days_unfolding

Got the letter ready to send about my student loans. I need to get up early and mail it.

Woke up at 6:15 AM. Because I need to mail the letter, I decided to get up. I think that I want to go back to sleep though. I’ll mail the letter tonight.

One of my coral bells is missing? WTF?

Do I want to take a flower-arranging class? In a couple of weeks, there's one at the place where I picked up the plants yesterday.

It's raining again.

I really want to take a nap.

Found the coral bell. Someone (Bella?) dug it up. I put it in a planter until I can replant it. I want to get more irises for the garden. They should be planted in fall, not spring though. I read an article that says that spring is okay.

I found a podcast from The Atlantic: How to Age Up. It would be good to listen to while I'm cleaning. I also found a senior living place in the area that sounds interesting: ClarkLindsey. I'm also looking at Evanston, my home town. There's a place called The Clare in downtown Chicago that sounds wonderful, but I get the feeling that it costs megabucks.

I bought some investment books. I'm buying used books at ThriftBooks. They have most books at a discount. Bought some irises.

Fed us all. Ran out to mail the letter.

I bought the Roam Luggage at which I had been looking. I wound up with Aspen (light gray with white trim) instead of London (black with tan trim) because I wanted something that would be easy to spot in a baggage claim.

Booked my hotel before the cruise and the flights. I splurged a little and got Economy Plus seats. And I booked the Hilton that's across the street from O'Hare Airport for ease of traveling. (I'll need to come up on Christmas Eve and stay over through my flight on Christmas.) The room has a view of the runway! And I booked a nice hotel in San Diego. I won't book the Sardinia trip until I check the dates with my boss, who is at the conference right now.

Heck. I'm hungry. I'll post and have some oatmeal. Then I'll fill some litter boxes and go to bed.

I found the itineraries for the Japan and Orient Express trips. The Orient Express trip still excites me; Japan not as much. They both are long trips, so I can’t take both of them and I should take a shorter trip as a second trip in the spring or summer next year. I'll look for a shorter cruise. Okay, I like this cruise. Or I could go to Bermuda on another cruise line.

One of the little plastic cat ball toys rolled down the stairs, and Bella chewed it into pieces. Once I get the check from the trust, I will subscribe to plastic cat ball toys if I can. They will get used and abused.

Woke up at 8:30 AM.

I got my blood test results, and my vitamin D and B12 levels are normal. That’s not why I’m so tired.

It’s raining lightly. Oh good, the rain will stop in the afternoon.

I’m using the MediSafe app recommended by bill_schubert. I think that it will be helpful. Notifications are off though, and I need to turn them on.

Crap. The doggie day care is full two of the days. Now what? Called and left a message at another place. There also is a third place, but it’s out of town and not convenient. The place that I called wants to do an evaluation on Thursday, so they couldn’t do Wednesday.

I really feel like going back to sleep. I’ll skip going to the library and go on Monday.

Bella already has a small pile of crap that she’s found to play with in the kitchen. I need to get after it with a broom while it’s still small.

Hmm. I’m looking at urns for Mimi, but nothing is saying ”Mimi” to me. Etsy has some that are painted to look like the cat, which I like.

Oliver came over for snuggles, and Bella promptly jumped on my lap. Jealousy….Later, Bella was about to poop on the kitchen floor, and I hussled her butt outside.

Well, took a shower anyway. I’m dragging. I was going to watch a movie, but my Hulu account is on hold because they can’t charge my credit card. I don’t want to use another card because I need to pay for Bella’s doggie day care. Netflix is hosed too. Okay, I’ve already paid for episodes of The Golden Girls. Watched a couple of episodes.

Now I'm going to feed the hordes and crash.

I was trying to fall asleep when I heard someone outside. Bella heard the person too and made some sounds like a mix between a bark and a yip. I went to the door, turned the porch light on, and looked, but didn’t see anyone. I left the porch light on.

I was having problems sleeping, so I got up again and made some oatmeal.

Got up with my alarm at 7 AM. I stepped into cat vomit on the stairs when I went up to work, sigh.

I took Psychology Today's depression screener and it came back as "Some signs of clinical depression".

The Bermuda cruise isn't quite as cheap as I thought because I forgot the single supplement fee. Still not really expensive though. I need to make a decision about going to Italy instead. (Italy won't be a relaxing trip, but go-go-go. I need to decide if I'm up for it.)

