muscle to muscle and toe to toe

I had intended to go to bed an hour ago, but I did some desultory shopping of tings online (without actually buying anything) and attempts to figure out where to stay in San Francisco next weekend (without actually booking anything). I had a really nice day in Tahoe, though - I got eight and a half hours of sleep to start, and then I made some coffee, took a shower, and made an omelette. I spent most of the afternoon hidden away in the media room reading a book and journaling, which was exactly what I wanted - while I've been doing writing retreats with some configuration of this group for seven years now, and while I usually try to write when I'm on a retreat, I'm treating this one as a combo vacation + refill the well. That means I'm more focused on reading and also spending serious quality time with friends (beyond the usual lunch or dinner excursion) for the first time in sixteen+ months.

Of course, it's a little silly that I came to Tahoe in late October - winter is coming to Denver but it's not there yet, while here we're getting slammed by an atmospheric river that's going to dump rain and snow for the next couple of days (and there's a winter storm warning in the mountains above us). I felt my inner rural Iowan kick into anxiety over the state of our grocery / food situation, since we didn't stock up enough to make me feel like we could survive a storm - so at some point this afternoon I ran across the street with Jules to get some more stuff, and carried back what I could carry (ingredients for chicken tortilla soup + another bottle of wine + some lotion = the necessities).

Late in the afternoon, Grace joined me in my media room hideout, so we both worked/read for awhile and then talked a bit. And then the group broke for dinner - Christie made soup, and we hung out and talked for a few hours. It's mostly the usual suspects (or at least the usual suspects from the last couple of Tahoe retreats) - Barbara, Christie, Anne, Grace, Tina, and Jules, which makes for a v. manageable group (i.e. one in which everyone gets their own bedroom and there are plenty of places for everyone to work and we can all fit around one table). Veronica is supposed to be here too, but due to some scheduling woes isn't here yet - but I'll take any time I can get with her.

sssanyway, I need to go to bed now - I have to do a bit of day job work tomorrow that I didn't get done before I left, and then I want to read something fun. Goodnight!

but it's hard to know what's right when i feel like i'm borrowing all of my time

I'm super tired and desperate for sleep - today was a fun day, but it required getting up earlier than usual so I could finish packing, watering my plants, etc. and getting to the airport. I'm taking the next week off, which I'm v. much looking forward to - but I will share more about that tomorrow. For now, I'm falling asleep and need to go to sleep - goodnight!

i'll take one lift, your ride, best trip

I'm super tired tonight - I didn't sleep all that well last night, and I had a ton of slogging to do today. The whole company has tomorrow off, but that didn't make today low-key, and I'll probably have to do a bit of work this weekend that I didn't get done and really have to get done.

However, it wasn't all work and no play - I cut out a little early to get a mani/pedi, and then I picked up Katie and we went down to the Union Station area to have dinner at The Kitchen. I hadn't been there in a couple of years, but I am reminded that I should go there more often - it was a total delight. I ignored my gluten issue (which was a mistake, since it's an actual issue) and we split a tomato flatbread to take advantage of the last tomatoes before winter, a few grilled oysters that were delish, a miso black cod, and some gnocchetti bolognese that was absolutely the best thing I've eaten in awhile. It was unfortunate that the black cod came after the gnocchetti, because it was impossible for anything to follow that. That said, dessert was pretty great too - we split a sticky toffee pudding that was more cake-like (British) than pudding-like (American), and it was perfect. And, my skills at getting free alcohol randomly comped remain undiminished because the waiter was so charmed by us that he brought us each a glass of madeira to pair with the pudding, and it was such a perfect way to end that I was utterly delighted.

Of course, I was also utterly delighted by Katie - we had much to catch up on, so it was a great evening. Then I came home and rather frantically tried to accomplish tings until now. And now I must go to sleep - goodnight!

he said it's all in your head, but keep an ear to the grapevine

I had a frenetic day - way too many things going on, and not enough time to get everything done. I slogged through my meetings, which were so back to back that it took me grazing for ninety minutes to finish eating the sandwich I'd ordered at Snarf's. Somewhere in there, I got my car back from getting serviced by the Audi dealer - they had picked it up yesterday and brought it back today, and while that service is super nice, I think I would rather drive it in in the future just to control when the whole thing happens.

I also talked to my mom a couple of times - a dishwasher got delivered to my house in Iowa, but the guy brought the wrong one and so couldn't install it. I was about to go ballistic on the dealer, but it turns out it was the driver's fault for loading the wrong one (white instead of stainless). So the driver showed up again with a new one, and I'm super grateful that my mom was able to be there so that I'll have a functioning dishwasher when I'm there again. One replacement of something strange down, ninety-nine thousand more replacements to go!

But after all that slogging (and a quick break to go get botox in my jaw, which prevents me from clenching it in response to all that slogging), I was done a little before six. I should have worked tonight, but I couldn't bring myself to - instead, I ate takeout chicken shawarma (a far cry from the döner kebab pictures that Google Photos keeps flashing me - I was in Berlin two years ago right now, and it feels like a lifetime and a half), did a bunch of laundry, and otherwise messed around the house.

Now, though, I need to sleep - I have another million things to do tomorrow and not enough time in which to do them. Goodnight!

disinfect the scene

No blog tonight - I was going to go to bed an hour ago, but I accidentally got a second wind and it's suddenly eleven p.m. Seriously, my body is not made for modern capitalism, since I would much prefer to sleep in weird chunks (and mostly in the afternoon or very late at night).

Today was fine, all in all - I puttered around the house for quite awhile this morning, then slogged all day. I ended the day with sushi, laundry, and other chores - and I probably should have done some day job work, but it didn't happen. So going to bed earlyish (for me) is a good idea so that I can hit it hard tomorrow - goodnight!

show me some of them spanish dances

I have nothing super exciting to report today - since I drove back yesterday, today was a continuation of yesterday's exhaustion + an attempt to recover. I don't know if recovery was particularly successful, but I tried. That mostly meant drinking water, having a poke bowl for lunch, taking a walk around the block, and otherwise trying to survive my many meetings.

However, I was able to stop around five and drive to Lafayette (which I easily confuse with Louisville, because I know nothing about any of those suburbs) to have dinner with my friend Sara. She recently left our mutual company and I am v. sad that she's gone, but v. happy for her that it seems like it was a good move. We talked for a couple of hours over tacos and margaritas, and it was as delightful as usual to see her. If only she lived closer...but we seem to be able to make it work.

Then I came home and got sucked into a bit of work, and now I'm going to try to stop looking at screens so I can go to bed early. Goodnight!

you're under the gun so you take it on the run

I'm back in Colorado, after a v. long day of driving - I'm glad I stayed in Iowa last night, but it made today kind of brutal. Luckily I slept great last night, and since my car was already packed, I was able to get up, do a couple of quick house tings, say goodbye to [censored], and get out of town by 8:30am. I got into Denver by around 6:45pm MDT - it took about an hour longer than it should have, but that's because I stopped multiple times to walk around (my belly is almost fully healed but my belly button still gets tender if I sit too long).

Nothing of note happened during my drive, and nothing of note has happened since getting home - I have a driving/altitude headache and should have worked tonight, but instead mostly watched Property Brothers. And now I need to get to bed so I can recover before work tomorrow - goodnight!

that's how they getcha

I'm not where I intended to be tonight. I should be somewhere in Nebraska, regretting that I was somewhere in Nebraska. Instead, I made a gametime decision to stay in Iowa and do the whole drive in one go tomorrow. I realize that's what most people do between Iowa and Colorado, but I am not most people and I hate driving for 10.5hrs in a day. So I had planned to do a bunch of house stuff and then leave around three, but....

Instead, I did a bunch of house stuff and tired myself out enough that I didn't feel safe driving. Of course, I decided that after I'd loaded my car and said goodbye to my parents, but they were kind enough to feed me tonight anyway.

And my staying was rewarded in other ways. I got a lot of stuff done today, as did [censored]. I put together my standing desk, organized my office, etc, and now feel v. able to be productive here. I unpacked some more kitchen stuff. I helped [censored] unload a bunch of stuff he's storing here ([censored is switching jobs and cities, so my new house is becoming a staging ground for his move). [Censored] and I also got a bunch of stuff we'd pillaged from Aunt Becky and Uncle Brian, which was stored in one of [censored]'s many garages. I also did laundry, loaded my car, etc.

Then I went home and took a shower and prematurely said goodbye to my parents... But driving into town after with the sun in my eyes made me realize I had no desire to drive with the sun in my eyes across the rest of Iowa. So I stayed, and that meant [censored] and I were able to rearrange the living room, install a nest thermostat, and do a bunch of other random tings. And I got the aforementioned bonus supper from my parents - my mom made a delicious roast, and it was worth staying for.

And now, I need to sleep so that I can get up and out early enough to accomplish something in Denver tomorrow night. Goodnight!

integrity, faith and crocodile tears

I took today off, but it didn't feel like a vacation because I attempted to get a million things done. This perhaps was wishful thinking, but I do feel like I accomplished a lot. I spent some time this morning starting to put together my new desk while drinking coffee - I'm not done, but I think I can finish tomorrow. Then I quickly showered (in my absurdly tiny master bath - seriously, the previous owner must have thought that bathrooms should never take more than the size of a portapotty, because the bathrooms are all nearly unusable) and came out to my parents' house to rendezvous with my dad. We drove over to the next town to finalize the deal on my dishwasher - I could never get them to call me back, but when I walked in the guy recognized me immediately, rattled off the number of what I was ordering, and confirmed delivery for next Wednesday. Of course, I won't be here, which unfortunately means my parents are taking the saintly step of dealing with it, but I'm excited that the dishwasher will get installed before Thanksgiving.

After that errand, my dad and I went to the grocery store (Mom suggested that we buy her some ham salad, but that wasn't a "suggestion" so much as it was a requirement of reentering her house). Then we stopped at KFC/Taco Bell and ate lunch in my car. We had a nice drive, all in all, and I think my dad understands the appeal of my Audi even if it's now three years old (hard to believe - but the last year and a half barely counts since I don't commute anywhere except from Denver to Iowa).

