days_unfolding

My phone finally charged, but I’m not sure what I did with its case. But I was doing laundry, and my washer isn’t spinning. Sigh. I wrung some stuff out and put it in the dryer. I’m not going to shower tomorrow because I had all this stuff to do today and I took a shower late. I looked up the error codes and it’s a drain-related issue.

Overslept and got up at 7 AM. So much for getting the car registered.

Had a dental appointment. I thought that it was for the implant but it was just a cleaning. I now have a date for the implant, 2/5. I'm planning to take a sick day that day. My boss has had an implant, and she said that was a good idea.

I almost forgot that I had piano class after work, so no jump-starting the car tonight. We worked on an simplified excerpt of Chopin's Impromptu Op.66 in C#, and I fell in love with it (although it was difficult to play). So I ordered a CD with the whole piece on it. I haven't listened much to Chopin. (My teacher gives us pieces with a range of difficulties, and I always tackle the harder ones. Maybe that's why she likes me. Or maybe it’s because I can read music.) I bought a couple of sheet music books with simplified Chopin for beginning piano players.

I booked a French lesson for next week because I should get cracking on it. (I'll be wandering around by myself in Paris.) I hope that she will teach me "tourist French". We'll see. She emphasizes speaking, which is good. I have an online French class that I need to also get cracking on. The good thing is that I remember a fair amount of it (I took French from junior high through part of college) when I review. I need to pick up Italian sometime, but one step at a time.

The BBC had an article about menengiç, which is a Turkish drink similar to coffee but made with pistachios. I ordered some to try. I love pistachios.

I need to get to bed soon because I want to try to get the car's registration taken care of, and it's already late.

Woke up at 7:15 AM after hitting snooze on my alarm for a while. I forgot to put my faucets on dripping, but they didn’t freeze. Apparently, I slept through a minor earthquake (3.5).

I want Oliver corralled when I try to get the dogs in. Oliver and Lily took the bait and went down in the basement. The dogs don’t want to come in yet even though it’s freaking cold. They still don’t want to come in. So much for my shower this morning. They finally came in. Silly dogs. They don't appear to have icicles hanging off of them :) It's cold upstairs, so I'm blasting my space heater.

I'm thinking that I want a nap over lunch, so I guess that I'll take a quick shower after work.

My Dad's response about whether we are heading into a recession:

Based on what I'm seeing about the economy it's quite likely. Recessions/Depressions are caused by economic sector imbalances. New upcoming sectors need to do a lot of hiring. To get the manpower they bid up what people are being paid, this causes a migration from "old" sectors to "new" sectors (and inflation). Companies in old sectors which are marginal (not very profitable) tend to fail because losing employees pushes them over the edge. Things begin to settle down, and the new sectors find that they overhired and lay off the extra people, which causes unemployment to spike more. The unemployed default on loans, adding to defaults of the old failing companies. This causes problems in the financial sector, resulting in failures. The failures result in not enough financing being available, which causes interest rates to rise. That in turn causes additional failures in various economic sectors.

The magnitude of the out of balances determines whether the result is a recession (mild) or a depression (severe).

I have found a set of cheaper skin care that might be good: Clinique. I'll give it a try. I ordered their cleanser and eye cream. I have a lot of moisturizer to use up before ordering theirs.

The dogs understand the word “nap”. I told Oliver that I was going to take a nap, and the dogs headed to the bedroom. Had a nice nap.

Off of work. Showered, but it’s 6:30 PM, and I just let the dogs out, and I need to feed everyone. Instead of getting the Kia jump-started, I’m going to get up early and get the registration tag for the Honda, and stop at the Post Office to mail my check.

When I think about earthquakes, I think of the “Pretty Big One,” the Loma Prieta quake when I was living in California. I looked it up on Wikipedia, and it led to some national broadcasts about it at the time. Art Agnos was the mayor of San Francisco then, and I looked him up. That led to a 30-year retrospective of the quake that I want to watch.

That also reminded me that I didn’t realize that the quake was national news when it happened. I guess that I was in shock. When I got home, our cable was out, so I was listening to the radio. I got a station out of Santa Cruz, and it made the damage sound pretty bad (as it was there). Then the national news came on, and they made it sound like the entire Bay Area was in ruins, and it was only then that I started to call my parents to let them know that I was okay. I couldn’t get through to them for a couple of days.

I did watch the 30-year retrospective of the quake. It was quite good. P.S. I'm glad that Bookshop Santa Cruz is still going strong. That's a great store.

Somehow my phone's USB port got water in it, and it's telling me to let it dry before charging it. That's a problem because I use it as an alarm. I just set up my Sharper Image travel alarm to use. I hope that it will wake me up.

I need to get up early to get the car's registration renewed and my check mailed. So I'm going to go to bed soon.

I’m buying more “Good Energy” and “Clean Eating” cookbooks. I need to build up a set of recipes to make. And I need to work HARD on the kitchen this weekend.

I forgot to mention that I ordered herbs for my Aerogarden yesterday. I'll have fresh herbs with which to cook!

Woke up a little after 7 AM. Lily had a bottle cap with which she was playing. Gracie took her sweet time coming inside. Bella stole her donut. Got my weary butt into the shower.

