days_unfolding

Oliver likes to sleep on my down coat. So I looked for a down cat bed, and there aren’t any. I found a plush self-heating bed that wasn’t too expensive and ordered it. We’ll see if he likes it. I also found a shag dog bed on Chewy, but it’s large.

Got up reluctantly at 6 AM. The problem with getting up early is that I want to go back to sleep. But I need to feed the cats first. I think that I forgot to give them their crunchies last night. I suck.

I’m not going back to sleep. I need to take a shower because I have a short lunch today.

Bella is being manic.

I rescheduled my lab visits so that I can wait until Sunday to jump-start the car. I have to brush off the cars today so that I don’t get a ticket.

The cold bathroom is COLD. (I think that it once was a porch that someone converted into a bathroom. There's very little insulation and the floor stays cold.) I almost didn't take a shower because I didn't want to take my pajamas off. And after the shower, I was chanting COLD COLD COLD as I got dressed. It's cold upstairs too, but I'm cranking the space heater. My dad said to close the bathroom door so that the heat vent heats only that room, but I have litter boxes in there, so I need to figure out what to do with them. There is a door hook thing that opens a door to let cats in but keep dogs out. I should look into that as a possible solution.

Note to self: Cabela's is where I got the wool socks. Cozy! I ordered some more compression and regular socks on Amazon, and I'll order wool socks later (done).

sunshine_two's passing has left me a little shaken up. She was two years younger than me. I wonder what happened to her dogs and cats. You never know, so I was thinking about my dogs and cats. I think that I'll contact Hospice Hearts (dog and cat shelter for pets whose human becomes incapacitated or passes away) and see if I can mention them in my will along with a hefty donation.

I have a short lunch because my 11:30 meeting ran long and I have a 1:00. Bella and Oliver are in my face; Bella for pets and because she’s lonely when I work upstairs (she won’t use the stairs), and Oliver because he’s hoping that I’ll feed him again. (Not.) Oliver and Gracie: We’d be happy to eat your food. Me: I bet you would.

Piano class went well. Nothing exciting to report. Zara was happy for the cuddle time.

I shut Oliver in the bathroom when I let the dogs in so that he doesn’t get out. There are other advantages. Lily can eat without him eating her food when he’s done with his, and I can feed Zara without Oliver bursting in there.

Gracie still has a scarcity mentality about food. She needs to clean up every scrap of food around. She was found in a park (probably dumped—people suck) and probably had to scrounge for food. I told her that she hasn’t missed many meals here, but she still worries.

I’m not going to fix the washer tonight because it’s gotten late due to my piano class. I have some black clothes that someone, probably Lily, got fur on. I’ll run them in the dryer along with some hand-washed underwear and socks.

I think that I’ll wait until lunchtime tomorrow to brush off the cars, even if I get a ticket. There’s a wind chill warning now through tomorrow morning.

I’ve been reading Pete Buttigieg’s autobiography. I thought that it would be dry, but he’s a good storyteller, plus the way that he built his career is fascinating. Recommended if you are interested in politics and like biographies. It’s called Shortest Way Home.

I've got the underwear and socks soaking in the sink. I grabbed out the wide sink plug that I take with me for traveling. It's very useful to make a good seal. So I'll post, give the cats and dogs their crunchies, put the clothes in the dryer, and go to bed.

Had my Italian lesson. She felt sorry for Oliver because I shut him in the bathroom, but he got upstairs last night, and I wanted to be able to close the gate. I'll feed them and let him out (done).

I'm very sleepy this morning. And cold. I'm glad that I remembered the Italian lesson last night though because a Monday holiday always throws me off.

It’s still cold. Took Bella out. There was a big leaf careening down the street. It went against the fence and she sniffed it cautiously. Then she was like, that’s enough. Let’s go in. LOL.

Napped at lunch with Bella. Bella thinks that it's too cold to go out, although she did pee but was grateful to go inside.

The shelter responded to my question about the poodle. I think that I'll leave it in the lap of the gods. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

I suck at small talk. I just signed up for a class in it (and avoided their upsell). Hmm, I chat with my Italian teacher okay, but come prepared. I need a list of topics to talk about.

I keep getting emails about upgrading my bathroom, but I don't think that I'll be able to do it this year.

Did I say that I was tired? I think that it should be an early night.

I ordered dog food for delivery from Costco. The delivery fee is only $3, which is worth it for me. I’m not sure about cat food. Zara is so particular about her food, but Oliver and Lily will probably eat anything. Okay, I’m going to try some Wellness cat food. It’ll get eaten one way or another.

