days_unfolding

My name is Adrienne. I'm 57 years old. I'm a Technical Services Librarian (that is, I work in the back processing books and maintaining the computer system) at a small college in Illinois. I have two cats, Zara and Mimi, who don't get along very well, leading to "Kitty Drama" LJ posts :)

I'm from the Chicago area originally (Evanston for those who know the area).

I previously was a technical writer in Silicon Valley. That could be a long essay in and of itself. I liked the work, but there was way too much of it and a lot of pressure. When I became sick with schizoaffective disorder, I was no longer able to do my job, so I left and got a Master's Degree in Library Science.

I have no siblings or cousins. My mom lives in the Detroit area and my dad moved to Nevada. I'm single (divorced). I'm bi, but it's a moot point right now living in a small town.

I wrote the above before the pandemic. Now I'm spending a lot of time armchair traveling. I'm about 13 years out from retirement, so I have a list of places to check out, but, of course, can't travel right now. I'm looking at camping as a COVID-friendly way to travel. The first major trip on my list when I can travel is Eastern Tennessee, and I want to do some hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains. I'm hoping to squeeze in some hiking and camping trips in Illinois this fall, COVID permitting.

I've been lucky during the pandemic because I still have a job, working from home. Our college is planning on-site classes this fall. We'll see how that goes.

My journal is about half friends-only and half not. I lock down posts in which I talk about work, which is frequently lately.

Woke up at 7:30 AM? I took the CPAP off, sigh. It’s cool this morning with a high of 74F/23C.

I really want to go back to sleep. I will at lunchtime. Drastically overslept my nap, so I’ll need to make up some time tonight. I’m not going anywhere tonight but will package up my return for tomorrow. Hmm, I might need packing tape.

I want to lie down after work too. Don’t know why I’m so tired.

Weird. I’m vetting out the captions for a big meeting that we had the other week, and Zoom hallucinated some captions for things that no one said. That’s the first time that I’ve seen that. I’m glad that I’m going through it line by line. They would have been embarrassing (one something like “making an asshole” and one “that’s sad” in response to someone).

It occurred to me that I can use the extra money in my Flexible Spending Account to pay for a GLP-1. I probably should have put more in my account, but at least I’ll spend the money that I have.

Oh! I need a towel for my gym bag. I’ll pick one up when I get packing tape.

Napped and overslept. Fed us all. I’m about to jump in the shower to go to Meijer. Hmm. I’m thinking of getting up early and going instead. It’s late.

Woke up around 8 AM. Gracie woke me up after only an hour nap, so I’ll probably let her outside and try again. My stomach is upset, so I need to try again to lie down after feeding the beasties.

Had a nice nap. How’d it get to be almost 5 PM though?

It’s supposed to rain, so so much for mowing the lawn. Not sure what to do because the dogs might want to come in when it’s raining. I guess that I’ll get my clothes together.

It didn’t rain. Showered. I guess that I’ll soak the cat dishes and start organizing my gym bag. Hmm, I need to check light bulbs for upstairs. Grabbed a light bulb to replace. Maybe should I go to Lowe’s tonight? No, I’m staying home and getting my gym bag together. I really like my new gym shoes. They’re cute. I think that I want another pair to wear with jeans.

I found out how to make an emergency call from my Apple Watch, just in case.

Fed us all.

I’ve got the gym bag set up, including the exercise tracker, so yay.

I think that I should go to bed soon to get up at a decent hour and run errands.

Hmm. There is a Severe Thunderstorm Warning until 12:45 AM, and it could spawn a tornado. I’m wondering if I should stay up until then. I did, and then overslept until 9:40 AM. Sigh. The CPAP went well. The nose pillows itch though.

Got my groceries. The delivery guy didn’t latch the gate, sigh, but I got there to latch it before Gracie got out. I need to throw clothes in the dryer and soak the cat dishes before feeding them.

There probably will be another storm tonight.

My “good” bra is soaking because it got sweaty. I ordered another bra to come tomorrow so that I can switch them out. I have a bra on which one of the clasps got bent, so I ordered a lingerie bag for washing bras. Hmm, I wonder if I could order clasps (done) and fix the bent bra.

I’m actually feeling a little chilly. It’s a nice change. (I turned the thermostat up last night.) That reminds me to put water out for the dogs outside. Now the temperature in the house is just about perfect. It’s 87F/30C outside.

