days_unfolding

Woke up at 7:30 AM. Let the dogs out and went back to sleep. Oliver was in the bedroom with me, but he let me sleep. Thanks, Oliver.

It got dark and I’m hearing rumbles of thunder. Here comes the rain. Good because my little tree needs watering. Bad because I need to put a bunch of boxes out for recycling. Oh, I should get the dogs in. Bella came in but Gracie didn’t. I’ll wait until the rain gets serious and try again. Gracie did get drenched but she came in. Now they’re eating. Bella tried to eat from both Gracie’s bowl and hers. Greedy dog. Now Gracie is crashed out cold. Now Lily is snoozing with her leg up in the air. They keep me entertained. Oliver is annoyed that Lily is in the cat bed on my desk.

The Supreme Court struck down a ban on conversion therapy. Crap. I probably never mentioned that my mom wanted to become a conversion therapist because she was in love with a gay man. It didn’t do my mental health any good.

Drove around dropping off flyers for the book sale at my volunteer place. Man, I’m beat afterwards. I’m going to eat dinner while I watch an episode of The Pitt (done). I need to update the spreadsheet for the distribution of flyers (done).

The dogs were waiting at the door for me to let them in. Was it raining again?

I need to get to bed soon because I have my physical therapy intake appointment tomorrow. I’m craving a day to stay at home.

Gracie woke me up at 7:30 AM. I managed to get a leash on her and went out with the dogs. Bella is still out there, but she’s easier to get in. Fed us all. Nap time. It’s dog wrestling time, apparently. Sigh.

Overslept my nap. I was dreaming about a guy that I used to like.

When I went to volunteer, the leader asked me to go distribute flyers about the book sale. The internet on my phone wasn’t working, so I went to places I knew and distributed only four flyers, but they were far afield. I told the leader that I could do more on Tuesday night. She also asked me if I was going to the sale, and I said that I was working it and helping to tear it down. She said that she was glad that I found the organization.

As for the phone, apparently my payment didn’t go through, so I need to pay my bill (done).

Got a baguette, donut holes, flavored water, and Chef Boyardee spaghetti at the store. I had some bread when I came home (after Bella said “Hi! You’re back!” to me). The cats want to be fed. I want to sit for a while, so I think that I’ll feed the cats and watch an episode of The Pitt (done).

Had the Chef Boyardee spaghetti for dinner. A little nostalgia from when I was a kid. Got the pupsters in and fed.

I’m feeling too tired to get anything done. I think that I’ll watch one more episode of The Pitt and get to bed early.

Overslept and got up at 8:30 AM. I’m having stomach cramps.

Overslept my nap at lunchtime. Amazon keeps pushing back a delivery of some stuff (dog food and hose), and I want to let the dogs out but am waiting for the delivery of the package. Sigh.

I screwed up at work and want to retire.

Holy cow. It’s currently 85F/29C. It’s jumped from spring to summer. I have my fan on upstairs.

Oliver walked on both my laptop keyboard and my keyboard plugged into the docking station for extra added bonus points :) Gracie is lying on her back with her belly and front paws in the air.

What the heck. I’m not getting incoming calls on my cell phone. I’ll try to get it fixed this weekend.

Got the dog food and hose. Let the dogs out. It’s starting to rain, so I don’t know how long they’ll stay out. Installed an emergency broadcast app on my phone in case of tornadoes.

Got the Urbana Park District summer catalog. No golf, but they have pickleball, so I need to look for a partner. Maybe I’ll try the AARP group that I belong to first.

Convinced the Dynamic Duo (Bella and Gracie) to come in and eat dinner. Rain helped.

It keeps raining and I’m tired. I was going to run some errands, but I think that I’ll go to bed early and get up early to run them instead. Watched The Pitt. Finished Season 1.

I woke up at 7 AM. Let the dogs out, and went back to sleep for a while. Overslept until 9:20. Oops. Received my grocery order. Oliver and Lily were thumping around in the closet and chasing each other. Manic cats are manic.

Lily is attending my nap. Oliver is unhappy that he’s left out, but Lily is more restful. The dogs are still outside. Lily did pounce on the lump that was my feet, but then she settled down.

I discovered why the raised bed soil is so cheap at Target; they are tiny bags. No free lunch. I’m wondering when I’ll get the raised beds with feet that I ordered. I’d like to plant lettuce, spinach, carrots, and peas now.