I was coughing up a storm while I was eating granola. Don't know why. I’m still congested and cranky about it.

Gracie wants to see what Bella is barking at.

I asked the electricians if they would take an electronic check, but no. They said that it was okay if I mailed one, but my peel-and-stick envelopes are not sticking, so I included some in a Walmart order. I'll mail it tomorrow.

I'm having a "cat on computer" crisis. Yesterday, they shut down my work computer three times!

I'm thinking that I'm not going to feel up to going to the DMV tomorrow. I'll set a goal to have the Kia jump-started this weekend and will go next week. Oh, I need to mail the check! Hmm. Have it jump-started tomorrow? Saturday?

Slapped some makeup on because I have an on-camera meeting this afternoon plus therapy. Nap time. Sigh. Dog wrestling on the bed. They finally settled down. I wasn’t able to fall asleep though. Gracie is using me as a heated pillow and I hate to move. I'm up but have a strong impulse to go to sleep. Early night tonight I think.

Uh-oh. The tingling is starting up in my thumb again.

Therapy was okay. I didn't have a lot to talk about. She asked if I was feeling more settled now that things were being accomplished (we were talking about the electricity in the garage), and I said "No." I need to declutter first.

Hmm. If I want to use weight-loss drugs (and I’m not sure that I do), I should use them before getting Medicare. I’ve heard that Medicare doesn’t cover them.

Fed us all. The dogs came in as soon as I opened the door, which left me wondering what the catch was.

I’m tired. I’m going to bed soon.

Members of the Grateful Dead keep passing on. That's a commentary of some sort.

Cool. I’m getting a free chair with a footstool for the library room!

The dogs woke me up a little before 7. Ugh, I want to go back to sleep. Whole lot of munching going on (dogs).

Hmm, I found a used washable rug that would be good for the library room.

I faked Oliver out this morning. I wanted him shut away while I brought the dogs in, so I opened the door to the basement. He took the bait. Now Lily and Zara ate in peace. I’ll let him up now.

Ugh. I dumped cereal (dry, thankfully) all over the floor. Luckily, the canine cleaning crew was on duty.

I had to explain to Gracie that I don’t play dog play and she should play with her sister. Eventually, she did. Then Bella sneezed and startled the both of them.

Showered. I’m really tired, but I need to get out. Got most of the groceries in. Crud, I don’t see the garlic and the onion. Must look again. Not there. It looks like I didn’t order the garlic, but the onion wasn’t there. I’ll have to stop at the local grocery store.

I’m back. I asked the nice guy at the car supply store if he could pop my windshield wiper back on, and in return, I’d buy windshield wiper fluid and a funnel. He did and I did. Then I popped into the grocery store and got an onion and garlic. Then I picked up the free chair with a footstool. The cushions need washing, but still, free. I left the chair in the car because I really needed to use the washroom. I’ll get it later or tomorrow morning.

Crap. The gym nearby has closed. I’ll need to look for another one.

Put a load of pajamas in the wash. Now I’m taking a nap. I’m giving up on my nap. The dogs have been restless. I seem to be getting a full-blown cold. I’m feeling too crappy to get anything done. I’m thinking of staying out sick tomorrow.

I tried a test transfer to my Schwab brokerage account, and it looks like it's working. I'll do $10000 at a time just in case something goes wrong. Once I have some money in my account, I'll transfer some to checking and they'll send me a debit card. I checked my address on the account. So, cool, it looks like I won't have to go over to Schwab to get set up.

I have pajamas in the dryer and a blanket in the washer. Once they're done, I'll go to sleep.

Woke up at 3:30 AM and couldn’t fall back asleep, so it’s not going to be a representative night for the sleep study. Nothing I can do though.

My throat hurts.

Ugh. Oliver ran into Zara’s room and Lily is in the basement. Okay, they came out. Fed us all.

Went back to sleep, this time with the dogs, and slept until 10 AM. Hmm. I’m not feeling like going shopping today. Maybe tomorrow? Or could I have stuff delivered? Placed a delivery order for tomorrow with the lentil soup stuff.

It was snowing when I let the dogs in.

Booked my flights for the "Orient Express" trip. I’m flying through London on the way back. Too bad I can’t stop there, but the trip is long as it is. Emailed the travel agent to see if I can pay for the trip now. I'd like to have it all paid for.

Crap. My car was issued a ticket for having an invalid registration, so I need to go to the DMV. I think that they open at 8 on Monday.

I’m trying to figure out what to do for a half-hour. Then I need to get into the shower. No, I just canceled my singing lesson due to my cough. So I’ll go lie down.

Bella has her chicken toy. I told her that’s okay; that’s a dog toy, but I think that she’s not sure what is and isn’t a toy. It all looks like toys to her!

Snow tonight. Lovely.

Ate an orange. Maybe it’ll help my cough.

I bought a hook from Home Depot for my purse. And a fruit basket from Amazon.

I was looking at cruises to Bermuda, which I want to be my next cruise, but only the luxury lines have their 2027 cruises up.

My dad says that I should skip lunch to lose weight. Hmm. That’s kind of a form of intermittent fasting, but most people skip breakfast, not lunch. But I can’t skip breakfast because I take meds that have to be taken with food. So lunch it is.

