days_unfolding

The group leader wasn't happy with me that I wasn't at the meeting. We're all meeting tomorrow morning at 9:25.

Rome seems to come alive at night. I wasn't thrilled with what I saw today, and people are surly, but it's pretty in the evening.

I was outside, and a street vendor came up to me. He asked me if I had children, a man, mother, father, sisters, brothers, and I said only a father, and he seemed surprised. He gave me some good luck charms. Then he wanted money to eat, and all I had was a 20 euro bill, which he took and didn't give change. But he threw in an elephant bracelet that I like, which I'll wear on the trip in honor of my mom, who loved elephants. So, it was an expensive lesson, but not all bad. I'll get more money in the morning.

I'm surprised by how many signs are in English as well as Italian. I guess that they're used to visitors from the US and Great Britain.

I heard that they said not to go out by yourself. That's bad because I have a restaurant picked out for our "free" dinner. Instead, there’s a pizza and calzone place across the street that I might try.

The shop next door has an “Italia” t-shirt that I might get. My souvenir budget is for a t-shirt each in Rome, Florence, and Venice.

I think that it’s bedtime. I slept through to 6 AM, waking up a couple of times. I'm still feeling jet lagged (I haven't been following the program), so I think that I'll pop a caffeine pill. Had a protein bar for breakfast. The pet sitter is on the job and texted me pics of the cats.

Showered and makeupped and feel a little more perky. Apparently, we get breakfast in the hotel, so I went and had a second breakfast. The scrambled eggs were runny, but they had an awesome apricot tart. And Earl Grey tea! I didn't linger because it was busy up there.

I didn't wash jeans because I didn't think that they'd dry before we go to Florence, but I washed a top. And my compression socks, which I won't need until the trip back, but I might as well wash them. I changed my mind and washed the jeans. I'll wring them in a towel. And I could dry them with a blow dryer.

Now I have some time to kill. I'm drinking a ton of water; I must be dehydrated from the flight.

We went to the Roman Forum and Colosseum today. I couldn't find my headphones for the radio connected to the guide (I still can't find them), so I caught only part of what she said. But I have a low interest in Roman ruins anyway. (Mom, OTOH, would have been in her element.) Everyone has seen pictures of the Colosseum, but it is impressive though in real life.

It was a lot of walking. My feet started to hurt near the end, but I made it. We had lunch at a local restaurant, which had really delicious cheese made from sheep's milk. Now we're back at the hotel, and I'm waiting for my phone to charge.

Our tour guide said that our bus drivers were candidates for sainthood driving in Rome, and that (as you can see) the dashed yellow lines were only a suggestion :) I was wondering if walking in Rome would be difficult, but it hasn't been too bad.

The time change is strange. It's mid-afternoon here (and it feels like it), but it's in the morning back home. Hmm. Now I'm yawning, but I don't dare take a nap because I'll oversleep.

I bought a burgundy t-shirt that says, “Roma, Italia,” so I’m happy with that. They don’t have diet soda anywhere. Coke and Pepsi yes, diet no. I bought some peach iced tea that is good. And headphones.

Attended a lecture about the Sistine Chapel, which we will see tomorrow.

My reaction so far is that Road Scholar keeps you too busy for my taste. There is a Paris one “at a slower pace” that I might try next. But I’m feeling overscheduled now. These are long days.

I found a perfect item at the store next door. My tai chi instructor said that I should bring her back some wine from Italy, and the store had a magnet with little bottles of wine on it that says "Roma". ( A few pictures )

My boss said that June would be better for my Italy trip. I got the trip transferred to June. I owe a little more money, which I will pay off (done). And hey, I should be down to my target weight by then! That will help with walking!

Wacky weather is wacky. I've been wearing hoodies over t-shirts to deal with it. This morning, it was in the 50s, so I put on a hoodie, but it's supposed to hit 80 this afternoon! I'm looking forward to usual fall weather because I want to pack most of my summer stuff for Kauai early in case I find that I need to get something for the trip.

