hey ashurbanipal

No blog...I was at work from 9-6, came home, did a bunch of cleaning around the house, ate leftover Mexican food from my Saturday night dinner at Verde, and then mistakenly opened Civilization. So, of course, I stayed up until 1am and did none of the work I was supposed to do tonight, but #noregrets. Goodnight!

seven nation army

I really should have gotten more work done today than I did - but I put in a full day, so while I wasn't maximally productive, I earned the v. dry, unhappy lunch that I ate. Yes, I am complaining about the free food - but it was suuuuuuper dry. Dry rice, dry green beans, dry tofu, and some v. dry pork (dried-out pork is a tragedy since pork can be so delish unless it's totally ruined). But, I did take time to eat with other people at lunch, during which I discovered that scuba divers have hand signals for different kinds of sea creatures, and also that one of the women on my team used to go to a boxing gym as a workout and ended up breaking three of someone's ribs. It's amazing the things I learn at lunch when I have time to hang out....

But at 5:20, I had to skedaddle - I had happy hour plans with my friend Dormain, whom I hadn't seen in forever. She lives in the dirty east bay (although her part of the east bay is actually quite clean) with her husband Anthony and their two kids; I know her through John/Jess/Anthony, since Anthony was John's high school friend and I've hung out with him on many fun occasions in adulthood.

In fact, looking through my blog to see what I said about them, I found this quote from early 2015 (the night of one of Jess's "Lieder Alive!" singing performances): "I also saw Anthony (the guy who threw me into a bush at Lauren's wedding), who now has long hair and looks a bit like he might be a vaguely famous European, and his wife Dormain, who is definitely pregnant." Heh.

So, the update is that Dormain is no longer pregnant, since her second kid was born after that. She was in town for work, and happy hour turned into a grazing sort of snacky dinner and lasted three hours, which was totally wonderful. We caught up on many many life tings, and also brainstormed my young adult book (she isn't a writer, but the conversation sparked some truly interesting ideas that I need to play around with). I hadn't spent quality alone time with her in forever, and I really enjoyed it - so hopefully she makes it out her again.

We parted ways around 8:30ish, and as I was walking to my car I randomly ran into some coworkers, so I grabbed some ice cream and talked about erotica with them, as one does. Then I came home and was lazy and did nothing, and now I need to sleep - goodnight!

fireside favourite

I had another lazy day, but it was more social than yesterday, so at least I have that going for me. I slept in a bit, and I spent the morning taking care of stuff around the house before making a v. tasty omelette and talking to [censored]. I also played just a bit of Civilization in the afternoon - not enough to satisfy the urge (or to finish the game), but I enjoyed it. And I talked to Terry for an hour and my parents for another hour, so that was a great amount of catching up with people even if it's through technology rather than face-to-face.

After that, I really just wanted to play Civ some more - but I had dinner plans with a coworker who just flew into town, so I rallied, put on a dress, and left the house. As I was getting ready, I reflected on how Sunday family dinner used to be a thing - both when I was young and it was actually my family (and it was lunchtime), and when I was less-young-but-still-younger-than-now and it was 'family time' Sunday evening gatherings at places like My Tofu House or Enjoy Vegetarian, where we mostly low-key harassed each other about our life choices. And as I was reflecting on that, I was considering whether/how to make the kind of networks here that would allow for that kind of social interaction....but I digress.

So I picked up Navin at his hotel, and then we went to Arcana, which I've been meaning to try for ages. It has exactly the hipster-instagrammable aesthetic that restaurants are expected to have now - the bartender in a denim shirt, the cool art and interesting lighting, the play with color and texture, etc. If you go to this kind of place, you know what I mean; if you don't, it looks pretentious as hell. Anyway, we sat on the patio - it was a perfect night for it, which meant we ended up lingering for 2.5 hours. Longer than I had planned, but totally worth it. The food was really tasty - we shared a bunch of small plates, and almost all of them were great. I pretended to like radishes since radishes with French butter and sea salt are all the rage (yes, I live a v. different life than I pictured when eating roasts at Sunday dinners in my youth). And these radishes were all right - probably heirloom, more carrot-shaped than round, and while I didn't like them, I slathered them in enough butter to survive.

But the tastiest thing was the thing I shouldn't have eaten - smoked trout on toast, and you'll just have to trust me when I say every bite was fucking delicious. We also had a mushroom salad with tasty mushrooms, various greens, and a perfectly poached egg. And we had some other dishes that were all tasty but not worth repeating. We also talked about Stanford - he's the only person I've met who also lived in Loro, Mirlo, and Castaño, although he was five years after me. And we of course went deep on our current reorg, which is always gratifying.

But eventually I had to call it quits - I had to do just a tiny bit of work tonight, so I came home and did that. And now I need to go to bed so I can seize the day tomorrow - goodnight!

one...more...turn

I'm having an incredibly lazy weekend - I'm telling myself I deserve it after weeks of madness, but my inner Puritan is unimpressed. Yesterday was a v. hard slog to end a week of hard slogs, with meetings straight from 9am to 5pm without any break at all, and so I was beyond done by the end of it.

So, last night I went to Pizzeria Locale and had some pizza and wine while writing some stuff related to my young adult book. But when I got home, I decided to play a game of Civilization, which I mostly hadn't played since Christmas. Maybe that was a mistake, since I played until I fell asleep last night, and I've played many hours today. But it's the best kind of mindless fun for me, so #noregrets.

Today was more of the same - I took care of some personal tasks and did about an hour of work for the day job, but the rest of the day was super lazy. I did drag myself out of the house to eat at Verde, where I was relatively restrained, which means I have half a meal sitting in my fridge for lunch tomorrow. And I journaled there rather than spending the whole time reading twitter, so that's a positive.

But now I really need to sleep - goodnight!

midnight feast

I'm still not caught up, despite slogging incessantly the past few days - being out so much in the last two months is definitely wreaking havoc on my work life, which is now wreaking havoc on my personal life. But that said, in the grand scheme of things I have balance - it's just that my balance has been taking multiple days off, followed by multiple days of crazy slogging. So, don't cry for me Argentina, or something.

sssanyway. Today was all work - I got there a little before nine, had meetings pretty much straight until 5, and then abandoned ship immediately to come home and relax for a bit. I ate the last of my leftover chicken tortilla soup, drank a glass of rosé, and took a forty-minute nap, which all fortified me to work for the last 3 hours. But now, I should probably prioritize sleep - my goal is to go all-in tomorrow so that I don't have to work over the weekend, so wish me luck with that. Goodnight!

does your mother know

This week is pretty boring for all of you - I spent the whole day working, and didn't leave the office until 6:15. I picked up takeout from my favorite Mediterranean place, and I proceeded to take a break and eat that while watching some Property Brothers-type show on HGTV.

Sadly, I had an hour long meeting with Singapore at 8, but after that I closed my laptop, poured a glass of wine, and read the latest installment of 5280 magazine (all about Colorado life). That relaxation may have been enough to fix me, so I'm going to bed and hoping tomorrow is smooth. Goodnight!

sandstorm

Today was a quick descent back into the grind - I was still feeling tired after yesterday, so I slept in and also took a nap from 5:30-6:30pm, but otherwise I mostly worked and tried to get caught up. It's probably a lost cause - but I was in the office from 9:30 - 4:30, then took a break for a couple of hours, and then worked from 8 to 11:30pm. That's not exactly how I wanted to spend my evening, but it was better than falling even further behind, I guess.

But since I've been staring at screens for hours, I'm going to abandon this and go to bed - goodnight!

a fresh poison each week

Nothing to share with you today - I stayed home sick, which mostly meant that I sat around on my couch and watched the Roast of Bruce Willis, which was funny (but not as funny as I'd hoped). And now, after spending a lot of time lying around / napping (+ a long conversation with [censored]), I am going to go to bed and continue to recovery process - goodnight!

my church offers no absolutes

I had a v. lazy day, which was exactly what I wanted. I had to run some errands this morning, but I was back in my house by 11:30ish, and I spent the next six hours doing pretty much nothing. I intended to write, but that mostly devolved into bullet journaling - but no regrets there, since I hadn't done a monthly spread in awhile and wanted to capture some highlights from the last couple of months (of which there were many, since the last couple of months have been super fun despite all the chaos in my work life).

Sometime after five, I should have eaten soup and forced myself to be productive. Instead, I went over to River and Woods, where I had poutine and wrote in my journal for another hour or so. Then I came home and took a brief nap...and then I had a v. late call with my parents. I had thought they were out of town today, but they were out of town yesterday - and so I was waiting for them to call me, while they were waiting for me to call them. Oops. So I got the usual update about kittens and trains and round barns, although it was pretty abbreviated, so I'll have to talk to them again tomorrow.

And then I tidied up a bit, pulled out my work laptop, and did a couple of quick things to prep for tomorrow. And now, even though it's early, I think I'll go to bed - goodnight!

hold on my darling

Somehow it's midnight, which is way too late for me - so you'll have to trust me when I say I had a good day. I mostly ran errands this morning, including a much-overdue trip to the grocery store; I spent the afternoon writing (or at least trying to). And I made chicken tortilla soup - the weather has cooled off a bit, and so while it's still not soup weather, it's not 'my face is melting off' weather either. While I was making it, we had a sudden brief thunderstorm with a particular roar of thunder so loud that it set some car alarms off. But then things calmed down and I was able to eat in peace.

I could have gone out tonight (someone invited me! I know, you're shocked!), but I wasn't feeling it, so I stayed in instead. I ended up watching 'First Wives Club' in the name of research - I'm still a little distracted by the idea of writing another historical sooner than originally planned, and my current idea is inspired by that title. I actually wasn't sure the movie held up all that well - I found all the characters to be somewhat annoying stereotypes. But it was good to watch it - especially in terms of understanding the 'beats' of the story. Once you start paying attention to story beats, you realize that most movies are perfectly timed for certain things to happen at certain minutes (because audiences are wired to expect those arcs), and this movie was no exception.

