she's got a heart of gold, she'd never let me down

I have successfully arrived in San Francisco, which I am mildly surprised by - the weather here has been atrocious, and earlier in the day there were dozens of canceled flights and lots of long delays. So, I proceeded with my day operating under the lurking suspicion that I would be spending the night in Seattle. I still got up (slightly painfully), showered, packed, and checked out, and I still went to the airport at the right time (which was a good thing), but it doesn't feel quite real that I made it.

Today was really nice, though - I had a leisurely morning, and then I met up with Ritu to look at tile (for her house, not mine, although it gave me some remodel PTSD) and then I v. delicious lunch at an excellent Italian place across the street from my hotel. I have a strong urge to recreate the salad that they made, and the gluten free pasta was perfect, so it was a good way to recover from yesterday's shenanigans. It was also a good way to hang out with Ritu - it's never long enough, but it was a lovely visit.

Then, she went to pick up her daughter and I had an iced coffee at my hotel before going to the airport. The travel was as uneventful as it could be, which was v. welcome, and I slept most of the flight. Then, I came to Chandlord's, since she is graciously hosting me while I'm here. She let me in and we caught up briefly, but it's a work night for her and I want to get up tomorrow and get back into the writing zone, so we said goodnight early. And now I'll do the same to you - goodnight!

it's two a.m. and i've gone and lost my friends

I made it to Seattle and am safely ensconced in bed after a v. long day of travel and a moderately long night of socializing. In retrospect, I should have rented a car and driven myself from the Oregon coast to Seattle, since it would have been faster than leaving absurdly early (6:15am) to drive to Portland and wait three hours for my flight (to accommodate the people I was with). But still, I was v. grateful to not have to drive in today's intense rain, and I was also grateful to just sip my venti cold brew and offer navigational assistance, so it was probably #worthit.

However, after the many bottles of Veuve Clicquot rosé and various Oregon pinot noirs that were consumed yesterday, and after going to bed at 1am for a 5:45am wakeup, I was not #inittowinit. I had breakfast at the airport post security, and I slept for the ~24mins that we were in the air between Portland and Seattle, but it wasn't enough. So, when I landed, I got my baggage (which took too long), then uber'd to my hotel, where I checked in, briefly unpacked, grabbed some sushi across the street, and took an hour-long nap.

The nap was v. necessary to sustain myself for my evening plans - the only reason I'm here is to see Ritu Rani, and she is notorious for feeding me first dinner, second dinner, several appetizers/desserts, multiple bottles of wine, and an inordinate number of cocktails. I think she thinks I'm a foie gras goose, but I'm going to roll with it. I took an uber to her house a little before five and was greeted with mango mimosas and three kinds of cheese, as well as two kinds of small children (a five year old and a two year old have even less in common than a truffle brie and a mild manchego). We hung out and chatted and played a board game (and by that I mean something to do with dragons and gemstones that was appropriate for a child), and then ate dinner (lamb rogan josh), which was delish.

Eventually, after I read to the girls, Ritu lied and said that she and Bill had to take me to the airport, so we left and went to a bar (don't worry, Ritu's mom was there so the kids weren't fending for themselves). We had a drink there, then adjourned to another bar down the street from that, where I had a truly excellent rum cocktail that I will probably dream about.

And now, I need to go to bed so I can maximize my time with Ritu tomorrow before flying to SF (aka the city of sin) - goodnight!

always on trial for the thoughts in my head

I'm exhausted and so full that my body wants to run away and never eat again, but I had a good day during this weird 'celebrate Heather's birthday without Heather' weekend. Luckily, Heather did join us after lunch today, but Salim stayed home to recover. Unluckily, she missed the only good weather day of the trip, since it will likely rain all day tomorrow. But I'm really glad she made it here and that we'll get to celebrate her birthday tomorrow (actually, today, given how late it is).