Went through the sleet to return my sleep study equipment. Made it, but one of my windshield wipers popped off when I was coming back. Sigh. I might need to have the Kia jump-started tomorrow.

I made a payment for the Orient Express trip using Zelle, but I can make only $3500 at a time.

I added the ingredients for Overnight Oats to my grocery order. (My dad is encouraging me to get the kitchen together and cook.) I'm going to go to sleep soon and get up early to hit the kitchen hard.

I overslept 45 minutes. I got my shower done though. No time to put on makeup. Wrestled the recycling bin out and opened the garage.

I just saw that the electricians had a “confirm appointment” link, which I just clicked. I hope that I didn’t mess up the appointment.

Jealousy, thy name is Bella. I was petting Gracie, and Bella came over and said, “Pet ME!”

The electricians are here. I showed them the circuit breaker box. I was ordering food for Bella and Gracie when the “dog alarm” went off. They’re going nuts. I shut the cats in the bathroom and want to leave them there until the electricians are done. Oliver likes to go into the basement.

I ordered some compression socks. I hope that I got the right sizes. I got some funky designs: flamingos, sloths, and polka dots.

I looked into dog training, but it won’t start until February, so I’ll wait to register.

Hmm, the dogs seem to be settling down. Are the guys done? No.

I need to order more pillows to put my feet up while I sleep (if the dogs let me!)

Got the first check from the trust. I'll deposit it into my main bank account at lunchtime. Then I'll get a cashier's check for Charles Schwab later. (I want the money safely in a bank account first, and Schwab is a little complicated.)

Meeting-o-rama today at work. Well, one got cancelled.

Ran to the bank over lunch. The check is safely away from my chewing dogs :)

Well, I did step 1 and brought water upstairs to drink. But I haven't been drinking it. Must force myself....

There's a decluttering course that isn't too expensive and has good reviews. I might sign up for it (done).

The 3:00 meeting was short. Good. I can go out and see what the electricians have done when they're done. I'm having a hard time concentrating with the guys doing the work. I should look for something mindless. I see lights on in the garage. That's progress. They're done. There are lights on in the garage and the garage door works.

Let the cats out of the bathroom, and Oliver bitched me out. I deserve it :)

Let the dogs out. Bella ate Gracie’s bribe donut, so I had to give her another one. Fed us all.

I'm going to go to sleep soon. Maybe I'll get some cleaning done tomorrow morning before I take Lily to the vet.

Note to self: print off Bella and Gracie’s shot records. Buy small stapler. Print boarding pass and luggage tag (all done).

Just read an article about the impact of aircraft fumes on people. Just the thing to read when you’re about to take a flight.

Kept hitting snooze on my alarm and got up at 6:30 AM. I’m thinking about going back to bed for a while. I am so not a morning person. I did go back to bed but couldn't sleep.

Had a bit of a panic when I couldn't find my phone, which I need for two-factor identification at work, this morning. I finally found it still plugged in by my bed. Whew. (And I need it for travel too!)

Now I can't stop yawning. It's another gray day. (My light box is supposed to come today.)

Ran my errands. Deposited cash at the bank. Ran into a snag at the post office. They wanted $71 to send the box with the blanket to

zhelana in Scotland, and I said, "No". Apparently the cashier goes to Scotland regularly. She said that last time she had to keep running around, and I said that I'm a "sit in a cafe and watch the world go by" kind of traveler, and she said that we should go to Scotland together.

I'll look for something for

zhelana off of her Amazon wish list. Anyone want a plaid throw blanket (US Only)? I think that it has paw prints on it. (I got it from the Humane Society.) Oh for god's sake. It said that my credit cards were ineligible to buy things off of her wish list. But I could use them overseas!

Got a pedicure and manicure. The color that I wanted broke, and the color we used for the pedicure is kind of a peach color that I don’t like. I picked out a mauve color for my fingernails, and that I like. Picked up a small stapler (for the luggage tag for the cruise) at Walgreens. Picked up my printer ink and cell phone charger at Best Buy. Picked up some feather toys for the cats at Walgreens.

I didn’t know that Tim Curry played Mozart in Amadeus, which I saw on Broadway.

Changed the printer ink and printed off the boarding pass and luggage tag for the cruise. I need to gather a few things, start a load of laundry, and go to bed.

Woke up at 7 AM. Oliver wants food. Fed us all. Nap time.

Had a nice nap. Overslept a little. I’m trying to wake up to get my clothes in the dryer. Oliver is fussing over me, purring. You were fed this morning. No, you’re not getting more food.

Looked at the Chicago Red Line maps. I need to write down the stops before my stops so that I know when to get ready to get off.

I really want to go back to sleep, but I can’t because I need to go to the post office. Maybe I could nap for a half hour while my clothes dry.

Gracie is barking at Oliver. A quiet morning at home.

Hmm. The Mattis post office is open until 5 PM. I’m thinking of going back to sleep for an hour. Or maybe I’ll stay awake and just sit for a while. The dogs are barking loudly. Maybe I’ll stop at Staples and pick up some printer ink. I’m having some shipped to me, but it’s delayed. And I need to go to Walmart.

