when there are no more gods left to anoint

I did v. little today, but #noregrets. I slept last thanks to last night's wine and conversation, and when I finally got up and showered and went over to the other house to check out their progress, I found that Barbara S was jonesing to get out of the house and eat breakfast elsewhere. Since there are few things I adore more than brunch (it was definitely brunch, since it was 11:30am), I agreed to go with her. We went down the street to Cup of Cherries, which was surprisingly delicious - I had my usual basic original-style (whatever that means) breakfast of eggs over easy, bacon, and homefries, but this particular variant of that old standby was quite delish.

Then Barbara and I stopped at Safeway on the way home. I was planning to work all afternoon, but I really wasn't feeling it - so I played around with a truly heinous new puzzle that we started, with a few breaks from that strenuous activity to send some emails and take care of some tings.

For dinner, we went to MacDuff's, which is a local pub that we all like quite a bit. It's a block away, so we headed over, waited just a bit for a table, and were thrilled to be there once we were all settled. I had the cottage pie, which involves ground beef with mashed potatoes on top, and it was so fucking good. Then we came home, messed around with the puzzle some more, and played a game whose title I can't remember which basically involved people accusing people of stuff (it was more fun and less weird/aggressive than it sounds).

But even though I was on a roll with another conversation with Anne, I'm desperate for sleep and must take that path instead - goodnight! 

i don't know, but i've been told...you never slow down, you never grow old

All the news was horrible today, but I mostly tried (with limited success) to ignore it so that I could get some work done. Of course, it didn't help that I didn't wake up until 9:30 (a feat I'm likely to replicate or worsen tomorrow, since I won't be asleep until at least 2:30am tonight). So I spent the morning over at the other house making coffee and talking to the people there. Then I came back here and talked to my sister for awhile, since I hadn't talked to her on her birthday. Then I ate lunch (avocado toast ftw), and then I actually wrote a couple of pages of my young adult fantasy, which might turn out to be a decent book if I ever finish it - but two pages was totally wonderful after two months without writing (and two+ years without working on this project), so I'll take it.

But I sloughed off early so that I could go to the grocery store with the Barbaras - I needed to buy groceries since it was my turn to cook, and they both wanted a break. When we got back, I proceeded to make chicken tortilla soup - I made a triple batch since we all love it, so that involved a lot of chopping, but it was #worthit.

Tonight turned into a two-bottle night, though - I shared both bottles with others, but we went deep and frequent on politics and it was all kinda a lot. But I ended the night with a long, quiet, lovely conversation with Anne, since we're the troublemakers most likely to stay up all night, so that was great.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

i'm gonna tell scotty gonna tell him myself

My writing retreat continues as writing retreats usually do - with way too much talking and not nearly enough working. However, I reread my entire young adult manuscript - I fell asleep in the middle, but I prefer to believe it's because I wanted to take a nap, and not because it's boring. I also ate some lackluster avocado toast, talked to several people 1:1, went to the grocery store, called my parents, and got locked out on the balcony while I was talking to my parents, which necessitated calling in a rescue squad.

But all in all, it was great....and I sloughed off early so that I could shower before having dinner with the gang. Barbara S made chicken shawarma, which was super tasty, and I opened a bottle of zinfandel, which was also super tasty. Then we adjourned from the dining table and plotted Grace's book, which was fun; Grace, Anne and I were the final people still awake by the end, which was also fun, since we talked about ridiculous Johanna Lindsey novels with Russian aristocrats and Regency-era aphrodisiacs (aka Spanish fly, which is a plot twist we all must succumb to eventually).

Now, though, it's time to sleep, since I want to write something (anything) tomorrow - goodnight!

ain't no mountain high enough

Too tired to blog, since I fell asleep reading my phone in bed two hours ago and I really didn't want to wake up again to wash my face, let alone type this. But Tahoe is great and my stomach is full of Tina's tasty goulash, and I spent the day organizing my thoughts and clearing my head so I can switch gears from day job work to writing work.

But at the moment, sleep is much more pressing - goodnight!

you know that i love you boy, hot like mexico, rejoice

I'm totally wiped out - it's only 10:38 in California, but it's 11:38 in ye olde mountains, and I'm really feeling it. Of course, I'm in mountains now as well - but this time I'm up in the Sierras, not chilling at the base of the Rockies, so it's *totally different*. And by that I mean it feels the same.

But today was as smooth as it could be - I woke up, showered, drove my car to a sketchy off-airport parking lot, took the shuttle to the airport, checked in, and managed to have time for a full breakfast at Cantina Grill ([censored]'s favorite!). I met up with Barbara S at the gate, since we were flying to the retreat together...but thanks to some magic on my part, I was flying first class, so we only hung out until we boarded.

But we got plenty of time after, including an hour+ in an uber. When we got here, Barbara and Anne were already here, as was Deb, so we drew for rooms and called the missing people (Tina, Grace, and Christie) to let them pick. This meant that I ended up in a king room, but one that gets more noise than usual, so I'll hopefully suck it up.

But now I'm desperate for sleep - we had a lot of gluten free pizza and some ridiculous conversation and red wine, as we're wont to do, and sleep will hopefully cure some of that ails me. Goodnight!

in the end it doesn't even matter

I had dinner with Katie tonight and it was AWFUL. j/k, it was lovely, but she was snarky about how I say everything is lovely, so screw her.

Today was good, all in all - I had a million meetings, left at 2:45 so I could drive to Denver, then took another couple of meetings from Black Eye. Then I met Katie for happy hour and dinner at Senor Bear - the margaritas were great, my carnitas were delish (although they were made with veal, which was bizarre), and the company was so-so (although the waiter was great).

But in all seriousness, it is great to be close enough to Katie to have dinner on a whim and still sleep in my own bed. After dinner, I went to her house and said hi to the girls (Julia didn't growl at me until after she'd been excited to see me, and Anne did my hair for me, which went about as well as it sounds). Then I drove home, packed, answered email, etc...and now I desperately need sleep.

And finally, happy birthday to my sister! Goodnight!

i need a break and i want to be a paperback writer

Today was a long day in the corporate salt mines - all good, for the most part, although lunch was a sad sandwich (yes, I'm already complaining about the free food, even though they randomly showed up with chili in the middle of the afternoon). I slogged hard from nine to six, and could have kept going...

...but everyone else had already left my area, so I threw in the towel and engaged in some retail therapy. I really needed a break tonight from everything related to work and moving, so I went full #treatyoself - I got a new pair of uggs for Tahoe, and some more moisturizers at Sephora (I'm thus far avoiding looking like the cryptkeeper, but it's a constant battle), and it all made me feel moderately more relaxed. Then I talked to [censored], who helped me strategize about [censored], so that was good.

And then I went full-on into my old SF life and found a French brasserie, where I had steak and fries and a glass of red wine while writing for the first time in two months. The place couldn't hold a candle to my beloved, dearly-departed Des Amis (#neverforget), but it felt so fucking good to sit there and observe people and scribble notes in my journal. It was exactly the mental break I needed to unwind tonight so that I can get some good work done tomorrow and then abandon it all for Tahoe and a much-deserved writing trip.

But now I need to sleep - goodnight!

i sprinkle holy water upon the vampire

I'm fairly exhausted, but at least today went much better than yesterday. I woke up sometime after seven, showered, dealt with the fact that I don't know where anything is, made it out the door at 8:15...and was still on time to my 8:30 meeting. This, my friends, is incredible. Granted, if I were still self-employed I wouldn't have to go to anything at 8:30, but compared to my previous stint in the corporate salt mines, the lack of commute is fairly magical.

Anyway, I spent the day mostly holed up in a series of conference rooms with the two managers who I will be managing - they're in Boulder to visit me this week, and we spent today doing all the usual updates, deep dives, planning, etc. Granted, we couldn't plan much since I'm two weeks in and don't know anything, but it was fun to pretend!

By the end of the day I was exhausted from thinking/talking too much, but I had to keep pressing on - we had a team dinner, which was only five people since the team is still growing here. We went to a place called Next Door, which was super yummy. Getting there was a hassle, since parking was terrible - I tried to park in a garage, but the car two cars ahead of me broke the entrance gate, and there were cars behind me at this point, so no one could back up. The attendant very blithely said they'd called someone and it would be five or ten minutes before they showed up...but that wasn't good enough for me, so I got out and examined the situation and convinced him to remove a stupid traffic cone from a lane so that we could back out and turn around there. He did that, which saved me and a few other cars (with difficulty - it wasn't an easy turn), but since no one at the top was stopping cars from coming in, I predict it became a total cluster. But I got out, which was #winning.

Then I went to dinner, which, as I said, was tasty - I had one of the best greek salads ever. The conversation was fun and I was enjoying myself, but rather than going shopping after, I came home and wrestled with my new mattress. It's an organic latex mattress (supposedly less carcinogenic since it isn't treated with the same flame-retardant chemicals as regular mattresses), and it shipped in three three-inch layers of latex, which had to be wrangled into a wool mattress cover. This was, as you can imagine, not an easy task...but I succeeded. And I tested the comfort by immediately taking a nap (so far so good!). But then I dragged myself downstairs and spent the last couple of hours working (no doubt at great cost to my phone plan, since I still don't have internet here and had to use my hotspot). And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

disco science

Today was one of those days when pretty much nothing went according to plan. It was always going to be a bad day when I said goodbye to Katie...not that I actually said goodbye, but last night was the last night I plan to spend at her place for the foreseeable future, so when I left this morning, I carted the last of my stuff out with me. We had one last coffee at Black Eye, and I'm going to miss that tradition...although it's probably for the best that I won't be back for awhile, since Katie loudly asked me how my rash was, so I'm probably dead to them.

After that, it all went moderately downhill. I made it to Boulder without any real issues, but when I got breakfast, I accidentally dumped my eggs and bacon back into the communal egg tray (then scooped it all back up without anyone seeing, but the eggs were contaminated), then oversalted them, so breakfast wasn't the joyous refueling that I'd hoped for. Then I had a meeting, and then I left to oversee my furniture delivery, which I was super excited about...

