days_unfolding

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.

Overslept a little but made it into the shower. Got the recycling out. I'm so sleepy. Scrambled at lunchtime to put makeup on because I needed to be on camera for a meeting. (I'll have to do so tomorrow too.)

Mimi is giving me the cat pep talk (“Get your shit together and feed me.”)

I’m having IBS symptoms. Not a fun day.

I found a Panama Canal cruise in 2026 that I like. It starts from Panama, transits the Canal, and then goes to the "ABC" islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao). It ends in Miami, which I'd also like to see. Maybe I should book it. Oh, apparently I didn't check the singles rate, and it's going to be too expensive. Maybe I do need to take Celebrity again. Sigh. It is much more reasonable. I'm also looking at Holland America. Oh wow. Holland America has a reduced fare one for March of next year. It's quite reasonable. It also stops in Puerto Vallarta, which I'd like to see. I'd have to skip the St. Lucia trip though. There also is a Bermuda cruise in 2026. It ends in San Juan, so I'd get a chance to see what I missed there. But do I want to book two cruises in one year?

Maybe next year I should go to St. Lucia and Italy? (No, see above.) I asked the St. Lucia guide if there would be time to go shopping in Castries (I think that there is a large market there), and she said, "Yes, there is free time". So I just need to decide whether to book it or not. Hmm. I'm looking at flights to St. Lucia and they have either short connections or very long connections. Chicago to St. Lucia is not a popular route for the airlines :) I’ll sleep on deciding but I think that I’m going to do it.

Okay, now I'm thinking: 2025: Panama Canal cruise and Italy (Amalfi Coast). 2026: St. Lucia and Italy (The Lake District). Or do I want to go to Paris in 2026?

Urgh. I need to get my Christmas cards out.

Some serious snow is coming down. Okay, it stopped with some accumulation, but not enough to have to dig out. Good. I have some errands to run, but I think that I will wait until daylight tomorrow.

I received a really cool-looking and cozy set of pajamas (you could wear them with people over). I can't link to it because it seems to have been taken down off the Web site. Here they are.

I also received a ton of my new diet cookbooks. I just realized that I don't have tape flags to mark recipes, but I have some Post-It notes. Well, I just found tape flags. There are some interesting recipes. I'm kind of looking forward to cooking and "eating clean". There are some dessert-types of food too, such as chia pudding and rice pudding and yogurt with toppings. And the recipes that I've looked at so far emphasize protein. (It's Prevention's 28-Day Get Lean Diet for Women Over 40. The Skinny Taste Cookbook looks less interesting. Oh well, I can sell any cookbooks that I'm not thrilled with.)

I have to go get cash so that I can buy things off of Facebook Marketplace.

Hmm. I didn’t find a sparkly top for caroling, but I found a black top with gold, blue, and purple splotches plus a black velvet blazer that I would wear with black pants. It’ll do.

Lay down and dozed for a few minutes, then woke up. I need to practice piano and work on the kitchen. Now I’m thinking eat something, practice piano, go to bed, and get up early to clean.

One of my Facebook groups pointed me to The Good Life Abroad, which has programs in Florence and Paris. That would be awesome. I heard that they’re expensive though.

Forgot to mention that American Meadows says to plant wildflower seeds after a few hard freezes. The seeds will remain dormant until spring.

Zara: Mom, you know that I’m hungry, right?

Me: Yes, Zara.

I fed them after my shower.

My performance appraisal went okay. My boss did say something about being more detail-oriented, and I was ready to retire on the spot, but it came off more harsh in text than in discussion. She said that she valued my work, but to ask for help if needed. I just need to hang on until I'm vested in my pension (six more years). Then sayonara working.

I swear that the weeks are whipping by the way that days used to. I can't believe that it's rehearsal day again already.

Rehearsal went well. We finally had a full contingent of altos.

I need to scramble tonight after rehearsal to prepare for my Italian lesson tomorrow morning. I'm not going to get a chance to bring in the dahlias, so I definitely need to rescue them tomorrow. But I'll need to get up early for Italian.

Studied Italian. Now I need to go to bed.

Hmm. There is a U.S. - Italian Dating Facebook group. It's a private group, so I don't know how old the people are on it though.

Woke up at 3:30 AM. Stayed up for a little while and then went back to sleep. Woke up at 8:30.

I made an appointment to get the RSV vaccine next weekend. Then I’ll be caught up. I checked on the pneumonia vaccine, but that’s age 65 and older. The arm that I had the COVID and flu shots is hurting today.

Huh. One weather forecaster is saying rain today and one is not. No rain tomorrow. But the lawn should be mowed before overseeding.

I have a pounding headache, so I need to lie down for a little while.