I relaxed this morning, drank some coffee, and made some quick and uninteresting scrambled eggs for me and Michelle to keep us from dying while waiting for lunch. Then, the seven of us who were here last night went to the Tillamook Creamery visitors' center - we got to see the production line for cheddar, where they make massive quantities of cheddar 24/7. The self-guided tour was really cool, even if it did feel like we were in a zoo where the animals were humans + 40lb blocks of cheese.

However, we mostly went to eat - we had lunch at their cafe, and I had a cheeseburger with a side of fried cheese curds. I should not have had this because a) gluten and b) difficulty stopping eating until they're all gone, and in this case the basket was particularly large. But lunch was delicious, even if I was so full that I willingly skipped the ice cream that everyone else got.

Then we came home, said hi to Heather (aka dear respected madam), and I took a nap. I did go for a quick beach walk sometime this afternoon - it's all unbelievably picturesque. Eventually we all went to Tillamook for a birthday dinner reservation at a Mexican place - it was tasty, and I enjoyed the convo at my side of the table.

Then, after driving home and losing some Cards Against Humanity, I nursed some wine while talking to people for awhile....but now I'm feeling a v. strong urge to sleep. Goodnight!

got an alliance with the industry man

I've made it to my destination on the Oregon coast, where I shall spend three nights ensconced in a gloomy and storm-tossed beachfront property that might be the set of a murder mystery. It's actually a beautiful house, and I lucked out with the room choice, but when we arrived just before sunset, we were greeted by the barest trace of sun as clouds rolled back in over the horizon. My entire trip will likely be affected by atmospheric rivers and other meteorological wonders, but I think I'll survive.

Unfortunately, while seven of us have made it to the house, Heather and Salim are not among them. It's Heather's (aka dear respected madam's) birthday weekend, which is the whole reason why I came - but Salim had to go to the ER last night, and so they didn't make it here today. He's out and doing better, and hopefully they'll still come tomorrow. But it made for a bit of an interesting dynamic tonight - I know two of the six other people (Durand, fairly well; and Michelle, not so well, but we were coworkers a lifetime ago). And I've met two or three of the others at least once, so it's not a total blind bag. But basically, we all came to celebrate Heather, and then had to make small talk (and dinner) for several hours without her glue to bind us.

Luckily, that all went as smoothly as it could. Durand made an excellent pasta sauce (dolling up some jars with a lot of veggies) and Simone made an equally excellent salad, and between several of us we drank four bottles of Oregon pinot noir. We told a lot of stories about prisons and murder and cruise ships and Long Islands, and it was all a delight. Hopefully we'll see the guest of honor tomorrow, but at least we made tonight a good time.

And now, I really need to sleep (and sleep off some of the pinot) - goodnight!

stuck in a vial

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

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

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

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

And now, I need to sleep - goodnight!

you know it's not the same as it was

Amalfi is a quaint village of five thousand people who mostly speak English and sell ceramics to tourists. But in the middle ages, they were the proud Republic of Amalfi, running a maritime empire that rivaled Venice. Unfortunately, they were wiped out by a tsunami and became a backwater, which is basically what happened to my hometown in Iowa when the railroad left (I am perhaps exaggerating my hometown's performance).

sssanyway. Amalfi is great and Katie and I had an awesome day. We slept for nine hours, which is unprecedented, and I didn't feel like I had jetlag at all today. Then we had breakfast at the hotel, which overlooked the water, and it was perfect. We walked around Amalfi for a couple of hours and had lunch at a cute place by the cathedral, and then we caught a ferry to Positano.

Positano also used to be a big deal before being destroyed, but in this case it was a Roman villa destroyed when Pompeii was destroyed. Now it's a similarly quaint town with people selling ceramics to tourists. Katie and I mostly forsook the ceramics (except for some tings I'm going to make [censored] hang for me), but we window shopped a lot, and we had a snack/aperol spritz in a lovely courtyard. Then we timed our arrival at Le Sirenuse exactly right and got a set of chairs overlooking the water/cliffs of Positano, and it was perhaps the most picturesque place I've ever had rosé at.

