Merry Christmas! Okay, it's not Christmas, but we did a white elephant gift exchange over zoom with my dad's side of the family tonight, so it was almost like Christmas. And we ate the second half of the zucchini lasagna that I made the other night, and lasagna used to be our Christmas Eve tradition, so I'm still feeling the Christmas spirit.
That said, I worked most of the day (on writing stuff, not day job stuff) - I'm still making my way through content from the conference I went to earlier in the month, and I was also doing some side research + playing around with some ads stuff. I did take a break to make a run into town to buy some supplies, and while it wasn't super treacherous at 1pm, it certainly became treacherous later in the day. We had winter storm conditions all day, and this morning it looked almost pretty - nice snowflakes, not too much wind. But as I was at the grocery store, the snow turned to ice. The power flickered in the grocery store, which took down several checkout registers, but luckily I escaped and made it home before anything bad happened. Still, it was a v. bleak day, and it means I'm not quite sure when the best time is to drive back to Denver given that there is much snow and many miles between here and there....
But that is a problem for another day between Thursday and Saturday - for now, it's time for bed. Goodnight!
I have suddenly stayed up too late, again, so I need to crawl into bed before the night gets away from me. But today was okay - I watched a couple of hours of that romance conference from a few weeks ago (there is soooo much content, but the sessions I watched tonight were really good), and I loaded some stuff up in my car for the eventual drive back to Colorado, and I ate a lot of ham.
But with that v. brief update, it's time for me to go to bed - goodnight!
I have once again stayed up slightly too late (although I am doing better than usual on this trip), and so I need to go to bed immediately. However, I do want to immortalize that I won Ticket to Ride tonight, so that's worth an entire blog post. And I did some work (personal work), hung out with my family, and made zucchini lasagna for dinner, so all in all it was a decently productive day. Goodnight!
I'm suddenly too tired to blog, so hopefully this stays somewhere on this side of the coherency line. I had a pretty lazy but pretty nice day, all in all - I spent quite a bit of time thinking about writing business stuff (watching a couple of videos I hadn't gotten to from the virtual conference I went to earlier this month, making lists, exploring some bestseller lists to see how various books/genres are marketing right now). I've been pretty checked out from the business side of writing since I've been wandering in the wilderness trying to figure out what's blocking the artistic side of my writing, but I want to get back into it in a serious way in 2021, so I'm trying to seize momentum and figure out how to tackle the next phase of my writing career.
Of course, that's not all I did - I also hung out with my family this morning, talked to Katie, took a shower, and did a family zoom call with my sister's family (her three kids, two kids-in-law, and six grandkids of varying relationship complexity made them way too porous of a 'bubble' to consider seeing in person, but at least zoom works). I took a walk outside and listened to a podcast and didn't freeze or get shot by hunters, so that was a success. And I roasted some tomatoes for my favorite Barefoot Contessa caprese salad. And even though I vowed not to, I got sucked into an episode of Letterkenny with [censored], but I limited myself to one. All in all, it was a good day, and hopefully I can carry some productivity into tomorrow.
But now I need to sleep - goodnight!
Merry Christmas! I hope that you all had a wonderful day of celebration and feasting in whatever manner you chose to pursue given that we're living in 2020 and nothing is normal. I had a lovely day - we had our usual delightfully lazy morning opening packages, and I got a lot of gadgets and cookbooks to add some new techniques to my #quarantinechef game. That's a good thing, since #quarantinechef has no real end in sight yet...but now is not the time to think about that. And I like cooking, so I will choose to focus on the positive of how much more experimenting I'm going to get to do in the next few months.
After opening presents, I took a shower and switched into almost-pajamas (my winter leggings are basically pajamas and now I live in them) for my daytime activities. We had Christmas brunch (breakfast casserole, muffins, ambrosia), which was all perfect. Then I had a v. lazy afternoon - I had to suffer through [censored] winning at Ticket to Ride again, and then I relaxed and took a long nap. For supper, we had prime rib, which was an excellent way to get some protein/iron after too many days of my own cooking (I mostly make chicken, sorry guys). All in all, it was a really nice day, and hopefully things stay nice for the rest of my trip.