But now I really should be asleep - goodnight!

even on a cloudy day

I'm super tired, even though I mostly let myself sleep until eight... Work was good, but I'm behind, and there's so much to do and so little time in which to do it if I want to maintain my sanity. But I made it through the day, went to my regular building to pick up a package, and ended up spending an hour talking to a coworker (who I mostly 100% agreed with today, shocker).

By the end, I was beyond done, so I went to Verde and treated myself to Mexican food and a margarita (but only one because I'm a lady). Then I ran a couple of errands, came home, and did absolutely nothing productive ever since.

And now it's bedtime - goodnight!

shake me down

Today was an exercise in pain since I didn't get enough sleep last night - I woke up at 6:30am like I needed to, went downstairs and got some water, and promptly crawled back into bed for another 45min because I couldn't imagine staying awake at that point. But I eventually dragged myself out of bed, showered, and then went to the second day of my offsite. I was really cranky to be there - not because I don't love the people I work with, but because I get antsy and bored with vision/mission statements and was ready to answer some questions about our collective fate instead.

But I got to play with legos to take some of my aggression out - someone helpfully brought stuff to play with to help with the brainstorming, and while it may not have helped my brainstorming, it did keep me from strangling anyone (#smallvictories). I also took a break at some point to eat cheerios while sitting on a balcony, so that was pretty soothing. And the offsite actually went really well, all in all, despite my crankiness - so don't read anything into my annoyed mood.

We had a happy hour after, and I stayed for exactly and hour before bowing out and coming home (with a stop at my regular office building to pick up some packages). When I got here, I did a whole lot of nothing for a couple of hours - tried on some clothes (including the dress for Santy Claude's wedding, which fits well except for the fact that it's eight inches too long), kind of took a nap, ate some peanut butter, etc. Unfortunately, I had a call with Singapore/Hyderabad at 8:30, which got me out of my mellow groove. But now I'm going to ignore the work that has piled up and go to bed instead - goodnight!

i am full of wonder

I am also full of exhaustion. I got up at 6:30 this morning, had a video conference at 7:30, then ran an errand before heading into the office. I had an offsite all day today, which meant I had to have obligatory dinner with everyone after. We went to Chimera, which I hadn't been to before; the food was pretty tasty, although my chow fun was more bland than I wanted it to be (#firstworldproblems).

But then I had to come home so I could do another call at 9:30pm - today was truly poorly scheduled. I took a twenty-minute nap before the call, which saved my life - or it woke me up, since I just did work for another hour like a total idiot. Someone take my laptop away.

But now it's time for bed - goodnight!

cruel to be kind

Today was okay, all in all - I went to the nice office in the morning, which meant nicer breakfast and plenty of free space to try to concentrate. I went back to my office in the afternoon, where I straightened up my desk (it is no longer affected by the prank my coworkers pulled on me) and canceled a bunch of meetings so I could get some work done.

By 5:30 I was done, so I joined some coworkers at the brewery across the railroad tracks from our office. I can't drink beer, but I can eat the tacos they sell on the patio, so I had two of those for dinner. But I left abruptly at 6:30, since the sun was beating in my face and I didn't want to die. I stopped at Whole Foods on the way home, where I bought milk and several different kinds of cold brew coffee.

When I got home, I really just wanted to do nothing - but since that's what I did last night, I couldn't indulge again. I did watch most of 'Ten Things I Hate About You', which happened to be on when I turned on my tv - Heath Ledger breaks my heart every time, since I wish we could have seen what his talent would have done if he'd lived to a ripe old age. But then I worked for the last two hours - not enough to really get caught up, but my inbox is more respectable.

But now I need to sleep - goodnight!

feeling like an animal with these cameras all in my grill

I was pretty cranky all day today, to be honest. It doesn't help that I'm on day three of a headache, so I worked from home this morning. When I went to work, I discovered that some coworkers had played a prank on me and removed my desk, replacing it with a bookshelf with some of my stuff artfully displayed - which I think I was visibly annoyed by, since I have meetings straight through for the next four days and don't have time to put my desk back in order in those random free moments that I occasionally get. I mean, I like pranks, but I was not in the mood - which someone must have picked up on, since I got back to my desk at some point at the end of the day and discovered they had put everything back. Ha.

So I spent all day in meetings, then left to drive into Denver and have dinner with Katie. We went to Root Down, where we had a v. lovely evening of food and conversation. I also stopped at their house after to meet their new hamster, who was quite friendly; James and the girls were good too. Then I came home and was planning to work, but my headache was still driving me a bit nuts - so I watched House Hunters, and now I'm going to bed early and hoping some sleep will drive the headache away. Goodnight!

i'm living on such sweet nothing

I have a headache and really need to be in bed, but I suppose today could have been worse. I got up this morning, messed around the house, and then ran an errand that took a couple of hours. But then I came back to my house, rendezvoused with Vivi (who had spent the night in my guest room) and took her downtown to grab lunch. We tried to get into Snooze, but the wait was 45mins...so we walked down the street and ended up grabbing lunch at Next Door (which is next door to The Kitchen). I had a very delicious hamburger on a gluten free bun that felt like it saved my life, and Vivi had tacos, and we spent some quality time talking about writing and life and our oft-nomadic lifestyles...

Then I didn't really want to come back to my warm apartment, so instead we drove up into the mountains and visited Nederland. It's a totally appropriate thing to do if you just want to kill a couple of hours in the mountains - the drive is gorgeous, it's only thirty minutes, and the town is weird and charming. So we walked around a bit, and then had ice cream in a cafe that is made of a series of connected train cars (so #onbrand).

When we got back to Boulder, Vivi grabbed her stuff from my apartment and I dropped her off at the bus station so that she could catch the shuttle to the airport, since I wasn't nice enough to take two more hours to drop her off there. Then I came home, did a bunch of romance-related business until like eight, then talked to my parents (v. late for them, but they were gone most of the day), and then did day job stuff for the last hour so that I could accomplish something that needed to be done before tomorrow.

And now, it's time for bed - tomorrow's madness will come all too soon. Goodnight!

scare your sons scare your daughters

I'm back in my own bed, sad that conference is over (and even sadder that I don't have air conditioning), but glad to get back to my regularly scheduled life. Today went as well as it could have gone - I got up in time to have breakfast in the club lounge, then pack all my stuff and load my car before going to a workshop on audio books. I went with Grace, and I don't think we learned anything, but we had fun hanging out.

After that, we rendezvoused with Barbara Samuel for one last lunch; everyone else was already gone, but Grace, Barbara and I walked down the street to Modern Market, where we had salads and a final round of conversation before heading back to the hotel. I spent a tiny bit more time with Grace, and then she left for the airport while I headed to Boulder. I brought my friend Vivi with me (for those of you who were on my wine bus birthday party many years ago, she was my nomadic writer friend who joined us). She's staying with me tonight before heading home tomorrow afternoon, so we drove back to Boulder together. We spent most of the afternoon talking, including a lovely early dinner at Pizzeria Locale.

But by approximately 7:30pm, I had completely hit my introvert wall - so I abruptly said that I loved her but needed to go lie down. I have since spent the rest of the night lounging in my room while she lounged in her room, which was a pretty perfect end to a writing conference - I relaxed and caught up on twitter and napped a little and messed around online, and it was v. restorative.

But now I need to sleep - I have to run some errands in the morning, and Vivi and I will hang out in the afternoon before she heads to the airport, so that should be fun. Goodnight!

your trojan's in my head

Conference is drawing to a close - I'm not ready for all aspects of my real life (especially the lack of air conditioning and the overabundance of day job tasks facing me when I return), but I am ready to sleep in my own bed and stop eating crazy amounts of food during a myriad of social activities. Today was pretty nice, though. I went to an early workshop about publishing young adult for the indie market; when I finish this YA I intend to shop it to publishers first because the YA market is really different from romance, but I was curious about my options.

After that, Barbara S and I walked over to the Delectable Egg and had breakfast and caught up - I'd been looking forward to some one-on-one time with her, so I'm glad we caught each other this morning. We also ended up having lunch together a couple of hours later with our mutual friend Heather - lunch was overkill at that point, but I sucked it up and ate some salad anyway. I also gave $5 to a street performer just because the lucky bastard happened to be playing 'Amarillo by Morning', which probably surprised him, but if you were me or [censored] or Drewbaby, you would understand why I did this.

Then I came back to the hotel and spent some quality time in the lounge with my journal and my headphones, plotting out a five year plan. I haven't done a planning exercise in quite some time, and I'm feeling the lack of clarity when it comes to my goals and aspirations. I'm not done yet, but it was a good start.

Then the rest of the afternoon was all social - I met Lisa (a Twitter friend); Elizabeth (another Twitter friend); hung out for a bit with the Barbaras and Grace and Veronica and Sherry; had dinner with Darcy; and then came back to my room and had two glorious hours of napping/relaxing/not wearing pants. I could have easily remained in that paradise, but at 9:30 I rallied and put on a dress and went downstairs to meet up with Grace and Veronica - Grace won an award tonight (not the RITA, but still very exciting), and so we celebrated in the bar.

But now, I really need to sleep - goodnight!

scheming on a thing that's a mirage

I had another lovely day at the conference - I'm feeling inspired, but I'm also feeling like this is a bit too much like a vacation and not quite enough like I'm doing serious business. This could be because I just needed a break; or it could be because I haven't written much in the last year, which is starting to be a crawling, gnawing monster under my skin and along my spine.

sssanyway. I got up this morning in time to have coffee and journal a bit before my first workshop of the day. I met up with Veronica and we sat together for Sherry Thomas's workshop on revisions - Sherry and I have pretty much the same revision style (aka scrap the first 10k words entirely, write the first half, then scrap that and write yet another draft). I was hoping to discover a way to fix this, but it sounds like it's unfixable, so that's great. But Sherry writes gorgeous books, so if that's the outcome, I should probably be cool with it.