...until it turned out that the sleeper sofa wouldn't fit up the stairs. I'd had a sneaking suspicion after moving in that the staircase was going to be a problem, since there's a pole at the base and a beam on the ceiling right above it, and yes, that proved to be too insurmountable for the couch. Of course, I don't have a couch for the living room yet, so I had them put it in the living room instead (which was also an exercise in navigating a tight space - the rooms themselves are all great sizes, but the staircase/hall on both floors is going to be a moving problem). So it's not the end of the world, but it wasn't necessarily the couch I would have gotten for a living room, so I was a little unhappy about that.

[editor's note: I'm slightly less unhappy since I took a nap on it as a couch tonight, and am now sitting on the pull-out and it feels very comfy, so it'll be okay. but I was not happy earlier!]

sssanyway. Then I went back to the office, where I had a late lunch that was kinda disgusting, followed by a lot of meetings that I wasn't really in the right headspace to enjoy. I finished off by having dinner with a couple of my direct reports who are in town this week, and it was great (I had a v. tasty gluten free burger with green chile, which was awesome), and my team is great...but I probably should have skipped, since I'm reaching my introvert wall and I have a lot of extrovert tasks to get through before I get a break.

On the way home, I stopped at Whole Foods (note: 'the way home' is less than ten minutes and Whole Foods is on the way, which is amazing) to get some tea and coffee (the bare necessities), then came home and took a nap (vital), then spent the last three hours organizing and unpacking and generally trying to sort the things I have here so that it's not all quite such a disaster. And I made a list of all the things I need to do asap, and it was a v. v. v. long list, so I should probably go to bed and hope I can tackle some of it tomorrow - goodnight!

isn't that the way they say it goes...well let's forget all that

I had a great day in Colorado - even if it was cold and misty and a prelude to much worse to come. This will be the first real winter of my adult life, and I'm not sure I'm ready for it. My spirit is, but my body...totally unclear.

Anyway. I woke up to the dulcet tones of children's shrieks, and then had breakfast with Katie, James, and the girls (I should have put James first, since he made it). I also chatted with Katie for much longer than I should have, but not nearly long enough given that I was gone for a week and will be gone again starting tomorrow. My current plan is to sleep in my own place starting tomorrow night - I'm getting a sofa and a mattress delivered, which means it's theoretically possible.

Of course, it won't be nearly as comfortable as here - but I'm so beyond excited to have my own place again. I went up there for awhile this afternoon (after dropping $500 at Target - things add up quickly when you need all new cleaning supplies, towels, a laundry drying rack, paper goods, etc., etc., etc.) - I spent some quality time doing a couple of loads of laundry and organizing all the stuff that I'd hauled in from my car. I think it's going to be a great place once I get settled - and even before I get settled, it's bright enough and peaceful enough that I wasn't missing my lamps or my music.

So, that was all exciting. I also took a break to talk to my parents, who seemed to be in good form. Then I sped back to Katie's, where I was late for supper, but that just meant that I missed out on most of the wine (good thing, since I had to trim my bangs tonight). She made an awesome risotto from one of the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks, which I thought was super delish, and we generally hung out and talked until it was time for the girls to go to bed.

And now that I've taken care of a few things online for the first time in ages, it's time to sleep - goodnight!

say it ain't so, i will not go, turn the lights off, carry me home

Apologies for not blogging last night - by the time I was ready to blog, it was actually this morning, and I needed to eke out whatever sleep I was capable of before boarding a plane.

You can guess, therefore, that yesterday was eventful. I got up earlier than I wanted to so that I could finish packing, check out of my airbnb, and return my rental car to the San Jose airport. I was supposed to fly out of there last night, which would have meant dropping off the car in the afternoon - but since my plans changed, it made sense to drop it off before work. But my diligence was rewarded with tostadas for breakfast in the work cafeteria, so I felt pretty smug about that.

Then I sat in meetings all day (two weeks in and my life has returned to meetings), took care of some tings, and caught the 3:48pm shuttle to the city. It took almost two hours to get there, which proves, once again, why I don't live there anymore. But I went to Vidya's and promptly forgot my pain, thanks to red wine and thai food (although I had to walk four blocks downhill and then four blocks very much uphill for the thai food, so that gave me a different kind of pain (or mostly whininess)).

Chandlord was having a party last night, which was why I rescheduled my flight - it seemed like the kind of thing I needed to be there for. The early arrivals at the party were inauspicious (a bunch of people I either didn't know or didn't particularly care to see), but things picked up dramatically after we went outside and lit things on fire. And by that I mean she had a firepit, and so someone started a fire, and then others' attempts to keep it going mostly resulted in lots of smoke, which got into everything all of us were wearing.

But I made some v. entertaining new connections (in particular, a couple who climb stupidly high mountains; a guy named Adam; and Sarang's boyfriend). I also spent some quality time with key players (Santy Claude; Adit and Priyanka). And we had a v. delightful time in Chandlord's back yard until eleven, when we adjourned to Yamasho for 2+ hours of private-room karaoke, which wrecked my voice and my body (even though I was surprisingly sober for such a series of events).

Anyway, we rocked out (yes, I sang Nickelback, #noregrets), then I went back to Chandlord's house and slept fitfully for a few hours. But I had to get up relatively early since I had a 10:45am flight back to Denver. Chandlord very graciously took me to the airport, and I got through security with enough time to have a proper breakfast, which was probably all that saved me.

When I got to Denver, I drove to Boulder first to check out my apartment and retrieve that packages that were delivered there today. I unloaded some more stuff from my car, contemplated what I need to get, and was pleasantly surprised to find that my landlord had left a welcome gift (probably his standard starter kit for people who buy homes through him - toilet paper, paper towels, a bottle of wine, a wine opening kit, and a hummingbird feeder) - which was super thoughtful, especially since I didn't just spend a million dollars with him.

Then I stopped at REI to buy a jacket since it's suddenly cold here and I will also be freezing in Tahoe next week. Then I drove back to Katie's, since I'm staying here tonight - I picked up food for myself along the way so that I don't seem like quite such a deadbeat, and then spent the evening watching 'Aladdin' and drinking champagne. Yes, we're living the dream.

But now I'm desperate to sleep - goodnight!

love and darkness and my sidearm

I was going to complain about the fact that I just had a 9:30-10pm meeting on my ninth day back in the office...but my first paycheck just deposited, which shut me up right quick, as they say. #getitgirl

Work continues to be good - I'm finding that I'm actually pretty curious/interested/engaged in the learning process around the new job and what I'll be responsible for, which is a rather wonderful development since I had a sneaking fear in the dark of night that I would have trouble reengaging under the yoke of corporate whoredom.

However, going back this time is different because I actually have very few preconceived notions of the product/work space I'm entering - it's all about communities and social support, which I have a lot of personal fascination with (writing an honors thesis about German resistance movements in WWII has surprisingly more to do with this job than you might have guessed, at least from an interest standpoint). Last time, I had more technical knowledge about books and publishing, and so I had very strong, very early opinions that shredded any semblance of a honeymoon period. This time, it's just fun to learn something new...and the fact that my new team seems pretty engaged. They made me a hardcover photo book about themselves as a welcome gift, which is so over the top that you have to love it.

So anyway. I spent the whole day in meetings, but I took a break around 3:30 to have coffee with an old friend (Jason, who I knew forever ago), and than I saw Vidya (aka Chandlord) at 4pm. Then I got in my car and spent over an hour driving the 17mi to Belmont, which was a great reminder why I moved away. I had dinner with the Shedletskys at Vivace - it was a delish Italian restaurant, and we had a delightful time catching up. But I had to leave earlier than I wanted to so that I could make it back for my late meeting - and now I must sleep so I can get up early and pack up and vacate my airbnb. Goodnight!

the black lung

I'm too tired to blog - I had a great day, but I'm starting to cough up a lung, and I don't want to take a sudafed to help with the congestion because it makes me sleep v. fitfully, and I haven't gotten enough sleep the last few nights to survive another restless slumber. So I'm going to cut this short and go to bed - goodnight!

there's a piece of maria in every song that i sing

This cold is really knocking me out, which is super annoying - if I had been in this job for more than seven days, I would stay home tomorrow. Instead, I'm going to go to bed as soon as I finish this (it's 9:45pm here) and hope that I can sleep despite the sudafed that I've been taking to try to combat my congestion (somewhat futile, but I have to do something).

However, despite the cold, today was good - I actually had a couple of hours this morning to get some work done, which mostly involves reading a lot of stuff and trying to absorb as much info as possible. Then I had some meetings, with a break for a v. bizarre lunch (I had rice and beans, but I threw cold chicken cubes and hot sauce on top from the salad bar rather than eating the chicken mole that went with the rice/beans, since for some reason they put vanilla wafers in the mole and made it not gluten free). And then I had some more meetings. Yes, my life is meetings again.

But I left at 5:45 and met up with Joann (of spinster honeymoon fame) for dinner at Shana Thai. This is one of our go-tos anyway, but it had the added benefit of a) the right amount of spice/comfort food for my cold and b) it's across the street from where I'm staying. So, we had a wonderful time catching up - I think she's excited about the prospect that I will soon be in the market for fancy vacations again (the golden handcuffs get quite comfortable after awhile, especially in Hawaii).

Then I came back to my airbnb and spent some quality time taking care of personal life stuff (choosing health insurance, ordering internet service for my new house, etc.)...and now it's time to sleep. Goodnight!

she moves in mysterious ways

I'm wiped out - I had a long (good, but long) day at the office, and I feel a little like I've been tossed into a pool while wearing a straitjacket, since there's so much to learn and so little time before I start drowning. That's a problem for another day, though - hopefully one where I don't feel quite so sick, since my cold is ramping up and I definitely don't feel in it to win it.

