days_unfolding

The New York Times: The 25 Gardens You Must See. I have a new goal.

Rain predicted in the morning.

Lowe’s has a garden fence that I like. I hope that it would keep Bella out of the garden.

We had a breakthrough of sorts. Zara was eating with Bella and Oliver in the room. But then Bella rushed at Zara, and Zara hissed. I hustled Bella out of there.

I ordered a black-and-white striped shirt dress from Banana Republic.

My Italian teacher was nice about me postponing the lesson. She sent me a response in Italian and I understood it! So yay.

My doctor won't renew my prescriptions until I get my blood work done. There isn't a really convenient time, but I'll have to work it out.

Ordered heartworm and flea meds from an online pet pharmacy.

Wow, it's pouring. No garden work today. Maybe I could go to Home Depot in search of plants, although I haven't showered yet.

Tornado warning. I’m down in the basement with Lily and Oliver. (Bella won’t come down the basement stairs, and Zara stays in her room.)

Hmm. I want to feed Bella, but she’ll need to go out right away, and there is a severe thunderstorm warning for 45 minutes. I guess that I’ll feed myself first and stare down the critters.

Bought some Brooklinen towels at a Memorial Day sale.

Got the garbage out. Read for a while. Going to crash and get up early.

Speaking of dogs, I sent an inquiry about a poodle mix. We'll see what happens. He's a real cutie.

Woke up a little before my alarm at 8 AM. Bella pooped outside again, so I cracked the code.

I’m really not feeling the trip to Allerton for flower arranging. I want to stay home with my dog and cats and plant plants in the garden. Anyway, I need to feed the critters (done) and take a shower. If I’m not going to Allerton, I think that I’ll take a nap.

Put my tomato plants outside for the Buy Nothing person. It sucks that I can’t grow tomatoes, but I don’t trust Bella. Maybe when I have a high raised bed, I could grow some.

Had a nice nap. Overslept a little. Ate lunch.

Now I’m out in the yard. I tried my new weeding tools and one of them, Grandpa’s weeding tool, works. The big weeds need multiple tries though. Bella is having a great time playing with the pots that the plants came in. I’ve planted some herbs, but I think that I’ll need more dirt to plant strawberries. That little snot Bella grabbed one of my basils and tore it apart. I guess that I need a new basil. Sigh. She also dug up a coral bell that I planted. Hmm. Basil online comes in multipacks. I’ll have to go to Walmart or Lowe’s or Home Depot. Well, I had a little problem. My strawberries didn’t fit in the strawberry pot. I planted two in there, four in another pot, and four in a small pot. Now I’m trying to plant some irises, and Bella keeps on stealing them.

Now I need to clean up and water the plants (done, but I forgot to water the tickseed). I have only the tickseed and Japanese Spirea left to plant.

Fed us all. Bella “said” she wanted to go outside afterwards, but so far, she hasn’t done her business.

I'm beat. I made an appointment to bring the Honda in to be looked at. That will be Friday because I'm going to have a busy week.

I'm going to go to bed soon. Oh, I need to send an email to the Italian school because they haven't responded to me.

I also bought an oatmeal-and-black linen blazer with a black top and black pants. I'll be stylish :) Which reminds me that I need to start going to the Unitarian Church, but I'm waiting until I feel better. The meds do seem to be helping, slowly. I can watch their YouTube video in the meanwhile.

Woke up at 7 AM. I'm at my wit's end with Bella. I was out with her for 45 minutes, and she peed, but she waited until she went inside to poop. I don't know what's going on in her little doggy brain.

I think that I want to buy coneflowers instead of growing them from seed. Maybe I should check out the local garden stores. Though Breck's has a set of coneflower plants that I like. I just need to figure out how many to get.

The WWF (Oliver and Lily) is now in session. Damn, they're fast.

I'm looking at plumbers to fix the leaky faucet and leaky toilet. I also want a bidet installed, but I might need an electrician to put an outlet in near the toilet first.

It looks like I got my herb plants.

Oliver and Lily are sleeping downstairs, where it's cooler. Smart cats. It's 91F/33C out, so no wonder. I need to turn on the a/c downstairs. I think that it's time to shave my legs to wear shorts.