Eventually, a shuttle picked us up and took us to dinner up in the hills above Positano - we went to Il Ritrovo, which was totally fantastic. And now, I'm ready to call it a night - goodnight!

Truffle ravioli and pasta with sausage at Il Ritrovo

Positano from Le Sirenuse

besties

Positano from the water

The cathedral in Amalfi

leaving on a jet plane

In twenty-four hours I'll likely be somewhere over Canada or the North Atlantic en route to the Amalfi Coast and a glorious week with Katie. We have had many adventures together and we are accustomed to lazing by bodies of water, although I'm guessing that Positano and Capri may be slightly more luxurious than floating in a rowboat at the lake at Bob White. And, since we are not underage and also have better jobs than we had in high school, the drinks will probably involve real wine instead of wine coolers. But beyond that, I expect it to be pretty much exactly the same as our usual summer shenanigans.

I spent today mostly prepping for the trip, although I did get up early and grab some coffee and write for forty-five minutes or so. Eventually, I went to the mall to return some things and buy some other things, and I was pretty much the only person wearing a mask because I don't want to get covid right before my trip. I also ran a few other errands, and then I stopped by Katie's to scan her vaccine card for check-in and we ended up talking for an hour and a half. Tomorrow's seatmate should be glad that we got some initial conversation out of the way, although we have barely seen each other in the last few months and so have many and varied possible topics to cover this week.

Then I came home, ate leftover takeout, and did a bunch of organizing / packing. I haven't actually packed, but I got out the clothes I plan to take, and I organized / winnowed my cosmetics and first aid stuff and all the other things that I vaguely remember taking with me on international trips. I'm so out of practice that I'm concerned I'm going to screw up crucial things - but I found my travel adapters, and I found melatonin and earplugs and an eye mask, and as long as I have my contacts / glasses / passport / credit card, I guess everything else can be solved on arrival.

And now, I really need some sleep so that I can make the last push tomorrow before we head to the airport - 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!

you don't ever wanna step off that roller coaster and be all alone

I had another great day in Hawaii - today was warmer and I felt like I got a little too much sun, but otherwise it was lovely. I continue to wake up absurdly early, so I put on some clothes and journaled downstairs while drinking coffee and watching some ducks (cute: ducklings!; not cute: two adult ducks fighting over their little patch of koi pond). Then, Heather (aka dear respected) madam and I had breakfast before staking out our pool chairs for the day.

Today was almost cloudless, which sounds paradisiacal, but in reality it just meant that there was no break from the sun. That meant I spent more time hanging out in the pool today - it's only 3.5' deep, so even I can hang around in it comfortably, and it's definitely meant for lounging rather than swimming. So, we hung out and talked; we had lunch by the pool; I tried to read a book about writing and storytelling but mostly just lazed around. At some point I awoke with a jolt from whatever half-nap I was in and decided I needed to get some air conditioning immediately or else I was going to die, but once I cooled off from that moment, the rest of the afternoon was smooth sailing.

Towards the end of the afternoon, I came upstairs and showered - Heather was already in our room, since she gave up on the sun before I did. Then we wandered around and window shopped for a bit before grabbing dinner at Buho - a Mexican place that I came to when I was here for a writing conference oh so many years ago. It was not as good as I remembered from a food standpoint, but it's open air on a rooftop, and my covid wariness certainly appreciated that.

Then we came back to the hotel and I took care of some personal business while Heather read. And now I should consider going to sleep - goodnight!

wave after wave, wave after wave

I had a great first full day in Hawaii - I mostly spent it getting settled, which felt delightful. I got up stupidly early due to the time shift, so I showered, ate breakfast, and then wrote for a bit. I also did laundry - while I packed pretty well for this trip, it was cold in Seattle and I didn't stick completely to my wardrobe plans there, so I needed to freshen a couple things up.