After all of that, I really just wanted to go to bed - but I rallied for a late family dinner (Christmas version) that came together somewhat last-minute with Adit and Priyanka, John and Jess, and Claudia and Sam. Ritu was too tired to join and Chandlord was mysteriously absent, but it was nice to talk to everyone else - and as much as this year is ridiculous, I do enjoy that it is forcing people who live in California to include me in their social plans because all social plans happen online now.
And now, I need to sleep - I have grand plans to do a bunch of writing-related stuff tomorrow and maybe start bingeing Bridgerton (a Netflix show based on one of my favorite historical romance series from back in the day) - we shall see, we shall see. Goodnight!
Today was decent, all in all - at least I got a lot of tings accomplished, which I'll take. I woke up relatively early and did some journaling with my coffee, which is always a good way to start the day. I also ate breakfast, showered, and wrapped some presents - 'tis the season for wrapping, obvi. I thought about taking a walk, since it was over fifty degrees when I woke up - but the wind was already brutal and the temperatures were dropping all day (it was down to 25 by four p.m.), so I decided that a walk wasn't in the cards.
Eventually, my mom and I vacated the house (via car, not via walking) and drove over to my sister's house to drop off Christmas presents. We aren't getting together with her extended family due to the 'rona and the fact that her kids have partners and/or kids, and those kids go to multiple households as well, which means seeing them is like seeing a hundred people. But we dropped some stuff off for them, and it was good to see my sister for a bit, so at least there was that bit of holiday spirit.
Then my mom and I went grocery shopping to prep for the next few days of feasting. Then we came home, put tings away, and then [censored] and I drove into town to pick up takeout Mexican food. This is really the only takeout option in town, which is v. unusual compared to my extravagant takeout life in Denver - but luckily, this takeout option is excellent and I'll happily eat fajitas once a week if I need to. While we were in town, [censored] and I paused to watch a Christmas light display put together by FFA (Future Farmers of America, if you weren't aware) at the high school - they timed the lights to a Christmas song you could listen to on a specific radio frequency, and it was a delight.
Then, after supper, I said goodnight to the parents and came downstairs to wrap more gifts with [censored]. We're ahead of schedule - usually this is a late Christmas Eve activity, but we're done with the exception of some stuff that I'm wrapping for my dad (he always succeeds in conning me into wrapping the stuff he's giving my mom).
I then spent the rest of the evening writing some more Christmas cards, messing around online, and reading a book. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!
The wind is picking up in rather dramatic fashion outside - it's always windier here than it is most places, but tonight is really bringing it. It was a very nice day for December in Iowa - over fifty degrees, and a bit windy but not so windy that I couldn't take a walk (which I did). But tomorrow the temperature is going to drop all day, and it might get down into the single digits tomorrow night, so that's something to not look forward to.
But I made good use of today, after I finally decided to get out of bed. I ate some breakfast, drank coffee, showered, etc., and eventually drove into town to drop off several boxes of stuff at the thrift store. It is weird, when juxtaposing my parallel lives, to be someplace where I usually know someone in every store I go to (in this case, the woman running the place is the mom of some girls I went to high school with + is in the same club as me and my mom)...when I'm in Denver, and also in San Francisco, that kind of connection is non-existent.
Anyway, I dropped stuff off, which was great because I've been meaning to do it for months (but was thwarted over the summer bc they were closed due to covid). I also washed my car and picked something up for my dad. Then I came home, took care of some more tings, ran back into town to pick up something else for my dad, came home, took a walk around the property, did thirty minutes of day job stuff, etc. Then we ate supper, which was mostly leftovers of the previous evenings' meals, which meant bartering (I gave up rights to all but a bite of the tater tot casserole but got the whole remaining leg/thigh from the chicken I made the other day).