Yay. Work is almost over, and I can go downstairs in the cool part of the house.

I'm looking at linen dresses for my Sardinia trip (and summer here). The problem is that most of them are low cut, and because I'm petite, they're super low cut. I did save a linen and cotton one that looks like it might work, and they have pretty colors. And they have pockets! Ordered a pink one and purple one.

The guys came and mowed the lawn. They did a good job, but they used a riding mower even though I asked them not to. One of the bungee cords on the back gate is broken. They recommended that I have the lawn mowed weekly. I said that I’d think about it.

It’s gotten very dark quickly. I think that it’s going to storm. (Yep. Tornado watch.)

I’m trying to get the energy to work on the kitchen.

What do you call the things that you can put on either side of an air conditioner to block the open window?

I started cleaning up the kitchen. I’m running the dishwasher. I want to do laundry tonight, so I’m hoping that the dishwasher will stop soon. (It doesn’t have a delayed start.) I did lay out shorts to wear though and changed the blades on my razor to shave my legs tomorrow morning. Maybe I’ll start laundry tomorrow morning instead.

Crud. It's supposed to rain on Monday afternoon, which would put the kibosh on mower guy.

Woke up at 6:45 AM. Bella was busy watching Squirrel TV and didn’t do her business. I finally brought her in, knowing that I would regret it. She pooped inside after eating. At least we’re all fed now.

Napped and overslept an hour. Bella was tired too. Brought the rosemary plant outside, and it looks much happier since I watered it.

Hmm. It occurred to me that I would like to grow strawberries. I looked at a strawberry planter. I need to figure out another place for the garbage and recycling bins because I’d like to grow plants on the existing patio, which is a small concrete one.

I just noticed on my mower guy’s business card that he cleans gutters. I’ll throw my business his way. He’s a young guy starting out.

Ate lunch. I think that I want another short nap. Done. Bella was still asleep when I woke up, so I sat there playing with my phone until she decided to get up.

I’ve been exchanging emails with my dad about investing. I might need Moody’s reports to begin with.

Aww. Oliver wants Mommy time. It won’t last long, but it’s cute. I have a dog partially in my lap and a cat in my face.

Bella, Lily, and Oliver attended my shower. Lily walked on top of the shower stall and then jumped in. I opened the door for her and Bella walked in. Then Oliver appeared from under the toilet. Lily was in the window, behind the blinds, looking outside. Then she and Oliver were wrestling in my laundry basket and knocked it over. My shoes were in there to keep them from Bella, and now one is missing. I pulled out a new pair of Skechers from my closet. It’s a zoo here :) That reminds me that I want a nice hamper for the bathroom (done).

I made my food first because I want to hustle Bella outside right after she eats to go poop. (It’s funny how much of my life revolves around poop now.)

I planted four plants and dug up a daylily. The shade side garden is taking shape. Cleared the lawn of debris except for one stick that Bella kept on bringing back out when I put it on the stick pile. Watered the garden. I need to charge the tiller to plant the daylily by the street.

Some neighbors walked by and said "Hi" to Bella. They know her name but not my name :) They said that she looked like a happy dog. I said that she likes it when I work outside.

The Silvervine sticks that susandennis mentioned are a big hit with Oliver. Bella took one because it’s a stick, and sticks belong to dogs. She destroyed it in short order. I’m going to bring them upstairs so that Oliver and Lily can play with them in peace. Yeah, Lily likes them too.

Bought a Japanese Spirea. One of the ones that I have is very happy, but the other one is not. Plus I wanted a light pink one like my mom had. And I bought a really pretty strawberry pot and strawberries.

I need to get my new weeder out of the package. And find my clippers.

I think that I'm going to post and then work on the kitchen. I need to get up early to bring the car in to be fixed. Which reminds me to get my new debit card entered into Uber.

I did think of a college town to check out for retirement: Clemson, South Carolina. It ticks all my boxes. I found a senior living community to check out. The place doesn't seem to allow pets, and I'm likely to still have Oliver and Lily when I would move there. So I started to look in Greenville, SC, and found a place that I like that allows pets. It sounds pretty perfect.

