip mall, but it's actually quality - we had an excellent meal, including shrimp cocktail, and I had a steak and brussels sprouts to avoid overly gluten-ing myself (although I couldn't resist the bread, which was #worthit). Kelly had a lobster rigatoni where the lobster was seared at the table, which was a delight. And the waiter offered us tastes of the wine we were choosing, which basically netted us an extra half glass each, which felt like I was back in the game in terms of scoring free alcohol.

So, needless to say, this was all delightful. We caught up on all sorts of life and work topics, and continued the convo over a final drink at my hotel bar, and are now seriously considering a work trip to Europe together next year. And that, of course, would be right up my alley, so we shall see.

But now, I need to unwind and go to bed - goodnight!

da da duh da da duh da da da da dah

I had an excellent day in ye olde Iowa. I spent the morning taking care of tings, and I had a delicious tuna sandwich for lunch. And in the afternoon, I recorded a podcast with Jess - she has created what sounds like an excellent podcast series about people who have two different careers (traditional and creative), and she asked me to be a guest. It was super fun to talk about my tech/writing careers, and it was also a good jumpstart to get me thinking about the work I want to do next (even though I'm still in unpacking mode for now).

After I talked to Jess, I had a chat with Alyssa, which was helpful (although she was half-laughing, half-appalled while we talked about meal planning since I now live in a food desert and can't get a lot of tings that I used to cook with regularly). Then I hung out on my balcony and wrote for awhile - I didn't really create new content, but I reread some stuff and tried to reimmerse in the world I'm creating. I also talked to my mom, in part to coordinate food for the rest of the week - clearly meal planning is going to take more energy than I'm used to, but I'm good with that.

At some point, I ate a v. late supper, and then [censored] showed up, so I talked to him. And now I'm going to read about some Scythians and/or go to 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!

i step off the train, i'm walking down your street again...and past your door, but you don't live there anymore

This is only my fourth-ish healthy weekend, by my count, that I've been in Denver (and not recovering from covid or surgery) since late August. It's no wonder my house is kind of a mess and I'm feeling in deep need of some nesting. I could, perhaps, have done something fun today, especially since Chandlord is in town - but what I really needed today, and what felt better than going out, was taking care of some tasks, throwing some things away, washing my sheets and the guest room sheets, taking two naps, and reading a book. Also, my neighbor hired someone to pressure wash the house - I have not yet fully inspected the results, but they also pressure washed my patio, which is great because the fact that I was barely here last summer meant it was pretty neglected.

sssanyway, eventually I did rally and drive up to Longmont, where I met Sara and Caroline for dinner. Sara made a reservation at this new tiki restaurant that has taken over a former Outback Steakhouse, which made for a strange but entertaining vibe - when I walked in there was an overwhelming crowd, as would usually happen at an Outback Steakhouse in the 'burbs on a Friday night, but luckily Sara had secured our table and we had a delightful evening. My drink was served in an over-the-top tall mug in the shape of a tropical bird, and I had the Hawaiian fried rice (with ham and pineapple in it), and their fried calamari appetizer was gluten free, so that as great.

The three of us had much to discuss, so we took our time having those discussions over our meal. Eventually, it was time to part ways, so I drove home, got ready for bed, and spent the last three hours finishing reading DIRT, which is the memoir I started awhile ago about a guy who moved to France to learn from Lyonnais chefs. This, of course, is doing nothing to prevent my wanderlust; I want to disappear deeply into some sort of weird hobby and emerge several years later with a book and a lot of weird stories. And perhaps it's getting close to time to make that happen. But right now, I need to sleep so that I can seize the day tomorrow - goodnight!

pick up daddies at the playground, how i spend my daytime

Today's day job engagements were ridiculous, so I shall draw a veil over that and move on. I did have an afternoon catchup with Eugene, who was a friend from ye olde books days - we have a semi-regular gossip session on calendar, and we kept it for today, which was a delight. And eventually, when I was done with all work, I took an uber to the Four Seasons. For some reason it does not occur to me that Denver has a Four Seasons - in my head, I am v. judgey and bougie and this is still a cow town, but that is clearly somewhat unfair.

