call me by your name

I'm too tired to blog tonight - I had to get up this morning and make slides before my meetings started, so that made for a long day. I spent most of the day / afternoon slogging, with a quick break to run into town to pick up some red wine vinegar for salad dressing. I wrapped up my screen time by having a call with Alyssa, and then I threw a chicken in the oven to roast, talked to [censored], talked to Aunt Becky, cleaned the kitchen, etc., etc.

But on that boring note, I've been falling asleep in my chair for awhile and should really go to bed - goodnight!

where you can seem as old as your omens

I'm v. tired tonight - I should have done some work tonight, but it didn't happen. I also possibly should have done some work this morning, but instead I ran an errand to pick up groceries in the next county over - my parents' freezer was running low on meat, so I took advantage of a quiet Tuesday morning to run to the nearest grocery store with a good meat counter (30+ miles away) to stock up. I procured approx 30lbs of meat, so that should last us a day or two.

Then I came home and slogged all day, with a couple of wtf meetings. When I was done for the day (sometime after six), I roasted a bunch of beets and was going to turn them into a salad, but I forgot to buy/bring a crucial ingredient for the dressing, so I decided to refrigerate the beets and go to town tomorrow in hopes that they will have red wine vinegar. So my attempt at healthy eating was thwarted, and instead I ate leftover gluten free pizza with my mom.

And now, I believe I shall go to bed and attempt to do tonight's undone work early tomorrow morning - goodnight!

i caught it bad yesterday

I have nothing to report tonight - I worked today, but I was really not feeling it. And I probably should have worked tonight, but I was still not feeling it. The only thing I did feel was the walk I took this afternoon - it was seventy degrees out but super windy, and I belated realized I had made a mistake. The walk north away from our house was nice...but walking back was straight into the wind, and I started getting pelted in the face with little chunks of gravel and was afraid that the trees by our driveway would knock me out with errant branches. So hopefully the warmth continues but the wind abates.

And now I think I'm going to get off screens and go to bed - goodnight!

there goes the last great american dynasty

I had a nice day in ye olde Iowa, although now I'm realizing it's late and I have to work tomorrow and I should perhaps be asleep right now. I slept in this morning, and then spent most of the day hanging out - Aunt Becky came down to see my dad, and she brought pizza ingredients from Graziano's + some frozen gluten free crusts that were pretty good. It was a gorgeously sunny day out, even though it's still chilly; a month ago it was negative 17 and the world outside was covered in relentless snow, but now the pond has melted and the grass is green and my mom's daffodils are blooming. All things shift; all seasons turn; and we ate homemade pizza and were clearly all missing my Uncle Mark, who used to be the one to bring pizza ingredients down from the city.

sssanyway. It was a nice afternoon, and I felt as relaxed as I'm capable of feeling when my dad is clearly in quite a bit of pain and his wound is so slow to heal. Eventually, Aunt Becky headed back to the city, and I watched some Yukon Gold (a weird reality show about gold miners in the Yukon) with my dad. Later, I drove into town to pick up takeout from the Mexican restaurant in town - they wrote a note to my dad saying they hoped to see him soon, scrawled on the side of a styrofoam cup full of queso, which was sweet. Then I finished off the evening by flipping my mattress (it had a Suez moment and got wedged awkwardly against the wall, but I refloated it), remaking my bed, and watching some American Restoration with my dad (this is a reality show about a guy in Vegas who restores things).

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

she totally confused all the passing piranhas

I just realized it's 12:40am in Iowa, not 11:40pm (which is the time in Denver, and the time which my laptop was set to), which means I really need to go to bed immediately if I'm going to get anything of note accomplished tomorrow. Today was spent entirely in service of getting out of the high plains and into the midwest - I spent a couple of hours watering plants, taking out trash, loading my car, and generally prepping before hitting the road.

