easy come easy go

I am feeling better, although I perhaps pushed it too hard today. I had a haircut scheduled in Des Moines for 9am, and I didn't really want to go, but there was not another good time to do it, so I sucked it up and left the house at 7:30. The drive and appointment were smooth, and on a different day I might have worked from coffee shops all afternoon so that I could do some shopping after. 

However, I'm still not 100%, and I have too much work right now, so I just hit up Trader Joe's for some gluten free stuff, grabbed an unsatisfying lunch at the worst Chipotle in America, and then headed home. I stopped at the new Starbucks in Indianola to grab coffee and also take a meeting, drove the rest of the way, and had three hours of meetings as soon as I got home. 

By then I was beyond hitting the wall, so I closed my laptop, did some laundry, scrolled mindlessly for awhile, and finally made dinner (Elmer's chili). And now, after have dozed for awhile and procrastinated on bedtime even longer, it's time to sleep. Goodnight!

all i need is to be struck by your electric love

I am feeling marginally better today - I still have a sore throat, and I hit a wall sometime this afternoon, but I'm certainly much better than I was on Tuesday. Unfortunately, I still had to work more than I wanted to today. This seems to be a theme right now, and I certainly hope it stops being a theme, but we shall see.

Anyway, I worked pretty relentlessly, but I also stopped to make some huevos rancheros for a late lunch, which was tasty. I tried sitting outside because it was eighty degrees (ominously, for mid-October), but there were too many bugs trying to eat me, so I retreated to my office again. And I finally took a break to talk to my mom, try on some clothes I ordered, do some more work, and then eat dinner with [censored]. We had the last of the leftover bratwurst + a baked potato (for me), which was not exactly an exciting dinner, but was better than both cooking or starving.

And now that I have done another chunk of work and also folded laundry (how industrious of me), it's time for bed. Goodnight!

I'm feeling unstoppable

The title is a lie - I have the song stuck in my head, but I'm feeling v stoppable since I'm still sick. Yesterday was a total shit show - I was v ill, but I basically had to work straight from nine to six because there were a couple of critical things that absolutely had to get done or else I was blocking ten other people. Of course, most of those people were also sick, since it seems that our v fun team dinner last week was a super spreader event. But I got my tasks done just in time to be rewarded with an aura migraine, which I get rarely - but when I do I literally can't see straight since my vision gets all these crazy jagged edges. 

So I spent the rest of last night mostly chilling and doing some online shopping (after I could see again, but before I had full judgment back, so we'll see what shows up).

Today was slightly better, since I got some sleep and had a somewhat more chill day. My throat is starting to improve a bit, so hopefully the worst is behind me. And I had leftover pizza for lunch + leftover layered lettuce and potato salad for dinner (with some pulled pork that I pulled from the freezer, which was perfect). And now, I'm going to go to bed and hope some more sleep is restorative - goodnight!

when the wine runs out

I am still sick, which is a real bummer. It's especially a bummer because I was supposed to have today off, and instead I was off but also sick, which is most certainly not an upgrade. And now I have to somehow catch up throughout the rest of the week while still being sick, which is not what I wanted to do this week.

But today wasn't all terrible - I journaled, napped a bit, ate some leftover pizza, napped/relaxed some more, did a bit of work, got groceries (out of necessity), and made myself a box of gluten free mac and cheese that expired six months ago but was still pretty good. And then I did some work because I absolutely had to. And now I'm going to go to bed and hope that I recover somewhat overnight - goodnight!

dang

I think I brought a cold back from SF - I wasn't feeling great last night, and it got worse today. I spent yesterday relaxing to an almost nauseating degree, and then I picked up pizza for Mom and [censored] before watching last week's SNL and going to bed early. 

Today I lazed about in deference to my possible cold, although I got some good writing done. I also continued to chip away at cleaning my office, which is becoming dire. And then I went out to Mom's to grill brats to go along with the potato salad and layered lettuce she made. It was warm today but fall is steadily approaching, and this may have been the last grill session of the season. 

And now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

her soul slides away

I felt much better than I deserved to feel this morning - definitely tired and vaguely hungover, but not nearly as bad as the chronicle of last night's team dinner (and after dinner drinks, and after after dinner grubstake) would suggest. This was a relief, since I had to pack and go to the airport, and it would have been v upsetting if I had felt worse.