Booked a massage. My neck is killing me.

Woke up at 7 AM. Bella was too distracted by the outside world to do her business. She finally peed at least. Bella was being totally manic and she scratched me in the face. I gave her a Munchie Bone and she settled down. I’ve decided to take my shower at lunchtime because my clothes aren’t dry yet. So now I have time to kill.

Cool. I got The Economist's Guide to Investment Strategies for $4 on eBay. I'm going to have quite an investment library. And I received The Economist’s Guide to Analyzing Companies, which I will read first.

The arthritis in my toes is bugging me.

Had my therapy session. I told her that the increased meds were helping somewhat, but that I'm still tired. I looked tired. I asked how to force myself to clean up the kitchen, and we decided that I would make an appointment with a cleaner, and then I would clean up the dog debris in there before the appointment. She recommended that I get the security cameras put up and contact the garage people in the next two weeks.

The new pope is from my hometown of Chicago! There are jokes on Facebook about a deep-dish* Eucharist :)

I watered my plants outside and took the new plants out of their boxes and watered them too. Opened some Amazon boxes and my investment books are coming in. Now I just need time to read them!

My digestive system is roiling. I need to get to bed early anyway because I need to drop the car off to be fixed tomorrow.

I think that I'm going to hire someone to walk Bella because I've been so drained. I found someone who also does cat sitting, which I will need when I go to a conference in June. Also I'm going to hire an organizer to keep me working on decluttering and organizing.

* Deep-dish pizza is a thing in Chicago. It's several inches high and filled with cheese, meat, and other items such as mushrooms. Jon Stewart derisively called it a "casserole," but it's quite good.

Filled litter boxes and put another one on to soak. Started charging the batteries for the mower.

When I asked for handyman recommendations on NextDoor, a bunch of handymen posted but no one gave recommendations. I found someone highly rated on Yelp, so I’ll give him a try.

Got up at 7 AM. Fed us all. Got my groceries. I texted the driver to close the gate and she did. Oliver wants my food.

I was going to go to the bank at lunch, but I had problems falling asleep, so I need to nap at lunch. I'll go in the late afternoon.

I need to find someone to mow my lawn using a handheld mower, not a riding mower, so that they can close the gate. I'll ask on NextDoor.

I'm asking ChatGPT to come up with investment learning plans for me. I need to clear off my desk upstairs to have a good study space. I could use a desk lamp too (ordered).

My glasses are missing. WTF? Ordered a new pair from Zenni. Okay, I found them under my desk chair. It still would be good to have an extra pair.

Got my new debit card. It’s a different number than the old card, so I need to change it in 15 gazillion places. There was a Panera nearby, so I decided to eat there. Well. They took the sandwiches that I liked off of the menu, so I had grilled cheese. They still did have French Onion Soup, which I ordered. The 1/2 a sandwich was smaller than it used to be. But the food was good.

I picked up a library book. Then I went to pick up my prescriptions at a grocery store. I now am the proud owner of a hibiscus plant! They had some outside and I found one that I liked. They were cheaper than at Lowe's.

I had to wait a long time for the prescription and then there was no price on the hibiscus, but eventually I made it out of there. Bella was really excited when I came home. You would think that I had been gone a year! I was singing “I’m So Excited“ to her. Logged onto work for a while.

Oh hell, I forgot to take out the garbage (done and my back hurts).

Ordered two plants for my shade garden to replace the ones that Bella chewed up. I received my new coral bells, so I should be done with it.

I'm beat.

Gardening is the road to bankruptcy :) Ordered more coral bells and some herbs and tomatoes (although the groundhog likes to eat some of my herbs, so it's a losing battle).

Cool, my Capital One credit card payment has posted.

Ack! The forecasters are predicting rain from 5 AM onwards!

Lily loves cherry turnovers. That’s something that she has in common with Zara, although grumpy old Zara wants nothing to do with Lily.

It is COLD out. The forecast said that the wind chill will be down into the 30s F at 11 PM.

Oliver projectile vomited in the living room. I’ll have to keep an eye on him. Bella licked it up, which was gross but useful.

Got up at 7 AM. I was thinking that it’s Monday, but there is another day of weekend!

