days_unfolding

Bella heard something and woke up and barked and growled. I got up and turned on the porch light but didn’t see anyone. The car looks okay.

Woke up at 5 AM. Took Bella out and lay down for a half-hour afterward.

My Italian lesson went well. My teacher said that my brain was working well today. I need to work on pronunciation. Maybe I could read News in Slow Italian and play the audio to check my pronunciation. Am I still subscribed to News in Slow Italian? An article I read about improving foreign language pronunciation said that it’s a good idea. I think that there also was an app that taught foreign languages using songs. That should help too. I downloaded an app called LingoClip. You listen to music and fill in the missing words in the lyrics. I found another site that will play a foreign language song and give you the lyrics in the language and a translation.

I think that I might want to add a small bequest to my Italian teacher in my will. I’ll have to see if there’s an issue with sending money overseas.

They were right about it being really windy today. Something (dust?) was making me sneeze. The sunflowers have been knocked over, but I left them on the ground until the wind dies down.

Great. I overslept my nap and was late to a meeting, I'm having problems with a database, and a crown came out already. I ordered some dental glue from Walgreens because the one that I'm getting from Amazon won't get here until tomorrow.) I just want to scream. This week sucks so far. Okay, a colleague probably figured out the problems with my database. (I'm testing it. It worked.) The glue has been delivered, but I'm going to wait until post-dinner to reglue it.

I still haven’t heard from the vet about Zara. I just said that I wanted to reschedule the appointment for tomorrow, but they are closed now. It’s 7 PM, and they’ve been closed for an hour, so I don’t think that I’ll hear from them tonight.

Fed us all and watered the plants in the garden. Listened to a song in Italian. Got the garbage out. Zara is hiding in the closet. I don’t know if she’s trying to keep cool. I should turn the ceiling fan on for her. Man, I’m boiling hot. Need to sit and cool off. Listened to another (depressing) song in Italian. In English we would call that a torch song.

Got my tooth back on without glue. It then came off. Now I put it on with glue. My tooth is screaming. I turned the ceiling fan on while I sat in the kitchen (I shut Bella in the bedroom because she wouldn’t stop bothering Oliver) and Oliver took off like a bat out of hell out of here. Apparently he’s scared of it as well as Bella. The tooth came out again. I'll wait until I get the better glue from Amazon. Bella is doing well in time-out.

I need to go upstairs and do some more work, although I need to get up on time because I have a 9:00 meeting tomorrow. All's well that ends well with work. My mini-project was successful, and now I'm back on track. So I'll get to bed.

I had my Italian lesson today. It went well. We spent half of the time talking about my Sardinia trip. My teacher wants me to go to Sicily!

I made a stupid mistake at work. And I keep making stupid mistakes today. With it, I'm not. I didn't get a lot of sleep. I installed a "countdown to retirement" app on my phone. Currently 2 years, 7 months, and 2 days (assuming that I retire December 31, 2027) :)

Hmm. I found an Amalfi Coast and Tuscany tour that's more what I had in mind. I want to go to Ravello though. On the day in Florence, I could go to the Uffizi Gallery that I missed when I was sick in Florence. I emailed them for more info.

I have a boatload of stuff to do this weekend. I want to go to the garden shops. Plant plants in the garden. Tidy and clean the kitchen and bathrooms. Work on my will and trust documents. (Maybe I should work on them after work because I'll have limited energy.) Oh, and tidy up the upstairs so that I can get someone to clean the carpet. Set up my security cameras.

I’m about to take a nap and am sharing my bed with a dog and a Munchie Bone. I pretended to eat the Munchie Bone, but Bella was unfazed. She knows that they’re for dogs. Had a short nap, but I'm going to be tired tonight. I need to make it an early night, especially because I need to log onto work early to get my half-day in the morning and still leave for my doctor's appointment on time.

I almost got scammed by the best phishing email yet. The login looked believable, but then it asked for my credit card number, and I said, "Wait a minute," closed the Web page, and used Xfinity's Web site to check. I did not owe any money. I should change my password on the site (done, but it has two-factor identification also). I also changed my email password out of an abundance of caution.