So I packed, showered, took one meal from the hotel, and then headed out. I had enough time at the airport to have Andale for lunch, which used to have much more presence in the Bay Area and now it's basically just at the airport. My flight was originally on time but had to return to the gate for a cargo issue, so we got into Denver 15ish minutes late. This was a problem bc my layover was about as tight as I ever allow myself to schedule, and my Des Moines flight started boarding as I was getting off the SF plane.

Luckily, I was only ten or so gates away and didn't have to switch terminals, so I had time to grab an iced coffee on my way - but still one of the last five or so to board. The second flight was uneventful, and then I drove home safely despite seeing many deer.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight?

that's my quant

I'm very sleepy and getting moreso by the second, but I had a v nice day. It involved an unnecessarily long ride to breakfast, but otherwise it was nice. Then I threw in the towel and went out for happy hour, which turned into team dinner, which turned into the after party, which turned into drinks elsewhere, which turned into a two am trip to grubstake for a plate of cheese (working with Adit is strange, but at least I have someone to go deep with when it's time for grubstake).

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

go back jack do it again

I had a busy but very good day in the city of sin. It didn't start out well since I felt like I food poisoned myself last night - I slept v fitfully and my belly hurt all night, which was unfortunate. But I rallied this morning and went to work, where I had like seven 1:1s in a row and most of them involved grabbing coffee. Somehow this didn't shred my stomach even further, and somehow I was still sleepy enough this afternoon to need to grab a coke zero, which implies that my body is either perfectly adapted or not at all adapted to modern life. 

So I had a late lunch, which felt like it went straight into an early dinner - the finance team (of which I am unexpectedly the leader of) had an early dinner reservation at Burma Love, which meant we were there in time for happy hour. This turned into three drinks for a couple of us, and one drink for the guy who seems to only drink after sunset. We hung out there as long as we could, and then we went to Orbit Room, which was the hot bar of 2008 when craft cocktails were coming onto the scene, but now feels tired (at least on a Wednesday) and is still playing Interpol and Massive Attack from the early 2000s. But it was fun and I would do it again, even if I didn't get anyone to go to martunis after. 

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

you need to calm down

I have nothing to report and I've already been dozing for awhile - I spent the whole day at the office, then had a quiet night in at the hotel. I meant to catch up on work stuff but failed bc I was too tired, so now I need to get up in the morning to work on things - but that should be doable if I actually go to bed instead of just lounging. 

And so I think it's time to do that - goodnight!

you wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me

I had a pretty decent day in the city of sin, but I worked the entire time, so it probably could have been better. I guess I journaled when I woke up, which was nice - while this hotel is shabby and deep in the tenderloin (one of my favorite haunts), it does have free coffee downstairs, which I availed myself of to fuel some writing. But then I worked while eating breakfast, took a couple of meetings from my room, and eventually went to the office.

The office was pretty fun today because several people came in (and Adit was there too, which was fine I guess). I slogged through many meetings and generally tried to get tings done, with marginal results. 

And then the finance team and I had dinner at a tapas place with our auditors (not Adit), which was pretty fun for a work dinner. It's bizarre that I'm on finance now, but I'm finding it entertaining. And now I need to sleep bc I'm exhausted, but I also have to get up early tomorrow to do all the things I should have done tonight. Goodnight!

wheels up

I am safely ensconced in the city of sin, after a v early start to the day. I made it to SF without issues, and then I spent the afternoon running various errands (mostly getting my nails done, which always makes me think I'm ready to re-enter city life).

But I'm falling asleep while typing this and I desperately need to go to bed, so that's all for now. Goodnight!

boom clap

I need to go to bed immediately because I need to get up in approximately six hours, but I've had some good (albeit chaotic) days. Thursday and Friday were extremely work-filled, but Thursday got a little better because the Mexican food truck happened to be in town, so [censored] and I were able to get takeout instead of me having to cook. Hopefully they reopen their restaurant someday, but we shall see. Friday was more work, and I slogged straight until it was time to pick up Mom. We went to Seymour to eat steak, which was v. tasty - although I've had enough beef this week to last me a bit, so I'm looking forward to eating other tings in the city of sin.