After the talk, Sherry and I went out for at Marlowe's, which was super fun; I really like that we've somehow become friends over a handful of conferences and some occasional email/twitter exchanges. When we came back to the hotel, I grabbed an iced tea, planned to sit somewhere in my journal, and instead ran into Grace - which was perfect because I was wanting some quality time with her (although I joked that this was pretty low quality time, but it was delightful, as always). We hid in a corner where no one could find us and talked about life and children and teeth (she told me a horror story about her son's dentistry experiences, which involve Old MacDonald's Farm in a way that now creeps me out). Then, we went to Barbara Samuel's workshop on the first 100 pages - and I was reminded once again that the first and second draft of my first 100 pages inevitably suck, so I should stop worrying about making them perfect right now.

After the workshop, I was desperately tired, so I came to my room and took an 18-minute power nap. Then I met up with Maya, Veronica, and Grace for dinner - we took a lyft to Lola's, which is my favorite Mexican restaurant in Denver. It turned into a super fun evening - Maya hadn't met Grace or Veronica before, but everyone hit it off, so the conversation devolved quite quickly from the usual 'getting to know you' questions to conversations about combative urination (#dontask).

Then we came back to the hotel (after scarring/amusing the lyft driver) and hung out in the lobby with Barbara F and the director of ebooks at Kobo (whom I'd befriended in Hawaii a couple of years ago, so we'd agreed to connect tonight). But we were all fading fast, so I came up to my room an hour ago and messed around until now.

And now it's time for more sleep, hopefully better than last night's, and with some quality time to write tomorrow. Goodnight!

hot as a fever, rattle of bones

I had a v. successful first day of my romance conference, thanks for asking! I got up unusually early (both for conference and for normal life) so that I could meet Veronica and attend the Day of YA event (#protip: YA = young adult books). 'Day' was a bit of a misnomer, since it was from 7:30am to 12:30pm, so it probably should've been called 'Torturously Early Morning of YA'.

I'm not a member of the YA chapter, but it was good to do the event - for one, I met a couple of Colorado writers, and for another, the speakers were mostly pretty good. The keynote speaker was Pintip Dunn, who went to Ivy League schools and practiced law before writing a bunch of books, but she did all that while suffering from intense fibromyalgia that is so bad that she can't use a keyboard. She actually wrote a book while lying flat on her back every day underneath her glass coffee table with her laptop screen showing through the glass so she could dictate her words to it (she was so sick that she couldn't sit up), and she's written her last six books on her phone since she can somehow type on the smartphone screen if she's careful. In other words, I need to suck it up and write a fucking book while I'm still in possession of a body that is capable of doing it.

sssanyway. The agent/editor panel was a bit too basic for me, but then there was a two hour plotting-type workshop that I quite enjoyed. After the Day of YA, I parted ways with Veronica, dumped stuff in my room, and met up with the delightful Maya Rodale for lunch. We went to The Kitchen (there's one in Denver in addition to Boulder), and it was a perfectly boozy afternoon - we shared a bottle of rosé, and we each had steak frites, and were so delighted with each other's company that we're planning to have dinner tomorrow (unless she sobers up and comes to her senses).

After closing out the restaurant, we grabbed coffee, then came back to the hotel, where I changed and relaxed for approximately five minutes before Katie came over after work to hang out. I was eager to introduce her to my writer friends, which goes against all my usual instincts to keep all my friend groups separate so that they can't all piece together just how weird I am. But Katie came to the hotel, and the group slowly gathered over a drink in the bar, and Maya stopped by to meet Katie too.

Then, Katie, Veronica, Grace, the Barbaras, and I went to Linger, where I'd made a dinner reservation, Poppy and Barbara's daughter Kristen met us there, and we spent a couple of hours gorging ourselves on one of the best meals I've had in awhile. The concept there is world street food, and it's pretty incredible that they can do such different dishes so flawlessly - we way overordered, but each dish was better than the last, and I wanted to eat all of it. I think I've convinced my friends that Denver is pretty cool - other than the fact that it's a million degrees, it's a good place to live, and the restaurant scene in particular is quite delightful.

Then we sadly parted ways with Katie (everyone liked each other, which was good since I didn't want to have to make any hard choices about who to cut from the program if they weren't kindred spirits), and the writers all came back to the hotel And now I need to sleep - I have a packed schedule tomorrow, so resting my eyes and continuing to ignore my email (sorry friends!) is my current best choice. Goodnight!

lay where you're laying, don't make a sound

I had yet another hectic day at the office - meeting after meeting, with no end in sight. But I ended the office time around four, when I weirdly ended up signing a bunch of my books for people who happened to be around - I had a box of them at my desk and was grabbing some to take to my conference, but I gave a bunch away. So, that was weird and entertaining, and hopefully they're all still speaking to me when I get back.

Then I dashed home, threw a whole bunch of stuff in a suitcase (more stuff than is strictly necessary for four days, but I didn't have time to edit), and worked for another hour or so while traffic died down. Then I drove into Denver and met a bunch of my writer friends for dinner at Tupelo Honey. I've never been there, and I'll probably never go back - the meal that I had was super tasty and the wine was good, but they only had like one gluten-free thing on the menu (a sweet tea brined half chicken, which was tasty). It's Southern, which is not gluten-free friendly, and so I suppose I'll have to let this restaurant live on in my memory rather than ever going back.

Still, the dinner was super fun - I hung out with the usual suspects (the Barbaras, Veronica, Deb, Poppy, and Deb and Poppy's boyfriends, which was an unusual but not unwelcome addition). Grace's flight was delayed, and several other usual suspects aren't coming this year, but it was fun to relax and hang out and talk writer stuff.

Then I drove some of us back to the hotel, where I checked in, unpacked, and settled in. And now I really need to sleep - I have a 'Day of YA' thing tomorrow with Veronica, where I intend to learn as much as possible about the young adult market, so hopefully it's interesting (and hopefully worth getting up at 6:15am for). Goodnight!

but we keep loving anyway

I had a really long day at work, so apologies to the several of you whom I ignored over text/ping/email - I started working at eight, had a meeting from 8:30-9, drove to the office, and had meetings straight from 9:30 to 5 (although I forced my noon meeting to end a few minutes early so I could make a sandwich).

However, I at least got a bit of a break - I came home, rendezvoused with Veronica, and had dinner with her at The Kitchen. I really adore that place; my glass of wine was slightly too fruity for my tastes, but my porkchop and grits were delicious (and the company was pretty good too). We then went to the Boulder Bookstore, which is one of those stores that prides itself on its selection - so of course it has a huge room that reeks of incense and has all sorts of books on witchcraft, the occult, spirituality of all kinds, etc., but can't deign to carry a romance section. Gross.

Of course, I still bought a book, but this shouldn't surprise you.

Then we came home, and even though I should have been maximizing my friend time, I instead read twitter for a bit and then worked like a crazy person for the last two hours to try to catch up on stuff (mission failed). And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

like the future was supposed to be

I'm not ready to go back to work - but I only have to get through two days in the office before I'm on vacation again. It's quite possible that my multiple vacations in the last six weeks is causing a vicious cycle...when I'm in the office, I'm totally slammed, so I can't wait to get out and relax again, which is promptly ruined by going back to an overly full inbox/calendar.

sssanyway, I also need to make it clear that last night's nausea was absolutely not correlated with Veronica's presence in my house. I assumed that was obvious, but Veronica was concerned. So, let it be known - I'm thrilled that Veronica is here, and it's not her fault that I was stupid and rented a place without A/C and so overheated last night, which is almost certainly why I suddenly felt so nauseated.

sssanyway again. Veronica got here yesterday around three, and we had a delightful time catching up, getting manicures, and having a leisurely dinner at River and Woods before I suddenly felt nauseated. Today was all better though - and it rained and was only seventy degrees, so my house cooled down and I felt much better.

I spent the morning working on personal stuff, which made me happy. V and I eventually had a late lunch at Motomaki, followed by a v. necessary stop at Staples (post-its are a required purchase for writers whenever writers are feeling stuck with their plots, as both Veronica and I are). Then we came back to my place, and I did some more work and took a nap. V ended up leaving me to my own devices tonight so that she could see a friend in Denver - and I wasn't nearly as productive as I had planned to be, but I still did four loads of laundry and called my parents to get the latest gossip about our town (although it was 95% about their new kittens, which is way more entertaining than town anyway), so it could have been worse.

But now I need to sleep so I can seize the day tomorrow - goodnight!

heaven restores you in life

I had a great day and Veronica is in my guest room, but I'm suddenly feeling nauseated, so I'm going to sleep. goodnight!

tell them how your pleasure's set up on slow release

Today was yet another long day - this one mostly consuming emotional energy, as I had multiple meetings with multiple people who all wanted similar pieces of advice in terms of how to figure out their careers. I like doing that kind of stuff, but four in one day (plus a lunch where I was a speaker giving career advice) was kind of a lot. And also, it's kind of funny that I'm seen as a good source of advice since I've quit twice, lol.

But I left at five to get a pedicure, and then I had dinner with Christine at Salt. We ended by going to the bookstore as we usually do, so it was a nicely relaxing night.

But now I must sleep - goodnight!

the wild dogs cry out in the night

My day was full of meetings starting at eight a.m. and going almost straight until five, including two with my VP (unusual, but not for dramatic reasons). I got off to a sluggish start since I didn't get enough sleep last night, but I'm determined to change that - it has been way too hot in my house without A/C, but the swamp cooler I ordered from Amazon arrived today, and it's already making a difference in my bedroom despite being set up an hour ago. So here's hoping that I sleep better now that my room feels like a normal bedroom instead of a desert that happens to include a mattress.