Then I went out exploring, bought some sunscreen and snacks at a pharmacy instead of the overpriced, and ate a delicious poke bowl - I'm a little worried that the poke bowls here will ruin me for my favorite poke bowl delivery in Denver, but that's a problem for Future Sara (and there will be several weeks of poke bowl drought when I'm in Iowa after this). I also got a manicure at a strange little hole in the wall place where they asked me after if I wanted to meet their cat, which made me glad I wore a mask the whole time since it probably saved me from some allergies. And I spent the afternoon napping / relaxing / brainstorming this book / brainstorming a Christmas shopping list, so that felt great.

I did end up leaving the hotel again - Alyssa, whom I've mentioned here regularly for the past ten+ years, lives in Hawaii now (I met her in the bay area, but she grew up here). So she picked me up around five, and we had a delightfully long dinner at a restaurant down the road. We focused our attention on fish, and it was great - we shared some excellent scallops and a really nice steamed fish with some ginger and scallion congee. I also had a mai tai in a v. cute pineapple-shaped glass, and I can say with certainty that that mai tai was better than the one I had here last night.

Alyssa was in great form and we had a lot to catch up on, so we chatted for a few hours, and I felt v. lucky to get to see her in person. And now, I really need to sleep - my friend Heather (aka dear respected madam) arrives tomorrow, and we have many plans after that, so I need to get some rest. Goodnight!

she's the last true mouthpiece

I'm completely exhausted since my body still hasn't adjusted away from Central timezone and I just threw it two hours even further away, but I had a v. nice day (all things considered) and am now in Hawaii (Oahu to be exact). I woke up in the middle of the night at Ritu's and got an email that my flight was delayed three hours - this was due to the crazy storm they had here over the weekend, which knocked out power to the Maui airport and affected my inbound plane. But by the time I got to Hawaii tonight (three hours later than planned), the rain was gone, so that's lucky.

Since my flight was delayed, this morning was a little more relaxing than I intended for it to be. Bill dropped me off at the airport around ten, and I checked in and spent some time in the AmEx lounge, which was nice. It would have been nicer if I were still hanging out with Ritu (preferably there, on our way to somewhere fancy), but at least I got some quality time with her the last couple of days.

After I boarded, it was all smooth sailing. I read all of THE LAST GRADUATE, by Naomi Novik - I had been saving it, and I knew I would be annoyed at the end because of the requisite cliffhanger at the end of the second book in a trilogy, but it was excellent.

I also, serendipitiously, saw a parade of Pearl Harbor and other WWII vets - my Uber driver couldn't get me all the way to my hotel due to closed streets, so I walked the last five minutes dragging my bag. I paused to see quite a few of the vets, though - with the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, there aren't a lot of survivors left, so it was nice to see the parade.

Then I settled in, grabbed dinner at the restaurant downstairs, and settled in some more. And now I really need to sleep - it's only 9:32pm here, but I could use ten hours of sleep while still getting up early enough to do some fun things. Goodnight!

when the night is overcome you may rise to find the sun

I am back in Denver (yay!) after a slightly longer than planned day of travel. Today was pretty long overall - I woke up early after sleeping somewhat fitfully, and then I walked to the office (with a stop at my beloved Philz) in time for an 8:30am meeting. I did three meetings from there, walked back to my hotel, did one more meeting, finished packing, and checked out around 11:30. Then I drove to the airport, dropped off the rental car, checked my bag, sailed through security, and spent several hours eating + slowly sipping rose + doing a lot of work. This turned into more work + slightly more rose than planned because my flight was delayed by an hour, but I eventually made it onto the plane, where I dozed and drank coke zero and messed around on my phone.