Finally dragged my butt to the shower. Realized that I have swimming tomorrow, so I shaved my legs. Dropped the electric razor in the shower, and now it wants to charge.

Zara has been lurking in the kitchen because she wants to be fed. Mimi came over and went, “MAAAAAAAAA!” I got up to soak their dishes in the sink. Mimi wins :)

Mowing. Taking a break. Got the front and sides of the house mowed. I’ll get the back and by the street tomorrow after swimming. Then I’ll seed.

Back inside. My back is killing me. Yikes, it’s getting dark early.

Crud. It's 8 PM and I'm really tired. I think that I'll go to bed early after starting laundry and get up early.

Mimi wants attention.

I had my Italian lesson. She said that I was good at translating Italian to English ("You should be a translator!") but struggle in speaking Italian and thinking of new things to say. I need to practice a lot of verb tenses also.

Had class. The homework assignment that I thought was due tonight is due next week. I spent a long time cooling my heels waiting for the TA to help me with problems with my setup for submitting assignments--he was involved with people with questions in the physical room--but I finally got it working, so it should be good to go. And I'll have time tonight to do some work on my new music, practice singing, and to do some decluttering and organizing. I have my first piano lesson tonight.

Yesterday, I found a Web site that specialized in sight-singing. I think that I'll join it and work on that as well. I want to get as good as the others in my choir!

However, I didn't eat breakfast until 11:30 and ate lunch at 4, which says something about how busy I am. My next Jenny Craig order has shipped.

Mimi wants a lot of attention. I think that she's still needy because I was gone. She doesn't like me leaving. She also wants in on my Italian lessons. The teacher thinks that Mimi is really cute!

Hmm. I wrote my piano teacher asking her if she wanted to skip class tonight to watch the Presidential debate, when I noticed that Lessonface has online songwriting and music theory classes on a night that I have free (Wednesdays). The songwriting class is expensive, but I'd like to do it. I think that I'll need to wait until tomorrow to register.

Hmm. I need to go back to Michigan to pick up more stuff after I'm able to unload my mom's car. I should go before September 29th because that's when my swimming lessons start. So it has to be the 21st. I estimate two more loads will empty the storage space. Oh, I forgot to mention that I think that I found the rug for the bedroom and brought it back with me.

I got my new rain jacket, dual-voltage hair dryer, and dual-voltage hair styling wand. The jacket and dryer are from Italian companies, which is a good sign.

Piano went well. I like my teacher and missed piano. She is sending me a bunch of stuff to work on.

I watched the remaining part of the debate. I gather that Kamala Harris did well. I had issues with sound cutting out though, which makes me wonder if my Internet access is good enough for streaming. I watched part of CNN’s post debate show, but gave up. They spent too much time talking about Taylor Swift’s endorsement, IMO.

Got the garbage out. Printed out my piano exercises despite Mimi being on my lap asking for attention. Now I need to do the dishes and start laundry and then it's time for bed.

Woke up a little before my alarm, even though I stayed up late. Tired.

Hmm. Jenny Craig is substantially cheaper than BistroMD. I would like to lose the "spare tire" around my middle, though Italian guys didn't seem to mind it. US guys do though, at least some of them. I can't believe that I'm so "guy-centric" right now. Thanks, Mimmo. Maybe.

I'm glad that I put all my appointments on my work calendar. I knew that I had a dermatology appointment in July, but I thought that it was later in the month. It was today. It took longer to fill out the forms than the appointment took; they took one look at my moles and said that they were benign. I did say that I wanted to learn about some cosmetic procedures to decrease some of the sun damage on my face, but it'll depend on how expensive it is. They recommended a yearly checkup, and I made an appointment for next year.

By the way, the drive through Urbana was lovely. I'm very happy that I'm here if I can't be in Italy :)

Oh great. The trust wrote me with concerns about my mom's house. They want a meeting. Sigh. I might never get that house up for sale.

Went to yoga. My teacher remembered my name and the fact that I went out of town! She likes Italy. My knee twinged a little, but it went okay, and I feel nice and relaxed.

Now I'm working. I keep running into issues with the reports. Sigh. Done. Studied Italian. And it's late.

I got the check from Hantz for my travel expenses, Mom’s bills, etc. I tried to deposit it using my phone, but it’s too large. I need to find time to run to the bank. Tomorrow looks promising.

I woke up at 6:30 AM. Zara is giving me the food stare. Urgh, headache. Studied Italian numbers.

I went into the bedroom, and Zara ran in a circle on the bed and then flopped down. I told her that she was silly.

Put clothes in the dryer.

I can do the time change between here and Italy in my head. But I look at the world clock just because.

At work, our new libraries are going live on our system, and the emails are flying.

It's been looking gloomy, and here comes the storm. Hmm. There's a severe thunderstorm watch until 7 PM.

