been wondering if your heart's still open, and if so, i wanna know what time it shuts

 Today was a delight. I stayed in bed until nine, which went a long way toward restoring me. Then I decided to make good use of the fact that it was nice for the first time in a week - instead of writing, I made some coffee, took a luxurious shower (luxury = shaving AND washing my hair on the same day), made an omelette, and generally practiced self-care for awhile. Then Katie came over - it was just nice enough to sit outside and stay six feet apart, especially since the sun was shining and I had a tank top / long sleeved shirt / sweatshirt + winter-weight leggings + uggs. We didn't eat anything, but I drank a lot of coffee and Katie drank whatever sparkling water beverages she'd brought with her, and we talked about a variety of subjects, and it was perfectly lovely.

Katie left around one, and I had some leftover thai food for lunch, took care of some tings around the house, and then ran an errand in Cherry Creek. I'd ordered some more Crate and Barrel stuff (they are getting most of my money during the pandemic -- but they're probably behind Athleta, since I keep buying leggings / joggers in an effort to cozy my way out of any malaise), and so I went and picked it up at their curbside delivery station. Then I came straight home, since the grocery store on a Sunday afternoon is not where I want to be even during non-pandemic times - I could use a few things, but none of it was pressing, so I'll sneak out some weekday afternoon or break down and get it delivered.

When I got home, I immediately started making an unnecessarily elaborate dinner - I was in the mood to make the Barefoot Contessa's boeuf bourguignon, which I used to make occasionally for dinner parties but haven't made in at least 5-7 years since I a) no longer have dinner parties and b) have too many friends who don't eat beef. It takes close to three hours, but it's worth it - very luscious beef cubes, a lot of bacon, a lot of onion, some carrots, and a whole lot of mushrooms. It also calls for an entire bottle of wine, and you also add 1/2 c of cognac and burn it off (which adds some flavor / char to the veg). All in all, it's delicious, and it's even better on top of mashed potatoes (which I seem to have perfected in my new stand mixer).

So, by the time it was done, I was pretty much in heaven - and I am v. much looking forward to leftovers. While it was cooking, I talked to my parents, who were kind enough to interrupt their viewing of a John Wayne movie for the fifteenth time this year to talk to me (thanks guys!). And after I was done eating, I cleaned up my kitchen, instagrammed my cooking adventure, and generally procrastinated until now.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

i guess what i'm tryna say is i need the deep end, keep imagining meeting, wished away entire lifetimes

I was much more hermity than intended today, but it's because I spent over three hours making a breakfast that I normally would have spent fifteen minutes on. We're doing some Olympics-type activity at work, with a variety of competitions, and one of those competitions is a cooking challenge. But since no one can taste or verify whether any output is good, the challenge is instead to make a single meal with as many appliances as possible.

I think I successfully used every single appliance I own, with the exception of my grill (it's been violently windy off and on all day, and I didn't think lighting a grill was a good idea). This included doing truly inefficient things like using my food processor to shred some cheese for an omelette (I have bags of shredded cheese, or I would normally just use a grater). But I made another batch of those pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting that I liked so well a couple of weeks ago, and the omelette that I made was one of the best ever - using an immersion blender to beat two eggs was overkill, but the omelette was certainly fluffy.

I also made steel cut oatmeal in my instant pot in the first time, and I was v. impressed - it doesn't save time from cooking it on the stove, but it seemed creamier and didn't require monitoring/stirring, so I'm a fan. And I grilled slices of apple to put on top of it using my panini press, which is another trick I never would have tried but was actually quite nice. So while I don't intend to make this particular combination of things with this particular level of appliance overload again, at least I learned some new techniques.

But that meant I didn't have breakfast until after noon (I had a couple of snacks and a lot of coffee to get me going), and by the time I cleaned up my kitchen it felt like the day was shot. I spent some time catching up on correspondence, and then I took a bath, and then I took a nap. I had planned to cook tonight, but I was definitely not in the mood - so I ordered thai food (which was exactly what I was craving) and read half of THE CITY WE BECAME by N.K. Jemisin. So far it's great, but I managed to pull myself away at the midpoint so that I can go to bed at a reasonable hour.

And now that reasonable hour is upon me - it's definitely time for bed. Happy Diwali to all my Diwali-celebrating friends - goodnight!

my head is giving me life or death but i can't choose

I'm super tired and need to go to bed soon - I have grand hermit plans for the weekend, so I don't want to stay up all night. But today was decent enough - I didn't write this morning, but I did journal before slogging all day. I took a break while it was still daylight so that I could take a walk, and then I had an extended happy hour with a coworker (Sara, who is one of my favorites). We talked for two hours or so, until our takeout orders arrived, and it was a delight to catch up with her.

Then I ate my takeout (I was in the mood for guac, so I made it happen), talked to [censored], messed around, took a nap, and watched last week's SNL. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

somebody's calling you out for somеthing you never said

I meant to go to bed an hour ago, but if I close my laptop as soon as I'm done typing, I can salvage my bedtime. Today was good, all in all - I got up in time to write before work, and I snacked my way through the day (the last of my leftover hash and eggs; a bologna sandwich for lunch; an apple and some peanut butter; a charcuterie plate with soppressata, cheese, and almonds). Some of my meetings were vaguely annoying, but I survived them. And then I wrote again after work, since I had a writing date set up with Veronica and Anne - we're all doing nanowrimo, so it's been great to reconnect (albeit completely virtually).

But by 6:45 I was done with working/writing. So I made my charcuterie plate, finished my glass of wine, and read the rest of NINTH HOUSE. It was excellent - it had started out slow, but it was really good and twisty since it was basically a magical murder mystery (and with Yale secret societies, which is my jam). Only bummer is that I thought it was a standalone and it is instead the beginning of a series, and the next book likely won't be out until 2022. But, it already got optioned by Amazon Studios for a tv show, so hopefully that means the next book will actually come out at some point because I have feelings about that ending.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

better nix my summer plans

Today was pretty good, although I was tired by the end of it - I didn't get enough sleep, and I intend to rectify that posthaste. But I dragged myself out of bed in time to write, so that was a delight. And then I showered, slogged all day, took a break to eat a poke bowl, and took another break to have class with Alyssa. When that was over, I made dinner while talking to [censored] - he was good, but my porkchop, polenta, and brussels sprouts were even better.

Then I was tired, so I doomscrolled and cleaned my kitchen. And then I had an 8:30pm meeting with someone in India and did another hour of work right after. But now I've gotten through what I need to get through, and I'm going to read a bit and go to bed - goodnight!

scroll and key

I have no updates of note, but that rarely stops me. I woke up in time to meditate and write before work; I am still behind on nanowrimo, but I got a thousand words this morning and I’ll take it. Then I showered and slogged; the slogging wasn’t the most effective, but it was better than nothing.

I stopped slightly early and took a walk, but it was colder than I thought and I wasn’t prepared for it, so I came home before I froze. Then I had a virtual happy hour with Caroline; we had dreamed of meeting outside in person, but it’s too cold for outside and cases are spiking too much to be inside, so we went virtual instead. I ate some fancy cheese and drank a glass of wine while talking to her, and it was great.

Then, I should have done many tings, but instead I did a bit of kitchen work, made a bologna sandwich, and read NINTH HOUSE for a couple of hours. I really just want to finish it, but I can’t stay up any later if I want to write tomorrow...so it’s time for bed!

nobody’s coming to save me

It snowed today, and the view from my desk was bleak, but I still had a decent day. I wrote quite a bit before work, then slogged until six-ish. Then I ate leftover fish tacos, caught up on some tings, and started reading a new book (NINTH HOUSE by Leigh Bardugo, which is v different from her Grishaverse books because it’s set in Yale’s secret societies). And now I am going to go to bed - goodnight!

somebody's ripping you off, trying to sell you good news

I'm super super tired, probably because I got up at 7:30 by accident (after going to bed at one, after getting not nearly enough sleep any night last week). So I'm blogging early and am going to crawl into bed and finish the book I started last night and absolutely not start any of the other books that are waiting to tempt me.

Today was good overall, though - I messed around, made some delicious hash (potatoes, onions, green pepper, bacon) and ate it with a couple of fried eggs, and then had a writing date with Veronica. The writing went well, although it took an unexpected turn; I wrote a little bit more tonight to see where it's headed, and so far I like it. We shall see, we shall see.

When I was done talking to V, I did some house stuff. I also raked my back patio, which took some effort; my big tree is lovely in summer, but it dumped all its leaves at once and my patio was a disaster. I got it mostly cleaned up, with some leaves left behind as mulch for my shrubbery, so that felt pretty good.

Then I talked to [censored] while eating a snack. And then I walked down to my favorite cheese shop to buy some chorizo; there's a chickpea and chorizo cassoulet that I last made approx fifteen years ago, and I'm thinking it might be time to resurrect it. When I got home, I did some chopping of vegetables, then called my parents. And then I finished prepping dinner - I made fish tacos, which were delicious, and now I have enough leftovers for tomorrow that I could potentially not cook if I don't want to, but we shall see.

Then I cleaned up my kitchen, came upstairs, wrote for a little bit, and now you're all caught up. It's time for me to read and go to bed - goodnight!

i want your body, need your body

I'm exhausted and I just stayed up approximately two hours later than I planned, but that's the danger of starting a book (which is why I don't read enough). I had to get up at six this morning to prep for my fridge delivery, which was scheduled between seven and one - unfortunately they showed up at noon, which meant the early morning wakeup was pretty unnecessary. But I did get my food safely packed up out of my fridge, and I pulled out the old fridge and tested the water supply / flushed the line that hadn't been used in years (if ever), and I also mopped where the fridge had been, so that felt v. productive.

I also spent some quality time this morning washing my sheets, doing more laundry, and finally setting up the extra monitor and computer that work sent me to help me be more productive (what are they trying to tell me?). And when the fridge came, I had quite a bit of work to do to get it ready - I had to remove all sorts of plastic and clingwrap, and clean the interior, and flush a couple of gallons through the water dispenser. I think I'm going to love it - it's already so much quieter than my previous fridge, and it has an *icemaker*, which brings me firmly into this new decade. And it fits perfectly - so perfectly that it made me nervous going in, but it looks great.

