days_unfolding

I overslept, so I need to jam. I got everything done except the bedroom. I'll clean it myself.

Lily was playing with a ball, so I gave Oliver one. So Lily started playing with the one that I gave to Oliver. Cats!

My cleaner is here. Yay! She likes the new-to-her kitties and dog. She found a leak in the toilet, sigh. It probably needs replacing. I need to get a plumber in here also because the faucet in that bathroom is dripping. She says that she gets endorphins from cleaning. I'm the exact opposite. I'm able to walk right by a mess and not "see" it. When I'm cleaning, my back starts hurting and I'm done. She recommended Mrs. Meyers for non-toxic cleaning.

This is great though. Because it's going to rain, I'll get the bedroom and upstairs done and mop the living room floor. Then I'll need to get a carpet cleaner in for the upstairs, but that might have to wait until after my conference trip.

I’m telling Bella that the house looks nicer without shredded toilet paper and paper towels, but she stole the napkin on my lap while I was eating dinner, so I think that she’s not convinced. Now Bella is chewing a stick and getting wood splinters all over the nice clean floor. But I’d rather that she chew that instead of my stuff.

The trust said that they thought that the check would be ready on Tuesday.

Got the forms in for doggie day care.

Okay. Quince has an outfit that I want for the flight. A linen tank top, pants, and blazer in "driftwood" (ecruish). I could wear it to church too when I start going.

At the doctor’s office. I got a blood test that I had been putting off beforehand. The doctor is running really late. And I have stomach cramps. I finally saw the doctor, and she asked me why I was there, and I said, "Because you had me set up a follow-up appointment!" We did talk about my impacted ear wax, and she told me to use Debrox and come back, and they'll have a nurse irrigate my ear.

I’m completely wiped out. I’m thinking of going to bed extremely early. I need to run to the library tomorrow along with planting the bare root ferns.

I discovered where Oliver likes to nap—on one of the chairs in the kitchen. When the chair is pushed in, I can’t see him.

Got us all fed. Noodled around on the Internet. I'm going to feed the beasties and crash.

Overslept but still managed to shower. I had thought about going back to sleep for a 1/2 hour, but managed to get my butt in the shower instead. Go me :)

Things are coming together nicely. My cleaner is supposed to come on Friday, but I thought that I had an offsite meeting, but that's the following week.

I put the plants that I wanted on a credit card. I didn't get the lilacs because they were a petite variety. I have to pick them up the weekend of May 2nd. Now I’m second-guessing myself on the lilacs. The fence will be six feet, and the lilacs will be four feet. Not sure how that would work.

Oliver likes sitting at the top of the stairs to the upstairs room. That way, he can see what's going on both upstairs and downstairs. My watch cat!

Hmm. I should make arrangements to board Bella and Oliver when I'll be at a conference in May. I'm leaving on Sunday, but I think that the vet is closed on Saturday. I guess that I'll have to drop them off on Friday.

Sigh. Another frost advisory.

The university is sending almost daily updates on the impact of Trump's cuts. Sigh again. These are the Days of Sighs.

My broken-and-healed toe is hurting again. Why? Another sigh.

I should call Schwab to get the ball rolling with transferring my money. Speaking of Schwab, I found some tools that they have to learn about stock trading.

Hmm. I found a travel set that I like, but they don't have petites. Should I buy it and get it altered? It would be good for the flight to Italy. I'm itching to go shopping. Come on, trust check. They also had shorts-and-top combos that I like. Talbots has a petite set that I like.

I should set a Google Flights alert on my flights to Sardinia. I want to use my United credit for my flights to San Diego for the cruise.

Damn, I really want to go on the "Orient Express" trip that the meetup people are arranging in 2026. It goes to Paris, Venice, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, and Istanbul. I'd have to cancel the Costa Rica trip though. If I do that, I should brush up on my French. I found the price information and both it and the trip to Japan are expensive. Japan: $6810 single occupancy. Airfare: $1300 - 1900. Orient Express: $7090 single occupancy. But probably worth it. The flights to Paris and from Istanbul would add around $1000.

Ugh. Lily hasn't learned that if she sticks her claws in my leg, it hurts. I need to get her claws clipped.