I got my Italian stickers and am putting them on things. I think that they'll help a lot.

Deposited the check. It will definitely help. Now I just need the title to Mom's car.

Ordered groceries.

I found an Italian tutor who looks promising if Mimmo’s referral falls through.

Lay down for a little while, but decided that I wanted to study Italian.

I want a weather station clock for the kitchen. I’ve got one on my Amazon wishlist.

Received my food and ate dinner, finally. The evenings go too fast. I still need to take out the garbage (done), and I want to study Italian.

The cats are restless. I think that they want food.

I'll study a little and go to bed.

Up at 4 AM. Back to sleep for a while.

I’m thinking of going back to Italy a year from November, for my birthday. Mimmo got back to me. I asked him if a small backpack like his would be good for the Sorrento trip, and he said yes or a money belt in summer, and to let him know if I book the trip. (I've already ordered the backpack.)

Well, suckage. I went to order frozen dinners from Walmart, only to find that they say, "Buy in store". I placed an order with Meijer. The cats are picking at their food, probably because of the heat. So am I, for that matter.

I looked at a group of exercises that are supposed to get rid of a "muffin top".

We're off work tomorrow for Juneteenth. I have a presentation though on Thursday that I need to prepare for (done).

Still hot in here. The current weather in Rome is more pleasant than here.

Meijer's sparkling Pineapple-Raspberry water is the bomb.

Can't stop yawning. Napped. I think that I’ll go to bed to get up early and do stuff.

Jet lag. I slept three hours and woke up. Mimmo wants me to forward the tripcast to the group. I am disgustingly awake.

Zara wants food. So it begins :)

I have a large stash of euros. Not sure where to put them.

Ack! Temps in the 90s today!

Breakfasted and fed the cats and showered and started laundry. And it’s 6:30 AM.

I think that I might be able to nap a little (done). Now I'm at work.

Headache.

Tried to nap at lunch, but am annoyingly awake. I bet that I’ll fade fast tonight.

Exhaustion hit me this afternoon. I lay down for a while and need to make up the time for work. Now I’m hammered.

Zara likes climbing on my suitcase.

I haven’t been really hungry. My body doesn’t know what time it is.

Now I'm thinking of going to bed and getting up early. It'll be cooler. And I'm tired.

I printed out two listings for chiropractors. Too bad that I won't be able to see them before I go to Italy. My back is killing me. I thought about getting a massage, but I really need the money for the trip. I wonder if I should get a back brace for the trip. I read an article that said, "No".

I think that I'm going to live in shorts this summer.

My groceries have been delivered. I need to go put them away.

Hmm. I think that I need a small wallet and small credit card case to put in different pockets of my travel vest (ordered-got RFID blocking ones). My therapist suggested a money belt, so I'm wondering about it.

Oh good. I can study more than one language in the AI language app. Excellent. I'll sign up.

Talked to the handyman at my mom's house. We talked about the flooding in the basement (which I know about--he's not making it up) but he said that it would cost thousands of dollars to fix. Then he talked about getting rid of the refrigerator and stove. Someone please get this house out of my life!

I’m lying down for my nap, and Zara is cuddling. She’s alarmed by the people picking up the recycling though.

Had my session with my therapist. I asked her how to tell the difference between self-care and being indulgent by skipping tai chi and yoga this week, and she thought that I was doing self-care. That conference last week really took it out of me. She also told me to stick to my guns about my boundaries with the real estate agent.

There was a knock at the door. It turned out to be my neighbor across the street. She got some more iris bulbs donated to her and she gave me some. She's really nice and easy to talk to. We were talking about the critters that live in the neighborhood (no deer, thankfully).

I’m thinking that I’ll repot the herbs tomorrow. It’s supposed to rain, but I can do it on my porch.

Hmm. I was wondering if I could get a massage in Venice. I should have more money then because I'll get paid again. Need to think about this. I found a place with Thai massage, but I need to see how far it is from my hotel. The prices are reasonable.

I’m working on getting my American Airlines app set up. It looks like I didn’t get air miles for my Hawaii trip, which is disappointing.

Lay down for a nap but couldn’t sleep. Decided that I was hungry. Went out and planted the new irises that my neighbor gave me and some of the herbs. I thought that I bought more pots though, but I can’t find them. I ordered more pots. I want the herbs in larger pots so that they’ll stay moist while I’m gone. I already lost a thyme plant that shriveled up.

I’m dripping sweat. Ate dinner. What now? I guess that I’ll tackle the list from yesterday. Though Mimi wants food. And I’m thinking of going to bed early and getting up early. Fed the cats. Yeah, I'm going to scoop the litter boxes and go to bed. Got my flight up on American's app. Mimi has been walking on the laptop. Sigh. Chaos Central :)