After all that + putting away my food, I was pretty wrecked, but I forced myself to keep going with household chores and tidying things up. Then I took a shower a little before six because I hadn't showered all day and wanted to be clean for my clean sheets. And then I picked up a pizza from Blue Pan, popped a bottle of (finally chilled) champagne, and did a bit of celebrating. Tonight felt pretty historic, and I'm hoping better days are ahead for all of us, but we shall see.

That turned into taking a break from screens to read a book - I finally started A DEADLY EDUCATION by Naomi Novik, which has been out a few months and which I've been saving for the right moment. It's totally different from her last couple of fantasies, but I'm really enjoying it. I'm probably 60-70% in and if I weren't so ridiculously tired I would just power through - but I want to enjoy the ending, and I can feel myself fading, so I really need to sleep. Goodnight!

sometimes all I think about is you

It’s Friday, or, in other words, Tuesday #4. I had a pretty good day; I wasn’t super productive at work, but I got done what I had to get done. Then I called [censored] while I took a walk, and ordered some winter running tights since winter is coming and I’m going to want some outdoor time even when it’s cold.

Then I messed around my house and took care of things while baking a potato, which I paired with the last of my fancy chicken (the one stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped with prosciutto) and broccoli. At that point, I was tired but it was only seven. So I ran a quick errand to pick up a couple of coolers from Katie - I had ordered a new fridge a couple of months ago and it was back ordered, then intended to get delivered around thanksgiving. But it unexpectedly came in early, so it’s now getting delivered tomorrow. This is v exciting, but it means I have to empty my fridge and freezer and hope I don’t spoil anything by accident.

So I borrowed Katie’s coolers to augment my own, and stopped on the way home to buy some ice. And now I need to sleep- my delivery window is seven to one, which is wildly imprecise, but also means I have to be ready and have my fridge cleaned out early just in case. Goodnight!

now I’m falling asleep and she’s calling dekalb

Another day. I woke up in time to write for a bit, and then I slogged all day. I wrapped things up around five, and then I had a quality catch-up with Terry, which was delightful. And then I made a new recipe (garbanzos with spinach and chorizo) which I thought was amazing. And then I spent the rest of the night reading the news, ordering Christmas stuff, and generally not being v productive.

And now it’s time for bed - good night!

blue danube

I'm super tired, since I only got five hours of sleep last night...and so even though it's only ten, I'm going to try to force myself into bed in the next 30mins. Today was pretty decent, though - I did some work, read all of Twitter, took a walk while talking to Katie, ate some v. delicious leftover chicken for dinner, etc.

And now I'm going to go to bed and hope that I wake up to excellent news in the morning - goodnight!

now, for ten years we've been on our own, and moss grows fat on a rolling stone

I need to go to bed because I have to work tomorrow (although it will hopefully not be too onerous). But I got a lot of work done, then took a walk, then talked to Barbara, and then made a v. elaborate dinner (chicken stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped in prosciutto + a baked potato and roasted broccoli). Then I drank a bottle of v. nice Grgich Hills cab while watching election coverage...which turned into a four-hour zoom call with Adit, Priyanka, Ritu, Bill, John, Jess, and Chandlord. And now I desperately need to sleep, since this isn't over - goodnight!

but i left it way too late, are you stuck in your own ways

Way too tired to blog - I wrote before work, then slogged all day (with a walk somewhere in there), then ran some errands. I also talked to [censored] and Katie, and ate a couple of pumpkin cupcakes. And I accidentally worked from ten to midnight, but c'est la vie and now I don't have to do it tomorrow.

But I really need to sleep now - goodnight!

when the rain washes you clean you'll know

I had a good day, but I'm really tired and probably should have honored my body's post-time-change desires and gone to bed thirty minutes ago. I spent the day taking care of a variety of tings - I tidied my utensil drawers in my kitchen, rearranged some stuff in my laundry room, did three loads of laundry, started clearing some unnecessary things out of my guest room, etc. I also had a writing date with Veronica - I'm doing NaNoWriMo this month (which is how I started my first book oh so many years ago) and I wanted to kick off well. So far so good and I had some good ideas this morning, so hopefully I can maintain/increase momentum.

I then took care of some outdoor stuff, including installing a camera in my garage - I'm not particularly worried about break-ins, but I am paranoid about whether I remembered to shut my garage door, so this seemed like a good idea. I then marinated some chicken, and while that was marinating, I called my parents. That took longer than usual, and I was starving by the end, so I almost ordered takeout....but I had already preheated the grill, so I persevered and made my chicken fajitas instead. They turned out great - the marinade for the chicken makes it possible to grill boneless skinless chicken breast without losing all the moisture, and grilling peppers/onions in a grill basket is stupidly easy. I paired it with some spanish rice (also a winner) and some canned refried beans (not fancy, but secretly my fave), and it was all good.

Then I doomscrolled a bit, folded a bunch of laundry, put the grill away, and painted my toenails. And now I really need to sleep - goodnight!

when we up in the club, all eyes on us

Last night was a trainwreck - I should have gone to bed hours before I did, but instead I curled up on my chaise and doomscrolled and read every bit of the internet. The result was that I didn't go to bed until almost three, which is completely absurd. And so even though I slept until a little after nine, it really wasn't quite enough.

However, I successfully rescued the day - when I got up, I made coffee, did some laundry, and ran to the grocery store to stock up on produce. This was key towards ensuring that I don't need to leave the house next week if I don't feel like it (I mean, I want to take some walks...but I'm not sure I want to be forced to interact with humans). When I got home, I put my groceries away, quickly cleaned myself up, and then came downstairs just in time to welcome Katie to my lovely backyard oasis.

Since the weather is getting colder and covid is spiking enough to keep us from seeing each other inside, our evening activities are pretty curtailed. But it was sixty today, which was still perfect for sitting in my backyard. We started off sitting on the ground in a patch of sun, but we eventually relocated to the couches as the sunshine moved, and it was a pretty perfect couple of hours. I also inducted Katie into the poke club (the place I order poke from is actually called PokéClub) - we ordered poke bowls for lunch, and they were just as delicious as always.

Katie eventually left, and then I tried a new recipe for pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (see my other blog). I subbed gluten free flour for regular flour without changing anything else, and they turned out perfectly - really tasty cupcakes, totally delicious frosting, and easy to make. They came out of the oven right before I had a friendship renewal call with Joann and Jen, so I ate my first one while I said hi to Joann, and then frosted the rest of them later in the call.

Unfortunately, 2020 is the gift that keeps on giving, and none of us had any particularly good news to share (although Joann got promoted, which is great, but I already knew that). But it was good to catch up, as per usual, and hopefully Joann and I (and Jen, if she feels so inclined, despite being married) get to spinster honeymoon again together somewhere in the world someday. They were all supposed to come to Colorado in May, but that airbnb got canceled long ago and it feels impossible to imagine how the year might have gone if coronavirus hadn't happened. But someday we shall see each other again! And until then, we can just snack in each other's faces on videoconferences.

sssanyway. After we hung up, Katie showed up again - this time with her children so that they would have somewhere to trick or treat. She had actually brought me candy earlier to give them tonight since I hadn't planned on trick or treaters, so this took literally zero effort on my part (other than opening the door). The girls were dressed as ninjas, which was a good way to incorporate masks, and it was fun to see them for a few minutes. I also gave them cupcakes, which I think went over well.

Then I messed around on my other blog for a couple of hours, documenting the eggplant parmigiana that I made the other night + putting up the cupcakes. Then I ate chili, doomscrolled a bit, and basically got nothing else accomplished. And now I'm determined to be in bed before midnight, so it's time to sign off - goodnight!

run along now, don't be glum. get you gone, now, have some fun...don't be long, for the end is nigh

Today was pretty good, all in all. I still didn't sleep super well last night, but my first meeting wasn't until 10:30, so I had plenty of time to tidy things up in the kitchen, take out some trash and recycling, shower, etc. and still get some work done before my first meeting. Then I slogged until almost six, although I took a short break to walk down the street and pick up some cheese and meat from my favorite cheese shop.

I spent my evening doing a virtual wine tasting organized through work - I had gotten three bottles from Ram's Gate delivered a couple of weeks ago and the tasting was tonight. The wine was really good; I wasn't totally in the mood to do the tasting part, since it involved listening to someone talk about wine when I really just wanted to hang out; and I'm glad I have a Coravin, because it meant I could pour half a glass of each and not open the bottles.

So I tasted and sipped while also eating a bunch of cheese. After, I jumped into a side video with a guy I work with and his wife, who were also on the tasting, and that was much more hilarious and my speed. And then I ate some leftover eggplant parmigiana, did some stuff around the house, etc. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

did you write the book of love

Thursday in the apocalypse...but it was pretty good overall. I didn't sleep well last night and woke up feeling like I might be on the verge of having a terrible, no-good, very bad day. But I drank coffee, journaled, and managed to pull myself out of the worst of my funk. So that meant I slogged all day, had some good meetings, ate some chili for lunch, took a walk while listening to a podcast, and then slogged some more.

But I stopped at five to make a somewhat elaborate dinner - I tried a new recipe for eggplant parmigiana, and it was fucking delicious. Like, perfect. And the eggplant wasn't breaded, so it was naturally gluten free. Of course, it took longer than I would usually spend on a weeknight meal, but it was worth it - I made a pretty simple tomato sauce (just canned whole tomatoes, oil, garlic, and basil), fried slices of eggplant, cut up some fresh and smoked mozzarella, and then layered tomato sauce, eggplant, mozzarella(s), parmesan, and basil in a baking dish. I cut the recipe in half and made an 8x8 instead of a 9x13 since I would have trouble eating a 9x13 myself - and it was so, so, so good. So, that was #worthit and a v. nice way to end the day.

Then I talked to [censored] for a couple of hours - he was driving and we hadn't talked in a couple of weeks, so neither of us had anywhere better to be and leaned into a v. long conversation. And then I did a tiny bit of day job work to prep for tomorrow...and now it's time for bed. Goodnight!

saying goodbye to bygones

I'm exhausted and need to stop looking at screens and go to bed. I woke up too early this morning, did some virtual event stuff (it ended this morning and seemed to go really well!), then had to immediately transition into a full day of slogging. So, I slogged, got a poke bowl delivered as my #treatyoself moment of the day, took a break for my class with Alyssa, and then slogged some more.