I decided to nap over lunch because my clothes are still drying. I had Oliver and Lily on the bed with me. Oliver was burrowing under the blanket, and Lily was batting at him. Had a nice nap.

I’m wondering if I should open another money market account to save for the China and Tibet trips. Or maybe for all trips; it’ll be my trip account. Done–It’ll open in a couple of days, and I can edit the name to call it my trips account. Maybe that will keep me from spending it! It’s open now but not funded yet, and I changed the name of it. And I changed the name of the other money market account to “Emergency”.

Hmm, I should save some trip money to spend on my fall trip. If I can’t find things to buy in Paris, Venice, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, and Istanbul, it’s time to worry about me! I already have some euros to spend on the trip that I got for the Sardinia trip that didn’t happen.

I ordered an exercise planner/tracker, also to come on Friday. I need to grab a pencil for my gym bag too.

Oops. I didn’t put my therapy session on my calendar, but I got an email reminder a few minutes before. She doesn’t think that there is much that I can do about my dad worrying about me, especially because he has memory problems. She’s encouraging me to get to the gym to build up my fitness, especially because of the trip in the fall. (I hadn’t been thinking about that.)

Ugh. The forecasters are saying thunderstorms at 11 PM. I need to get to bed early because I have a physical therapy appointment at 7:45 AM. (Ugh!)

I’ve been thinking about making final arrangements at a cemetery in Urbana because this is as close to being a home as I have. (San Jose is also “home” to me, but I’m not going to ship my ashes there.) I need to check out the cemetery.

I’ve been reading my K2 book, and man, is it depressing. I’m starting to believe the people who say that the mountain doesn’t want to be climbed. Mountaineers call it “The Savage Mountain”. Sure seems so.

I received a message that a “severe” storm is on the way. I tried to get the dogs in, but they won’t come in until they get rained on. I wanted to take a shower, but I think that I should wait after the storm. I should keep moving and feed the cats and post.

The wind looked fierce, so I went to get the dogs inside, and they were surprisingly sensible enough to come inside. Now there’s a tornado warning. I’m down in the basement with Oliver and Lily. I tried to convince Bella to come down, but she doesn’t like the tall top step. I hope that she’ll go under the bed.

I read an article that suggested putting a temporary luggage tag with the address of the hotel at which you’re staying. I bought some cheap luggage tags to use. (I already have a permanent luggage tag with my name, email address, and phone on my bags.)

It’s still storming, so I’m going to post before taking my shower just in case there’s another tornado warning.

Apparently, I took the CPAP off in my sleep. Sigh. I was up late and didn’t get a lot of sleep. I’m looking forward to my nap at lunchtime.

Had my video meeting with the sleep doctor. She thinks that I should try the smaller nasal pillows in the mask. She said that I might be taking my mask off because of air leakage. She also wants me to contact the CPAP company about the nights when I sleep with the CPAP, but it doesn’t record the time spent with the CPAP on.

I keep getting calls from Carle to set up appointments. I’m tired of dealing with them. I’ll call back tomorrow.

I have a lousy headache. I originally planned to go out and rake the ground for the grass seed, but I think that I’ll lie down after work. It’s supposed to rain in 19 minutes, so good call.

I’ve been reading books about climbing Mount Everest. It’s weird that I like mountain climbing books because I’m scared of heights, but maybe it’s because it’s something for which I understand the appeal, but I’d never, never do. I reread Into Thin Air yesterday, and I’m reading a book called The Third Pole now.

Overslept my nap. Got the dogs in, rolled a garbage can to the street, and grabbed dog food out of the car. Fed myself and the dogs. Oliver and Lily went down into the basement, so I need to start feeding them to get them upstairs.

Woke up at 6:30 AM. I don’t know why. Ate breakfast and napped.

Apparently, shots were fired just a few blocks away from me. That’s scary.

Do I or do I not want to go to the Country Arbors nursery today? I could place a pickup order for next weekend. I decided to wait until I pay for the car to buy the roses and Japanese Spirea.

Fed us all. Let the dogs out because I’m staying home.

Napped. Now I’m trying to figure out what to do. Showered. It’s rumbling out. Bella came in but Gracie did not. Gracie finally came in.

I’m thinking of going to bed early and getting up early to run errands.

I have a taste for rice pudding. Do I have cinnamon?

I woke up with my alarm at 6 AM. Threw myself together and went to my physical therapy appointment. It went well. The guy really worked me, but he was nice.