Today's drive was entirely uneventful (with the small exception of the herd of deer that crossed my path on the two-lane highway I take through Iowa, but I didn't hit them, so that was basically not noteworthy). I think I made the best time I've ever made - 10.5hrs, which included three stops, and so was exactly 10hrs of driving time for ~680 miles. My stops were v. brief - one on the western side of Nebraska (North Platte), one on the eastern side of Nebraska (Lincoln), and one in Mt Ayr (an hour from my parents), which perhaps wasn't entirely necessary, but it's the last good bathroom stop before home. The fact that I know where all the good bathrooms are on a 680 mile stretch is quite depressing to me, since I really wish I hadn't spent so much time in Nebraska this last year.

But it's good to be home, and I'm lucky I can drive it instead of flying it, so I'll take it. When I got home, I greeted my parents, unloaded my car, settled in, etc, etc. And now, as I said, I really need to sleep - goodnight!

listen all y'all it's a sabotage

I had a v. lazy day - I woke up this morning basically feeling hungover from working all week, and so was slow to get out of bed, slow to get around, slow to make breakfast, etc. That meant that breakfast was really more like brunch - I made huevos rancheros, which was a real treat after mostly living on oatmeal for recent breakfasts. And I messed around my house without accomplishing anything for most of the morning, but #noregrets.

I did eventually rally and leave the house - I made an epic Target run, since I hadn't been to Target for several months and was starting to run low on my hoarded home goods. I obviously could have gone longer without a Target run since my stash is rather epic, but I decided that a Friday afternoon Target run was preferable to going some weekend day. And, for whatever reason, Target had missed me so much that they had sent me a 20% off everything coupon, which is unheard of, so I took them up on it.

And so, $300 later, I'm stocked up on a wide variety of tings (and also have new bath mats because #treatyoself). Then I went to Whole Foods and bought some groceries for the trip back to ye olde Iowa - mostly things for snacks, although I bought beets so that I can expose my parents to my new favorite beet salad, and I also bought prosciutto so I can make them some fancy stuffed chicken.

Then I came home, unloaded everything, ate a snack, ran to Bookbar to pick up a book I'd ordered, came home again, talked to my mom, and spent the rest of the night packing / organizing / deciding what I should take to Iowa. Packing was super smooth because I mostly know what I need in Iowa at this point (and also have duplicates of some things, so I can survive there even if I forget some things). I have to load my car tomorrow, water my plants, load up my cooler, and take care of a couple of other things, but I'm hopeful that will all be smooth and I'll get out of here at a reasonable hour.

But in order for that to happen, I should sleep - goodnight!

choke this love 'til the veins start to shiver

I have a three day weekend courtesy of my employer, and the end of the work week could not come fast enough today. I had meetings pretty much straight from 8:30 to 4:30, with a 30min break in which I made an omelette and some toast to soothe my acidic stomach (despite my unusual stress levels this week, I only had one headache and one day of that acid/sour feeling I sometimes get, so I guess that's a win?). But I wore a hot new lipstick and put sugar and heavy cream in my coffee, so at least I had little bits of decadence to get me through.

Then, after many many meetings, I slammed my laptop closed around five and ran a couple of errands. Then I came home and basically did nothing the rest of the night - I did a bit of journaling, watched a bit of tiktok, kind of fell asleep while playing on my laptop, and messed around and daydreamed of restaurants and hotels and trips and the many things that I will do again someday but am not doing tonight.

And now I should consider bed - I'm going to ye olde Iowa on Saturday, which means that I intend to have a relaxing day tomorrow (and possibly make a Target run, which I'm v. overdue for) and get some packing done so I can head out Saturday morning. Goodnight!

endless ether

I had quite a long day today - I was not feeling in it to win it at all when I woke up, and so I skipped a couple of morning meetings where my presence isn't strictly required so that I could get some work done. I also had a coaching call with Alyssa, who was a delight (as always!). Then I had some afternoon meetings with people who mostly raise my spirits, which was great. And then I ended the day with a presentation to my big boss - not the most relaxing way to end the day, but it went well, so at least I got through that.

I probably should have worked tonight, but I couldn't handle it. So I took a walk after work, then came home and reheated some risotto and some roasted chicken. Then I watched some tiktok videos to spark some joy. And then I gave myself a gel manicure while watching a couple of episodes of DRUNK HISTORY - the show is so dumb and it makes me laugh, so that was a nice way to wrap up the evening.