There is a book about GLP-1s that I want to get when I get paid again. I also need to scrape together the money for a massage because my neck is really stiff. And I think that I need a longer hose to reach the little tree and the lilac bush (and the roses when I get them and plant them).

Gracie finally came in at 4 PM. She was hungry and thirsty (no surprises there). She had been outside for almost nine hours! Oh, and someone chewed up my lilac bush. Sigh. At first, I thought that Bella chewed it, but all the leaves are stripped off, so maybe the groundhog? The little tree is fine though. I’m going to water it after work. I might get another lilac bush and put chicken wire around it.

Gracie is completely crashed out. All that running around wiped her out.

The dogs are back out, and I fed the cats and myself. Got the garbage out. Now I’m doing laundry. I’m going to watch The Pitt (I might do two episodes) and go to sleep.

Slept until almost 11. Holy cow. Fed myself and the cats. I came back from feeding Zara to find Oliver eating Lily’s food. Sigh. She clearly was still hungry, so I fed her more food. Got clothes for volunteering tomorrow in the dryer. The dogs don’t want to come in. Not surprised. Nap time.

I didn’t think that I could fall asleep but I did. Got up and ate lunch. Sent a message to my doctor’s office about my CT scan.

Showered. Planted my little tree. Gracie looked like she wanted to dig it up but I stopped her. Started digging the hole for the lilac bush, but I got hot and dizzy. Gathered up some trash in the yard, and Bella snatched a plastic sheet out of my hands. I told the dogs that they were dorks. Got the mail and came in. The dogs wanted to stay outside, so I brought them some water.

I got a letter from the U of I Alumni Association offering discounted medical and dental insurance. But if I hold out until I get vested in my pension, I will get free medical from the University. Not sure about dental.

Got the ceiling fan on in the kitchen. It’s 80F/27C out. I think that there is something wrong with my air conditioning, so I’ll need to save money for the service call.

Damn, I’m feeling tired. Fed the cats. (Zara: “Mmmrt?” “Food?”)

Ate dinner. I’m waiting for the dogs to want to come in. Watched The Pitt.

The dogs still don’t want to come in. Bella tried to interact with me, but then Gracie jumps on her. Sigh.

I just asked ChatGPT for places to retire that are affordable, college town, near water, and with mild winters. Wilmington, NC was near the top of the list, but hurricanes. Hmm. Athens, GA was at the top of the list, and Gainesville, FL was second. I have some traveling to do. Athens seems to have more condos than Champaign-Urbana does. To get to Athens, I’d need to fly to Atlanta and then hop a bus. About what I figured. It would be good to have an international airport nearby. Hmm, Gainesville is super cheap.

It’s cold (26F) and snowing. Ugh.

I asked Bella if I can pee in peace, and the answer is apparently “No”.

I woke up at 2:30 AM and couldn't fall back asleep for an hour. But I did get up on time and showered.

I received my crabapple tree for the back yard! I'll have to see if I can plant it or will need help.

I got Gracie in by grabbing her collar. Had lunch. I’m thinking that I’ll lie down after my last meeting because my stomach hurts. Slept until a little after 6.

Oliver keeps opening the door to Zara’s room to eat her food. I finally scooped him up and shut him in the bedroom. I’ve now seen how he opens Zara’s door, and he bumps it with his body. I’m going to put the gate up tonight.

I’m feeling shaky, so I’m making food. The dogs still don’t want to come in.

I have to remember to get the recycling out. Done. Go me. Submitted a grocery order. Watched The Pitt. Now I need to finish washing some clothes and go to bed.

Oh drat. I need to scan music for my singing lesson tomorrow. Almost forgot. (Done.)

I need dry cat food, but need to check if I have a bag by the front door before ordering. Nope, so I need to order (done). Ugh, I found the bag after I ordered. So I'll have dry cat food for a while.

Woke up at 8:30 AM. Took Gracie out on a leash, and it went well. Bella is refusing to come in, but I'll go out and get her in a half-hour. More good news: the Amazon packages were by the side gate and still there. Bella came in docilely at around 9:40.

Got the food portion of my groceries in. I'll get the soda later.

Oliver shut down my work computer while I was in a meeting. Luckily, it was with my boss, who also has cats and was cool with it.

Showered with attendance by Gracie (part of the time) and Lily. Lily had to investigate what I was doing in the shower (from the top of the shower stall).