Oh man. I have hit the wall with 1.5 hours of work to go. I was going to try to stay up tonight until an early bedtime, but I might need to take a nap. Or go to bed REALLY REALLY early.

I've decided not to go to the island La Maddalena on my Sardinia trip because 1) the cab fare to the ferry is really, really expensive and 2) I will be jet-lagged, so two days at the beach sounds about right. Maybe next time, I could stay closer to the ferry.

I’m redesigning the area next to the garage-to-be. I had thought red buds, soft holly, and lavender. But now I’m thinking red buds, willow shrubs, and creeping thyme. Realistically, I won’t be able to landscape the area until next spring, which will give me a lot of time to clean it up.

sunshine_two, I hope that the fires in Manitoba aren’t near you.

Swapped a clean litter box for one to soak. Started laundry.

Intuit sucks. I used part of my tax refund to get Will and Trust Maker, but I never got a login for it. I called Intuit customer service, and it gave me a bunch of info about my tax refund and hung up on me. Will and Trust Maker doesn't seem to have a customer service number. So I'm screwed.

I guess that I'll use the free Will and Trust tool. I started working on my will, but realized that I need to add all my bank accounts, and I'm too annoyed to have the patience for it. I think that I'll go to bed early and work on it tomorrow. Actually, I might be in the right mood to work on the kitchen. Cleaning is always better when you're pissed off.

I checked into the premiums for Obamacare if I retired before I'm eligible for Medicare, and holy cow. Expensive. I think that my proposed retirement date is solid.

The New York Times: The 25 Gardens You Must See. I have a new goal.

Rain predicted in the morning.

Lowe’s has a garden fence that I like. I hope that it would keep Bella out of the garden.

We had a breakthrough of sorts. Zara was eating with Bella and Oliver in the room. But then Bella rushed at Zara, and Zara hissed. I hustled Bella out of there.

I ordered a black-and-white striped shirt dress from Banana Republic.

My Italian teacher was nice about me postponing the lesson. She sent me a response in Italian and I understood it! So yay.

My doctor won't renew my prescriptions until I get my blood work done. There isn't a really convenient time, but I'll have to work it out.

Ordered heartworm and flea meds from an online pet pharmacy.

Wow, it's pouring. No garden work today. Maybe I could go to Home Depot in search of plants, although I haven't showered yet.

Tornado warning. I’m down in the basement with Lily and Oliver. (Bella won’t come down the basement stairs, and Zara stays in her room.)

Hmm. I want to feed Bella, but she’ll need to go out right away, and there is a severe thunderstorm warning for 45 minutes. I guess that I’ll feed myself first and stare down the critters.

Bought some Brooklinen towels at a Memorial Day sale.

Got the garbage out. Read for a while. Going to crash and get up early.

Speaking of dogs, I sent an inquiry about a poodle mix. We'll see what happens. He's a real cutie.

Woke up a little before my alarm at 8 AM. Bella pooped outside again, so I cracked the code.

I’m really not feeling the trip to Allerton for flower arranging. I want to stay home with my dog and cats and plant plants in the garden. Anyway, I need to feed the critters (done) and take a shower. If I’m not going to Allerton, I think that I’ll take a nap.

Put my tomato plants outside for the Buy Nothing person. It sucks that I can’t grow tomatoes, but I don’t trust Bella. Maybe when I have a high raised bed, I could grow some.

Had a nice nap. Overslept a little. Ate lunch.

Now I’m out in the yard. I tried my new weeding tools and one of them, Grandpa’s weeding tool, works. The big weeds need multiple tries though. Bella is having a great time playing with the pots that the plants came in. I’ve planted some herbs, but I think that I’ll need more dirt to plant strawberries. That little snot Bella grabbed one of my basils and tore it apart. I guess that I need a new basil. Sigh. She also dug up a coral bell that I planted. Hmm. Basil online comes in multipacks. I’ll have to go to Walmart or Lowe’s or Home Depot. Well, I had a little problem. My strawberries didn’t fit in the strawberry pot. I planted two in there, four in another pot, and four in a small pot. Now I’m trying to plant some irises, and Bella keeps on stealing them.