However, despite the work still piling up, I left the office at five, came home and dragged the swamp cooler in from the patio where the delivery guy had left it, and walked straight to Pizzeria Locale. I indulged in a v. tasty gluten free pizza and a couple of glasses of wine; I've been laying off the sauce (both pizza sauce and wine sauce) in an effort to be healthier, but it seemed like my health would be better served tonight by having wine and ignoring email, so that's what I did. My phone also conveniently died while I was there, so I journaled and ate and drank and completely ignored the world, which was pretty much the perfect way to relax.

Then I came home, took care of tings around the house, set up my swamp cooler, wrote a couple of personal email...and now I'm going to go to bed earlyish and hope that I recoup some of the sleep I lost this week. Goodnight!

that crooked ace up your sleeve

Long day...so long that I missed free lunch and instead bought a poke bowl at 2pm (but that was tasty, so #noregrets). So that's all you get tonight - but don't worry, this weekend and next week will mark a return to fun, so not everything is bleak. Goodnight!

wake me up when september ends

Today was too long...but I also wrote before and after work, so no regrets there. And I ran some errands, bought some groceries, tidied up the house, did some laundry, etc...so even though it feels like it was all work because I just answered emails for the last two hours, it really wasn't that bad.

But it will be bad if I don't go to bed right now...so goodnight!

there are things that the homilies and hymns won't teach you

too tired to blog - I got up at 5:45am Iowa time, showered, took the shuttle to the airport, ate breakfast, and had an entirely uneventful flight to Denver (in fact, it landed thirty minutes early). But I had to go straight to work, and the slog was brutal - I was there until 6:30, then came home, opened my laptop, and worked for the past three hours. Dumb.

But now I'm going to sleep (or try to sleep, since my apartment has been shut up for two weeks and it's like ninety degrees) - goodnight!

angelica, eliza....and peggy

This edition of #smalltownlife is nearing its end, but today was pretty awesome. HAMILTON is in Des Moines and I bought tickets when ticket sales opened last November, so my parents, [censored], and I got to see it during the matinee show today. I'd also procured tickets for Aunt Becky, her scandalous pirate husband, and uncle Mark and aunt Kathy, but they were a couple of rows behind us.

So, [censored] and I rode up together, and we stopped for lunch in Indianola on the way. When we got to our seats, we discovered that they were perfect - right in the middle, not too far back, and the Civic Center staggers their seats enough so that even a shorty like me isn't blocked by the person in front of them.

And the show was, in my humble opinion, totally awesome. I think I liked it better than the SF production I saw last year - Burr and Eliza were particularly excellent, and everyone else was pretty delightful. Also, the better view made a huge difference in terms of noticing little details of the choreography.

So, I loved it, and I cried at the end, and it was pretty great. After, [censored] drove to his house three hours away, while Mom and Dad and I had dinner with the rest of the family at a Mexican restaurant in downtown Des Moines.

And now, I need to sleep - I'm in a hotel in Des Moines near the airport since my flight is early tomorrow, so my parents kicked me out here after supper, where I promptly spent the last three hours reliving the show. So, it's time for sleep - goodnight!

last dance with mary jane

I'm too tired to blog - I slept late and spent most of the afternoon messing around, including another trip to the round barn, which is usually the extent of my attempts to get out and enjoy the scenery beyond my parents' back yard. We also had supper in Seymour, where I had the usual prime rib while the dead deer heads stared down upon us.

But now I should sleep, since I have to get up and pack tomorrow before going to Des Moines for another adventure. Goodnight!

i'm way too good at goodbyes

I'm super tired and want to go to bed immediately, but I'm worried that if I don't blog tonight, my mother and [censored] will break down my door to make sure I'm not dead. This would be total overkill since my bedroom door is unlocked, and also since they saw me less than an hour ago - but the sanctity of the blog as the single source of truth for whether I'm alive each night must be maintained at all costs.

sssanyway, the last two days have been super lovely - it was nice to have another mini vacation, although stacking so many vacations so close together isn't really helping with my corporate motivations (and by that I mean it's far easier to imagine running off to Bali again when I've had a few days away from the grind.). Katie ended up coming down last night, and so she and Hannah (another friend from high school - fun fact, Hannah and I are also like fifth cousins) came out and spent a couple of hours in the kitchen talking about all sorts of gossip and other inappropriate things (including a joke about cutting the mustard that I hope to never forget).

Eventually, Hannah had to drive home, so Katie, [censored] and I hung out in my room until it was way past time to sleep. I awoke earlier than I wanted to this morning, but since the only plan on the agenda was to hang out with Katie, that wasn't a bad thing. My dad made breakfast, and then I spent most of the late morning / early afternoon on the porch with Katie, my dad, my mom, [censored], the cat, etc.

Then, Katie and I went down to the round barn, where my mom gave us a tour of all the buildings. Katie and I parted ways after that since she had to go back to Des Moines to rendezvous with her other family (clearly my family is more important, but I'll let it slide this time since I'm guessing her children might have missed her). But I'll see Katie again in a couple of weeks, so this isn't really a hardship.

Then my mom and I came home, and I took a nap / relaxed / tried to cool off. Then we had leftovers for supper (but when leftovers are this good, it doesn't feel like a chore) before playing two games of Ticket to Ride. [censored] won the first one, and my mom won the second, and I was generally just wasting my time, but c'est la vie.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

they go along to take your honey (la la la la)

Happy fourth of July! I had a very peaceful day in ye olde Iowa - I slept later than I did the last couple of days, and that set the tone for a whole bunch of laziness. I spent some quality time this morning/afternoon talking to my mom, and then my dad came in from mowing, and then [censored] showed up and insisted on taking me on a tour of [censored]. And then I spent the rest of the afternoon on the back porch with [censored], talking about everything and nothing, as per usual.

Later we had a v. fourth of July supper - bratwurst, the first sweet corn of the season, potato salad, and baked beans. Then we played a game of Ticket to Ride and I was super close to winning, but [censored] came out of nowhere at the end to pull out the win (congratulations, I guess). And now, after I actually answered a few personal emails (but not most of them), it's time for bed - goodnight!

not quite a year since you went away

Another long day of working, but I did most of it while sitting on the back porch, so it could be much worse. It's easier to take ridiculous meetings while looking over my laptop screen to gardens and ponds and rolling fields, so in some ways I didn't mind it at all.

I had to stop at three even though I wasn't close to done; my sister and my youngest niece came over, so I hung out with them for a couple of hours. When they left around five, I then did another couple of hours of work before throwing in the towel. I then ate supper with my parents (ribeye and baked potatoes, can't go wrong), and then we sat on the patio again until it was close to dark and the mosquitoes were in search of a meal.

And now it's time to sleep - goodnight!

stuck in a moment

I had a v. boring day in ye olde Iowa - mostly because I worked the entire day, which felt like most days, just taking video calls from my desk in my Iowa bedroom instead of conference rooms in Boulder. But I took a break to have breakfast with my parents (yum), and I spent a bit of time outside, and I stopped working at 5:30, so it could have been worse. Then my mom gave me a tour of her gardens, and then I sat on the patio and accidentally took a nap.

After that, it was all pretty chill - I ran into town to look for coffee (no luck), then came home and ate supper, and then sat on the patio and played with kittens. My parents were down to one cat, who was born last fall and still doesn't seem fully grown, but they basically raised her after she was abandoned by her mother, and so she's way more affectionate than any other cat they've had in the past decade. She had kittens a few days ago, and I think she thinks my parents are supposed to help raise them too, because she keeps bringing them to us for us to hold them. That's a little bizarre since their eyes aren't even open yet - but it's pretty cute, so it could be worse.

And now I should sleep - I should have worked tonight but I wasn't feeling it, so I'll have to get a lot done tomorrow to make up for it. Goodnight!

it's hard to say it, time to say it

Wow, last night's entry went totally off the rails. I was falling asleep as I was typing, and somehow I thought that I had cleaned it up and written something passably coherent, but apparently I was incorrect. I wasn't even that intoxicated - just ready to fall asleep, and my brain started playing tricks on my fingers.

sssanyway. Last night did not end at Maven - we had dinner at Maven at 6:30, then headed toward the Mint, where we were planning to do karaoke. On the way, Adit and I walked by the apartment where we lived together, and while the smell of urine at the Safeway down the street and the crazy homeless guy weaving around on the sidewalk barefoot while holding his shoes reminded me why I left San Francisco, I was struck by some intense waves of nostalgia. Or maybe that was just the urea causing hallucinations.

sssanyway again. We discovered that the old bar down the street from us, which used to be the Residence and was our third or fourth choice of bars when we couldn't get into Churchill or Blackbird, has (as of this week) become a tiki bar called Last Rites. I normally don't go to tiki bars two nights in a row, but we went into this one and it was quite delightful. It was too crowded for us to sit down, but we had a quick drink there, and the rum went a long way toward helping me catch up to my friends after driving them around wine country all day (although since they went for a rum drink as well, I was destined to never catch up).

Then we went to karaoke at the Mint, which was super fun - Claude, Vidya and I all managed to get songs in, which felt like a real accomplishment. Then we adjourned to Grubstake, where we finished the night eating plate of cheese (and bought more bottles of hot sauce for the road).