My friend / former coworker Kelly was there getting a massage, so we met for a drink and a shrimp cocktail. This turned into three drinks, a shrimp cocktail, and some fries. Then, we met up with her husband and had dinner at The Bindery - it's Denver restaurant week, and they were clearly overwhelmed, but the server was v. sweet. Dinner was not all that I wanted it to be, but we had an excellent bottle of pinot noir and a v. hilarious conversation, so in that respect it was perfect

Eventually, Kelly and Jackson dropped me at home, and we'll see each other again at a wedding in a couple of weeks. And now I am quite desperate for sleep - goodnight!

Знаю я, ты помнишь обо мне

I have successfully tracked down a song I heard in Ukraine in 1993, and this is such a feat that I am in awe of my own prowess. Since I don't speak Russian or Ukrainian and yet have a memory for syllables, this song and whatever I remembered of it has haunted me since those early days in Ukraine when we sat in the basement at Viktor's restaurant, eating beefsteak (which was pork) or chickens that had starved to death, finishing up with ice cream out of the finger bowls that we had just used to wash dill off our hands, and listening to a v. earnest band that was trying to entertain us. But the song is "Странник мой", and the lines I remember apparently translate into "My wanderer, my baby / You are not sleeping at this hour. / I know you remember me." This feels like what Taylor Swift would sing if she were Russian, so this checks out.

sssanyway. Ukraine is heavy in my thoughts, and it has moved a bit into my actual day job, which makes it both inescapable and also feels good-ish that I'm not just ignoring it during the day. Today was a long day, since I had a lot of work to do. But I skipped out at 4:30 to get my hair cut, and it was long overdue - I think I got my hair cut sometime during the Delta wave, if that tells you anything, and I've been trimming my own bangs since then. Unfortunately, I think that my bout with covid in January has caused some hair impacts - I feel like I'm losing more strands than usual, and my hair is tangling more frequently. This is a defcon 1 situation (yes, more important than Ukraine) because I'm incredibly vain about my hair and feel that its sleek texture and perfect chocolatey brown color with infinitely interesting red/blonde/white strands means that I am blessed by God (you may think I'm joking, but seriously, my hair is a blessing, and my storytelling ability / people skills / empathy / strategic thinking are all secondary).

So, I got a haircut and added a moisture treatment, and it feels great. I also let the woman upsell me on waxing my eyebrows, which I am not vain about because they look like my granddad's (see: why I have bangs). But I was her last client and she didn't want to go home, so now I look slightly more presentable.

Then, I met up with Sarah-Frances at FNG, which is a block and a half from me ([censored] and I had tater tots there) - it recently reopened with an up-leveled menu, and it was a delight. My hair or my personality scored us a free old fashioned, as per my old skill level at bars, and then we had a super tasty dinner. All in all, it was great to see SF and great to know that the bar closest to my house is a contender for top hangout in the aftertimes.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight! 

drink til i'm sideways

I had a nice early morning (blew out my hair with some new product that was quite lovely, picked up coffee from starbucks, journaled, etc). Then, I had a bunch of meetings that gave me a headache, but I paused for a poke bowl to celebrate being back in a city. Happily, Alyssa helped me to make my headache disappear before I picked up Katie for dinner - we were supposed to go to Ash'kara, but Ash'kara had a plumbing issue and canceled our reservation, so we went to The Kitchen instead.

It wasn't as good as our last experience because we had a different server who somehow wasn't as charmed by us and so didn't comp us an after-dinner drink, but it was still a delight - we caught up on a lot of stuff over food + some madeira to cap off the night, and it was lovely. Katie made a v. strong sales pitch for me to stay in Denver forever, and the madeira helped it along - and it is true that Denver has not gotten a fair tryout since almost all of my time in Denver has been spent in a pandemic, interacting with coworkers on video calls via small laptop screens. So, we'll have to see how things are when I'm no longer stuck in my house...

...but that's a story for a different night. Right now, it's only 10:30 but I really want to go to bed and get as much sleep as possible - goodnight!

i made a million dollars and i spend it on girls and shoes

It's pretty hard to beat Hawaii in terms of vacation destinations, but I probably don't need to rub that in. Today continued to be idyllic - rather than eating the subpar/overpriced hotel breakfast, I ran across the street to pick up iced coffee and eggs at Starbucks. Then, I wrote for an hour, which was semi-productive - I feel like I'm slowly, slowly feeling my way into this story, which is great, but I'm also impatient and want to be in it *now*.