I dropped Dad off at home, picked some stuff up to take to town, said hi to Mom, etc. Then I went into town (the town where the grocery store is, not where my house is) and hit up a garage sale. This is not something I usually do, but I heard this one would be particularly good (for unfortunate reasons) - someone's sister died somewhat unexpectedly out in the DC area and had no family there, so they hauled most of her worldly goods back here and have been having an epic garage sale. This worked out great for me - for $30 I scored a bunch of glasses, some square white appetizer plates, a pyrex baking dish, a utensil holder, a couple of Christmas candle votives, and (most excitingly) some Crate and Barrel dishes that match my current pattern. For some unknown reason Crate and Barrel discontinued the blush pink shade of my dishes early on (even though I can still get all the other colors) - but this woman had seven plates and six mugs, and I got them for $5 total. If I could find garage sales this good every day, I could furnish the place in no time. But sadly she had no lamps and no newly-finished bathrooms, so I'm probably going to have to keep looking elsewhere for some necessities.

sssanyway. Then I spent a few hours cleaning up my yard for winter, putting things away, installing some things, uninstalling other things (like the funky toaster that had been mounted under a cabinet), etc. I eventually came home, where [censored] showed up just in time for supper - my parents made bratwurst and french fries and baked beans, and it was delish.

And now, I should really sleep - I have another million things to do tomorrow, and I need to start heading back to Colorado at some point. Goodnight!

when the lights go down in the city

I am sleeping in my new bed in my house in Iowa for the first time. I realized today that this house may have the most traffic noise of anywhere I've lived in awhile, which is hilarious given that it is in a town of less than six hundred people - but it's close to the intersection of the two main streets in town, both of which are still paved (a nice selling point of this house). Since it's harvest time, and since I had the windows open this afternoon, I heard a lot of machinery revving up after making the turn toward the lake. So, it's kind of fun to discover new things and rhythms that I wasn't expecting to discover.

sssanyway. I didn't blog last night, but you can probably guess that I worked all day, which is what I also did today. Yesterday, I had a bit of a snafu with my bed delivery, which I still need to rectify (the delivery guys think the base of the bed is broken, but also it is fine right now, so that's a conundrum). However, the mattress seems great, so I'm excited to see how I sleep on it. Last night I spent quite a bit of time hanging out with my mom in the kitchen (of her house, not my house), and tonight I also went home for supper and some quality time (my dad told some stories of when he was a cop, some of which I hadn't heard before, so that was interesting). However, I decided that I should sleep in my new house once or twice before heading back to Colorado just to see what happens here at night - although I can't really see what happens here at night because there's a serious lack of lamps. But that's a rectifiable problem on my next trip.

And now, I think I shall sleep - I have grand plans tomorrow during my day off, and I want to make the most of it. Goodnight!

fresher scents

I'm too tired of looking at screens to blog - I just worked for three hours, which was not what I wanted to do tonight but was probably necessary. Today was fine, though. I spent time before work getting [censored] to do things for me - we installed cameras to keep an eye on my back doors / garage / shed, which gives me some decent peace of mind. We also hauled my new desk upstairs. And [censored] generally inspected tings and discovered some interesting surprises - nothing crazy or out of the norm for buying a house (unless you think your ductwork should remain attached to your HVAC system instead of detached so someone can run a speaker wire from the basement to the living room via an air vent).

I finally wrapped up work around six, then came to my parents' house and had a v. delicious supper (a classic family dish with pork steak in a really nice sauce - you would have no idea what it is). After talking to my parents for a bit, I came downstairs and slogged - and now I should sleep so I can get to work on time tomorrow. Goodnight!

hang from our invisible cords

It was back to the grind today, although perhaps it wasn't too grind-ish - I had meetings somewhat nonstop from 11-5, but it could be worse. I spent some time this morning doing tings around my house and getting some stuff done before work started. And at some point in the morning, [censored] showed up with a trailer full of stuff to put in my garage - some of it may benefit me in the short term (like end tables), but most of it is destined for temporary storage while [censored] relocates from [censored] to [censored].

So, I worked the rest of the day - it was pretty dreary because it rained over two inches, and for some reason the previous owners didn't like having lights in their house, so it felt dark. But I got through what I needed to do, came home, and then cooked supper - I made a creamy parmesan chicken and mushroom dish that I'd made before, along with mashed potatoes, and it was pretty delicious if I do say so myself. Then I cleaned up the kitchen while [censored] played me various clips of Norm MacDonald's many jokes about OJ Simpson. And then, eventually, I tried to work, but I didn't really succeed, and so I think I should go to bed rather than trying to force it.

So on that note - goodnight!

please break my heart

I've had a pretty good weekend, all in all - acquiring a new house requires approximately one million chores, and I'd say I've done at least seven of them. Yesterday, my mom and I went to the next town over (aka Centerville) to look at dishwashers and microwaves. My dishwasher appears to be poorly functioning / broken, and the microwave is original to the house (1988) and so probably cost many hundreds of dollars but has no turntable and can only hold a small quantity of food. I think I found a dishwasher, which I'm finishing the deal on tomorrow; the microwave I wanted was only available in a floor model, which was broken, and the soonest they could get another was December 21 - so I'm unfortunately giving my microwave business to Best Buy instead of the small local appliance store :(

After we looked at appliances, we met my sister in a parking lot to exchange goods (nothing illicit, unless the electric roasters that she borrowed for my niece's wedding are somehow illicit). Then my mom and I bought groceries and came home. I then spent the rest of the afternoon doing house stuff - but I also made a critical trip to Dollar General, where I acquired a flyswatter (an absurdly ugly pink camouflage, but I've now killed multiple flies) and a starter kit for a Swiffer (somehow the Swiffer supply chain appears broken, since I couldn't find Swiffers at Target or Lowes or anywhere else I looked the last few weeks).

Today was more of the same - I slept in a bit, then took care of some tings for my dad, and then spent the rest of the afternoon doing house stuff. I took down the fake ivy that the previous owner had hung in the kitchen, which immediately made it brighter since the ivy was blocking the light over the sink. I also put tings away, cleaned a lot, and generally examined what needs to happen next. So far I'm pretty pleased with the house, although there are many projects to do - but that's a problem for Future Sara. Right now, I think it's time for bed - goodnight!

purple hat, cheetah print

I took the day off, but it still felt busy - I didn't sleep in, and instead got up, made coffee, took a shower, and was out the door before nine to head to the city (in this case, Des Moines) for a stock-up run to buy things for my new house. I met up at Costco with Aunt Kathy, and we spent several hours pushing carts around big box stores - it takes a lot to set up a house when you're not moving your previous house into it, and I needed cleaning supplies, some basic kitchen stuff, etc. Kathy was a trooper - we went all over Costco and Target, and then we took a break to have a (surprisingly delicious, given we'd never been there) lunch at Urban Cellar. We then made a quick stop at Lowes to buy me a stepladder, which is probably the most important thing on the list given how difficult it is for me to reach things.

So, all in all we shopped or ate lunch for 4+ hours, and I was pretty pleased with hanging out and buying tings (even if I didn't get everything on my list). When we parted ways, I drove south and chatted with [censored] while unloading my car. Then I came to my parents' house and spent the rest of the night hanging out - we watched some fine obscure reality television, ate supper (cheeseburgers and homemade french fries, which were delish), and generally sat around.

And now, I should really sleep, which is what I should have done two hours ago. Goodnight!

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

Today was sort of my Friday, but I was way more productive than I normally am on Fridays. I had a few hours of meetings, and I did a bunch of other work, and all of that was fine enough. I also messed around with some house things - nothing too onerous, but I had to walk down the street to pay the deposit on my natural gas service. Since this is extreme #smalltownlife, the gas company office is only open two hours a week. The woman who works there also wasn't entirely sure what she had told me I owe for a deposit since she'd accidentally left her papers in her office in a different town, but we both assumed I remembered correctly. And they had started service without the deposit anyway - they know my dad, so I think they know I'm not a deadbeat.

At a different point in the afternoon, I also walked to the lumber yard - I was hoping to buy a fly swatter because I have one v. persistent house fly, but they didn't have any. The owner offered to loan me his, but that seemed like more trouble than it was worth. I picked up some paint chips so I can daydream about paint colors, but I don't know if I'll get around to any painting activities on this trip or not.

As you can tell, my house in town is walkable to all the local businesses - but since there are basically no local businesses, this is not as exciting as it might sound. But the lumber yard is fun, if you're into that kind of thing. And I can get chips or a coke zero whenever I need it, so that's in some ways better than Denver, where I don't have a convenience store nearby. But I can't get a margarita or a glass of wine or a book or a new outfit, so Denver still has some superficial advantages.

sssanyway. After I was done with work, I came home and hung out with my parents. They had gone to Des Moines today, but they beat me home - they had also had a late lunch at two p.m., so I'm pretty sure they ate just to humor me. We had leftover steak + some scrambled eggs, and I had a baked potato in the microwave, and it was all good. Then I took my dad into town so that he could drop some stuff off at his shop and I could drop off an office chair at my house - it got delivered to my parents' house today, and I'm excited to get my actual office set up this weekend.

Then we watched some episodes of a show about gold mining in the Australian outback, and then I worked for an hour and a half or so. And now I need to sleep so I can run a million errands tomorrow - goodnight!

and gray clouds, or white walls, or blue skies

I'm too tired to blog, which is my own fault because I stayed up too late. Today's working hours were fine - nothing exciting, nothing profound, just some light slogging and meetings with too many also-burned-out husks who used to be human. I also puttered around my new house a bit - mostly getting my coffeemaker set up and doing some more laundry.

Eventually, I was done, so I came home in time to steal food from my parents - my mom made tenderloins and fried potatoes, which were delicious. In deference to our household's gluten free world, my mom now uses crushed potato chips to bread the tenderloins instead of crushed saltines, and they are excellent. Then I hung out until both my parents fell asleep, came downstairs, played a game on my phone, and messed around in my journal / planner until now.