The cats are being subdued today. I wonder what's wrong :)

Son of a bitch! Someone smashed my car window last night. Bella and I heard some people outside late last night, and I bet they had something to do with it. I didn’t have anything valuable in the car at least. I was going to take Bella to dog training class when I discovered it, but I need to call the insurance company. At least, I can get most of the money for the class if I drop right now. And it’s supposed to rain. I have a plastic drop cloth that I could tape onto the window. Did I say son of a bitch? Called in the claim. They said that if I drive the car over to the glass place tomorrow, they can vacuum up the glass and put some sort of shield over the window. The appointment to replace the glass is next Tuesday.

I want to get my garage built sooner rather than later.

Oh, and there was another tornado warning while I was dealing with the car.

Gathered my recycling, but I'm waiting for the rain to stop before taking it out. So I'm posting :) I want to get to bed early and get up early to call the glass place and go over there.

I had problems falling asleep, so I watched two episodes of The Big Bang Theory. The early episodes were not as good as later episodes, but I suppose that’s to be expected. The objectifying of Penny is not funny. I got up again and ate oatmeal. I finally fell asleep.

Got up at 8:30 AM. So far, it’s not raining. Got us all fed.

I looked at dog toothbrushes and toothpaste. I’ll try it with Bella. I think that Oliver and Lily would take a chomp out of me if I tried to brush their teeth. Well, maybe I’ll try cat toothbrushes and toothpaste with them and see what happens.

Napped. It’s storming. I need to find out what store has poster board and paint stirrer sticks to make my protest signs. I also need to get hot dogs and string cheese as rewards for Bella.

Tornado warning; take shelter now. Bella doesn’t think that she can get down the basement stairs. Sigh. I’m here with Lily. Here’s Oliver. Placed the order for the poster board, etc. from the basement. I wish that I had grabbed my food when I went in the basement. Oh well. What did we do in tornado shelters before we had cell phones? Okay, the warning is over. Apparently, there was some light damage in Savoy, SW of here.

Had lunch. Napped again. Got us all fed. I’m trying to convince myself to take a shower. Looked up cruises to South America. I remember one that took in both Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, but I haven't found it yet. Okay, it was on Oceania. Oliver and Lily were wrestling upstairs.

I’ve got my cleaning person coming right before I have someone come in to let Bella out during the all-hands meeting.

Headache. Lay down. Wound up oversleeping. I want to get up early to get stuff done.

I got a paw print from Mimi in the mail. I'm not sure if her ashes are behind the paw print? Probably yes.

Woke up at 8 AM. It’s starting to rain. They are predicting snow in Chicago this week, but not here. Bella is squeaking her squeaky ball. Got us all fed.

I spent a bunch of time finding my new moisturizer in my suitcase, but I finally found it. I’m ready for my voice lesson early.

Had a really great singing lesson. My teacher is awesome. Zara fell asleep while I was singing. Aww.

There was a groundhog in the neighbor’s yard. Bella was defending us against him or her :)

Had lunch. Now it’s nap time. Overslept my nap by an hour. Bella and I are both yawning. A smoke alarm is chirping, so I need to see if I have batteries for it.

Wrote the travel agent to get my Mexico cruise under my Holland America ID. Oliver and Lily are upstairs with me.

It's strange how different the household is without Mimi. I'm sorry to say that it's better because Oliver and Lily really wanted to come upstairs where I am during the day. Oliver isn't trying as hard to get out too. Lily is showing me her belly. Now she’s on my lap and purring. Oliver likes to lie in Mimi’s spot on the chair.

I need to get the quarantine aquarium set up and cycled. And I need to figure out what to do about the water in the aquarium while I’m gone. I might have to stage buckets with heated water upstairs. The pet sitter unplugged my fish tank, probably because she thought that it was bothering Mimi. That's not good.

I bought grass seed and topsoil repair and fertilizer from Lowe's for delivery tomorrow.

I have my Italian ready for Tuesday. I hate to tell my teacher that Mimi died. She loved Mimi.

Need to feed the beasties. I’m way dehydrated, so I’m swilling carbonated water. Lily is licking out the can for Bella’s food. We’re all fed now.

Hmm. I need to run a misdelivered Amazon box to my neighbors (done). Then I’m thinking of going to bed early. I don’t know why I’m so tired, but I am. Lack of sunshine today is probably part of it.