Today, of course, I had to get myself out of bed and to the airport, since my sojourn in the city of sin is over for this round. I had a direct flight to Des Moines (yay) on Frontier (boo) - I'd never flown them before, and while it wasn't the worst, it certainly wasn't the best. It didn't help that Frontier flies out of Terminal 1, which is a dismal hellhole compared to the renovated areas of T 2/3; it also didn't help that the air outside was also a dismal hellhole due to wildfire smoke, and so my flight was delayed by an hour. And also, some kid threw up in the check-in line and I heard the ticket agent tell his grandmother that they might have to stop him from flying; apparently he faked his way into seeming better, because when our plane was finally ready to take off, we had to wait while they kicked the grandmother/kid off the flight and cleaned up more vomit. #ihatepeople

But the flight itself was uneventful. When I landed in Iowa, my parents picked me up; we went straight to Johnny's for dinner, which was fairly unexciting/disappointing (the food, not my parents). And now that I'm home and have taken a look at my hopeless work to-do list, I need to go to bed - I'm working from home tomorrow and Tuesday, and I need to get a lot done, so wish me luck. Goodnight!

what the hell is on joey's head

Today was Claudia's bachelorette party, which meant fourteen hours of socializing...which is still much less than the nineteen years that I've known Claude and Adit, which somehow feels impossible. I got up early this morning and picked up gluten free pastries at Mariposa Bakery (incl a breakfast sandwich for myself, which was ridiculously good), and then I rendezvoused with Adit and Vidya and drove to the east bay to pick up Claude.

Then we drove up to Duckhorn, where we tasted some v. delish wines that they don't sell in stores (this seems like a scam somehow). Then we had lunch at Bottegga, followed by a tasting at Gloria Ferrer, which I always love.

I had to stay sober for most of this since I was driving us back, but as soon as I parked my car, all bets were off. And my night ended with dinner at Maven, a rum-based drink at Last Rites (a tiki bar that opened thie week on a shitty strert in the most undesireable lostcaton.

But I'm falling asleep on my keyboard, so further expatnion will have to comeM- OODNIGHT

dreaming about being a big star

Time for bed - but today involved a lot more fun than previous days, so that's pretty #winning. I woke up this morning, showered and packed, and grabbed coffee at Philz before enduring the drive from MTV to SF. When I got here, I had meetings straight from 9:30 to 4:30 - but then I successfully escaped, drove to the Kabuki, dropped off my car and checked into my room, and got ready to party.

The first party was at Smugglers' Cove with Alice and Aga. Actually, the first first party was the four minutes I spent waiting for an elevator, during which I heard every excruciating detail of a screaming match between what sounded like a mother, a father, and their teenage/college age kid, who was upset that they were making him wear dress pants instead of jeans because the only dress pants he had with him were either too big ('a garbage sack') or too small ('they're crushing my nutsack'). Hearing a mother scream at her son about his nutsack and him getting over it is really not a good way to start an evening, I've got to say.

sssanyway. Once I escaped, I went to Smugglers' Cove, where I had a couple of tiki type cocktails with Alice and Aga. It's the end of an era since Aga is moving on and I got reorged anyway, so we hung out and it was generally delightful (especially when Alice taught me how to pronounce 'Prince of France'). Then I met up with Lauren (aka Subz) at Monsieur Benjamin - it was one of those ridiculous SF dinners where everything was tasty but understated and somehow still cost $150 despite feeling relatively casual, and this is why I live in Colorado now. But Lauren was, as always, wonderful, and I'm so glad I got to see her for a couple of hours in the midst of the madness that is my current life.

But now I need to sleep so I can further other mad plans tomorrow - goodnight!

some are still out seeking glory

No blog tonight because I worked until midnight - goodnight!

tasted the sweet perfume of the mountain grass

I'm still living the dream - lucky me. Today was a v. long day of trainings (especially long because I did this exact training four months ago and they decided to repeat it, which was a little tiresome). But I survived, did a bit of work after, and then had dinner with Joann and Jen (of friendship renewal and spinster honeymoon fame). I hadn't seen them in ages, so that was a lovely way to take a break.

Then I came back to my corporate apartment and worked for the last couple of hours, which felt supremely unfortunate - but I survived, and now it's time to sleep. Goodnight!

castle on the hill

Day one of the manager offsite started great (I had coffee, sent some emails I really needed to send, and also ate some chicken jook, which was super tasty)....and then it devolved a bit, since I wasn't quite in the mood for the content we discussed. But I rallied in time to talk to my new team about new team things, and then I went to happy hour/dinner, where I continued to rally and had a v. good time. We shut down the bar (at 7:30) and took the leftover wine into the cafe, where we played a couple of ridiculous party games, and then we all eventually adjourned to our places of slumber....

...but Nicole and I rendezvoused, walked across the street to a wine bar, and bought an overpriced bottle of pinot gris to bring back to my apartment. We proceeded to drink most of it in the living room while talking about a variety of non-work topics (until my apartment-mate got back, at which point we transitioned to safe work topics instead of unsafe life topics). But now I really need to sleep - goodnight!

got another mouth to feed

I made it to mountain view, but it took some doing - this morning was a mad scramble to get out the door, and then my flight was delayed for an hour. But that gave me time to work at the airport, and then I worked on the plane, which was all fairly necessary.

When I arrived in California, I grabbed my rental car and went straight to a work happy hour, which turned into a work dinner, which suddenly turned into me hitting a people wall. But I escaped unscathed, and now I'm going to go to sleep and hope that my offsite goes well (or at least was worth the trip) - goodnight!

got me working side to side

Today was mostly about paying the wages of my sins - usually I use that as a reference for being hungover, but in this case the sin was procrastination / putting work life ahead of personal life, which means I'm behind on a million things that I should do (since I care about many of them more than I care about zee day job, despite all the love I have for zee day job). Also, it was stupid to stay up until 2am reading last night - I woke up this morning v. v. surly to be awake, and at this point I'm really dragging.

However, I knocked out some good stuff today - I finally reconciled all the expenses from my castle retreat so I can coordinate repayment for all the stuff we all kicked in for each other; I planned my schedule for RWA and confirmed a few lunch/dinner dates/times; and I figured out the puzzle that is Claudia's bachelorette, trying to organize a series of fun things that will hopefully stay fun throughout the day without turning into a relentless fun slog or massive drunken shitshow. We shall see, we shall see.

Through it all, I also did laundry, took care of some smaller tasks, ate some yogurt/granola and some chips/salsa (yes, my meals are v. balanced), and eventually threw in the towel so I could call my parents. After I talked to them, I decided to leave the towel thrown in, and I went to Pizzeria Locale. It was clear that I haven't really talked to anyone beyond my parents and the salon people, since I felt almost incapable of communicating like a normal human - but I somehow scored a seat at the bar and ate some pizza while writing in my journal. I have a sneaking suspicion they gave me a gluten crust instead of a gluten free one, but I guess we'll find out. And regardless, the journaling was a good way to unwind...

Then I came home, put stuff away, folded laundry, etc., etc. And now I should really stay up and pack and take care of tings, but I'm going to go to bed with the intent of getting up to pack tomorrow morning before I leave for the airport - let's see how that works out for me. Goodnight!

you could be the one that I adore

I mostly spent today engaged in the beautification rituals that feel a bit like putting on armor and going to war...a gel manicure in the morning, and a trip into Denver in the afternoon to get a long overdue haircut and an eyebrow wax. Yes, comparing this to war is very hyperbolic. But I'm going to San Francisco on Monday for an offsite at which much (or, equally likely, nothing) will be decided, and I feel better walking into those rooms when my hair is sleek and my nails are perfect.

Beyond that, it was the quiet day I craved - I also ran some errands, did some laundry and other stuff around the house, etc. But I mostly spent the afternoon/evening/until two a.m. reading - I finished SIX OF CROWS and immediately read 75% of the sequel. I would have kept going, but I must sleep and get a lot done tomorrow (today)... So it's time for bed. Goodnight!

payback is a bad bitch

Another day, another drama. Actually, today was light on drama, but it was heavier on meetings than I had planned, and so I got very little done. But I skipped out a little before five and had happy hour with Nicole, so I ended my day with cold wine and hot gossip, which is pretty much my favorite.

Then I shopped a bit before coming home, eating some leftovers, messing around online, and then reading for the last four hours (which was about three hours longer than intended). I picked up SIX OF CROWS, which either Anne or Veronica recommended to me, and so far I like it - it feels a bit derivative of some weird cross between OCEANS ELEVEN and MISTBORN, but since I like both those stories, I'm intrigued by this one.

But now I must sleep - goodnight!

I could fight a war for peace

Too tired to blog... Another long day at work (okay, only eight hours, but it was mentally exhausting), and then I had a long, leisurely dinner at River and Woods with Alice, Chris, and Kristen. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

lift me up like helium

Whelp, some stuff that I've been anticipating for awhile at work finally happened, and while I was expecting it, I still wasn't quite prepared for the chaos that was unleashed by it. It didn't help that I had to give a presentation to my VP and another VP this morning about something entirely unrelated. It also didn't help that I've been living with the slow-burning knowledge of this impending change for a long time - and then, all of the sudden, it happened, and it was a relief that it had happened and also an annoyance all at the same time.

But it's all good in the long run - just a lot to deal with in the short term. So after having meetings straight from 9:30 to 6:30, I ran a couple of quick errands (mostly to Sephora, where I bought lipstick because that solves all problems), grabbed a pizza, and came home, where I worked a bit more before finally throwing in the towel. At some point it's better to put down the laptop, live to fight another day, and drink a glass of wine while reading a book. I finished DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE - I don't know whether I liked it or not, tbh. The narrative arc, though, was super interesting, and the characters were interesting enough that I want to keep going with the series, so we'll see.

But now I need to go to bed so I can go into work tomorrow and deal with the aftermath of today's excitement - goodnight!

we were staying in paris

I had a v v long day, but I survived it, and I might actually make it into bed before midnight (doubtful, but close). I had to get up early this morning, and I made it to the office in time to grab breakfast before an endless slog of meetings (and a lot of jokes and jhokes).