And now I need to sleep so that I can repeat these amazing feats tomorrow - goodnight!

but i probably won't have the tools to keep myself off the street

I have nothing noteworthy to report tonight - I got up, went into my house in town, and slogged all day, but my meetings were pretty easy. I took a break after one of them to walk next door to the convenience store (the only one in town, of course) and grab some chips, and unexpectedly ran into my dad, which meant my chips were unexpectedly free (thanks Dad!).

I was done with work around six, and then I talked to Katie for awhile as I packed up and headed to my parents'. When I got home, we had dinner (steak and baked potatoes, yum), and I spent quite awhile after in the kitchen talking to my mom. And now, I should probably sleep so that I can repeat this all tomorrow - goodnight!

it doesn't come from without, it comes from within

I'm falling asleep in my recliner in my bedroom in my parents' house, so you almost didn't get this post. But I wanted to document that I did my day job while sitting in my new Iowa house - packing up and going there this morning weirdly felt like the first day of school or the first day of a new job or something. Of course, it wasn't entirely glamorous - I was working from a folding table and chair in the dining room, and I had a peanut butter sandwich (with milk in a wine glass) for lunch. But I'm excited to get some projects done there and start figuring out how to turn it into a good space for future trips.

The first thing that had to happen to make the rest of it possible was internet - and that was installed in approximately five minutes, thanks to the two guys who showed up and took the former router (which they'd told the former owner to just leave behind) so that they could replace it with a new router. Since it's #smalltownlife, I knew or recognized both of them and they asked me how my dad was doing. Then I set up my wifi, did a couple of tings around the house, and then did some work.

My work day was not particularly onerous, although it was frustrating in parts. But I had a nice social chat with Heather (aka dear respected madam) at the end of it. I also got to watch the comings and goings at the convenience store next door, which was mildly entertaining. And my mom stopped by at the end of the day to check on me, so I got to hear my doorbell ring for a second time and that was exciting too.

Then I came home (to my parents' home) and mooched off them for supper - my mom made philly cheesesteak and french fries, and it was very delicious. I also watched some tv with my dad and chatted with both of them and heard sad stories and (possibly) tall tales. And then I came downstairs, did a bit of day job stuff, added some things to my shopping list, and kind of fell asleep. So now it's time for bed in earnest - goodnight!

hey, sleepwalker, don't you miss the way wildflowers paint the western hills?

I'm finally at the end of my most recent car journey - I have never taken three days and two nights to drive ten and a half hours, but the stops along the way were worth it. This morning, I got up, threw my stuff in my car, said goodbye to my sister and my younger niece, and headed southeast. I was only 2.5hrs from my parents' house, and I decided to stop at a grocery store on the way to pick up some basics and snacks so that I can sustain myself during work this week.

When I got home, I spent a little bit of time talking to my parents, and then we all went into town to check out my new house. I think it's going to be great - the structure is solid and it has been well maintained, so no concerns there. However, it was built in the 1980s and some of the fixtures and other choices are pretty dated; it also deeply needs a fresh coat of paint on everything, and I'm debating whether new carpet or other flooring should be part of that immediate refresh. The biggest question is whether I'm going to change anything structural - the bathrooms are awkwardly shaped / sized, and if I were going to redo something, that should happen before the paint/flooring do.

sssanyway. I got everything unloaded that I brought home with me, and I also moved several packages that I'd ordered from my parents' house to my new house. Then I had supper with my parents - my mom made french fries (from scratch, with lard, which are to die for) and baked beans, and my dad grilled bratwurst patties and hot dogs, and it was v. tasty. We also watched my niece's wedding, which I surreptitiously videoed - since my parents couldn't make it, I was glad they were able to see it via the wonders of modern technology.

And now I really must sleep - I have an appointment to get my internet installed tomorrow morning, and then I need to slog all day. Goodnight!

in the club looking so conspicuous

I'm in a different hotel in a different small town in the great American west (although Iowa is firmly Midwest, so I don't think this counts). Today's trip was smooth - I had breakfast in my hotel in Kearney (the buffet is reopened, which I gave a side eye to, but I was far from other people and the sausage lured me in (that's what she said)). Then I drove a few hours across Nebraska and into Iowa. I got to my destination right around two, checked in, and had an hour to relax, eat the food I'd grabbed along the way, and make myself look presentable.

A little after three, [censored] showed up and took a few minutes to freshen up before we drove the six minutes over to my niece's wedding. (note: it's [censored]'s niece too, but maybe that gives you too much of a clue about who [censored] is). Sammi actually got married last year, as many couples did, but she does opted for a ceremony this year. The ceremony was nice, and the reception was fun - they had a taco bar for the dinner, which was delish (again, I look askance at buffets these days, especially since I found out a bunch of people from the groom's family were missing because they currently have covid, but I was assured that they didn't have any contact with the people at the wedding; and also, who can resist a taco? (that's what he said)).

Ssssanyway. I sat at a table with [censored] and my sister and her husband + my other niece + her boyfriend, who got the full vetting since it was our first long interaction. My nephew wasn't there due to the fact he and his wife just had a baby (valid) and my parents weren't there because it's been a rough few weeks/months healthwise (also valid), but I really enjoyed hanging out with Allie and drinking a variety of drinks of the two-ingredient variety (aka whiskey and ginger ale, gin and tonic, Jack and coke).

[Censored] and I left after doing some dancing, so I was back at my hotel around 9:30. [Censored] opted not to stay and instead drove back to his abode, which he made it to safely - I was tempted to go to my parents' instead of staying here, but was too tired and had a too-late-in-the-game jack and coke that was mostly Jack, so I opted to lounge in bed, take the pressure off my belly, and play some games on my phone. My belly is substantially better post surgery, but it starts to hurt if I sit upright in a chair for too long, which is basically what I did today between the drive and the wedding.

And now I should sleep - goodnight!

signed a deal, i got papercuts

I am sitting in bed in a hotel in Kearney, Nebraska - a place I have stayed often enough that I feel right at home. Today went much more smoothly than I expected it to - I got up early enough to move most of the stuff that I was taking to Iowa out to my garage before starting my work day, which made the afternoon easier. I had a long 'offsite' meeting (they called it a homesite to pretend that it was exciting, but it was just sitting in my house looking at people on a screen like I've been doing for the last 571 days, so whatever) - but the 'offsite' that was supposed to be four hours turned out to only be three hours, so that really helped. I did a bit more work after that, but then I sneaked away from my laptop to finish my preparations.

Katie and James stopped by briefly right before I left - I had groceries that were going to go to waste, and since my journey this weekend is more involved than usual, I couldn't just bring a cooler of stuff with me. So they came over and picked up the making for a peasant feast (mostly potatoes, onions, and dairy products, although the peasants would say wtf to the almond milk). Hopefully I shall see Katie again someday, since we are as ships crossing in the night the next few weeks - but since our friendship managed to survive the travails of junior high, we'll probably make it through this drama too.

I left my house around 3:30, which felt like a miracle. Traffic getting out of Denver definitely wasn't a miracle, and I hit some ubiquitous construction at the I-76 / I-80 merge at the Colorado/Nebraska border, but otherwise it was smooth sailing. I stopped for gas somewhere, and then I grabbed McDonald's in Ogallala, where I made the decision to shoot for Kearney. By making it here tonight, I have a <4hr drive to get to tomorrow's destination - my niece's wedding, which is in western Iowa and so closer to here than my parents' house.

And now, if I want to get to that wedding and appear to be well rested and in good health, I should probably go to bed. Goodnight!

am i mistaken for the way i carry on

I'm absurdly tired for 10:15pm on a Thursday, but that's probably the lingering traces of my recovery. I mostly feel fine, although I occasionally notice my abdomen if I move the wrong way. But working late the last two nights clearly affected my sleep, so tonight I ignored my laptop. I also kicked off the evening in the right way by having a glass of wine while chatting (virtually) with my friend Caroline. We were supposed to have an actual work meeting this afternoon that I had to move because something came up, but turning it into a social meeting at the end of the day was very much preferred.

The rest of the evening was spent preparing to go back to ye olde Iowa - I have to be there Saturday afternoon for a wedding, which means I need to leave tomorrow and stay somewhere along the way. And since I'm doing that, and then staying for a couple of weeks after, I'm taking a wide variety of extra home goods back with me to kickstart the process of turning my new Iowa house into something that is capable of sustaining me. Of course, my parents' house is also turning into a staging ground for all the tings I've ordered in the past week or two, so hopefully that's all going smoothly and I can rescue their front hall from all the packages this weekend. But I'm hoping that all the things I've organized here will fit into my car - and that I can load fairly quickly tomorrow after work so that I can make it to at least North Platte before stopping for the night.

But we'll see how all that goes - for now, I need to take care of a couple more tings and then hopefully go to bed at a more reasonable hour. Goodnight!

i belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart

I worked too late again tonight, which is not entirely a surprise given the end of quarter phase we're in at work + the fact I didn't work for most of the last three weeks. Today was okay, though - I put on eyeshadow and wore some earrings that I bought at a street fair a few weeks ago, and that made me just a smidge happier. I had a bunch of meetings and only a few annoyances, so that was good too.

But otherwise, nothing at all interesting happened - so I suppose I should decompress and go to bed. Goodnight!

riding high when i was king

I had a long day, but I guess it was a good one - I had meetings starting at 8:30, which is unusual for me these days, and my body wasn't entirely eager to get up for it. I also somehow managed to not schedule a break for lunch, which is also unusual. And I just worked from 9-11pm, which is, again, unusual. But there were things that had piled up while I was out that could not continue to pile, so I powered through and am in better shape for tomorrow because of it.

