days_unfolding

It looks like I'll have to take the summer off of iCAN, or at least just work on my independent study project. The class that I want to take is offered only in the fall semester. Then I can take calculus starting in the spring semester. (Taking calculus in the short summer session would be madness.) Though hmm, I might need to start the three-semester calculus sequence in the fall.

I went and got my "I-card" (university ID card). Now I'm able to check out library books at the uni's main library. And hey, I can take buses for free. Then I picked up meds and got a passport picture taken. Then I went and got the new printer. On the way home, I had a craving for a Whopper for some reason, so I ordered one for delivery. It was good.

A gray-haired guy turned his head and looked at me while I was walking around campus. Either he was surprised to see a peer in the heart of campus or he thought that I was cute. Anyway, that was my cheap thrill for the day.

Had a study session with the TA from math class. Looked at the homework problems, and they made my head spin.

Aldi's "PurAqua Sparkling Flavored Frost Water" is pure crack. I've had three flavors and they've all been good. And they're $0.65 a bottle! I'm tempted to get a bunch of them.

Yay, the new printer is working. Filled out the passport application wizard online and printed it out. I need a stapler to attach my passport photo, so I'm going to run to Meijer and get one. I should pick up more pens too (done).

I'm wiped out. I'll finish the passport renewal application tomorrow.

Oh wow, the apple-spinach salad is delicious! The goat cheese really adds to it. I gobbled it up! It's going on my regular lunch rotation!

Ugh. I've been feeling scatterbrained the last few days. Making a lot of mistakes. Sigh. But I'm being easier on myself, which is good.

Urgh. I received an email from the iCAN program, and I'm going to have to upgrade my computer system. They're recommending a dual-monitor setup. I'm also going to have to get the futon out of here ASAP to have room for the setup. Okay, it looks like I'll need a new laptop, which I can do, but I won't be able to go to Memphis then. Good, the laptop that I probably will get (I like HP laptops) will fit in my travel backpack. Speaking of which, I got the travel backpack and like it. I saw a Facebook Marketplace ad for two monitors for $100, so I'll see if that will work.

The therapist got back to me, asking if we should have a Zoom meeting, although she said that she isn't really a problem-solving therapist. I said, "Yes," and talked about the workbooks that I'm working on. We'll see how this goes.

I felt too hot to make stir-fry, so I made a PB&J. Maybe I'll make stir-fry later (done).

It got too late to make bread. Tomorrow after piano class (or maybe before if I have my act together).

I need to get up for an early meeting, so I need to crash.

I think that I need a yoga practice. The people leading the meditations for the Smithsonian have a yoga background. It's something to investigate. Hmm, a yoga studio in Champaign offers a 50+ class on Saturday afternoons. But with the cost of gas, that could be expensive. They also offer the class online, but I'd like to go face to face first. I get paid on the 6th, so maybe on the 9th?

I bought a book (that I couldn't get from the library) called Heal Your Living: The Joy of Mindfulness, Sustainability, Minimalism, and Wellness. That seems to be the direction that I'm heading, so I'm intrigued by it.

I've decided that I don't like the Viori shampoo and conditioner bars. I'm going to try superzero.

I like my new sandals. It's funny how much cooler wearing them makes me.

Talked to Mom. She's feeling tired due to a medication that she's on. She's enjoying reorganizing stuff around the house though. She says that she's doing okay and not to worry. (I worry anyway.)

I got the new shredder, and it made quick work of the pile that I had to shred. I'm pleased with it.

Funny how things work. I was looking for composting programs in Champaign, which led me to an apartment management company talking about starting a program, and they have buildings that are pet-friendly and offer recycling. They even have one in Savoy (south of Champaign) that has a washer-dryer hookup! Worth investigating.

Holy cow. The treadmill is supposed to get here tomorrow. I need to fire up some audiobooks. I think that my fitness goals for July are walking and yoga. I walked to the mailbox today (at the other side of the complex) and got winded. I got a fitness journal to track my workouts.

I spent some time with my planning book, setting it up for July. I enjoy the stickers that they have; it's kind of cheesy, but they help. Now I need to remember to check the planner.

I was wondering when classes start in the fall. August 22nd. It's on my calendar. I need to find out how to register for classes.

I need to wend my way towards bed to get a decent night's sleep and actually have energy tomorrow. Maybe I should put that as one of my goals. It's a form of self-care.

I've found some shampoo and conditioner and body soap bars that I'd like to try in the pursuit of less packaging. It looks like the frizzy part of my hair is indeed the part that still has the dye on it. That confirms my decision to stop dyeing it. It's cool that gray hair for women is now "in," although mine is definitely salt-and-pepper.

I'm tired today, which is not surprising. And it's dark and rainy.