Today was relaxing until it turned into a scramble to finish packing. I spent some quality time this morning journaling over coffee, which was v. nice. I also started packing, although I didn't finish. And I remembered that I had smoked salmon in the fridge just before it expired, so I had a much tastier lunch than I was expecting to.

Then I met up with Sammi (there are, perhaps, a confusing number of Sammis in my life now) and we went to a local flower grower's place for a fall event they were throwing. There were a handful of vendors and some live music, and we stood around and drank root beer and talked for a couple of hours. It was 85 degrees here today, which is worrisomely warm for October, but it made for a nice afternoon, and Sammi s great.

Then I picked up groceries, swung by my mom's house to give her some flowers and say hi/bye, and then came home and took care of gardening stuff. My peppers might just make it if we get another couple of weeks of warm weather, which is how things are looking, and there are some tomatoes that are trying to get across the finish line too. So I watered and pruned, and then took care of various other chores, and then made supper. [Censored] had requested taco salad, and since he will be the one to eat all the leftovers, I decided to indulge him. It all turned out well, as per usual.

Then I scrambled to clean the kitchen, water all my plants, pay bills, take care of various tings, pack my suitcase, etc., etc. And now I need to wind down and go to bed - goodnight!

reasons to stay, reasons to go

I had an excellent day in Okoboji, with several great workshops, a v nice lunch with a writer I met from Illinois, and only a little bit (well, two hours) of day job work. But I'm v tired and I want to get eight hours of sleep before I have to do a half day of conference stuff and then drive home tomorrow - so I'm calling it a night. Goodnight!

what can i say, i'm survivin'

I had a pretty excellent day at this conference - I got up earlier than desired (but after enough sleep), and I made it to the conference site at 7:15 to register. Then I sat around for two hours, most of which was spent intro'ing the speakers - which was worthwhile in the sense that it convinced me to go to a couple of workshops that I might not have considered, both of which were my favorites of the day.

Then I went to four workshops, with a break for lunch in between, and they were all uniformly good (with the exception of some moderation issues in the first one). By the time I was done, I needed some downtime and also wanted to make sure I had enough food to eat (gluten free is often not easy at these things, although they did have a gluten free bun for their maidrites). So I came back to my hotel and then went to a restaurant down the street, where I devoured a burger while some no-see-ums devoured me.

At that point, I was tempted to just come back to my room and work, but I rallied and went to a showing of a documentary about Iowa and pie that was made by someone who is in attendance at the retreat. The film was pretty fun, so I'm glad I saw it. But then I did come back and work for three hours, which was three hours longer than I wanted to work today - but I got done the things I had to get done, so hopefully tomorrow can be a wee bit more chill (but prob not).

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

spin me like a globe

I am having a wee bit of an adventure this week - I am currently ensconced in a motel in Okoboji for a writing conference tomorrow and Tuesday. It's primarily Iowa writers, primarily memoir and blogging and other forms of reporting, and I've been looking forward to it for awhile. 

Of course, despite looking forward to it, it was a mad scramble to get out the door today. I helped (sort of) [censored] put together a plant stand for Mom while I drank my first cup of coffee, and then I realized I should start packing immediately since that had somehow still not happened at nine am. So I threw a bunch of stuff in a bag, took a shower, watered plants, cleaned the kitchen, watered my garden (the peppers are in a race against the first frost to produce something), and finally headed north.

I stopped in the metro for a couple of hours on my way - I meet Drewbaby and Sammie for lunch at Barn Door, which was pretty tasty. They kindly provided last-mile service for some business cards that I had shipped to their house - I haven't been to a writing conference in forever and forgot that I would want business cards until Wednesday this week. By that point it was too late to order to the hinterlands, but I could get overnight delivery to Des Moines. So we had a nice lunch and caught up on life, and my business cards are perfect, so it's a win win. 

Then I went to my usual spot to get a manicure, which always makes me feel polished (pun intended). And then I grabbed Starbucks and headed north. 

The drive was uneventful, and I alternated between a Trevor Noah podcast about AI and the Taylor Swift channel on Sirius. I pulled into Okoboji shortly before sundown, and I think there are only four or five people at the hotel - it's off season here, and I'm guessing anyone here is at my conference, but we'll see.