It’s raining lightly.

Got what I think are the batteries for the mower.

Lily keeps dropping napkins on the floor. Then Bella grabs them. Sigh.

Fed us all. My plan of action is to nap, eat lunch, shower, and head out to pick up my plants. Hmm, I don’t see the pots for the African daisies. I’ll need to order some.

Ordered more recycled paper products from Who Gives a Crap?

Napped. While I was out with Bella, a guy came by with a pile of Amazon boxes. I got the fake book in which to stash cash, and it really does look like a book. Now I need to get the cash. I got some investing books, collars with a pocket for AirTags for Oliver and Lily, cat food, and some underwear and socks. Oliver has taken over one of the boxes. Oh, and there’s a tall box that I forgot about. I have no idea what it is. It’s the weeder.

Bella has a squeaky ball, and she’s kind of driving me crazy with it, but at least, she’s happy. Oliver got part of my pizza and Lily got part of my donut. I have cats who need to learn manners.

I’m fighting the impulse to go back to sleep. Then I’d lose the plants that I bought. I should get myself together and go.

Just remembered to order vitamin B12. My levels are borderline low.

I’m getting a headache:( Took some acetaminophen and I could lie down for a half-hour.

Went and got the plants. They got my order wrong and left two plants out of it. They found another astilbe of the same color and one of a slightly different color and gave them to me. (That’s fine; my garden won’t be perfect.) They thanked me for shopping the sale. It occurred to me that they probably were volunteers at Allerton, and that sounds like fun to do.

My eye is twitching. Napped but woke up after a half-hour. My eye is still twitching. Fed us all. I’m feeling too tired to clean.

I’m looking for stuff to buy. I need to stop that.

Maybe I’ll read What Color Is Your Parachute in Retirement? for a while.

Bella is having fun playing with the paper from one of the Amazon boxes.

Most of the team will be at the conference tomorrow, so it should be a quiet day. I need to figure out when to take the Honda to the dealer for them to look at. I also need to get my student loans straightened out.

Hmm. Hibiscus is safe for pets. I’d love a container or two of them. But I’d have to winter it over indoors. I wonder if I could suspend a grow light from the basement ceiling? I’d like bougainvillea also. Hmm, it's mildly toxic to dogs. (I do have to worry because Bella eats plants.) On Lowe's site, I found a long grow light with a fixture to hang it from and a timer. That would work.

Now I’m thinking of a retractable awning for my patio-to-be so that I can grow plants on the patio. But I want it to be rainproof. Hmm.

I think that I cracked the dog code. Bella was refusing to come in the kitchen. I couldn’t figure it out, but then it occurred to me that it might be that the ceiling fan was on? I turned it off, and then she came in.

Got up at 7 AM with my alarm. Took an ice-cold shower, which sucked. I need to clear some stuff off of the basement stairs, and then I'll call Ameren to fix the hot-water heater. Lily, Oliver, and Bella attended my shower. Lily is a climber; she was at the top of the shelves in the laundry area of the bathroom.

It’s another gray and rainy day. I’m looking forward to my lunchtime nap.

I got a little money from my check. Placed a grocery order, including cat food and cat litter, and a Costco order for dog food.

Another thing to do in retirement: make printables in Canva and sell them on etsy.

I attended a webinar about the non-financial aspects of retirement, and the speaker gave a list of thought-provoking questions. It was very interesting. I took tons of notes. He said that people spend a lot of time thinking about money and where to live, but not the other aspects. I requested What Color Is Your Parachute in Retirement? from the library. I was able to get Purposeful Retirement for free with Kindle Unlimited, so I'll read it now.

Holy cow! I received a ton of plants for my garden. One set was the coral bells for my shade garden, but I think that the rest is tickseed? Maybe bee balm?

Tried to nap but couldn’t sleep. I think that the excitement about my garden kept me awake. I need to expand a garden bed, so I need to charge the tiller.

Got my food. Yay. I no longer have to eat Ramen and canned food. (That reminds me that I should replenish my stash though.) And the cats have food and litter. I need to get more litter when I get more money though. (All the boxes need to be changed out, and I have three jugs of litter.)