I tried an online meditation session offered by the Smithsonian. I'm not sure what I thought of it. Part of it was meditating on a Korean painting, which seemed strange. But I do feel relaxed in mind and body.

Overslept my nap. I've decided not to to pick up Zara's meds today because I'm too tired.

Had another nap after work. Made up work time afterward. Finally remembered to request that a transcript be sent from Wayne State University (my Master's Degree) to the University of Illinois for iCAN.

It also just occurred to me that I could ask work for a new trackball because I use it for work. New headphones too.

I received a form about financial aid for the program at the university next fall. I don't need financial aid because I get free tuition because I work for the university. But the form didn't really accept that, so I had to go back and forth with one of the advisors. Then she reminded me to accept enrollment. Oops! Done.

I ate some five-grain thing that seemed to be brown rice and some other stuff for lunch. Got my act together to make pesto tortellini for dinner. I don't know why I have been skipping it. It's not that hard. And delicious. I think that I need to take vitamins though. I have to go pick up my meds at Walgreens tomorrow anyway, so I'll get some. Also, I need to make the quinoa for lunch. Well, crud. I was going to make the quinoa but the peas need to be thawed.

Napped after work. When I woke up, I was flipping through a Seattle book, and Mimi promptly came over and lay down on it. Mimi: my work here is done.

Whew. I had another journal on LJ before the days_unfolding one, under the name of "adriennerad," which is the name that I use across the Internet. I thought that it was backed up to Dreamwidth, but I discovered it wasn't. So I just used blogbooker to save it in case LJ goes down, and backed the PDF file up to Evernote. I'm breathing more easily.

No ice and no snow this morning. Just wet. Awesome. I need to go get oatmeal, but I've been having IBS symptoms and my stomach is upset, plus I have some grits that I need to eat. I'm trying to eat down my stash of food to save money and to decrease the amount of food that I'd have to move.

I was accepted into the iCAN (Illinois Computing Accelerator for Non-Specialists) program!!!! U of Illinois Computer Programming Department, here I come!!!!

I asked my dad how the family got from Lithuania to the southern part of Germany during World War II, and he's describing the trip in email installments. Should be interesting.

Hmm. Facebook reminded me about a free hotel voucher if I go to Hawaii and plant trees. Maybe I should try for that for my 60th birthday, although now that I'm on iCAN, that could conflict. Okay, that seemed to be a scam, but I found a legit site. One in Nepal caught my eye, but the airfare is $2000. Can't do that this year.

Hmm. Now I'm mulling over a trip to London or Dublin/London for my 60th birthday if I can pull it off financially. It would be in November, so the prices would be lower. I could see a trip basically seeing the museums in London. (I've been there once, but only for a couple of days 40+ years ago.) Need a London guidebook. And one for Dublin. Oh! I do have a London guidebook. It's dated 1997, so stuff like restaurants and hotels might have changed, but the sights wouldn't have. And Oh! The museums in London are free! (You could spend days in the British Museum alone.)

I lay down for a while to get rid of a headache, but couldn't sleep. I have stuff to do, so it's just as well. Well, I blew a bunch of time researching the trip and on Facebook. Not going to be productive tonight. But given that I wasn't feeling very well, it's okay.

The mower guy contacted me about removing snow from the storm tomorrow, and I said "yes". He'll do a better job than I will.

My new mop has arrived. I'll put it together later tonight. I never thought that I would be excited about a mop.

I had my interview for the iCAN programming certificate program. I think that it went well. They seemed to be very positive about my answers and said, "She knows what she wants!". They said that I would hear back by the end of March.

Ran out to the grocery store and to get a library book and to get money for mower guy. The book is kind of interesting and a rare dip into fiction for me. It's The Time Traveler's Wife, which was written by someone whom I want to school with. She was a year behind me, so I didn't know her well. It's supposed to be a good book.

I didn't get to the gym because I didn't have time to fish my gym clothes out of the dryer. I'll get them packed so that I'll have them ready for next time.

I'm tired.

The two colleagues submitting my letters of recommendation for the iCAN program have now submitted them. So now I wait.

I discovered I can get my tuition tax form from Heartland online, so maybe I'll tackle my taxes this weekend.

Hmm. A gas station nearby is hiring people for part-time hours that would work well for me (Sat. 4-9 and Sun 4-8). Do I want to apply? I'm a little leery because I had problems working retail when I was working on my master's degree. Knowledge work is better for me.

I ran out and got library books and soda. I have some books on Berlin and Munich now!

I decided to watch Shaun White's last runs during dinner. So I watched all the snowboarding. Then I decided to cheer on Mikaela Shiffrin in the Super G. She had a solid run, and I'm happy for her. And now it's late :)

I'm tired and want to get to bed at a decent hour. And read my travel books.