Cat (Oliver) in my face. He is not shy about getting attention. Lily tends to go off on her own except when she wants food.

No, I’m going back to bed. Oooh, I’m dizzy. I’ll stop at the (closed) post office later to mail letters. Then I’ll go to Walmart. Slept well until Gracie started pushing me off the bed.

Solstice. I had the lights on at 4:30.

The dogs are outside. I’ll feed them and myself and then shower. Got my hat and gloves and a necklace. I’m waiting anxiously for rings. Oh, that reminds me that I need to stop the mail for when I’m gone.

Maybe I’ll submit a Walmart order for tomorrow. I could mail the cards then too; they won’t get there any faster. And I’ll stay home.

Gracie got my new glasses. The dogs are holy terrors. Got them back. Gracie was like, Oh, you’re upset. Yeaaaaah, I am!

Fed us all. Started reading the book about the making of The Princess Bride. It’s interesting.

Got a recycling bin into the hallway to the basement. I kind of want to go back to sleep, but it’s too early. I’m feeling too tired to do much though. I could submit my Walmart order. I should do some packing. Maybe I’ll post.

Ordered stuff from Walmart, including a wireless trackball to use with my new travel laptop. I should go to sleep early and get up early because I'll have to get up at the crack of dawn on Tuesday to drop the pets off. But I'll go pack some stuff.

Got up a little after 7 AM. Went back to sleep after the dogs came in. Overslept. It's dark and gloomy out. Raining.

I'm quietly writing documentation for our new ticketing system at work. I like writing documentation because I used to do that as a living!

The snow is off of the roof of the garage!

I'm trying to decide whether to wear my Christmas sweatshirt and jeans for the flight out. Or for the Christmas Eve Loop expedition.

I don't know what to do about my snow boots for the trip. The snow will have melted before I leave, but I don't know about when I get back. I might have some ankle boots with a good tread on them.

For some reason, Oliver and Lily are picking at their food. They’re young, so I’m not so worried, but am wondering what’s going on. The dogs ate their food. Bella and Gracie are now fighting over the duck toy :) Hmm, I have new dish detergent, and I'm wondering if that's why Oliver and Lily aren't eating. It doesn't smell right?

I think that I’m going to give up on getting Christmas lights up and save them for next year. Too much is going on.

I'm wondering if I should try BritBox when I get back. On the other hand, I don't watch TV much and haven't made it through all of The Big Bang Theory yet. Maybe I should wait to catch up on my TV watching.

I need to figure out how to get from Michigan Avenue to the Loop in Chicago. I guess take it over the river and then head west? I'm got my Chicago friends on Facebook working on it.

Hmm. The weather forecasters are saying a "wintry mix". I wonder if I should skip the post office tonight. Yeah, it does look like a "wintry mix". Ugh.

Had a good session with my therapist. She thinks that I should contact a lawyer NOW to deal with the trust. I'm going to go through the info tonight and figure out how much money is missing between the last account balance I got and now. Spoiler alert: it's a lot. I'm going to contact some estate planning attorneys to whom I've talk to see if they know someone who would take my case. (She asked me if there was anything else, but I said, "Isn't that enough?" She laughed.)

Scrambled to get the stuff ready to mail. I'm still iffy about the weather, but I'll go out and see how it is.

Oliver must have seen my entry about wanting a lap cat because he's curled up on my lap right now.

I think that I will go to the Post Office on Saturday instead. I’m tired and hungry. And the beasts are hungry too. Fed us all. I think that I was right about the dish soap because I rinsed the cat dishes without soap, and Oliver and Lily chowed down. I need to get different dish soap for them. Preferably without a smell. Or let the dogs “clean” the dishes. They do a good job.

Zara is lying on the heat vent, so I need to get her new heated bed set up. It's getting warmer, but it also has memory foam in it. (I got the top of the line for my girl!)

I’ve got the new travel laptop open. It’s a rose-gold color and pretty. (It was the cheapest color, so I guess that others didn’t like it.) I’m cleaning the kitchen while it’s doing its update. I've got it set up. Did I say that it's a really, really nice laptop?

I was creating a grocery list while I waited for the laptop to finish updating, when I realized in a panic that I didn't get any wrapping paper for the gift exchange at work tomorrow. So I added a gift bag and tissue paper to the Walmart order, and expedited the order. BUT I FORGOT TO GET SODA! I'll have to submit another order.

Anyway, I'm going to post. (I'm still on the new laptop.) I'll go to sleep after the Walmart order gets here.

Added: I was wrong about the amount of money in the trust. It matched the last valuation. Good because I don't want to deal with it right now.

Bella and Gracie got the chicken toy out of its wrapper and are fighting over it! I'm glad that they will have a Merry Christmas!

The dogs decimated the cat feather wand toys. Sigh. I need to go to PetSmart to get more. I checked Amazon, but they will get here the day that I leave. I ordered some toys for delivery from PetSmart.

Uhhh. No buses on Christmas Eve. I'd have to leave on the 23rd, and get up early to drop the pets off the same day. But I'd need to book the hotel for one more day. I decided that was too complicated, and I'll deal with that in the morning. No, I got it straightened out. I can work on my printables in the hotel. Plus, I got a room with a runway view at the Hilton O'Hare. There are restaurants there, so I can eat. I might pack some food too.