I’m going to gather garbage tonight, but I think that it’s too cold to take the can out. My face and hands have been hurting when I take Bella out. Bella wanted to go out again. She got distracted because the Amazon guy brought packages up the stairs—she’s a really good tracker and probably part hunting dog—but she finally did poop. I can’t blame her too much because it is really cold (0F/-18C and windy and miserable).

Ate dinner. I’m going to lie down for a few minutes under a warm blanket.

I read some about blue heelers, which is part of Bella’s heritage, and they like to stay with their humans (true) and get destructive when bored (hmm?) I just bought her a puzzle toy to pique her interest.

I got the can organizers from Amazon. Maybe I’ll get up early and make tea and work with them.

Ugh. I’m feeling cold inside of me. I’m thinking of just going to bed. Tomorrow, it’s supposed to go up to 25F/-4C. A heat wave!

I’ve been in the bed long enough for it to really heat me up. Plus, I have a dog next to me :) I hate to get up, but I need to post and take Bella out one more time.

Remembered to get my St. Lucia magnet out of my backpack and put it on the refrigerator. I like seeing it.

I had some problems falling asleep because my legs were cramping. I got up and had some oatmeal. It worked; I fell asleep. Woke up this morning briefly around 9 AM but fell back asleep. Woke up at noon!

I found a good bargain-hunting Web site. It’s called Unclaimed Baggage. It’s the contents of lost luggage that never was claimed. I’m eyeing a Kate Spade crossbody purse.

The problem with making the coffee is that I need to be awake enough to make the coffee. (Yes, there is a timer, but one thing at a time.) Suckage. The coffee maker is missing the water reservoir. I can order a new one, but I’m SOL for now. I have another coffee maker…somewhere. More incentive to go through boxes. Oh! I have enough cash to get a few bottles of caffeinated soda. I found a half-bottle of caffeinated soda. It’ll get me going. Hmm, I think that the water reservoir might be in another plastic box? Maybe? I’ll look for it. Haven’t found it so far.

Lay down for a nap. Zara took a whiff of me and ran away. I don’t think that I smell THAT bad :) Napped.

I’m out of lunch food, so I made some soup.

Finally dragged my lazy butt to the shower. It was cold in the cold bathroom. I’m now reverting to my childhood and am lying under the covers with my clothes on to warm them up.

Next Door keeps warning of broken water mains in various places yesterday and today. Given how cold it is (25F, -4 C /18F, -8C wind chill), that could be a problem. Man, I wish that I was in Italy right now. Or the Caribbean.

I don’t want to go out in the cold darkness. Somehow cold seems colder at night. (Well, technically, usually it is.) I’ll drink Earl Grey tea in the morning and go to Walmart earlier.

I’m working on the library room. I’m getting overwhelmed with all my clothes. I started on clothes and went to practice piano. Finished a box of clothes and blankets. My count now is four bags of stuff to donate and some stuff to throw out. I still think that I have too many clothes though. Posted some dumbbells on Buy Nothing.

I think that I’m going to eat dinner (my day is all turned around because I slept so late), post, and wend my way towards bed.

Mimi sez, "Mommy, you haven't been spending enough time upstairs with me on your lap." I said, "Yes, Mimi, it's a holiday." She doesn't like holidays. She wants me to work so she can sit on my lap!

Today was errand day. I wore a jacket instead of a coat because my coat was in the wash. The jacket itself was pretty warm, but the wind was fierce. It felt a lot colder than it was (37F). During my errands, a woman was talking to me about how cold it was, and that they were predicting snow this weekend. Ugh.

Had a permanent crown put in at the dentist, got some cash for my Chicago trip next week, did grocery shopping, and stopped by AT&T, where they told me to call customer service. Bah.

Harlee is NOT pleased that I was gone.

Food, then cleaning.

I had thought that my stupid cold was going away, but it came roaring back with a vengeance. My boss, who isn't very observant about such things, asked me if I had a cold. I said that I was getting over a cold, and she said "Ew," which I hope was a sympathetic "Ew," and not "Get away from me!" I do hope that I'm not going to give them my cold.

I made a dumb mistake yesterday that is going to make my boss and the front desk worker redo some work. I apologized, and they were gracious about it.

The Internet was down when I went to dinner, but it was back up when I came back. I was wondering if this day was going to be a new low in productivity.

I felt like I needed to lie down several times tonight. I just fed the girls, but I need to do the dishes and take out the garbage. Then I think that I'll crash early, and see how I feel in the morning. I hate to slow the conversion project down when I was gone last week.

I ran out of Harlee's canned food, so I fed her some Soulistic canned food. She loved it, and licked the bowl clean. Anything that gets Harlee to really chow down is good because she's really thin. She seems to have digested it okay. However, Amazon is charging over $4 a can for it. No. Petco has it cheaper. If I feel up to it, I'm going to make a run to Petco this weekend to pick some up and see what flavors she likes.