But by 5:30 I was finally done. So I walked to my nearby polling place to drop off my ballot - Colorado has really cracked the code on how to do voting, since the ballot shows up, there are plenty of places to drop it off, and they automatically track it at every step so you know if it got counted. I was only there a minute, but there were multiple cars in line waiting to drop off to the manned drive-through dropoff, and I got to the pedestrian 24hr box just at the same time as another woman. For six p.m., six days before the election, my v. anecdotal survey says that turnout is high.

Then I came home, ate some leftover pork chile verde, talked to Katie, and did absolutely nothing of worth or substance the last three hours. And now I'm going to sleep - goodnight!

the simulation just went bad

Today was a v. v. long day, but it was #worthit. I got up early this morning because I had some work that absolutely had to get done before the actual workday started, so I did it while sitting on my chaise and drinking coffee (which sounds decadent, but it was still work). Then I had meetings pretty straight from 9:30am to 9:30pm - I had a couple of hours during the day to get some work done, but I also had a four-hour 'offsite' (definitely onsite, still sitting in the same place I always do) from two to six.

Then I went straight into a virtual event - the big, fun, amazing in-person event(s) that my team plans every year (like last year, when I got to go to Sydney and Berlin) were replaced this year with a virtual event. It started yesterday with an Americas-friendly time, but tonight is the Asia/Pacific time - so I watched it off and on from six to ten (with some other work interspersed). It's been a really good virtual event - and probably way healthier for me personally, since I just watched a few sessions in my kitchen while making chili (instead of flying halfway around the world to work sixteen hours a day and drink moscow mules in random bars). Still, the flying halfway around the world and drinking moscow mules in random bars are things I really miss, so perhaps someday that will happen again.

But it won't happen today - Denver went into stricter lockdown because our cases are spiking. Great.

sssanyway, now that I had done my duty for the event tonight, I need to sleep - the Asia/Pacific session runs straight into the Europe session, so I have to wake up early for the closing ceremony (luckily I already taped my session, but I may want to answer chats, unclear). Goodnight!

blue are the streets and all the trees are too

Today was pretty good, I guess. I didn't get enough sleep, which I'm hoping to rectify soon. But I got up in time to meditate before work, and I washed and dried my hair, and I wore jeans, which are all real accomplishments. Then I worked all day - I had yet another meeting with my VP, but this time it was just the two of us, and the third time is a charm and she didn't yell at me and instead we had a great conversation, so I'm taking the win.

The rest of my meetings were fine, and I took a break around five to do some homework for Alyssa's class + make my first attempt at gluten free bread. I had put the dough in the fridge to rest yesterday, so today I had to preheat the oven and a baking stone (luckily I have one from my grandma), shape a loaf, and bake it. Then I had to let it cool completely, which was hard because it smelled great. I would give it a 6.5 or 7/10 - I would definitely eat more of it, and the crust was great, but the middle seemed slightly too dense or undercooked. Not sure if that's the altitude, the mixing, or something else - but I still have half the batch of dough left, so I'll try again in a few days.

While that was baking/cooling, I ate some leftover pork chile verde and overindulged on twitter. But I pulled myself out and did an hour or so of day job work, which was v. necessary - and now I may crawl into bed with my notebook and do a bit of brainstorming for an offsite that I have tomorrow (maybe not the most relaxing way to end the evening, but better than waking up in the morning panicked because I haven't finished it). Goodnight!

but in the end, something just didn't feel right

Sometimes I do a quick search on my blog to see if I've used a lyrics as a title before; sometimes it turns up that lyric, but often it turns up a bunch of posts that use some of the words, and that results in an impromptu trip down memory lane. Tonight's search revealed:

- the wine trip Terry, Subz and I took to Calistoga; it was a weekend or two before the 2016 election, and before several Calistoga wineries burned this year, so it felt like a throwback to a more innocent time

- a time when Claude told me, Chandlord, and Renee (who I used to hang out with) the story of Rumpelstiltskin in a California Pizza Kitchen

- the glorious afternoon Riturani and I spent getting our nails done and drinking a whole bottle of champagne and congratulating each other on how great we are (to be more specific, this time was right before her engagement photos; this is a typical day for us overall, although I prefer when it involves oysters)

- the time I was eating lunch outside in Palo Alto and watched a woman carry her child on her shoulders...and then the child vomited into her hair

- the day I scraped my RAV4 in Chandlord's parking garage

- when I was in Jasmine and Michael's wedding (funny how you can be in someone's wedding and then not see them for over a decade)

- shopping on Grafton St when I lived in Dublin

- Fleet Week and feeling like I came close to getting kidnapped by a cab driver

- a work day that sounds a lot like the day I had on Friday, but it was in 2007

So, that was fun. While it's entirely insane and ridiculous that I've been doing this with astonishing regularity for sixteen (!) years, it's really fun and bizarre to dip into the minutiae of whatever I found interesting years ago.

sssanyway. Today was boring and I was not in it to win it. I did get almost nine hours of sleep, which was amazing - but it snowed all day and never made it over sixteen degrees, so I stayed inside and tried to battle my lethargy. I did pretty well considering my mood - I made a frittata for breakfast (and for breakfasts the next few days), then wrote (via an online writing date with Veronica). I then messed around online, ate some leftover spaghetti carbonara, and took the first pass at some experimentation with a new gluten free baking book that I got - I mixed up their preferred flour blend and also mixed up a batch of dough, which looks promising so far. The dough is better after being refrigerated and can be refrigerated up to ten days, so I'm sure I'll test out a loaf later this week.

Then I talked to Katie, threw together the ingredients for instant pot pork chile verde, and talked to my parents while the chile verde cooked. The chile verde was completely delish, so at least it was worth the effort.

Then I cleaned up my kitchen, adjourned to my office, and wrote some more. And now I need to fold some laundry / decompress / go to bed - goodnight!

this is a spiritual world, i'm a material boy

I was running on fumes this morning, but I somehow rallied and got a million things done. I did laze about for awhile with coffee and my journal and my phone (mostly my phone, which is never a good way to start the day). But I forced myself to eat some yogurt, take a shower, and then run to Crate and Barrel in Cherry Creek to return a couple of decorative pillows that I ordered on impulse and then promptly regretted. Crate and Barrel was mostly empty, so I browsed and picked up an oven thermometer and some other baking supplies for some baking experiments that I want to make in the coming weeks. I also daydreamed of decorating my entire house in fun and whimsical new ways, and then remembered that that's absolutely not what I want to spend my money on (okay, I want to spend my money on it, but I also want to do other things more), so I successfully left without an egregious amount of stuff.

Then I came home, made a sandwich, cleaned up some tings, and took a nap. And then I rallied and actually cleaned out my garage, which has been on my list for a year - it was nice enough today to be outside, but tomorrow it's going to be twenty degrees and snow multiple inches, so I forced myself to do garage stuff on what felt like the last nice day of the year (it will not be the last nice day of the year, but you never know in 2020). I put together some shelves I had ordered, organized everything that's in the garage, brought in some stuff that shouldn't have been out there, etc. And I broke down some boxes that need to be recycled (slowly, over the next few weeks, since my recycling is only every other week). I also swept, then used my leaf blower to push all the dirt outside,  and it was tremendously satisfying. Yes, I am old. But I also like things to be tidy, and I'm v. happy that my garage is now clean enough that two cars could theoretically fit (or my one car has a ton of room).

Then, since my garage was clean, I took my car to the carwash, where I washed and vacuumed it and generally got it ready to spend the next couple of weeks going nowhere due to the weather. I also put gas in it, for similar reasons. Then I came home, made some spaghetti carbonara for dinner, messed around on instagram, and then took a bubble bath while reading Padma Lakshmi's memoir.

And now that I've done about as much treating myself as I can do in one evening, I think it's time for bed. I have grand plans to write in the morning, and I also have grand plans to cook a million things so that I don't have to cook so much during the week - wish me luck with that. Goodnight!

i liked you better in college

I'm tired and should have gone to bed two hours ago, but instead I've been trying to decompress by lounging under a faux fur blanket and occasionally sipping a glass of wine that I poured ages ago. Today was hectic - it started by dropping my car off at the dealer for routine maintenance, which meant driving halfway to Boulder on a road that I barely ever take anymore. Everything felt vaguely apocalyptic this morning - someone at the dealer looked outside and said it was snowing, and then someone else asked if it was actually ash (I think it was ash). It was cold enough to be snow, but we also somehow suddenly have the second largest fire in state history rushing through Rocky Mountain National Park to connect with another fire that's been burning for a couple of months, so shit feels particularly real right now.

Then I came home and slogged all day, and some of my meetings were really fun but some were super annoying. Then I rushed back to pick up my car. At that point I would have happily drank wine and sat on my couch and stared at nothing, but I forced myself to eat something and then go to Whole Foods - my food hoarding is kicking back in as I watch coronavirus cases tick up, and it doesn't help that the US response is so much worse than the rest of the developed world. So I stocked up on a bunch of stuff and am happy that I won't have to brave the crowds tomorrow since I'm sure they'll be packed in advance of the snow we're going to get on Sunday.

And now I've done enough dozing off downstairs - I should really go to bed. Goodnight!

so you can wipe off that grin, i know where you've been, it's all been a pack of lies

Today was reasonably good, but winter is definitely coming - I'm not sure it cracked forty degrees today, and it was pretty miserably cold while I took care of my only outdoor errand (unpacking v. heavy box with a shelving unit that got delivered to my front door, and which I needed to move to my garage). But for the most part I was safe inside - I got up this morning and didn't write before work, but I did journal. Then I slogged all day, with a break for some leftover shrimp at lunch. I worked until almost six, then took care of some tings around the house.

And then, rather than watching the debate, I gave myself a break and instead wrote for about forty minutes, which was a much better use of time. And I finally filled out my Colorado ballot, which was v. easy on the national races and a little trickier on the ballot initiatives since there were several pages of them.

And now, having (mostly) done my civic duty (other than dropoff), it's time for bed - goodnight!

there's a world outside every darkened door

I had a great day, but I'm now way too tired to blog. I got up early and wrote before work, then slogged incessantly. But I cleared out as soon as work was over and went to a coworker's house, where I sat on her roof and met her new puppy (which makes me still want a dog, but maybe not a puppy) and had some chardonnay and generally had a delightful time. It was a really nice evening in Denver, but we're headed for sub-freezing temps tomorrow night and snow + bitter cold this weekend, so I felt like I was making the best of the end of the season before winter sets in with a vengeance.

