days_unfolding

Overslept by an hour. Messaged in sick for Italian, and I’m going to go back to sleep. I’ll shower at lunchtime. Overslept my nap too. I'm really tired, and I need to stay up late cleaning tonight.

My neighbor asked me what tree service I was using because he wants his trees looked at too at the same time. I have his phone number now (good to have). Bella was thrilled to say "Hi"' to them. I told them about the puppy-to-be, and they said that the animals will keep me young. I said that they make me feel old because I can't keep up with them! He also said that there's a sewer line that runs near where I want the garage to be. I'll need to get the map of the utilities, but he thought that the sewer might not be on it. I also mentioned that I'll be replacing the fence, and he said that he didn't know who put up the fence on his side. He doesn't seem to have a problem with my replacing it.

I've been feeling dizzy and arthritis-y today. I got my carbonated water delivered, and it seems to be helping. And I took acetaminophen. I'm going to lie down for a little while after work.

Bella says that beds are for petting. I said that that sounded a little outré.

I woke up from my nap dripping sweat and dizzy. I watered the outside plants until I couldn’t see anymore. I’ll water the rest tomorrow, although it’s supposed to rain. I’m feeling a little rain now.

We’re all fed. I’m going to lie down for a little while (I’m still dizzy) and then clean.

Great. The crown for one of my front teeth came out, and I don’t know what happened to it. I noticed it when I was brushing my teeth. Luckily, I have an appointment at the dentist on Monday morning, but I guess that I’m not going to the garden shops tomorrow.

Woke up at 7:30 AM. The cats didn’t finish their food, and I don’t know why. My stomach is upset. I’m going to nap and not set an alarm. Woke up at 11:30.

Ran into my neighbor, who thinks Bella is a "good puppy". He asked how she gets along with the cats, and I said that she likes to play with them but gets rough. He said that she had good intentions.

It took a Munchie Bone and almost going in to get Bella inside. She’ll like it when I work outside.

Yay, I got new underwear. Bella likes to steal them and trash them.

Ow. Ate lunch, and the tooth missing the crown hurts. Brushed my teeth, but that made it worse. Took acetaminophen and applied some dental pain cream. That seems to be helping. Napped.

Bella was barking, but I’m not sure at what.

Got my lazy butt into the shower. Now I’m feeding the critters. The kitchen is chilly.

Watered the garden and the plants waiting to be planted. Fed us all. My tooth hurts again. Brought a recycle bin inside the basement stairs. Lily ran downstairs.

Now I'm going to work on my trust document. I don't feel like cleaning because my tooth hurts. Hmm. I need to contact Schwab to serve as a successor trustee. And I'm stuck until I have an executor for my will. I guess that I will clean after all. After I post.

I called the auto glass place this morning to see if they will vacuum out the glass and put a covering on my window, only to discover that you can't call them directly. I emailed them about it, but haven't heard back yet. Annoying.

Oliver and Lily knocked down my work laptop while I was in a meeting. Sigh.

I finally got through to the glass people on a chat line, and they can put a "crash wrap" on the car window. I'll go there after lunch. Also, I needed to reschedule the glass replacement for later in their shop because I don't have a driveway to put the car on. (They don't want to replace it on the street because it's not safe.)

Oh, what a day. I went to drive the car to the auto glass place, only to find that whoever broke in tried to hotwire the car, and messed up the steering column. I was able to start the car, but the windshield washer fluid is fountaining non-stop (and the control is hanging off).

So, I called in a new claim. They asked me to file a police report, and also cancel the old claim with the glass place. So I did. The policeman asked me when was the last time I was sure that the car was intact, and it was over a week ago! I don't drive much. I asked my neighbor to reconnect the battery in the Honda. So she did, but first, Bella was all over her asking for petting! She's the first person other than me to which Bella was really friendly!

I moved the Honda, and it seems to be running okay. Go figure. I'm going to go get gas for it later tonight. The towing company wanted me to get all my stuff out of the Kia, so I'm going to do that tonight and they'll pick up the Kia tomorrow morning.

Phew. I'm tired. The people at work were sympathetic to my distractions though. I think that it's going to be an early night.