Started laundry. Filed my taxes. I should get the garbage out, but damn, my toes hurt. Maybe I'll wait a few minutes to let the acetaminophen kick in. I guess that I'll post. Oh, and get new computer wallpaper for the places that I want to go.

No one is as happy as a dog with a stick. Bella rolls around on her back with the stick in her mouth. I told her that she’s a goofball with no sense of dignity whatsoever :)

Overslept and got up a little before 8 AM. There’s a freeze warning tonight. I wonder what I did with the drop cloth.

I have a meeting for which I need to be on camera, so I ran downstairs to throw on some clothes and slap on some makeup. Good thing that our meetings are virtual so no one can smell me. It was interesting putting on makeup with a cat (Oliver) on my shoulder.

Things are stacking up at work. I asked a colleague for some tips on handling multiple projects, and he had some good suggestions. I’ve got different to-do lists set up for each project.

The car being fixed (Kia) is ready. I told them that I couldn't come this afternoon (because I hadn't taken a shower), but I would come on Monday morning. I need to order The Club ASAP (done--it'll arrive on Sunday). And the security cameras as soon as I can.

i don't know why the toe that I previously broke and healed is hurting me.

I'm looking for lightweight travel pants for my trip. Someday I'll get my travel clothes totally together. My mom had a set of clothes that she just used for travel. Maybe some gauze pants and a shirt? I'm thinking of going in mid-to-late August, so it's going to be hot. I found a nice, light dress too. I like the blue and white stripes, but they have wrinkle-resistant navy and black styles that might be better for traveling. Actually, I really like this dress in denim blue.

Bella is being a little dickens tonight. First, she dug up one of the plants from my garden. Then she knocked down the box of the cats’ canned food and tried to steal the cans.

Got us all fed with a break for getting cat food cans away from Bella. (She’s no longer running around with one in her mouth, so I guess that I got them all.)

I went around the yard with my plant identifier, and there are a ton of resurrection lilies. I need to move some of them by the street because they’re where the garage is going. I might give some away too. I also need to move the daffodils and want to move the day lilies.

I have a headache, so I’m going to lie down for an hour and then shower to run errands.

Woke up a little before 1 AM. So much for my errands. I’ll go in the morning. Crud, I need to cover the plants.

Hmm. It occurred to me that I could plan a quieter, gentler trip to Italy. Maybe I could go to Sardinia, stay in Cagliari, poke around, and go to the beach. I’m doing some research. I found a hotel that I like. Maybe I could do Italian language lessons? I think that there is a language school there? Language school I'm trying to find out how I'd get there. It looks like I'd need to fly to Rome and then take another flight to Sardinia. Excellent. The language school is a 10 minute bus ride from the hotel. I found a guidebook to Sardinia too. The weather is still good in Sardinia in September. I found a good flight too. (Apparently the more direct route is to fly to another European city, in this case Munich, and then get a flight from that city to Sardinia. I saw another route that had four flights! No!) I found a store that sells linen clothes that I’d like to check out.

Got up at 6:30 AM. The Kia is still here, so I need to stay up. Maybe I’ll start work early.

I found a place that sells astilbe (the bare-root plants that Bella has been digging up) in pots. Not cheap though.

I rescheduled my massage appointment to later this month. My membership renewal is upcoming, so I didn’t know if the massage would be paid for. Plus, I can just come home after the protest. I need to figure out where I can park for the protest. Okay, I have a plan.

They picked up the Kia. Apparently, I was supposed to leave the keys in the car, but they didn't tell me that.

I talked to the people who have Mimi's ashes, and I made arrangements to take 1/2 a vacation day on Wednesday to go get them in Bloomington (about an hour from here).

Got my food delivered.

Overslept my nap. I am so freaking tired.

Here comes a storm. Urgh, the weather will be lousy for the protest tomorrow.

Hmm. Holland America wants to "help" me book my flights. I wonder if they would book it earlier than the cruise starts.

I took Bella outside, and she wanted to come in right away after she peed. I told her that she wouldn’t like it out! It’s pouring now. And there’s thunder and lightning.

Someone on Facebook posted a protest sign, “You know things are bad when librarians start protesting”. Totally stealing that.

Apparently, the car repair place called for me to come sign an authorization. I didn’t get the message until after they closed though, so I’ll go on Monday morning.