But now I really need to sleep - goodnight!

enterprising wise men look to the horizon

Today was a little meh - not terrible, but my energy was never quite right and I think I should go to bed asap. I did manage to write before work and it was v. promising. Then I had many meetings, got rid of the boxes I packed last night, ate some beef stew for lunch, etc.

I probably should have done a bunch of work tonight, but instead I slacked off and made garlic chili shrimp - it was pretty fast because the garlic chili paste was already made (I made this recipe a few weeks ago and the sauce results in a double batch, so it was sitting in the fridge waiting for this moment). The shrimpies were super tasty - coated in garlic that had been pureed with oil and a little paprika and turmeric, then stirfried and tossed with some shallots and a bit of jalapeño. I served it over coconut rice, and it was a v. easy, tasty, decadent little feast.

Then I cleaned up the kitchen and basically procrastinated until now. And now I'm going to send a couple of work emails and go to bed - goodnight!

oh i tried diving even though the sky was storming

I'm pretty sleepy and should probably already be in bed. Today was sort of good, sort of stressful; I woke up in time to force myself to write, and the writing was good, and so if I could have just done that for another few hours it would have been great. Instead, I had to slog (after a shower) - I had meetings straight from ten to three-thirty without any break at all, and you will note that that meant I didn't get lunch. I usually don't succumb to the temptation of ordering lunch until Thursday or Friday every week, but I pulled the trigger on my weekly poke bowl (salmon, spicy tuna, seaweed salad, avocado, cucumber, spicy mayo, many other tasty things) today, so I guess I better cook something tomorrow night to stave off further lunchtime breakdowns.

But my meetings were fine, all in all. Then I took a break to run an errand, which involved walking, which was great. I did a bit more work, had a doctor's appointment (nothing wrong except for my stupid stomach and how it chooses to take all of my stress and turn it into a ball of acid gnawing at my insides), then came home and ate some leftover beef stew. Then I spent a truly ridiculous amount of time packing four boxes to get picked up by DHL tomorrow - this has been a very stupid, very boring saga that has dragged on for a couple of weeks, but hopefully everything is correctly packaged and labeled and ready to go. I will be v. glad to get them out of my garage, and to celebrate I ordered some shelves to put in the garage, so I guess garage organizing may be a project for this weekend (although it may snow on Sunday, so maybe not).

Then, it was suddenly nine p.m., but I had to do some work for tomorrow, so I did that. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

listen all y'all, it's a sabotage

Suddenly it's late and I need to go to bed immediately. But I was v. productive today - shockingly so, considering that I usually spend Sundays indulging in the Sunday Scaries and talking on the phone. It's even more shocking because I didn't sleep well last night, and so I woke up groggy and not at all in it to win it.

However, I did manage to meditate, journal, and take care of a couple of tings this morning and make myself an omelette, so that was all a win. Then I met up with V for a virtual writing date - I messed around with the epiphany that I had about the book yesterday and validated that it really is an epiphany. It's going to require replotting the whole thing and perhaps dramatically shifting my understanding of it, but that's pretty exciting and I'm planning to tackle it in the morning before the day job sucks me in.

After V and I said our farewells, I did some laundry, ate some lunch, and took a brief nap. But then I rallied - my task for the afternoon was to blow out my sprinklers, and I actually accomplished it and am pretty sure I did it correctly, so that was v. exciting. The air compressor that my dad and I bought last year has now paid for itself in terms of not having to hire someone else to blow out the sprinklers - and I feel v. satisfied for having done it myself. Of course, it took about an hour by the time I messed around with getting it hooked up and then blowing out each zone - switching zones required going back to the garage to switch the control box, and each zone needed to be blown out with 2-3 compressor cycles of air, which meant some time spent recharging the compressor between every cycle. But it's done now, so I don't think I have to worry about flooding my basement with a broken pipe anytime soon.

After I was done with that, I talked to my parents for an hour or so while taking care of some stuff in the garden (trimming back stuff that needed trimmed, planting some iris that Barbara had given me and hoping it survives). Then I made instant pot beef stew - it takes time, but it's so so worth it, and this may be the best batch I've ever made.

And now, after having done some more adulting things this evening, I think it's time for bed - goodnight!

girl you look so pretty to me

I had a v. delightful, v. productive day. I decided to get up around when I usually do during the week, adn I spent the morning journaling, tidying up the house, cleaning my back patio, etc. Around noon, my friend Barbara came up from Colorado Springs - we wanted to squeeze in a visit before the weather turns, and I'm glad we did because winter is most certainly coming (and what isn't made unpleasant by cold is rendered challenging because of incessant wildfire smoke).

We hung out for several hours, ate takeout Indian food, talked about books and writing and life, and generally enjoyed each other's company. I also foisted a funfetti cupcake off on her, and I think I've successfully spread the freezer cupcake gospel to another new acolyte. It was great to see her, and I may have had an epiphany about my book, so we'll see.

After she left, I prepped some chicken stuffed with goat/cream cheese and wrapped in proscuitto (which I made a couple of weeks ago) and took them over to Katie's. I also took some broccoli, and we threw all of it in the oven while we enjoyed snacks outside. Katie made Dark and Stormies (Darks and Stormy? Darks and Stormies? Dark and Stormy x2?), and I brought 'baby champagne' (aka sparkling apple cider for the girls) and it was a delightful evening.

And now I really need to sleep - goodnight!

it takes two to make a thing go right

Today was fairly annoying. It started with bloodwork, which meant I couldn't drink coffee as soon as I woke up. Then, as the phlebotomist was trying in vain to find a vein, she casually said that she just does this occasionally to keep her skills up, which explained why it took ten minutes and two attempts to find a vein (luckily she wasn't a digger, but I was worried for a minute). But at least I got to walk to and from the doctor's office, which was a highlight of my morning.

Then I came home, promptly made coffee, had breakfast, and slogged. I had a VP presentation that was fairly annoying (I usually slam dunk them, but this one was not a slam dunk, which made me cranky). I didn't end up getting lunch until two, so it's a good thing my breakfast was late. And I was probably destined to stay cranky if I'd kept working...

But I ducked out for a ninety-minute class/coaching session with Alyssa, which was great. Then I talked to Sara (not myself; a friend with the same name) for quite some time, and that was a delight. And then I generally relaxed, tidied up, and ordered a steak and fries from LoHi Steakbar. Fries are something I have deeply missed during the pandemic, and while these arrived slightly soggy, I reheated them in a skillet and they were still greasy and salty and therefore the best thing ever. The steak was pretty good too, and it went a long way toward restoring my mood.

But now I want to stop staring at screens, so I'm going to read (and possibly talk to [censored] to keep him awake while he drives) and go to bed. Goodnight!

hands, knees, please, tangerine, sugar, honey, sweet

It's amazing how much time I have at night if I don't cook something elaborate. Today was pretty good, overall - I got more sleep than I had been getting, and I did some tidying up around the house while drinking my first cup of coffee, which was good. I slogged most of the day, but a bunch of meetings got canceled, so it wasn't too onerous. I had time to make some poached eggs for lunch to go with some leftover potatoes/chard. And I stopped at five, looked at the weather, and realized that it might freeze tonight - so I drained the water from the main sprinkler pipe and put insulation around the backflow preventer. I was thinking I could make it another week before blowing out my sprinklers, but that may become an activity for Sunday....we shall see.

Then I ate some leftover shepherd's pie, which was much better today than it was last night. I also took a walk and listened to a podcast - it was v. chilly and getting dark and winter is definitely coming, which feels grim in a world of rapidly spiking covid cases and working from home. But tonight wasn't grim - I got a whole bunch of personal shit done, did a tiny bit of day job stuff, ate a funfetti cupcake with rainbow chip frosting (seriously, keep unfrosted cupcakes in the freezer and a can of frosting in the fridge, it's the best), and generally felt uber productive. I've been uber productive for a few days, so I wonder when the crash is coming....but I'll keep going as long as I'm able to, and then I'll eat more cupcakes to get through the unproductive days instead.

And now I want to take a break from screens before going to bed - goodnight!

welcome to this one-man show

I didn't sleep at all well last night; I tossed and turned and was mostly awake after five, which made me v. surly. I am usually a champion sleeper, so whenever I don't sleep well, I take it as an affront to my whole way of life. Of course, I still stubbornly stayed in bed until seven, which wasn't great for my morning - I had meetings starting at nine, but I eked out a few words on my story and meditated and had coffee, so it could be worse.

Then I slogged all day - nothing particularly brutal, although I ordered a poke bowl in a #treatyoself moment. I threw in the towel around five; I was supposed to go over to Kelly's, but her husband's coworker has covid, so I decided to play it safe. Instead, I made a shepherd's pie, which took forever (I should've risked covid instead...KIDDING). It was fairly tasty, but shepherd's pie is basically tater tot casserole (but with mashed potatoes instead of tots), and tater tot casserole would have been preferable. However, I made mashed potatoes in my stand mixer for the first time and they turned out great, so at least I have discovered that trick to improve my overall life.

After that, I didn't have much energy for anything else, so I mostly hung out and did nothing - but I did send some info to someone about refinancing my house, so I'll consider that a win if I pull it off. And now I think I'll go to bed and hope tonight's sleep is better - goodnight!

heat waves been faking me out

Today was a bit of a trainwreck. I had to start at nine instead of my preferred 9:30, which cut into my coffee / journal time. I had meetings pretty much all day; some of those meetings gave me a headache. I ate some leftover potatoes/chard and some freshly poached eggs for lunch, which was v. tasty, and that was pretty much the highlight of those nine hours.

Sometime in the middle of my last meeting, I heard the sound of pipes banging and assumed it was my neighbor. I was correct, but I was v. surprised to see a text from the neighbor saying that he had blown up my sprinklers. My sprinklers, not his sprinklers. So I ended my last meeting a little abruptly, went outside, and discovered my neighbor attempting to fix my backflow preventer. He'd told me over the weekend that he wanted to spread some grass seed and would text me to turn on my sprinklers when he had done so, which I said sounded great. But when he texted me this afternoon (which I didn't see), he just said he would turn them on - which was bold, since the controls are in my garage. Apparently, he thought the box by my backflow preventer was the same as his (we have a lot of other features in common, since we're each half of a duplex), and so he just turned on a valve there, and that changed the pressure in my system and shot the pressure cap on my backflow preventer way up in the air (luckily he didn't break a window).

ssssanyway I was not particularly amused, but he figured out how to fix it and I didn't have any water in my basement, so it's all good. And since he's mowed literally every time this summer, I'm not too upset. But needless to say, any thoughts I had of clean living were out the window after a crazy day at work + my sprinklers blowing up. So I had a glass of wine, talked to [censored] for nearly two hours, ate leftover steak, and generally chilled out. I also talked to Katie to tell her about our favorite small town lawyer's victory in a chicken-wing-eating contest (only a few of you will know who this is, but if you know you know).