I called AAA at noon. It took them over an hour to get here. Then I drove the car to the dealership service department. They seem to be on the ball and know what the problem is. And it’s going to cost less than I had feared.

Singing went well, but she sent me the original of an aria (with a very high note) rather than the one for low voices. She’s sending me another version.

I want to feed the critters and myself, and just go to bed. I’m tired.

Sent a payment for the extra day in Istanbul to the travel agent.

Overslept until almost 9 AM. Good, my CPAP said that I had eight hours.

Got my groceries delivered. A neighbor stopped by to see the dogs. He asked if he could come in the yard, and I said yes, so he came in and gave the dogs Milkbones. Gracie was jumping on his back and licking his ear. He said that he saw the sticker that Urbana Parking put on my car, so I explained the situation. He thought that was ridiculous.

I signed up for the Saturday Books 2 Prisoners session. I need to get back in the groove.

I bought some small round plastic containers in which to freeze mashed potatoes. I’ll have hamburgers and mashed potatoes for lunches or dinners.

Showered and am wearing a short-sleeved shirt, capris, and sandals. It feels good.

I looked for a very small ceiling fan for upstairs and found an 11 inch one that might work. I need to measure. Damn, it’s hot up here. The downstairs stays cool. Actually, I put two fans on and that helps.

Piano went well. I need to work on reading ahead, so Gemini gave me some suggestions on how to practice that. My teacher just said to go slower. I might ask my pianist friend for suggestions.

I’m not going to get the recycling out tonight. I got the hose partially disentangled and watered my plants. But I need to feed the fur faces (done) and feed myself. My meeting about the fall trip was rescheduled to 9 CDT.

Zara is one cool cat. Oliver insists on coming into her room when she eats because he wants to eat her leftovers. But Zara will eat calmly with him in there. Oh, and she snuggled up to me during my piano class.

I’m thinking of buying a used Windows 11 laptop for the music room. But I want to copy my mom’s drafts of emails off of the current laptop first. I need a portable hard drive.

Well, that sucked. I received a message that the trip meeting was going to be at 7 PDT, not 6, which is 9 my time. But when I logged in, they were ending the meeting. Plus, there was a lot of static. I did get an answer about my suitcase. They told me to call them, but that also, they will send emails with all the information. But bah. But I admit that I'm lucky to take the trip.

I need to do a little more laundry before I sleep and put it on the rack. (That sounds like I’m torturing my clothes.) I want to get to bed at a decent hour because I have an online meeting for a committee for which I’m a liaison.

Crap. My CPAP is in the closet, and I can’t get the door open.

Overslept and got up at 8 AM. Fell and hit my head on the nightstand, but I’m okay. Scrambled into the shower.

Physical therapy went well. I liked the guy who worked with me today. And I’m making some progress. He had me stand up and sit down, and I was able to sit down in a controlled manner instead of plopping down like I did at the beginning.

I just remembered to enroll for my flexible spending account. I included enough money to get the travel CPAP because it’s FSA-eligible. And I travel enough that it’s worth it. I’m trying to figure out when I can go see Dad again. The problem is that winters there are icy and messy.

It is freaking hot upstairs (91F/33C). I need to 1) Wear shorts and 2) Work downstairs. I’m sitting downstairs and cooling off before I go mow.

Mowed part of the side yard.

Fed us all. Got my closet door unlocked so that I can use the CPAP.

My CPAP worked. Yay. Got up with my alarm at 8 AM. Threw myself together. Got the cats from boarding. They’re cruising around now checking that home is still home. I’m going to have lunch in a minute. Lily head-bonked me and jumped on my lap.

Received my remaining herbs and a rose, and I need to plant them.

Got the dogs from boarding. Bella was so excited to see me. All’s right with the world.

My Apple Watch said that I didn’t get a good night’s sleep last night. Ya think? I’m so tired. I think that I’ll take a nap. Overslept my nap. Ye gods, I’m tired.

I emailed the organizer of the Orient Express tour in the fall, saying that I need a single room because of my CPAP. She wrote back, saying that I already had a single room. Okay, cool.

Fed the fur faces. Now I’m eating. Washed some clothes. Now I’m upstairs with Lily the Love Bug. Damn, it’s hot up here (86F/30C).

Now I have to figure out how to keep the dogs out of the bedroom because of the CPAP. To me, the hose looks like a dog toy. Sigh.