ahhhh.

all of my roommates are out of town.
all of them.

yes. all of them. me. home. alone. with the exception of bleu, our couch-surfing dog.

it's too good to be true! I love those girls, but I can't tell you how nice it is to have me-time at home. I came home from work, wiped out, and took a nap until I woke up. I'm now eating a collection of tuna, tomato, cracker, and such (not hungry but it's time to eat). I am not particularly hungry, but knowing what I have and have not eaten today, something in my tummy is good. Somehow I think one evening of me time will not be enough for the browsing, reading, laundry, cleaning, and sleeping that will help refresh my mind/soul for the moment.

for lunch today, sara and andy and lisa and I rode our bikes to city park, stopping along the way to pick up a blanket and lisa's housesitting spot, swinging in her front yard, and then off to buy hot dogs from doris at the marshall house where the catholic ladies live and rent out rooms to random people like doris and jim and elyssa and evie. I looked at the house when I was new to town but decided to live at the noble instead. doris and jim and elyssa and I had dinner together the other night. elyssa made some thai chicken curry and jim told us about his new job possibility. then elyssa and I talked for hours about life and lander and church and china and community and people we both know in colorado.

this week has been full of great meals. tuesday was the thai chicken curry previously mentioned + double vanilla ice cream + fresh strawberries for dessert. monday was william's birthday and a bunch of us went climbing, I cleaned the last route after the sun set, viewing the canyon from the top, the glowing horizon, and the moon before being lowered to the ground. then: off to the bridger house for grilling iowa corn, brats, turkey dogs, asparagus, mushrooms. we ate at 11. it was awesome.

last night though, cha and I made ravioli! it was the best. we took the recipe/inspiration from smittenkitchen.com, but cha has made ravioli before with liz, so we improvised a few things. it was amazing. and I will have to make it again. sadly, cha probably won't join me. because she is moving to ecuador next week. which makes me sad. and excited. it's so her, which is why I think I love this opportunity in her life. but it's sad because I know it takes time to develop friendships and while we've been working together since march, we weren't really friends friends until recently. last night we told secrets as we rode our bikes from work to the grocery store, purchased our arugula and romano and tomatoes and wonton wrappers and bread to make our own bread crumbs. and we rode our bikes to her house, surprising lisa on the way as she walked along garfield street, talking on her phone.

omg. as far as work goes, I'm ready to be done with this 128 page catalog. it's insane. and there are still so many ends to tie up before the final draft next week. and I'm burnt out. and yet we're almost to that deadline part that I totally love where the adrenaline really kicks in. the conflict, however, lies in the fact that it's not just something I can rely on deadline adrenaline to complete. the details that are so easy to focus on in the deadline moments have to be considered by other people first, meaning I have to finalize things before the deadline adrenaline gets to show up. perhaps that's why I'm feeling burnt out on this project? somehow it's just slightly out of my work-best mode. I suspect it also has something to do with the fact that every single other department/area/branch seems to have something else for me to work on or consult or think about or photos to gather or brochures to view. people. I cannot do that! leave me alone! joanne was so sweet this week. she put up a sign outside our workspace that says Catalog Only Zone. Please Kindly Email All Other Requests.