Then, I met Heather (aka dear respected madam) by the pool and hung out for a few hours. I didn't spend the whole day there because I feel like I'm perilously close to starting the burn phase - my skin is slightly prickly, and if I'm not careful, I'll tip over into lobster land. I know red is a traditional Christmas color, but I'd rather not be coated in it this week, so I'm trying to stay safe. But I did spend a few hours there this morning, and have a piña colada and a poke bowl, so I got the best of everything before escaping the killer afternoon heat.

Then I talked to my parents, who were in fine form. I also messed around a bit and generally relaxed until it was time for today's main event - Heather had booked tickets for a sunset catamaran cruise tonight, which left from the beach next to our hotel, so we did that together. It was pretty perfect - ninety minutes on the water + an open bar (which just meant mediocre-but-drinkable mai tais on tap) + a double rainbow over Waikiki. I felt vaguely seasick right after we boarded, but the dramamine I surreptitiously took before boarding + the fact that we got under way quickly saved me. The whole ride was v. pretty and the boat was fun, so it was definitely a worthwhile activity.

After we got back, we changed quickly and then successfully walked in to Taormina (a Sicilian Italian restaurant near the hotel). I had an excellent mushroom risotto, which is definitely not something I'm likely to get in Iowa unless I make it myself, so that was great. And then we came back to the hotel, after doing a bit of shopping, and now I really need to sleep. Tomorrow is my last day here and I leave tomorrow night, so I have many things to do + relaxing to accomplish in the morning. Goodnight!

and the light in your eyes, the waves on the ceiling

I should have gone to bed two hours ago, but that's not unusual. Today was a fast and hard slog to the finish line - after today, I'm out of office for a whole month, which is v. exciting. Of course, I had things I had to get done before leaving, but I miraculously got through just about everything that I needed to do, so that was quite gratifying.

Once I was done for the day, I went to my parents' house, where I hung out with them and ate vegetable beef soup. Then, [censored] showed up for the weekend just in time for us all to get in my car and go into town to see a Christmas light display. A bunch of groups and individuals put up a massive light display (with different themes for each of their displays) at the fairgrounds, so we drove through the displays and admired the creativity. We also went into one of the fair buildings, where people had decorated individual Christmas trees - some were touching (a couple of trees in honor of people who died this year), some were hilarious (I particularly liked someone who put up a tree with two large photos of the queen), and there were some cute mini ones decorated by kids. My old 4-H club had a tree, so that was some nostalgia. And we ran into my third grade teacher and her third grade teacher friend, which brought back memories - she was quite pleasant, which is v. much at odds with the literal horror books she made us all read throughout third grade.

Then we stopped at my parents' house, and then [censored] and I returned to my house, where I painted my toenails and we spent a lot of time discussing not much. And now I really need to sleep - goodnight!

i need to be where you are for no reason at all

I'm still absurdly tired after my epic trip to the west coast, but I'm starting to feel slightly recovered. I had a really nice day today - I slept later than I planned, but work was less onerous than usual ("no meeting Friday" = "four hours of meetings"). So I had time to eat some leftover chili for lunch, and I also walked down to St. Kilian's to buy some delicious cheeses and salamis and other tasty victuals for a girls' night in with Katie.

The excitement of knowing that she was coming over made it hard to focus on work, but I kept going until around five (with a brief stop to introduce myself to my new neighbor). Then I placed a grocery order - Whole Foods' move to start charging $9.99 even to Prime members clearly cut their demand dramatically, because I placed the order at 5:30 and was able to get an 8pm delivery. Paying for delivery was #worthit so that I would have food for breakfast tomorrow + food to cook the rest of the weekend without wasting time on a grocery run, so we'll see what I end up making.

Katie came over a little after 5:30, and I assembled a delightful charcuterie plate (which I am so delighted by that I have decided to embed a picture for those of you who don't follow my stories on the 'gram).

We hung out for several hours, and we drank a bottle of Sangiovese from the stash that I bought at the winery during Nathan's birthday party this summer - I'm happy and deeply relieved to report that the bottle of wine was great, which is good news since I violated the cardinal rule of not ordering wine from wineries after already getting intoxicated (the cardinal rule is in place after too many bottles purchased after the second winery of the day, none of which were ever as good as my blitzed palate thought they were).