I looked into tuition waivers for the possible iCAN program, and apparently the system is smart enough to know that I'm an employee. Good to know. Also, retirees are eligible for tuition waivers, but they don't allow second bachelor's degrees. Too bad. I'd major in Italian when I retire. I think I could take Italian classes though.

Had a headache at noon, so I lay down during lunch.

Two of the three German books are in my mailbox. I'll run get them later.

I think that I've found the place where I'd like to stay when I spend a year in Italy: Genova (Genoa). It's on the water. It's only a 1.5 hour train ride from Milan (and you can get to anywhere in Europe from Milan). It's also close to Nice, France. And there's Genovese pesto!

I also have a bunch of books on Berlin wishlisted on Amazon.

The headache came back, so I slept until 2 AM. So much for getting things done. It must be headache day because two of my colleagues left early with headaches. My boss said that the barometric pressure was going down. My eyes are all puffy.

I'm really stressing about the iCAN application, which is silly. Either I'll get in or I won't. I'll deal if I don't.

I feel sorry for the athletes who have trained hard for the Olympics, only to get knocked out because of a positive COVID test :(

I want to create an Etsy store with printables. I've made a list of ones to make. Now I need to explore Canva.

I'm trying to get the last drops of makeup foundation out, not just to be frugal, but because I've ordered some from Amazon that is supposed to arrive tomorrow, so I didn't want to buy more tonight. But it has a plastic pump cap that wouldn't come off. So I slid a knife under it and pushed it up, which worked almost too well because the cap bounced off the wall behind the sink and landed in the sink. A personal best!

Ran out to get soda. Decided not to go to Walgreens to look for free masks because it was cold.

I've been sucked into the Olympics. They keep saying that the skating will be "later". Now they're saying 11 PM. Now I'm finally watching it. Nathan Chen blew it away.

And now it's late. Tomorrow I'm not watching the Olympics, so I should get more done.

Italian went well, but there are words that I have a tough time pronouncing. OTOH, there are words in English that I have a tough time pronouncing too. My writing and reading are much better than speaking. Even in my native language.

Overslept my nap. Cleaned snow off of the car. Wow, that was a task. (My Italian teacher said "Mamma Mia!" about our snowstorm. That about sums it up.) There also was a glaze of ice on the stairs, so I spread ice melt. I don't want to miss the skating, so I'll drop off the rent check later.

Took the garbage out during the commercials for the skating. Almost forgot.

Dropped off the rent check and got the mail. I received the book about Germany. And a new set of computer headphones because I stepped on the old ones :)

I submitted my iCAN application. Wish me luck.

I didn't have time to set up the veggie lasagna, so I guess that I'll do it tomorrow. There's more skating tomorrow, but it should be shorter. I also didn't have time to write my Medium article. I'll be busy tomorrow.

I didn't get up as early as I had planned, but I was ready on time for Italian. (I shower and put on makeup to look okay on video.) Italian is getting kind of hard because my teacher rattles off Italian and expects me to understand. I need to study more. I bought a calendar yesterday on which to track my progress on daily tasks by putting a star on it. He also said that people in Italy are worried about a war in the Ukraine because Italy gets 90% of its gas from Russia. He asked what I thought President Biden was going to do about it, and I said that I didn't know. We also talked about places where we have been and places that we want to go. He said that he has friends who have been to Lisbon, and it's beautiful.

Started laundry. Nap time. Overslept.

Had dinner and then talked to my colleague about her letter of recommendation for my iCAN application. Updated my iCAN application, updated my resume, and uploaded the resume to the application.

Okay, I have a solid draft of my next Medium article (about working with a psychiatrist). I'll edit and post it tomorrow. Now it's kitchen-cleaning time. Plus, I need to empty the dryer because I want to wash towels and rags.

Ordered another Chirp audiobook. They have more interesting books than I can afford, but this one is called The Little Book of Big Change, and it sounds interesting. Hmm, she also has an online companion course for it. And a course to become a certified change coach!

Whoops, I forgot to take the trash out (done). Do one thing and drop the other.

I cleaned off the kitchen table, so I got a gold star on my calendar. It's cheesy, but it helps. I broke the command hook with which I was going to hang the calendar, so I had to order more. I also discovered that my friend Lance sent me a Christmas card!

Does anyone have a good idea where to store coupons and catalogs?

I overslept, so I didn't take my shower in the morning. So I had to take it over lunch and didn't have time to go pick up Zara's meds over lunch. I don't want to go tonight because of the burnt-out headlight. So I'm planning to bring the car to Walmart tomorrow to get the headlight fixed and will pick up the meds then.

My former boss said that he'd be happy to write a letter of recommendation for me. I also asked my colleague with whom I primarily work, and she wants to interview me about my plans for the programming degree. She doesn't want to get it wrong. I get it.

