days_unfolding

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'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.

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.

Got up at a little before 6 AM to roll the recycling bin out. Went back to sleep. Overslept and woke up at 8:30.

Bella is having diarrhea, but I don't know when I can get her to the vet. Tomorrow is problematic. Well, I have an appointment for her at 11 tomorrow. I'll have to drop her back and then go to my doctor's appointment. I feel like I’m living in a nightmare.

Had a case of the shakes after my shower. Food helped.

I'm trying Chronometer that bill_schubert mentioned. But I know why I've gained weight; eating lots of dessert. I need to get myself to eat fruit for dessert. Okay, I saved some recipes for low-cal desserts. Maybe I should focus on that first, and then the meals.

Man, I'm tired. My sleep consultation isn't until December too. I guess that I'll keep dragging myself along.

Picked up my groceries. Ran in to pick up some of my “cheap” makeup (I wear the cheap stuff for running errands and the expensive stuff when I go out of town, but you could argue that it should be the other way around) and some desserts.

Bought some books about determination because I could use a jump-start.

Brought groceries in. Damn, my back hurts. Ate and fed the critters. Started laundry.

I’m mulling over joining Planet Fitness because it’s nearby. I’m trying to decide on my membership. Do I want access to massage chairs and red-light booth? Yes, I joined, including the massage chair. It would be better to have meetings with a personal trainer, but I don't want the perfect to be the enemy of the good. I'm more likely to drag my butt five minutes away. And it's 24 hours.

My back still hurts. It's kind of pathetic that bringing the groceries in messes me up (see above), but there it is. I need to get the rest of my (non-perishable) groceries off of the back stairs, but I want to lie down and stretch out my back. I'll get up early to clear the stairs.

Cool. My travel credits on American Airlines will pay for a “main select” ticket to NYC with money left over. I’m thinking of spending another day there and coming back on Sunday. (It'll be a little rough because I'm going to get in late and will need to get up early to pick up Bella, Gracie, and Oliver.) I'm also thinking about staying at the Residence Inn for both ends of the trip because it has a kitchen, and I could buy some milk and cereal and eat breakfast in the hotel.

Overslept an hour, so so much for dropping off Gracie’s sample. I’ll drop it off at lunchtime.

Gracie went over to where Lily was but backed off immediately when Lily moved. I think that Lily has made her feelings known about being bugged. Oliver kind of wants to play with the dogs, but Gracie is too rambunctious for him.

I'm freaking tired, but I need to run errands over lunch, so I'll have to just deal with it. Dropped off Gracie's sample at the vet. Mailed the check for my pet sitter, who charged a cancellation fee.

I'm singing "I want to go to sleeeep" to the tune of "I Want to Hold your Hand" inside my head. I finally lay down for a few minutes and overslept. I'll need to log on this weekend. The person from the tree care stopped by but I was asleep, so she made it possible to pay by credit card.

The vet called, and Gracie still has Giardia, so I need to run over there and pick up new meds (done).

I ordered some books on budgeting from Amazon and the library. Started reading one of them.

I’m looking at the guidebook for NYC, and it’s a good guidebook. I have one day figured out so far.

I don’t have Giardia, so yay.

Ye gods, I want to go to bed. I need to feed the dogs and take them out first (done). The Frisbee was a hit! Bella and Gracie were both trying to get it. Oh, I need to start laundry before I go to sleep.

I forgot to mention that I'm thinking about the new fence, which I'll get after the garage is built. I had wanted a tall picket fence, but Gracie can squeeze through very small spaces. If I got a wooden fence with the boards next to each other (a "privacy fence") then the dogs couldn't see what was going on down the street. That would cut down on the barking, but they enjoy seeing what's going on in the world. I guess that I'll sort out my concerns with the fence seller. I saw some privacy fences with windows cut into it with iron bars.

Gracie barks at the cats. I think that she wants to play with them, but they are not interested. I'm getting tired of the barking and they probably are too.

I ordered a plant-based dog chew toy. They don't like the nylon ones.

Aargh. Apparently I didn’t latch the door all the way when I took the dogs out, and Oliver was coming outside. Gracie pinned him, and I grabbed him and put him inside. Lily was in the doorway too. Get with it, Adrienne.

I took Gracie to get her stitches out. I expected to be chewed out because she wouldn't wear the cone collar, but they said that her stitches looked good and they took them out. She has been throwing up a lot, so I made an appointment for her for tomorrow.