So, Katie was in great form and we had a fun evening in - it was way more relaxing to sit on my couch than it would have been to go out, although I worry slightly about whether I'll ever recover the extroversion / ability to go out every night that I possessed pre-pandemic. And now, I should really sleep - there are a million things I want to do this weekend, and sleep is necessary to start the pursuit of all of them. Goodnight!

the fear has gripped me but here i go

I stayed up way too late reading, but #noregrets. Today was really great - as I was making coffee and tidying up the kitchen, I asked Barbara to "give me some advice I won't take" (she once gave an entire keynote on how everyone wants her advice but doesn't actually listen to her, while looking at our table, so I continue to find this hilarious). This somehow turned into her and Veronica helping me to brainstorm a totally new book idea that I wasn't expecting and am now vastly intrigued by. We continued the brainstorm over lunch and I think there's a "there" there, so I spent the afternoon messing around with it. It felt fun to play with something new, which is also a great thread between previous projects....so we'll see what happens.

Sadly, Veronica left this afternoon, but the rest of us ordered dinner from a bar and grill type place (tasty, but not the best ever) and hung out for a couple of hours. And then I curled up in the media room and read the entire first Sookie Stackhouse book in one sitting - I should have read it years ago, but I never read it or watched True Blood, and so I was way overdue. It wasn't quite what I expected, probably because it's been so hyped - but it was v. useful for my purposes.

And now it's almost 1:30am and tomorrow is my last day here and I want to enjoy it, and enjoying it will be easier with some sleep. Goodnight!

first sip of coffee

I had a really delightful day, all in all - it's great to be around other writers, and also great to be in Lake Tahoe after two years away. I messed around this morning and then took a walk - partially to mail my absentee ballot for the Denver elections next week, and partially to check out the new Whole Foods that opened here since the last time I was here. It was a nice day for a walk even if things are still really slushy from yesterday's snow, and it was great to get out of the house for a bit.

Then I came back to the house, made a tuna melt (which convinced Grace to also make a tuna melt), and spent some time working on book stuff. I broke for a bit to talk to Alyssa, which was illuminating as per usual. Then I messed around online, ordered dinner for the group (delicious Indian takeout), and then enjoyed said Indian takeout.

The surprise came after dinner - I was completely shocked when my friends all started singing happy birthday and brought out cupcakes, a balloon, gifts, and sparkling rosé. In fact, I was so shocked that I started singing happy birthday because I had no idea what was going on (ha). I had planned to do something fun and raucous for my 40th but had canceled it due to the 'rona, but they decided to help me celebrate tonight. It was such a fun surprise, and I'm glad I got to celebrate with them! And a bottle of rosé (which I shared) + a Sephora gift card (among other things, which I did not share) were pretty #onbrand gifts.

So, that was a super surprise, and I spent the rest of the evening drinking some rosé and basking in the glow of good company (and a working fireplace, which was fixed this afternoon). And now I should really sleep - I want to write as much as possible tomorrow, and sleep would be useful for that goal. Goodnight!

i'll take one lift, your ride, best trip

I'm super tired tonight - I didn't sleep all that well last night, and I had a ton of slogging to do today. The whole company has tomorrow off, but that didn't make today low-key, and I'll probably have to do a bit of work this weekend that I didn't get done and really have to get done.

However, it wasn't all work and no play - I cut out a little early to get a mani/pedi, and then I picked up Katie and we went down to the Union Station area to have dinner at The Kitchen. I hadn't been there in a couple of years, but I am reminded that I should go there more often - it was a total delight. I ignored my gluten issue (which was a mistake, since it's an actual issue) and we split a tomato flatbread to take advantage of the last tomatoes before winter, a few grilled oysters that were delish, a miso black cod, and some gnocchetti bolognese that was absolutely the best thing I've eaten in awhile. It was unfortunate that the black cod came after the gnocchetti, because it was impossible for anything to follow that. That said, dessert was pretty great too - we split a sticky toffee pudding that was more cake-like (British) than pudding-like (American), and it was perfect. And, my skills at getting free alcohol randomly comped remain undiminished because the waiter was so charmed by us that he brought us each a glass of madeira to pair with the pudding, and it was such a perfect way to end that I was utterly delighted.

