days_unfolding

There was a rumor going around of rolling blackouts, but the reputable news organizations say no, but the system is at capacity because of the cold. I need to shut down my computer and lights and get to bed to save energy :) Thank goodness I have dogs to keep me warm.

I found a used Suburu Crosstrek that I really like. Hmm. I also found a Suburu Crosstrek Hybrid.

Things that you say only if you have pets: “Bella, give me the toilet paper!” My cheeky little thief.

I bought another pair of black jeans off of eBay.

Woke up with an alarm at 7 AM. That’s what happened last night; I set my alarm for 7 AM, not PM. I tried to go back to sleep, but Gracie wouldn’t let me.

Got the dogs inside early. Gracie had vanished though and I was walking around the house calling her when she showed up and jumped on me.

It’s supposed to keep snowing until 1 PM. Currently 5.7 inches of snow.

Oliver is meowing outside the bedroom door. I told him that I don’t want him in here because he bites, but he’s loooooonely. Nap time.

Got up a little after 12 PM. Oliver is stretched out on my lap. Apparently, I’m a cat heater.

The final total was seven inches of snow. I’m wondering how I’ll get out tomorrow. I’m wondering if choir will be canceled.

Listened to Randy Rainbow’s Christmas video, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Fuck It.” True that.

I’m feeling a little depressed and don’t know why. Maybe it’s the state of the country, which is depressing enough. (Yes, I do read the news and know what’s going on. I have no words much of the time. I imagine though what my mom would have to say.)

Took another nap and slept until 6 PM. Yikes. Bella and Gracie were climbing on me and licking my face at first. I pulled the covers over my head. Apparently, I left the dogs out too long when I let them out because they were waiting at the door.

I found some instructions on digging your car out.

Bella is playing with her goose stuffy.

No choir rehearsal tomorrow, so I won’t need to get out. I’ll probably ask the guy who shovels my walks to dig out the cars. I’m wondering if the university will be closed, but I’d have to work anyway because we’re remote. It’s officially a “remote work day“. We no longer get snow days.

I don't feel up to fixing my washer--I need to move stuff to get at the drain--so I think that I'll go to bed now.

I was about to go to sleep when I realized that the cats might find my dropped pill. (Both dogs were in the bedroom with me.) So I got up and swept the floor near where I dropped it. I didn’t find my med, but found Gracie’s meds.

Woke up at 6:30 AM. Decided to go back to sleep for an hour because I showered in the evening yesterday, so I should be pretty clean.

I’m looking into OTO smart sprinklers as a compromise between an in-ground sprinkling system and moving a sprinkler around. I think that I’d need four units though (front, back, and each side). I want to find out more about how they work though. Hmm. A review says that they emit too strong a stream for overseeding the lawn, which is why I want them now. I guess that I'll be moving the sprinkler around.

I was giving Gracie her meds, and she dropped a hot dog piece, and Bella snatched it. Bad Bella! I don’t know which med she got. It won’t hurt her, but it would be nice to know which med Gracie didn’t get.

I'm kind of feeling like crying, and I don't know why. I'm not sure if I took my meds this morning.

Hmm. I'm mulling over replacing my pots and pans. (Mom actually told me to get rid of some of them, which says how old they are.) I found a set at Costco that I like, plus a baking set. Copper pots and pans seem to be out of fashion though. Actually, Home Depot, of all places, has my dream set of pots and pans (hammered copper). And it includes baking items, so I don't need to order a separate set of baking items. I looked at my pots, and apparently I got rid of the worst ones, but I don’t have a lot of them. I ordered the new set.

Apparently I received the acrylic glasses, but put them aside. I really, really like them. If I had known that they would be so pretty, I might have not gotten the glassware, but that's pretty too.

Work is over. Yay. Oliver is putting his paw in my empty water glass for reasons known only to him. Speaking of water, I’m wondering if I should buy a pitcher and some ice cube trays to have water to bring upstairs (ordered). I’d drink a lot more water that way.