However, I did manage to leave the office and go to the evil city (for the only time on this trip, send I left SF for a reason and that means I don't want to commute every day that I'm here). I had a dinner date with Lauren (aka Subz) at gardenias, and I was a little early, so I ran a couple of errands and browsed through Alexis Bittar (yay jewelry, my fave) before meeting up with Lauren. It was lovely to catch up before her baby comes, and it was over all too soon, but that was probably a good thing since I was desperate for sleep and needed to drive to mountain view before I could check into my Airbnb and crawl into bed.

But now I must sleep - goodnight!

i like my guns all big like texas

So, last night I apparently actually wrote a blog post and got within seconds of being able to post it, but I was so tired that I fell asleep sitting up with the lights on, and when I came to, I closed the laptop and went to bed. Oops. Read the post below to find out what I was up to last night!

And as you might have guessed, I spent this morning paying the wages of my sins. I really shouldn't have gone out last night since I have what is turning into a killer head cold, but my desire to be a grown-up with Katie couldn't be denied, so I had a lot of bourbon and a lot of fine conversation, and absolutely #noregrets. Well, maybe one regret, since my ears didn't really pop very well on my flight today and I was not thrilled about that. But I woke this morning wishing that I could get ten more hours of non-congested sleep. Of course, it wasn't meant to be, so I showered, packed (slowly), and then Katie and I went out to grab breakfast burritos (she'd fed the kids pancakes hours earlier, since their night wasn't as abbreviated as ours was - their stomachs were empty and ready for breakfast instead of full of bourbon and ready for a nap). The breakfast burrito saved my life, so I was able to gather my things and head out....

...and the 'out' was to the airport, where I parked my car, survived a longer-than-usual security experience with my shorter-than-usual temper, grabbed some tea, and made it to my gate in time to talk to my parents for a few minutes before boarding. I'm in Mountain View this week for trainings/meetings, which is a trip that came up v. last minute (I booked it on Thursday). So, SF friends, please don't hate me, but I'm not going to expend any heroic efforts to go to the city since I'm not feeling all that well and traffic here is a nightmare.

But I did make some fun plans - I spent tonight with Heather (aka dear respected madam), since I wasn't sure when I'd see her next, and she lives fifteen minutes from the San Jose airport, which was super convenient. We spent the evening talking, gossipping, and generally catching up while Salim prepared tastiness for us - and then we all ate steak and corn while watching 'Deadpool', which I'd somehow never seen before even though everyone told me I would enjoy it. And, it turns out, I did enjoy it.

But now I'm exhausted from all my adventures, and I need sleep desperately if I'm going to get through trainings tomorrow - goodnight!

this town was meant for passing through but it ain't nothing new

[editor's note: I wrote this last night while falling asleep and made it soooo close to the end, but somehow went to bed before finishing it. enjoy!]

After three boulevardiers and an old fashioned (all of which are almost entirely alcohol, if you don't count the cherry in the old fashioned), I can report with a reasonable degree of certainty that Katie is almost as bad for my liver as Adit is. Granted, the number of cocktails consumed tonight is far lower than the epic family nights of yore...but since I have a sudden, miserable cold and Katie has not-so-sudden, still-occasionally-monstrous toddlers, four cocktails with her (at altitude, no less!) should count as ten cocktails with Adit.

sssanyway. Today started off with the brutal, inescapable knowledge that I caught the cold Katie had earlier this week - all my smug dosing with emergen-c came to naught, and I awoke feeling like total death. Luckily for me, the fam went off to take some photos, so I spent the quiet time unpacking and repacking my clothes in preparation for tomorrow's trip. When they got back, we went out for pho - I can't eat midwestern chicken noodle soup anymore because gluten, but Vietnamese rice noodle soup with chicken was just as good if not better.

Then we came home and I took a v. extended nap while Katie introduced her sweet daughters to the sexual misogyny of motorcycle gangs (you had to be there). I also napped while she cleaned and supervised her daughters and generally kept everyone alive - thank you.

Anyway, I'm falling asleep as I write this and am typing nonsense, so I'll stop on a high note - 

i'll wait for you where saturday's a memory and sunday comes to gather me

I survived my first week in the trenches of the working world. It's still going to require some adjustment (mostly on the wardrobe, since I'm not used to wearing real clothes instead of yoga pants every day...and also on the morning situation, although getting up and going for coffee with Katie every morning before going into work was a great way to adjust). But so far, so good.

So I slogged all day, although I had my aforementioned coffee with Katie at Black Eye to get me going, and I also went out for coffee after lunch with someone from the office. And, I finally got the key to my apartment...unfortunately, I won't be there next week because I have to take a last-minute trip to California, but I was able to unload my car tonight after work, so that's great. It's rather nice not to look like a vagrant anymore, even if I got all sweaty and annoyed unloading my stuff and hauling it up the stairs. Then I stopped at Chipotle for dinner, then came back to Katie and James's, and now I'm considering going to bed early because I think I might be succumbing abruptly to the cold Katie had all last week. Goodnight!

welcome to the rock's glorious biceps

No blog tonight because I stayed up too late watching most of "San Andreas" with Katie and James...NO REGRETS. Goodnight!

hey now you're a rockstar

Too tired to blog - I'm deep into the grind again, although I started the morning with a coffee run with Katie and ended it with some tv watching with Katie (we finished A-Team, which was just as terrible as I expected), so it was pretty good from that perspective. Also, there are some fun people in the Boulder office, including my friend Natasha, whom I had lunch with (and with a girl whom I knew like a decade ago...old timers are crawling out of the woodwork).

But I spent the entire day either talking to people, trying to resolve technical issues caused by my stupid onboarding process, or sitting in meetings where I know little to nothing about what's happening. And then I had dinner with my new manager and three of the other managers based in Boulder...so I wasn't off until nine, which made for precious little decompression. It was all great, though...I'm going to be exhausted for awhile as I get used to the golden handcuffs again, but in the end it will be worth it.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

possibility days are impossible

Today was back to the grind...but I can already tell that my life will be more sustainable, at least from a commute/balance/happiness standpoint, than it was in SF. Of course, it's premature to make that judgment since my car is still full of clothing and I occasionally pull onto a side street and rummage through it like a fucking vagrant, but in my reality, my current situation is awesome.

I woke up this morning, showered, spent some time with Katie and the girls, and then seduced Katie into going to Black Eye with me to grab coffee before I left for the office. I wasn't feeling any pressing need to get there since I knew I wouldn't be able to resolve my computer situation before 10am...and it ended up being more like 1pm by the time we were finally done (after I'd wasted several hours of a coworker's time to help me through the process since I needed their laptop to fix my issue, but hopefully they'll forgive me). But I had some v. tasty carnitas for lunch (this is why I went back), and once the laptop issues were resolved, I was in business. And I'm pretty eager to get up to speed, which I think is a good sign....

...so eager, in fact, that I stayed until almost 6:30pm, and when I walked out into the parking lot, it became clear that *no one* stays that late, which is a good sign for that work/life balance thing I'm trying to prioritize. I grabbed dinner at Modern Market - it's a chain that I discovered in Colorado Springs, but there's one between the office and my new apartment in Boulder, so I predict many future trips there. Then I drove back to Katie's, with a stop at Ulta to buy more face products to salvage the remnants of my ravaged skin (Colorado's low humidity is not my friend). Katie went to bed v. soon after I arrived since she's feeling like death, but I opened the bottle of red wine I'd given her earlier (swamp taketh and swamp taketh away) and indulged while writing emails.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

hey shorty, it's your birthday

It's my birthday! and also a national day of mourning. and also I went back to my former place of employment today (based in the Boulder office) - and by that I mean I took a job and am going through new hire orientation in a couple of weeks for the third time.

There's way more to that story, of course, but I'm tired after a day at the office, and I need to sleep. But I had a great first day and a great birthday - I got all dressed up and Katie took my picture like it was the first day of school, and then we grabbed coffee before I headed to Boulder. When I got to the office, I discovered that my friend Natasha (whom I told all this news to on Friday) had left a bottle of champagne and some birthday balloons on my desk, which made an odd complement to my new hire decorations. I met a bunch of people, had lunch with some teammates, ran into some old friends, etc., etc....

Then I peaced out and came back to Katie's. Katie was a super friend and bought a big gluten free cake and made homemade ice cream, and James grilled up a delicious steak, and the girls jumped and screeched and sang to me, and it was all totally delightful. This was the first time in forever that I neither cooked my own birthday feast nor organized the festivities, and I have to say, it was rather awesome. Of course, past festivities involved more wine and less screeching, but on the whole, this one was a winner.

But now I'm desperate for sleep - goodnight!

wake me up when september ends

Today felt like the calm before the storm. I woke up this morning and enjoyed some breakfast burritos that James had picked up - they were super tasty, especially since they made mine with corn tortillas. Then I got a mani/pedi so that I could feel human again. After that, I picked up some coffee, came back to Katie's, and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening hanging out, with a break to call my parents and another break to walk with Katie to the nearby wine store to get something for dinner. I also spent some time dealing with my exploding wardrobe and trying to contain the mess so that Katie doesn't kick me out for trashing her guest room.

And now, after watching some tv and drinking an Emergen-C, it's time for bed - goodnight!

that's how we do it down in puerto rico

Today was kind of an odd day - I think the wildfires might be affecting all of us, since everyone was quite cranky today (including the girls - Julia growled at me when she saw me this morning, and I had flashbacks to my dogsitting experience, but luckily she warmed up and also isn't likely to have rabies). So I felt vaguely off all day - and after eating breakfast and hanging out and having a morning dance party here, I was feeling like I might need some alone time and Katie/James might need some family time...