Tomorrow it's predicted to snow lightly. It should be a good day to do stuff around here. I want to wash warm pajamas so that I'll be cozy. Also, I received a scrubber wand for cleaning.

Got the second Birdie and Louie box. I'm still working on a box of the old food, and Lily is still picking at the old food because she wants the new food. Who will crack first? Lily had got me feeling guilty because she’ll lick every last scrap from the B&L can. Oliver, on the other hand, will eat anything. Hmm, maybe I could feed Lily the B&L and Oliver the old food if I can find enough cat food covers.

I installed Gas Buddy on my phone. Apparently there is a gas station that is 20 cents cheaper than the other ones. But I drive so seldom that a tank of gas lasts me a long time.

Can't stop yawning. At least, I can sleep in tomorrow. Well, if Gracie will let me.

I sent my dad an article about how it looks like the Great Recession of 2008, and he said that it isn't because the cost of oil will go down when the war is over. He said that 2008 happened because of a mismatch between incomes and housing prices.

Hmm. I read an article about the therapeutic effects of knitting on anxiety, etc. There’s a local knitting class coming up in April, but it’s at the same time as the yoga class.

I ordered leaf bags from Home Depot. I want to get out on Sunday and do some cleanup.

My singing lesson went well. We got through a new song and went back through an old one.

I’m looking at emergency supplies based on what susandennis has. Though I’m trying to decide whether to get a charging station with a solar charger. We tend to not have long outages. But I need my phone charged!

I subscribed to International Living because I want to read their book about Europe. If I could find a cheap place to live in Europe, I don’t have much to keep me here (except the house).

Gracie doesn’t want to come in. Sigh. I told Bella that I’ll feed her after Gracie comes in.

I’m tired, and I thought that I wanted to go to bed early, but I hand-washed my warm pajamas and they will take a while to dry. So I’ll probably watch Harry Potter #3, my favorite of the movies. But I’ll post first.

I’m trying to figure out where to hide my foam roller because I think that Gracie would love to tear it apart.

Oh! My pajamas are dry, so no Harry Potter. I'll just post and get ready for bed.

Ordered my knee brace. It'll just barely fit, but that will do.

Gracie finally came in after Bella burst outside another time. I shut Bella in the bedroom before trying to get Gracie to come in.

Oliver went down in the basement earlier today. Lily was hanging out near the door to the basement stairs in the hope that I’d open the door to let Oliver upstairs. I did, and Oliver came up and Lily went down. Oliver is making a fuss over me.

Overslept until 8:30 AM. It's a gray and gloomy day. It's raining out, and the crazy dogs don't want to come in.

Bella came in. I was trying to convince Gracie to come in--she looked wet and miserable--when Bella ran back out. Sigh. This is a battle of wills.

I found a setup that I like for my tomatoes, but it'll cost over $300 (expensive tomatoes!), so I'm hesitating. But I'd have the setup for subsequent years. It was $214, not $300, and I got a payment plan for it, so I ordered it. Home-grown tomatoes are so tasty! I looked at tomato cages at Gardener's Supply, but they were really expensive. I got cheaper ones at Walmart. Now I have a taste for tomato sauce. I know what tomato plants I want from Burpee, but had some trouble ordering from my phone. I’ll order from my laptop later. Ordered tomatoes and herbs. If anyone has a good recipe for homemade spaghetti sauce, I'd love to try it. I found a recipe that uses fresh tomatoes.

The muddy, wet, cold pups came in. Yay. Bella is grooming Gracie. That’s nice.

I opened the warm dryer that just finished, and Oliver went in and rolled around and didn’t let me have my socks. I had another pair of socks drying in the warm bathroom, so I grabbed them. Showered.

I've started looking at mattresses, but I want to wait until Gracie gets older and (I hope) chews less. So about another year.

Oliver squeezed into the one cat bed on my desk, which was occupied by Lily.


They stayed there for a while, but Lily left to go lie on her chair in the front window. Oliver got up and threw up. I don't know why.

I had a sudden thought that my training session at Books for Prisoners was next week, but no, it is tonight.

I want to enroll in Will Harlow's program for "lifelong mobility", but I can't quite afford his program right now, so I'll use his YouTube videos for now. (You can pay quarterly instead, so I'll probably do that when I get paid again.) I also bought a book that he wrote. I bought a book with weight training for women over 50 that uses dumbbells, so I'll do that. (I have the beginnings of osteoporosis, so I want to get some weight training in.) I already have dumbbells. And I would be able to not pay for the gym then!