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

but I left it way too late, are you stuck in your own ways?

It's Monday, which is never a delight in the apocalypse. However, I tried to make the best of it. I had coffee and journaled before work, which helped to set me up just a little better than otherwise. Then I slogged most of the day, with a long break around lunch to eat leftover thai food and take a walk around the neighborhood.

I took a break around 5:30 to heat up my grill, throw some brussels sprouts in the oven, and grill a ribeye. The steak turned out perfectly, which was pretty delightful (okay, I lied earlier - Mondays in the apocalypse can be a delight if there is ribeye). I also had a twice-baked potato in my freezer, which is another trick I've discovered in the apocalypse - I only have one left, so I'll have to make some new ones soon. Steak + perfectly charred brussels sprouts + twice baked potato + a glass of wine = a v. nice Monday dinner. It also fueled me to spend another three hours answering emails, which is not what I usually like to do, but it had hit the point where I felt like I needed to catch up.

Then I closed my work laptop, managed to stay off twitter, and instead read a few chapters of Padma Lakshmi's LOVE, LOSS, AND WHAT WE ATE, which is fantastic so far. And now I must sleep - goodnight!

nothing hurts like your mouse

Today was good, but long and full of zooms. I woke up and had a v. leisurely morning with coffee and journaling, etc. And I made some tasty acelgas guisadas, which is basically just stewed tomatoes, onions, potatos, and chard - I make it every once in awhile as a bed for poached eggs, and it hit the spot today.

The afternoon was then consumed with a variety of catch-ups - I talked to my parents first, which was unusually early, but I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to catch up. Then I talked to Veronica; we hadn't talked in weeks, so we were v. overdue. Then, almost immediately after that I talked to Terry - we did a phone call instead of a zoom because everyone is zoomed out, and it was lovely.

Then I took a break, ate some takeout thai food, messed around, took a nap, etc. And I ended the evening with a family dinner zoom in honor of Adit's birthday; Marina was a surprise special guest. Vidya won best jhoke for a truly terribly joke about all the mink that died of covid (coatvid), which she only won because there were no other jokes. Adit and Priyanka claimed to be in a local maxima, but everything they discussed seemed pretty minima - they won 'worst problem', which was that they had a mouse staring at them and eating one of their doors through most of the call.

You can catch up on the rest of the topics with the chat transcript, which was used to catch people up as they joined late:

[in regards to Adit's birthday] Adit’s parents ordered cake
Sister ordered cupcakes
Priyanka bought flowers for the photos
They have a mouse

John bought a dinghy

Marina had to teach online bc the Colorado college students all have covid

John and Jess’s kid is still in backyard school

Bill is wearing plaid pants

The mouse is eating through the door
it’s like a zombie mouse
trying to get to them

Ritu and Bill bought a house
but they can’t get out of their lease
one road in, one road out (same road, as Bill said)

oh yeah - John’s new dinghy has a hole in it
The term 'dinghy' is a loanword from the Bengali ḍiṅgi, Urdu ḍīngī, and Hindi ḍieṁgī

They hired a professional [to get rid of the mouse]
$1000

a dingo is not a dinghy

Pls vote for coated!!! coatvid

We also discussed nap dresses and nap suits, Priyanka's problem with mopping floors, how Adit's best birthday was the one he didn't spend with any of us, Bill's parents' house sitting unattended in Georgia (if you need somewhere to break in), paddleboarding, air quality in the bay area, etc. Pretty standard, and pretty low energy if we're all being honest. But seven months into quarantine, everyone is pretty low energy, so I guess that's what you get.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight! 

you've been dreamless and sleeping for years

I was scribbling some notes in my journal, but I suddenly hit the wall and think I need to go to bed immediately. Today was nice, though; I woke up and spent time with my coffee and cookbooks, debating what delicious things to make this week. I also talked to Chandlord for awhile; neither of us are funny anymore because it's the apocalypse, but we did our best. I cleaned out my freezer and checked up on my supplies. And I ate the last of the chicken breast stuffed with cheese and wrapped in prosciutto - that recipe is super tasty, and I already wish I had more of it in my fridge.

Then I ran a couple of errands - I had to drop off a couple of returns at Nordstrom, and I had to pick up something at Crate and Barrel, so I combined those errands with a trip to the Cherry Creek Whole Foods. They didn't have any eggplant, so the eggplant parmigiana that I thought about making this week may not happen, but I'll see if the farmer's market (last of the season!) has any tomorrow. But I stocked up on some tings, and I'm pretty excited to try some new recipes this week.

Then I came home and was planning to be sloth-filled the rest of the night, but Katie called and invited me over for dinner. Before I went, I had my usual friendship renewal call with Joann, Jen, and Jane; it was more depressing than many of our pandemic calls, which is saying something, but there were some moments of extreme levity (probably seasoned with annoyance to give it its best taste).

Then I went to Katie's, where we ate a lot of Indian takeout, drank a delish rosé, and went deep on the meaning of life. And now I really really need to sleep - goodnight!

time is a valuable thing, watch it fly by as the pendulum swings

Today was okayish. Work was ridiculous this week, and while it's all fine, it was also a lot of dealing with other people's emotions, which always wears me out. So, I ducked out around two to run some errands - I had glasses sitting in Boulder that I should have picked up three weeks ago, and I needed to make a return to Nordstrom Rack (of which there is one in Boulder). It was a bit bizarre to go up there because I realized I might not have a reason to go back at all this year - it's unlikely that I'll go to the office, and there almost certainly won't be a holiday party, and I don't have any other reasons to go. Strange times, friends.

Then I made a Costco run, which I refuse to do on the weekends. I was mostly there to stock up on canned goods and other sundry supplies, but I also found a space heater / cooler / air filter that I'd had my eye on and it was deeply discounted (enough to get it under the remaining budget that I had from my company giving us money for our workspaces). So, that was exciting - I want to actually work out in my basement, but it's slightly too chilly, especially in the winter. And the smoke has been bad off and on here, so an air filter is not amiss (if I choose to have it in my bedroom or office instead).

And then, depressed that the most exciting thing about my day was finding a space heater, I came home, unloaded my bounty (actually, I meant that metaphorically; literally, I left the 18-pack of Bounty paper towels in the car), and took a nap. Then I ate leftovers, but they were so delicious that they still felt decadent - that chicken stuffed with cheese and wrapped in prosciutto is really fucking good, and I reheated some broccoli and made a fresh baked potato, and it was a delight.

Then I finished reading UNTAMED (also a delight), texted with some people, etc. And now I think I will go to bed, unless I start another book - goodnight!

i'll help you carry on

Nothing to report today...it was a pretty brutal slog at work, but mostly brutal for other people and not for me. It all started weird because I had to move four large boxes of stuff from my garage to my front door, remove the old labels, add new labels, and place them outside for FedEx - it was work stuff that had to end up here because the office was closed, and I'm glad to get them out of my garage (and even more glad that they got picked up rather than me having to schlepp them to a dropoff). But still, it was kind of an annoying thing to start my morning with. And then I had meetings pretty much straight through until five (although I treated myself to a poke bowl for lunch).

Promptly at five, I took a break and talked to Irish Matt for awhile - we had not talked in ages and were v. overdue. Then I baked a potato while I did some day job stuff. And then I ate that potato with leftover chicken and broccoli from yesterday. I dallied a bit on twitter, read a bit of the book I'm reading, and generally tried to decompress, but it wasn't quite possible (but all in all, life is fine and I'm not actually that stressed, just a bit fried at the moment).

And now, even though it's relatively early, I think I'll head to bed - goodnight!

when the rain washes you clean you'll know

It's Wednesday, day eleven million of the apocalypse. I woke up in time to meditate / journal before work, but then the day was a slog - I had meetings, more meetings, and a bit of a break to dump a cobb salad out of a jar from my fridge. It was all kind of a lot and I wasn't in the mood for most of it, but I managed to get through with my sanity intact.

Then I took a break and had a videoconference glass of wine with a couple of coworkers, which bled straight into making a fairly elaborate dinner - I tried a recipe for chicken breasts stuffed with cheese/bacon and wrapped in prosciutto, and they were really delicious. It basically involved pounding out the chicken, mixing some cream cheese / goat cheese / thyme / oregano / garlic and smearing it on top, sprinkling bacon on top of that, rolling the chicken, and then wrapping it in prosciutto and baking it. Super tasty, not all that difficult even if it was several steps, and perfect with some roasted broccoli and a baked potato. 100% would make again, ideally for a dinner party.

Then I watched the debate (and drank more wine), then I debriefed with Katie, and now I need to think about going to bed - goodnight!

might as well jump

No blog tonight....I got up and wrote before work, then slogged all day. I took a bit of a walk when I finished and talked to my dad while I was outside, which was nice. Then I did a v brief workout in my basement - I haven't swung kettlebells in forever, but I kind of want to get back into it. Then I prepped some cobb salads - one for tonight, and two for lunch this week. And then I rounded out the night by reading - I started Glennon Doyle's UNTAMED last night in bed, and it's jaw droppingly good, so I made some more progress tonight.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

and stupid is as stupid does

Today was fine....not the best day ever, but certainly not the worst. I meditated and journaled before work, then slogged most of the day. I spent the evening tidying up, moving things around my house, eating leftover pasta (still delicious tonight!), taking care of some personal paperwork, ordering books that I will probably never get around to reading, etc.

And now, on that v. boring note, I'm going to try to read a bit before bed - goodnight!

that's a fine looking high horse

I got a decent amount done today, which is shocking...not really much writing, but in my effort to procrastinate my way around my current block, I did a bunch of other stuff instead. I woke up at a reasonable hour, did a bit of planning for the week, and did a lot of wardrobe maintenance (mostly hanging, folding, and putting things away, since my guest bed has turned into a spare closet in the absence of any foreseeable guests). I also went on a wine run to restock my supplies in advance of fall / the election / general life events - I hadn't made a wine run since June (other than the occasional bottle at the wine shop down the street) and while the situation certainly wasn't dire, I was basically out of the <$20 bottles that are good for opening and sipping throughout the week and instead had started popping the expensive bottles that were mementoes from wineries and other past lives.