I was playing around on Carvana, and found a 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander for a great price. Hmm. I can't deal with this until I get back from Italy though.

Well, hell. I waited for a half-hour for the pharmacist, and they wouldn’t give me the COVID shot because the CDC is saying to wait for the new formulation. That was a waste of time. I returned library books, except for one that I think got scooped up when I was cleaning out the Kia. I’ll look for it.

I’m feeding the critters and wiping out. I’m going to put the full recycling bin and some boxes out to make sure that they get picked up, but I’ll get up early to work on the other bin. I fed the critters and am making myself some food. Then I'll get the bin and boxes out.

Fed us all. It’s starting to get light. I need to clean up some poop in the bedroom. (I can’t blame Gracie because I was asleep for a long time.) Then I’ll go back to sleep for a while. The dogs promptly crashed out.

Woke up at 9 AM with Gracie licking my face. I caught Bella in the act of moving a cat dish around. Me to Oliver: “You got fed earlier.” Oliver to me: “That was then; this is meow.”

My stomach is upset, so I’m going to lie down. Bella snoozes until the last possible minute before I get up. I told her that she doesn’t have to get up when I get up, but she thinks that it’s her duty as The Dog to follow me around. Gracie is more independent.

I was trying to figure out where to put my new drying rack for clothes. I’d rather put it on the shaded side away from the street. The sunny side is right along the sidewalk. I’ll try it on the shadier side and see what happens. Also, the garage-to-be will clear the clothesline posts in the back yard.

Bella and Gracie were playing tug of war with a stick. Bella won twice. A neighbor said “Hi” to the dogs. Gracie was upset and barking because the guy left, and I told her that the world didn’t revolve around her. She is not convinced. Gracie: “My water dish is empty.” Me: “Your water dish would stay full longer if you didn’t play in the water.” Gracie: “This does not compute.”

Ugh. My stomach is still upset. I would stay in, but have a grocery pickup at Meijer at 4. Hmm, I really need to go to Costco today because I’m planning on staying up late working on the kitchen. But I’ve been feeling dizzy.

I was thinking that I had an easy choice to euthanize Mimi. A brain tumor is serious stuff. I have a feeling that I’ll have a tougher choice with Zara. She keeps losing weight, but her kidney numbers are good so far.

I received my InstaPot. I’m looking forward to learning how to use it.

Lily is fussing over me. I think that she’s hungry.

I took a shower and dressed, but I feel shaky. Ate a BistroMD cookie to try to help the shakes.

Went and got the pickup order. I ran in to get some diet root beer, only to find that they were out of bottles, so I got some cans. I found some good food prep containers and a muffin pan. Came home to find that the new pots and pans are here.

Bought a dog fountain for Bella and Gracie, although Gracie doesn’t like running water. (I read a sob story about a dog who got dehydrated, and that worried me.)

Cats: we’re hungry! Feed us! Nothing subtle about Oliver. He gets in my face when he’s hungry. Fed us all.

The new copper pots look great! I want to clean the stove before taking a picture of them though. I think that I want a copper kettle too (ordered). I need to take apart the boxes that they came in.

I’m feeling dizzy. I was going to stay up all night cleaning, but I think that I need to lie down soon. I really wish that I’d stop being sick. I want to do dishes before I go to sleep though (done). I need to feed the beasts again, but then I'll go to sleep. I'm setting an alarm though.

Gracie woke me up at 5 AM. (I can’t remember when I went to sleep. 11?) I removed her from the bedroom and slept until 7:30. Much better.

My stomach is upset again. I don’t know why. I hope that food will help. Fed us all. Bella is busy stealing napkins.

I bought some reusable produce bags because I’ll need them when I start cooking. I also bought some reusable grocery bags.

I forgot to mention yesterday that the battery on the Kia is dead. I need to call AAA.

I checked, and Mint Mobile has an International Pass. Good.

Napped. I shut Gracie out because she’s more hyper, but Bella is always up for a nap.

Gracie met my neighbor and her friend. Gracie was thrilled by the attention. They pronounced her “cute”. They said that beagles like to run away, so now they know where she lives :)

I should return the stoneware to Costco, but I really want to stay home today and get stuff done. I could take the stoneware to Costco after my COVID shot. Or I could move my COVID shot to Tuesday. I moved my COVID shot to Friday.

My stomach is upset, so I’m going to lie down for a few minutes. Then I’ll shower. I’ll wear shorts because I’m going to be around the house.