So far, 2025 really sucks.

I cleaned out the Kia. I suppose this is one way to get me to clean out my car, but I can think of better ways and times. Then I convinced myself to get gas for my mom's car (the Honda) because I wanted to test that it was driving okay while there was less traffic. And it was fine. I think what happened last time is that the fuel lines froze. (It's been a couple of months since I drove it.) Ordered food to be delivered tomorrow morning.

Now I'm going to feed the critters, start a load of laundry (drat, I need to run down and do that) and crash. I should get up early in case there's an issue with towing the Kia, although I might go back to sleep if I see it gone.

I would like some lilac bushes. They are considered safe for pets, so maybe I'll plant two on either side of the gate-to-be for the garage? And maybe daylilies by the driveway? Actually, alternate soft holly and daylilies.

I found a redbud tree that I like.

I found a pet-safe shade garden set.

Now I'm thinking of growing sunflowers on the sunny (southern exposure) side of the house.

Hmm. Patios are less expensive than I thought, so maybe I'll be able to have one built this Spring? I'd like an olive tree for the patio, but I'd have to bring it inside to winter over. Gazebos are more expensive, so I probably won't be able to get one this year.

I'm mulling over a path around the house because Bella runs laps around the house and I follow her. I was thinking a gravel path, but that would be tough on dog paws. Flagstone is expensive. I could do mulch, but it needs to be replaced regularly. Landscaping sand?

I keep explaining to Bella that she has her own food and doesn’t need to eat the cat food, but she is not convinced. She’s annoyed because I won’t let her eat the cats’ food.

I’ve looked at other dogs because Bella plays rough with Oliver, but I don’t really have the bandwidth for another pet right now. It would be a lot better to wait until after my trip.

Overslept until 7:30 AM. The freezing rain hasn’t started.

I gave Lily the food that Mimi didn’t eat, and Bella ate it. Sigh. (I was sitting with my back turned. Mistake.)

I received a "$20 off an order of $49 or more" discount code from Chewy, so I ordered cat food and some cat toys to get free shipping.

I'm having a lively conversation with Mimi, but I'm not sure what it's about :) It might have to do with petting.

Hmm. I'm having a pang of missing my mom's house, but it was time to sell. I was thinking about the path from the front yard to the back yard.

I needed to submit a Walmart grocery order, but I didn't want the delivery person to have to deal with the freezing rain, so I set it for tomorrow. I hope that it'll be decent weather by then. Now the forecasters are saying no freezing rain, so I moved my Walmart order to today.

I have a knot in my shoulder. I need to find where I have Ben Gay or equivalent.

I signed up for an online Meetup tomorrow about investing. I'm still looking for someone to manage my funds, but it wouldn't hurt to know more about investing anyway.

I ran into my neighbor when I was out with Bella. She commented that Bella was new and thought that Bella was beautiful. We talked about dog training. She said that her dog has been known to attack other dogs, so she didn't come close.

Got the groceries from Walmart. Fed us all.

Napped until 10:30 PM. Bella knocked down and ate some croissants, sigh. I think that I'm going to go back to sleep. After Mimi gets her lap time. And I feed the critters.

Crud. I just realized that I didn't get any of the frozen food that I ordered.

Woke up with my alarm at 6 AM. The Echo Dot alarm did not sound, sigh. The critters think that this is too early to get up.

Ugh. Zara was out roaming around, and Bella lunged for her. I grabbed Bella. Sigh. Zara took off for her room. I took the puppy out. Now I’m thawing and then will gather the recycling.

Got the recycling out. I’m going to thaw for a moment, soak the cat dishes, and let Oliver out of kitty jail. (I’ll never convince him that I do that for his own protection.)

I read online that Neil Gaiman based his Sandman series on Tanith Lee's Tales of a Flat Earth series, so I went looking for the Tanith Lee books. The public library does not have them. The university library does have them, but the first book is checked out. I'm leery of buying it until I see if I like it or not. (I have too many books, so I'm trying to be choosy about what I keep.) And it sucks that Gaiman didn't give her credit and make her books circulate more! Though I'll probably set up a Little Free Library in the Spring, so I could recycle it there if I don't want to keep it. Oh okay, I got it for the Kindle.