Napped and woke up at 11:30 PM. Oliver had snuck in and was biting my leg. He was hungry. All right then. Bella was playing in the mud outside. :(

I’m too groggy to make my protest sign now, so I’ll get up early to do it.

Ugh. Bella got a big smear of mud on my jeans. And I want to wash them to wear tomorrow.

I’m in the stateroom with a cup of tea, waiting for the vet to open. I thought that they opened at 7AM, but it’s at 7:30. The tea is good. Love Earl Grey.

The pet sitter found Lily! I called the vet about Mimi and left a message. Now the pet sitter is saying “Don’t come back.” She’ll get Mimi to the vet. Talked to the vet and they said to bring her in.

Ye gods, I am tired.

Excellent French Toast for breakfast. I bought the Holland America jacket (it isn’t a hoodie) and it looks very nice (as well it should for what I paid for it). I also bought a plastic glass and metal water bottle.

I napped for a half-hour. Then I went to a burger and hot dog “stand” near one of the pools. The food was good, but I didn’t realize that it didn’t have a bun! I might try their hot dogs another day.

I’m trying to figure out what to do now. There is a library area mid-ship, and it might be a nice place to sit and read. Though I don’t know how thrilled the people there would be with my getting a phone call. Maybe I’ll read in my stateroom.

The sea is kind of choppy today, but I must be getting used to it. Walking in the cafeteria was kind of interesting.

Read a little. Dozed a little. My kind of day.

Connected with the vet after some phone issues. Mimi has a bad ear infection which *might* be causing her balance issues, so they are going to treat it. They’re also worried about a possible neurological issue, so if treating the ear infection doesn’t work, they want to transfer her to the U of I for them to take a look with their MRI machine.

Hmm. Something interesting. I’m not getting headaches on this cruise (although I bought some Tylenol just in case). Less time on a computer? Something else?

Crud. I didn’t bring my swim goggles. I have to limit my eyes’ time in the pool.

I’m debating going on the shore excursion tomorrow. I have no real interest in Cartagena. And I’m enjoying my laziness. The places that I really want to go to are later in the trip: Costa Rica, Puerto Vallarta…and of course, transiting the Panama Canal. I always wondered why people took those long trips with many days at sea. Now I get it. It’s like staying at a luxury resort.

Maybe I could go to the fitness center tomorrow. Though walking the track (where’s the track?) would be good too. There doesn’t appear to be a track.

My feet are now sandal-ready. The manicure/pedicure technician took a lot of time working on my feet, and they have never looked better. I need to have a pedicure periodically because I have trouble getting my toenails short enough. I also got a manicure because as long as I was there, I might as well. The only down side is that most of their nail polish was for gel manicures. I’ve tried to get a gel manicure off and no. That was a nightmare.

I thought that dinner was until 9 PM, but it was until 8. So I just ordered room service. They told me that my Coke Zero wasn't covered under the drinks package--Fine, fine, just give me the food. I get testy when I get hungry.

So now I wait (and post).

l copied off some music to take with me on the trip. I found an online virtual piano that I can use to help me.

Tried on my new pair of white jeans and some shorts. I’ll pack them tomorrow morning.

My “shock clock” is charging. It’s made in Canada, so I’m giving some money to our friends up north.

Overslept a touch, but got up early. It’s quiet outside. People must be sleeping in. No, I didn’t oversleep. My alarm went off after I got up. Fed us all. Napped.

Lily was playing with a q-tip. Oliver had to see what she was doing. And then Bella ran at them both. I’m telling Bella to chill, but she’s manic. Bella was barking at Lily and Oliver, who were wrestling. Everyone wanted my Lean Cuisine pizza. Okay, they seem to have settled down :) Now Lily is chasing Oliver.

Oh crud, I forgot to do my music theory homework. After my shower, I guess.

Bought extra chargers so I won’t have to grab them at the last minute.

Had my voice lesson. It went well, and I have some exercises to work on while I’m gone. Zara falls asleep when I sing. Aww :) (My singing teacher is in Canada too.) Here comes Zara.

I discovered the glories of Costco. I got my membership card. I bought my pet supplies, plus some cereal and munchies (their raspberry cheesecake bites are to die for). And I fell in love with a gray cat tree in which the platforms look like leaves. That would be perfect for my bedroom, so I bought it. I got a Costco hot dog and soda too. Then I returned my jeans at Staples and bought scissors and tape to put in my suitcase to attach the cruise luggage tag when I arrive in Miami. And I forgot to get big plastic bags for dog and cat food. Maybe I could use kitchen garbage bags.