It also wasn't all slogging - I had a break to talk to Alyssa, and I also chatted with my friend Nicole for a virtual happy hour. And I did some stuff around the house, journaled, and generally relaxed in the evening (until I started working again). But now I think I should unwind and see if I can get a decent amount of sleep - goodnight!

baby i welcome the pressure

I had a decent day in the pixel mines. I probably should have done more work than I actually did, but the work I did do was good enough to make me feel like something happened, so I'll take it. Also, I'm still feeling slightly uncomfortable and get tired easily, so I feel like I should acknowledge that and not push it too hard this week (before definitely pushing it too hard this upcoming weekend).

Part of why I felt like maybe I should have worked longer was that I snuck out early (does it count as sneaking if you're just leaving your own house?) to meet Tomas for a drink in Louisville. Longtime blog readers may remember Tomas from my previous stint at my company, since he was on the rather epic weekend trip + offsite at a castle in Germany (which was seven years ago! how is that possible?!). We now both work in Boulder and would get together occasionally pre-pandemic, but since we live in opposite directions of the office (and never go to the office), we haven't seen each other in many months. And the late afternoon was perfect for having a drink on a patio and catching up on life - we really didn't talk about work at all, but instead talked about everything related to families and health and pandemics and a variety of related topics.

Then I came home, accidentally fell asleep, ate some takeout, and was generally pretty slothful (in deference to my healing). And now I should go to sleep, since I stupidly signed up for an early meeting tomorrow - goodnight!

ain't shady baby, i'm hot

I feel like I perhaps slightly overdid it today - I'm definitely super tired, and I should have gone to bed an hour ago but I needed to unwind a bit more. But I got a lot of tings done today that I needed to get done, and also took some time to enjoy what felt like the last weekend of the summer - it was in the upper eighties today, but I'll be gone most of the next few weekends and it will probably snow by the time I have another Sunday here.

sssanyway, I took care of tings around the house in the morning. Then I ran a quick errand to the mall, picked up some stuff at Crate and Barrel to take back to Iowa with me, and then got a mani/pedi. It was earlier to get them than I normally would before a wedding (which I'm going to next weekend), but I have a million things do to this week and couldn't figure out how to fit it into the weekdays. Then I came home and talked to my parents for quite awhile.

After that, I decided to indulge my desire for a last summer weekend - and so I walked down to El Camino, where I sat at the bar and had a margarita and their extremely excellent nachos. I also wrote in my journal while enjoying my time at the bar - I deeply miss doing that kind of thing, both because of covid and because I feel like I really didn't find 'my places' in Denver before the pandemic began anyway. So tonight was restorative, even if I felt overly full and realized that I still can't eat a lot with the remaining bits of pressure in my abdomen (although overall I'm feeling much better!).

Then I came home, intended to do a variety of tasks, and instead talked to [censored] for three hours. [Censored] spent quite a bit of time in my new house in Iowa this weekend (more than I've spent in the house, at this point!) and gave me a rundown of a bunch of things that I might choose to fix / change / update / ignore. This Iowa house is going to be great and I'm excited to have a project - but given property values there, I'm going to have to be careful not going too all-in on decor and aesthetic when I probably won't get my money back out of upgrades in the future.

But that's a problem for Future Sara (and I can imagine that she will end up deciding to buy some stupid shit as she grapples with the problem I've left for her). Right now I really need to sleep so that I can get tings done tomorrow - goodnight!

faster than a hairpin trigger

I had a lovely, lowkey sort of day - partially driven by the fact that I didn't go to bed until after one and also didn't set an alarm, so woke up sometime around ten. This is what my body naturally wants to do, but it's rough to revert to form on weekends and then have to get up like a corporate drone again on Monday morning. So even though it's currently 12:18 and I feel like I could stay up another hour or two, I'm going to attempt to go to bed after this.

sssanyway, I woke up, made coffee, and had a very leisurely morning / afternoon. This mostly involved sitting on my back patio, which is perfect this time of year. At some point, I retreated to my bedroom and took a nap. And that was pretty much the extent of my day, which made it quite delightful.

My evening was even more delightful, though - Katie made a reservation for us at Fifth String, which may be my favorite restaurant in Denver. We got there at 5:15, which is early for dinner (but preferable to not having dinner), and we spent a couple of hours in perfect bliss on their patio. It felt like a good way to bookend the summer - we had gone there for our first fancy meal out this spring, and this felt like the last meal of the summer since I'll be in Iowa for a couple of weeks and then winter will probably be here. We had a sumptuous meal - oysters to start, and then I had some crispy potatoes with melted cheese and shishito peppers, and then a dish with a variety of scallops, fish, and mussels in this amazing broth. Dessert was bleu cheese with cherries, and it was perfect. And of course Katie and I went deep on a variety of topics, which is always my favorite thing to do.

And now, I should go to sleep - goodnight!

hold the wheel and drive

I just accidentally stayed up too late for the first time in many nights - I've been actively trying to go to bed at a reasonable hour so that I could support my healing or something, but tonight my night owl brain overruled me. Today was pretty good, though - I had some decent meetings at work (supported by a lot of coffee), had a poke bowl for lunch, talked to [censored], took a walk, texted with some people, messed around online, etc., etc.

None of that is interesting, though, and I really should go to sleep so that I can get on with my weekend. Goodnight!

sometimes i wish i was on an island, but then i'd miss the sound of sirens

I am slowly but surely getting better. It still feels somewhat uncomfortable to sit in a regular chair, and so I'm intensely glad that I'm not driving back to Iowa this weekend as I had briefly considered a few weeks ago (back when I thought this surgery was No Big Deal). But I am sleeping better, and I'm not quite as tired in the afternoon, so I'll take it.

I had a pretty lowkey work day - I had some meetings off and on from 9:30 to 1, but I successfully avoided meetings the rest of the day. So I got a couple of things done, but I also let myself slack off a bit in the interest of recovering. At the end of the day, I drove my car for the first time since surgery - I wasn't prohibited from driving (except for when I was on narcotic painkillers), but it didn't feel comfortable until today. It still wasn't entirely comfortable, but I was able to do it long enough to mail some things, drive through the car wash, and drive through the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, so I will take all of that as a sign of progress.

I then spent the rest of the evening messing around, eating leftovers, and checking out my neighbors' place. The people I share a wall with are selling abruptly, and if they sell for what they're asking for I will be elated at what that means for my property values because it's really stupidly high. My neighbor called tonight to ask if I could run over and shut off the lights that the realtor had left on for showings, so I got to walk through it without having to wait to snoop at the open house. It's a bizarro version of my place since everything is a mirror image - I like how they upgraded their kitchen, and they have hardwood floors in their master bedroom, but otherwise it's pretty identical (and I have a nicer patio). So we'll see how that goes - and if you want to spend a stupid amount of money to be my neighbor, now is your chance!

And now, I should sleep - I'm sure my recovery has been helped by the fact that I've been getting a good amount of sleep, but I have to be on starting at nine tomorrow, which is earlier than I've been on in weeks, and so going to bed now is a v. good idea. Goodnight!

and they're zipping white light beams, disregarding bombs and satellites

I had a pretty lowkey day - I think I'm getting better, but my brain and body are clearly not at 100% because I was unusually inarticulate while giving a presentation today and I felt sleepy through most of my afternoon meetings despite getting plenty of sleep last night. Luckily the pain is getting somewhat better (as long as I'm in a lounging or standing position; sitting in a regular chair is the worst), so I'm sure I'll continue to improve. But I did discover last night that in the UK, it's recommended to take 2-4 weeks off after the procedure I had, while in the US my surgeon told me I could probably go back to work in a few days (leaving it vague how I would actually feel about that). So I took great pains to tell as many coworkers as possible about that little fact so that everyone will continue cutting me some slack on my absurdly long list of unanswered emails and my general inability to focus.

sssanyway. My meetings were generally fine and I skipped everything I could skip, and I stopped working around 4:30. Then I messed around my house, talked to [censored] about locks, ordered some takeout Thai food, and took a walk - it was the first outing beyond my property that I'd been on in a week, so it was pretty exciting. I also talked to my dad, who called to make sure I was recovering (since he knows how recovery goes). And I spent some quality time looking at tings online for my Iowa house - I'm trying to time the ordering of things so that I'm there when it gets delivered while also not getting screwed by the supply chain, and that's a really delicate balance.

And now, I think I'm going to wrap up my screen time early so that I can decompress and go to bed - goodnight!

all my favorite songs are slow and sad

I went back to work today, but it was a bit of a challenge - sitting in a desk chair is not my friend right now, so I mostly took meetings while lounging on my chaise like a Victorian invalid. I also seem to get tired pretty easily, despite getting a full night's sleep last night, so that is going to start getting frustrating soon. But I am recovering, even if it's slower than I would like, and I'm lucky that there is nothing truly physically demanding going on right now.

So, I made some attempts at work, and it was all totally fine, but I slacked off early and talked to Alyssa. Then I did mostly nothing the rest of the evening - I could have done some virtual socializing but my body didn't feel up for it, and so instead I messed around / journaled / ate leftovers / relaxed. And now, I'm contemplating how early is too early to go to bed, and I'm finding that perhaps the answer is that I should go to bed very soon. Goodnight!

working for the weekend

As I declared last night, I decided to take today off as well in an effort to further my recovery. I think this was a smart move - I got a lot of sleep last night, and my pain is in much better shape today, but I still tire easily and am sore (especially depending on how I sit). Of course, I may regret it tomorrow since I'm so far behind on work that it's laughable, but that's a problem for Future Sara to resolve.

sssanyway, I slept in this morning, then took it easy with tea and my journal and other distractions. At some point Sarah-Frances showed up bearing some gifts (in the form of frozen meals + iced coffee), so we chatted for an hour or so, which was a v. welcome break. Then I ordered some pho for lunch, messed around, took one meeting just to find out what's going on at work in case I need to know anything for tomorrow, and then messed around the rest of the day. I did force myself to do some house tasks just so that I could have things a little more tidy for tomorrow, and I also reheated one of the frozen meals that Sarah-Frances brought me (which was a winner).

At that point, things were already pretty boring, so I ended the day by finishing THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS AN EASY JOB, which was the novel I started a few days ago. I thought it was really nice, all in all - the vaguely supernatural elements didn't pan out quite the way that I expected them to, but it was a lovely book to spend a few hours with.