...so I went to the mall, of course. I saw them there briefly, since they'd headed there before me, but I stayed much longer - they went grocery shopping, but I tried on lots of clothes (and even bought a few), and then I had a leisurely lunch at the Nordstrom Cafe. By the time I got back to Katie's, it was almost six, and so we ate supper fairly shortly thereafter. Katie and I had discussed going out for drinks tonight and leaving James to put the girls to bed, but none of us were feeling it - it's hard to be super psyched about partying when going outside smells like smoke and makes your throat burns. So we stayed here and hung out and talked (yes, we can still find things to discuss), and now I want to aim for eight hours of sleep before the children begin our day again. Goodnight!

something just like this

I'm slowly acclimating to the altitude again, but it's all made more challenging by the smoke from the wildfires - Denver is covered in haze, its fabled mountains hidden under a shroud of particulates and poison. Okay, I'm being dramatic (maybe). Still, Denver continues to delight. I spent the morning at Katie's, doing laundry and 'answering emails' (which means my laptop was open in front of me and Katie and I talked the whole time, and so the emails I've been meaning to write for weeks are still unwritten). Then we went to Avanti for lunch - I skipped my usual arepa and had a burger instead, which was delightful.

After that, Katie went into her office and I went downtown to look at furniture. I browsed half a dozen stores, took tons of pictures, tentatively made decisions in my mind, and ordered the sleeper sofa that I'd had my eye on for awhile. Then I found an art supply store (v. pertinent to my needs) and bought a couple of notebooks and a pen since it feels like it should be the first day of school and I need to stock up.

Then I came back to Katie's. She wasn't home yet, but James and the girls were, so I hung out with James while he cooked supper (and I also read a book to the girls that was about a mermaid, but was such a blatant ripoff of Goldilocks and the Three Bears (but with octopi) that I was weirdly offended). Then we ate supper, I whipped up some mojitos (drink of champions, and by 'champions' I mean 'champion drinkers'), and we hung out the rest of the night. After the girls went to bed, Katie, James and I retreated to the basement and watched 'Red', which continues to be an awesome move and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

backstroke everyday in chicago

I had a v. productive day in Denver - still no writing, but I'm getting closer to some decisions. I woke up this morning and showered in time to vacate the house when Katie left for work - but we went together to Black Eye (a coffeeshop), where we worked/talked while having coffee (a tasty pourover for me, which was way too hipster but also way too good) and breakfast (her pork tacos looked awesome but the tortillas were flour; I had bacon and eggs, which sufficed).

Then, I left her to go to Boulder - I had an appointment to look at an apartment, and I really liked it a lot. So much so that we have a gentlemen's agreement for me to rent it - he didn't have a copy of the lease on him, and also there's still a bit of work to be done (new counters, then installing the appliances), but the space was exactly what I wanted - quiet side street but still close to stuff to do; outdoor decks but no yard maintenance; large kitchen and nice living room/dining area so I can cook (and eventually entertain if I make any friends here); and extra space so I can have an office. He's also a real estate agent and very graciously told me that if he sells me a house, he won't charge me for breaking my lease to move out of the apartment - that's not in the cards immediately, but I admire his hustle.

So, that was all fun, and I felt really good about finding a place. It may seem hasty to rent the first place that I saw...but this isn't my first trip to the apartment rental rodeo, and I'm pretty good at assessing a city's available inventory through deep, hours-long stalking of rental sites and property values.

Then, of course, I needed to go window shopping for furniture - I need to buy a bed and a couch as the first orders of business, so I spent some quality time exploring Boulder's mall scene (verdict: every store I need, and by that I mean there was a Sephora). Then I drove back to Denver and met up with Katie - we worked at another coffee shop, then checked out a jewelry shop that she loves before coming home.

But I didn't stay here all evening like I usually do - I ate some quesadillas with Katie and the girls, but then I drove to Littleton (a southern suburb) to go to a book reading/signing at Tattered Cover. My friend Sherry (whom I visited in Austin) was in town to talk about her latest book and do a signing, so I went to be supportive. Her talk was great, and I got a book signed by her before joining her and her literary agent and the agent's employees for dinner at a nearby Chinese/Japanese restaurant. So, that was super fun (and tasty)....but after getting back to Katie's at 10:30 and then talking to Katie and James until after eleven, and then stupidly browsing furniture sites until midnight, it's definitely time for bed - goodnight!

colorado passes by like writing on a wall

I'm in Denver, safely ensconced in Katie's guest room, which has begun to feel like my room since I've been showing up here so regularly this summer. Sometime soon, I'll have my own place and she'll no longer be subjected to my presence...but let's not kid ourselves, I'll probably still come to her place for dinner and then end up spending the night anyway.

I woke up in North Platte this morning and was extremely loath to get in the car again, so I dawdled - I ate breakfast quickly, since the hotel breakfast wasn't particularly yummy (although their coffee was excellent), but then I sipped my coffee and wrote some emails, and so I didn't actually get out of North Platte until 10am. This was over an hour later than I'd intended, but it didn't really matter since I had no pressing plans.

The rest of Nebraska passed by in total boredom, although I had a bit of excitement wondering if I would run out of gas, since I had decided to press on and get gas at the westernmost Casey's that I know of rather than stopping when I should have. Casey's is a convenience store chain that is particularly beloved in Iowa (where it started), and has slowly been spreading its virtuous tentacles across the midwest. They also make the best convenience store pizza ever, for those of you who can still eat gluten. The westernmost Casey's that I've seen is in Ogallala, Nebraska - and I just checked the Casey's map, which indicates that Ogallala is tied with a small town in Kansas for westernmost Casey's.

This is of interest to none of you, so I'll move on. Spoiler: I didn't run out of gas.

Most of today's drive was through Colorado, which was also supremely uninteresting since I've made that trip several times. When I got close to Denver, I veered off and went to Boulder instead - I'm checking it out as a potential place to live (which is looking highly likely at this point), and I wanted to scope things out. After only a couple of hours there, I was in love - I had a nicoise salad while sitting in a restaurant overlooking a pedestrian shopping area, and the weather was perfect and everything was delightful (even the bluegrass buskers playing banjos and washboards on the sidewalk, which I normally don't love but was somehow into today). The only downer was the moment when, halfway into my salad, I had a sudden, intense fear that the pile of indeterminate shredded white matter was actually crab - but the waiter eventually told me that it was 'confetti eggs', which I've never heard of, but at least I didn't spend tonight throwing up everything I've ever eaten).

So, Boulder gets a big thumbs up - it actually reminds me a lot of Palo Alto/Berkeley, but with fewer Teslas and more potential for snow. I drove around a bit more after eating, then came to Denver, where I sat at Avanti and journaled until it was time to meet up with Katie. I got to her house before she did, and the nanny stupidly let me watch them until Katie got back, which meant that I let them draw all over themselves in an effort to buy their love.

Then we ate supper (delish pulled pork and sweet potatoes), and I made mojitos for me and Katie to enjoy in the basement while James got suckered into putting the girls to bed. And now I need to go to bed as well - goodnight!

riding in the radio while we destroy the world

I'm in Nebraska, and it's just as annoying to be here as it always is. However, I should count my blessings - I made it to North Platte without incident (other than the insect genocide committed by my windshield), and tomorrow I'll be in Denver and ready to start a new chapter (and by that I mean drink rosé with Katie).

Today was the end of this edition of #smalltownlife. I woke up in Iowa and spent a couple of hours taking care of tings - I wanted to leave my room in a decent state, so I straightened up, took out the trash, organized, and tossed whatever I didn't want to deal with into [censored]'s pile (that's mostly a joke). I also had breakfast with my parents - I don't know if my body is prepared for the bacon shortage it's about to undergo, but #noregrets.

Then I lazed about for awhile, since the idea of getting in my car was strangely unappealing - but sometime after 1pm, I finally left my ancestral abode and waved goodbye to my parents as I drove away. My car is packed to the gills with stuff, which is strangely a good thing since it means nothing is moving around (and so nothing is making noise). I had a lot of miles to cover today, and I probably should have left earlier. But I made it to North Platte in record time - I stopped a lot less than I usually do, but I lost a combined total of 40mins to 20mins of bathroom/caffeine/gas breaks + 20mins of delays due to construction on IA-34 + I-80. Still, making it here in 7.5hrs was pretty decent...

...so I checked into the same hotel I stayed in back in June (remember that?), and then went across the parking lot to have a 9:15pm dinner at Ruby Tuesday. Oddly, the bartender there remembered me - I've only been there once before, but when he handed me the drink menu, he said 'you're a red wine girl - I remember you'. I'm somewhat saddened that my haggard, road-trip-weary face is the only thing he knows, since after seven hours in a car I look like someone who could give road head in exchange for meth [editor's note: I have no personal experience with any of this]. But he's right - I'm a red wine girl. So I had the same chicken I ordered last time, and a glass and a half of pinot noir, and we discussed Colorado - he's moving there next week, so perhaps I'll run into him in a bar in Colorado somewhere (in fact, he said as I was leaving, 'hope to see you again, but I hope it's not here'...which is a sentiment I agree with wholeheartedly, since I never really want to come to North Platte again).

And now I need to sleep - Denver and all sorts of adventures await. Goodnight!

when elvis went to hollywood

My car is all loaded up and I'm ready to head back across Nebraska, which does not get any more interesting with repetition. Iowa was covered in haze and smoke from the wildfires in Canada and Montana, which added a layer of grim foreboding (or just something vaguely orange) to the sky. And so after a day of packing and planning, and an evening of eating (barbecued chicken and fried potatoes) and watching fine CBS programming, it's time for bed - goodnight!

the news is dead

Nothing fun to report - I spent the day eating breakfast, drinking coffee, looking at apartments in Colorado (via the internet - I'm still in Iowa), packing up my stuff (how did I end up with so much stuff here?!), eating supper (barbecued chicken ftw), and losing at Ticket to Ride.

And now I need to go to bed so I can do it all again tomorrow - I need to get my car loaded up with all the millions of items I somehow fit into it on the way here from California nine months ago, and at the moment I have no idea how it all fit the first time. So, hopefully some sleep will prepare me to play tetris with my car and all my belongings - goodnight!

love's been a little bit hard on me

Today was a highly variable day. That, in immediate retrospect, sounds a little bizarre, but let's just roll with it.