I'm tired. I might be dehydrated, so I need to drink some water. I think that I'll work on packing after I finish feeding the hordes. Then I'll go to bed early and get up early. (This is a good time to test the "Shock Clock".)

As long as I'm upstairs, I'll post, though Mimi says that I should pet her instead.

I put a date on my calendar to plant sunflowers, coneflowers, and zinnias. Probably wildflowers too.

Bella had the three-times-daily frustration called “The cats are eating!” I said, “Bella, that’s CAT food. It’s for CATS. You are not a CAT.” She thinks that she still should get their food.

Woke up around 10 AM. Measured my gardens with some help (not!) from Bella.

Got my grocery order. Lily was eating the crumbs from my turnover. Filled Mimi's fountain. Fed us all.

Ordered a boatload of seeds and plants. It's exciting!

I need to figure out what song to work on for singing lessons.

Amazon needs better UX people. When I set an alarm for my Echo Spot, there is a large button at the bottom to delete the alarm and a small link at the top right to save it. I press the damn delete button all the time. I wonder if they did usability studies.

Napped. It just occurred to me that I can’t plant flowers along the fence because I’m replacing the fence. I’ll have to do something else with them. I could plant the zinnias under the tree in the front yard.

I told Oliver that we have our own orange menace, and that would be him :) He did sit nicely on my lap for a couple of minutes, but then he started biting. He is now in the food box and Bella is whining because she can’t reach him.

Hmm. Now I’m wondering if I should board Oliver while I’m gone because he’ll try to get out.

I have to remember to sign Bella up for training. Ugh. Registration starts while I’m gone. I’ll put a reminder on my calendar and hope that I’ll check it. I’ll try a pop-up reminder too.

I have to check-in for my cruise, which means that I need to clear a credit card. I also need to book the bus to O’Hare and my Miami tour.

I have a boatload of things to do today, so I should get into the shower soon. I have my meeting with the life coach. And I need to work on the kitchen. And practice singing and piano. (Zara will like that.) And start packing.

I was wondering when to start shaving my legs for the trip when I remembered that I have a massage next Saturday. I’ll do it before the massage.

Oliver knocked over my donuts and turnovers. I’m now missing a turnover. Bella has it. Chaos central :)

I ordered more blue socks. I have a million black pairs, but the blue ones are MIA. I was looking for a pair of white jeans. I couldn’t find one in my size in Gloria Vanderbilt, but Woman Within has a pair that I’ll try.

I took a shower without “help”. It was very nice. Now I need to feed the critters.

I ordered the white jeans in two different sizes to see which fits better.

I'm now checked into the cruise. Paid my credit cards. Oh, I need to find the first hotel that I booked for Miami and cancel it (done). Booked the bus. I'm trying to book a hotel in Chicago on my trip back, but the Web site is being wonky. I tried another browser and it worked. Booked the Art Deco tour in South Beach.

Had my session with the life coach. She thinks that I should get someone to help me move some of the stuff out of the living room to the storage shed and upstairs, so I'll post on NextDoor to ask if someone has a kid who would like to make some money. I also will put quiet time on my phone during the evenings to keep me from scrolling. (I could go upstairs to log onto the Web, but that takes more effort.)

Now I'll take Bella out, eat dinner, and do some cleaning and practice singing and piano before I go to sleep. Mimi is whining because she doesn't want to get off of my lap.

It’s miserable out—a mix of freezing rain and snow. Even Bella agrees. I’m thawing. I hope that the roads are okay for my errands tomorrow.

The food has knocked me out. I’ve started the nighttime feeding process, although I also soaked a litter box. It would be good to get up early to run errands earlier.

I forgot to do laundry today. I guess that I start work in my pajamas. I can sleep a little later in that case.

I’ve been using the electric toothbrush and WaterPik. I wind up dousing the mirror with the WaterPik, but my teeth do feel squeaky clean.

Woke up at 7:30 AM. The puppy was sleepy but got up. Now she has her squeaky ball. I’m trying to wake up and warm up.

Submitted a Walmart order. My membership in Walmart+ has really paid off.

