days_unfolding

I lay down for a nap last night and slept straight through until morning. Good. Zara: "Get moving Mommy, I'm hungry!" Fed them and peace reigned throughout the land. Threw in a load of laundry. Started to make my smoothie only to find that the blender needed charging. The smoothie seemed especially tasty today.

I added the GoPlus folding treadmill (courtesy xinas_island) to my Amazon wish list (I'm not thrilled with the manual treadmill because you have to hold on and it hurts my wrists), but it'll be a while until I can get it because I'm saving for the cruise. Plus if I join the U of I gym in the fall, do I really need a treadmill? There will be days when I have to bug out for music lessons though.

Read a Kiplinger article about retiring without kids. It offered some food for thought. That reminds me that I need to look into long-term care insurance. The whole saga with my aunt and uncle proved that. (My uncle really needed to go into long-term care but they couldn't afford it.)

Hmm. It's raining, and the forecasters are predicting "strong" thunderstorms. I'm staying home but need to throw stuff out. Maybe I could pile stuff up by the door and wait out the storm. And no walk today. (See need treadmill.) Maybe I'll use the exercise bike.

Read a Conde Nast Travelers article about your first cruise. Helpful.

And here comes the storm....

Went to take a nap but couldn't sleep until the dryer stopped. (The washer and dryer are next to my bedroom.) Had lunch with great interest from Zara. No, Zara, you are not starving.

I'm trying to figure out a game plan for tackling the place. I guess that I'll throw on some cleaning sweats, then throw some bedding in the wash and soak litter boxes. And then I'll work on the kitchen with cleaning breaks for my mom's bathroom and the TV room (her "bedroom").

Hmm. I looked into online knitting groups because I have an intro book, needles, and yarn. Most of the groups are from public libraries though. Can I join their group if I'm not from the area?

Got my accordion file for music and my singing exercises book. Got my music filed in the accordion file. Much neater. Cleaned off my mom's chair.

I kind of do things in fits and starts. Empty out the dryer? Rest for a minute. Etc. The girls are interested that I'm rearranging stuff. Had a moment of overwhelm. Just. Keep. Moving.

Oy. Mom isn't coming tomorrow after all. My aunt put her cell phone on a tray at the rehab place and someone threw it out. She got it back but it's not working properly. So my mom is trying to replace her phone. It's a prepaid phone, so I suggested Walmart and Target, which led me to log on to find the closest ones to her. Hell's own bells. I guess that I'll do homework soon to get it off of my plate. I've been washing my bedding, so I'll keep doing that to get it done. Mom said that she might come down later in the week.

Apparently my aunt is mad at me because I didn't ask her how she was feeling when Uncle Art died. I swear that I asked her how she was holding up, but apparently that wasn't dramatic enough for her. I am so tired of her. She says that she no longer has a family. Whatever.

One upcoming concert by Music of the Baroque has music by Purcell. I adore his "Music for a While" choral work. I had the music for it but who knows what box it's in. Sheet Music Plus has it for download though (for a fee, of course). Maybe I could ask my voice teacher to let me sing it when I need a break from Italian. (Which might be soon. My teacher picked a long song with lots of sixteenth notes and high Fs. I'm battling with it, and it's winning :)) Zara came by to check out the piano. We almost had a "kitty on the keys" piece.

I think that I need an accordion file to separate my voice, piano, and guitar music. Ordered.

The problem with practicing before I go to bed is that it gets me all energetic and buzzy. Oops.

Hmm. Andrea Bocelli will be singing in Saint Louis in October. Tickets are not cheap, but I'm sure that it would be a memorable concert.

The guitar instructor had the J&J COVID shot yesterday and is having side effects, so she canceled class. Oh well. I can nap then.

My mom called and told me to call my aunt to wish her well tomorrow for her surgery. She said, "After all, you'd call me." I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying, "But I like you." Yes, I'll call later.

I found some really nifty cruises by Windstar. Expensive though because it's a small ship. But a Greek islands cruise is on my bucket list. And they also have a cruise around the Tahitian islands. That would be awesome. Hmm, I found a Greek Islands cruise by another carrier for around $1300 single occupancy. That doesn't include airfare and shore excursions, but it's in the realm of possibility. Airfare is around $800 booking separately.

Took a nap. Woke up with a sore throat. Then I called my aunt. She's anxious to get the hip surgery over with.

I'm trying to figure out the rest of the day. Walmart is open until 11PM. I need to get the garbage out, although the garbage people might have a holiday tomorrow. I need to practice and do math. And decluttering. And get to sleep at a decent hour.

Threw myself together. Got the garbage out. Ran to the store. Came back with food and garbage bags.

Need to get cracking on night-time tasks.

Logged on to check my work calendar and found a reminder to turn on a library's interlibrary loan service tonight. I'm thanking myself for the reminder.