Bella and Gracie were chasing Oliver. I told them that they can be little shits, but I was focusing on Bella because she’s teaching Gracie to chase him. I pushed her down and told her “No” repeatedly.

I guess that I feel a little better.

Hmm. I wonder if I’d save money replacing my hot water heater with a tankless one. I asked my dad about it.

I’m about to take a shower. Oliver jumped on my shoulders, claws extended, on his way to the top of the shower stall. I called him an asshole. Now he’s sleeping like a little angel. Not.

I’m getting IBS symptoms, so that’s probably what my upset stomach was about. I’m glad that I’m staying home.

I spent some time trying to figure out how to get my to-do list on my phone's Lock Screen. It didn’t work, but I think that I can create a graphic that says “Work on the House “ in Canva and use it as my Lock Screen. I’ll try it anyway. I got my Lock Screen to say “Work on the house!” with a link to my to-do list. Awesome.

I have a goal to save up the six months of money that you’re supposed to have in your emergency fund (a year would be better because I’m moving towards retirement). I have $1700 and I’m not touching it. Let’s hear it for automatic savings. It comes directly from my paycheck.

I’m getting back to the point that I look at things and say that they’re too expensive. This is good.

Oliver has another new annoying habit in that he’ll eat half his food, then abandon it to eat Lily’s food. I watch them eat though, so I tell him to stop it and move his food near him. (Don’t get me wrong; I love him, but I can love him AND think that he’s annoying.)

I'm still not feeling great, so I decided to open up some Amazon boxes (I got some Mason jars to prep salads or soups) and then I tackled my travel backpack. I got my charging cords organized, except for some usba to usbc cords that the dogs got into. (Now I'll have everything in my backpack and will zip it closed, so they can't get into anything.) I ordered the cords and a couple more US-to-Europe adapters. I had bought some Beats headphones (this was before my austerity kick), so I'm charging them. And I have a dongle to plug into the airplane seat's electronics to broadcast Bluetooth. I have no excuse to get bored on the plane.

I want to get up early in the hope that I'll feel better, so I need to go to sleep soon. I want to find my boombox first though (and feed the beasts).

Fed us all. Now I’m going back to sleep for a while.

I'm feeling bright-eyed and perky. There's something to be said for getting lots of sleep. Maybe I won't be so tired tomorrow.

Ugh. Gracie got tangled up in the cords and pulled down my work laptop and unplugged the docking station.

I ordered a book about beagles because we think that Gracie is part beagle. Speaking of Gracie, she has discovered the back window upstairs that the cats love.

I wonder if I should switch to I3 Broadband and save some money. (I have AT&T.) I would save $50 a month, so I should probably do it. $50 for my travel fund! A colleague said that they recommended it.

Uh. The office of my primary care provider is closing, and I need to find a new primary care provider. It's not all bad because I didn't like my primary care provider, but it's a hassle nonetheless. I got a recommendation from my colleagues, and she's covered under my insurance, so I'm going to call her. I was procrastinating calling her for no good reason, but I called and got set up with her.

I’m wondering if I should get a COVID shot before going to Sardinia. Hmm. My last COVID vaccine was September 27th last year, so I’m close to due. I wonder if my insurance will pay for it if it’s less than a year though. Maybe I should ask the doctor’s office if I should get it. They said yes, get it, so I have an appointment on Monday night.

I’m trying to decide what to do after work. I should work on the house, but it’s gorgeous out, in the 70sF (21C) and a light breeze. If that’s not a day to go outside with the dogs and plant things, I don’t know what is. There is an air quality alert though. It's supposed to be even cooler tomorrow but the air quality is an issue. The air is supposed to be clear on Sunday.

Tried to nap at lunch but couldn’t sleep. It didn’t help that both Bella and Gracie were play-biting Oliver, but he didn’t understand that they were playing and screamed. He broke into Zara’s room, and I left him in there because at least he and Zara speak the same cat language.

Why am I yawning? So was Bella and Gracie. I opened the door to Zara's room to see if Oliver would come out, and it looked like he was napping in the window. He'll come out when I feed them.

I'm investigating pay per mile auto insurance. I drive most of the time in Champaign-Urbana, plus I work remotely. I should take my last trip to Michigan before I sign up for it though.

Hmm. I should clean out the storage spaces. I would save a ton of money that way. Hey, I’ll have a garage that I can use for temp storage!

Oliver didn’t want to walk past Bella and Gracie, so I carried him to the kitchen. The cat dishes are soaking (but one is missing??)