Got up a little after 7 AM. Nothing like a cold, wet dog nose in the middle of your back to get you up. Gracie’s good :) Bella stole Gracie’s donut. Little snot. I’m going back to sleep for a while. Dozed lightly. Oliver was in the room, and he went next to my face, purring. I had to move my head in order to breathe!

I need to pick up Christmas wrapping paper for the "White Elephant" gift exchange at work on Friday. Maybe I'll go to Dollar Tree and see if they have a gift bag and tissue paper.

I'm thinking that I want to go back to Firenze (Florence) to see the Uffizi Gallery (I missed it when I was sick on the tour), the Arno, Michelangelo's tomb, and some other sites. I'd also want Italian lessons. But it won't be next year.

Crud. I need new printer cartridges too (910). Need to go to Walmart. Oh! I can't go to the post office tonight because I have piano class! Have to go tomorrow. Maybe I'll go to the post office to mail my dad's card, and Walmart is across the street.

Hmm. Someone on Facebook mentioned an apartment complex (Elements on Main) that's pet friendly, not too expensive, and close to the hospital and shopping. That might be an idea for when I get older and can't cope with the house. It has an elevator too and covered parking. They have two bedroom apartments.

Hmm. It just occurred to me that I could take the "L" into downtown Chicago on Christmas Eve to look at the shop windows. (I'll be at the hotel at O'Hare.)

I do need another sleep study. They're going to contact me about a home sleep apnea test. They did, and it's on January 9th. I'll have to return the equipment the next day.

Ugh. Arthritis-y. I can't come up with a pattern for when it's worse. Changes in weather? It's warming up.

I think that I’m going to stay home tonight. I need to let the dogs out and feed the critters and myself after class. Plus I got the new travel laptop, so I need to set it up. I’ll go to the post office tomorrow.

Piano class went well. I have problems coordinating both hands at the same time. One song was driving me crazy, but when I went back to it to play for the teacher, it went okay.

That jerk Oliver ran into Zara’s room when I brought her food and water. But that solves a problem what to do with him when I bring the recycling out.

Fed us all. Started a load of laundry. Got the recycling out.

I looked into replacement keys for my "home" laptop, and it looks like I'd have to replace the whole bottom of the laptop. I might have a tech do that then.

I really want to go to sleep, but I want to finish my load of laundry first. I guess that I'll post and do some Christmas cards and packaging stuff up while I wait.

Rain alert? Accuweather says a snow shower in the morning. A third site said a wintry mix. I hope that there isn’t ice in the morning.

Tuesday Night Wrestling (dogs) on the bed.

Overslept and woke up a little before 7 AM. I’ll take the fecal samples at lunchtime.

Hmm. I want to take a nap, but it’s early to get the dogs to come in. Got them in, but I had a piece of donut out for Gracie, and Bella snatched it. I then gave Gracie a donut hole, and Bella tried to snatch that too.

Hmm. A long time ago, I wanted to do indexing work (creating indexes for books or documents) freelance. Maybe I should do that when I retire. I've had indexing experience but want to get certified.

And now we have cat wrestling (Oliver and Lily).

There will be a high of 4F/-16C on Sunday. Yikes! It'll be a good weekend to stay home and snuggle in sweats. Speaking of weather, it's gray and gloomy and I want to go back to sleep. But I can't.

Dropped off the fecal samples at the vet. Go me. (Go cats!) The fecal tests came back negative, and they emailed the place where I want to board them with the results.

I'm sooooo tired. I'm thinking of skipping the Symphony holiday concert tonight and napping. It's dark, cold, and yucky. (Most of the snow has melted though. Just in time to get more tomorrow.) Ugh, I fell asleep during a meeting.

Maybe I bought too much over Black Friday/Cyber Week. I'm getting a package from Land's End, and I was wondering, what the heck is that? (Oh yeah, the second pair of sweats.)

I perked up a little at 5 PM as per usual, but I’m still tired and don’t feel like going out. I still think that a nap is in order.

I was sitting on the toilet and Bella was knocking my hand with her snout because she wanted to be petted. (After all, I was just sitting there….) I told her that she was being ruuuuuuuuude. She goes nuts over long vowels and started licking my face. I have a weird dog ;) That reminded me of when I was a kid and my dad used to imitate an air-raid siren to freak the dog out.

I should do a load of laundry. I have the gathering at my grandboss’ house tomorrow night.

Napped and slept until almost 1 AM after a dream in which I got back together with Erik. That ship has long since sailed. They’re saying up to four inches of snow tomorrow night, which makes me uncertain if I can get to my grandboss’ house.

Fed us all. I think that I’ll sleep in and take my shower at lunchtime.

I need to start a load of laundry before I go back to sleep.

Put my clean cruise clothes back in the suitcase. Put the concert clothes in the dryer. Now I’m going to go to bed.

Holy cow. -18F/-28C wind chill next weekend (according to Facebook)? However, I don't see that in Accuweather. But it'll be cold all weekend. And snow on Thursday.

I didn’t get up early. Woke up at 6:30 AM and reset my alarm to 7.