Of course, I was also utterly delighted by Katie - we had much to catch up on, so it was a great evening. Then I came home and rather frantically tried to accomplish tings until now. And now I must go to sleep - goodnight!

integrity, faith and crocodile tears

I took today off, but it didn't feel like a vacation because I attempted to get a million things done. This perhaps was wishful thinking, but I do feel like I accomplished a lot. I spent some time this morning starting to put together my new desk while drinking coffee - I'm not done, but I think I can finish tomorrow. Then I quickly showered (in my absurdly tiny master bath - seriously, the previous owner must have thought that bathrooms should never take more than the size of a portapotty, because the bathrooms are all nearly unusable) and came out to my parents' house to rendezvous with my dad. We drove over to the next town to finalize the deal on my dishwasher - I could never get them to call me back, but when I walked in the guy recognized me immediately, rattled off the number of what I was ordering, and confirmed delivery for next Wednesday. Of course, I won't be here, which unfortunately means my parents are taking the saintly step of dealing with it, but I'm excited that the dishwasher will get installed before Thanksgiving.

After that errand, my dad and I went to the grocery store (Mom suggested that we buy her some ham salad, but that wasn't a "suggestion" so much as it was a requirement of reentering her house). Then we stopped at KFC/Taco Bell and ate lunch in my car. We had a nice drive, all in all, and I think my dad understands the appeal of my Audi even if it's now three years old (hard to believe - but the last year and a half barely counts since I don't commute anywhere except from Denver to Iowa).

I dropped Dad off at home, picked some stuff up to take to town, said hi to Mom, etc. Then I went into town (the town where the grocery store is, not where my house is) and hit up a garage sale. This is not something I usually do, but I heard this one would be particularly good (for unfortunate reasons) - someone's sister died somewhat unexpectedly out in the DC area and had no family there, so they hauled most of her worldly goods back here and have been having an epic garage sale. This worked out great for me - for $30 I scored a bunch of glasses, some square white appetizer plates, a pyrex baking dish, a utensil holder, a couple of Christmas candle votives, and (most excitingly) some Crate and Barrel dishes that match my current pattern. For some unknown reason Crate and Barrel discontinued the blush pink shade of my dishes early on (even though I can still get all the other colors) - but this woman had seven plates and six mugs, and I got them for $5 total. If I could find garage sales this good every day, I could furnish the place in no time. But sadly she had no lamps and no newly-finished bathrooms, so I'm probably going to have to keep looking elsewhere for some necessities.

sssanyway. Then I spent a few hours cleaning up my yard for winter, putting things away, installing some things, uninstalling other things (like the funky toaster that had been mounted under a cabinet), etc. I eventually came home, where [censored] showed up just in time for supper - my parents made bratwurst and french fries and baked beans, and it was delish.

And now, I should really sleep - I have another million things to do tomorrow, and I need to start heading back to Colorado at some point. Goodnight!

it doesn't come from without, it comes from within

I'm falling asleep in my recliner in my bedroom in my parents' house, so you almost didn't get this post. But I wanted to document that I did my day job while sitting in my new Iowa house - packing up and going there this morning weirdly felt like the first day of school or the first day of a new job or something. Of course, it wasn't entirely glamorous - I was working from a folding table and chair in the dining room, and I had a peanut butter sandwich (with milk in a wine glass) for lunch. But I'm excited to get some projects done there and start figuring out how to turn it into a good space for future trips.

The first thing that had to happen to make the rest of it possible was internet - and that was installed in approximately five minutes, thanks to the two guys who showed up and took the former router (which they'd told the former owner to just leave behind) so that they could replace it with a new router. Since it's #smalltownlife, I knew or recognized both of them and they asked me how my dad was doing. Then I set up my wifi, did a couple of tings around the house, and then did some work.

My work day was not particularly onerous, although it was frustrating in parts. But I had a nice social chat with Heather (aka dear respected madam) at the end of it. I also got to watch the comings and goings at the convenience store next door, which was mildly entertaining. And my mom stopped by at the end of the day to check on me, so I got to hear my doorbell ring for a second time and that was exciting too.