And now I think I shall go to bed early so that I can aim for productivity (or at least a shower) in the morning - goodnight!

have a seat in the foyer, take a number

Today was pretty exhausting. I thought I had set myself up for some modicum of success - I got up, made coffee, rode my Peloton, and stretched / foam rolled before my first meeting, all of which felt like the kind of healthy choice that should be rewarded with world peace (or at least inner peace). But a lot of people at work were struggling today from all of the news of the Boulder shooting - it's just a lot to handle on top of a year of pretending to work like everything's normal. It's pretty upsetting to feel like we're getting closer and closer to some signs of the pandemic lifting, and we're just going straight back into mass shootings every day without getting any break at all.

So. Today sucked and I had trouble focusing, which was unfortunate since I have a lot of tings to do. But when I was done a little after six, I decided to be done for the night. I made some spaghetti all'amatriciana, which is one of my comfort foods - I usually have the ingredients lying around, since it just takes bacon, red onion, garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes, tomato sauce, and spaghetti. It went a little way toward rejuvenating me, but nothing was going to fix tonight. Then I alternated between journaling and watching tiktok videos, and now I'm going to go to bed - goodnight!

miss sangria

Yes, I worked today. That was pretty much all I did, since I went to bed last night without having done anything that I had intended to do over the weekend, and so I was behind when I woke up.

But I took a break at five to call my parents and wish them a happy anniversary (happy anniversary!). Then I did some foam rolling and stretching. Then I roasted a chicken for the rest of the week + reheated some risotto and scallops for tonight’s supper, and they were delish. And then I worked for a couple of hours. And through it all I checked Twitter for news of the shooting in Boulder and got sadder and sadder.

And now it’s time for bed - goodnight!

make that money, fake that bunny, ache my tummy - on the fence, all the time

I got eight+ hours of sleep last night, but I don't feel sufficiently recovered for the week ahead - so even though it's not quite 9:15pm and I had planned to do some work tonight, I think I'm going to go to bed early and hope that translates into success tomorrow. Today was fairly relaxing, though - I did some stuff around the house this morning, made oatmeal, and then talked to Veronica for awhile. Then I spent the afternoon mostly not doing much - some laundry, some napping, some prepping of food for the next week (mostly roasted beets, which will turn into salad later).

Then I talked to [censored], followed shortly thereafter by my parents. By the time I was off the phone it was six p.m, and then I made a delicious risotto and seared some scallops, and it was quite a decadent Sunday supper. And now, having cleaned the kitchen, run the dishwasher, put away all but the last load of laundry, and messed around sufficiently on the internet, I think I'll go to sleep - goodnight!

is anybody out there paying attention

No blog tonight - I had a nice afternoon in Katie's back yard before snow returns tomorrow, and I got some tings done around the house this evening, but now I'm totally wiped out and falling asleep on my couch, so it's time for bed. Goodnight!

these eyes will not be blinded by the lights

I had a long day - usually Fridays are a little quieter, but I had seven straight hours of meetings, which made eating and thinking and using the bathroom a little harder than usual. One of my meetings was five hours long, but it was gracious enough to allow for a fifteen minute break, which I used to take a walk down the block in an attempt to maintain sanity.

But the meetings all ended up okay in the end (or at least I survived them) so that's all fine. Then I ran some errands, including a trip to Nordstrom to pick something up + a trip to Whole Foods to get enough groceries to get me through the next week. Then I came home, ate some leftover pasta, and watched a couple of episodes of Stanley Tucci's SEARCHING FOR ITALY, which I'm still enjoying. And now I believe I should go to bed - goodnight!

thursday watch the walls instead

No blog tonight - I had a long slog today, full of meetings that were also about managing my emotions while trying to help others with theirs, and those are always exhausting. But I rode my Peloton after work, and I ordered delivery from a new Mediterranean restaurant on Tennyson that is v. delicious and v. promising. The chicken and hummus were delish, so I predict that I'll have a new favorite.

