days_unfolding

I went to Guest Services to close out my bill. It turned out that they owned me money. But then the rep started looking at my shore excursions. She’s trying to get mine canceled, which is nice, but no guarantees. So I wound up spending a fair amount of time there.

Woke up at 4 AM. Washed, packed, and breakfasted, and I am running early for my “immigration inspection “.

I was cooling my heels for 45 minutes while the port authority was looking at my documents and checking who knows what. I was finally cleared to leave and got my passport back. Then I almost left my purse in the bathroom. I’m tired.

The cruise rep did get my shore excursions canceled, though. The cruise people have been awesome.

This is the trip of great customer service. I’m at the Courtyard by Marriott near the airport in San Jose, Costa Rica. They found me a room even though I got here at 11 AM.

Crap. Mimi has a brain tumor. I just got the message that her vet left yesterday. I’m trying to reach her vet.

Conveniently, there is a Walmart next to the hotel. I got some soda and some empanadas.

I really want to nap, but I’m waiting for the vet to call.

I had a lengthy conversation with the vet. It's a large tumor near the cerebellum, and could wind up pressing on her brain stem "which would be catastrophic". He offered surgery, radiation treatments, or euthanasia. I said that I was thinking about euthanasia, but that I wanted to be there. He said okay, they will keep her comfortable until I get back.

I napped for five hours. I’m a little worried about getting up on time, although I have the zap alarm with me. No wake-up calls. I’ll take my shower tonight.

I think that I'll post and get ready for bed. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.

Got my clothes laid out for tomorrow morning.

Oh! My phone reminded me to sign Bella up for dog training! I’ll do that when I get back to my room (done).

Woke up spontaneously right before 4 AM. The transit begins at 6 AM. I thought that I’d be the only person up, but people are stirring.

I’m thinking about Mimi, and I’d be willing to fly back from Costa Rica (our next stop) if it can be arranged and she doesn’t have cancer. We’ll know more in a couple of days. The flight isn't even really expensive. I can hire a car to get me to the airport. At least I know that Mimi is getting the best of care. The U of I is a teaching hospital and one of the top veterinary schools in the country.

I'm going to take a bath (still haven't figured out the shower) and eat breakfast before heading to the bridge to watch the transit of the Panama Canal.

This is the only time on this trip that I’m going to see the sunrise :) It’s kind of spectacular. Fortified with a Continental Breakfast and tea. I’ll head to the bridge by 7 AM. Done. Snapping pictures. And the cruise photographers were out in force, asking if I wanted my picture taken. No, thank you; I don’t do selfies. We’re in the Gatun Locks. I had problems seeing because I was busy being short. Eventually, I gave up. Time for a second breakfast.

Hmm. I have reservations at the Pinnacle Grill, which is their hoity-toity steak house, for the last day. I’m wondering if I should make a reservation for tomorrow in case I leave the cruise in Costa Rica. No, I’m spending enough money on Mimi and getting back. Note to self: cancel the reservation.

We’ve entered Gatun Lake. Nothing interesting is supposed to happen for a couple of hours, so I’m going to grab a nap. Couldn’t sleep.

I’m 90 percent convinced that I should leave the cruise at Costa Rica. I’ll talk to Guest Services this afternoon and see how that would work and if they can arrange a car. I’d have to overnight in San Jose, Costa Rica, and take a Saturday flight out.

I didn’t expect the Panama Canal to be peaceful, but Gatun Lake is.

Had lunch. Yay, pizza to settle my stomach.

Went to Guest Services and told them that I need to get off the ship at Costa Rica due to a "family issue". (They don't need to know that it's my cat.) They said, "That's the next Port of Call," and I said, "Yes, that's kind of the point." They asked me if I had a flight and hotel, and I said No, that I wanted to talk to them first. They're contacting their documentation team (as in, visas and such), and they will call me back.

I'm thinking of a nice dip in the pool after all this gets settled.

Okkkay, it's been an hour. Did I flummox them? I can't be the only person who has had a family emergency and needed to leave the ship. Maybe it's an issue with Costa Rica? The following stop is in Guatemala two days after Costa Rica.

Got my swimsuit out. It's now been 1.5 hours. I'm giving them 0.5 hours and then I'm leaving my stateroom. I didn't come to the Panama Canal to be sitting in here.

Okay, it's a go. I can book my flight and hotel and provide the info to them about it. They'll see if they can arrange transportation to San Jose and will let me know. Booked the flight and hotel.

Oh wow. It suddenly became dark in here. We're in a lock and visibly going down. Then we went along the wall and then went back up.

Talked to Mimi's Neurology vet for a long time. He wanted a detailed history of her health. He said that she was doing well and walking around and even thought about jumping but decided against it. He said that the problems that she had been having walking, which freaked my pet sitter out, were likely due to her ears being flushed out for the infection. They're going to give her a CT scan tomorrow and will decide if she needs an MRI based on the results of the CT scan. I told them that I could pick her up on Sunday.

Okay, I’m squared away with the cruise line. They did arrange transportation for me and gave me a cash advance to pay for it. I know where to go on Friday. They’ve been great and they have my business.

And I’m hungry. I’m waiting impatiently for dinner. I’m so relieved that Mimi seems to be bouncing back.

Ate dinner and now I’m tired. Really tired. I need to cancel my flight from San Diego and the hotel in Chicago. (I might have to eat the cost of the hotel.) And provide some info to the airline for reentry to the US, although they took my passport.