However, it was taco Tuesday, which always makes me happy. I also had happy hour with the team - Chris and Alice are visiting from SF, and we'll all take any opportunity to go out. We all went to Barrel, which is in the mall, but is pretty great for a mall bar - even if the outdoor seating felt dangerous given all the random rain/hail we've been having.

After that, Alice and Chris and I had dinner at Motomaki, and then we ended up grabbing another drink at their hotel. At 9:30pm it was time for me to turn into a pumpkin, and by pumpkin I mean laptop drudge; I came home, washed a couple of dishes and prepped my coffeemaker for the morning, and then worked for the last two hours, ugh.

But tomorrow is another day and there will be caffeine to greet me when it starts, so I should really sleep now. Goodnight!

if we go down then we go down together

I awoke this morning in Glenwood Springs, not at all excited to go back to work. But the man (and the paycheck) was calling, so I got ready, had breakfast and coffee, and then Heather (aka dear respected madam) and I checked out of the hotel and drove back to Boulder. It was about three hours exactly, which wasn't bad, but left me in no mood to work....

But luckily, work wasn't really intended for today anyway. I had a few meetings which took most of the afternoon and left no time for productivity. Then I should have done stuff tonight, but I wasn't feeling it, so I grabbed takeout Greek food (in a break between hailstorms), opened a bottle of wine, and totally procrastinated. Exciting, I know.

But now I'm going to sign off and either read or go to bed - goodnight!

the petrified forest

I'm still in Glenwood Springs, but the weekend is drawing to a close and I just had to do a couple of hours of work, so I guess it's back to the grind tomorrow. But today was great - I got up and had breakfast downstairs, and then Heather (aka dear respected madam) and I went to Iron Mountain to play in their hot springs. Katie had recommended it, and she was totally right that I would enjoy it - a dozen or more small hot pools scattered over a delightfully landscaped area with a direct view of the Colorado River. The pools were between 99 and 107 degrees, with lots of natural minerals, and I felt like I was in the Old West attempting to recover from consumption.

So we sat around for a few hours, alternating between sitting in pools and lounging on chairs. I could have stayed all day, but unfortunately it started raining around the time we were ready to eat lunch. So we huddled under a canopy and ate along with everyone else who was trying to escape the downpour, and then we ended up coming back to the hotel.

When we got here, I showered, then spent some quality time talking to my parents (Happy Father's Day, Dad!), then generally hung out while Heather got a pedicure. Then we walked down the street and had dinner at The Pullman - I had a v. v. delicious Colorado bass with rice and mushrooms and tons of garlice, and a mediocre glass of wine, but the fish was good enough to make up for it. Then we came back to the hotel, hung out in the lobby for awhile, and then came upstairs, where we watched TV and I worked.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

rain keeps falling

Today was pretty perfect. I slept later than planned, then spent some time messing around the house while talking to Heather (aka dear respected madam), and eating scrambled eggs, and packing for our weekend away. Then we drove up into the mountains, which are entirely gorgeous.

Our first stop was Beaver Creek, where we had lunch - this was mostly an inside joke, since Salim (her husband) always liked to claim that I was from Beaver Creek in some derogatory joke toward my rural upbringing. Of course, Beaver Creek, Colorado, is more like Squaw Valley - an upscale ski resort that is not rural at all. But we had a delightful lunch there, and wandered around the resort a bit, and it was a great break.

Then we drove to Glenwood Springs, and I was astonished by how quickly the landscape changed after Beaver Creek - we went from the Rockies to an alien land full of deep canyons, red rocks, and scrub vegetation, carved out of the earth by the Colorado River, which is rather effective at creating dramatic scenery. When we got here, we checked into the hotel (delightful), then walked around a little, then had a drink (or perhaps many drinks) at a nearby restaurant. We then went to the hot springs, but we only lasted 30min before it started raining pretty hard, and the cold rain on our faces wasn't quite as pleasant as the hot springs.

So now we're hanging out at the hotel, and it's pretty magical, but it's time for bed - goodnight!

i know it's pathetic, fuck it, yeah, i said it

I've had a long couple of days at work (hence the lack of blogging last night) - not so much the amount of time I spent working, but the amount of energy I expended while doing so. Yesterday was fine, but it was a lot of meetings, and I also had to walk twenty minutes in ninety degree heat to pick up my car from the dealership (I was overdue for service, and I decided I'd rather walk than take a lyft, but that was perhaps not wise due to the temps). But I got a pedicure, did a whole bunch of nothing around the house, and read a bit before bed (and also worked, but c'est la vie). So it could have been worse, I guess.

Today was somewhat slothful - not really, but I didn't get as much done as I wanted to. However, I did a bunch of meetings and also crossed some tings off my to-do list, and watched a bit of the Spain/Portugal World Cup game (someone 100% brought a large tv to the office and hooked it up on a desk, so we were watching soccer from our cubes v. comfortably). I left around 4:30, came home, dashed around like a madwoman taking care of stuff around the house, and then went to the airport to pick up Heather (aka dear respected madam), who is visiting for the weekend (yay!!).

We drove back into Boulder and went to River and Woods, of course, since I adore it (and they know I adore it, since my wine was comped). We sat on the back patio and I had my beloved poutine, and I think Heather enjoyed it as well. Then we drove around Boulder for a bit, including driving up into the hills briefly to get a view over town, and then we stopped at Whole Foods for some stuff for the weekend before coming home and gossiping for the last couple of hours.

But now I need to sleep - we're headed up into the mountains for the weekend, so I should enjoy my own bed tonight so that I can pack and take off tomorrow. Goodnight!

what about all the times you said you had the answer

I had meetings pretty much straight from 9:30 to 5:30, which was totally exhausting - I told someone it was like being back in the gym after a couple of weeks off, since my mental stamina had noticeably declined and I was not in great shape by the end of it.

But I survived - and I got some work done before work, and then I hung out after work, and I had some tasty sushi in the middle of the day, so it could have been worse. It could have been way better, but it also could have been worse. I spent this evening procrastinating (I was so lazy that I ate yogurt for supper rather than bothering to heat up the chicken I made last night), but I eventually forced myself to write for a bit, so that's good. And I spent the last hour and a half doing work stuff - not fun, but I'll feel better about myself tomorrow for having gotten something done now.

And now it's time to sleep - goodnight!

I was born in a thunderstorm

Blogging from my phone because I don't feel like retrieving my laptop... But today I was committed to pretending that I wasn't back from vacation. I got up and wrote for a bit before work, then went to work for all of four hours before skipping out for an offsite.

My team has no budget for offsite at the moment, so we did it super cheap by hanging out at the pool in one person's apartment complex. So I spent a few hours in the sun, trying to avoid scratching the rather horrible ant bites that were revealed when I put on shorts, and playing a game that was a cross between catchphrase and charades.

Then I came home, procrastinated, made dinner (chicken and fajita veggies and lettuce and avocado), procrastinated some more, and then wrote for another hour. And now I need to sleep because I have to actually do day job stuff tomorrow - goodnight!

return of the mack

I'm back at work, but I didn't want to be there, so I mostly went to meetings, caught up with a bunch of people, and continued to ignore my inbox. I then came home (with a stop at whole foods), did some house stuff, did some laundry, trimmed my bangs, and wrote for an hour. Yes, I am living the dream.

But if I want to write before work tomorrow, I have to go to bed - goodnight!

the people of the town are strange, and they're proud of where they came

I. Am. Not. Ready. To. Go. Back. To. Work.

Sadly, all things must end, including vacations. I'm back in Boulder, after planes, automobiles, and a v brief airtrain. The family reunion was totally delightful, and I was sad to leave, but it's good to be back in my own bed for a couple of weeks.

And now I should sleep - I was super lazy tonight and avoided all day job stuff for my last few hours of freedom. Instead, I lazed around, then had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, where the bartender (whom I hadn't met beforeb very presumptuously asked me if I would critique his writing without even introducing himself or asking my name, but he gave me some free bourbon, so I guess I shall be benevolent (although the chances of me responding to him when I don't respond to any of my real friends are extremely remote). Then I came home and read DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE for a couple of hours, and now I need to sleep - goodnight!

when that sun is high in that texas sky

I'm in a hotel room in Kerrville, TX, which is about as opposite from a castle in New York as one can be. [censored] and I are struggling with the air conditioner, since the knob comes off in your hand and you don't know whether you've successfully hit the desired temperature or if you've somehow awakened a fire demon or a frosty hellbeast. And it's only been thirty-six hours since I left behind all my writer friends (and, accidentally, three of my bras), but it feels like forever....

But yesterday was a relatively smooth travel day - I got up, showered, packed, said my goodbyes, and drove me and Monica to Newark. I was there early enough to have a tasty steak salad and a glass of wine before boarding, and I spent the flight napping and finishing A COURT OF WINGS A RUIN. It tied things up a bit too neatly for my tastes, but I enjoyed it, so yay for that.

When I got to San Antonio, I got my rental car, parked it in short term parking, and then met my parents in the airport. I was supposed to wait around for [censored], who was coming from [censored], but the flight was [censored] and I didn't want to deal with it. So we spoke to the charming man at Enterprise, who let us put my parents' car in [censored]'s name so [censored] could pick it up later, and I drove my parents out to Kerrville. When we got here, we had dinner with Uncle Mark and Aunt Kathy at Billy Gene's, which we've eaten at before - I know this town way too well considering that I've never lived here and have no desire to. [censored] got in not too late, which was a pleasant surprise, and I went to bed and nearly froze to death, which would have been an exciting way to die in Texas in June.

Today, though, was pretty perfect if you like funerals. We had breakfast with the parents at the hotel, and then we drove out to the ranch (in two vehicles - car sickness runs in the family and none of us can handle sitting in the backseat on winding, rutted roads). The entrance to the ranch is 35min outside of town, and the driveway is another 20min of driving beyond that, filled with deer, cows, horses, wild turkeys, and the occasional jackrabbit. It's a gorgeous spot, and we got out there in time for lunch (barbecued pork, baked beans, and coleslaw).