So, I succumbed to my inner hoarder that now worries when I have less than two of anything, and I stocked up. Then I went to the grocery store to grab a few things (mostly produce) for meals this week. Then I came home and spent most of the afternoon talking - I had a videochat with Katrina, then a call with [censored], and then my usual Sunday night call with my parents. Everyone was in good form, and it was nice to catch up with all parties -- never long enough, of course, but I'll take what I can get.

After I hung up with my parents, I immediately cooked for a couple of hours. I made four servings of oatmeal for breakfast this week. I boiled eggs, cooked bacon, and cooked chicken breast for cobb salads (but I didn't put the salads together because I ran out of steam). I also tried a new-to-me recipe for a spicy carbonara pasta by Chrissy Teigen - I was in the mood for carbonara, especially since I was cooking bacon anyway, and this recipe was v. tasty. The spicy part wasn't a joke - it involved three tablespoons of chile garlic sauce, which is about three more tablespoons than I usually put into things. But it was super tasty and I would definitely eat it again, which is a good thing since there are leftovers.

And now I need to go to sleep and get tomorrow off on a strong writing note - goodnight!

a tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies

I'm super tired and should have gone to bed an hour ago, but I've been dozing in my living room (yay Saturday night). Today was lovely, though - I slept in, thanks in large part to my new mostly-blackout blind in my bedroom, which was an excellent investment. Then I messed around, made coffee, talked to Katie, ate some leftover pizza, and spent a few hours doing stuff in my basement. I'd been letting the stockpile get a little unruly down there, since it's pretty easy to just take groceries down there and never put them away. So I reorganized, put everything on my shelves, made a list of things I need to stock up on (I am down to one can of coconut milk, which just won't cut it in the apocalypse).

Then, I took a shower. And then I unpacked my gorgeous new kitchenaid mixer - I got it in a lovely creamy yellow, which looks great in my kitchen. I made a test run of chocolate chip chewies, which turned out perfectly - I'm really not sure why I waited this long to get one, but thanks Aunt B for the gift!

As soon as my cookies were done, I took them + a bag with ingredients for moscow mules over to Katie's house. We had a proper backyard hangout/dinner - she made roast beef, mashed potatoes, and roasted carrots, all of which were perfect, and we had moscow mules and many many chocolate chip chewies while the kids ran around and watched a movie. Chocolate chip chewies are delightful in part because you can cut whatever size you want, which often results in fun 'fooling yourself' moments in which you cut a thin sliver all the way across the pan to pretend that you didn't really have a cookie.

Eventually, though, we were all tired, so I came home and exhibited commendable restraint by freezing some of the chewies immediately rather than leaving them out to gorge on tomorrow. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

this means no fear, cavalier, renegade and steering clear

I had a long day of video conferences, starting with having to film the closing talk for the virtual event that is replacing the big events my team usually plans every fall. That made me a little sad, since I didn't get to go anywhere or bond with anyone and instead just had to sit at my laptop and stare into the camera. But I guess it could be worse.

Then I had many meetings, and my last one got hijacked by my coworker's wife (they had clearly been drinking, and I'd opened wine to have a glass with him since the meeting was half gossip, but her hijacking was hilarious). Then I talked to Terry for a long time. Then I talked to Katie, since we also needed to debrief on the year that was today. Then I ate delivery pizza and talked to [censored]. And now, after too much time on screens tonight, it's time for bed - goodnight!

bid my blood to run before i come undone

Long day....many meetings, more time spent trying to craft one single perfect email, and a delicious salmon and spicy tuna poke bowl for lunch (delivered, of course). I took a break at 4:30 to hang out with Caroline, who brought snacks to go with a bottle of rose from my fridge, which we enjoyed on my back patio. 'Enjoyed' may have been too strong - it was chilly, hazy, smoky, and my couches had visible ash on them, but it was still great to see Caroline and discuss many tings from a distance of 6-8 feet rather than over our screens.

Then she left, I talked to [censored] for awhile, went way too deep on Twitter (wear a mask, kids!), and then pulled out of Twitter and worked on day job stuff for the last two hours. And now I really need to sleep since I have tings to do tomorrow - goodnight!

players only love you when they're playing

No blog tonight - I didn't sleep well last night, and I woke up groggy and tired. But I wrote for thirty minutes before work, which is better than nothing. Then I slogged all day, with a short break around three to take a nap and a walk; that move was enough to keep me going until 6:15, when I was finally able to stop. I then spent the evening making chickpea stew, chatting with Katie, cleaning, examining some plants that I'd ordered, reading a design magazine, etc.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

you vitriolic, patriotic, slam fight, bright light, feeling pretty psyched

Today was something. I woke up and was luxuriating in bed when I got an automated phone call that the guy who was going to install my new bedroom blind was going to be here at 8am, which was 30min earlier than the 2hr window in which he was supposed to arrive. So I sped through the shower and got my coffee going just in time for his arrival. I'm pretty excited about this new blind - as I think I've said before, the previous owner was a masochist who liked to wake up at dawn, while I prefer much more civilized hours (like ten a.m., when I'm not being a corporate whore). So I replaced his spendy mesh shade with an equally-spendy blackout shade, and now all is right with the world (or at least all is right with my bedroom).

I managed to do a bit of writing this morning before the chaos started in earnest, which was great. Work was a bit crazy, but nothing totally unusual - as I said to someone today, my whole job is putting out fires, and in my spare time I coach people to try to keep fires from starting. I was able to knock off around five, and then I made a somewhat elaborate dinner - I made a garlic chile shrimp + coconut rice from the Burma Superstar cookbook. I didn't instagram it yet because I didn't feel like doing it tonight, but it was pretty tasty - and it was only elaborate because it involved peeling two whole heads of garlic for the shrimp sauce. If I make this or the beef/potato curry again, I would be tempted to buy the pre-peeled garlic cloves from Whole Foods, because the garlic prep was the most involved part of both dishes.

Anyway, the shrimp turned out great (and really fast if you already have the garlic paste - which I do now, because the recipe for the paste is a double batch, so I have enough for another batch in my fridge). And the coconut rice is one of the best things ever. I then drank most of a bottle of v. expensive wine and watched the debate, which went about how I expected it to, but I will spare the sensitive feelings of some of my readers and not share my thoughts. Then I read a kitchen remodel magazine to decompress, and now I'm going to bed - goodnight!

the cloud is moving nearer still, aurora borealis comes in view

I worked a lot today, so I have nothing interesting to share with you. I did meditate this morning, and I spent some quality time planning out my week, so I guess that's good. I made a v. tasty tuna sandwich for lunch, and I took a walk sometime this afternoon (and talked to Terry while walking, which is the benefit of different time zones). When I was done with work, I chatted with [censored] for quite awhile, since we hadn't caught up in a week or so.

Then I reheated the curry that I made last night, and it was even better tonight - it's really insanely good (basically just a beef and potato stew with a different flavor profile). I took care of a few tings around the house, tidied up my 'office' (aka dining room), etc. And I took a nap, because why not. But then I had procrastinated long enough on something I've been trying to do for work for awhile, so I finally buckled down and worked for two hours and pushed through it.

And now, I need to sleep - goodnight!

with auburn hair and tawny eyes, the kind of eyes that hypnotize me through

I had a pretty lazy day....or rather, I got quite a bit done, but it was all in service of the goal of making a curry, which took hours of effort. Luckily it was one of the tastiest things I've made in quarantine, and I would actually 100% make it again, so no regrets there.

I got up slightly later than planned this morning, and I bummed around the kitchen making coffee and cleaning up and meditating. I also made a grocery list - while I'd gotten most of what I needed at the Korean grocery store the other night, their dairy section wasn't up to the task for what I required, and I had also forgotten to get lemongrass for the thing I wanted to make today. So I cut up the beef for tonight's curry and covered it in paprika/turmeric/salt to marinate, and then I showered, took care of some tings, ate some leftover frittata, and ran to the grocery store (with a stop at the carwash, and an abortive attempt to return something to Nordstrom Rack before I realized that I had no desire to stand in any sort of line that wasn't distancing).

After the grocery store, I came home, put tings away, and then made a beef and potato curry. You can see it on zee romance blog - it wasn't hard at all, but it involved dicing a lot of onion and mincing almost two full heads of garlic, which is time consuming. It also needed to simmer for at least ninety minutes, and then another thirty after adding the potatoes, so it really took quite a long time.

But I got to talk to my parents for quite awhile while I was occasionally stirring the curry. And the end result, as i said, was excellent - would definitely make again.

And now, it's time to head toward bed so that I can write in the morning before work. Goodnight!

heat waves been faking me out

Today was more social interaction than I feel like I've had in ages, even though it was probably less when compared to the endless time I spend in meetings. I got up around eight, puttered around my kitchen, and made a v. tasty frittata for breakfast for the next few days. Then I showered and sped (or crawled - construction was terrible) down to my friend Barbara's house. I hadn't seen her in a few weeks, so it was indescribably delightful to get together with a writer friend. We socially distanced in her backyard and eventually ordered lunch, all while talking about a wide variety of topics, and I could have stayed twice as long. And I left with some irises she'd dug up for me to plant, so I need to block out some time to indulge my green thumb soon.

Then I drove home, and as soon as I got here I had a video call with the friendship renewal crew (Joann, Jen, and Jane). I was 30min late due to traffic, which then made it awkward that I had to drop off early - we were going deep on a variety of topics, but Katie came over and I had to bounce.

So, Katie and I hung out in my backyard for a few yours, and it was perfect. There's something v. lucky about having a close adult friend who knew you throughout childhood, and we def went deep on Iowa tonight. We also ordered Indian takout, drank boulevardiers, and daydreamed about the fire pit I plan to install in my back yard.

But now, I'm falling asleep (and have been for awhile), so it's time for bed - goodnight!

only got bad things on my mind when i'm with you

Work was surprisingly stressful today; Fridays are usually pretty chill, but I had meetings all day and was trying to prep stuff for more meetings, and I had to present to a couple of VPs, etc., etc. So, it was not exactly the calm end of the week that I wanted...but the presentation went well, so I guess it could be worse.