Then I wrapped some presents - 5 down, many many more to go. Then I had a friendship renewal call with Jen, Jane, and Joann - we were all doing a fancy face mask (the skincare kind, not the covid kind) that Joann had recommended, and while it was fun to do it together, it was a bit ill-conceived as a video chat because the solution hardened on our faces so much that it was hard to talk. But my skin feels amazing and it was great to see them, so it was #worthit.
Then I hung out with [censored] while finishing the peach bourbon and coke zero cocktail he'd so generously provided the alcohol for (and watching Billy Joel videos, because that's what we do). And now I should consider sleeping - goodnight!
I was much more productive today than I was yesterday, but that's not saying much since yesterday was ridiculously sloth-filled. Still, I'll take today and aim to compound it tomorrow. I took care of some tings around the house, showered, etc., and then made a quick trip to town to mail something + pick up some groceries + pick up [censored] from where he had dropped his [censored]. Then I did some more stuff around the house and hung out with the parents. I also had a call with Alyssa to discuss health stuff, which was great.
Then, I ate some avocado to make up for the dinner I embarked upon making - I made tater tot casserole, and I have to say it was pretty great. I think I've perfected my gluten free recipe - since it can't take the canned soup that traditional tater tot casserole uses, I had to improvise. I tweaked a recipe that I found online, and with my tweaking I think I've stumbled upon an excellent solution. So, dinner was v. tasty, and I don't think I have to give up my Iowa card yet since I can still make tater tots.
Somewhere in there, I also stepped outside a couple of times to see the so-called Christmas star - the conjuction of Jupiter and Saturn was pretty cool. It helped that we have relatively little light pollution (although the security light over our driveway doesn't help), so I was able to see it pretty clearly. I love geeky astronomy stuff, so this was right up my alley.
After dinner, I participated in a quick zoom call for Jess's birthday (happy birthday, Jess!), then chatted with my parents for a couple of hours. Then, [censored] and I watched a bunch of SNL clips. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!
Apologies for not blogging last night - I meant to, but instead I stayed up way too late researching 2021 planners + texting with Riturani. So, today I was v. lazy - I didn't get out of bed until after ten, and didn't eat lunch until two, and it was really almost too lazy given that I want to get tings done on this break.
But I did write a bunch of Christmas cards (finally...they probably will not reach people by Christmas, but I didn't have a lot of time because Minted delivered my order almost ten days later than planned). And I had a v. tasty supper with my family - my mom cooked tonight, and she made a perfect roast beef with potatoes and carrots. We're alternating cooking duties; I made chicken with a bacon/parmesan/mushroom/cream sauce last night, and I think I'm cooking tomorrow night, so we'll see what I come up with. Also, I took a walk around the yard, so at least I got outside for a bit of fresh air.
Now, though, I'm tired and am going to haul myself to bed before I get too distracted by the internet - goodnight!
IT'S VACATION, BITCHES. Today was a slog, but not a bad one, and I was done by 5:30. I perhaps didn't finish everything on my list, but I finished enough to not feel guilty about shutting my laptop. And now I'm off for 2+ weeks and I'm v excited about that.
When I was done, I hung out with my parents - my mom made steak and baked potatoes and salad, and I had some open wine, so it was quite delicious. Then we hung out and chatted in the kitchen; eventually my dad and I moved to the living room, where we discussed travel while watching a PBS show about sacred sites. My mom joined us after she finished painting her fingernails, and it was all v. cozy.
And now, I need to sleep - goodnight!
One more day...and with each day I have slightly fewer meetings, since everyone is ready to be done and so things are slowly dropping off calendar. I do have several things I need to do tomorrow before I can start my break, and if I don't do them tomorrow I will need to do them in the next few days, so I have some incentive to slog hard and fast tomorrow. But we'll see whether I'm successfully able to get in the zone - right now, my energy levels are resisting the idea of ramping up to anything approaching massive productivity.