And now, even though it's only 10:13, I'm going to consider going to bed early so that I can get as much sleep as possible before having to start things tomorrow. Goodnight!

the shadow of my life was hanging over me

Today was a v. boring day - I have reached the cranky and bored stage of my recovery, and also felt like things hurt slightly more than they did yesterday, which was v. unwelcome. I did get quite a bit of sleep last night, and I mostly took it easy today, but I still wished it was all better than it was. I attempted to distract myself with journaling, reading, etc., and I also talked to Terry, Chandlord, and my parents, all of which went a long way toward bringing me out of my doldrums. And Katie, who continues to be a top-notch friend, came over this evening with a couple of grocery-related tings and a takeout pizza, so we chilled for an hour and that was a delight.

Otherwise, I have nothing to report - I decided to take tomorrow off as well rather than try to push myself through a recovery that isn't quite there yet, so I'm going to aim for maximum sleep tonight and tomorrow. And with that in mind, I think I'm going to crawl into bed with a book and see what happens - goodnight!

i played it hard and fast 'cause i had everything

I had an extremely hermity, lazy day today - perhaps to be expected since I'm still recovering, but I haven't spent four straight days in my house without leaving in awhile, so I may be getting bored. My abdomen is still pretty sore, but it's not as bad as it was, so I didn't have to take anything stronger than ibuprofen (although right now I'm tempted). And I'm clearly more tired than usual, since I took at least three naps today (#noregrets).

Otherwise, I have v. little to report - I finished FOUR THOUSAND WEEKS this morning, and it was v. thought-provoking. It's basically an anti-productivity book - or rather, the premise is that if you can let go of beliefs around perfection, maximum productivity, attempts to get everything done, grandiose visions of what might be (and all the doors you leave open just in case), etc. and instead focus on the couple of things that really matter to you, that level of acceptance is the only way to come to terms with the human condition and do the things that you should be doing. This feels like a good reminder - I have, after all, been prioritizing everything but writing for a long time, ostensibly for good reasons, but I no longer want to put it off for some distant day where I theoretically might have more time.

At some point I had a ham sandwich for lunch, and took a couple of aforementioned naps, and basically messed around online. I also ordered dinner from a Mexican plan I hadn't tried before, and the enchiladas were exactly what I needed (even if my stomach briefly rebelled after several days of soup and snacks). And tonight I started reading THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS AN EASY JOB - it's fiction, translated from Japanese, and it has some v. surreal elements as the nameless protagonist goes between slightly-supernatural temp jobs looking for something mindless to do while recovering from burnout. So far I'm enjoying it, although I can't quite tell where it's headed yet.

And now, I think I should attempt to sleep - goodnight!

lover come hold me, head's on the fritz

I had a v. lazy day, with the intent of supporting my recovery as much as possible. However, the pain in my abdomen was slightly worse today than it was yesterday - the incisions are tiny and don't look particularly angry, but perhaps those holes were just big enough to slip an immersion blender inside and go to town with it. Who knows - I certainly don't, since I was asleep when the robot attacked. But as along as I take ibuprofen or tylenol as scheduled, and occasionally slip in something stronger, it's all totally manageable.

So today was fairly boring, but I got plenty of sleep last night and took a couple of naps today, so that seems good. I also grazed on soups and various snacks throughout the day, texted with some people (hi master of disaster!), and talked to my parents, [censored], and Veronica. And I've finished the evening by reading quite a bit of a book called FOUR THOUSAND WEEKS, which is a self-help type book that is anti-productivity (at least in the classic sense of how productivity books are usually written) - so far it's really good and is hitting a lot of nerves that I've been working through recently, but I'll have more to say about it when I finish it.

And now, even though my mind wants to stay up and finish the book, my abdomen is telling me it's time for bed. Goodnight!

apathy's a tragedy and boredom is a crime

Today was a relatively boring day, all in all - luckily Katie came over to keep me entertained and fed, so that was a good way to take my mind off everything. I was also able to shower this morning, which was a treat. I took the bandaids off the incisions; they're still covered in surgical tape, but now I can see the bruising and dried blood around the incisions, which is partly interesting and partly not something I like seeing.

sssanyway. I feel better than I expected to, although I felt slightly worse today than I did yesterday - I think the hospital drugs all wore off last night, and I was somewhat nauseated today, so it made for some weird meal choices. But I'm able to move around just fine, so I'm hopeful that I can get through this phase as soon as possible.

Beyond that, I have nothing to report - Katie and I had a delightful time today (and she did actually get several hours of work done), and she took out my trash for me before she left, so she's an excellent friend. We also had a really fun time spying on my neighbors - it appears that the people I share a duplex wall with are abruptly moving out and selling, so if you want to be my neighbor in Denver, please buy it!

After Katie left, I spent the evening napping (both planned and unplanned), grazing the foodstuffs in my kitchen, and watching Bo Burnham's 'Inside' (a comedy special on netflix). It was a little too surreal in parts even for me, but other parts made me laugh out loud, so it was a good way to waste 90min or so.

And now, I think I'll start winding down and considering bed - goodnight!

everybody wants to rule the world

I have v. little to report today, but today went about as well as it could have considering that I'm still recovering from having a robot dig around my insides. When I woke up, Aunt B was still here, so we hung out in the kitchen and I made some oatmeal in my instant pot. She left around 9:15 or so, but my fridge is still stocked with her memory (namely, vegetable beef soup).

I had about 45mins to myself, and I made good use of it to sign some legal documents despite the fact that several nurses told me not to sign anything or buy anything for a couple of days. I feel pretty good about the legal documents, but maybe I shouldn't given how much stuff I bought from Nordstrom Rack late last night (in my defense, I need a dress for a wedding; but honestly, even though some of it will go back because I ordered two sizes of several things, there were tings in there that definitely weren't for the wedding - so we'll see if my sober self likes any of it!).

Then Katie came over to spend the day - she was ostensibly working and I was ostensibly resting, but we mostly gossiped and caught up on our families' respective lives. I also ate some potato soup (which she insisted on stirring so she could do something to take care of me), talked to Aunt Kathy for a bit, and eventually did take an afternoon nap. I think Katie's coming again tomorrow, which is good distraction for both my mood and my pain levels, so we'll see what happens!

After Katie left, I talked to my parents, messed around on my phone, did a very small load of laundry to wash some stuff that came today, and ate leftover vegetable beef soup. Then I watched the first episode of 'Only Murders in the Building' and also the first episode of 'The Great' - both of which has extremely different vibes. 'Only Murders' stars Steve Martin, Marvin Short, and Selena Gomez, and they're amateurs who love true-crime podcasts and are trying to solve a murder in their apartment building. 'The Great' is a dramedy about Catherine the Great, who is my jam - Russia under the tsars was pretty much batshit crazy, and her rise to power was more batshit than some. I know they took a lot of poetic license with it, but so far so good.

And now, I think I shall sleep so that I can pursue a grand plan of watching TV and reading and talking to friends tomorrow - goodnight!

leading you down into my core, where i've become so numb

So in addition to buying a house, I had an entirely unrelated adventure today - I don't know if they make "Baby's First Surgery" Christmas ornaments and/or if that's appropriate for a newly-minted 40-year-old, but I had my first-ever surgery today. This was scheduled before everything happened with my dad (but several months after I started pursuing it, tanks to how backed up non-essential surgeries are due to covid). So the timing could not have been much worse, especially since I'm closing on a house and can't go there or do anything with it (particularly since I can't lift more than ten pounds for the next two weeks). Luckily my dad seems to be doing better, but still, it's all a lot right now.

sssanyway. The surgery was lowkey as surgeries go - it involved a robot conducting a laparoscopic surgery to remove a fibroid (which turned into 3 fibroids, apparently, but they're almost definitely benign, so no worries there). There was an actual surgeon directing the robot, but I asked to meet the robot and also asked if today was the day that it was going to go rogue, which they assured me it would not. So clearly I had a slight amount of fun in the operating theatre before they told me I was going under - I said 'bye bye', they all laughed, and then I never saw them again. So hopefully the robot let them live another day after I went into the recovery room, because I was not there to witness any later carnage.

Luckily, Aunt Becky is full time in Colorado now, so she was able to take me (and is staying here tonight). Surgery has multiple indignities, such as having to spend a minute or so swabbing the inside of my nose with betadine; I also almost passed out when the nurse tried to put an IV in my wrist, so that was worse than the surgery itself because I was completely out for the surgery. Now I have four little incisions in my abdomen, including a bandaid over my belly button, so this would be a v. bad time for a goa'uld to come out of there (gratuitous Stargate reference is for [censored] and [censored] only).

So the surgery went fine, recovery was fine, I got some orange sherbet (the delicacy of all hospitals everywhere) and later threw it up outside my house after somehow controlling my nausea all the way home. But I rested / slept for a couple of hours, and then felt good enough to eat some excellent vegetable beef soup that Aunt B made. We watched some tv together, and I talked to my parents, and generally everything feels okay-ish. The incisions really only hurt if I move, especially since stomach muscles are required for getting up / down, so I think my pole vaulting career is temporarily over. But hopefully the recovery is quick.

And now, I should sleep - I'm taking the rest of the week off to recover, with the intent of watching every show on Netflix/Hulu that I haven't watched in the last decade, so wish me luck with that. Goodnight!

treat this night like it will happen again

Apparently if I don't blog for two nights in a row, people assume I have either killed zee blog or am dead. Neither is true! However, tings have been super busy:

- I had intended to celebrate my 40th birthday in San Francisco on Saturday, but those plans were canceled awhile ago (tanks Delta!). So I celebrated my birthday with cupcakes and leftover Mexican food in ye olde Iowa on Saturday (and also celebrated that my dad is out of the hospital), and then [censored] took me to the airport so I could fly back to Denver. [censored] was pulling a military cargo trailer full of wasps (don't ask), so he didn't linger at the airport while saying goodbyes. This left me time to drink rosé and watch part of the Iowa / Iowa State game (which the wrong team won) before boarding my flight. The flight was half-full (probably thanks to 9/11) and the flight attendant wished me happy birthday, so it was almost pleasant.