CNN showcased a fold-up fire pit from REI that would be perfect for my patio in Urbana. I wonder, then, if I should take my Mom's patio furniture with me and then get the fire pit. I'd be ready for fall parties!

I received the iPhone. I started charging it, and it wanted to set up as soon as I plugged it in. I have all my files transferred from my Android before the phone is even fully charged. Pretty slick, Apple. I have an appointment at an Xfinity store Wednesday night to get the phone set up for their mobile service.

I found a ring that I would like, but I should wait until I lose the weight to get it. It's too expensive for a short-term ring. Maybe that'll be my reward for losing the weight. Along with a sheath dress or sweater dress :)

The assembly guy is here. He didn't have his friend with him, so he lifted the box and carried it downstairs by himself. Pretty impressive. The man has muscles. He's done and the Total Gym looks cool. I'll have to look for the CDs with the exercises. Oh, they have them online. I want to make sure to do back and leg exercises to build up strength for my trip, but I also want to do arms because my arm strength sucks.

The cats are saying two paws up for the Squeeze Ups. It took Mimi a little longer to realize that I had squeezed it on my finger.

Got the garbage and recycling out. Because it's gotten late, I'm going to gather the laundry and pretreat it for stains (I get makeup on my clothes a lot) and just do legs on the Total Gym (done--I added arms). I'll do my back and abs tomorrow.

Oh, what a morning. I woke up early, but decided to go back to sleep until right before work. Logged on, and was going through my email right before a meeting, when the outlet in which I have the router and laptop plugged in stopped working. I kind of freaked out. Then I discovered that the power was out, and I thought, "Okay". I went outside for a while. I came back in and the power was on, but that outlet still wasn't working. I needed a three-prong to two-prong adapter, and I was going to get myself together to go to Lowe's, when I decided to use the one from the freezer because I haven't transferred food to it yet. And I grabbed a very long extension cord that I have. I plugged in the extension cord and went to sit down while the Internet was coming up, but when I sat on the side of the chair, it tipped over, and I fell and hit my back. But I did get back online. I ordered a shorter extension cord and a bunch of adapters from Amazon.

I got my Daily Look box, and I'm less than thrilled with what they sent me. I'll keep a gray hoodie if it fits. Maybe some jeans.

Oh fuck. The tunic tops that I ordered from Woman Within are being shipped to Urbana. It hasn't shipped yet, but they said that they couldn't change the order because it's being processed. They said to call tomorrow to find out who the carrier is and call the carrier. Did I say fuck?

I'm singing "Life is Sucking" to the tune of "I Feel Pretty" ("Life is sucking/Yes, it's sucking/It is sucking and yucking and gross/Life is sucking").

My back hurts where I hit it. I took some acetaminophen and told work that I was going to lie down for a while and log on later. Slept. I'm hammered. My back still hurts.

I missed the book club because I was sleeping.

My Buddha Groove stuff has shipped. I bought a zafu cushion from them and a singing bowl from eBay, so I'll be set for meditation.

I wrote the letter and check for trimming the trees growing over the fence to the neighbor's yard. Placed a Kroger order for tomorrow. Boho Peak had a sale of jewelry for buy three, pay for two, so I got a free ring as well as a bracelet and necklace. I'm wondering if I should wear my hippy-dippy clothes when I meet my dad :)

I got my guitar book! Yay! My first lesson is on Sunday before or after my voice lesson. (I'm not sure how my teacher wants to do the dual lessons.)

Now I'm going to go back to work for a while. Oh, I need to remember to order more shampoo and conditioner because I'll be filling bottles for my trip.

Mimi was complaining up a storm, so I gave her some dry food. Loudmouth cat :)

I ordered a laptop sleeve for the laptop that I'm taking on the trip with me.

I found the Mother Lode of clip-on earrings on Etsy. I found a pair of amber and wood ones that I really like.

I really wasn't thrilled with the Wantable clothes, so I'm going to try Daily Look.

Woke up around 9AM. Did my usual morning routine. It's starting to rain, so I moved the cars off of the grass so that the side lawn will get rain. Plus I need to load my car later with Mom's clothes. Now it's nap time. I have a cat (Mimi) on my hip.

