strike the harp and join the chorus

Today was infinitely more productive than yesterday, most likely because I awoke feeling like a normal human rather than a burned-out wreck. I took care of some stuff around the house this morning, spent an absurd amount of time brushing my hair (I didn't wash it yesterday, so it was still half-curled from Friday and absolutely full of hairspray to achieve that level of hold), showered, and then walked over to River and Woods to have brunch with Kelly. We both love that place, although we've never been together, so I think the wait staff and bartenders were shocked to see us together. The breakfast sandwich cured whatever remaining issues lurked in my body, and it was fun to catch up with Kelly outside of work.

Then I came home, messed around a bit (I did five loads of laundry today, which required a lot of effort), and then spent some time taking care of my RAV4, which has been sadly neglected (did I tell you I bought an Audi?). There's a good chance that I'm going to drive it to Iowa this weekend, so I checked up on it, drove it around, and cleared out the stuff that needs to stay here (like my rusty railroad spike, my heavy duty prybar, and a couple of pairs of shoes). Then I came home, called my parents, called [censored], and dealt with more laundry.

I left the house again (shocker) to run to Apple to pick up my laptop and to grab dinner at Motomaki. Then I came home and finished dealing with the laundry, remade my bed, and spent the last three hours doing day job stuff so that I'm not quite as scrambled and stressed in the morning. Only four more work days until vacation - I think I can make it, but no promises.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

silent disco

Sorry for not blogging last night - I spent the night in Katie's guest room and didn't go to bed until almost three, which was not conducive to writing (or to today's productivity). Yesterday was my company's holiday party, which was in Denver, and I took Katie as my date.

Of course, this required extensive primping - I left work by three so I could curl my hair and then drive to Denver. I finished getting ready at Katie's, after we ate some tasty food, and then we said goodbye to James and the girls and went out. Our first stop was a coworker's preparty, which was delightful - and only reaffirmed my feeling that I want to live in Denver.

We eventually went to the real party, which was fun, although we didn't eat enough. I hung out with a bunch of people there, and we stayed until the end... At which point some of us went across the street to the Sheraton, where we sat in the same bar that I drank at several times during RWA and had one last drink.

But it was finally time to be done when last call happened there, so Katie and I went to her house, talked a bit more, and went to bed. This morning was a bit brutal since I didn't get nearly enough sleep (or water), but I put on the fuzzy robe I'd brought with me and hung out in the living room watching Planet Earth documentaries with the girls. James also saved our lives by going out and getting breakfast burritos, so that went a long way toward reviving me.

I eventually came home, but was pretty worthless the rest of the day. In fact, the only thing I got done was watching this week's episode of Top Chef, which is a dubious accomplishment to cross off a list.

But tomorrow's another day, and I need to get a lot done then, so now it's time for bed. Goodnight!

in a tidal wave of mystery

Most of today was taken up by mandatory fun - I organized a decorating contest, so people were decorating their cubes and I was wandering around providing moral support. Of course, I also had actual meetings, all of which added pressure, so taking a break to decorate was a good stress reliever.

I came home at a good time, though, and got a bunch of Christmas shopping done, and didn't work even though I probably should have. And now I need to sleep - I have some work to do tomorrow, and then I will get rest and go to Denver for my holiday party, which should be great. Goodnight!

you're just a boy who's afraid of the dark

No time for fun today, although it was sushi day at work and I had long enough to stand in line and get some tastiness before continuing with my meetings. When I left, I hit up a party supply store to get some stuff for work, then went to an Anthropologie, came home and ate some soup, sat around for a bit, and then had a 9pm call that I had to present to, which was way later than I wanted to be doing such activities.