Despite the delay (or perhaps because of it), leaving the airport was v. smooth - my bag came quickly and I got to the curb just as my uber pulled up, and there was no traffic getting home. So, I think I can unwind and get some sleep and hopefully wake up in time to grab coffee somewhere before my first meeting - I usually keep emergency cream in the fridge for when I return from a trip, but this time I don't have any and I'm somehow going to have to survive the morning without it. Goodnight!

put your loving hand out, baby

I'm sleepy and need to go to bed immediately - happily/sadly, that bed is my bed in Denver, which I returned to today. My trip to Iowa was excellent, even though I worked the whole time. And yesterday, which I didn't blog about, was fun - [censored] and I ran up to Des Moines to liberate some possessions from Brian (aka the scandalous pirate uncle). We met up with Aunt Kathy there, who was similarly liberating possessions that are destined for Drewbaby in Fargo. We walked out with more stuff than I was expecting to, and [censored] may have to make another trip next week.

It isn't an exaggeration to say that our family has a slow-moving but relentless current of stuff moving between us, something like one of the ocean currents that fuels the world's climate. In this case, we're just endlessly moving stuff between us; for example, Aunt B took all of Gram's china, moved it to Colorado, eventually put it in my basement here, and I'm likely to take it back to Iowa this fall. But since we all like stuff, and since there are many basements and sheds and garages between us (more basements and sheds and garages than there are houses and people, actually), the current shows no signs of slowing down.

sssanyway. Today was lowkey - I hung out with my parents, watered some of their garden, ate some snacks, showered, packed, etc. [Censored] and I left around 2pm, and [censored] kicked me out at the airport, where security was worse than usual (I think it took four minutes instead of two). Then I had a salad and a glass of rosé while writing for an hour. My flight was uneventful, and my drive home was uneventful, and now I should sleep since I have to work tomorrow and can pretty much guarantee I won't be in the mood. Goodnight!

i'm the house you hold your kickback at

I'm in ye olde Iowa after a long but uneventful day. I worked + did some last minute things around the house for several hours, but I went to the airport pretty early so that I wouldn't catch the beginning of rush hour. That meant I had a couple of hours to kill in the Amex lounge, where I had two glasses of wine and some snacks while answering more email. Then I grabbed a burrito bowl, went to my gate, and flew to Des Moines. My flight was delayed by about 25min, which was particularly unfortunate for [censored], who was killing time in the city waiting to pick me up. But we had a nice conversation on the drive home, and then we said hi to our parents and chatted for a bit before it became clear that it was bedtime.

So, I should probably go to bed too - goodnight!

now i drive alone past your street

My vacation is rapidly coming to an end, but I'm attempting to hold on to it for as long as I can (which is approximately 68hrs before the Sunday Scaries set in in earnest). Today was pretty lovely and relaxing, all in all - I got a lot of sun, did some journaling, had some coffee, did a bit of stuff required to keep my life going (#adulting), and got a facial and a massage. Was this strictly necessary? No. But also yes, because I haven't had a facial in over a year, and my skin needed some help and my soul needed a bit of pampering. The spa here is a gorgeous space in what feels like an old barn (but was almost certainly custom built to look old while also being new), and I loved every minute of it.

After being pampered, I hung out on the patio and ate some chips and dip (don't tell anyone, but I prefer AE french onion dip to the onion dip they serve here - the dip is great, but AE is impossible to replicate or beat). Then I showered and spent a bit of quality time in my room, and then I was lured back to the patio - funnily enough, one of my coworker friends (she counts as a friend because we've socialized outside of work) was here for the night with her niece, and so we met up for happy hour. It was nice for me to show the staff that I have friends and am not just some eccentric spinster, and it was also nice to see her and meet her niece. They abandoned me to go shower and unwind, and I had dinner (burrata, which wasn't as good as the other night because they were out of pesto tonight; and a caesar salad with steak on top that was quite tasty).