Then I probably should have worked but I was too tired, so I mindlessly watched tiktok videos, did some journaling, etc. And now I'm going to go to bed - goodnight!

live from new york

You can probably guess what I did today: I worked. Surprise! 🎉🎉

So I had a million meetings, including a VP presentation, because that's what I do now. But I ended up at five to have a coaching call with Alyssa, which was delightful (with some deeper discussion at the beginning; the killings in Georgia yesterday on top of hundreds of random attacks against Asian Americans in cities around the US over the past several months is terrible, and it's a lot to process and deal with, especially when these issues are sadly nothing new).

Then I talked to my parents while reheating some of last night's pasta, which was still delicious tonight since I figured out how to reheat it in the oven without drying it out. And then I did some laundry, painted my toenails, and gave myself a fresh gel manicure while watching a couple of episodes of SEARCHING FOR ITALY. It's Stanley Tucci's travel/food show on CNN about a variety of Italian cities and their cuisines, and I'm so desperate for new food and new travel experiences that watching this was pretty close to torture. But I enjoyed the episodes on Naples and Rome while exercising some self-care, so it was a good evening.

Of course, I couldn't totally resist work, especially since working from 9:30-5 isn't quite enough for my current situation, so I just did an hour of desultory slidemaking. And now I'm going to close my laptop, do some journaling or reading, and go to bed. Goodnight!

shot through the heart and you're to blame

I'm v. tired and I blame work (and maybe the slice of banana bread I had before bed last night, which may not have been the best bedtime snack). Today was a slog, with back to back meetings with my VP and my boss, as well as a lot of meetings in which emotions were discussed, and that always takes it out of me. But I paused at five to stretch and run to Bookbar to pick up a couple of books - the roads are still not amazing and it snowed a bit more this evening, but things are melting way better than I expected.

Then I came home, messed around online, and made a new recipe for dinner - a pasta with italian sausage and swiss chard and a creamy cheesy sauce with enough lemon zest in it to make it sing. It was super easy and quite tasty, and I'm looking forward to leftovers even if pasta leftovers are never quite as good as the original serving.

Then, unfortunately, I had to do some work. And then, stupidly, I messed around online rather than reading or doing anything else to relax. But now I think it's time for bed - goodnight!

lost highway

no blog for you tonight...I slogged all day, with a break to shovel snow over my lunch hour, and then a bit longer break from 4:30 to 7:30ish to meditate, stretch, talk to my parents, talk to [censored], eat some leftover steak, etc. And then I went back to the slog and worked the last four hours - I have too many meetings that require prep this week, and so I really need to find a balance between getting the work done and getting some sleep.

But I capped off my night with a slice of banana bread, so we'll see if my latenight snack was great or terrible (I'm leaning great, and now wishing I could go to latenight dining halls like I did throughout college). Goodnight!

i had a dream, i got everything i wanted

Today was the blizzard that I had expected yesterday - Denver officially got over two feet of snow at the airport, and I would say that my neighborhood is safely at 19" or so. It's truly an insane amount of snow, so much so that it feels unique and picturesque instead of just an inconvenience. It appears to be snowing at the moment, but the winds have died down; when the winds were roaring and it was snowing 1-2" per hour this afternoon, it felt downright treacherous. Apparently this is now Denver's fourth-largest storm ever, and while I'm not looking forward to the aftermath of melting and freezing and general calamity over the next few days, today was actually kind of fun.

I also did my very best to relax today - while I got v. little done yesterday, it hadn't felt relaxing, and I was determined to make today relaxing where yesterday wasn't. I mostly succeeded - I slept more than I have in weeks, and the time change meant I didn't get out of bed until ten. I did some writing and journaling and other forms of recording observations, and I meditated and stretched and foam rolled and rode my Peloton. This all felt pretty great for my body and my spirit. I had some leftover chicken tortilla soup, did some laundry, and talked to my parents - they seemed to be doing pretty well, so that was good to hear. I also baked some banana bread in there - I didn't eat any of it when it came out of the oven, in a remarkable exercise in restraint, but I'm looking forward to breakfast tomorrow.