Now I need to clean up and water the plants (done, but I forgot to water the tickseed). I have only the tickseed and Japanese Spirea left to plant.

Fed us all. Bella “said” she wanted to go outside afterwards, but so far, she hasn’t done her business.

I'm beat. I made an appointment to bring the Honda in to be looked at. That will be Friday because I'm going to have a busy week.

I'm going to go to bed soon. Oh, I need to send an email to the Italian school because they haven't responded to me.

Overslept until 8 AM. Oh well.

My Italian teacher was nice about skipping next week. (We have an in-person meeting, and I'll be driving to it during the Italian time.)

The travel Meetup people also have a Yosemite trip that I might do sometime. I never went there when I lived in California!

Oliver is playing with his beloved little plastic ball. He carries it around in his mouth!

Got my groceries.

I saved a link to a hydration pack for larger people. That might be good for wandering around Italy. (I haven't forgotten almost passing out in Florence.) And the Sardinia trip will be in August.

The car repair people called. They want me to bring the car by so that the painter can match the color of the car. I said tomorrow morning. No, I'm going to take my shower during lunch and come by in the late afternoon. Crud, on the way back, I discovered that the stereo isn't getting any power. I called the repair shop, and they'll look at it when they put the new lock on. Hell, is this ever going to get over with?

The next "official" protest being held by the group that I joined is on May 1st. Crud, that's a work day.

I'm having a tough time finding someone to let Bella out at lunchtime during my meetings next week. I'm looking into doggie day care as an alternative. Called a place and they're sending over a release form.

I'm thinking of shelling out for a Roam hardside suitcase. They're pricey, but are supposedly well made. My Hartmann case has gotten stained, which is the disadvantage of softside luggage.

Bella, Oliver, and Lily attended my shower. Lily walked around on the shower stall and then jumped in. I thought that she might want to leave, so I opened the door and Oliver walked in. Then Bella walked in. I got Bella to leave but had to remove Lily, protesting. Oliver decided to leave on his own steam. Partway through my shower, both Oliver and Lily were standing on the shower stall batting at each other. Those two are a laugh riot!

Flaming headache.

Apparently my cleaner was texting me to confirm for tomorrow and I missed the messages. I hope that we're still on. We are.

Received the ferns for my garden. They are bare roots plants, which Bella likes to dig up and play with. I'll need to plant them this weekend, rain or not, and dig deeper to hide them.

Hmm. I haven't gotten the itineraries from the Meetup travel people yet. I'm pondering going over to Paris an extra couple of days early to wander around and follow ChatGPT's tours.

I went on the BBC’s app, and they were streaming the debate in Canada, so I left it on while I was cleaning up the kitchen. It was interesting. They brought up some of the same issues being discussed in the US. They are taking Trump's wish to annex Canada seriously. The discussion about healthcare was interesting. They were saying that their system was getting more privatized, and I was wondering why. There also was a discussion about Canada's role in supporting the Ukraine now that the US is no longer doing so. The polite Canadians were talking over each other! Anyway, I learned something and also got stuff done on the house.

I got a bad case of the shakes and did something to my knee. I'm going to go to sleep and get up very early to finish tidying. I'll set a wakeup call to make sure that I'll get up.

I did get some snuggle time with Zara. Yay. She’s still my girl. And it fills me with oxytocin (the “love hormone“), so it helps me too. She's still eating well and seems to be in good shape. (She's 16, so I'm keeping a close eye on her.)

Overslept this morning, so I wouldn't have time to shower before Italian. But my Internet was down. I finally figured out that I missed a payment and they suspended my account. I paid it, and it came back up at 8 AM. Technically, I could have logged into Italian, but I wasn't in decent shape to be seen, so I told my teacher that I was still working on the problem. But the Internet was up in plenty of time for work, and I had time to take a shower.