So now it's obviously time for bed - goodnight!

dustland fairytale

I had a totally ridiculous day (in a mostly good way). I remembered that I own cowboy boots, which I hadn't worn in over two years since I obviously didn't take them to Bali and kinda forgot about them after that. I found a ring that I lost last week (on the second wearing!), glinting up at me in the dirt outside my apartment now that all the snow is fully gone. I had four hours of meetings in which people claimed to 100% agree with me while probably hating my guts. I spent fifteen minutes trying to make a tuna melt in a panini press that was only heated to 140 degrees, only to discover that the cheddar was smoked cheddar, which ruined it. And I stayed at the office until after seven, which was unfortunate...

So I tried to go to Verde to decompress, but they were full. I ended up at River and Woods, which was a way better call - it was like a bizarro version of River and Woods, with different bartenders than usual, and a particularly raucous foursome who were clearly coworkers, clearly drunk (they'd been drinking through dinner and moved to the bar at the end), and so loud/distracting that they bought me two glasses of wine. But I had a long conversation with one of them (who seemed more sober than his friends), so the wine and entertainment more than made up for the wiring I was going to do tonight...

But now it's time for bed - goodnight!

mdma got you feeling like a champion

It's Monday (insert Garfield cartoon here), which is pretty much all I can say about today. Luckily it started off with some fun, since my team did a white elephant gift exchange. And then I had some meetings, but not as many as usual, and I left the office around 4:30.

When I got home, though, I had to take care of some house stuff (mostly dishes and laundry), and then I spent some quality time talking to [censored] and then my parents about Christmas lists and possible purchases. By the time I was done with that, I was starving, so I reheated some soup, took a nap, and then worked for the last couple of hours. Yes, sad, but it was all necessary.

And now I'm going to bed - goodnight!

when the radical preach come to get me released

I was surprisingly productive today - I took care of a whole bunch of to-dos, ran a bunch of errands, did some Christmas shopping, and made some v tasty chicken and rice soup to get me through the week. But now it's time to sleep - goodnight!

you can go your own way

I was supremely lazy today. I slept ten hours, then lazed in bed, and finally got up to make some scrambled eggs and toast and tea. Then I journaled for quite awhile, then took a break to play Civilization.

I did escape my house for a bit... I went to Pizzeria Locale, where I had wine and chatted with the staff (I found out where they get their gluten free crust, which I need to procure), and and also read some of THE ANCIENT PATHS. Then I came home and played some more, but in the interest of not wrecking myself for tomorrow, I'm going to bed at eleven rather than starting up all night. Goodnight!

terra nova

No blog tonight...I worked from home today, so I heard no good gossip and also just lived on gluten free bread (I'm desperate for groceries). I also spent some quality time this evening finishing a game of Civilization (twice! because I got to both the space victory and the diplomatic victory within two turns of each other, so I wanted to see what they both looked like). And I watched last night's premiere of Top Chef Kentucky - I adore Top Chef, so I'm glad it's back for another season.

But now it's time to sleep - goodnight!

tonight is your night

I stayed home sick from work today, and so I slept most of the afternoon - which is why I'm still up at two a.m. My inner night owl refused to go to bed when I was relatively well rested, and I'll probably pay for it tomorrow. So it's time for bed - goodnight!

hello there, the angel from my nightmare

Today was meh. You can guess, if you've been paying attention at all, that it was full of meetings... Although I did have time to stand in line for the made to order latkes, so it could be much worse. But the meetings required me to talk a lot, which left me somewhat wrecked.

So I came home, talked to my parents, and then went to Verde, where I ate my feelings (I don't eat my feelings that often, but Mexican food is my usual go-to). Then I stopped at the grocery store, came home, tidied up, and realized I would much rather go to bed than answer emails, so here I am. goodnight!

trying to make some front page drive in news

So, I successfully got ten hours of sleep last night, which was super restorative and made today much better than it could have been. However, we didn't have Taco Tuesday like we usually do, which was so upsetting that I almost cried....especially since I then defaulted to my usual sad sandwich, discovered after I made the sad sandwich that it had mold on the crust, didn't have time to make anything else since I was already late for a meeting, and so just cut around the mold and ate the sandwich anyway. sssanway, it's a good thing I got a lot of sleep last night, because in that moment I was hanging on by a thread.