I received a letter from a solar power bank about how enrolling in their plan could cut my bill by 15%. I’ll look into it. The company is getting horrible reviews, so no.

Watered the outside plants. Fed us all. Ugh, I’m feeling tired, but I need to get the recycling out.

Oh for god’s sake. Gracie was chewing on the handle of the broom.

Got the recycling out. I'm going to go to bed soon because I'm out of gas.

Oliver is asleep on top of the fish tank.

Fed us all and took Bella out for the last call of the night. She had a perfect day for doing her business outside. Yay. She’s currently zonked out on the bed.

Home Depot has a basil plant and a dill plant, so I need to stop by. They’re open only until 8 PM though.

I need to copy my dad’s investment emails into a Word document to which I can refer (done).

Woke up a little before my alarm at 6:30 AM.

I want to plant annuals in a bed that has a pipe in it. If someone needs to fix the pipe, well, they’re just annuals, so I wouldn’t be too upset if they were trampled on. I should go to Prairie Gardens this coming weekend.

I'm feeling like crying for no good reason again. I had been feeling better though. Maybe it's because of a dental appointment that I'm not happy about.

I'm lucky to have two cats who are BFFs (Oliver and Lily). I'm so glad that I adopted Lily.

Ow, my mouth hurts. The dentist did a good job though, making the temporary teeth look good. I have an appointment in two weeks to order the permanent teeth. Ow. Fuck. Ow. I'm wondering if I should go plant shopping tonight to take my mind off of it. But I'm tired, so I'm thinking of a nap. (I didn't get my lunchtime nap.) Walmart's Garden Center is open until 11, so maybe I can do both.

The Italian school in Sardinia responded to me. So yay.

My first set of linen tank top, pants, and blazer has arrived, but I haven't tried it on yet.

Overslept my nap. Crud, and I need to do Italian homework.

I was cutting up a donut so that I could eat it, and Bella grabbed it. Sigh.

I’m going to tell my Italian teacher that my mouth hurts (true—I had an extraction, although the tooth that they drilled the fuck out of hurts more), and that I need to skip this lesson.

I wonder if the hotel that we’ll be at for the conference does laundry. Probably. I want to wear my linen clothes the first day of the conference, when I’m moderating.

I wonder if I can order plants from Walmart. Maybe I want to pick them out though. I want to get pansies.

I bought a Baggalini purse because I need to get the zipper pocket fixed on my Italian purse, and I need a purse meanwhile.

Woke up before my alarm at 6 AM, but my stomach was upset. Took Bella out for 45 minutes, but she wouldn’t poop. I brought her in and she promptly pooped on the kitchen floor. Sigh. She gets distracted by the outside world. Bella was being obnoxious this morning: grabbing my clothes, bugging the cats, etc. Meanwhile, my stomach was still upset. I did get a shower, but then I called the car place and told them that I would bring the car in on Monday and emailed work and told them that I would be out this morning. I’m going to lie down.

I checked out Windy City Express (a local fast food place) online because I thought that it had deep-dish pizza. No pizza, but I can get an Italian beef. Maybe I’ll run over later if my stomach settles. Okay, I found a deep-dish place in the area. Maybe I'll order some tomorrow. Hmm, I'm craving pizza now.

Bella tried to eat Oliver’s food and knocked his bowl over. Honestly, I want to put her in time-out.

I woke up at noon. My stomach is a little better, but I have IBS soreness. I’ll work this afternoon. I had some food.

I got my Roam suitcases! I haven't opened the boxes yet. And a ton of books. I need to open the book envelopes and boxes and squirrel them away because Bella likes to shred books. I have investment shelves on my bookcases upstairs.

Here’s the larger of the two suitcases. They roll like a dream.

My boss okayed my time off in August, so I'll book the Sardinia trip this weekend. How exciting!

I'm feeling like crying for no good reason. Oops, I didn't take my meds this morning.