- Sunday I did a million tings around the house + got a gel manicure. This was enough to almost make me feel normal.

- Today I had to slog hard and fast most of the day because I'm v. behind at work and am about to be more behind. I also did multiple tings related to a secret project that I've been working on - the secret project is that I'm buying a house in Iowa! That is a long, ridiculous story on its own, and perhaps I will share it with you someday. But we're closing Wednesday, and so I spent some time today trying to switch the utilities over. In a small town, this means I'm waiting on a girl I went to high school with to call me back about the water, and the gas company is only open twelve hours a week (but they're mailing me a packet to start service). But the electricity and internet should be taken care of, so as long as I don't need water or heat I should be in business.

- Tonight I also had to slog, but that included making a v. deluxe potato soup that I intend to enjoy over the next couple of days. I also talked to my parents and to [censored], and I did another hour or so of day job stuff.

And now that you're all caught up, I believe it's time for bed - goodnight!

i'll take some from you tonight

Today was a good day, all in all - I got up in time to make coffee and take care of some tings around the house, and then I drove to Des Moines to take care of some more tings. This included liberating some more treasures from Uncle Brian's house - he's closing on selling the place in the next day or so, so [censored] and I claimed some more worldly possessions to store in various garages and basements around the countryside.

After that, I ran to a bank, then ran some errands for my dad, then grabbed a salad and ate it in the parking lot of a grocery store, then drove home. Of course, since we live so far from anything, this errand took five and a half hours. But when I got home, Dad was here - he got out of the hospital this morning, which is great news. I spent a bit of time this afternoon making some gluten free funfetti cupcakes, and then [censored] arrived and we promptly picked up Mexican takeout for dinner.

And now, I should sleep - I'm headed back to Denver tomorrow evening and have a million tings to do before then. Goodnight!

treasure maps, fallen trees, operator, please

Finally, some good news - my dad had another procedure today and it went really well, so hopefully that means he'll get out of the hospital tomorrow. That means I might get to see him for ~24hrs before flying back to Colorado, so that's pretty exciting!

I took today off, and I'm taking tomorrow off as well - it was perhaps not strictly necessary, but also my brain is completely fried and I can't keep alternating between catastrophes + career without even a few minutes of break. And today I wanted to be up in Des Moines in case things did not go well, even though there was no point in going up as early as my mom did just so that I could sit outside the hospital and wait. So I got up at my usual time and did a bunch of stuff around the house before heading up to the city. When I got up there, I went to Target before I went to the hospital - I had some tings to pick up and this seemed to be as good a time as any. Just as I was checking out, my mom called and said they were taking my dad into his procedure - so I drove to the hospital and sat near my favorite parking lot tree, alternating between reading twitter and napping while waiting for news.

Luckily the news was good - if it had been bad, that would have been a) tragic and b) hard to deal with while sitting alone in a parking lot, since [censored] had to work today. So, since it was good news, I chatted with my mom briefly and then drove home. That got me here in time to do a tiny bit of day job stuff and eat a bunch of leftover pizza + do some laundry before my mom got home, and then we hung out for awhile.

And now, I should sleep - I did another 30min or so of day job stuff when I came downstairs, but hopefully I can be mostly off tomorrow so that I can do some stuff to help get things settled around here. Goodnight!

what's going on

I'm v. tired and I have a headache, and I am somehow losing my voice, so I think I should go to bed. Today was fine, but it was much too busy for my current mental state - I had to do a hard and fast slog from ~8:30 to 1 to catch up on some stuff that absolutely had to get done today (with a small break to eat some of the delish chicken/mushroom/parmesan that I made the other night), and then I had meetings straight from 1-4 + another one from 5:30 to 6:30. So much for taking the day off. But the stuff that had to get done is now done, at least for a few days, so I guess I'll take it even if it fried my brain.

After I was done working, I drove into town and picked up pizza from Casey's (the beloved convenience store pizza of all true Iowans). My mom was slightly later getting back from the hospital than I had expected, but the pizza was still decently warm when she got there. So we ate pizza and talked, and then I eventually retreated to my room to finish a bit of work.

And now I should sleep - I have nothing further to share (other than that my dad is still in the hospital), so sleep is more important than trying to write something longer. Goodnight!

a blanket of stars covers me in my bed

No blog tonight - I'm super tired after a full day spent mostly sitting in [censored]'s truck in various parking lots, and also from trying to get some work done while parked in those parking lots. But my dad's procedure today went okay - he's still in the hospital and needs more done, but at least today was okay.

And now I'm desperate for sleep - goodnight!

watermelon sugar

I have nothing of interest to report today. Tings with my dad are stable - since it's a holiday weekend he couldn't get the test he needed, so he's chilling in the hospital until they can do the test tomorrow (and then potentially some tings after that). My mom went up to Des Moines to spend the day with him, but since there is no way for me or [censored] to go into the hospital and there is no reason for us to sit in the parking lot for eight hours and look at our usual tree, we opted to stay home.

This was a good thing, since our air conditioner was broken (as of last night) which means it was a balmy 84 degrees or so in here this morning. I have taken the general life approach of trying to make enough money to pay people to fix things for me, but it turns out that money is a useless joke here because there is no one to hire and we likely couldn't have gotten someone out to fix it. Luckily [censored] has spent the better part of a decade acquiring tools and watching YouTube videos and teaching himself how to do things, so [censored] was actually able to fix the air conditioner. I was completely not helpful on that one, but I did make him an omelette, so I think that counts for something.

I then spent the afternoon getting some tings organized, buying groceries, watering my mom's plants, and generally trying to take care of stuff. I also did an hour and a half of day job work (along with another two hours tonight) - I still have some stuff that I absolutely must do while sitting in the parking lot staring at a tree tomorrow, so hopefully I can accomplish it before anything substantive happens with my dad. And I paused to make an extremely delicious supper - I wanted takeout but the only place we can get takeout was closed for labor day, so I had to cook. But I made some creamy chicken mushroom parmesan and some mashed potatoes that were really excellent, so my mom and [censored] were pretty happy with my efforts.

And now I should sleep - [censored] and I are driving up to sit in the parking lot tomorrow during my dad's procedure, so we'll see how tings go. Goodnight!

that missing piece is found

I am unfortunately in ye olde Iowa - my misfortune is tied to the reason that brought me here, not to the fact that I'm in Iowa per se (since I like Iowa enough to visit regularly, clearly I don't consider flying into Des Moines to be a misfortune). My dad is in the hospital in Des Moines, and while he's stable and is apparently his usual jokester self, it's unclear what's happening or why. I wasn't here for the episode that resulted in his hospital stay (thanks to my mom and [censored] for being there!), but I caught the first flight to Iowa this morning.

So, that's all rather unfortunate. I don't know how long I'll be here, but fingers crossed they're able to do some more tests in the next couple of days and find a treatment plan so that he can come home.

In the meantime, I'm mostly schlepping things and people around. [censored] picked me up at the airport this morning, and we took lunch to Mom before driving to our hometown. Since my dad can only have one visitor a day, that mostly leaves [censored] and I either sitting in a parking lot or perhaps being at home (if we're okay being an hour and a half from the hospital). This time, we drove home, where we discovered that the air conditioner is broken (lol). So [censored] dealt with that, while I grabbed a few things that had been forgotten in the mad dash to get my dad to the hospital. Then I drove back to Des Moines, handed those things to my mom, grabbed a snack at a gas station (a surprisingly adequate microwaveable tamale that was gluten free), and then drove my mom back home. It's unclear whether tomorrow will hold similar amounts of driving - but if it does, I really need to get some sleep first. Goodnight!

this is the best part

I have nothing of note to report today - other people in the family were having good news today (such as my dad, who secured his next project), but my news was mostly inconsequential. I had meetings from 8:30 to 4, with a break for lunch (I worked for 45min of my break and ate on my patio for 15min). Then I ran an errand, came home, and talked to my paretns, who were in fine form.

Then I went to Katie's for a last-minute dinner - she invited me over for taco night, and I was happy to take her up on it. We sat outside most of the evening and it was great - my allergies and the smoke aren't so great, but the company mostly made up for it.

And now, this is boring but I don't have any better content for you, so it's time for bed. Goodnight!

i play my music in the sun

I spent most of the day working, as per usual (although I did start it by watering plants and drinking coffee and journaling on my back patio, so at least that was relaxing). But I slacked off around 5:45 - Andy and Nina came over, and it was a total delight to hang out with them. We had a drink at my place - I made a High Five, which is gin, aperol, grapefruit, lime, and simple syrup, and it's a perfect home cocktail because it's simple but also delicious. Then we walked to Brazen and had dinner outside - yes, I've been there three times in the last four weeks, and no, I have no regrets.

We hung out on the patio for a couple of hours and had a tasty assortment of small plates, and we discussed many and varied topics (including Ukraine, which they weren't aware of (they weren't aware of my time there; they were aware of the existence of Ukraine)). It started to rain while we were there, which was fine because we were under an umbrella - but it was raining hard enough that we took an uber the eight blocks back to my place to avoid getting soaked. They hung out another hour and a half or so, and we talked about books and movies and NCIS:LA and the difference between fantasy and scifi, and it was all great.

But now, I should sleep - I have meetings starting at 8:30 tomorrow, so I should probably get some rest. Goodnight!

run away, run away, you have been forewarned

Today was kind of long but mostly really good (if you ignore all my work meetings and focus entirely on personal conversations). Actually, work was fine as well, but I have too many meetings and not enough time to think, so it's been a bit brutal. But I got up in time to write a bit before work, which always helps my mood. I also talked to Alyssa, which was a nice break. And I took a walk while talking to Terry - we had a lot to catch up on, so I walked for 30min or so, and then picked up takeout pizza from Blue Pan after I was done talking to her.