The Ameren guy came by and turned the pilot light on the water heater back on and told me how to light it myself in case it goes out again. The furnace is working.

Geesh. The rain is coming down in buckets. I don't think that I'll be able to plant my new plants today.

Hmm. There were a series of attempted vehicle thefts on campus that sound a lot like what happened to my car. They are targeting Kia and Hyundai cars.

Took Bella out, but it was pouring, so she noped out onto the porch.

Someone working on the slides for the presentation at work tomorrow told me of a change that I needed to make. I had to wait until he unlocked the file though, so I left work early with the plan that I would log on tonight. Meant to sleep for two hours but slept four.

The dog and cats were hungry and in my face. Fed us all. (I eat last so that they’re more likely to let me be.)

Found a new social group to try: the Illinois Club.

Oh crud. I forgot to buy napkins.

Okay, tweaked my slides and practiced the presentation. Wow, I'm going to be talking a lot!

I think that I'll post, take Bella out one more time, and go back to sleep.

Lily promptly sat on my book. Sigh. Lily sez, “I don’t understand what you mean by ‘reading’. Books are for lying on.”

My Fidelity choices available kind of suck. They went for the cheapest index funds. I bumped up my international funds because they are doing better than the US funds.

Woke up at 6:30 AM. Bella was watching Squirrel TV. Fed us all. Now it’s nap time (done). I’m trying to explain to Bella that if Oliver is yowling, it means that he is not happy. Bella doesn’t speak cat. Ow. Bella just scratched my face. She’s getting hyper.

Ate lunch. I think that I’m going to nap for an hour and then shower. Had a nice nap.

I need to find my chargers for my business trip.

My dad is going to teach me his system that he uses for investments. He’s done quite well for himself, so it should be useful.

Oliver is occupying my lap and Bella doesn’t like it. Got my lazy butt into the shower.

One of my irises has a bud. How exciting! I have a headache but need to get going. Back from the library. I was able to check out The Economist as well as The Economist’s Guide to Financial Markets. I could save a ton of money in retirement by using the library more fully.

Ow, my fingers hurt. Ow. Only one of the mower batteries seems to be working, but I got most of the front yard done.

Fed us all. I'm feeling really tired, so I'm thinking of going to sleep early.

It’s pouring rain out. I’m glad for my raincoat; it kept me dry. Bella lasted for a few minutes and then went up on the porch, out of the rain. The ferns will like it.

Woke up at 7 AM. Bella found an enormous stick that she was dragging around. She chewed up one of the ferns :(

RIP Pope Francis. You were one of the better ones.

Yay. Another colleague is driving a colleague to his hotel (we're having an all-staff meeting Tuesday and Wednesday). So I can stop worrying. I went to lunch late though because the person "on-call" had an errand to run.

I'm trying to get ChatGPT on my phone but am having problems.

Crud. I don't have the money for the Doggie Day Care. I'll call them later today. Actually, I have enough cash. I won't be able to go out to dinner tomorrow night. I neeeed my check from the trust!

I found an outfit to wear tomorrow. Black-and-white striped top, tan vegan leather blazer, and jeans.

My psychiatrist recommended that I take a vitamin B12 and D supplement.

Bella is now insisting on me bribing her with treats to come in. It works though :) Now she’s trotting around with a pair of my underwear that she’s trashed.

I've been exchanging emails with my dad about Paris and Europe. I forgot that he looked for some books in French for me while he was in Paris.

Hmm. I was reading susandennis’ post about WiFi connected shades, and I wonder if I could get one on a timer in my bedroom to open when I’m supposed to wake up. That would rock. I need to do some research. Yes, it looks like it’s possible with Alexa or Google Home.

Got us all fed. Now what? I need to get up early to drop Bella off at doggie daycare and get to my meeting. Oh. I need to run an errand. And go to the library too.

Crud. I got myself together, but my phone’s battery is low. I think that I’ll skip the library today (I need to bring my charger to the meeting tomorrow) and let it charge while I post. I should be able to go to the store though.

I feel like all I'm saying is "No." "Bella, leave Oliver alone." "Oliver, quit chewing my straw." "Bella, stop barking at Lily." But they've settled down now. Sort of.