But the afternoon turned into a funeral (this was not a surprise, since it was well-planned) - Wendell's wife Barbara passed away in January, so we had a memorial service for her. It was a ways up the road from where we have the reunion, including a shortcut through a field that was just a pair of ruts (my rental car agreement probably doesn't include burning the car up in a field of grass, but it didn't happen, so that was all good). They've put a tombstone under an old oak tree on a hill, which was gorgeous, and their neighbors had set up chairs and refreshments, which was super nice of them.

It was all fairly emotional, despite being lovely - Wendell is the last Wampler of his generation (his sister and a first cousin are still alive, but he's the last male), and he was in the same generation as my granddad....and in some ways it felt and sounded like I was hearing my granddad give a eulogy, since they have some things in common. His stoicism broke my heart. His remaining sons also spoke (other heartbreak: one of his sons died unexpectedly this spring), and it was all lovely and sad all at once.

Then we drank champagne and looked out over the hills, and then we drove back to the ranch, where my immediately family was in charge of dinner for tonight. So we took care of that, enjoyed the food, and finished the night by watching a massive fireworks display. And then [censored] and I drove back through many and varied hazards on the road, both alive and in our memories, and now it's time for bed - goodnight!

i'm only hanging on to watch you go down my love

I'm both super sad that tonight is my last night on my writing retreat, and super excited to go on to my next adventure. Today was pretty good, all in all - not as much writing as I wanted to get done, but it was totally adequate. I also took a break to take some people to Dairy Queen (writing retreat snack of champions), and spent some time in the sun talking to my mom, and it was all quite lovely.

We ended the night by getting a delivery of Greek food (super yummy), and I had more white wine than was strictly advisable (starting to drink at six and continuing until after eleven was probably a bad idea...but it was my last night and the wine was tasty, so #noregrets). But now I need to sleep - I have to get up and pack and eat and say goodbye so that I can drive to the airport, so sleeping now would be an excellent idea. Goodnight!

i found solace in the strangest place

I'm already incredibly sad that I have to leave in less than thirty-six hours - the castle retreat has been pretty amazing, and I'm not at all ready for it to end. Today was another lovely day - some sleeping, some coffee, some writing, a late lunch, more writing, a nap, and some time on the phone with my dad while lying on a porch swing in the sun (I didn't talk to him on Sunday, so we were overdue). Then we all went out for dinner at a place called 14 and Hudson, which was super tasty - my burger was really excellent, and all the food was delightful.

But now I should sleep so I can make the most of my last day here - goodnight!

you'd be speaking in riddles and you'd never confide

Man, I love writing retreats. Or maybe I just love vacation. Or maybe I just love those days when the stories are flowing and the breaks consist of Dairy Queen and sauvignon blanc (not together). Whatever I love, today had all of it. I got exactly the right amount of sleep, got up, went downstairs, made some coffee and wrote for awhile, had some pizza and a break, worked for a bit more, and then showered before driving four lucky retreat members to the liquor store / grocery store / Dairy Queen. As the sole driver of the only car, I have a lot of power, but I am a benevolent dictator and try to make people happy (when I'm not beheading them, of course).

Our trip to Dairy Queen was entirely successful - I got a Heath Blizzard, which was delish, and everyone else walked away with some tasty ice cream as well. Then we came back to the castle, and I wrote + took a nap (the sugar from mid-afternoon ice cream, when I usually never eat ice cream, really threw me over the edge). And I put myself in charge of ordering dinner, since I seem to have the best luck / experience with food apps - which resulted in some v. v. tasty thai food.

And then a bunch of us stayed up to varying degrees of lateness, with varying degrees of alcohol, which meant that Christine, Veronica and I closed it all down at 12:30am with the last remnants of our sauvignon blanc. And now I should really sleep - goodnight!

spirits in my head and they won't go

I had a perfectly delightful day in my castle retreat - yes, I know this sounds unbelievably smug and ridiculous, but #sarasnotsorry. I slept until 10:30ish, which was necessary; then I had some coffee and some yogurt, and I worked for awhile before lunch. I had a sandwich for lunch, pulled myself away from all the gossip, and worked some more - I've already been more productive than I usually am on retreats, so I'm feeling pretty solid about that.

But this afternoon turned into a slow fade into mediocrity - I finally took a shower, and then I meant to write some more, but instead I took a nap in the billiards room (my new favorite place, since I can hide from everyone there). Then I took charge, as I am wont to do (especially with my return to corporate life), and figured out the dinner situation - we ordered pizza, which turned into an almost laughable amount of pizza since the pizzas were waaaay bigger than anticipated.

While I was waiting for the pizzas, I went outside and called my mom - she was in decent from, although the heat and raccoons are getting to her (as they would get to anyone). Then the pizza arrived, so we ate pizza, drank wine, and sat around talking until midnight. Not everyone talked that long - some disappeared to watch the Warriors/Cavaliers, which I didn't care about beyond the fact that LeBron is the source of a lot of great new memes showing up in the meme ecosystem. But it was a lovely night in the castle, and I'm grateful for that.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

i found someone to carry me home tonight

It's 2 a.m. and I'm way too tired to blog, so this is all you're getting. But today was really great. I slept until 11, then took a shower, then ate a salad out on the back porch, and then I spent most of the afternoon writing. But I did take a break to drive Anne, Veronica, Stephanie, and Barbara to a Starbucks and a liquor store, which are basically the only staples of the writer community.

On most retreats we cook for each other, but on this one we decided that we should go out to eat more often. So tonight I made a reservation at a Mexican restaurant, which was shockingly, surprisingly delicious. We spent a couple of hours there, and I was disappointingly sober because I was driving.

But when we got home, I shared a bottle of too-sweet pinot grigio with Veronica, and we all stayed up until midnight brainstorming my book. Some ideas were more helpful than others, and some people weirdly suggested adding the Daughters of the American Revolution and also a cat, but we'll see if I take them up on it. But now it's time for bed - goodnight!

you said, "baby, we don't speak of that," like a real aristocrat

I am in a castle in New York, and it is weird and wonderful and terrifying and we're probably all going to get murdered. There are four floors and an attic, and half the time when I'm looking for one room I end up in another one. There is a koi pond outside, and the walls are covered in vines, and my room includes a carve-out for the turret, which is entirely useless. Somewhere deep in the bowels of the house, a guy named Raj lives with his little dog - he is perhaps, theoretically, here to take care of us, but that so far has mostly meant that he turned on some very loud house/club music around the pool and left it playing for ten hours. #priorities

This morning was an exercise in pain - I got approximately four hours of sleep since I worked so late last night, which meant I was dragging this morning and left later than I wanted to. I still made it to the airport on time, but I had to eat my beloved Cantina Grill (which, let's be honest, isn't that good, but I keep going back) to-go at my gate area since they were boarding while I was walking up. But my flight was uneventful, albeit slightly delayed. When I got to Newark, I rendezvoused with Barbara, and we picked up a rental car. Monica met us at the car, and I drove us to the castle - it was about an hour in rush hour with crazy directions, but I managed it without killing us, so I feel quite smug about that.

When I got here, though, I was feeling a little cranky - tired, hungry, and in need of making some quick decisions with minimal indecisiveness. But it took like thirty minutes to explore the house - Stephanie had arrived first (I don't really know her, but she's super smart and seems fun, so that's great), and she gave us a tour of what she had discovered (did I mention that there is a massage table hidden away inside a vault in the basement? this place is SO WEIRD). Then we chose rooms, and then I got mildly annoyed trying to get people to look at apps on the phones to figure out if we could gets lyfts and Instacart (answer: yes), and then I drove Veronica, Monica, Christie, and Barbara to a grocery store so we could stock up. As usual, we bought way too much stuff. We also had to go to a liquor store, since you can't buy wine and groceries at the same time - tragic.

Then we came home and ate dinner at 9pm - Stephanie had picked up groceries before us and made some super delicious chicken, salmon, rice, and veggies, which was yummy. Veronica and I polished off a bottle of pinot grigio in short order, not even delaying to greet Anne, Grace, and Tina, who arrived a little after we started eating. We're still missing Deb, but 9 out of 10 made it tonight, so that's pretty good (unless you're Deb).

Anyway, we stayed up until after midnight sitting around the dining table, which is in a crazily paneled room with little heads carved into the walls (yes, my young adult novel will do super well here). Of course, there's also a salon that is perfect for plotting historical romance, should my heart desire. But fun needed to end since we were all tired, so we went to bed...or tried to go to bed, but instead spent an hour laughing hysterically when Veronica found something that was a cross between a centipede and a demon in her room, and it vanished while she and Anne were arguing about whether to kill it or whether to catch and release it (hint: if it's a demon, never opt for catch-and-release).

But now, I really need to sleep - I doubt I can get the eight hours I desperately need, but I'm going to make a valiant effort. Goodnight!

i need a place to take refuge, see i been loving you blind

Okay, so I just worked from 9:30pm-ish to 1:15am...but I got through my entire to-do list, got my work inbox down to fourteen emails, and I can go on vacation with a clear conscience (and without having to take my laptop). YAY.

Anyway, today was good enough, but I need to go to sleep immediately since I leave for the airport in six hours. At least I'm mostly packed (mostly). More to come from vacation - goodnight!

lord i'm coming home to you

I had another v. long day, but it wasn't quite as bad as yesterday - while I had meetings straight from 8:30am to 5:30pm, with a few minutes for lunch, none of them were quite as annoying as everything yesterday. And when I left the office, I went straight to happy hour (which I was 90min late for, since my team went at 4:30) - where I stayed until almost eight, which was fun. I didn't have anything to drink due to the brewery location, which doesn't serve wine - but you'll be pleased to know that my team has now realized that this isn't an 'inclusive' happy hour location since several of us don't like / can't drink beer, so the next one will be someplace with wine. Score!