I've been craving a baguette. I'll stop by the grocery order on the way back from my training session, but they might be sold out by then.

Went to the Books for Prisoners orientation. I liked it and liked the volunteer coordinator. I had one easy request and one hard request. I made a list of types of books to donate to the program. And I volunteered to work at their book sale.

The store was out of baguettes, but I bought a garlic chicken sandwich and some focaccia bread. Oh wow, the focaccia bread is delish.

The dogs are out in the yard. Lily wants me to feed her, but not yet. I think that I’ll post. Tomorrow is an at-home day.

I forgot to mention that I got my new drill. Yay. I would like to put a metal sun on the side of my porch but need a drill for it. Plus the security cameras. Hmm. There is a thing that I think is a holder for a flag on the pole by the stairs. I kind of would like a peace flag.

Fed the beasts their crunchies, but the dogs flipped over Bella’s bowl. I’ll clean it up later.

Bella grabbed Gracie’s toy. Uh-oh. But Gracie was play-biting me a bit hard, and Bella swooped in to play with her. Thank you Bella.

I was trying to fall asleep but my mind wouldn’t shut off. Then I realized that I hadn’t taken my nighttime meds. The Olanzapine usually knocks me out. Got up and took them.

I overslept my alarm, and Gracie woke me up at 8:30 AM.

I scheduled my ultrasound, and it was scheduled out until May, so they don't seem to be too concerned.

I fed the cats. I gave Zara the Birdie and Louie food, and Lily abandoned her food to lick the B&L can. I think that I'm getting a clear message to feed them all the B&L food. I'll have to see if there's a chicken flavor too. (There is. Ordered.) I have a box and a half of the old food. I'll feed Oliver and Lily the half-box and switch them to the B&L food. I'll save the full box for my emergency stash of food, which I'm trying to accumulate.

Showered. Gracie STILL doesn't want to come in.

I finally got the dogs in at 3:30 PM! I grabbed a leash and the garage keys, but Bella ran out when I opened the door. They took the bait of running around the garage, and I closed the door, which confused Gracie enough to get a leash on her. I got her inside, but Bella didn't want to come in. I used treats to get Bella to come in. Whew.

I'm dragging, but I managed to finish a project at work. I need to stay awake through choir.

Hmm. I'm looking at a cheap bidet on Amazon. Eventually I want a heated bidet and toilet seat, but need to replace the toilet in the warm bathroom first. This is cold but will do for now. And it especially will help because I have IBS. I use a ton of toilet paper.

Choir went well. We don’t have rehearsal next week due to Spring Break.

Got us all fed. I need to wind down to get some sleep. Monday nights are always hard because I get home late and have been under florescent lighting.

I broke down and subscribed to the Wall Street Journal online because they have enough articles that interest me. And their newsletters! I subscribed to around 10 of them. They had a deal for $2 a week for a year. Then it gets expensive, but then I can decide if it's worth the cost.

Overslept until 8 AM. Took a fast shower.

My dental appointment went okay; the implant is healing well. We made an appointment for the impression for the crown after July 1 because that's a new fiscal year for my insurance.

I told Lily not to walk on my computer. Lily: I walk on anything and everything. Because I am a cat! Oliver keeps on sitting on my laptop. The joys of working with pets around.

Napped and overslept. Gracie has been out for three hours and still doesn't want to come in. Sigh.

My dad is saying that it seems likely that there will be a recession or depression this year. (I asked him what evidence he's seeing because I'm me and a lot like him.) I got some books on recessions.

Drat. The flight credit that I used for a trip to New York was today, but I managed to cancel it for a credit. I want to take a trip to New York in December.

Gracie finally decided to come in and everyone's fed.

I think that I want to take another nap after work. Overslept by only 20 minutes. Now I let the dogs out and are feeding myself and the critters. I keep having stomach cramps, ugh. Lily is fussing over me.

I’m thinking of just going to bed after my nighttime tasks and getting up early to do my French homework.

Fed us all. Bella started eating Gracie’s food after eating her own food, but I managed to distract her. Now it’s posting time.

I finally got into my Schwab account. Yes, I took a beating. But I bought more oil-related stocks because my dad says that they work well as a hedge. (They go up when other stocks go down and vice versa,)