Then I came home (to my parents' home) and mooched off them for supper - my mom made philly cheesesteak and french fries, and it was very delicious. I also watched some tv with my dad and chatted with both of them and heard sad stories and (possibly) tall tales. And then I came downstairs, did a bit of day job stuff, added some things to my shopping list, and kind of fell asleep. So now it's time for bed in earnest - goodnight!

faster than a hairpin trigger

I had a lovely, lowkey sort of day - partially driven by the fact that I didn't go to bed until after one and also didn't set an alarm, so woke up sometime around ten. This is what my body naturally wants to do, but it's rough to revert to form on weekends and then have to get up like a corporate drone again on Monday morning. So even though it's currently 12:18 and I feel like I could stay up another hour or two, I'm going to attempt to go to bed after this.

sssanyway, I woke up, made coffee, and had a very leisurely morning / afternoon. This mostly involved sitting on my back patio, which is perfect this time of year. At some point, I retreated to my bedroom and took a nap. And that was pretty much the extent of my day, which made it quite delightful.

My evening was even more delightful, though - Katie made a reservation for us at Fifth String, which may be my favorite restaurant in Denver. We got there at 5:15, which is early for dinner (but preferable to not having dinner), and we spent a couple of hours in perfect bliss on their patio. It felt like a good way to bookend the summer - we had gone there for our first fancy meal out this spring, and this felt like the last meal of the summer since I'll be in Iowa for a couple of weeks and then winter will probably be here. We had a sumptuous meal - oysters to start, and then I had some crispy potatoes with melted cheese and shishito peppers, and then a dish with a variety of scallops, fish, and mussels in this amazing broth. Dessert was bleu cheese with cherries, and it was perfect. And of course Katie and I went deep on a variety of topics, which is always my favorite thing to do.

And now, I should go to sleep - goodnight!

i play my music in the sun

I spent most of the day working, as per usual (although I did start it by watering plants and drinking coffee and journaling on my back patio, so at least that was relaxing). But I slacked off around 5:45 - Andy and Nina came over, and it was a total delight to hang out with them. We had a drink at my place - I made a High Five, which is gin, aperol, grapefruit, lime, and simple syrup, and it's a perfect home cocktail because it's simple but also delicious. Then we walked to Brazen and had dinner outside - yes, I've been there three times in the last four weeks, and no, I have no regrets.

We hung out on the patio for a couple of hours and had a tasty assortment of small plates, and we discussed many and varied topics (including Ukraine, which they weren't aware of (they weren't aware of my time there; they were aware of the existence of Ukraine)). It started to rain while we were there, which was fine because we were under an umbrella - but it was raining hard enough that we took an uber the eight blocks back to my place to avoid getting soaked. They hung out another hour and a half or so, and we talked about books and movies and NCIS:LA and the difference between fantasy and scifi, and it was all great.

But now, I should sleep - I have meetings starting at 8:30 tomorrow, so I should probably get some rest. Goodnight!

listen to the mariachi play at midnight

I had a lovely day, thanks for asking. I did not get enough sleep because I went to bed stupidly late last night, but I rolled out of bed sometime around 8 or 8:30 and showered, drank coffee, etc. Then I strolled down the street to a street fair that was going on today - a big reason why I bought in my neighborhood is because it's walking distance to things, and having street fairs within walking distance is great. I beat the heat and most of the crowds by getting there around 10:30, and I spent an hour browsing and buying things. They had closed six blocks of 32nd and had vendors set up on both sides of the street, so there was plenty to see. I got a couple of pairs of earrings, a couple of airplants in cool laser-cut wooden hanging pots, and a print of a painting of four birds in a police lineup (they were wanted for dining and dashing, which entertained me since I've witnessed a lot of bird thefts back in the day when I used to leave the house). All in all it was a fun way to spend the morning....

Then I came home and took care of some tings that had been on my to-do list. I also took a nap, which felt pretty necessary. Then I had a video chat with Joann, Jane, and Jen (the friendship renewal crew) - we hadn't caught up in awhile, and there was so much to discuss that we talked for almost three hours. By the end of it, I was starving, so they watched most of my dinner prep - I made another chicken tinga quesadilla like I did last night, but I also made fresh guac and a margarita to go with it.

I then spent the rest of the evening procrastinating + baking cupcakes. And now I need to sleep and try to catch up on the sleep I missed last night - goodnight!