Apparently our mobile home park was sold again. And there won't be a maintenance guy until they hire someone else. And they reminded us to keep the water on when it's below freezing. Yeah, I got it!

It occurred to me I should do something fun for myself, so maybe I'll look at Great Courses (Wondrium) courses on Friday nights to kick off the weekend. If I don't take a nap instead :) There's some series on photography that would count as a "creative" thing for me. When the weather gets warmer, I'd like to take out the camera and play with photography. Though there's a cat who likes to walk in the snow, and his or her footprints would make a good picture.

I made an appointment to take the girls for their checkups next Friday. Wish me luck wrangling them.

I tried to take a nap but couldn't fall asleep. I went into a time sink reading about what parents of young kids are going through with schools and day cares closed because of COVID. Holy. Cow. I'll investigate who to contact to vote for the Child Tax Credit. This is not sustainable.

I watched two lectures on the Fundamentals of Photography. Very interesting and fun. I got my camera out and the battery was dead. Sigh. Now I'm going to do my nighttime tasks and go to bed because I want to get going at a decent hour to get my car's headlight fixed tomorrow.

Suckage. It's almost noon, and the plumber hasn't been here yet. I've been working in my pajamas and robe because I have no clean clothes. What a clusterfuck.

I had a three-ring circus in here because the heating unit for my water wasn't working. It turned out to be a tripped circuit-breaker. All's well now. And I have clean clothes.

I worked the entire day in pajamas and a robe though. I've decided that I don't want to take a shower and get dressed now after work. I need to go out tomorrow, so I'll do it then.

Checked in with Mom. The installation of the port went okay. Her first chemo is now Monday.

Now I'm trying to figure out if I can come up with a large enough grocery list for pickup, but I might have to go to Dollar Tree. And I need to go to Walmart to pick up Zara's prescription, although I could go through the drive-thru. And I need to pick up library books tomorrow, so I guess that I'll sally forth with the KN95 mask.

I lost a bunch of time to one of my favorite time sinks: reading the comments on the Ask a Manager Web site. It had to do with a person who always worked late, which used to be me. Now I just stay up late doing my own stuff :)

Okay, I have a draft of all my iCAN essay questions. Now to start on the application....and urgh. The essay questions in the application aren't the same as the ones on their Web site. Okay, I wrote up answers to the new questions.

I realized that I should have a transcript from De Anza College, never mind that it's been a zillion years since I went there, so I'm holding off on specifying institutions and uploading transcripts until I get it. I got it already! That was fast. They asked for every single college or university that I attended, and that's what they're going to get. But I'm too tired to work on my application now.

I also need to update my resume. I found the latest version after some churn, but I'm too tired to work on it now. I need to do nighttime tasks and get to bed.

Added: Someone made a comment on my last Medium article that it was "super helpful". That's what I'm writing for!

I just saw a folding rowing machine that is like the one that I had in California. Hmm. Reasonable price for a rowing machine.

I had an impulse to cancel Italian, but I had no reason to do so. It went okay. My teacher is now out of COVID quarantine and is meeting his friends. He's sending good wishes for my mom.

An article in the Washington Post mentioned posting pictures to Instagram with the hashtag "gratitude". What a nice idea.

I was looking at the Love Your Gut audiobook on Chirp, but it has recipes in it, so I ordered a printed copy. I hope it helps my IBS. I was looking into sauerkraut because it's good for digestion. None around here, but Meijer in Champaign has it.

I also looked at How Money Works, but that's also a book that I'd rather read in print. Maybe I should order it from the library (done).

Napped and overslept. Fed the cats and ate. Zara climbed on me. Took the garbage out. Soaked a litter box.

Oh cool. I got the A&W flavor packets so that I can make diet root beer with the Sodastream.

I just wrote a solid draft of my next Medium article on whether you should disclose your mental illness at work. And I wrote it with a cat (Zara) on my shoulder! (I told her it was kind of disgusting to listen to a cat slurping in your ear.) I'll edit and post the article tomorrow. Earlier, I saw how the gut doctor used Instagram to promote herself, which gave me some ideas on how to use it to promote my Medium articles. I signed up for an Instagram account.

Now I'm tackling the iCAN essay questions. Well, after a Mimi lap break. I exist to serve :)

My brain has just imploded, so I'll work on the essay questions again tomorrow. Yawning....

Crossposts: https://days-unfolding.livejournal.com/1229058.html

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April 2025

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Entries tagged with ican

Cheap Thrills

New Laptop

Yoga?

Smithsonian Meditation

Books Are for Lying On

I Apparently CAN!

iCAN Interview

My iCAN Application Is Complete

Headache Day

Lost Day

Mamma Mia!

Gold Star

Fundamentals of Photography

Working in Pajamas and a Robe

Love Your Gut