days_unfolding

Holy cow, my item on eBay sold. I need to run out on Monday and mail it. Only $25, but that will pay for a book on Berlin. Or a German lesson.

It's pouring out. I need to go to the grocery store and the post office to pick up a mailing box, but I'm a wimp, so I'll go tomorrow.

The earliest that I'll hear from iCAN is on February 15th, and it could be up to May. I hope it won't take that long.

The cats crack me up. I worked a little late and saw them running back and forth in front of my office door to see if I was getting up yet to feed them. Clearly my priorities are wrong!

I studied German and Italian flashcards. I need to start putting the stars on my calendar again.

Tonight is my usual night for the Wondrium photography classes, but I'm putting them on hiatus during the Olympics because I'm watching a ton of television. Maybe I'll work with Canva instead. I'd like to become an expert in it, and create and sell templates.

Score! I previously found an Udemy class on German pronunciation, but it was too expensive. I was looking at Canva classes tonight and checked the German course, and it was on sale! Bought it! I also bought the Canva course too.

I was looking at Udemy to get ideas for courses to create. Ideas: Writing on Medium (once I have some success at it), Saving Money on Travel, and Creating a Budget. I'd like to write about software too because that's what I'm trained to do.

I just spent a bunch of time looking up librarians on Medium and following them.

Zara has decided that the box that I have almost emptied is HER box. I'll never get the last stuff out of there. I rescued some old posters that I don't know what to do with but are too cool to get rid of. (They are drawings of Paris.)

The short program (rhythm dance) for the ice dancing is at 5 AM. Ugh. I don't think that I can stay up that late because I got up at 8 AM today. But it's even less likely that I'll get up that early. And I need to go to the grocery store tomorrow because it's going to snow on Sunday (only one to three inches though).

Okay, I'm going to go play with Canva. Maybe I'll see if I can stay up until 5 AM and crash if I fade out. I have plenty of stuff to do. And I need to practice German for my lesson tomorrow at midnight. So now I can't stop yawning....

My getting up at 2 AM confused the cats. You were asleep and now you're awake, so it must be feeding time, right? I told Zara that if she ate now, she won't eat her breakfast, but she is not convinced.

And it's snowing again. It's been so quiet, and I realized that there are no trains or cars.

I got an idea for an article, "What I've learned from studying foreign languages". Now I need to figure out what I've learned!

I priced flights from Chicago to Berlin and Munich to Chicago. Not too expensive. (I'd take the train from Berlin to Munich.)

I got Culture Smart Italy and Culture Smart Germany on Chirp. I also looked at The Plant-Based Solution, but it has recipes, so I bought a print copy used on Amazon.

Still snowing when I woke up. Still really quiet. The cats are curled up in round balls. They do not approve of this weather. I kind of agree.

I know on what I want to write an article in LinkedIn (I typed KinkedIn, which is the alternative site :)) but I need to ask my colleague because it's based on a meeting that she ran. She said okay. Okay, I learned how to write an article on LinkedIn. It's very similar to Medium.

I have another goal: teaching a class on library systems administration (or about library systems) at Library Juice Academy. I don't have enough experience yet, but I'll keep that in mind as a goal.

It just occurred to me that after I get my programming certificate, I could write an inventory tool that works with our library system. The possibilities are endless!

The snow has stopped. Now to wait for my mower guy to dig me out....

I bought a poster map of Germany. I learned a lot of Italy's geography by having a map above my computer. And I requested a trial lesson from the German teacher, eep!

There's a lot of discussion about the future of LJ given its Russian state owners. I'm on Dreamwidth as days_unfolding also. Feel free to add me.

Hmm. I'm running out of steam due to my weird sleep schedule last night. I think that I'll go to bed early tonight, although not quite yet so that I don't wake up at 2 AM again. I should make some Italian flash cards and clean the bathroom. Or do some decluttering.

I did do some decluttering. But I turned the Olympics on to see what was going on and learned that the team men's short program skating was on, so I watched. Nathan Chen turned out an incredible performance. Then I watched mogul(?) skiing, which I've never seen before. Then they had the team ice dancing, which was great fun. (If I could skate, I'd like to do ice dancing, but you probably need to be an extrovert :)) Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue also pulled off an impressive performance. Now they say that there's more skating after the news. So much for getting to sleep early. The news said to stay off of the roads. You think?

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 did the Betty White challenge and donated to the local Humane Society.

Okay, I posted my first article to Medium. We'll see what happens. I also posted links on Facebook and Twitter and got a comment from a Facebook friend that my "writing was beautiful," so I'm enjoying the compliment :) I also discovered that you can schedule a post to Medium. I could set it up on the weekend and schedule it to post on Monday morning.