I spent most of the day in a very unvaried way, actually...I spent basically the entire day in the kitchen, talking to family members. I woke up and had coffee and breakfast with my parents, and while breakfast was happening, [censored] showed up. [Censored] was followed shortly thereafter by Aunt B, who was down to visit Gram, her bees, and us (I have no idea what order of preference she had, but in my reality she was happy to see us). So we sat around and talked until it was time for her to go back to Des Moines - I'll see her again in Denver, but it was great to see her now.

After she left, I spent some quality time hanging out in the kitchen, and eventually [censored] and I watched a lot of [censored] until it was time for supper. Mom made a super tasty dinner - a new york strip roast with the same crust as prime rib (yum), sweet corn, and potato salad - which we all enjoyed tremendously. Then we squeezed in two games of Ticket to Ride - Dad won the first and Mom won the second, and I realized that I've probably spent 200-300 hours of my life staring at an upside-down map of the US since both Rail Baron and Ticket to Ride are based on US maps and I always sit on the north side of the map. Great use of time, eh?

Then it was almost time for bed, but [censored] somehow [censored] a fucking [CENSORED] with my mesh [censored] in the [censored], which really livened things up. So now I need to somehow try and sleep without wondering whether [censored] is waiting for me outside my [censored], which may be difficult since I've gone soft from city living.

But I'll be returning to city living soon enough - I think I'm leaving for Denver on Tuesday, which means I should sleep so I can pack tomorrow. Goodnight!

terra incognito

I meant to go to bed ages ago (of course, as usual, etc.). Today was pretty decent, all in all - I spent some quality time journaling over my coffee this morning, which is a much better way to get my day started than reading twitter for an hour. I also ate some lunch and dealt with some random tasks, and then I helped my mom with some volunteer stuff (related to the round barn, which required several trips and some silliness, but it was all done without either of us breaking our necks on a ladder, so that was lucky).

After that, I was kind of wiped out, so I lazed about in the kitchen for longer than planned, and then came downstairs and took an even-more-unplanned nap. Then I showered and did some work around my room - I'm driving back to Denver next week and I'm planning to take a lot of stuff with me, and I need to start organizing now so that I can load my car more effectively.

But I couldn't work forever - I had supper plans with Hannah (a friend from high school who is also my distant cousin). We were going to meet in town, since Ludlow's (a restaurant) had been closed for a few months and just reopened under new ownership this week - but when we got there, it was totally packed and people were waiting outside. This never happens, but it's good to see they're opening well. So, we drove to Seymour instead - this was a total backtrack for Hannah, but this is the price you have to pay in an area where the next closest restaurant is fifteen miles away (no joke: for several months, the nearest place my parents could go out to eat was fifteen miles away).

Luckily, fifteen miles around here is reliably 15-20min depending on whether you're taking pavement or gravel, so getting there was easy. So we ate dinner and talked for quite awhile - it was probably better that we went to Seymour since we wouldn't have been able to linger at our table at Ludlow's. It was great to see her, as usual, and also great to say hi to the taxidermied deer heads on the walls.

And now, I am desperate for sleep - goodnight!

don't put your blame on me

I had a lovely day in ye olde Iowa. The morning was consumed by a) going down a wikipedia rabbit hole on genetics, which started by looking up coelacanths (it's a fish - there, I saved you an hour), and b) making bolognese sauce. My bolognese sauce takes multiple hours - first, an hour or more of cooking veggies and hamburger and milk and wine and spices to reach the right mix, and then six or eight hours in the slow cooker to meld it all together. So I got the actual work part of it done around noon, and then I did the dishes, showered, and ate a v. quick sandwich before proceeding with the second half of my day....

...which involved picking up my car (I got the water pump replaced, yay), then taking my mom on an adventure to two towns north of us. The first stop was a greenhouse, where she perused the remnants of their summer plants and bought a couple of things. The second was Indianola, where I canceled a post office box I'd gotten there for writing stuff - I never get anything, and since I'm leaving next week and may not be back until Christmas, I figured it made sense to cancel it now. While there, we saw a car that had just lost its entire front passenger wheel, so I was feeling v. smug about doing my preventative maintenance before suffering such disasters.

Then we drove home (Indianola is an hour away, which is slightly inconvenient) and ate the bolognese sauce with some gluten free spaghetti. Mom also made garlic bread with gluten free bread, so that was a yummy accompaniment. My dad had been gone all day, but he got back in time for supper, so we enjoyed it while hate-watching King of Queens (no, wait, it's Kevin Can Wait, but I still hate it). Then we watched Big Brother (our hometown boy well and truly screwed himself, and he deserves to go home for it), and then watched Zoo, and now I need to sleep so I can get some stuff done tomorrow. Goodnight!

i'm only human after all

I haven't gone two nights without blogging since the silent retreat I went on in Bali - and the last two days have been anything but silent. Monday I awoke in Zach and Maggie's house at a rather early hour so that I could leave when they left - I said goodbye to Maggie and Eddie before eight a.m., but then Zach and I went out for breakfast. This was a lovely end to my weekend - we had crepes and I loaded up on coffee for the drive home, and we also had a meandering conversation about life, books, memories, etc. Then I took him to work, where he showed me around his lab - I saw many wonders, and I was super impressed by his work. However, I'm also happy that I went down the romance novelist path instead of the nematode-counting path, even if he may make major breakthroughs in our understanding of aging mechanisms and I may just make major breakthroughs in coming up with synonyms for penises. #noregrets

After I said goodbye to Zach, I drove home, which took several hours (and a couple of stops for caffeine, bathrooms to deal with the results of caffeine, and snacks to keep me going). I spent the rest of Monday wasting time and eating corn, which is the definition of my usual #smalltownlife antics.

Tuesday, I wasted more time, but didn't eat corn. Instead, I tried and failed to answer emails. I also learned that crickets can eat clothing, which was a "key learning", as they say in corporate America.

Today, I vowed to stay off social media - I need a break, since I clearly did nothing yesterday, mostly because I spent the whole day checking twitter like a fucking addict. And for the most part I succeeded - I still read some news and read some emails, and also got a brief fix from a long convo with Katie, who told me some stuff about current events (and I told her about the Twitter parody of Joel Osteen called Joel Dongsteen, which takes Osteen quotes and replaces 'God' with 'your dick', which yields hilarious results if you hate Joel Osteen as much as I do).

But today felt better than yesterday, since I sent like five emails instead of negative two emails, so that's great. And I drove into town to pick up some groceries, so that also felt like a real accomplishment. And then I spent the evening watching fine CBS programming (the hometown boy on Big Brother made a totally dumb move that will probably cost him his game, but I'm cool with that). And now it's time to sleep - goodnight!

don't belong to no city, don't belong to no man

I'm still at Zach and Maggie's - I'd thought about going home tonight mostly so that I would have a full day there tomorrow, but I decided I didn't want to drive back through vast swathes of rural wasteland in the dark. But we had a lovely day today - Maggie was on call and had to go into the hospital, so Zach and I took Edna to a 'museum' that is basically a gigantic multi-story playground built from an old factory with all kinds of cool places to climb, crawl, jump, and generally burn off energy. Of course, this left me totally exhausted and didn't seem to phase Eddie a bit.

But it meant that Zach and I got some time to talk while she jumped around, so that was great. I also got some solo catch-up time with Maggie while Eddie and Zach both napped later in the afternoon. And we ended it all with a walk to a park (where I nearly nauseated myself on the swings), followed by some tasty Indian-style butter chicken at home.

And now I may contemplate going to bed early so that I can leave when they leave for work and head back to ye olde Iowa - goodnight!

fallen empires and raging bush fires

Way too tired to blog, since I got up at 6:15am (shocking, I know) - but I got up, showered, made coffee, and drove off in search of friendship. And by that I mean that I kept my long-arranged weekend rendezvous with Zach and Maggie (and their daughter Edna, who is an adorable toddler dictator). It took several hours to get to them, but it was worth it - I rolled in around one, and we chatted while she napped before taking her to a circus. Some of it was quite impressive - the tumbling acts were incredible, and the contortionists were highly disturbing (and since Maggie is an endocrinologist, she was guessing which genetic issues they probably had to yield such crazy joint/limb configurations). The elephants, however, were super sad - I would have rather not seen them. And I did wonder what life decisions could possibly take a man down a path toward wearing a sparkly shirt in the middle of a circus tent while herding camels and miniature zebras around in a circle....

...but I'll probably never know the answer to that. After the circus, we came home, ate dinner, read books to Eddie, and then we all passed out as though we're octogenarians in truth rather than just verging on old. And now I'm going to bed for realsies - goodnight!

put me in the hospital for nerves and then they had to commit me

No blog tonight (except, actually, this is a blog, unlike last night, when I didn't post at all). I've had a v. lazy couple of days, but I need to go to bed immediately, since I have plans tomorrow that require waking up at 6am (shock, horror). Goodnight!

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strange)

Today was v. sloth-filled. I woke up and spent too much time on my phone, so I put it down and went upstairs without it...and then promptly discussed politics with my parents for two hours, which was just like being on Twitter except with fewer gifs. But I got a tasty breakfast out of it (my dad made hash browns in addition to the usual bacon/eggs, and there was still watermelon from our eclipse trip), so it was still better than Twitter. #winning

I did eventually get some work done - I spent the afternoon outside, messing around in my journal, and that was all lovely. Then I ran into town to grab some stuff for dinner, and I ran into Gloria and also my old chemistry/French teacher, so that was entertaining. We had taco salad for supper (yum), and I made margaritas for me and my dad (also yum), and we watched Big Brother (the rodeo clown on this season is actually from my county here), and it was all v. lovely.

But now I need to sleep and do a better job of actually getting work done tomorrow - goodnight!

i face in the direction i am bound

Apologies (to myself, mostly) for not blogging last night - when I'm home I tend to fall into some sort of torpor by 10pm, and blogging becomes increasingly difficult. Or maybe it's that it's been so long since I've been somewhere that counts as 'home' that I'm willing to abandon everything for the chance to lie in bed for as long as possible.