Oliver was up on the “kitty highway“ above the cabinets. Bella was looking at him like, what are you doing up there? Now she’s chasing the youngsters. It’s a zoo here. I told her that I was told that she was chill. She’s not acting like it :)

Got the clothes in the dryer.

Hmm. There is a “new to CU” mixer in February. Also, Hospice Hearts (the organization that takes care of pets when their owner is sick or dies) is looking for volunteers. I might join. I could do pet transport and work adoption events on the weekend. Hmm, I wonder if I should foster a dog? That would get Bella a friend but I could give it back :) But the dog would need to like cats. Maybe not.

Oy vey. Oliver ate some of Lily's wet food. I gave her some dry food, and he knocked into it and spilled it. I threw my hands up. At least, she got SOME food in her.

I was pondering on how to set up Mimi when I'm gone in March. I might take the gate down so that she can get water if something happens with the pet sitter. Better to deal with Oliver than no water. Yeah, I worry.

Bella is being manic. She’s been squishing Oliver, which he doesn’t like. I told her to cut it out and that I wouldn’t like it either. I’m worried because he’s crying out and she could hurt him.

Napped over lunch. The puppy is still dozing.

The ladder is here. It's tall enough that I should be able to change light bulbs in the living room. And the light in the cold bathroom, which is why I bought it. The critters are like, what is THAT? I also got the binder for my piano music. I forgot to get sheet protectors, so I ordered some from Amazon. And I got my Google Home speaker, so I'm going to set it up and play Bach while I excavate the kitchen.

Mimi has been picking at her food. I wonder if I could ask the vet for an appetite stimulant. She must have heard my thought because she went over to nose at the food.

Bella lay down in the yard to chew on a big stick, so she clearly thinks that it's warm. I talked her into coming inside though.

Hmm. I saw susandennis' post mentioning yoga pants with pockets, and I thought, oh that would be good. But I wear petites. But I found some on Amazon. Excellent.

I want to get Bella one of those round fluffy faux fur beds, but they're kind of expensive. They have them on Amazon though. I would like one myself! They sell small ones for cats too, but I was going to get the cats heated beds. But Oliver would like one because he's been sleeping on the folded faux fur rug from the bedroom.

Now Mimi is seriously eating. Good. And drinking.

Fed the poochka. Now I’m working on the cats (done).

Hmm. I want some white plastic baskets to organize pet stuff. I need to go to Dollar Tree and see what they have.

Got my Google Home speaker set up. It’s a lot easier than Echo Dot. The sound is better too. I decided to play classic rock.

I’ve got 2/3rds of the kitchen floor done. (Yes, it was trashed.) I also soaked and filled a litter box and scooped litter boxes. I need to take out the garbage and recycling. I’m planning to get up early to do more and drag the recycling to the curb.

I’m also planning to fill the fish tank and turn on the heater and filter. Then I’ll post and go to bed. I got a lot done tonight though. The music helped. My goal is to clean the kitchen and bathrooms this weekend. Oh, I forgot to mention that I got the hamper today too. I want to get it set up this weekend too.

Oh crap. The water bucket is in the bathroom with Oliver. I guess that I’ll fill the tank in the morning.

Did dishes. Fed the cats. I had a hard time keeping Bella from eating Lily’s food. And Bella and Oliver charged into Zara’s room. I have to hand it to Zara. Bella kind of got in Zara's face, and Zara went Wap! Wap! Wap! across Bella’s nose. That was gutsy.

More crap. Bella completely chewed up one of my shoes. And now she’s going into the cats’ litter box and digging. She scattered litter all over the floor. I’m feeling annoyed with her and Oliver. I need to get to bed and sleep it off.

Woke up at 7:30 AM. It’s a dark and gloomy day. Showered and put on fresh pajamas as a compromise for this probably short day. The new pajamas are very cozy.

Quiet at work. I'm discussing aquariums, dogs, and cats with my friend/colleague.

Yeah, we'll be out at 2.

Hmm, I'm looking at some magnetic cord clips on Amazon. I still need to get the cords on my bedside table organized.

Yay, I'm on vacation! Nap time! I’m actually not that sleepy, so I got up. I got the lockbox set up and put on my back door. (I don’t usually come in that way, but it might change when I have the garage built.)