I bought a cooling blanket for the summer. I guess that I won't get my ceiling fan in the bedroom fixed because Bella is scared of ceiling fans. Sigh.

Bella has been eating the dead flowers off of the hibiscus. This is why I buy dog-safe plants. Although technically irises aren't dog-safe, but a dog would have to eat a lot of them to get really sick. So far, she's leaving them alone.

Yay. I fed the beasties, and Bella pooped outside. Some people going for a walk said “Hello” to her and were petting her through the fence. Bella got excited and started running around the yard. Now I get to eat :)

I’m feeling tired. Maybe I’ll start booking the Sardinia trip tonight because that’s something that I can do quietly.

My dad says that he checks his investments daily at market close. That will be a bit of work, but he says that it doesn’t take long.

I listed my old suitcases on Buy Nothing, and some people are interested.

I’m going to go upstairs and start booking my trip! Done! I booked the flights and hotels. The flights are freaking expensive. (Hey,dadi, I'll wave to you because I'm flying through Munich on the way in.) So is the hotel in the Costa Smeralda, but that's the resort area with beach access. The hotel in Cagliari is quite reasonable, but I got a single room with a twin bed. I contacted the Italian school. I still need to book the train from the Costa Smeralda to Cagliari.

I'm going to feed the hordes and go to bed early. I have a lot of planting to do tomorrow plus clean the kitchen.

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.

Overslept. I’m feeling kind of sad. Actually, I’m feeling massively depressed. I don’t know why. Mimi? (And yes, I took my meds and some vitamin D.) I emailed my therapist. I looked for an earlier appointment, but the earliest that I could get one was two days before the one that was already scheduled. I'm debating contacting my psychiatrist.

Emailed the trust asking for a contact for my tax forms and what about my money? Radio silence thus far. Maybe I could do the administrative work on my taxes, but that won't take long. And gather my other forms.

Emailed in sick and napped. I had to eject Oliver and his ball. Bella saw some small dogs outside and clearly wanted to play with them. Progress. Forced myself into the shower. Logged into work. My next challenge will be to get myself to go to choir. All I want to do is sleep.

Oliver brought his ball upstairs! Apparently, he loves it.

I emailed out of choir. The struggle will be to feed the pets before I collapse, but I should do it. I need to snap out of this tomorrow because I'm taking a day off to rake. (I think that I will cancel Italian though.)

I contacted Schwab because I’m fed up with the trust.

Headache.

Fed us all. Tried to nap but couldn't sleep, which is a good sign. I received my tax form, so now I can do my taxes. Did most of my taxes. But aaaaaaah, I have a tax issue with the trust. Last year, I was told that my distributions were taxable. This year, I was told that there was "No reportable income" on my Schedule K-1. One of them must be wrong. So no, I can't finish my taxes now.

I'm going to pay some bills and go to bed.

Zara is now enamored of the futon mattress. I think that she's fed up with sleeping with me. I move around too much!

I'm battling depression this morning. I'm planning to run pick up my meds at lunch and then lie down for a little while.

I didn't get my money transfer yet, so I'm not driving to Springfield today. Which means that I'll go on next Friday because of review sessions for my exams next week.

I got my meds and took the one that I ran out of. My stomach is upset though, and I'm wondering if it's because of the med. I'm making some Ramen to settle my stomach now.

Brought the file folders upstairs and discovered that one set was legal size, which I didn't want. I ordered a letter-sized set. Back to the UPS Store again to return the legal files this weekend. (At least I need to drop off some stuff at Goodwill, which is nearby, as well.)

I've decided that the house would look better with a white picket fence, but that isn't happening any time soon.

Hmm. Dogwood trees grow best a little south of me. I'm looking at crabapple trees, which I know grow up here. There's a mysterious plant growing all over the back yard. I need to install an app to identify it.

Dozed for 45 minutes. I’m wondering what to do now. Clean the bathrooms? I also need to dig out my books for studying (done and I studied for a while). I'm going to sleep early.

I wound up changing my Daily Look box to four times a year, so the order that I didn't want got canceled.