Either way, I should start off by saying that yesterday was great - although we didn't see the full totality of the eclipse because it was cloudy and kinda raining during the peak moment. Sadness. If it had been half an hour later, the skies had cleared enough for us to see it, but it wasn't meant to be.

Still, we had a delightful time - it was a family reunion of sorts, since we met up with Uncle Mark and Aunt Kathy in a tiny, tiny town called Hale, Missouri. Living Wamplers were slightly outnumbered by dead Wamplers at this affair - this is the town where my granddad grew up, and his parents, grandparents, and two uncles and an aunt are buried there, all in a row in a small cemetery just outside of town. We spent most of the lead-up to the eclipse in a park in the middle of town, where there were picnic tables in a shelter house and a bunch of people from surprisingly far-flung places (aka Minnesota and Wisconsin). But just before the totality we loaded up (ourselves...we left the food and stuff on a picnic table) and went to the cemetery, where the six of us who lived stood and watched the eclipse with the dead.

It would have been even cooler if we'd actually seen the corona - but even with the clouds, it was obvious that the land turned dark as nearby security lights came on and dogs howled in the distance. And I hadn't been down there since my great-granddad died (when I was eight; my great-grandma died when I was twelve, but we were in Ukraine when she died and didn't come back for the funeral), so I'm glad that we made the trip.

After the totality, we went back to the shelter house and picnicked, which was delightful (helped along by the wine Kathy brought...I'm pleased to report that I'm not the only lush in the family). We also met a woman who works for the newspaper/museum/library (#smalltownlife) who knew our family name, so she opened up the museum for us so that we could take a look around. They had a picture of my granddad and his twin in grade school, as well as some other interesting relics, so it was worth a visit.

Then we drove home in a long line of cars headed north, but the only slowdown was in Chillicothe (home of sliced bread! according to a mural, and backed up by a fact-check on Wikipedia, which says they had the first bakery to ever use a bread-slicing machine). When we got home, we generally hung out, had supper (ribeyes and sweet corn), and then took a break while my parents went to a round barn meeting. Then we played a quick game of Ticket to Ride, which my dad won handily.

Today was a bit more lowkey - I got up later than I should have and earlier than I wanted to so that [censored] and I could deal with an issue with my [censored]. Then I spent the afternoon hanging out with my dad in the kitchen, saying [censored] to [censored] (who has to go back to work, alas), writing in my journal on the back porch, and eating supper with my parents (yummy pork chops and baked potatoes and green beans and watermelon). I also talked to Terry briefly, and I enjoyed some wine that I'd stockpiled here - if wine really is good for you, I'm losing out on a lot of health benefits while being here, so I figured I should medicate.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

make the waters come and wash me away

Today was a v. typical Sunday in #smalltownlife. I woke up around 9:30, which was an hour and a half later than I intended, but still early enough to throw on some clothes and go into town with my dad to see my grandma. She is the same as always (alive, unable to remember five seconds ago), but as always, I'm glad I went to see her.

Then we came home and my dad made breakfast for all of us. We ate and talked and generally enjoyed ourselves. Meanwhile, I was engaging in a bit of rapacious capitalism - when I ordered eclipse glasses for the family, I discovered that the best option was to get a pack of 25 direct from the manufacturer. Of course, we don't need 25 - so with [censored]'s help, I sold a bunch of them. We save a couple for my niece, and gave a couple to [censored]'s friends [censored], who came out and visited for awhile with their adorable daughter [censored] (who calls [censored] "[censored]", which [censored] hates, but is on the same level as 'Auntie Wamp', which is Ian's name for me, so [censored] will hopefully get over it).

But we ended up selling enough at $4 apiece to cover the cost of the glasses + most of the food I picked up for tomorrow, so this was a v. worthwhile endeavor (especially since they cost me $1 apiece). I was afraid the bottom would fall out of the market this afternoon since the forecast isn't looking good, but we'll see what happens.

We spent the evening getting ready for tomorrow's eclipse outing, eating supper (brats, scalloped potatoes, baked beans), and playing a game of Ticket to Ride (which I won handily). And now I need to sleep so that we can get on the road in the morning - goodnight!

cover up the sun

I had a lovely day in Iowa...I got just enough sleep, then spent most of the day hanging out. [censored] and I did some work on our [censored] (mine supposedly has a problem with the water pump, but I am skeptical and wondering if the Toyota dealer was trying to upsell me on an expensive service). I also went to the grocery store to prep for the solar eclipse, and then we all went out for supper at our favorite (also, our only) local restaurant. Prime rib and other assorted foods came out to $78 for four people, which is one of the many ways in which Iowa beats California.

But I've already fallen asleep while typing this once, so I won't regale you with any more stories. Goodnight! And happy birthday to Katrina!

punk rock video

I awoke this morning in Nebraska, wishing that I could snap my fingers and skip the rest of the drive (even though the drive across Iowa is infinitely more enjoyable than the drive across Nebraska). But I couldn't escape my fate that easily - so I showered, packed up, ate the free hotel breakfast (great coffee, tasty sausages, really sad powdered eggs), and headed east. I made pretty good time, although I had to stop in Creston (Iowa) for lunch - which required going into a McDonald's and sitting there, since I can no longer have my go-to road trip protein (McNuggets) and also can't easily eat a quarter pounder without the bun. Yes, life is hard.

But I got to my ancestral home a little before 2pm, and my wandering lifestyle can halt for awhile (j/k, I'm going on a road trip next weekend, and that doesn't count our plans to watch the eclipse deep in the dark heart of Missouri).

And now, I need to sleep - I spent some quality time on the patio this afternoon, but I want to spend even more time there tomorrow. Goodnight!

you got something to prove, you got nothing to lose

I need to go to bed - today was yet another long day on I-80 and I'm ready to sleep. This is my ninth or tenth time crossing Nebraska, and my sixth solo voyage...and Nebraska is super fucking boring even on the first pass, so today was pretty annoying. But it started off great - I had breakfast with Katie, and we daydreamed about how wonderful it would be if I lived in Denver/Boulder (I realize that some of you will not be happy to hear this, so apologies in advance for leaving you forever).

But I had to get on the road eventually, and then I drove alllll day. I'm spending tonight in Lincoln, the capital of this illustrious (aka incredibly boring) state...I got here around 7:30, and then had dinner at a Mexican place nearby. And now I'm going to sleep early - I'm ready for Iowa and some #smalltownlife, so I don't want to dawdle while getting out of here tomorrow. Goodnight!

juggaloooooooooos

No blog tonight, I've stayed up too late with Katie and I must sleep so I can drive to Iowa tomorrow. Goodnight!

another day in paradise

I'm in Denver, and I should go to bed immediately so that I can eke out whatever sleep I can get before the dulcet tones of children's screams wake me up in the morning. You can probably guess from that that I'm staying at Katie's tonight (and tomorrow night)...I woke up in SF at six a.m., showered and threw my stuff in my rental car, and drove to SFO. I made it there with enough time to eat breakfast (one of the best airport breakfasts I've ever had - I need to remember that the wine bar next to gate 70 serves a killer breakfast), and then I boarded my flight.

We were slightly delayed, and then as the pilot was taxiing to the runway they slammed on the brakes to avoid another plane, throwing one of the flight attendants into the galley wall, where she appeared to hurt her shoulder. However, we took off anyway even though the attendant looked miserable for the rest of the flight - I guess United's new policy is to leave you on the plane if they've injured you, so I guess that's progress!

sssanyway. I spent most of the flight napping, snacking, and reading the inflight magazine, since I was too tired to contemplate anything else. When we got to Denver I retrieved my bags, took a lyft to Katie's, dropped my luggage off, and then walked to Avanti to meet her for a quick drink. This turned into me having a glass of pinot by myself since she had trouble finding parking, and we would have only had twenty minutes together there even in the best circumstances since she needed to go home to relieve the nanny.

But she parked long enough to come in for two minutes, and then we came back here, made dinner, did some crafting activities with the girls, ate, and then gossipped off and on for the rest of the night, as we're wont to do. And now I must sleep (and also hydrate) - goodnight!

if you want to destroy my sweater

No blog tonight - I spent the day taking care of business and the evening hanging out with John and Jess (and Ian, who is very close to being able to say 'wamp'). John made a cocktail that was better than I expected it to be (we named it 'walk the dog'), and then we had some wine and some tamales and a lot of conversation on their second-floor deck + in their living room (mostly about life, careers, the pursuit of happiness, and the genetics around quadruple half cousins, as we do).

But now I need to sleep - I'm leaving for Denver relatively early tomorrow, which means leaving Berkeley even earlier in an attempt to survive traffic. Goodnight!

storming through the party like my name is el niño

I had a great day, but I don't want to blog tonight - I need to get off screens and devices and news sources, which is basically the refrain for 2017. I woke up relatively early this morning, did some work, and got a mani/pedi - the nails all looked great until, much later in the day, I tripped over my own sandal and wiped out on the sidewalk, bruising my knee and scraping the paint off my big toe. This is not the first time I've tripped like that and I'm sure it won't be the last, so I brushed the dirt off my shoulders (okay, my knees) and moved on with my life. I also got a bottle of nail polish at Walgreens tonight that is a close-enough substitute for the color that got scraped off, so no one will see my unsightly toe and assume I'm a vagrant.

Anyway, after the mani/pedi, I ran a couple of errands and had a salad at sweetgreens (yum). Then I went back to my temporary abode and worked for a couple of hours, but I slacked off to go shopping with Jess. Jess *never* shops for herself, and I was on a mission to make her buy something (err, facilitate her desire to buy something). So we went down to Fourth Street, explored some clothing shops, explored some even more interesting paper shops, and ended up at Marine Layer, where Jess bought a super cute dress and I got a sweatshirt and a button-down. I also discovered that Nopalito has a cookbook, which is a game-changer! If I could make their food at home, I might never have to come to San Francisco again....

...j/k, I would miss the three of you from SF who read this blog too much to abandon you forever. After we shopped, we went back to the neighborhood and hung out with John and Ian, and I delivered the lemons that Adit had given me to give to them - I'm hopeful that this will turn into limoncello that I can benefit from, but we shall see.