After I checked in, I walked ten minutes south to a restaurant I drove by on the east in, which was pretty good. And now I'm going to go to bed early since registration starts at the ungodly hour of seven am (Midwesterners are dumb) - goodnight!

laughing but the joke's not funny at all

Yesterday was way busier than I intended for it to be - I thought I would have some time to do real work, but instead I kept getting dragged into meetings, which cramped my style. I did sneak out in mid-afternoon to go to Garden Club - Mom had the program, and it was at Emmy's house, so I wanted to go. It was a nice interlude, albeit pretty much the exact opposite of my day job meetings; we ate a lot of treats and discussed attempted murders, which was pretty fun.

Then I came home, was in meetings until six, and then was too brain dead to do anything (especially cook), and so [censored] and I grabbed Mexican and I was in bed by ten. Yes, this is v unusual, which should tell you how wiped out I was.

Today was pretty good, though - I got nine hours of sleep, and then I spent the morning writing and the afternoon cleaning my office. I also got groceries, did four loads of laundry, took care of my plants, froze some tomatillos, and made scalloped potatoes and ham for supper. [Censored] and I took the potatoes and ham to Mom's, where it joined forces with her baked beans to make a winning meal.

After I got home, I cleaned up the kitchen, came upstairs, made some lists, and mostly failed to do anything on them. And now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

like the control

I had another v busy day - so busy that I didn't even have time to put on makeup, beyond a swipe of mascara to look a little more awake. But all the various meetings and tasks were fine, and I took some time in the middle to fry bacon and make myself a perfect BLTA. Granted, I was listening to a work call on my headphones the whole time, but it was still a tasty interlude. 

When I finally wrapped up, I sat on my balcony until the bugs started to get me, and then I made a version of a caprese salad with tomatoes from my garden and some balls of mozzarella. [Censored] and I ate this with the leftover pasta that I made the other night (which wasn't great, but was also no effort, so I'll take it). We also watched the end of TWISTER, which was ridiculous as usual. And then I lured Katie into calling me, which was a total delight.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

defying gravity

I've had a couple of pretty brutal days at work - mostly because there are a million things going on and I am somehow involved in approximately 800,000 of them. So yesterday was a long slog, and I woke up today and slogged again.

But tonight I cut out at 5:45 and went into town for the first PEO meeting of the year. We had a dinner hosted by some of the members, with roast beef and green beans and potatoes and some dessert, and it was all pretty tasty. The group is dwindling, so only nine people were there, but it was a nice evening. I also chatted with Mom briefly in the parking lot, so that was good. And then I came home, did a bit of work, talked to [censored], and did some personal stuff to round out the night.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

johnny rosin up your bow

I had another bananas day at work - nothing bad, just more than I could get done, and all with tight deadlines. I continue to remind myself that at least it's all pretty interesting, and at least I have become friends with these people, which is more than I can say for many of my previous forays into workaholism.

But getting up at 7 and then slogging relentlessly until 5 made for a long day - not long in the context of life in corporate america, perhaps, but my brain was moving at a meltingly-quick pace for most of it. So I v. gladly took a break to meet up with Mom, Kerry, and Jerry for dinner. We went to the Brick, which used to be Ludlows, and also simultaneously used to be the Legion Hall and the flower shop (depending on whether you're tracing the lineage of the establishment by the new establishment's current building vs the old establishment's previous building). Whatever it's called now, the food was pretty good - I had a ribeye and some fries, and the salad bar was reasonably tasty. It was fun to see Kerry and Jerry on this trip, so hopefully we'll see them again sometime as travel and life allows.

After dinner, I came home, did nothing for an hour, talked to one of my coworkers for work and funsies, and then did some work just to get the most pressing tings done. And now I am going to rest my eyes and go to bed - goodnight!

you turned my airlock on

I had a pretty good first day back - I didn't do nearly as much as I wanted to, but I got fully unpacked and did some good planning for the week ahead. I also spent the evening at Mom's - her cousin Kerry is visiting, along with Kerry's husband Jerry, and so [censored] and I had dinner with them. Given the lack of options on a Sunday night here, that means Casey's pizza, but that's always tasty.

Eventually, Kerry and Jerry went to their motel, and [censored] and I came back into town (although I will see them again for dinner tomorrow before they head out). And now I need to go to bed so I can slog through a million things tomorrow - goodnight!