Then I took a v. long overdue shower before making dinner - I felt like part of yesterday's bad mood was due to the fact that I hadn't had beef in ages, so I cooked a ribeye (using the reverse sear method - heating it in the oven, then searing it in a pan with some ghee), reheated some brussels sprouts in the ribeye/ghee grease, and made frozen french fries in my air fryer. The ribeye and brussels sprouts were perfect; the french fries were too crispy, but I think that's because I only made a single serving and should have cut down the cook time. But all in all, supper cured a lot of what ailed me.

Then I wrapped up the night by folding clothes, making some plans for the week ahead, and reading some more of A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW. And now I'm going to go to bed and hope I actually fall asleep despite the time change - goodnight!

i saw the sun begin to dim and felt that winter wind blow cold

Today was a bust. I'm feeling the 'full year in quarantine' vibes, especially since I couldn't go anywhere today - not that I usually go anywhere, but it's nice to theoretically have the option of walking down the street to my favorite card shop, or drive over to the mall to pick up something unnecessary at Nordstrom. We were supposed to get the biggest snowstorm ever in Denver today, and as of sunset it had maybe snowed 2". Inches, not feet, which is what they were predicting. That said, it's snowing pretty steadily now and the weather forecasts are still saying all that snow is on the way, but we'll see what happens overnight.

sssanyway, I was just not in it to win it today. I forced myself to have a call with Laura (an old coworker from many years ago) this morning since we'd already rescheduled a couple of times, and it was great to talk to her, but I definitely felt like I didn't need to spend more time on videoconference than I usually do. Then I talked to Katie just as the snow was starting to fall and we thought we were in for a blizzard, which turned out to be inaccurate. Then I ate some leftover sausages and polenta and thought about getting some stuff done (aka my taxes), and instead talked to Claudia. She was taking a walk and so we were able to catch up uninterrupted...and then when she got home and Téo was awake, we switched to video so I could see zee baby (who is almost one and is walking, so maybe not quite a baby anymore!). And then after all that effort, I watched tiktok videos and took a nap.

But I rallied somewhat this evening - I made perhaps the best batch of chicken tortilla soup that I've ever made, and I'm v. excited to have those leftovers for the next few days. I did some journaling, which always helps my mood. And then I picked up a book that's been sitting on my shelf forever - A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW, about a Russian aristocrat who isn't executed by the Bolsheviks because of his prior service to the cause, but is confined to house arrest for life in a Moscow hotel. I'm not so far in, but I'm loving it so far - but that's to be expected, since I find Russia fascinating (see: my history minor in college, which was mostly classes about Russia and totalitarianism) and also this guy is basically living the quarantine life since he can get things delivered but can never leave and just thinks about redecorating (again, I'm very early into the book, I'm guessing he doesn't just redecorate all the time).

And now, even though I am tempted to keep reading, I think I'll go to bed and attempt to set myself up for success with the time change. Goodnight!

shut your mouth, baby, stand and deliver

Today was boring in terms of what I can report to all of you, but I got done what I needed to get done. That mostly involved work; because I had planned to take today off, I only had two meetings today, so that was great. That meant I actually got some work done, which felt v. luxurious. I also took a break to have a call with Alyssa; working out over video is weird, but it felt good, so I guess I'll take it.

And now I'm mostly hunkered down and waiting for snow. I brought my shovel and my ice breaker inside so that I don't have to slog to the garage for them; I am charging my devices and backup phone batteries in case I lose power; I am fully stocked up on the foods and drinks that will keep me happy over the next few days. And I made a delicious supper this evening - the same sausages and peppers dish that I tried at home a month ago, paired with a tasty parmesan polenta (basically grits, although polenta has a different texture and also is full of parmesan).

So, we'll see how the snow goes, but it's not like I don't spend 23hrs a day in my house anyway, so I think I'll survive. This week marked a year since my office shut down, and I've got to say that it was a bizarre sense of deja vu the last couple of days, going to grocery stores that were completely sold out of dairy products, wondering if I would be stuck at home, seeing long lines at liquor stores, etc. - the snowstorm in Denver is basically recreating early pandemic buying patterns, and that's really not an anniversary I wanted to remember in that way. But my buying patterns have probably permanently been broken by the last year, so suffice it to say I won't starve even if I can't leave the house for a month (although I'll get cranky when I run out of coffee and cream).

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!