But the rest of the day was fine, and then I went out for happy hour / dinner with some women from work (Sam, Morgan, and Becca - Becca is visiting, but Sam and Morgan both work in BLD and both are great). We went to Emmerson, which felt super fancy and perfect for #girlsnightout - even though I had some salmon that didn't come with nearly enough carbs to satisfy me. Then I came home, did a bit of work, and now need to go to bed asap - goodnight!

primadonnas of the gutter

Today was pretty much unpleasant. I unfortunately had a headache for most of it, but I knew going in that this would be true....and so rather than going to my actual office, where I would be at risk of having to talk to people even when I wasn't in meetings, I went to the nicer main office, where I could hide in solitude whenever my calendar was empty. Of course, I only had like 90min of emptiness today, and some of that had to be used for eating lunch, but those 90 empty minutes maybe saved my life.

I left around five, went to Nordstrom Rack to return a bunch of stuff (and got suckered into buying a pair of jeans and some pajamas), grabbed takeout from Motomaki, and came home. I talked to my parents for a bit, then ate my takeout, and then sat on the couch and did absolutely nothing. I watched half an episode of "Love It or List It" (can you tell I'm in house-buying obsession mode?), then kind of watched some "House Hunters", then talked to Katie for half an hour or so, since yesterday wasn't enough time to cover all of the topics we needed to cover.

Also, I experimented with a new toy - I bought a Coravin during a Williams Sonoma Black Friday sale, and I have to say I'm in love. I tried it last night, because I wanted a glass of wine but didn't want the 2.5-3 I would have had if I had convinced myself that I needed to finish the bottle quickly so that it wouldn't go bad. The Coravin sticks a needle through the cork, extracts wine, and replaces the wine with argon gas, thus keeping the wine in the bottle from going bad. I've wanted one for a long time but never bit the bullet...but this was a good investment if it enables me to have a glass of good wine without feeling compelled to drink the whole bottle in 2-3 days. Not that I wasn't drinking good wine before, since I have expensive tastes and refuse to compromise taste for savings, but drinking good wine is also what compelled me to finish it fast.

sssanyway. The glass of wine was v. useful, but I probably got more use out of the fact that I completely boycotted work tonight even though I have a lot to do. I need to make this week a little less insane, so we'll see whether I accomplish that or whether I succumb to the tyranny of my calendar. Goodnight!

we'll give ourselves new names, identities erased

Today started too early for my tastes, since I got up at 6:15, but I succeeded in going back to sleep for almost an hour, which probably saved my life. I then spent the morning taking care of business before going to Denver and meeting Katie for lunch. We went to The Universal, which I've gone to with her before - it's really delightful. We had to wait ten minutes or so for a table, but that wasn't bad for that particular establishment. I had pork green chile on grits with poached eggs, and it was insanely good - so insanely good that I was tempted to gorge in it long after I was full just because the taste was incredible.

Of course, the company was incredible too, even if we had many things to talk about, not all of which were pleasant. We also drove by a house I've had my eye on - I'm pretty sure I want to buy in Denver, but this is the first time I've actually driven by a house. The houses in that neighborhood are all insanely close together, so close that I almost wonder if I'd be better off buying a new townhouse with a soundproofed shared wall, rather than a Victorian with less than a foot between the eaves of it and the house next to it. But while the lots are tight, there are backyards behind them, and the neighborhood (which is where Katie lives) is very walkable and not too bad of a commute from Boulder.