When I got home, I ended up talking to [censored] for an hour and a half. And then I should have worked, but I sent a bunch of personal emails instead. And now, I'm going to continue my attempt to go to bed early - goodnight!

i got a skeleton under the floorboard

I'm attempting to go to bed earlier, and on Night 2 of this endeavor it's already 10:32, so this will be brief. Today was fine, all in all - I had to record a couple of videos at work, so I had to get up and actually fully dry my hair, which was a real sacrifice. But I recovered and got through the rest of my day just fine, and then ended it by talking to Heather (aka dear respected madam). I also texted with some of my romance friends who have houses in Tahoe that are perilously close to the Caldor fire, which has jumped every attempt to contain it and is burning both sides of the highway that I always took into South Lake. So, that's potentially devastating....

And now, on that note, it's time to sleep. Goodnight!

the world's most pointless superhero

I almost forgot to blog, which means I'm already in bed and ready to put my phone away. Today was good, though - I had a super fun morning hosting a tea party for Katie's girls, which mostly meant getting them super hyped on sugar. Then I spent the rest of the day doing almost nothing - my allergies flared up after being outside, and I took that as an excuse to nap / do nothing for most of the day. The news is all bad, especially with the hurricane in Louisiana and the fire that is headed into Lake Tahoe basin - so I guess it's not surprising that I spent a lot of time doing nothing.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

listen to the mariachi play at midnight

I had a lovely day, thanks for asking. I did not get enough sleep because I went to bed stupidly late last night, but I rolled out of bed sometime around 8 or 8:30 and showered, drank coffee, etc. Then I strolled down the street to a street fair that was going on today - a big reason why I bought in my neighborhood is because it's walking distance to things, and having street fairs within walking distance is great. I beat the heat and most of the crowds by getting there around 10:30, and I spent an hour browsing and buying things. They had closed six blocks of 32nd and had vendors set up on both sides of the street, so there was plenty to see. I got a couple of pairs of earrings, a couple of airplants in cool laser-cut wooden hanging pots, and a print of a painting of four birds in a police lineup (they were wanted for dining and dashing, which entertained me since I've witnessed a lot of bird thefts back in the day when I used to leave the house). All in all it was a fun way to spend the morning....

Then I came home and took care of some tings that had been on my to-do list. I also took a nap, which felt pretty necessary. Then I had a video chat with Joann, Jane, and Jen (the friendship renewal crew) - we hadn't caught up in awhile, and there was so much to discuss that we talked for almost three hours. By the end of it, I was starving, so they watched most of my dinner prep - I made another chicken tinga quesadilla like I did last night, but I also made fresh guac and a margarita to go with it.

I then spent the rest of the evening procrastinating + baking cupcakes. And now I need to sleep and try to catch up on the sleep I missed last night - goodnight! 

lover come over, kick up the dust

I'm too tired to say anything substantive tonight - I worked all day, as per usual, and then ended the day by making a v. delicious quesadilla with some of the leftover chicken tinga taco meat that I made earlier in the week. And then I messed around and did absolutely nothing, and now it's time for sleep. Goodnight!

don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy

Today was great, if you ignore the middle part where I had to work. I got up and had intended to write, but instead I took a twenty minute walk, and that was much better for me than anything else. Then I slogged through the day - nothing actually hard, but my meetings were frustrating and I wasn't in the mood for it.

However, I was done by around five, and so I threw on a dress and walked ~15mins to Brazen (the place I discovered with Veronica two weeks ago, which has a perfect outdoor patio removed from the noise of any nearby traffic). Katie and I met there for a v. belated catch-up + celebration of her birthday - she is one month and one day older than me, so of course I wanted to dress up and remind her that I'm still in my thirties. We spent a v. long time enjoying a variety of foodstuffs and several glasses of rosé (well, she had one glass...I had more than that). And we talked about all the small town things that we only have in common with each other, and I am once again reminded how grateful I am that there is someone in this world who both knows where we came from and also where we live now (and also likes raw oysters, which is pretty much the pinnacle of friendship).

After almost four hours, Katie dropped me off at home, and now I'm contemplating going to bed somewhat early since I have a million things to do tomorrow. Goodnight!

is it time to lead or is it time to die? time to raise hell or walk on by?

I had the kind of day that recharges my extroverted soul, although now I'm tired and eager to crawl into bed. I actually went into the office today for the first workday since March 2020 - it was a bit bizarre because it was a ghost town, but otherwise good. Going back right now is entirely optional and it's clear that not many people are taking them up on the offer, but that meant parking was easy and I didn't have to wait in line for food or the barista, so all in all it was pretty great.

Of course, that meant that I had to commute to the office, which was a good reminder that I don't like commuting. But the commute wasn't terrible enough to ruin my day, and I grabbed Starbucks on the way (something I never did in the beforetimes). Today was part of no-meeting week, but I somehow managed to only have 90mins free between 9:30 and 4:30 - still, I'll take it. I had lunch with someone who joined my team / company during the pandemic and so hasn't gotten to meet anyone in person, and we also had our 1:1, so it was fun to get some in-person interaction. And I took advantage of the free food, but I don't know if it's worth driving 45min each way for...

Eventually, I called it quits on work and met up with Caroline for dinner at River and Woods. This is where I used to go alllll the time when I lived in Boulder, but I hadn't been since pre-pandemic. It was as great as I remembered it, and seeing Caroline was great too. One of my favorite servers was still there, still remembered me, and was happy to see me - so I convinced Caroline to stick around the bar for another drink, which was advantageous for me because mine ended up getting comped (yes, I have that kind of sticking power with places, and I'm glad my 'give me free alcohol' mojo still works despite not getting any practice during the pandemic).

Then I said goodbye to Caroline, drove home, and messed around online until now. And now I should really sleep - goodnight!

you're not my homeland anymore, so what am i defending now?

Today was pretty good, all things considered - I only had a few hours of meetings, and yet somehow I managed to procrastinate enough that I still had to work for an hour tonight. But I had a nice morning and did some planning to get ahead of the rest of my week. I had leftover thai food for lunch, which was a delight. And I had a session with Alyssa this afternoon - almost all of my conversations with her these days are about how to make progress on my goals when I'm stressed and the world is a mess, and while I don't think I had any stunning realizations today, it's nice to feel supported in my journey through the end of the world.

After we were done, I messed around online and then made some delicious chicken tinga tacos. They could have been a bit spicier, but they turned out well and I made enough to freeze leftovers, so Future Sara will hopefully be grateful. And then I eventually stopped procrastinating and did some work. And now I should really go to bed - goodnight!

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

I had a better than usual first day back, likely because I remembered that I do better if I relax in the morning before getting straight into it. Still, I had a lot to do today and will have a lot to do all week - it's performance review season (which it always is) and I have a million extra things to do as a result.

But I sneaked out in the afternoon and got a mani/pedi, so it could be worse. Then I did some work, ordered and ate Thai takeout, relaxed a bit, and then worked again from eight to ten. At that point my eyes were attempting a coup to get me off my laptop, so I read a decorating magazine for awhile, which was better than Twitter or work (but probably slightly less useful than going to bed). So it's time for me to sleep - goodnight!

put your loving hand out, baby

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

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

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

punch tropical

I of course intended to go to bed an hour ago, and of course I did not. Today was fine, I suppose - I mostly spent the morning subsisting on coffee and kind bars while slogging through meetings. I had a tiny break for lunch, then had some meetings, then had a break in which I should have gotten work done and did not.

But after my last meeting ended at five, I was done. I hung out with my mom on the back patio for quite awhile, which was lovely. Then I drove into town and picked up takeout from the Mexican restaurant (sorry you missed it, [censored]!). After supper, I drove my dad into (other) town to pick up his truck, and then I came home, retreated to my room, and did some work until now.

And now I should sleep if I want to aim for being a happy human tomorrow - goodnight!

i remember happy wasted days

I have nothing interesting to report - today was a mix of meetings and downtime, but none of it was particularly noteworthy. I ended the day with a quick training session with Alyssa, followed by a long chat with [censored], followed by dinner and an evening of conversation with my parents. I finally came back to my room around ten and spent an hour or so doing some day job stuff that needed to get done - and now I'm well and truly tired, so it's time for bed. Goodnight!

cut the cord

I'm still in Iowa, but today was a work day, so since I spent the whole day at my desk I guess I could have been anywhere. And also since I spent the whole day at my desk, I have nothing of interest to report - so I think I'm going to try to get off my screens and go to bed. Goodnight!

i see you darling but you pixelate

I'm in Iowa, and I had a v. lowkey day - [censored] had told me to bring my work gloves home so that I could pick up sticks, but it turns out I didn't need them because I promoted myself to assistant supervisor. This meant that [censored] cleaned up three whole trees from the front yard (using heavy equipment, not his hands) while my dad and I sat in my dad's truck and occasionally hauled a dump trailer full of limbs back into the field to discard. It was a very nice day for sitting around and watching [censored] work, so I quite enjoyed myself!

The rest of the day was fairly quiet - I had some tuna salad on toast for lunch, took a bit of a nap, and otherwise did very little. For supper, we had brats and sweet corn and baked beans, all of which were perfect. And then my parents went to see some of my mom's cousins, and I took the opportunity to relax in my room with my journal, which was pretty much what I needed.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

i'm the house you hold your kickback at

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

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

awakening

I meant to go to bed an hour ago, but as long as I'm asleep before midnight, I'll take it. I had a not-totally-ideal morning, mostly because I woke up already thinking about work and definitely didn't want to be thinking about work before seven a.m. But I was able to make coffee and drink it outside while working on slides for a couple of hours, which is better than it could have been.

Later in the afternoon, I drove to Boulder for the first time in possibly ten months - I had an optometrist appointment, and since my optometrist is near the office that I no longer go to, it was a much longer drive than I'm used to making in the afternoon. My visit went fine (my right eye is getting worse, but I don't need bifocals, so I guess I'm not old yet!), and I'll have new contacts in a couple of weeks, so I'm happy about that.