Then I called my parents, and then I spent the rest of the evening working (with a break for Mexican food, since I was craving chips like there's no tomorrow...and maybe there won't be a tomorrow, but I'm not in the mood to think about nukes and Nazis, so I'm going to bed instead). Goodnight!

theme and variation

I'm going to bed asap because I have a million things to do tomorrow and not nearly enough time in which to do them. Today was lovely, though, with some unexpected twists. I spent the morning procrastinating far too long on twitter (news is enraging, particularly coming out of Charlottesville - remind me again how we used to have all sorts of national pride over the fact that we destroyed the Nazis? although since some of the top Nazis got to come to the US and be scientists and military advisors after the war, one could argue we didn't exactly do everything we could to root out Nazi ideology..).

But I managed to put away the twitter, make some coffee, take care of some stuff around the house, and then speed (aka crawl) across the bridge to the evil city. I hadn't seen Katrina on this trip, so we agreed to meet for brunch at Nopalito. This is, of course, one of my favorite places to eat when I'm in the city, and it was great to spend some time there while catching up with her - we went deep on a lot of topics, many of which were amusing/wtf-generating.

When we were done with that + our errands, I dropped her off at a grocery store and said my fond farewells. Then I got my hair cut - I was way overdue for a bang trim, and also ready for some of the layers to be cleaned up, and my stylist (Lauren, whom I adore) did a great job. While I was sitting in her chair, I got a text from Adit/Priyanka suggesting that I stop by - if they'd texted thirty minutes later they would have been out of luck, since I would have gone back to the east bay and categorically refused to drive the bridge again.

So, after my hair was stylish again, I went to their new house - they recently bought a place and are in the middle of getting the permits for a renovation. The house shows a lot of promise, although I'm guessing that the construction will take awhile. But we had a good time hanging out in the backyard talking about life while watching Vihaan trying/not trying to impale himself on various thorns, brambles, scissors, and other instruments of toddler destruction.

Eventually, we took Vihaan home so that his grandmother could start the dinner/bedtime process, and then Adit, Priyanka and I went to Namu Gaji (a Korean place near them that I also really like, although I don't make it there all that often, mostly because it usually has a line). Since today was Outside Lands over in Golden Gate Park, Adit's neighborhood was pretty empty, and they were able to seat us right away. We had a delish stone pot (with a small worm crawling on one of the cucumbers, but we ate the dish anyway) and a couple of other dishes, and we discussed how we're living and how to move faster and what we want to accomplish this year, and it was all v. good.

But we're getting old, and they needed to get back to Vihaan and I wanted to come home and sleep, so I drove back to Berkeley as soon as I left them and was here before 8:30. This means I missed out on potential fun in the city with other fun people (aka Vidya), but I probably need to stay in tonight and get some rest anyway so that I don't sabotage my body for all the stuff I've got coming up.

Speaking of, it's time for bed - goodnight!

so come dance this silence down through the morning

I had a long day that was totally full of conversation, so I'm ready to crawl into bed and turn my brain off for awhile. I woke up this morning in time to shower and stop at Philz before heading to the evil city - there are things to be said for the Bay Area, but those things are mostly reduced to a) Philz coffee and b) friendship. Of course, Karl the Fog was devouring San Francisco, as he always does in August (#fogust)...but better fog than a nuclear holocaust, amirite?

Too soon, too soon. sssanyway, I got to SF a little before eleven and did a bit of work in my car before meeting Barbara and Grace for lunch at the Cliff House. This is our usual spot since it's convenient from the north and south bay, but it's really not convenient from the east bay. However, the ocean view was as delightful as always, and it was good to see Grace and Barbara one last time before I head out again. When we were done, Barbara and I went over to Veronica's - V lives on the ocean and is quite close to Cliff House, but she couldn't come to lunch since she had electricians and furniture deliveries and all sorts of other useful-but-temporarily-terrible situations going on.

So the three of us hung out for awhile. When Barbara left, I probably should have left as well...but I looked at maps and it was going to take me 90mins to get back to Berkeley (25mi). So, I lingered until Veronica invited me to stay for dinner, which I then acted surprised about accepting (okay, maybe that's not exactly how it went down, but that's not entirely inaccurate). So we hung out the rest of the afternoon, and when her husband got home we hung out some more and also ordered sushi. I avoided all crab, but I'm still not feeling super great after that eating experience...it was delicious, but I feel vaguely queasy now, and I don't know whether it's some other shellfish issue, some cross-contamination, something psychosomatic, or bad dreams of my recent crab experiences. If I vomit for three hours tonight I'll probably just kill myself and be done with it, so if that happens, know that I loved you all very much.

But I doubt I'll get sick...fingers crossed. I didn't get home until almost eleven, since we had many things to discuss, and now I'm desperate for sleep so I can take care of lots of tings tomorrow. Goodnight!

if she remembers, she hides it whenever we meet

I have relocated to a house down the block from where I spent the last ten days - which means no more access to the hot tub (sadness) but also no more responsibilities to a dog who sometimes adored me and sometimes wanted to eat my face. I spent the morning getting ready, packing, walking the dog, tidying up after myself, etc., and it's a good thing that I was efficient about this because the owners came back several hours earlier than I was expecting. But that was actually good for me - it meant that I could leave their place around noon without worrying that Lily would think I was abandoning her just like everyone else had.

So I said goodbye to the dog and dragged my stuff into my rental car, which I then drove halfway down the block so that I could unload it. I'm staying at John's parents' house since they're in Tahoe this week, which is super convenient for me (and v. kind of them). I unloaded my car when I got here, then promptly left to run some errands - this mostly involved going to Walnut Creek and window shopping (and shopping shopping), which was a fun way to spend the afternoon.

Then I came back here and spent an hour talking to my friend Maya, who is also a writer, and I am slowly seducing her into the idea of coming to Denver next year for a writing retreat. This is an easy sell because next year's RWA conference happens to be in Denver, and if I'm living there and have a guest room (obvi not a done deal yet, but my inclinations are in that direction), she could stay with me.

As soon as I was done with her, Jess called, and we rendezvoused and John and Jess's house for dinner. John made some vegetarian tacos (zucchini and onion) that were utterly delish, so I loaded up on that (which was really a perfect base for guac/salsa/cheese, which is what the people actually want). I also loaded up on boulevardiers and port...it's clear that I'm growing up since port is now a delightful sipping moment at the end of the evening rather than the disastrous cheap port debacles that Adit poured down my throat so many years ago. And yes, that's me playing the victim and blaming Adit for all my bad choices, #sorrynotsorry.

But by nine it was time for all good adults to be in bed, so I left John and Jess and walked across the street to settle into my new abode. I wanted to fall asleep then, but instead I unpacked and did a load of laundry (not necessary from a quantity of clothes standpoint, but v. necessary from how much dog hair was on my stuff). I fell asleep waiting for stuff to dry, then woke up and folded tings, but now it's time to sleep in earnest. Goodnight!

we could have had it all

I know I start half my posts with saying that I'm too tired to blog, but tonight it's really true. I spent the morning answering emails, the afternoon shopping for clothes (Berkeley has a surprising number of nice capitalist shops given its hippie reputation), the late afternoon hanging out with John and Ian in their backyard (Ian didn't die despite finding every rake in the bay area), and the evening with my friend Rachael (who taught my Venice retreat). Rachael and I spent copious amounts of time in the hot tub, and when she left I decided to reenter for some alone time under the stars (and by stars I mean fog)...so it's no wonder that I'm wiped out, since white wine and steam will do that to a girl.

And now it's time for bed - I have to pack tomorrow to relocate to a different house on this street since the owners are getting back in the afternoon, and I'll probably have to hide my packing so that Lily doesn't freak out and trigger all her abandonment issues. Wish me luck with that - goodnight!

help me stay awake i'm falling

I had a v. lovely day even if it involved far too much driving around the bay area (which is a good reminder that I never want to have to drive/commute here regularly again). I woke up a little later than I should have this morning after only getting six hours of sleep, so I really should go to bed immediately...but I managed to drag myself out of bed, make coffee, walk Lily, eat breakfast, shower, and get out the door in a reasonable time frame. I needed to pick up a rental car at SFO, and before I did that I needed to stop at Nordstrom in SF (which was basically on the way) to pick up a pair of shoes I'd bought from the anniversary sale. So I took BART from Berkeley to SF, made a quick stop to pick up the shoes (they're lovely, thanks for asking!), and then took BART to SFO to get the rental car.

Unfortunately the car kind of smells like someone was trying to cover up the smell of vomit, which is a real bummer since it has less than two thousand miles on it. But it was the only one available, except for one that had a note on the window in marker chalk saying that there was an issue with the tires, so I chose smell over risk. I like driving with my windows down anyway, so it isn't the end of the world.

Then I drove back into SF to have a too-quick lunch with Lauren (aka Subz) - her life is chaotic and mine has been v. focused on being a hermit in the east bay, so this was a good chance for us to get together. We talked about all manner of subjects in a relatively short period of time, and I was super bummed to say goodbye to her - but I try to content myself with the knowledge that I'll be back in September, so hopefully I'll see her more thoroughly then.

Then I drove back the east bay, which took an hour at 3pm (this place is a cesspool). Then I did a couple of hours of work. Then I picked up Chandlord at the BART station, and we hung out in the backyard and drank wine and talked about life. Eventually Claudia and Sam showed up, and even more eventually the pizza we ordered showed up, and it was super fun (C/S) and super tasty (the pizza). At some point John and Jess joined us and we spent a long, lovely time in the hot tub, drinking prosecco and pretending it was spring break (and pretending that we don't all need the hot tub for our aging joints).

And now I need to go to bed so that I can accomplish all the things tomorrow - goodnight!

outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered, outplanned

If you'd asked me three hours ago whether I would still be awake right now, I would have said no. Now that I've typed that, I feel like that could be the title of my memoir: "If you'd asked me three hours ago whether I would still be awake right now, I would have said no: The Sara Wampler Story".

