i need you in my house 'cause you're my home

I followed through with last night's pronouncement and did almost nothing today - possibly almost too much nothing, since I didn't leave the apartment at all (even to get coffee, which I had planned to do), but it was probably what I needed. I did very little in the morning, beyond cleaning up some stuff in the kitchen. And then I spent the early afternoon watching Olympics coverage - I streamed the women's gymnastics qualifiers (not all of it - just the rotation that the US was in), and I enjoyed watching the whole qualifier without interruptions as happens in prime time.

At some point I took a break to talk to my parents, as always. Then I took a nap, because my day had been so strenuous. Then I messed around in my planner/journal and figured out what I need to get done this week (answer: write before the wedding). I eventually made supper - my stomach is still a little sensitive, so I didn't want anything with acid or other irritants, and I also didn't want to leave the house to buy groceries, so I ended up making chicken alfredo (with gluten free spaghetti) because a creamy cheesy sauce sounded good (albeit not healthy). The recipe was really simple and turned out deliciously, and now I have leftovers to eat while carb-loading for the intense activity that is watching the Olympics.

After I ate, I turned on prime time coverage and watched swimming while answering a whole slew of emails that I'd neglected over the past few days. But now it's later than I intended, and I should sleep - tomorrow commences more social activities, and I also need to write before any of that happens, so wish me luck with that. Goodnight!

taffy stuck and tongue tied

I once again didn't get enough done today, but I'm still going to chalk it up as a win. When I woke up this morning, I had to scurry around like a crazy woman to get ready for someone to come and clean my apartment - yes, I cleaned before the cleaning. But there were things I needed to put away and tidy and straighten to make the cleaning as effective as possible. And while it felt indulgent to pay someone to clean a studio, which I am typically capable of keeping clean myself, I'm glad that I did - since I've been gone so much, it was descending into filth (the wampdevils were in danger of consuming the bathroom floor entirely), and my stomach woes make me unfit for cleaning.

So anyway, the person I hired showed up at 9:30, and he did a pretty good job - his vacuuming was perhaps less thorough than mine would have been, but since I despise vacuuming, I'll take it. While he was cleaning, I took care of some other things around the apartment, and also sent some emails, and made some lists, and generally tried to organize myself for the many other tasks ahead.

As soon as he was gone, I gathered my things and drove down to San Mateo. I had a writing date with Barbara, but I went early to eat a salad at Specialtys (which made my stomach hurt) and go to Target to buy some household tings (which I would have had delivered, but Google Express couldn't deliver anytime in the next two-three days, which is *not* the definition of Express). Then I met Barbara and worked for a couple of hours - I didn't produce many real words because I went down a rabbit-hole of trying to find a name for the hero, and then I realized that I may want a different kind of name entirely because he may be the rougher, more self-made sort, so perhaps all of this was for naught.

sssanyway. Around 4:30 I parted ways with Barbara, who will be in Hawaii for the next week, so there will be no more writing dates (not that there would have anyway, since I'll be consumed with wedding stuff). Then I went to Diddams and got some party stuff. And then I spent an hour driving home, which got on my nerves....

...so when I got here, rather than cleaning things or organizing things or doing the million things on my to-do list, I ate some leftover pizza and spent a couple of glorious hours reading 'A Natural History of English Gardening: 1650-1800'. Yes, I understand that you may not find this glorious. And, to be fair, I'm not entirely in love - the guy is entirely too wordy for the points he's attempting to make in some places. But the book itself is gorgeous - well-suited for a coffee table, and he did some beautiful illustrations, and the research is interesting. It also pointed me toward a book about women and gardening that I think will be far more useful for the purpose of Lucy's story, so maybe I'll read that in my off-time tomorrow.

But there shouldn't be much off-time tomorrow - I *must* go grocery shopping in the morning, and bake some cakes, and get some liquor, and do some laundry, and generally do the things I should have done tonight. So sleeping now would be a good idea - goodnight!

she's got a boyfriend anyway

Today went entirely off-plan. I spent the morning taking care of legitimate stuff, for the most part, and also making tomato soup for lunch. The soup was tasty, but it was perhaps the wrong choice - as soon as I ate it, my stomach flared up and I had to lie down and curl up and nap (or think about napping) for a couple of hours. This was an unwelcome situation, since I have so much to do - and also, I got a little worried that my stomach seemed to be getting worse instead of better.

So I took a shower, and then I went to urgent care. This was mostly useless - they basically told me to take some tums and try again later. And by that I mean that they thought it was general stomach irritation, but to come back if I'm not better in a few days.

So after that, I came home. And I had to cancel on dinner with Jen - we were supposed to try a new place in Japantown and I was excited to see her and eat delicious food, but I decided to prioritize resting instead. And you can tell that I'm sick, because I binge-watched six episodes of Leverage rather than doing anything truly productive. However, I did shred enough stuff to fill two grocery sacks with shreddings (basically, everything that has come in over the last year that I should have shredded and instead have thrown into an increasingly-unsightly pile in my closet), which was a task I've clearly been putting off forever, so that's good.

Anyway, that's all I've got to report - I need to get stuff done tomorrow, so going to sleep now would probably be a good idea. And my stomach doesn't hurt as badly as it did - it basically only hurts when I eat, so maybe not eating would be a good idea? We'll see - but for now, it's bedtime. Goodnight!