As soon as I was done with meetings, I made a run to H Mart up in Westminster. I'm feeling eager to get back into cooking ridiculously elaborate meals that are too much for one person (but perfect for instagram), and I want to go deeper into the Burma Superstar cookbook (among others). H Mart is a Korean grocery chain and I didn't realize they were in Colorado, but I'm glad I found them. It was kind of a trick to find everything on my list because I didn't know the store layout, I didn't know what some of the jars and bottles and things would look like or what section they might be in, and many things were imported and so occasionally not in English. But it was pretty fun to explore, they had a ton of produce for way cheaper than Whole Foods, I did finally find pickled green mango, I saw more variants of rice noodle than I realized were possible, and all in all it was delightful. And now I know where I can get gallon jugs of beef blood if I ever need it (I don't). It also wasn't very crowded at 5pm on a Friday, which is good to know.

Of course, by the time I got home, I didn't have time to start an elaborate recipe. So I put my groceries away and ate leftover chicken and wild rice soup instead. Then I played with my new gel manicure light -- I haven't had my fingernails done since the apocalypse started, and I was really missing that little bit of fanciness, and then a coworker friend gave me a light and the top/base coat for gel manicures for my birthday. So I did my nails, and I took the time to file my nails, soak my cuticles, etc. While I was doing my nails, I watched a couple of episodes of TASTE THE NATION (Padma Lakshmi's culinary show), which I adore. And my nails turned out pretty well, so we'll see how the polish holds up.

Then I picked up the book I started last night (BIG SUMMER) and read later than I planned, but managed to put it down and not finish the rest of it. There are still superficial similarities to some of what I'm writing, but the twist in the middle is definitely not what I plan for my book, so that's a relief. And now I need to go to bed, because I have a big day planned tomorrow - goodnight!

and so it goes, we found our sweet disaster

I have nothing to report today. I did the usual coffee/meditation/journal thing this morning, then worked all day. Lunch was a salad from sweetgreen (aka my old life, since it's a San Francisco salad chain), and I took some meetings outside to soak up some sun before winter comes. I also had a funfetti cupcake from my freezer, and that bag of cupcakes is one of my favorite things right now.

By 5:30ish I was done, although I perhaps should not have been. I spent some quality time reading a couple of cookbooks and making some grocery lists - I want to get back into making elaborate meals and this weekend seems like a good time for it. I also made some rice to go with a package of chicken chile verde that I'd pulled from the freezer - I'd made it in August and it freezes well, so it tasted extravagant even though it took no effort tonight.

Then I doomscrolled for way too long, but I finally pulled myself out of it and journaled again, then started reading a book. It's BIG SUMMER by Jennifer Weiner, and I'm not really into it yet (the main character is a plus-sized instagram influencer and I am not sure I like her inner monologue).... But I felt like I have to read it because it has a lot of superficial similarities with the book I'm writing (friends reuniting long after a falling out for a wedding, the influencer lifestyle, New York, etc). They're not the same book at all, but I feel like I need to at least be aware of this one.

But now I'm going to bed - goodnight!

we're cut from a stained glass mountain

Today was lovely, all in all, but I need to get off my laptop immediately. I slept just late enough that I wasn't able to write this morning, but I did meditate and journal and make some perfect coffee (and wash my hair), so it could have been worse. Then I had meetings most of the day - some of them were more important than others, but I got through all of them. I also had some time to do some actual work, and I was pretty productive with that time (unlike some days, when I squander it)....and I did that work while sitting on my patio, since I want to take advantage of the still-warm days before autumn hits in earnest.

So, work was decent. But it bled straight into a 90-minute class (literally no break between my meeting that ended at five and my class that started at five). I can't remember if I mentioned that I reconnected with Alyssa, my old trainer, whom I have always adored? She's moved most of her business online and is doing a six-month group coaching class around neurology, fitness, nutrition, etc., and I decided to #treatyoself to some coursework instead of another bottle of wine (jk, my quarterly bottles from Grgich showed up today too).

Tonight was the first class, and so far so good - we'll see how it goes, but it was kind of nice to force myself out of work mode (although the lack of break in between meant it was hard to concentrate - I'm going to have to put in a buffer going forward). After class, I reheated some leftover chicken and wild rice soup (yum), messed around on my phone, painted my toenails, and finally ordered a Kitchenaid mixer approximately fifteen years after y'all would have expected me to have one (thanks for the gift and the nudge to get it, Aunt B!). So I predict a lot of gluten free baking experiments with #quarantinechef...and if the gluten free baking goes nowhere, I also ordered the meat grinder attachment, so there might be sausage in my future (that's what she said).

And now, on that weird note, I'll see myself out and go to bed. Goodnight!

everyone's so intimately rearranged

I meant to be in bed thirty minutes ago, but I spent way too much time not working tonight, and then when I finally opened my laptop (around 9:45) the task I needed to do took longer than anticipated. Today was fine, all in all - I woke up, drank coffee, meditated, and didn't really write because I had an 8:30 meeting (although I did reread what I wrote yesterday to keep it fresh). I slogged pretty much straight through until five, although I ordered a poke bowl for lunch (#treatyoself) and also took a walk sometime in the afternoon.

When I was done around 5:15, I threw together some chicken and wild rice soup in the instantpot (it's very tasty and perfect for the first day of fall, even though I'm in denial about that date). I also cleaned up my back patio, did a couple of loads of laundry, talked to my parents, talked to [censored], and talked to Katie. And then I worked, which was not exciting but was necessary. And now I'm going to bed - goodnight!

write a song, make a note

I need to go to bed immediately, but today was good (albeit busy). I got up in time to meditate, journal, and write before work, which I count as a victory. Then I slogged all day, with a quick break for lunch and a break around five to make some oatmeal for the rest of the week + take care of tings around the house + eat a funfetti cupcake from my freezer (it was practically as good as fresh, especially since I had frosting in the fridge). Then I did a bit more work because I had to.

But I stopped around 7:30 for a most unusual reason - Lisa, who reported to me years ago, happened to be in Denver with her fiance, so they came over with their dog and some takeout so we could enjoy some backyard time. It was awesome to see her, and we went deep on life, politics, blockchain, venture capital, chance meetings at Barnes and Noble, etc. We had a really fun night in the middle of the apocalypse, and it was over too soon....

But now I must sleep - goodnight!

although this wave is stringing us along

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

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

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

we got a fine crustacean band

It's my last day in ye olde Iowa, so I tried to make the most of it by being pretty lazy. I ran a couple of errands this morning, then ate leftover Mexican food, then spent the early afternoon continuing to be lazy. But I did eventually rally, run into the lumber yard to buy a brush, and finish painting the door for the cave - I'd put a coat on two weeks ago but wasn't able to finish due to wind conditions over labor day, but since I came home this weekend I decided to finish it. It turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself, and hopefully I won't wake up covered in chigger bites.

Then we ate a delicious supper (brats, potato salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, and hot dogs for good measure), and then I was lazy for the rest of the night. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

the seaweed is always greener in somebody else's lake

I'm still in ye olde Iowa. Yesterday was brutal, only because I barely slept after my excursion with Adit - I was back in my room and attempting to sleep by midnight, but drinking coke zero and fireball at eleven was not a good idea for sleep quality. So I woke up groggy yesterday morning, rallied, dropped Adit off at the airport (we wore masks in the car; someone in my county died of covid after driving people around, so I tried to limit my chances), and then drove home. That meant I made it in time to get settled in before my meetings started, and the coffee / hashbrowns / sausage that I grabbed at McDonald's on the way out of the city went a long way toward helping me recover.

Then I slogged all day, ate with my parents (porkchops and tater tots, which were delish, plus I roasted some broccoli to go with it), and then slogged until [censored] showed up. Today was more of the same - I had a ton of meetings, so there were no breaks and no real work done. But I stopped a little after five to hang out with my mom, which was nice. And then we had takeout Mexican food for supper, which was particularly delicious. And now, after drinking slightly too much wine discussing RBG's death with my friends, it's time for bed - goodnight!

baby i'm faded, all i wanna do is take you downtown

I had one of the weirdest nights of the year, not gonna lie. The day was normalish - I woke up, said hi to my parents, and then slogged.

Oh, I buried the lede - I'm in Iowa. Long story, only here until Sunday. I had intended to fly in today, but came in yesterday for reasons.

 

But I left home at 3:30, drove to Des Moines, checked into the Savery (which has Aveda products and caters to millennials), and took a six o'clock meeting from here. Then I met up with Adit (some people call him the cat)... This is what made the night so strange. I haven't seen a friend other than Katie, Barbara, and some work people since February, and my social skills are completely rusty, and even when I did regularly see Adit it was not in Iowa (although he's the only friend who has been to my home town). Adit was in Iowa for one night only, and I happened to make a trip, so we met up.

We had dinner at Court Avenue Brewing C, which made me a v tasty salad to enjoy while we watched an endless procession of the same three cars going around and around the block. The waitress also comped us shots, which tells me we may get out of the apocalypse after all. Then we walked past a liquor store on the way to the hotel and bought some fireball, which we put in coke zeroes to drink in the lobby. Both our waitress and the hotel receptionist told us with great jubilation that the bars had opened earlier than expected tonight, but drinking illicit fireball in the lobby felt more our speed.

And now I need to sleep so I can get back to my parents' and work tomorrow - goodnight!

after all that you put me through

I had a pretty good day all in all - some long meetings and not nearly enough actual work done, but that's the way it goes. And I had a takeout burrito bowl for lunch + tasty grilled meats and veggies for dinner, so at least that provided some enjoyment. But I'm falling asleep over my laptop, so that's all you're getting tonight - goodnight!

baby we're a dying breed

The less said about today, the better...Mondays in the apocalypse are particularly bleak and brutal. But I got up and journaled before work, and my coffee was good, so at least there was that. I had a relatively light day today, so I snuck out in the late morning to run to Boulder to pick up my contacts...I had ordered them three weeks ago and kept waiting to see if my glasses would show up too, but today I finally gave up and needed the contacts. So of course, after driving forty minutes each way, I got a call two hours later saying that my glasses are in :( They may have to keep them, because I may never go to Boulder again.