We shall see, we shall see. When we were done, I dropped Katie off at a Christmas market downtown - I would have gone, but I wanted to get home and take care of stuff. So I came home, did some tings, and called my parents (and found out some sad news - the wife of the guy who built their house died relatively suddenly of metastatic lung cancer, which was a shock since they'd been over there for dinner in September and she wasn't sick then). Then I did some more tings, including laundry, and also did a bit of day job work while watching TV (I tried to avoid the Garth Brooks concert, but I didn't completely succeed). And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

i can feel the hands of fate

I had a pretty lazy day, all in all - I had to get out of bed so that I could shower, eat, and run some errands, but that wasn't all that onerous. I did spend some quality time at an art supply store near CU campus - but they didn't have as extensive of a selection of notebooks as I would have liked, so I didn't walk out with much. I also tried a Thai place for lunch - I have yet to find good Thai food here, and this attempt was an abject failure (the pad see ew was okay, but the chicken that came with it was breaded and fried, which was neither good for my gluten issues nor tasty enough to be worth it). These are the days when I miss SF....

But the rest of my day was good enough. I took a long nap in the afternoon to make up for some of last week's stress, and then spent the evening taking care of a bunch of personal stuff - so at least I was productive for the end of the day even if the afternoon was a wash. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

don't wanna touch you but you're under my skin

Sorry for not blogging last night - yesterday was a decent day at work, I guess, since I spent the last ninety minutes of it hanging out at TGIF (TGIF is now on Thursdays, and yes it's weird) and drinking wine with some coworkers. I was recently named the 'site champion' for my group in Boulder, which some people tried to convince me means I'm obligated to hang out more because it's "good for culture"...and I'm not going to argue with them when it means drinking wine instead of working, even if the wine was too sweet.

But when I got home last night, I had a couple of hours to relax, then I had calls with India from 9-10, and then I worked until midnight. Luckily I didn't have to get up super early today, but my time in the office was a ridiculous slog...I was booked straight from 10:30-4, which meant I had to be late to a meeting just to grab a salad on the way. But I left at five, dropped my car off at home, and then went to River and Woods, where my favorite bartender (Lauren) was working. So I sidled up to the corner of the bar and spent a few hours drinking wine, eating poutine, talking to Lauren, journaling a bit, and reading some of a book that I picked up at the Boulder Bookstore a few months ago ('The Third Horseman: Climate Change and the Great Famine of the 14th Century'). Then I came home and was utterly useless since I was too tired from the week to do anything.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

take those familiar pills

I still have a splitting headache, but other than that, today was a good day. I was in the office by nine, where I slogged fairly brutally - meetings all day except an hour at lunch, but I spent that hour working, so I had to eat a sandwich while sitting in my one o'clock meeting rather than enjoying my lunch like a normal human.

However, I left a little before five to have dinner at Verde with Christine, so enchiladas and a margarita and a great conversation went a long way toward restoring me. And when I got home, I spent the evening taking care of personal stuff, so it was nice not to think about work for a few hours.

And now I'm going to go to bed early since I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night - goodnight!

now they're going to bed, and my stomach is sick

I had a headache all day, which didn't help my mood. However, I didn't go into the office until 11:30, which did help my mood - I stayed home and worked at my desk instead, which was way preferable to working at my office desk and talking to people.

But I had to go in for some meetings, which wasn't the worst thing in the world since the main meeting I had to do in person was a scotch tasting with my old director. This had been in the works for almost a year, and it finally happened today - granted, it was in a conference room and we were drinking out of plastic cups, but it was still fun. There were only five of us, and it was an entertaining group, so that was a nice way to end the day.

Of course, it didn't really end then - I then spent some time talking to Kelly about work and personal stuff, and then I went to chipotle to grab food, and then I spent an hour on my couch doing nothing. But then I had a call with India, and then I did another hour and a half of work, which was unfortunate. But now it's time to sleep - goodnight!

blister in the sun

I had a v. lovely, v. hermity day. I actually got out of bed a little after seven, which is shocking, and I spent the morning messing around with research stuff (starting to type up notes from THE SILK ROADS). Then I left the house for my only commitment of the day - I got a massage in an effort to keep my neck from seizing up, since I'm feeling somewhat relaxed but know I'll wreck it all again as soon as I go back to work.

