days_unfolding

Finally I had a good night's sleep. I think that I'll keep taking the valerian for a while.

Congress is working on a bill to pay your salary if you are furloughed, so that's good news. And the stock market is back up.

Mimi makes the most piteous meows when I feed them. You'd think that she was starving and on her last legs, while we know that's not true.

Mimi knows that I don't like her sitting on my lap when I'm working on the computer, so she lies on a box that's in the hall outside of my office room and watches me. Kind of sweet.

The big library conference in Chicago at the end of June is canceled. I understand why they did that, but I'm still really disappointed. I was really looking forward to it. (I keep thinking that maybe I could go to Chicago anyway, but not right now. Who knows when I'll be able to go.)

I had enough energy to make the Tuscan Chicken, and oh, was it good. It's especially good with garlic bread to sop up the sauce. And I have leftovers! It's a one-pot meal, but it still makes a mess, but it's worth it.

I completed the Census.

I want to get to sleep early and keep catching up on my sleep.

The Big American Library Association listed the hotels for which it has discounts for the Big Library Conference in Chicago this year. I offered to stay at an Airbnb, but my boss wanted me to stay at an official hotel. It's kind of funny how different people look at things differently. He wants to stay at a hotel near the conference center. I want to stay at one near my old stomping grounds on Michigan Avenue. So he's staying as close as possible to the conference, and I'm staying at the farthest hotel from the conference in the "River North" area. (There are buses to get to the conference.) Anyway, it was fun looking at the various hotels, and not on my dime!

I received a message from another of my dad's cousins. I sent him a Christmas card, and he sent a message on LinkedIn suggesting that we catch up via e-mail or Skype. That was nice.

I studied Italian while I was making tortellini. How appropriate. Minimal pairs were driving me nuts. It's hearing the difference between similar sounds like "li" and "lee" or "fan" and "fawn". I'm looking for a poster of Lecce to post near my computer or in the kitchen to remind me that I want to save money to go to Italy.

I'm thinking of trying to get a Lithuanian passport so that I'd have an EU passport, which would make living in Europe LOTS easier. My dad was born in Lithuania. I guess that my first step is to ask him if I can get a copy of his birth certificate. I should learn some Lithuanian too.