But I stayed awake after all, despite a day that made me sleepy. I spent some quality time walking the dog and eating yogurt and messing around in my bullet journal - I need to get back on track with my tasks and writing, and planning helps with that. I also had a long conversation with my friend Barbara (the one who lives in Colorado), another long conversation with my mom, and a third conversation with a guy I met at RWA who wanted to talk about operations/management stuff (not long, but interesting). Then I took a nap in the sun because #yolo.

But after that, I buckled down, did some work, took care of some house chores, and then went over to say hi to Ian because he was making kissing faces at me through the window (supervised by his nanny, who luckily knows who I am and so didn't call the cops on me). As I was walking over, I ran into John, who was just getting home from work, so we sipped some port and watched Ian walk/crawl around and generally troll us.

Jess eventually got home, and we had dinner (tamales! and a boulevardier for me) before they put Ian to bed and I came back to walk the dog again. They rejoined me later, though, for some hot tub action - but this is all v. sedate, since we are old people and want to go to bed at nine.

Of course, I didn't actually go to bed at nine - I came upstairs, quite relaxed, and then finished reading the book I started the other night (PRIMATES OF PARK AVENUE - pretty good, all in all). And now I muuuuuust sleep - goodnight!

all monkeys do what they see

I had a pretty perfect day in the dirty east bay. I got enough sleep, then got up, showered, took Lily for a walk, and talked to my parents - probably not for long enough, and definitely way earlier in the day than usual, but I wanted to catch up with them before the rest of the day's plans commenced.

Then, John and Jess and Ian and I went down to Saul's (aka the best place to have breakfast/lunch/brunch in Berkeley, although don't tell Jess that we had brunch since she disapproves of such a dissolute meal). We had to wait a little bit for a table, but it was totally worth it - I had my favorite corned beef hash, which was as perfect as always, and I also got a latke and inhaled almost all of it. John's spinach benedict looked amazing, as did Jess's pita/egg sandwich, and Ian did a great job trying to eat his crayons. In other words, we all won!

Then they left to come home, and I wandered around the neighborhood for a bit and bought some groceries just in time to get picked up from Safeway by Heather (aka dear respected madam). She v. kindly drove all the way up from San Jose to see me, and it was totally delightful - we spent a good seven hours hanging out, mostly on the back patio in the dappled sunlight with a bottle of rosé and some snacks. Then we ordered Indian food for dinner (pretty tasty, not the best I've ever had), and then we sat in the hot tub as the sun went down, and it was all pretty much perfect.

Then she left, I took a quick shower to get rid of the hot tub feeling, and I also messed around online for too long. But now it's time for bed - goodnight!

i stay awake with my disease

Way too tired to blog (I'd fallen asleep with the light on while reading, but I rallied to write this). I had a great day - brunch with Claudia (aka Santy Claude) at a ridiculously overpriced, trying-to-hard gluten free place, followed by Philz coffee, followed by an oddly meandering/entertaining conversation with a Berkeley hippie/construction contractor, followed by a nap in the sun and some quality time on the patio. Then I ate some soup, hung out with John and Jess and Ian and two boulevardiers (the land of wampertunity), walked Lily, and wrote in my journal as the sun went down.

After Ian was asleep, John and Jess came over and we hung out in the hot tub - this seemed like an acceptable risk, since a) his baby monitor was playing on their phone and b) Ian's window was closer to my outdoor jacuzzi than many nurseries are to living rooms in big houses around the country. It was a pretty idyllic end to the evening, and I followed it up by reading in bed until my eyes gave up the fight.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

someone how we mixed up goodbye and goodnight

I'm too tired to blog, which I realize is an all-too-common refrain. I got up this morning and took care of some tings, and then Veronica showed up and we of course had to catch up while I made an omelette. Then I walked the dog and we did a bit of work, but we had to take another break when Grace arrived. Grace came over from Marin for the day, and it was great to see her - the writing dates are one of the things I really miss while traveling.

Anyway, we all worked until lunch (with varying degrees of success), before picking up salads at Sweetgreen. Yes, I've become a California stereotype again. V had to leave round 3:15, but Grace and I kept going - alternating between reading and talking and discussing life with John, who dropped by to work at my kitchen table and also drink some of the limoncello that the house owners left for me.

Then Grace and I ordered thai delivery, which turned out to be really delicious (surprisingly so for delivery). We sat outside and enjoyed the evening, including when John and Jess showed up for an impromptu five-minute visit so that Ian could kiss me goodnight. I could also hear them yell 'wamp' through their kitchen window, so it's possible that this neighborhood doesn't really have boundaries in the same way that other neighborhoods do....

sssanyway, everyone eventually left me (after Grace and I laughed harder than I have for awhile after comparing notes on a writer who was v. v. successful in indie erotica back during the gold rush days, and who is now using a gofundme to pay for her divorce and is writing really short, really ridiculous erotica to try to cash it. Lol.

And now, after taking Lily for another walk and reading and daydreaming, I'm desperate feor bed - goodnight!

he said they toured the country far away from the rio grande, but the road just wore them down

I need to go to bed immediately - I spent far too much time staring at my computer today, and only a hard reset on my eyes will stop the headache currently brewing behind them. Today was pretty good, all in all - Veronica came over, of course, and we spent the morning working. We also ate leftover chicken tortilla soup, and I think I've convinced her that I'm an excellent cook (true, but I'm also putting way more effort into this than usual). Then we worked this afternoon, but when she left I had her drop me off at Philz, since I hadn't been there on this trip to California (waiting four days to go to Philz is criminal!).

I was going to write there, but I started texting [censored], and that turned into [censored], so no writing happened. Then I took a lyft back to the house, talked to my parents, and walked Lily, since she was v. eager to go for a walk (she's a weird dog; she refused to go this morning, then couldn't wait to go this afternoon). Then I talked to Terry half an hour later than we had scheduled - we'd been trying to catch up for awhile, so it's too bad that I kept her waiting because of this dog situation :(

But it was fun to catch up, so hopefully she'll forgive me. Then I had dinner with John and Jess and Ian - but it was in the third house I've been in on this block, since his parents bought the house across the street from them and they decided to eat over there tonight. I got a tour of the house, which is gorgeous; I also got twenty million kisses from Ian, who was being v. demanding that Auntie Wamp kiss him at every opportunity (you know when he wants a kiss because he scrunches up his lips into a pucker that takes up half his face, so the kisses are a little slobbery, but he's young enough to get away with it).

Then I came back to my house, soothed Lily since she had apparently decided I was never coming back after an hour away, and then worked until now. And now it's time to sleep - goodnight!

the girl you’ll always love, the one you have no memory of

Today was really lovely, all in all. I slept in a little later than planned, so I waited to walk the dog until after Veronica arrived - the dog (Lily) is now totally fine with me, so that's a good thing. Then I spent the morning writing and journaling, all of which was v. good for me.

But I had to get myself out of the story and into the shower so that I could get ready for my big plan of the day. V and I had a reservation for late lunch (1:45!) at Chez Panisse Cafe, which I was super excited for. I've been to a lot of great/famous restaurants in the Bay Area, but somehow I've never been to Chez Panisse. The lunch scene is more lowkey (especially in terms of ability to get reservations) than the dinner scene, and it was totally perfect. We sat by a window overlooking Berkeley, and it was a delightful place to have a glass of rosé and some wonderful conversation with a great friend. It was also a delightful place to eat duck (I don't usually order duck, but this was too delish to resist), and our dessert was somehow amazing despite being a relatively simple pairing of a blackberry sherbet on top of a meringue.

After that, I could have easily napped/daydreamed away the afternoon, but instead I parted ways with Veronica and went across the street to the grocery store, where I got stuff to make dinner tonight. I was in the mood for chicken tortilla soup, and I'd invited John and Jess over to partake of it with me. The cooking all went well and I was really enjoying it...until I discovered that the tortillas I bought today were somehow moldy even though they claimed they weren't expired yet. Gross. Luckily, I still had four from the fish tacos I'd made yesterday, and also John came to the rescue - he brought Ian and some corn masa and a tortilla press over and made me three more tortillas, which were perfect for the soup. We also had quite the adventure trying to keep Ian and Lily separate when they both wanted to get in each other's faces - perhaps it all would have turned out fine, but it seemed like a high possibility for disaster if they hung out in each other's space.

When the soup was done, John and Jess and Ian came back over, and we had a rather idyllic time outside until a bee drove us inside. We still enjoyed soup and limoncello inside until it was time for Ian to go to bed. Then I cleaned up, took Lily for another walk, and spent some quality time outside in the twilight with my laptop and my exploding to-do list.

And now I need to sleep so that I can repeat some aspects of this process tomorrow (mostly the friend time, sans the delish Chez Panisse lunch and my adventures in soup-making). Goodnight!

we keep living anyway...we rise and we fall and we break and we make our mistakes

I'm happy to report that my new dog friend seems happy enough - I'm pretty sure she won't eat my face off in the middle of the night, so that's good news. She didn't howl at all last night, and she was happy enough to go on walks this morning and tonight, so it all seems good. I probably shouldn't be away from the house too long since she seems to get neurotic again when I go away for awhile, but since I want to get some work done this week, that's not such a bad thing.

Anyway, today was good - Veronica came over again, and I sacrificed some quality writing time to make us some fish tacos (using the recipe that Aunt B made, which turned out really well). V left around 3:30, and then I took a nap and did some more work before meeting up with John and Jess (and Ian, who was reluctantly along for the ride) to go to Berkeley Bowl (the local version of Whole Foods). Chandlord (remember her?) met us there, since she took BART over from the city, and we went back to John and Jess's and ate the spoils of our Berkeley Bowl pillaging. When it was time for Ian to go to bed, Chandlord came over here briefly, but she took off pretty early to get back to the city. And then I walked the dog again and spent the rest of the evening playing around in my new journal - I go through a journal every 3-4 months, and it was time to start a new one.

And now I'm desperate for sleep - goodnight!