On the way back from the massage, I stopped at Boxcar, but the environment wasn't conducive to reading (too many kids, not enough patience). So I grabbed some v. tasty goat cheese from the butcher/cheesemonger that shares space with the coffeeshop (yes, Boulder is v. ridiculous), came home, and made scrambled eggs with goat cheese. This was a delicious choice, even if it would have been nice to spend a bit more time in the sun this afternoon.

After that, I did a bit more stuff around the house, then called my parents - we had a v. abbreviated conversation since I was just there two days ago, but Sunday traditions must be maintained. Then I did some more laundry, remade my bed with fresh sheets, and finished unpacking from my trip. I also made dinner - a very tasty, very poorly planned shrimp stir fry. It was poorly planned because I didn't actually look at the ingredient lists for any stir fry sauces when I went grocery shopping yesterday and so didn't have oyster sauce (which seems to be in many stir fry recipes online) or ketchup (which is some bastardized American replacement). However, I found one with garlic, soy sauce, and honey, and so I threw that one together and was v. happy with the results.

Also, after thirty-seven years, I have finally actually made jasmine rice from scratch. Yes, this is a ridiculously long wait. In my defense, I grew up in corn and potato land, not rice land. I've also made many other rice dishes - spanish rice, many risottos, wild rice soup, etc. But plain cooked rice is not something I grew up with. It turned out great, though, and I made extra so I can make fried rice later this week - I'm looking for things I can make at home so quickly that it's easier than stopping somewhere on the way home, and stir fries may be the only thing that fits that bill.

sssanyway, after successfully making rice and feeling way more accomplished than I deserved to feel, I ate my tasty dinner, cleaned the kitchen, and then spent the rest of the evening reading a book about witchcraft (it was written in 1959 and I think the guy was both too close to his subject matter and ignorant of everything else, because at some point he loftily declared that the witch trials that killed ~200,000 people over the span of three centuries in Europe were the "foulest crime and deepest shame of western civilization"....and I'm like, dude, allow me introduce you to the Middle Passage.) And now, sadly, I need to sleep - it was great to take almost a week off from work, but it's back to the grind tomorrow. Goodnight!

the human touch is what i need

I had a fairly productive day, all in all, despite the fact that I woke up at four a.m. overheating and having what seemed like an anxiety fever dream (I put my heaviest comforter on my bed last night, which was a mistake, and for some reason woke up at four a.m. sweating and thinking of overdue expense reports and slides for work weirdly conflated with the fact that I haven't written a book this year or met the love of my life....this is not a good combo of thoughts to wake up to in the middle of the night, obvi).

But I managed to go back to sleep, then get up in time to run an errand this morning. After that, I went to Boxcar, where I ate lunch and had coffee while writing for an hour. Then I came home, threw in some laundry, messed around for a bit, took a brief nap, and then dragged myself back out of the house to get a mani/pedi. When that errand was accomplished, I went to the grocery store to load up on food for the week (Whole Foods was as calm as I've ever seen it - most people other than me probably still have leftovers).

Then I came home, tidied up my kitchen, put away my groceries, ate some supper, and spent the last couple of hours messing around with database software. I have a database of Regency research that I haven't really updated or used much in the last few years - I did a bunch of research for my first series, but my second series required less research (and the research I did ended up stored in Scrivener rather than in a database, which was good enough). However, I've been reading a lot of medieval history in case I ever get back into the young adult book, and that stuff could benefit from a database since it's all complex and interwoven.

So, I got my software going again (it's been so long that it wasn't even installed on my latest laptop, which is almost three years old), restored my old database, and am back in business. Yes, this was a v. fun, youthful way to spend a Saturday night. But now that I'm done with that, it's time for bed - goodnight!