Or maybe I just don't want to be massively productive at work - I did spend the last few hours taking care of personal tings, and that felt good. And today was overall pretty decent - I slogged, but it wasn't super onerous. And my mom made tenderloins and tater tots (and green beans, in a nod toward health), and it was all excellent. So, if I can carry a tiny bit of my personal momentum into tomorrow, I may be able to end the work week/month/year strong despite the fact that 2020 has been anything but strong.
But now I need to sleep if I'm going to accomplish feats of productivity tomorrow - goodnight!
I'm too tired to effectively blog - I had a lot of meetings today, some of which were important, and the last of which was from 10-11pm (with a team in Asia, I hope they were happy I showed up). But all in all, it was a good day, and I had some time off in the evening to make home fries / bacon / eggs for my parents and hang out in the kitchen.
But now I need to sleep so I can do some of this again tomorrow - only two more days until break. Goodnight!
I'm too tired to think of a title, or of any substantive updates - I slogged most of the day, and then for another hour or two tonight, although tonight's session wasn't very productive and I should have just thrown in the towel early. But I did take an evening break to eat supper (taco salad, mmm) with my parents and hang out with my mom while discussing possible things to cook next week.
Or maybe I'm not tired...maybe I'm depressed because the Olive Garden in San Francisco is closing, and I will never go on another fantastic Tuscan voyage with the usual suspects. Or I'm sad because the Cliff House is also closing, which is a beloved meeting spot for my San Francisco writing friends. 2020 keeps striking. But I have three more work days to go before vacation and I think I can survive...goodnight!
I had a lovely day in ye olde Iowa - not sure how I'm going to motivate myself to work for the next four days, but I'm sure I'll figure something out. I didn't sleep in nearly as late as I normally do when I'm here, since I need to prep myself to still get up at a reasonable hour for at least the next week. And I was motivated to get out of bed by the knowledge that I have a new coffeemaker here - it's the same coffeemaker I have at home, and it means that I can make a pot of coffee in the morning without either making my mom move her coffee into a thermos or messing around with a french press. Yes, I'm basically buying stuff for here like it's my vacation home, but since I usually spend 6+ weeks here over the course of a year, maybe that's not so far off.
I spent most of the day hanging out with my parents and settling in, which involved unpacking, organizing my room, putting together my new desk chair, etc., etc. I also ventured into town to visit the grocery store, which was wildly uneventful. And my mom made one of my favorites for supper (cheeseburgers and fried potatoes, with a side of roasted broccoli), so I'm a happy camper.
But now, I need to go to bed so that I can slog tomorrow - goodnight!
No blog tonight - it's only eleven p.m., but I meant to be in bed thirty minutes ago. That hasn't happened at any point in the last three+ weeks, so it's not exactly a surprise that I'm not in bed. But I'm headed to Iowa tomorrow, barring bad weather, and so I need to get a good night's sleep so I can get up and throw some stuff in my car and head out. Note that that process will prob take me at least two hours of putzing and loading and eating and reconsidering my packing strategy, which is why I need to go to bed asap. Goodnight!
Five more working days until vacation through the end of the year. Today was a bit of a doozy, though - I had meetings, I had stressful emails, I had more meetings and stressful emails, and it was all a bit more than I wanted to deal with (as evidenced by the fact that I took one of those meetings while sitting in my armchair with my comfy faux fur blanket). But it wasn't bad, all in all. And I took a walk even though it was only forty degrees, so I feel impossibly smug about that epic feat.
But I didn't wrap up work until after six, at which point I was a bit fried. I talked to my parents while eating leftover shepherd's pie, and then I spent the evening taking care of tings around the house, tings on my computer, tings involving laundry, etc., etc. None of it is exciting but all of it is necessary, which is pretty much the definition of most parts of adulthood.
And now I'm going to stop staring at my screen and do some more tings to unwind before bed - goodnight!