Scraped off half of the Kia. Then the scraper part came off. Plus I was frozen (it’s 16F/-9C), so I came in. I’ll get the rest later.

The Champaign-Urbana Symphony concert is on Wednesday night, not this weekend. Glad that I checked.

Turned off the space heater upstairs because I was starting to broil. It's a good space heater.

Brushed off the other half of the Kia and put the sticker on. (I got a nastygram about the sticker.) I’m hoping that the sun will melt the rest of the snow. I’m not sure when I’ll get the car jump-started. Thursday? Now I’m thawing.

Got pictures of the critters together (some elegant, some silly) for holiday_wishes. I think that I’ll post to it tonight after the (choir) concert.

I don’t know when the heck that they’ll be able to put my driveway in because winter is wintering.

Got my "paw print" summer pajamas, which will go on the cruise with me. I'm going to have a day in San Diego, so I'm looking at a hop on and hop off trolley tour. I have to remember to bring a pair of jeans to wear.

Gracie sleeps all day long. No wonder she's manic at night.

The concert went..okay. We felt the lack of the dress rehearsal (which most of us didn’t go to because of the weather). I didn’t have the music for the sing-alongs, but I looked over my neighbor’s shoulder. The person who was supposed to give me the microphone for my solo forgot, and I had to borrow one from someone else. So, some glitches. But it’s over. We’re caroling at a retirement home next week. I told the choir director that I needed the music for the sing-alongs, but I’ll remind her.

Oliver wants food NOW! Fed us all. There's no fecal samples, so I told Oliver to work on some.

I'm going to post to my journal and to holiday_wishes and go to bed. I want to get up early to get the fecal samples to the vet.

Scanned my music and sent it to my singing teacher. Printed off some music to work on on the ship. Grabbed my passport. I can’t find my Global Entry card. I don’t need it for the cruise, but I’ll need it for my trip to Europe next fall.

I’m going to have to run to the vet to get flea meds for Gracie. I did, but they gave me HeartGard instead, so I used one of Bella's flea meds and just didn't give her all of it.

Cleaned out the car and put dog and cat food in it. I don’t have enough cat food, so I ordered an express order from Walmart. I couldn’t find my order of bulbs. Did someone take it?

Things that you say only if you have pets: “Oliver, stop sticking your head down my pants!” ( I was in the bathroom.) “Gracie, don’t put your nose there either!”

Hmm. Maybe I should have lunch before I shower (done).

Oliver knocked down my laptop and the I key fell off. This is a new laptop! Thanks a lot, Oliver. I wonder if I could get it fixed.

Operation Cat- and Dog-Nap went off without a hitch, although Zara was hissing at me and tried to hide. They’re settled in at the boarding place. This is the part of the trip that I worried about the most.

Ran my errands. Got my meds. I was able to get everything else that I needed at Schnucks. Contacted my singing teacher and told her that I wasn't going to make the lesson. Got the new filters for my hearing aids and she changed them and the dome for me. I saw a display of Dubai chocolates and grabbed them.

Got home. Put clothes in the dryer. Checked into my flight. Now I think that I'll pop a couple of Dubai chocolates and go pack.

Well, hell. I went to email my dad my cruise details, when I discovered that I had also booked a flight on American Airlines to and from Miami! I used a different email address than I usually do for some reason. I want to use the airfare for a trip to New York a year from December, but I couldn't book that far out, so I booked it for March and will change it in January.

I can't stop yawning. This is not a good sign because I want to pull an all-nighter to make sure that I don't miss my 7 AM bus. Maybe I will take a nap after I finish packing.

Well, everything is piled up on my suitcase, but I couldn't find the shampoo and conditioner bottles. So off I went to Meijer to get some bottles. I also found a nice shave cream in travel size. I'm taking a break now to eat something.

I'm packed. Now I'm going to do some tidying up. I think that I'll post now though.

Note to self: buy Imodium and dental floss and denture tablets and protein bars and straws and travel toothpaste and hair gel and pens. Dramamine at Walgreens. Shut off outside water. Pack passport! And scissors and stapler. And pens.

I forgot to mention that Gracie attacked one of my pillows and pulled the stuffing out. There is pillow stuffing all over the place. This is why we can’t have nice things. I'm going to give up and buy cheap sheets and pillowcases for the bed. I might already have some extra pillows. I bought some inexpensive Eddie Bauer flannel sheets and duvet cover. If I like them, I'll get an extra set of sheets.

Also forgot to mention that I got the dogs a "dog puck" toy, and it was a hit. Both Gracie and Bella wanted it, but Bella got it. I need to get a second one.

Woke up at 7:30 AM. I didn't shower because my clothes were in the dryer and because I had a 9:00 meeting for which I wanted to be on time.

Bella says, “Use your time well. Pet your dog.”

Hmm. I was going to run errands tonight, but I kind of want to stay home and grab a quick nap. I'll need to be out tomorrow to drop off the fur faces, so I could run errands afterward.

Oh! United's site: "The U.S. government plans to restrict flights due to the ongoing federal government shutdown. Our schedule changes for Friday, November 7 and Saturday, November 8 are now in place. Check your flight status to see if your upcoming flight was affected." The flight is still scheduled on time. Yay.