It's freaking cold out. The plants that I covered look okay, and so do the daffodils, tulips, daylilies, and chives. (I figured that they are used to a cold snap, so I didn't cover them.) I think that it's too cold to rake today, so I'll just give the recycling people what I have. I'll hire someone to rake once I get the money from the trust.

Urgh. My neck is getting really stiff.

I’m mulling over getting a wood stove for the living room. It would be very cozy. It would have to have glass doors to keep curious creatures out.

I need to spend some time cleaning up the upstairs this weekend because I want to get the carpet cleaned as soon as I get the trust money.

Got the garbage out. Took Bella for a walk. She was really happy. I need to spend more time making Bella and Zara happy. Oliver and Lily are more independent.

I forgot to soak the cat dishes, so I came up to post. Then I'll feed the critters and spend some time with Zara, practice piano, do dishes, put laundry in the dryer, and go to bed.

Here is a picture of Lily and Oliver in the window that I took yesterday:

Oh, I forgot to mention that I discussed the timing of the Sardinia trip with my boss, and she said to do what works for me. She's also planning a trip to Italy, so we talked about it. I'm glad that I have a cool boss.

Hmm. It occurred to me that I could plan a quieter, gentler trip to Italy. Maybe I could go to Sardinia, stay in Cagliari, poke around, and go to the beach. I’m doing some research. I found a hotel that I like. Maybe I could do Italian language lessons? I think that there is a language school there? Language school I'm trying to find out how I'd get there. It looks like I'd need to fly to Rome and then take another flight to Sardinia. Excellent. The language school is a 10 minute bus ride from the hotel. I found a guidebook to Sardinia too. The weather is still good in Sardinia in September. I found a good flight too. (Apparently the more direct route is to fly to another European city, in this case Munich, and then get a flight from that city to Sardinia. I saw another route that had four flights! No!) I found a store that sells linen clothes that I’d like to check out.

Got up at 6:30 AM. The Kia is still here, so I need to stay up. Maybe I’ll start work early.

I found a place that sells astilbe (the bare-root plants that Bella has been digging up) in pots. Not cheap though.

I rescheduled my massage appointment to later this month. My membership renewal is upcoming, so I didn’t know if the massage would be paid for. Plus, I can just come home after the protest. I need to figure out where I can park for the protest. Okay, I have a plan.

They picked up the Kia. Apparently, I was supposed to leave the keys in the car, but they didn't tell me that.

I talked to the people who have Mimi's ashes, and I made arrangements to take 1/2 a vacation day on Wednesday to go get them in Bloomington (about an hour from here).

Got my food delivered.

Overslept my nap. I am so freaking tired.

Here comes a storm. Urgh, the weather will be lousy for the protest tomorrow.

Hmm. Holland America wants to "help" me book my flights. I wonder if they would book it earlier than the cruise starts.

I took Bella outside, and she wanted to come in right away after she peed. I told her that she wouldn’t like it out! It’s pouring now. And there’s thunder and lightning.

Someone on Facebook posted a protest sign, “You know things are bad when librarians start protesting”. Totally stealing that.

Apparently, the car repair place called for me to come sign an authorization. I didn’t get the message until after they closed though, so I’ll go on Monday morning.

Napped and woke up at 11:30 PM. Oliver had snuck in and was biting my leg. He was hungry. All right then. Bella was playing in the mud outside. :(

I’m too groggy to make my protest sign now, so I’ll get up early to do it.

Ugh. Bella got a big smear of mud on my jeans. And I want to wash them to wear tomorrow.

Oliver is snoozing upstairs. I ate a turnover and got Bella’s and Lily’s rapt attention. Lily has a favorite spot in the front window where she can see Bella and I come in.

I know. The pet-sitter-to-be can get water from the quarantine tank for the main aquarium. That would work.

Got up a little after 6 AM. Took Bella out and put the cat dishes on to soak. I’m going back to sleep and will take a shower at lunchtime. Overslept but made it to work.

Oliver and Lily seem to be playing Hide and Go Seek. Now they're wrestling. And galloping around upstairs. I found my work laptop knocked over when I came upstairs. Apparently, they play during the night. I hear them upstairs.

