days_unfolding

I have a dilemma. I found a site that is selling #mauistrong t-shirts with the proceeds going to the Maui Humane Society. They're really nice shirts. But by the time that I wear short sleeves again, I'll be a different size. I suppose that I could get a couple for my Kauai trip. I did, and they also had a hoodie that I bought.

It's nice to believe that I will lose the weight. But if I keep it up, I should.

Submitted a Kroger order for paper towels and frozen yogurt bars.

Got the dining room ready to work on. I'm taking a break and am going to tackle the living room. Got the living room ready. Now I'll go through the boxes that I didn't finish last week until I have to take a shower.

We got the dining room done!!!! And we even started on the living room. There is a dead creature in the basement that I need to get rid of. Ugh. The dumpster is almost full. The organizer said that she was willing to work Thanksgiving weekend.

I found some crinkly foil balls and decided that they were a cat toy. Mimi is having a fine time playing with one. Zara is also interested, but Mimi won't share.

Took a long nap. Man, going through my mom's stuff takes it out of me. I had two pairs of eyes staring at me. Yes, the cats' dinner was late. Mine too, but they don't care if I eat :)

I'm starting to figure out what to do on Kauai and booking things. I'm wondering about storing my luggage the last day that I'm there because I'm taking a red-eye flight. I sent an email about it. We've got that worked out. Booked a luau. Do I want to do mountain tubing? A lot of it is underground. Hmm. I booked some other tours, with a couple to think about.

I can't find the batteries that I bought. Shit. Paid some bills. I need to practice guitar and singing and go to sleep. I need to clean off the kitchen table tomorrow.

Sam's Club said that the stepper and Total Gym will arrive by Friday, so I need to get the table out before then. The dumpster arrives on Monday. Maybe Wednesday?

Zara really wants me to feed her before I go to bed. Not happening. I think that she ate Mimi's food twice when Mimi was sleeping.

I woke up with my phone and alarm and alarm clock at 8. (My alarm clock was already set to 8.) I decided to go back to sleep for an hour and overslept by a half-hour. I jammed to get myself presentable for the organizers.

The organizers have come and gone. We almost finished the plant room. (What a simple sentence to write, but so much work!) It's an amazing change. I have "homework". I'm wondering if I should take a personal day to catch up. Thursday looks like the best day. I could go to AT&T also.

I went upstairs, and when I came down, two pairs of eyes were staring intently at me. Yes, the cats' lunch was late :) Mine too.

Moved the cars and wrote "Put dumpster here" on the driveway in chalk. I hope that helps.

I forgot to schedule guitar and singing lessons for this week. I suck. But I'm kind of glad because I'd like to lie down for a while. And yes, I scheduled them starting next week. Tried to nap but couldn't sleep.

There is a conversation about waterproof shoes in one of the solo travel Facebook groups. I'd like a pair for Hawaii for walking around tide pools and such, but I haven't found a wide width yet. Sigh. Actually I found some waterproof hiking boots with good traction, and Hawaii mud is the slipperiest stuff. My dad slipped and fell on a trail when it was raining with a cliff on one side. Luckily he slipped down the trail. When we got out of the rain, he found that even the money in his wallet was soaked. Hmm, I should get a waterproof bag for the camera. It rains a lot there. Mount Waiʻaleʻale has been deemed one of the wettest spots on Earth.

I'm now thinking that I will do some hiking on Kauai. I need to get in shape for Italy!

Crud. I tried to log into my SkyMiles account, but didn't remember the password. I tried to reset my password, and it said that the info didn't match their records, even though it was correct. So now I need to call them tomorrow morning. Got my BistroMD meals picked out.

I'm going to do some dishes and start a load of laundry and go to sleep. I have a lot that I want to get done before work tomorrow.

Ugh. I had my alarm set for 7 AM, woke up, and decided to go back to sleep for an hour.

I was looking at new Italian teachers because mine is stopping teaching. I found a few possibilities. His timing is bad for me given that I'm going to Italy next year.

I looked at iPhones at Verizon because it's cheaper than AT&T, but they don't have the purple iPhone, and the phones won't be available for a couple of weeks. Oops, AT&T doesn't have the purple phone after all. And it won't be available for a couple of weeks. But the phone is cheaper with a trade-in.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I booked flights back and forth to Chicago for my Hawaii trip.

The organizer and her assistant have come and gone. We got most of my mom's bedroom done, which was a major undertaking. Her assistant got all the glassware out of the plant room. I have some "homework": get the dumpster situation settled, get an estate sale person in here, and go through a couple of boxes in my mom's bedroom. Our next session is on Sunday, which precludes setting up an Italian session, but we're going back to Saturday the following week.

I'm making lunch right now (and Zara is reminding me to feed her!), and then I'll drive to the bike shop to drop off the turn signals that I got from eBay.

Made it to the bike shop (thank you, phone GPS). I indulged in a donut because I really, really wanted one. It's eating a box of them is the problem.

I was wearing my points of a compass t-shirt, jeans, and a jean jacket, and I thought that I looked pretty good :)

Nap time. Mimi is vegging/snoozing (hard to tell the difference!) next to me. Couldn't sleep. I usually can tell within a few minutes whether I can sleep or not. Maybe I'll just go to bed early.

The person who owns the Urbana house asked to talk to me tomorrow for "a favor," and I'm curious what that's about.

Oh, I forgot to mention (so much is happening right now!) that I got the new laptop. I think that I'll go set it up after I move some of Mom's clothes from my room to the bed in her room. And I need to make an appointment with a TaskRabbit person to pack up her remaining clothes.