Well, crud. I forgot about my therapy appointment and missed it.

I took a nap and slept until 3:30 AM. Went back to sleep, and the dogs made a concerted effort to get me up at 4:30. I can’t blame them; I was asleep for a long time.

I didn’t notice that the gate was open and Bella got out. At first, she ran away, so I got Gracie inside and grabbed her leash, but then she walked up to the gate to be let in. Good girl, Bella. Fed us all. My stomach is a little upset. I'm going to take a nap.

I forgot to mention that a guy pushing a baby buggy called Bella and Gracie drama queens. (They were going nuts as he walked by.) He’s not wrong :)

I found a fleece-lined set of loungewear in Coldwater Creek’s catalog. It’s over $100 for a set, so pricey, but if I wear it all the time, it might be worth it. A perk of working from home! I tried eBay, Poshmark, Thred Up, Mercari, and JJill with no luck. I’m looking at the track suit at Costco that susandennis mentioned, but Costco’s site is down. I found something on Walmart’s site that might do. I ordered it in purple and pink. It’s certainly a lot cheaper than Coldwater Creek. I think that the Costco suit will be too long for me. I’m short and fat. Oh well. I found a nice set on Amazon and bought it in wine and lavender. They are nice enough that I could wear them to run errands. I guess that I’ll use the Walmart ones as pajamas.

When I was falling asleep, I realized that I didn’t do laundry but didn’t want to get up. I threw it in the wash as soon as I got up. I cobbled something together to wear to my singing class. I’ll change some of my clothes before I go get my hair cut.

I was a couple of minutes late to my singing class, but my teacher didn’t seem to mind. It was a good class. (We’re practicing major, minor, major pentatonic, minor pentatonic, and chromatic scales. It’s hard, but I like that she pushes me.)

Fed the beasts and had lunch. Now I have some phone calls to return. I’m playing telephone tag with the doctor’s office. I reached the hearing aid guy, and he said to change the dome and filter on my right hearing aid.

I need stuff to do that won’t get me dirty before my hair appointment, so I think that I’ll clear stuff off of the basement stairs. I might also break down boxes. Oh, and open some packages. I got my new purse, so I transferred stuff from my old purse.

Got my hair cut and brows waxed. She did her usual good job.

Stopped at the local grocery store. I did more shopping than I had intended because everything sounded good. (Yes, I was hungry.) I forgot to get oat milk though, so I went back in. When I was leaving, I felt happy for no apparent reason, but I’ll take it.

While I was bringing groceries in, Bella and Gracie burst out the door, Gracie without her leash. So I was chasing her with the leash, but she’s pretty smart, and I was having no luck. I convinced them to go into the garage and shut the door, which confused Gracie enough to get a leash on her. Whew.

I was going to take a nap but it got late, so I’ll put the groceries away (done), eat dinner (done), feed the beasties (done), get the recycling out (done), and go to bed early. I certainly got my exercise chasing Gracie!

Gracie pulled me down the stairs and I fell again. Dang dog. She is a handful. I offered Bella a Milkbone-like treat for coming in. She came in but didn’t want the biscuit. I offered it to Gracie, and then Bella grabbed it!

I gave up and fed Bella some wet food in a closed room. I guess that she wins, but I’ll feed her wet food only once a day. She can eat dry food otherwise if she’s hungry. But Gracie polishes off all the dry food.

Got to the electronics recycling place and dropped off two TVs and some dead mower batteries. They were well-organized, although the lines were long.

Then I had lunch. I got lost looking for the nail salon, so I got there a couple of minutes late, but they were running late so it worked out. Had a nice pedicure. She tried to upsell me to get a manicure too, but I said that I was cleaning so that the polish would just come off.

Then I ran to a local grocery store to pick up a hand soap refill and cleaning supplies.

Then I went to the place for my massage. I kept on knocking, but no one answered. After I got home, I discovered that the massage therapist had texted me, saying that an emergency came up. I’m glad that she’s okay.

Diane Keaton died. That shocked me. I guess that Death is starting on the cohort of “people whose movies I’ve seen”.

Fed us all. Brought in a recycling bin. Did dishes. I'm going to go to bed early and get up really early to clean.

I'm texting with the vet about Gracie and Bella. I told them that the dry food firmed up Gracie's stools, but I'm battling with Bella over dry food. I got some new food that I'll try. And I asked about new treatments for Gracie's Giardia. He said that the other treatments are no longer recommended, and that the treatments that they did were the only ones, so no more treatments. I asked him if he'd talk to my boarding place, and he said that he would.

I really want to nap over lunch, but I need to take a shower because I have a therapy appointment at 5 PM.

I had to talk to my boss about a collision of priorities, and she was cool about it.

Bella didn’t like the Costco dry food. She’s eating the Science Diet food. Sort of. Now she and Gracie switched food. Dogs! The cats are not eating, and I don’t know why. Well. Oliver finally ate, but Lily didn't. I ordered a doohickey that opens a door just wide enough for a cat to come in but not a dog. I'm going to put it upstairs to give them a sanctuary, and maybe I'll feed them up here.