The trust people said that I would have my tax form ready when I got back. Now she says that she doesn't handle taxes, but she can see if the form is ready. They are annoying me.

Headache.

Fed the beasts. Oliver was being a jerk and kept eating Lily's food, even though he had food. The cats have settled down. Lily is looking out Mimi's window. Now she's crashed out cold by the front window.

Showered during lunch, attended by Bella and Oliver. Bella chewed a hole in my sock. Oliver was meowing.

I need to order canned dog food from Costco.

Bella had an appointment for booster shots, and she was a very good girl. She has figured out that when I ask her to go into the car, we're going from place to place, but I'm not giving her away, so she'll jump right in. She peed a little at the vet but otherwise was very good. I told her that after she gets dog training, I'll take her in the car to the dog park. They have a special place for more timid dogs. Also, she seems to like collars better than harnesses. Good to know.

I am not looking forward to explaining what happened with my cruise at choir. Well, some people didn’t know what to say, so I added, “But my other cats and dog were glad to see me “. Rehearsal itself went well. Bella was thrilled that I came home :)

I need to feed the beasties, take Bella out one more time, and crash hard because I have Italian tomorrow morning. I’m not looking forward to explaining what happened to my teacher too :(

Had my Italian lesson. She's excited about my trip, and told me to be ready to tell her about it in Italian.

The Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana are having a concert on Sunday. I'd like to go but might need the time to get organized for my trip. You can buy tickets at the door, so I guess that I'll decide at the last minute.

I have to say that it's weird but freeing, knowing that I don't ever want another job (I'm planning to retire from this one) or need new skills. I do want to study in retirement though to keep my mind sharp. The uni also has short lecture series for retirees.

Ordered my prescriptions to be sent to me. One less errand....

Took Mimi to the vet. Her weight is staying stable, so we’re just going to keep an eye on her. I asked if there was a way to weigh her at home, and the vet suggested that I use my scale and weigh myself with and without her. I also want to use the carrier because she doesn’t like being held. But my scale needs batteries.

Dropped off my ballot. Ran to the post office. Picked up some odds and ends at Walgreens, including some trial-sized stuff for my trip and batteries.

Now I went out with Bella and am feeding the beasts.

Had my piano lesson, which was a fiasco. First my teacher was in the wrong lesson. She was calling me, but I wasn’t answering because I didn’t know who it was. I finally answered a text. Then she chewed me out (justifiably) because I didn’t practice everything on her list. And I’m so tired that I’m almost shaking.

I need to gather garbage to take out (done). I want to start the food process and post, but Lily is stretched out very relaxed on my lap. Now she dug her claws in my leg and started biting, which is less charming.

For some reason, the song "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" was playing in my head, so I listened to it. Actually, my internal radio started with "Southern Cross" and changed to "Suite..." Why songs pop into my head, I don't know.

Now I'm upstairs to post. Mimi almost came downstairs earlier, but saw Lily, and beat a hasty retreat. I was surprised that she did that.

I had my Italian lesson. The teacher thinks that my trip sounds fabulous. Wellesley has a free online Italian course that I might work on. That would give me daily tasks in Italian.

I just realized that I need to clean out the back seat of the car for Bella's vet trip tomorrow.

A while back, I bought a pair of gym shoes that were waterproof. They got sent to Michigan by accident, got lost, and got found again. I brought them back home, and then I wasn't sure what I did with them. I found them in the bathroom and are wearing them now. They would be great for going out in the yard with Bella. They kept my feet warm and dry outside. We have a winner!

Had my dental appointment. They came up with a treatment plan including implants, which I asked for. The total today is for $10,000, but they said that if I waited until July for the implants, insurance would cover more of it. We're going to start work after I get back from my trip.

I canceled my piano lesson tonight because I’m too tired. I need to feed the critters and lie down. Got the garbage out. Fed us all.

Napped and woke up at midnight. My piano teacher made a video for me.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I ordered and got recycled toilet paper. That should do my bit for the environment until I get a bidet.