My curiosity got the best of me, and I looked under my mom's bed. It's not so bad. A couple of boxes of papers, a box of my grandmother's things, and some cassette tapes that I need to ask the estate sale person about. I'll see how far I'll get on them this week. I'd like to be done with that room. Oh, I also moved some of Mom's clothes from my room to her bedroom, and found a pretty scarf and a hat that looks good on me, and requested a TaskRabbit person for a week from tomorrow to pack up her clothes. (She accepted the job.) One of my tasks for this week is to separate my clothes from her clothes and wash any clothes that have been lying around. If I'm really ambitious, I'll go through Mom's scarves and shawls. (There are a lot of them!)

I went upstairs and finished going through my mom's "memory box". I can go to sleep with a good sense of accomplishment!

Paid my credit card bill. Checked on my student loan payments, and they're going along well.

Kind of an interesting card spread with The Wild and Sacred Feminine Deck. I'm in the process of transformation, and if I do so with integrity and reverence for the earth, I will receive unconditional love. This kind of backs up my plan to get Mom's stuff in the hands of people who will use it.

Woke up at 6 AM. Used the washroom and went back to sleep. Woke up at 8 AM. Used the washroom and went back to sleep. Woke up at 10:30. Okay, that's better. Both cats are upstairs with me.

Got the Web cam. Yay. I realized that I need a USB hub, so I ordered one to be delivered this afternoon. Got the chain for the lotus necklace. Also, got my travel mirror for the train.

I had an omelette that I didn't like for breakfast, which reminded me to select the BistroMD meals for next shipment (done).

I pulled a card from the Wild and Sacred Feminine Deck and got wholeness. It said to honor your dark side as well. I don't know why I'm obsessed with this deck, but it has good things to say.

Had a nice nap. Woke up before the alarm. Mimi is zonked out on the bed.

Got the USB hub. Excellent. Got my Magellan's order, including the packable hat. I'll take it with me on my train trip in case Dad and I go for a walk. And I got the shorts with an elastic waistband for Kauai.

I started looking at restaurants on Poipu Beach in Kauai, where I am staying. I have to check when I get in because a lot of them close at 9. Then I looked for a poke place because I'll probably hang out around Poipu on the first day, and I like poke.

Zara did her "food?" noise while I made my lunch. I did the math and it was about time to feed them, so I did.

Picked up recycling and garbage near the computer. My back hurts.

Got the Web cam set up for my guitar lesson. Yikes, it's 4:30 already. Practiced guitar and singing. I'm enjoying the guitar except for the dreaded C chord :)

Guitar...didn't go great, but I got good feedback. Voice went okay. She wants me to learn "Knocking on Heaven's Door" for voice and guitar, but I just countered with "Forever Young". I'll practice both. I need a music stand for guitar and just ordered one. Sheesh. Music is expensive :) I just ordered a book of Bob Dylan songs with guitar chords.

Zara thinks that I should feed her every four hours. I do not agree.

Got some garbage and recycling out. Why am I tired? I tried on a bunch of clothes. I tried on a strapless bra only to find that it wasn't strapless and was 10 inches too small. Texted the company and got a return label. I ordered a strapless bra from somewhere else. I think that I need to eat now because I'm getting a headache. Then I'll take clothes upstairs to hang up.

But I discovered that I can take selfies by telling Google to take them. Awesome.

Hung up the clothes. I think that's enough for tonight. I'll post pictures of a couple of dresses from Ann Taylor.

Hmm. It's still a little early, but I'm burnt out. Maybe I'll read my book about the GoPro because I want to take pictures from the train for my YouTube channel. Maybe I should set up my YouTube channel.

I requested a TaskRabbit guy to run errands for me on Tuesday. Yay. I want him to bring the bags of clothes to the thrift shop and drop off the canes.

I called Woman Within, and got a tracking number. The items are on their way to the USPS, and I should be able to change the address once it gets there.

Oops. I keep getting notices from various sites that had my old debit card number that it was declined. That's easier than remembering all the places where I used the card though.

Apparently, Oprah and Jeff Bezos live part-time on Maui. I hope that they will give money. Oprah has visited people in the emergency shelters already.

A guy wrote An Ode to Lahaina that said it all for me and had me in tears.

I have to bump my Kauai trip a day earlier because I want a day at home before I jump in the car and travel to my meetings (assuming that I'm still here). I'm looking at info about food trucks in Kauai. It'll be the food truck tour :) And I can write about it on my blog. I also get a list of good restaurants there from Google Bard.

Oh, I forgot to mention yesterday that I did chair yoga to a video yesterday. It was a lot more my speed than the killer yoga class. I need to find a place to do yoga and try a video of beginner's yoga.

I had my session with the life coach. I don't know what I think of her. She thinks that I need to set deadlines in order to get stuff done, plus I need to focus on one thing at a time. That's fair enough, but she thinks that it's ridiculous to put my life on hold to get my mom's house cleaned out, and she thinks that I shouldn't go through all of mom's stuff. I said that I would be done with the kitchen and bathrooms this weekend.

It occurred to me that one way to be sure that I get the kitchen done is to schedule someone to clean it before I have it done (done) Then I'll be sure to finish it.

Tornado warning. So I'm sitting in the dark basement. Earlier, I tried on my Daily Look clothes and actually kept most of them. They looked better on than in the box. Huh. What do I do now? I was able to change my flights on my phone. I added two extra days because I want seven full days on Kauai. I went to add the extra days to my hotel, and it was full, so I found another hotel.

Now I'm back upstairs. I got my Daily Look returns ready to mail tomorrow. Fed myself and the beasties. I'm running out of steam, so I'm going to go to bed soon.