I'm investigating cochlear implants, but my hearing needs to get worse before I'd be eligible. They would be nice to have though.

It's chilly today, and I really want to hibernate. I think that I'll nap after my therapy session.

Therapy was okay. She hopes that everything, especially the trip, will work out for me.

Slept until midnight. Gracie is barking at the cats. I need to start laundry, feed us all, post, and go back to sleep for a little while. I need to get up at 5 AM to drop off the car.

I asked Oliver if it was strictly necessary that he dig his claws in my leg. Apparently, the answer is yes. I have claw marks up and down my thighs. I’ll look great for my cruises. Put on clean pajamas, started laundry, soaked the cats' dishes, and started nuking food for me.

Shit shit shit. Oliver got out and ran under the porch, where I can’t get him. I guess that he’s going to spend the night outside. I hope that he’ll come in when he’s hungry.

I’m achy and feel like crying.

Gracie woke me up at 7:30 AM. I took the dogs out, and no sign of Oliver. Bella got stuck under the porch, so I brought Gracie in and got her out. I opened the door to get some soda, and Oliver came in! Gracie jumped on him though. I got scratched trying to get Gracie off of him. He ran upstairs. But at least, he’s home. Whew.

Gracie is nonstop barking at Oliver. She’s giving me a headache.

Fed us all. Nap time. I think that Oliver is upstairs sleeping. He might have had a rough night. No, he’s napping on top of the refrigerator.

The arthritis in my toes and fingers is bothering me. Getting old kind of sucks.

Had lunch. I’m taking nap #2. Put my linen pants and top in the dryer to dewrinkle. Scanned another song and sent them to my singing teacher.

Gracie is barking at Oliver again. Sigh.

Showered and got myself together. Fed us all. Now I’m at the theater for the symphony concert. The concert was all right. None of it was music that I’d want to hear again. I got drowsy during the third piece, but I think that was because I was dehydrated.

Stopped at the grocery store on the way back. I wanted hot dogs to use as rewards for Bella and Gracie. I also picked up some bread and cake. Ate some of the bread and cake. Now I’ll post and feed the cats and Gracie.

Oliver is now showing zero interest in going outside. Yay.

The garage guys are going to take down my shed tomorrow. I need to remember to take the dogs out on leashes.

Manic cats are running around upstairs.

I’m looking into a possible Iceland cruise for next year. It would have to be only one week because I’ll have the long trip to Europe in the fall. I like the Viking cruise, but sheesh, expensive.

Hmm. I was thinking more about paddle boarding, and my balance isn’t the greatest. Maybe not. In that case, there doesn’t seem to be a shore excursion on the “private island” that I want. I guess that I’ll just spend the day on the ship.

Went to choir rehearsal. We were given a new piece that’s in Latin with a lot of embellishments, so that’s going to be the piece that I send to my voice teacher. Everyone liked my “My dog thinks I’m cool” t-shirt.

It’s the time of year to practice Christmas carols for the Dial-A-Carol thing. We’re doing one that I didn’t know, “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas,” in choir. That got a lot of requests last year for Dial-A-Carol. I need a book of Christmas carols (ordered) and need to practice ones that I don’t know.

Stopped at the local grocery store on the way back to pick up a few things. I decided to get a garlic chicken sandwich from the deli, and it turned out to be very good. I wound up with a couple of lipsticks in colors that I like. Oh, and it’s apple cider season so I got some and some Apple butter and English muffins on which to put the Apple butter.

Dogs: “You’re home! I missed you so much! I’m so happy that you came back!”
Cats: “Good, you’re home. Feed us.”
Dogs have owners; cats have staff. Oliver is biting Lily for some reason. I told him that he was a little shit.

I need to feed the critters and go to sleep.

I’m thinking of staying out one more day; I’m still having dizzy spells. Yeah, I emailed in sick.

I’ve been thinking about 9/11 for the past few days, probably because of the New York City trip that I had planned. Never forget. It was a very big deal when I lived in California because one of the flights was headed towards the Bay Area. There’s a memorial there that I never saw. I remember my mom leaving a message because I was still asleep: “You will find a lot has happened when you get up.” Hard to believe that it’s been 25 years.

I’m reading Byron Katie’s book Loving What Is. The basic idea is that our thoughts about an event cause suffering, not the event itself. I think that it will help. She has worksheets on her Web site. I want to download them on my tablet and work with them.

I think that Bella is a little annoyed with Gracie’s play fighting. She’s keeping her at bay.

Napped. Woke up a little after 12 PM. Rescheduled my COVID and flu shots for Saturday after my singing lesson. Ate lunch.

I want to lie back down, but the doggos are wrestling.

I need to pick out a song to work on in my singing lesson.

Napped. Threw myself together. Went and picked up my groceries. Made dinner.

Now I need to post and feed the critters one more time. I'm really tired.

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Entries tagged with errands

Dentist, Piano Class, and French Lessons

Earthquakes and Recessions

More Cookbooks

New-To-Me Chair

Neither Rain, Nor Snow, Nor Sleet--Wait, It's All Three

Let There Be Light

Last Day of Work This Year

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A Dark and Rainy Day

Everything's Booked for My Trip

Skipped the Concert

Choir Concert

Mad Scramble Day

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