Had a nice nap. I was scrambling to get myself together when I realized that my meditation "retreat" was at 3PM CDT, not EDT. I could have slept longer. Oh well.

The meditation "retreat" was going fairly fast. On the third meditation, I was struck with a feeling that I wanted my mom and later felt a wave of sorrow. Maybe it wasn't the greatest idea to take a meditation class now.

I bought some Chico's tops, a jacket, and a sweater (on Mercari and eBay). I also bought a black down jacket for next winter (eBay). Summer is the time to buy a down jacket; people lower the prices way down. I'm really happy with what I bought.

Ran out to get eyeliner and mascara. Got some almond milk for a new cereal that I'm going to try. The cereal was good. It tasted like Trix cereal, but it's zero grains and zero added sugar and it's supposed to be good for you.

I'm feeling kind of tired, so I'm thinking of going to bed early.

Got the stuff ready for the junk guys. It didn't take a long as I thought.

I was going to water the back yard, but Mother Nature is taking care of it for me.

Oh boy. The junk guys are not ready for prime time. The manager had the arrival time as 9 AM - 11, while they told me 8 -10. At 10:00, they called and said that their manager scheduled a job before me that was supposed to be picking up a bed but turned out to be a total clean out. They got here at 1:45 PM. We discussed just doing the garage today, and the basement next week. Then the lead guy redid the estimate, and it turned out to be $3000 more than I previously was quoted. I politely protested, and they're going to do the job at the original quote (and the guy who did the quote is in trouble). They're working on the garage now. They were quick and did a good job.

I got my opal bracelet to wear for dress up, and it's lovely.

I also got an opal ring and necklace.

My car is finally done, but the person who was managing the work was already gone before I called. I'll pick it up on Monday.

I looked into real estate in Ann Arbor, and it's more expensive than Madison, I think. And there's no lake. I did see a house that I really liked though. Oh well.

I got a countdown app for my student loans.

I tried to take a nap, but couldn't sleep. I don't feel like launching into cleaning, so I'll look at my photography books and play with my camera. Got up, and I'm yawning. I hate it when that happens. Maybe I'll pay some bills (done).

OMG. My mom kept a pair of figurines of dogs that I got her when I was a little kid and got people presents that I would like :)

My mom had a plaque about laundry that pretty well describes how I feel about it. (I'm keeping it.)

I watched a video about photo composition. It gave me a lot of food for thought.

I had the impulse to call Mom :(

I think that I'm going to do dishes and go up to bed and read about my camera. I'll set it up tomorrow.

I just realized that I can't contact the pond guy about the sprinklers because I have my meditation group at 5. Oh well. Tomorrow.

How'd it get to be Wednesday already?

I dropped the Kia off at a dealership to be diagnosed and, I hope, fixed. I like that dealership. The guy who dropped me back at the house thought that the house was beautiful. I gave him the short version of what's been going on with the house.

I exchanged emails with my dad about my plane crash preparations. He said that I shouldn't fly if I'm scared, and I said that I wasn't scared. Later I said that this was problem solving, not fear, and I think that it sums it up very nicely.

I bought a pretty Hawaiian shirt to take with me to Hawaii and to wear around here to think of being in Hawaii. If it's warm enough, I'll wear it on the plane. I also previously bought a cheap amethyst and opal bracelet and now a couple of cheap rings and a couple more cheap bracelets. My therapist probably would say that it's a good sign that I want to wear jewelry. I want a couple of my mom's necklaces too.

My meditation class went well. I started falling asleep during one of our meditation practices though. We did a stretching meditation, which was hard, and it reminded me that I want to join the YMCA and take Yoga and Tai Chi classes. I just sent an email to them asking them if I can join month-to-month.

One of the keys to my mom's car flew out of my pocket when I was in the bathroom. I haven't found it thus far. And some of Mom's magazines spewed out over the floor, making it even tougher. Sigh.

I started laundry and fed the cats. I need to fill a litter box, do dishes, and work on tidying up the bathroom. I haven't heard anything about Zara's med refill, so I need to call the Walmart pharmacy tomorrow.