I got the aquarium vacuumed out and washed, but I need an algae scraper to get some algae off. I have one on order, but I need one now because I want to get the fish tank upstairs. Meijer has one. They also were having a sale in which if you spent $50, you get $10 off, so I bought a ton of cat litter as well (plus I needed a large enough order for delivery). It will get used.

I decided to clean out the refrigerator, which was sorely needed. I got a big garbage bag of stuff to throw out. I couldn’t find the salmon for the salmon chowder, so I ordered some from Walmart along with extra cat food. I forgot that I have a bottle of mimosa, so I might drink it for New Year’s Eve. Or not because I’ve had it for a long time. Okay, I’ve got the algae scraper, but now I’m in the middle of cleaning the fridge. Got the salmon. I can make Salmon Chowder tomorrow. The fridge is cleaned out and restocked and hey, there’s room in there. I’m taking a break, and then I’ll sweep the floor by the refrigerator and get the garbage out and do dishes.

I’m running out of steam though, so I might save finishing the aquarium until tomorrow morning.

I’m going to try a new cat litter made out of wood shavings. We’ll see how the girls like it. It’s more sustainable, biodegradable, and supposedly smells nice. (Yes, I know to add it to the old litter over time.)

Okay, I'm officially wiped out. Time to feed the girls, change back into my pajamas, and go to bed.

Overslept a little but made it into the shower. Got the recycling out. I'm so sleepy. Scrambled at lunchtime to put makeup on because I needed to be on camera for a meeting. (I'll have to do so tomorrow too.)

Mimi is giving me the cat pep talk (“Get your shit together and feed me.”)

I’m having IBS symptoms. Not a fun day.

I found a Panama Canal cruise in 2026 that I like. It starts from Panama, transits the Canal, and then goes to the "ABC" islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao). It ends in Miami, which I'd also like to see. Maybe I should book it. Oh, apparently I didn't check the singles rate, and it's going to be too expensive. Maybe I do need to take Celebrity again. Sigh. It is much more reasonable. I'm also looking at Holland America. Oh wow. Holland America has a reduced fare one for March of next year. It's quite reasonable. It also stops in Puerto Vallarta, which I'd like to see. I'd have to skip the St. Lucia trip though. There also is a Bermuda cruise in 2026. It ends in San Juan, so I'd get a chance to see what I missed there. But do I want to book two cruises in one year?

Maybe next year I should go to St. Lucia and Italy? (No, see above.) I asked the St. Lucia guide if there would be time to go shopping in Castries (I think that there is a large market there), and she said, "Yes, there is free time". So I just need to decide whether to book it or not. Hmm. I'm looking at flights to St. Lucia and they have either short connections or very long connections. Chicago to St. Lucia is not a popular route for the airlines :) I’ll sleep on deciding but I think that I’m going to do it.

Okay, now I'm thinking: 2025: Panama Canal cruise and Italy (Amalfi Coast). 2026: St. Lucia and Italy (The Lake District). Or do I want to go to Paris in 2026?

Urgh. I need to get my Christmas cards out.

Some serious snow is coming down. Okay, it stopped with some accumulation, but not enough to have to dig out. Good. I have some errands to run, but I think that I will wait until daylight tomorrow.

I received a really cool-looking and cozy set of pajamas (you could wear them with people over). I can't link to it because it seems to have been taken down off the Web site. Here they are.

I also received a ton of my new diet cookbooks. I just realized that I don't have tape flags to mark recipes, but I have some Post-It notes. Well, I just found tape flags. There are some interesting recipes. I'm kind of looking forward to cooking and "eating clean". There are some dessert-types of food too, such as chia pudding and rice pudding and yogurt with toppings. And the recipes that I've looked at so far emphasize protein. (It's Prevention's 28-Day Get Lean Diet for Women Over 40. The Skinny Taste Cookbook looks less interesting. Oh well, I can sell any cookbooks that I'm not thrilled with.)

I have to go get cash so that I can buy things off of Facebook Marketplace.

Hmm. I didn’t find a sparkly top for caroling, but I found a black top with gold, blue, and purple splotches plus a black velvet blazer that I would wear with black pants. It’ll do.

Lay down and dozed for a few minutes, then woke up. I need to practice piano and work on the kitchen. Now I’m thinking eat something, practice piano, go to bed, and get up early to clean.