I’m going to start calling Mimi my Million Dollar Baby :)

Got back to my room and had to go back to Guest Services to sign a form stating that I won't get a refund (I figured) and that I'm responsible for all costs after I get off the ship. Then they gave me a letter with the instructions for Friday, most of which I already had, but it's nice to have it in writing.

Canceled my flight from San Diego for a United credit. That's a long flight, so it'll be nice to have. The hotel in Chicago was non-refundable, but I asked if they could refund part of it anyway. In that case, I gave them the sob story about my cat. Maybe they're animal lovers. It won't break me if they say "No".

Will post and go back upstairs for my Coke Zero nightcap. Then I'll crash. They're having a recap of the Panama Canal transit at 9 AM, and I'd like to go to that. I took a zillion pictures, but I'm too tired to sort through them now. It's been a long, long day.

Oh crap. I lost my entire entry that I wrote in Google Keep. I can re-create the parts that I also posted to Facebook. I'll see what else I remember.

I think that I want to get a shoe bench with a top that flips up for storing hats, gloves, and scarves. I like this one.

My Web programming class went well. I'm really enjoying it.

Had a therapy session. We talked about motivation, and she suggested that I set natural deadlines for things. I commented that my singing and piano lessons will take place in the library room (I almost called it the "room that no one talks about," which was my mom's name for a room that she was using for storage) so that provides incentive to get those boxes out of there. She thinks that I should just hire someone to mow the lawn, so I'll look into it. I booked a lawn care appointment. They also treat the lawn and do aeration and overseeding, so I'm considering having that done too. I was going to do that myself, but it might be good to get help with it. I also booked a cleaner. I can spend the long weekend decluttering!

My therapist also was encouraging to take a trip over winter break. (I want to take a trip because I used to get together with my mom over the holidays.) Road Scholar has a trip to Costa Rica that I was eyeing, but it's kind of pricey. I previously had been thinking of a trip (not with Road Scholar) to New York City, which would be a little cheaper. I'd like to take the train to New York. Both depend on selling my mom's house, so we'll see.

I was the only student at yoga again today. My instructor seemed to enjoy having only one student and tried a bunch of new things and ran over time. I’m getting more limber, which is exciting. I’m still way less limber than the teacher, but still, progress. Next week is the beginning of the fall class, and I hope that she gets more students though.

Because I’m going to travel a lot, I bought a yearly travel insurance policy for cheaper than Road Scholar’s insurance, and it will cover my non-Road Scholar trips too. It’s probably better insurance too; people have complained about Road Scholar’s insurance. (Road Scholar trips are good though.)

Studied Italian.

Apparently my dad canceled his road trip due to COVID surges. (He hasn't had the vaccine.) I'm not sure where he was going to go, but New Mexico and Oklahoma were involved. Plus his computer crashed and had to be rebuilt.

Zara: "Hi Mommy! I want ALL the foods!" She ate Mimi's left over food and all of her own food.

Well, heck. I can't find my water squirt bottle anywhere. I have a blazer with wrinkles that needs spraying. I guess that I'll throw it in the dryer.

Olympia Dukakis has died. Bummer. I loved her in Moonstruck and Tales of the City. Which reminds me, I haven't seen Moonstruck in a while. It's one of my favorite movies.

I did check into a Knoxville-Chattanooga trip. If I want to stay downtown, and I do, I'd have to spend the big bucks. So not right now.

Got my lazy butt into the shower and ran out to water the garden and get mail. My spool cap and Costa Rica book were there. The book looks very interesting. I really would like to go to the Sloth Sanctuary, but the tours that I'm interested in don't go there.

Printed off homework, but I want to make dinner now. Made my pizza skillet--yum. Does anyone have an easy, low-cal recipe using chicken breasts? I have a bunch of them.

Talked to Mom. She sounds in better spirits than she has been. She's going to visit a friend in Western Michigan. Mom thinks that I should hold out for the longer Costa Rica trip. Mom was talking about eating sweets, and I brought out a lemon pound cake mix that I might make.

Mixed up the cake mix and put it in the oven. Now I'm tackling homework. My last assignments for this semester!

I woke up early and decided to go with it. That way, I'll get a nap before I go out. Threw in a load of laundry. Made the oatmeal with berries, and it was good and filling. Went to wash my hands because I had berry juice on them--and squirted soap in my eyes. Yikes. Got water all over me washing the soap off.

Zara seems to like the fish k/d food better than the chicken. So far, anyway. I spoke too soon. She's left some in her bowl. Sigh. Zara, I'm just trying to help you! Now she's eating more of it.

I studied some Italian.

Had a nice nap. It's a little disconcerting to eat lunch with a cat (Zara) watching your every move. Now she's loving me up because I make food appear. It must be magic.

I requested a quote on a Costa Rica vacation. And damn, I forgot to say that I'd be traveling alone.

I bankrupted myself at Joann Fabrics. In fact, I had to put some stuff back. My lunch bag is going to be black, purple, and white (matching the fabric that I'm using for the pockets). The drive to Peoria isn't bad. I'm thinking of flying out of there for my next trip. It's $100 more but free parking, so it's a wash. That won't work when I move to Champaign though.

Talked to Mom. She forgot to tell me that her phone wasn't working but I got her on her cell phone. She was in a cranky mood and very tired. My aunt is doing well though.

I ordered more sewing supplies from Amazon.com. I need to go get thread though from Walmart tomorrow. And I need to "preshrink" the fabric that I bought.

Oh, I got the Santorini book and a Greek phrase book.

Note to self: I have a discount code worth $150 off a Cost Saver trip.