I can't find the pajamas that I ordered from Walmart, so I ordered two pairs to come tomorrow. The pair that I've been wearing is gross and needs washing.

I woke up with my alarm, decided that I needed more sleep, and overslept. I made it on time to work though. I can take my pictures during lunch or after work.

I'm feeling a little depressed again. I need to remember to take my morning meds (done). Okay, I really do feel better when I take them. Must remember to take them. Maybe I'll set a reminder on my phone (done).

I've decided to look at my vision board once a day. I'll read my vision statement once a day after I write it too. I read a book by a goal-setting guy who said that he read a list of his goals every morning.

I looked into window cleaners for after the paint dries.

Seeing the picture of my mom actually made me smile for the first time.

The TaskRabbit person came and packed up the Christmas ornaments, ceramics, and photos. Yay, I can now put clothes away.

I had my photography lesson after a bunch of technical difficulties. We scheduled it late, so I wound up doing a bunch of chores before the lesson. We discussed f-stops a little and then we discussed using Adobe Lightroom. Afterward, I started editing some of my overexposed pictures in Lightroom.

I can't stop yawning. I'm going to go to sleep early.

I don't know what's with me today. I made a mistake at work and was catastrophizing instead of thinking of it rationally. (Actually, it turned out that it wasn't an error.) Then I realized that I hadn't taken my antidepressant meds this morning, and that wasn't helping, so I took them. I'm feeling kind of bummed so I hope that it helps. It seems to be helping.

Yippie! I'm getting Tuesday, June 1st off. Four-day weekend! I should get some rest and get some stuff done.

Another great voice class. We were working on relaxing our neck muscles. My tone was a lot better after the exercises. I'm glad that I'm learning some voice while I'm on hiatus from my private lessons. (My teacher doesn't mind my skipping lessons because she's currently moving to Hawaii.) Zara came over and bonked my hand while I was singing. She walked in front of the Web cam too.

I found some pasta shells with pesto sauce in the freezer, and they were pretty good. I'm glad that I found them because I didn't want to wait an hour to cook chicken breasts.

I've been sitting for quite a while reading stuff on my phone. I should go do something constructive. I started to make a pound cake, but stopped because it wouldn't have enough time to cool before I go to sleep. I just had a smoothie for dessert.

Mimi plopped herself on my lap when I was talking to Zara because she thought that I was calling her. It relaxed me though. I'm yawning and ready to crash.

One of my winter coats is missing. I wore it last year, so it has to be here somewhere. Or could it be in the car? Found it. It was in the car.

Apparently my eating breakfast is a signal to both cats to use the kitchen litter box. Thanks, girls.

I received a package from Amazon, and couldn't figure out what it was. It was the girls' chicken cat food. That was fast. I ordered it Thursday night.

I think that I need something to use as a cookie jar. I just had a package of cookies self-destruct and fall on the floor. I don't think that I have anything big enough though.

Had a nice nap and even woke up before the alarm. Now it's raining hard, and I'm glad that I'm not out hiking in it. Had a bite to eat. Did 20 minutes on the FitDesk.

Threw myself together and picked up my groceries. Typically, I forgot to order a couple of things, but they can wait until I next have to get milk. I'll be very happy when Walmart will be open late again, but I'm not holding my breath.

Talked to Mom. She's concerned about my going back to the library in a week. She's wondering how the fall is going to go for us. Don't we all. I talked about a possible Nepal-Tibet trip, and we both agree that Kathmandu sounds exotic and interesting. She said that Africa was kind of the same thing for her when she was growing up.

I've been having some weird nerve twinges around my face. It feels a little like being poked with a pin. I have no idea what that's about.

I'm feeling a smidge depressed, but that's been true for a while. Need to get under the florescent lights at work. They help.

Poking around what to do in Seattle is perking me up a bit. But it's in a COVID phase that limits "non-essential travel". Oh well. I hope that the prices still stay low when we get out of this mess.