However, what Sanitas lacks in wine, it makes up for in tacos - so I had tacos there while hanging out, and they were super tasty and eliminated the need for me to cook anything. Then I came home, texted [censored] and Drewbaby for a little bit, took a nap, and then worked for the last two hours. No rest for the wicked, but I'm trying to plow through enough stuff that I can leave my laptop behind without guilt and take a real vacation, which I am DYING for.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

carry me home tonight

I was in a fairly terrible mood all day - I woke up not wanting to go to work, I got there not wanting to be there, and then every meeting pretty much reaffirmed my lack of desire. It didn't help that they went straight from nine to five, with two brief breaks that weren't at all restorative.

But I left the office at five, picked up my favorite greek takeout (yummy as always), came home and ate it in my kitchen, and then spent an hour and a half on my new lawn chair, sitting on the balcony outside my bedroom, reading a book about Istanbul. So that part, at least, was pretty relaxing and magical.

However, all magic ends, and so I spent an hour putting away laundry, tidying my house, etc. Then I finally did a bit of work - it started with trying to corral my calendar tomorrow (limited success) and then involved an hour putting a spreadsheet together (annoying, for real). And now I need to go to bed, sad in the knowledge that there's no way I'll get up in time to write before work tomorrow, but c'est la vie. Only two more days until vacation, so hopefully I can make it. Goodnight!

don't want no misplay, put on no display

Having days off is dangerous, because it reminds me of the best of times when I was entirely in charge of my own schedule. Of course, just as often as not, those days resulted in many hours spent on twitter and despairing, so I shouldn't idealize them too much.

But today was pretty great, all in all. I probably should have left the house, but I was feeling v. hermity - so instead, I alternated between writing, researching, taking care of house stuff/laundry, and messing around online. I've been writing this book entirely in first person, but I decided to try a new way into it with a different character - and what I wrote for her, about her childhood, which took place in a totally unexpected place/time, actually made me tear up a little bit. Yes, being a writer is super weird, thanks for the reminder.

sssanyway...that felt really good, considering how long I've been blocked for, and now I just want to do it all again tomorrow. Instead, I need to go to bed so I can get up and go to work early and do the things I probably should have done this weekend - I only have to get through three days at the office, and then I'm off Friday and all of next week, so my dreams of a vacation and freedom will have to wait another seventy-two hours.

And on that note, it's time for bed - goodnight!

we'd be so fantastical

I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night, although it was #worthit - yesterday was fun, and so I didn't feel too bad about waking up at Katie's after approximately six hours of fitful slumber. I spent some leisurely hours hanging out with Katie and James and the girls, and then I came home, picked up some iced coffee on the way, and hermited the fuck out for most of the afternoon. This involved procrastinating instead of writing, eating some eggs, taking a nap, taking a shower, and calling my parents. Yes, I'm living the dream.

But I forced myself out of the house at six and walked to Pizzeria Locale, which was packed - they didn't really want to seat me for dinner since they were so slammed, but they let me order a takeout pizza (which was kind of preferable anyway since it suddenly looked like it might storm, although it didn't end up happening). And while I waited thirty minutes for the pizza, I had a glass of wine and started reading 'Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities', which is pretty fascinating - humans have lived in Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul (and the settlements preceding it) for at least eight thousand years, and it's been at the crossroads of so many sweeping changes in human history.

So when my pizza was ready, I came home, ate it, and spent the evening alternating between Twitter, reading 'Istanbul', and napping. And now it's time for bed so I can be slightly more productive tomorrow - goodnight!

catch you when the current lets you go

I had a perfect day, all in all. I woke up after getting eight full hours of sleep for the first time in forever, and then I made coffee and wrote for awhile. Then I walked a couple of blocks to River and Woods to pick up my car, ran it through a car wash, ran some errands, wrote some more, made lunch, took a nap, took a shower, and wrote again...

But then I abandoned my house and came to Katie's, which is where I'm sleeping tonight. We had a very low key evening - James smoked some awesome pork, and Katie made corn on the cob and a delish German-style potato salad. So we ate supper, then took the girls for a walk around the neighborhood.

I actually stopped drinking at seven, so from an alcohol standpoint I'm good to drive home... But while James put the girls down, Katie and I sat outside and talked. James eventually joined us, as did a giant raccoon lounging on the neighboring roof, and we ended up sitting outside until almost midnight.

So now I'm holed up in the guest room, which is a very familiar place... And now it's time to sleep. Goodnight!

stolen dance

Today was mostly good, all in all - I did not want to get out of bed after getting less than six hours of sleep, but I managed to rally, shower, and go to the doctor for a checkup. This meant I didn't have time to write this morning, nor did I have time for breakfast, but at least I checked the appointment off my to-do list.

Then I went to the office, where I worked from 10:15 to 3:30 without any real breaks - but five hours isn't that onerous (although working so much last night means I felt pretty entitled to going home early today). I also spent the last bit of time putting strips of LED lights around my desk, which awed my coworkers - I had lights on my last desk in California, and I kind of missed them, so I'm happy to have them back. So now my desk is completely blinged out and ridiculous, which is as it should be.

After that, I had happy hour with Nicole - it was my third late afternoon in a row of sitting on a patio and hanging out, and it was pretty magical. I may not have as many friends here as I do in California, but when I can scrounge up friends, I'm quite enjoying the warm summer evenings. We went to River and Woods, which is becoming my fave place; the backyard was perfectly shaded, so we had some chenin blanc and split some poutine and generally gossiped/laughed/had a delightful time. I think we're actually becoming friends, which is great, so hopefully we continue to hang out in the future.

Then I came home, took a nap, talked to Katie about weekend plans, and generally did nothing the rest of the night. But even though it's not quite eleven, I really need some sleep - I have some serious deficit from the week and some serious plans to see Katie tomorrow, which means getting some sleep now is the only thing that will save me. Goodnight!

i live for the applause

Today was a v. v. long day, since I had meetings straight from 9:30 to 3:30 (one of those meetings graciously allowed me five minutes to grab food to eat in the meeting, so that was nice!), and then went out for a drink with a coworker, which meant I got home at 6:30 completely wiped out. So I ate some sushi I'd picked up at Whole Foods, did absolutely nothing for awhile, and then spent the last four hours working.

But that work was worthwhile - I got through a ton of work email, so I almost feel caught up on that (although I still have tons to do). And I actually wrote this morning before work, so it's not all bad.

But now I need to sleep - goodnight!

poker face

After several nights of not nearly enough sleep, and four hours spent hanging out with coworkers, I'm way too tired to blog. Not that the socializing was onerous; I sat out in the sun at Sanitas from 4:30-6:15, then had dinner with some people at the Depot, so it was all good. It was even all good when I had to drink kombucha at happy hour because the breweries only serve beer, no wine... But I somehow survived.

But now it's time for bed - goodnight!

tell me when it kicks in

I had a long day at work, filled with many, many annoyances. So many that I probably couldn't quantify them now, which is for the best since it's all confidential and I can't tell you anyway. Never fear, I didn't get fired, and nothing has been decided with this endless reorg that I've been living (dying) in since joining eight months ago. But still, if people could avoid causing any fires tomorrow so I can get some work done, that would be very much appreciated, tanks.

However, the good news is that it only hailed a little bit today - the quantity of hail I've seen in the last two weeks is truly astounding. And the better news is that I actually wrote both before and after work. Yes, I'm burying the lede. But I finally, in a brilliant moment of clarity, realized exactly where I went wrong with my young adult book like three years ago...five chapters ago, I took a serious wrong turn, and I never figured out that that was why all forward progress had pretty much stalled.

So I was so excited by that realization this morning that I actually managed to write for half an hour after work as well, even though I had a million work things to do and probably should have done them instead. [in fact, typing that sentence reminded me of one of the annoyances that I'd forgotten about, which I will now have to deal with in the morning, ugh]

But that's all you're getting tonight - after I wrote for half an hour, I made avocado toast for dinner, and then I had multiple calls with people from Singapore and Hyderabad, so I'm feeling a little surly (despite the fact that I like the people I talked to and got some good gossip, which is always fun). That means it's time for bed - goodnight!

i'm overzealous

I don't feel like blogging...today I paid the wages of my sins, which means it was finally time to tackle my work inbox after a couple of weeks of ignoring most of it. So I worked all day, went to the mall after work to blow off a bit of steam, came home, ate peanut butter and jelly, and worked for the last three hours.

But that's not the end of the world....although my inbox will explode again tomorrow, like an echo generation of the baby boomers, since I sent out a huge flurry of emails today that will likely come back to me tomorrow, thus continuing to multiply my workload. Oops. But this job paid for all the stuff I bought at Anthropologie, so #noregrets. Goodnight!

groove is in the hot

Sooooo tired. Staying up until 2am watching royal wedding coverage (which I'd taped and could have watched anytime) was perhaps a mistake, but #noregrets. Or at least #noregrets until now, when I accidentally stayed up until midnight and have to be at the office in eight hours.

But today was pretty good, at least until the end - I woke up, messed around on twitter reading more royal wedding stuff, and then did stuff in my office until it was time to take a hasty shower and leave the house. I had brunch plans with Christine (a friend from work), so we met at The Kitchen (yes, I adore it). Brunch was tasty, but going to the paper store a couple of blocks away was my real aim, and it was accomplished v. well.

Then I came home, procrastinated, did a bit of writing-related stuff, ate some frozen enchiladas because I was too lazy to cook, and talked to my parents for a couple of hours. Then, unfortunately, I had to do day job stuff; I have to present at an all-hands tomorrow and hadn't made the slides yet, and it took longer than anticipated.

So now I should try to get some beauty sleep so I don't look totally haggard tomorrow - goodnight!