Then I actually *went into the office*, which was completely bizarre. My actual building isn't open yet, so it didn't really feel real - I went to the main office in Boulder, and since I got there at four p.m., most of the amenities (such as they are in the time of covid) were shut down. But I stole some Andes mints, and I ran into a coworker whom I hadn't seen in seventeen months, and I took one meeting from a conference room, and it was all novel and interesting. Not novel and interesting enough for me to commute there if I don't have to, but novel and interesting nonetheless.

Then I met up with my friend Nicole for dinner - we went to a fantastic sushi place that she frequents, and it was great to catch up with her. She left my company a couple of months ago, so we gossiped and I got to hear about how things are in her new venture, and it was all great.

And then I drove home, messed around online, and packed since I'm leaving for Iowa tomorrow afternoon. I still have a couple of things to throw in the suitcase, but I'm packed enough that I may be able to get some work done tomorrow before I go. We shall see, we shall see. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

ain't no way around it

I had a completely ridiculous day of meetings - I started at 9am and didn't stop until six (although I found fifteen minutes in the middle to make some tuna salad and throw it on some toast, which I ate during the next meeting). And so even though I have things I desperately need to get done, I was too fried - so I did some stretching, ordered takeout Indian food and ate it while staring off into space in my backyard, did some laundry, and otherwise mostly let my brain melt into a puddle of goo and half-formed thoughts.

So, rather than try to reconstitute my thought patterns now, I'm going to journal and go to bed early and then get up early to finish what I should have done tonight. Goodnight!

can't keep up with my rhythm though they keep trying

I'm exhausted and need to go to bed asap, but I had a delightful day and wish that more days were like this. Actually, in fairness, I had a mediocre day - I had way too many meetings, I didn't leave myself time for breakfast and then ate lunch too late, and generally things were a bit annoying.

But I had a wonderful afternoon / evening - I did a quick training session with Alyssa at four, and then Veronica and her family descended for an evening of delight. V's daughter is in college in Boulder, and they were all out for a visit before V's son starts college in a week, so they came into Denver to hang out with me. We had a lovely hour hanging out on my patio with snacks and sparkling rosé, and then we had dinner at Brazen. I've never been, but I'm really glad we went - it's very close to me, has a magical back patio with a view of a small park, and the food was perfect. We lingered over it and generally caught up, and while V's Gen Z kids had v. judgey and hurtful things to say about millennials, I had a great time overall. And, of course, it made me wish that Veronica and I lived in the same city (or even state), which is something I shall dwell on in my dreams tonight....

So, after four or so hours together, it was unfortunately time to part ways, but I have high hopes that we'll see each other more this fall. And now I should sleep since I have a million and one meetings tomorrow - goodnight!

i think you better turn your ticket in and get your money back at the door

Today was a pretty standard Monday - I managed to overcome my extreme resistance toward all things work and actually got out of bed in time to do a bit of stretching before showering / starting the day, which was better than nothing. And at some point in the middle of the day I did a quick Peloton ride instead of napping, so I think I'm basically an Olympian.

The rest of my day was full of meetings, but they were all fine, so I'll take it. I spent the evening doing some house things, doing some slothful things, doing a few more work things, and doing some personal bill-paying type things. And with that extremely scintillating update, it's time for bed - goodnight!

every time you close your eyes

I had a v. lowkey day today, which is what I needed after staying up until almost two a.m. watching the end of the US women's volleyball game (they won!). I forced myself to get out of bed at nine despite not wanting to get up yet just so I didn't screw up my sleep schedule heading into the week, so I'm definitely dragging now.

But I spent most of the day taking care of tings around the house that needed taken care of, including washing my sheets, doing other laundry, and spending quite a bit of time organizing my dining room (which has been my day job office for the last year and is slowly falling apart at the seams). I also did some similar organization of my writing office - it still has some mess, but it's no longer in view of my desk, so perhaps I'll feel like getting back in her sometime soon.

At various points I also talked to Terry, and then talked to my parents; I'm going to Iowa on Friday, so I'll have plenty more time to catch up with them in person. I also made dinner - grilled ribeye + grilled veggies with halloumi (a salty cheese that you can slice and throw on the grill). It wasn't as smoky outside tonight as it was yesterday, so it was nice to spend a few minutes outdoors before retreating to the safety of my house.

And now, I should contemplate sleep - goodnight!

run past the heather and down to the old road

I had a pretty relaxing day, which is generally what I needed. I got almost nine hours of sleep, then spent the morning messing around the house, doing laundry, making meal plan lists, etc. Then I got a manicure; my new place in Denver will never replace my old place in San Francisco in my affections, but it's good enough. After that, I broke down and got groceries; I've been mostly subsisting on takeout and tuna sandwiches, but I feel like maybe I'm ready to cook again.

So I grabbed groceries, came home, messed around online, and eventually made pork chile verde in my instant pot. I haven't had it in a long time and it turned out deliciously - especially since I ate it with tortilla chips instead of rice. So I ate my pork while watching the Olympics, and it was an easy and lowkey evening.

And now I've stayed up later than I'd intended and should go to bed, but I'm watching the gold medal women's volleyball match and may finish it if the US can wrap it up before I start falling asleep. Goodnight!

everyone showed you where to turn, showed you when to run away

I'm tired and typing this on my phone in bed, but I had a decent enough day and some fun at the end of it. My work day was pretty low key since I didn't have very many meetings, but the lack of pressure also meant I wasn't as productive as I could have been (but that was probably necessary).

As soon as I wrapped up, I put on a dress and went to Fifth String to have dinner with my friend Alice. We hadn't seen each other in almost a year, and we had a ton to catch up on, so we lingered over a delightful dinner. It was great to see her and to remember that I do actually have a bunch of friends here even if it doesn't compare to the multiple San Francisco crews I used to be part of...

Then I came home, read a magazine, messed around on Twitter, and finally decided to go to bed. Goodnight!

everybody ends up here in bottles

Today was fine, all in all - my heart rate continues to come down, and I didn't have any meetings to raise it back up. I also ordered a poke bowl for lunch and ate it on my patio, which is always delightful. And when I was done with work for the day, I made myself a new cocktail I've never tried before (from the cocktail book [censored] gave me for Christmas) - a High Five is very similar to a Hemingway daiquiri, but it has gin and aperol instead of rum and luxardo cherry liqueur. It was just the right drink to enjoy while catching up with Terry - we hadn't talked in a bit, so we had a quick phone chat and it was great, as always, to catch up.

Then I ate the leftover fajitas from last night's excursion with Katie, relaxed while watching Olympics, and eventually did an hour or so of day job work since I don't have time to do work during the day. And now, I should probably sleep - goodnight!

while he wishes he could escape this but it all seems so contagious

My mood is improving slightly, which is good news for my fitbit since it has been tracking a higher-than-usual heart rate the whole last week. Rage is a powerful drug, kids. But today was better - I had a bunch of meetings, but all of them were good. I had some time in the afternoon to get some work done. I had a training session with Alyssa in the late afternoon, and doing some work with kettlebells may have helped burn out just a little bit of my grievances. And then I took a quick shower and walked down to El Camino to meet Katie for dinner. She was in fine form, and we had much to discuss, so we did so over queso (it turns out their queso is great) and margaritas. Since we had plenty of chips with the queso (as well as guac and salsa), I skipped my usual nachos there and got fajitas instead. And Katie v. kindly listened to my raging about various tings that happened last week, thus ensuring she didn't end up on my rage list, so our friendship lives another day.

After we finished at El Camino, we walked down the street to Sweet Cow and got ice cream for dessert. Then we parted ways and I perhaps should have worked, but instead I did absolutely nothing. And now I'm going to go to bed and hope that I get some decent sleep before tomorrow, since tomorrow is brutally packed with meetings. Goodnight!

i spin on a whim, i slide to the right, i felt you like electric light

I continue to be in mostly a bad mood, thanks to a wide-ranging variety of perfect storm factors. But I started my morning with coffee, a shower, and a playlist based on 'Machinehead' by Bush, thus proving that when stressed I revert to the angry music of my teens and early twenties. Hopefully my stress levels will go down in the next few days, but we shall see.

So, I spent the morning / afternoon working and attempting not to think about anything stressing me out (not entirely possible, since some of my meetings added to it). Then I spent the evening drinking a margarita, eating frozen enchiladas and an ice cream bar, and watching the Olympics. It's entertaining to watch world class athletes at the peak of their athletic performance while eating the most unhealthy meal I've had in awhile - I highly recommend it. I finally logged in and did an hour and a half of day job stuff to get a little bit more caught up from being out Friday, so I can go into tomorrow without things being quite as bad as I expected.

And now I need to go to bed and hope that my stress factors start getting better soon - goodnight!

blood is like wine, unconscious all the time

It doesn't quite feel right that I have to go back to work tomorrow, so I'm going to go to bed early and hope that I can reset in the morning in time to get into work. This morning was pretty lowkey - I got up in time to do some stretching for my always-tight calves, and I ate some toast while chatting with Barbara. Then I showered and we managed to vacate the rental on time - checkout was at ten, which felt a little early, but all in all the place was really good. We dropped off the keys, and then I dropped Barbara off at a different rental - her partner was coming up to spend the day/night up there, so I dropped Barbara and her stuff off so that she could rendezvous with him. All in all it was a successful retreat, so I'm hoping I can carry the writing momentum into the week.

Then I drove home - I took a slightly longer way so that I could see something different than I-70, but I was still home in a little over two hours. The drive was quite pleasant, and it just reminded me how muchI have yet to explore in Colorado. When I got home, I ate some leftovers, messed around online, and took a nap - all of which was clearly necessary to rest after a weekend in Breckenridge on top of last weekend in San Francisco. Then I ventured out to pick up / return something at Nordstrom + pick up a small handful of groceries.

Then I talked to my parents, who were in fine form. I also talked to [censored] while picking up a takeout pizza; we had a lot to catch up on, so that was enjoyable (although he might not have enjoyed listening to me perfecting my margarita shaking technique). Then I ate pizza, drank my margarita, and watched the Olympics. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!