Then I should have journaled or read a book, but I mostly sat around and watched TikTok. And now I think I'll go to bed early so that I can get up early and soak up the last morning here before I head back to Denver - goodnight!

you think that you're space ghost, you're wanted coast to coast

Today was mostly spent in service of the noble cause of leaving Nebraska and getting back to Denver. The trip was totally uneventful - I had to stop a couple of times for gas, food, etc., but the sun was shining and the traffic was super light, so it was a good day for a drive. I spent several hours of it listening to NOMADLAND, which is an audiobook I had downloaded; it mostly talks about all the formerly middle class people who have accidentally become itinerant workers in RVs, often working for little more than a place to park their RVs during a farming harvest or getting some cash via seasonal work in Amazon warehouses. So if you want to be depressed about how you can do everything exactly right and still lose the game as its currently rigged, or if you want to be anxious about whether it can happen to you, this is the book for you!

sssanyway, it's good so far, so I'll have to find excuses to listen to it in my house since I usually only listen to audiobooks in the car. When I got home, I attempted to balance my desire for relaxation with my desire to get some tings done - so I did three loads of laundry, but I also ran and picked up some books from BookBar, browsed a couple of clothing shops on Tennyson, etc.

And now I really need to sleep - I have a full day of errands / driving tomorrow, since I'm taking this week off to have a 'proper vacation' - maybe not proper in the sense that I'm not going to see anyone I know, but at least it's a break and at least I'll have some time to read, write, and relax in the sun. So wish me luck with that and I'll blog from my undislosed location - goodnight!

prove yourself, you are the move you make

First and foremost, happy birthday to [censored]! [Censored] turned [censored] years old today, and usually we do not get to celebrate in person since I'm rarely in Iowa in mid-May. But since we were in the same location, we got to eat the lemon cake that I baked for him last night, and I coerced him into blowing out some candles, so that was v. exciting.

However, I did not stay all day to celebrate - I flew back to Denver this afternoon, although I anticipate that I'll only be here a few days and will likely drive back to Iowa next weekend. So, [censored] was forced to celebrate the birthday by driving me to Des Moines in the rain, which is probably not what he wanted to do. When I got to the airport, I had time to grab some food before boarding - and I got upgraded on my flight, which was v. exciting. The airports were shockingly full - Denver was a madhouse, and felt like pre-pandemic levels of travelers, which I was honestly not excited about because I do not like large groups of people anymore. But I made it here entirely uneventfully, picked up my car, and grabbed a few groceries on my way home so that I have something to eat tomorrow.

And now I think I'll try to go to bed early - I haven't gotten enough sleep the last few nights, and it would be nice to rectify that this week. Goodnight!

sleep the day, let it fade, who was there to take your place

I'm back in ye olde Iowa after a thoroughly uneventful travel day, which almost felt like a vacation because it involved french fries and not answering work emails. I woke up this morning and made coffee, took care of final house tings, trimmed my bangs (the most important part of my preparations), showered, finished packing, etc. Then I drove to the airport, which I used to go to so frequently that it was almost annoying, but since this is only my third plane trip in the last fourteen months, it still feels fresh and novel. Okay, maybe not fresh, since I'm still paranoid about catching covid (especially because I don't want to bring it back to my dad - or my mom for that matter). But definitely novel.

I got to the airport early enough to have lunch, so I treated myself to a caesar salad, french fries, and a glass of sauvignon blanc (that + the dramamine I bought in the airport ensured my survival on the v. turbulent ascent out of Denver - dramamine for the motion sickness, sauvy b for the nerves). The Denver airport restaurants are mostly reopened, perhaps at reduced hours, but capacity has been cut, so the tables were spaced out enough that it felt pretty safe. Then I strolled to my gate just in time to board, stowed my carry-on, and spent the whole plane ride (with the exception of five minutes of ascent when I thought I might panic vomit) reading THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO. So far so good - I'm about halfway through and I am enjoying it, although too soon to tell if I'll end up recommending it.