After that errand, I picked up lunch at Garbanzos (a Mediterranean fast casual place that is v similar to Chipotle, but with yellow rice instead of cilantro rice, and hummus instead of guac, and feta instead of jack, and tzatziki instead of sour cream). on the way home and ate it on my patio. Then I slogged the rest of the afternoon/early evening before talking to Katie and also talking to my mom (and also talking to Jessica because I accidentally called her, but it was a delightful accident). And I exchanged texts with Ritu about someone who looks like Brad Pitt wearing a fake fur jacket, which is my favorite kind of text. And I ordered fancy takeout pasta from Bar Dough because I didn't feel like cooking (see: Monday).

But now, all of that is behind me and it's time for bed - goodnight!

summertime, and the living's [quarantined]

I'm falling asleep in my living room, so I need to take myself off to bed. Today was decent, all in all - I slept in a bit, then took care of a bunch of tidying-type projects around the house. My kitchen and laundry room are now tidier than they've been in quite some time, so that's a win.

I also talked to Chandlord briefly, and at some point I talked to my parents, and later I talked to my brother. I made myself a perfect BLT(+ A for avocado) for dinner, did some outdoor stuff, and then ended my night with a family dinner call with Chandlord, Adit, John and Jess, and Claude and Sam. Everyone is in a bit of a local minima, mostly due to fires...but otherwise people seem to be okay-ish, and it was good to hear people's voices.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

you know i love the past 'cause i hate suspense

I had a pretty decent day, mostly because I indulged my desire to completely geek out over reorganizing my pantry. This was perhaps not the most important thing that I needed to accomplish, but it felt good to do it. When I got up this morning, I messed around the house for awhile, trimmed my bangs, showered, etc., and then made some spaghetti bolognese for lunch. Then I drove to Staples to pick up a label maker that I ordered this morning - it's probably kind of shocking that I didn't already own a label maker, given my tendencies. I do label things quite a bit, but I usually use washi tape and a sharpie. However, I decided to give in to my genetics and get a label maker, which was quite exciting.

So I came home and tore my pantry apart just in time to take a break and talk to Lauren (aka Subz) and Terry. We had much to catch up on, so it was great to talk to them. Then I paused the pantry project to make dinner - I tried a sesame chicken stir-fry from my Burma Superstar cookbook, along with some brussels sprouts that were patiently waiting to rot in my fridge. The chicken turned out pretty well - it really just made me want the orange chicken from Panda Express, but it was really tasty nonetheless.

Then I spent the rest of the evening messing around with my pantry; everything that belongs in the pantry is now put away, but I have to tidy up some stuff that needs tossed / put in the basement / put somewhere else. That, however, is a problem for tomorrow - right now I need to sleep. Goodnight!

i've got my orange crush

Happy birthday to me! Luckily I have a lot of experience with celebrating birthdays in the midst of national tragedy, so it was a pretty good day all in all. I got up in time to meditate and talk to my parents before work, and then I slogged from 9 to 4 (with a break for some leftover chili and a cupcake). I didn't have many meetings, so I was able to get actual work done, which was nice. And while I was working I got many texts/emails from various friends and family, which certainly brightened the day.

Then, around 5:30, Katie came over and we had a lovely few hours on my back patio. I opened a v fancy bottle of wine that I'd bought a lifetime ago (okay, eighteen months ago, on my wine weekend with the shedletskys), and we ordered food from the Mexican restaurant down the street, and it was a perfect evening. Fall is definitely in the air, but my outdoor blankets were up for their first job of the season, so Katie and I were able to hang out in comfort.

And now, I think I shall go to bed and see what tomorrow brings - goodnight!

i been sippin', that's the only thing that's keepin' me on fire

I need to go to bed before it's my birthday. Today was okay, all in all; I woke up too early and didn't feel great, but I realized pretty quickly that it was anxiety/panic (for no reason other than everything globally is awful, + some small day job stresses that compounded the anxiety). So I got out of bed, made some tea, meditated, and journaled, and that all really helped.

So, I was able to tackle the day without much drama; I had a bunch of meetings from nine to five, but I had a little time to take a walk around the block, and I v. much enjoyed my leftover chili for lunch. After work, I went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, and then I went to the grocery store to pick up a gluten free funfetti cake (they do not sell that at Whole Foods, fyi). Then I came home, ate some takeout sushi for supper, and made myself some funfetti cupcakes. The mix is slightly drier than the standard mix - if I make them again, I would consider adding a package of vanilla pudding, which was an old trick before cakes started putting 'pudding in the mix'. But they turned out well, and I frosted some while freezing the rest, so I will have tasty funfetti snacks for awhile.

While they were baking, I did a bit of day job work, and then I got sucked into instagram and then the internet. But now it's time for bed - goodnight!

they couldn't go back to the greasers, the best they could do was pick up the pieces

I had a headache literally all day today; my face feels like my jaw is trying to clench, but since I paralyzed my jaw with botox (I regret nothing, it was intentional to stop the clenching) the rest of my face was trying to clench to make up for it. Or maybe it was just the massive weather change, the fact that all my San Francisco friends are posting apocalyptic nightmare photos of orange/red skies, too much work, and not enough good news.

sssanyway, I probably started off less than enthused because my first meeting was at 8:30 (but the person I met with was visibly exhausted bc her kids only let her sleep two hours last night, so I was doing better than her) and I slogged pretty much straight until six. I did take a pause to check my turnip prices in Animal Crossing (#priorities) and eat some chili, and I also took a quick walk to get some fresh air -- all the snow melted off the trees today, so even though it wasn't snowing I had to keep my hood up to ward against the massive amounts of melting snow showering onto the sidewalk.

After work, I boiled some water, cooked a single serving of spaghetti, and reheated some of the bolognese sauce that I made (but didn't eat) last night. It was pretty much perfect - if I weren't a member of the gluten free mafia, I probably would spend quarantine perfecting making fresh pasta, but that's not in my future. And this particular bolognese is delish even with gluten free spaghetti (which it should be, since it takes 5+ hours to make). Then I doomscrolled twitter before finally logging off, taking care of some tings, looking at desk chairs, etc.

And now, I should contemplate going to bed - goodnight!

they lived for a while in a very nice style but it's always the same in the end

For my first day back at work after a four-day weekend, I had surprisingly few meetings. It turns out that when I block off significant chunks of my calendar, people actually respect it - and I had blocked off this morning to recover from driving back. So, I had time to get some actual work done, which was amazing. And I made a batch of oatmeal to get me through the week, ate some leftover Indian food for lunch, had a couple of not-too-onerous meetings, and then started prepping supper while catching up on some video trainings that I needed to watch.

Tonight I made bolognese sauce, which takes approximately five hours. I was going to potentially make chicken and wild rice soup too, but I forgot to buy mushrooms, so I made black bean chili (my original plan) instead. The chili and the sauce both turned out great, and now I have food for the rest of the week without having to cook (other than boiling water for pasta to eat with the bolognese sauce).

And now I really need to go to sleep - I unfortunately have an earlyish meeting tomorrow and I want to meditate and possibly write before then. Goodnight!

it's been a long december

No blog tonight - I'm typing this on my phone because I don't want to get my laptop out, so I don't have the patience for something longer. Today was pretty smooth, all in all - I had a somewhat leisurely morning in Iowa before loading my car and saying goodbye to my parents and [censored]. The drive was entirely uneventful, although it took slightly longer than expected due to holiday congestion. And the smoke from Colorado was v visible by the time I hit ogallala, which made for a v apocalyptic filter for the last three hours of the drive.

But I got home, unloaded my car, ordered Indian takeout, got groceries delivered, and also wrapped up my irrigation backflow preventer in preparation for a bunch of snow tomorrow. And now I must sleep - goodnight!

second third and hundredth chances

 I'm falling asleep in my chair, so I need to go to sleep immediately. I had a nice day today, though - I spent some quality time this morning baking an early birthday cake for myself. I made the traditional lemon cake that I usually made back in the day, although I've now mostly figured out how to make it gluten free.

Then I hung out outside most of the afternoon, which was as delightful as always. At some point I took a nap, which was enough to rally for the rest of the day. My dad smoked a pork butt today, and my mom made fried potatoes and layered lettuce, and so I preemptively declared that I was celebrating my birthday tonight because it was one of my favorite meals. Then, after cake, I hung out with my parents for awhile before coming downstairs to think about my book and instead play Animal Crossing.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

like he's just your understudy

Today was decent; I had a better day than [censored], who startled a buzzard out in the yard and then found and had to dispose of [censored]. Still, I had to work all day - it was a lot of meetings, which always leave me feeling a little fried.

But I have tomorrow and Monday off, so at least I have a couple of days to chill and recover. After I was done working for the day, I hung out with the fam; we ate takeout from the Mexican restaurant in town, which was delish. Then, [censored] and I watched 'Palm Springs', which is sort of a new 'Groundhog Day' and was v. funny and delightful.

And now, I need to sleep - goodnight!

laughing but the joke's not funny at all

I need to go to bed immediately - I worked all day (some inside, some out on the back porch), and just stopped for a break for dinner. That break was delicious - my mom made steak, baked potatoes, and green beans, and it was exactly what I needed.

Then I tried to do some performance review stuff (over wine, which is the drink of choice for most of my friends while writing peer reviews). Then [censored] showed up, and we talked for awhile. And now I need to sleep, since I have another day completely full of meetings tomorrow - wish me luck. Goodnight!

it's calling out your name

I have worked too many hours today, and I'm going to work too many hours tomorrow, so I think I need to shut my laptop and close my eyes even if I'm not feeling quite ready to sleep. Today was fine, though - I had a leisurely breakfast and hung out with my parents, and then showered before my first meeting (with my boss, hence deciding that a shower was a good idea). I then had meetings off and on the rest of the day and wasn't done until six. Then I had supper - my mom made some excellent pork chops with sweet potatoes and creamed peas, so it was a v. tasty break.

My parents started to watch a western after that that looked vaguely interesting, but I decided to be a good corporate cog and come back downstairs to do some more work. I wasn't maximally productive, but I got through some stuff that I needed to do, so the rest of the week might not be quite so bad. I'm trying to avoid having to work this weekend, but since this week and next are both short weeks and we're in the middle of performance review season, I'm honestly not sure I can get enough done tomorrow and Thursday to save myself. But we shall see, and tomorrow I shall make a valiant effort. But for now it's time for bed - goodnight!