I'm trying to convince myself to make the chili and put it in the slow cooker, and my brain is saying that it's too much trouble. I need to ignore my brain and do it anyway. No, I decided to set it up tonight to cook tomorrow because I will eat the hamburger later, and I don't want to eat beef twice.

Napped. I'm trying to convince myself to clean. I have my cleaning clothes on and that's a start. Zara wants to be fed (done).

Started listening to Unfuck Your Habitat and cleaning and tidying. I'm going to like this book. The first chapter is called, "Nice Ass. Now Get Off Of It". I created a space to stash extra sodas ands scrubbed a litter box.

Lay down for a while. Mimi came in and snuggled against my legs, purring. Now I'm hungry. Made a grilled cheese sandwich and ate it, fighting off Zara the whole time.

It's gotten late, so I think that I'll set up the chili to cook tomorrow at lunch. I should have enough time to brown the meat and garlic and dump the rest of the ingredients into the slow cooker.

The upshot of my Medium post: a couple new followers, some "claps," and one comment. Not bad for starting out.

I need to work in my planning book for this coming week.

I now have a solid draft of my essay about my experiences with psychosis for Medium. If you're interested, would you read it and let me know of any comments that you might have? It's around 850 words. Here's the link:

A Journey Through Psychosis

Thanks!

I did decide to stay on an extra day. I contacted the pet sitter, and she said to stay as long as I want. Mom is happy because she wants me to vacuum later.

The snow finally started close to 4 PM. I'm kind of glad because I did postpone my departure, but Mom would like to go to Trader Joe's tonight.

I think that I want a Panda Planner, but I'll wait until I get paid again. The New York Times recommended it, FWIW.

Now I finished the book about writing on Medium. I'm off to look for writing groups on Facebook (done). Found a few that look promising.

Mom and I had Chicken Kiev again. It was good. Mom said that she likes eating with me because I finish all the extra food. I said that means that I'm a walking garbage can :)

I never did vacuum because Mom slept most of the afternoon. I spent the evening reading about Portugal. I'm going to go to sleep early to get good rest before my drive tomorrow.

I found Zara's meds. They had fallen into the utensil cup in the dish drainer. I'll still pick up her new meds, but I might wait until Monday to do so.

Ugh. I was up all night with my brain whirring. Fell asleep around 7 AM and woke up at 10:30 AM. Spent some time lounging around. I'm going to go back to sleep after breakfast.

I just had a brainstorm. I'm joining an alumni community from the university. (I went there for college as well as work there.) The U has a nationally ranked psychology department (also from which I'm an alum, but I was in quantitative psychology), so maybe I could connect with a psychologist to interview there.

Today is creative thinking day. I was wondering how I was going to water the thyme and rosemary indoors. I don't have a tray for them, plus it wouldn't fit where I've put them, anyway. I have an old dishpan that I don't use. It works. The thyme is currently draining. I'll just wipe off the bottom of it when it's done.

I found a book that I really want to read: The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning. I think that I'll get it for the Kindle to save $$$ and space and to have it before I leave for Mom's house. I also read a great article in Medium about increasing your frustration tolerance.

Had a nap finally. I think that I'll wait until tomorrow to go to the grocery store. I'll just do stuff around here and talk to Mom later. I'm having IBS symptoms, so that's another reason to stay home.

Had a bite to eat. I'm being watched intently by the girls, who want to eat (done).

Hmm. I should make carrot soup tonight or tomorrow. I need to peel and chop the carrots, so maybe I'll do that tonight. I can mince the onion and garlic tomorrow in the food processor. I need to dig out my blender too.

I need somewhere to pile up books for my trip. Done--the shelf on which I usually put my library books.

I emptied a box. Go me. (For those who don't know, I'm decluttering my place and the storage place before I move next year.) And oh! I found Harlee's beloved purple mousie. I knew that I would have packed it, but I didn't know what box it was in. Harlee's been gone for 3.5 years now though. I put it next to her ashes. And I feel like crying. But I emptied the box. I also finally unpacked the dutch oven from the Amazon box, and I really like it. I think that I'll make the carrot soup in it. I have boxes piled up next to the door; I'll take them out tomorrow when I'm dressed. (I spent the day in my pajamas.)

Talked to Mom. She's in more pain than she has been, but she thinks it means that she's healing. Her blood pressure spiked high during physical therapy though. She said that I should plan to come out on the 29th and I'll stay though the following Sunday. She said that I should stay at a hotel the first night that I get in, but I don't know how I feel about that.

I want to write an essay about motivation, but not tonight. I think that I'll have some soup and get to bed early.