When I got to Des Moines, Des Moines airport proved to be as delightfully easy and efficient as always - between the point when my airplane touched down on the runway and when I was sitting in my rental car was less than fifteen minutes, and that was with the plane taxiing to the gate + me walking slowly to preserve my almost-healed strained calf muscle + a stop at the bathroom.

So, I made it back to southern Iowa with no drama and just in time for supper. My parents can get a perfectly prepared whole smoked chicken from a neighbor for $8, which is absurd (per my citified price estimates) and v. delicious, so we had smoked chicken and salad and baked potatoes. Then I took my dad for a drive to find him some cookies, which we don't usually have around because my mom and I can't have gluten (but my dad certainly does, and his foot situation is cramping his style of getting gluten on the sly when he's out and about in his normal routines). It was a really nice night for driving around and looking for cookies, even if cookies are hard to find in rural Iowa - the sun was just setting when we set out, and so we drove around and examined things (and managed to score some rice krispie treats that weren't great, + some brownies that may be made without any real adherence to food licensing rules but are apparently pretty good).

After that, we got home and talked to my mom for awhile, and then it was time for them to go to bed and for me to sit in my recliner in their basement and watch tiktok videos. That seems like such a cliche, but it was a good break. And now I need to sleep - we're going to Des Moines tomorrow for another procedure (on my dad, not me, obvi) so hopefully that goes well. And hopefully [censored] and I don't have to spend more than a few hours sitting in a car staring at our favorite tree in the hospital long-term parking lot, but we shall see. Goodnight!

she totally confused all the passing piranhas

I just realized it's 12:40am in Iowa, not 11:40pm (which is the time in Denver, and the time which my laptop was set to), which means I really need to go to bed immediately if I'm going to get anything of note accomplished tomorrow. Today was spent entirely in service of getting out of the high plains and into the midwest - I spent a couple of hours watering plants, taking out trash, loading my car, and generally prepping before hitting the road.

Today's drive was entirely uneventful (with the small exception of the herd of deer that crossed my path on the two-lane highway I take through Iowa, but I didn't hit them, so that was basically not noteworthy). I think I made the best time I've ever made - 10.5hrs, which included three stops, and so was exactly 10hrs of driving time for ~680 miles. My stops were v. brief - one on the western side of Nebraska (North Platte), one on the eastern side of Nebraska (Lincoln), and one in Mt Ayr (an hour from my parents), which perhaps wasn't entirely necessary, but it's the last good bathroom stop before home. The fact that I know where all the good bathrooms are on a 680 mile stretch is quite depressing to me, since I really wish I hadn't spent so much time in Nebraska this last year.

But it's good to be home, and I'm lucky I can drive it instead of flying it, so I'll take it. When I got home, I greeted my parents, unloaded my car, settled in, etc, etc. And now, as I said, I really need to sleep - goodnight!

although this wave is stringing us along

I'm back in Denver after a v. smooth travel day (unless I got coronavirus, in which case it was not smooth at all). I woke up this morning with plenty of time to hang out, pack, eat some leftover bratwurst and potato salad, and generally relax through the morning. I eventually had to say goodbye to my parents, and then to [censored], before driving to Des Moines to catch my flight. That was all v. smooth - Des Moines is always a delight to fly out of, even when dropping off a rental car, so I had time to grab a salad while I waited.

The flight was entirely uneventful and I slept for part of it. When I got to Denver, my bag took awhile, but I blame the fact that I was at the wrong baggage carousel (I swear the announcement on the plane was for a different carousel than where they actually ended up). But getting home was super smooth - no traffic, and I was able to stop at the grocery store and grab a couple of things to make the next couple of days easier.

Then I got home, ordered some takeout Thai food, messed around online, and generally didn't do the work that I had intended to do. So I'm going to make the typical mistake of trying to go to bed early so that I can get up early and work - let's see how this goes. Goodnight!