Got most of the recycling out. Went and got Mimi’s carrier from the U of I vet; I saved around $70 doing that. And now I have three carriers for three cats.

Got up at 7 AM. It’s cold, wet, and miserable out. Even the dog was less than thrilled.

I need to get someone to clean the gutters.

Bella ate Lily's food. Twice. Aargh. Bella is running around with her squeaky ball. She loves that thing. The pup is tired though. Oliver and Lily got kitty racetrack out of their system, I hope. Oliver is in Mimi's window looking at the birds. Lily is sitting on the rocking chair in the front window. I deem that "Lily's chair". Now Oliver is tunneling under the blanket on the guest room bed. Lily digs her claws in my leg when she goes on my lap. Ouch. Points to Oliver; he doesn't do that. Now Lily is checking out the mattress in the guest room. LOL. Oliver is tunneling under the blanket in the guest room, and Lily is jumping on top of him. Those two keep me entertained. A guy came by with two dogs when I was in the yard with Bella, and she hid behind me. That makes me wonder how she's going to do in the dog training class. The Dynamic Duo managed to 1) knock my soda onto me and 2) unplug my work laptop. Now Lily is on top of the fish tank.

I told work to load me up with meetings, but it hasn't been too bad.

I'm freaking tired.

I need to close my purse right now. I need to have the house cleaned, but I can do it myself. I'm getting pretty good at picking up the kitchen before I go to bed. Though hmm. The U of I music venue is having the Mozart Requiem on the 29th. I love the Mozart Requiem. Okay, I bought a ticket.

I asked my dad how to keep my energy up, and he said, “Lose weight”. All right then.

I'm looking at flights to San Diego for the Mexico cruise. I might have to go on Christmas Eve because I think that the bus isn't scheduled on Christmas. Or I might have to take the train, but I think that my suitcase might be too big for it? Oh, I can check luggage to Chicago. It would take me about an hour to get to O'Hare from the train station. I need to figure out something to do in San Diego before the cruise. The zoo? They have a great zoo. San Diego city tour? I'll need to find a hotel too. Found a hotel that I like.

My shade garden has shipped. I’ll need to get after the garden that I will put it in this weekend.

Bella: Pet me! Pet me! Pet me! She found a piece of styrofoam somewhere and was shredding it. I guess that I need to get out the broom. Had some Girl Scout cookies. Bella: Aren’t you going to give me some? Me: Nope!

Headache. I’m going to lie down for a little while. But the doggo wanted a belly rub. I’m sharing my bed with a can of tuna that Bella brought in. I only live here :)

Slept until 10:30 PM. I must have needed it.

Oliver knocked over Mimi’s dry food again. Sigh. He and Bella are eating it in a moment of feline-canine cooperation. Oy. I think that I'm going to leave the kitchen a mess, put clothes in the dryer, and go back to bed. Oops, I need to order soda.

Bella opened some cat food cans and dragged a plastic garbage bag onto the kitchen floor. The floor was clean! The pup is ready for bed though. She’s tired.

Woke up at 6 AM. That seems to be my new wake-up time.

Bella is telling me that she’s really glad to be home.

I looked into a grow shelf with lights to start tomatoes and Mamma Mia, expensive. I guess that I’ll just get plants at the store.

Fed the dog and cats (and me).

Lily is on top of the fish tank and Oliver is in Mimi's window. Life goes on....Now Oliver and Lily are chasing each other. The pup is still very tired. Too much excitement!

I talked to my boss and got the okay to be off on January 2nd for the Mexico cruise.

Cleveland Clinic: Exercises to Improve Posture.

I keep looking for Mimi-Bug :( I just started crying because I wish that I could have done more for her but I couldn't.

I'm feeling freezing cold even though it's warm outside.

I finally got some Panama Canal pictures sorted that I'll post tonight.

It's funny how much calmer Oliver is now that I'm letting him go upstairs. He doesn't feel left out!

I have Bella registered for the dog training class (i.e. I paid for it).

My hands are feeling arthritis-y. Ouch.

I fed the critters and need to get the garbage out after I eat.

Bella is digging a hole to China in the front yard :(

Picked up after the dog. Started dishes and laundry.

I’m going to take the garbage out, post, and get to bed early. I want to take Bella for a walk before work. If I’m waking up at 6 AM, that would work.

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.

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).