days_unfolding

I dropped a full bottle of soda on my little toe yesterday, and today it's purple and hurts. Oh well.

Ken came by and picked up the freezer and returned the keys. So yay. I texted the pond guy about the duckweed but no response yet. He said that he would come by.

I'm looking at black ankle boots to wear on the plane and with my nice dress (bought).

I realized that it was going to take forever to water the back yard, so I started the sprinkler going. And I discovered that one of the bricks in the labyrinth was loose. Oh this house. I guess that I need to find someone to fix it. Sigh.

Took a nap and slept through until 5 AM.

Yay, I got the Jane Austen Pride shirt. And white shorts to go with it. It's chilly this morning, though, so I'm wearing cleaning sweats.

I'm still mulling over how to get the large ceramic pots to Illinois. Now I'm thinking that I could put them in storage and pick them up when I come back to get the interior of the house painted and take them in the car. This assumes that I could lift the pots by myself.

I'm feeling a little depressed this morning for no apparent reason. I took my meds though.

The car mechanics wanted a $2000 down payment for the parts (done). I guess that I can see why, but who knows when I'll get the car back.

Hmm. I was looking at retirement houses in Madison, which are kind of expensive, so that got me wondering, if I was going to pay those kind of prices, maybe I should move to Chicago when I retire. I found a condo I kind of like. But could I live in a multiunit building again? I kind of like being able to make noise at any hour. And I'd guess that I would stay up even later if I don't have to get up for work.

Road Scholar wants my passport info for the Italy trip. They asked me for my favorite airline, which is Delta, which led me to looking into a SkyMiles debit card. I should open an account and pay for big-ticket items there. Huh. Or maybe I should use it for my student loan payments?

That somehow connected in my mind to an old United Airlines ad that my Mom and I loved back in the late '70s (?) It was for United's "Sun trips" to Florida. It had a average-looking middle-aged guy shoveling snow in a parka, hat, scarf, and gloves. You heard a voice saying "take it off...take it all off". Then you hear stripper music and this guy was doing a striptease with his hat, scarf, gloves, and parka, with his horrified wife looking out the window. He was great and it was hilarious. We think that someone must have complained because it was on TV for only a short time. Too bad.

I posted my mom's frozen food on a Facebook "Buy Nothing" group, and it's taken! I still need to move the remaining stuff out of Deanna and Ken's freezer. Ken is impatient to take it.

Today is garbage and recycling day, so I've been opening the packages that I've gotten recently. I got several pairs of shorts, including a floral one that I liked better than I thought that I would. I decided that I need another pair of navy shorts, so I ordered one from eBay. I got the "Don't say DeSantis" shirt and the Hawaiian shirt. I got the TravelPro carryon bag and love it. It fits on the luggage handle for my suitcase. I'm taking it with my suitcase, well, on all my upcoming trips.

The garbage and recycling are out, and both cans are full. I still need to do dishes and mop the bathroom floor.

I woke up on time, but it took me forever to clean out my mom's bedroom for the cats. And I needed to pull out some boxes from the crawl space for Deanna. And load the car. So I got a really late start and stopped for dinner.

Mom's little car drives well. I stopped for the night in Dayton, which is roughly halfway home. I'm trying to take care of myself. I'll tell work that I'll be late. I really like the hotel. It's a Comfort Inn and it takes pets, so that might be a place to stop for the night when I bring the cats if Zara makes loading them a problem. And! There's a Waffle House next door! I went over and had a waffle.

Ken (of Deanna and Ken) is bending over backward to help. Go figure. He asked if there was garbage to put out, which is what he was complaining about initially!

No one called me from the nursing home. I made up a test for my programming class. It was easier than expected.

Mom was in a worse mood today. She agreed, though, to have some of her stuff boxed up and put in storage. So I have a boatload of stuff to do this weekend, even with help. She said that the nursing home will contact me first if anything comes up. She's now thinking of adapting the front steps so that she can get up them. I need to make measurements of the current stairs to determine whether we could use the existing stairs or would need new ones. We would need to add railings for Mom to hold onto. I said that I wished that we had a contractor who adapts homes for older people, and she suggested asking the social worker for recommendations. That's a good idea.

That jerk Ken talked to Mom and blamed the fact that they no longer want to help on his wife, when he was the one who was complaining. Honestly, I think that the sooner that Mom is shut of them, the better.

Mom asked if I thought everything would be all right again. I said, "Everything: no, some things: yes."

Yay. My homework is due tomorrow instead of today. I reserved a storage space for Mom. I need to get TaskRabbit people, but I'm running out of steam. And I'm wondering if I should put stuff in plastic bins, which would protect the items (papers) better, but would run into $$$. Hmm. I'm eyeing see-through plastic tubs, which might reassure Mom that we could find her stuff. Home Depot has a bunch.

But I think that it's bedtime. Oh, note to self: rebook Amtrak!!!!

My Italian teacher had to cancel. Oh well. So I went to see Mom. She slept most of the afternoon, which is good because she didn't sleep well last night. Some nurse was having her save her poop though, and the room reeked. I finally got someone to get a nurse to deal with it.

Then I had dinner with Mom's "friends" Ken and Deanna. They said that they didn't want to be the primary point of contact when Mom comes home. I was surprised that Ken was the most vocal about that. They also think that medical people will see the house and whisk Mom off to a nursing home because she can't take care of herself. I talked to Mom's friend Kate, and she suggested putting stuff in bins.

I'm tired. I put in an order for cleaning supplies from Meijer, but forgot to finalize it, so now it's coming tomorrow. At least then I can put my clothes in the dryer and go to sleep and get up early to study.