I decided to use working on the garden as a carrot for getting stuff done around here. I need to find my boom box for added energy.

I was looking at the stuff that Dollar General had on sale. Most of it is junk, but they have frozen burgers and Neutrogena wipes for less than Walmart. They have a $5 off of $25 sale on Saturdays too, so I should stock up. I should probably get paper towels too because we go through them quickly, sigh.

Gracie jumped on Lily when I was feeding the cats. I chewed her out. We’re all fed now.

Hmm. Costco is open until 7 tomorrow, so I won’t be able to go after my pedicure. I could go before the pedicure. Maybe I’ll do that. I have a backlog of cat litter, but I should see what the cats think of Costco’s cat litter and pate cat food.

My new glassware is gorgeous. Macy’s for the win!

I also got some Rubbermaid containers for food prep.

Love, love, love my new luggage tags. I’ll show a picture, but I suppose that I should blur my email and phone number.

I need to do some packing this weekend so that I still can order something that I need.

Crud. A beginner pickleball league is starting up, but you have to have a partner. Maybe I’ll ask at work if anyone is interested.

I got up early, so I think that it's bedtime after I feed the beasts.

The farmer's market closes at 6 PM. I work until 5:30. That's not going to work. I'm going to try the Harvest Market grocery store in Champaign tomorrow. They make deals with local farmers, so maybe their produce is more fresh?

Overslept a little and got up at 7 AM. Now I'm at work, and Oliver and Lily are wrestling with each other. Gracie is pretty good upstairs and lies quietly.

Yikes. It's halfway through July. Where does the time go?

One of the perils of working from home is cats on my keyboard. One of my cats sent messages to the IT guy with whom I was working. He thought that it was funny.

My mercury retrograde story: we had a big-deal meeting with the people from our libraries on our committees. So, of course, the Zoom link didn’t work, and we started late because of it. Then, when we were in the meeting, it kept on showing the presenter’s view of the slides. Finally someone else did the slides, so it was okay. I volunteered to post the recording, so I hope that I won’t get caught in the technical glitches.

Cool. My recipe calls for whole wheat bread crumbs, but I've never been able to find any. Amazon has them. They were eligible for overnight shipping if you order $25 worth of stuff, plus I had some USBA plugs in my cart, so I went looking for something else to order and found pumpkin chews for dogs that are supposed to help with diarrhea and other digestive problems, which would be good for Gracie. Overnight shipping! I'll get my ingredients tonight and make the Basil Tomato Corn Bake tomorrow night. (I already checked on pans and mixing bowls.) Now I'm second-guessing ordering BistroMD instead of cooking, but I don't need to add regular cooking to my list of to-dos.

After reading dadi's post about her bruising from the implants (I asked my dentist about it, and he said that there shouldn't be any. I'm not sure that I believe him.), I ordered two small bottles of Estee Lauder concealer to take to Sardinia with me. dadi said that the bruising was from sinus work though, but a friend of mine had some bruising from an implant. Oh! I need to check whether I have enough reef-safe sunscreen!

It looks like it's raining a little. I wish that it would pour because it's been so humid. I was coated with sweat when I was out with the dogs a little while ago. 82% humidity. Ick.

Hmm. I was wondering if I should work with a personal trainer at the YMCA to get me to exercise. It's not horribly expensive. Exercise would help my energy levels too. I'd have to start with a "wellness consultation".

Hmm. It's predicted to storm right when I have to go mail my return. The post office opens at 8 AM, so if I could get going early, I could go then. There's a big honking rain cell over Urbana right now. Yeah, I'll do that. It stopped raining, but I should have left already if I was going tonight. I’ll go tomorrow morning.

I bought a carpet cleaner for upstairs. Gracie has peed there a couple of times. The cats have missed the litter box a few times. It would be easier to be able to control the cleaning.

Fed us all. Bella and Gracie chased each other all over the yard despite the heat. Now they’re tired. Adopting Gracie was a great idea. They keep each other amused much of the time.

Oliver was on my lap, and I thought, “Aww. He wants to cuddle.” Then he knocked down my glasses and my phone. Much less cute :)

Got the garbage out. I’m cooling for a few minutes, and then I’ll get packages off of the porch. I couldn’t have gone to the grocery store tonight anyway. If I get up extremely early, I could go in the morning, but it’s doubtful because it’s a 15 minute drive each way.

I bought a six-pack of Sterlite containers for my emergency supplies and camping supplies.

I took my meds early in the hope that I'll go to sleep early.