We have some dedicated bicyclists for neighbors. I saw two separate people out riding their bikes. And it's cold out (31F/-1C, although that IS balmy compared to the weather that we've been having). Bella was fascinated by the bicyclists. She didn't bark but watched them intently.

I've been redesigning the yard in my head while I'm out with Bella. I want a six-foot-tall white picket fence to replace the current fence. There is a raised bed and trees by the side of where the driveway to the garage-to-be will be. I think that I want to take the trees and raised bed out (they're "junk trees'") and plant redbuds and holly bushes along the side of the driveway. Bark mulch underneath them. And I want a crabapple for the main part of the back yard and roses along the side of the garage. I probably want a path from the back door to the garage, but I'm not sure yet what to put in. I’m thinking a concrete sidewalk because its purpose is a way to unload stuff from the car, not to be pretty.

Bella did not want to come in when I took her outside after our nap. There was a garbage truck! And the outdoor cat went by the neighbor's house! Lots of interesting things to see. And it felt downright warm in the sun! Oh, it WAS warm, 37F/3C.

The doctor's office called to reschedule my appointment for next week.

When I paid my AT&T bill, they had an offer for one month of Hulu free, so I took the deal and added Max to it. I want to watch TV sometimes cuddling with the dog.

I had a nice chat with my neighbor who lives right next door to me. Bella barked at him for some reason, but he didn't seem to mind. I told him that the dog was new, and he said that he had cats, and I said that I had them too! He said that he liked my Harris/Walz yard sign, and we agreed that we weren't looking forward to the next four years. I like living in Urbana.

I'm thinking that I want to get the fish tank and plants set up, but I might wait to get fish until after my trip. I'd hate to get the fish and then leave them to the pet sitter or automatic feeder. I want to know more about how their rhythm is.

I'm also thinking that I should try to meet more people. I was going to wait until I got the house together, but meeting people would provide me with the motivation to get the house together. My therapist thought that was a good idea.

Because it's warmish, and it's supposed to get cold this weekend, I'll get the garbage out tonight. Nope.

Played a fun game of feeding the fur kids. I need to go get Bella out of the bedroom and take her outside. There was a person on a scooter walking two dogs. They stopped in front of the house for the dogs to sniff. Bella barked once and then retreated by my side for me to protect her.

I’m trying to figure out where Bella’s collar went. I have her harness, but I’m not sure where the collar is, but I know that it arrived. And I should get collars for Oliver and Lily. I need to spend this long weekend getting stuff organized. I think that I’ll start in one corner and do a 360-degree thing.

Oliver and Bella seem especially tired today. I wonder what they’ve been up to. They’re both asleep, and I’m kind of stuck here because I don’t want to wake them.

I cleaned off the heater for the fish tank, but it's getting late, so I'll fill the tank tomorrow. Paid bills. Now I think that it's bedtime.

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 :)

I left some lights on for Zara so that she doesn’t wake me up meowing.

I woke up at 5 AM. I ordered some more hangers because getting my clothes together is my first project. I went back to sleep for a couple of hours.

Well, crud. My clothes in the dryer are still damp. I guess that I’ll take a shower during lunch.

I need to pick up some bleach to wash the loveseat cover. White looks good with the rose paint, so I’m thinking of keeping the white cover. And it’s cheaper. I’m looking at white curtains. Silver also looks good, so I think that I will get silver drum tables.

White also looks good with the blue paint upstairs, so I’m thinking of a white desk and white bookcases.

The plants that I put in the kitchen look happy. They’re the plants that I thought of for the bathroom, but I want to leave the bathroom blinds closed. I also want a couple of spider plants to hang over the sink.

I forgot to turn off the lights in the basement yesterday. Apparently they put the boxes in the room for my exercise equipment, which wasn’t what I had in mind. Oh well. I want to unbury the rowing machine. I also need to get the treadmill, which is upstairs, set up. The power cord and emergency key are in a box somewhere, so I wrote the company to see if I can order them. I need to use the treadmill to prepare for the Italy trip.

I’m waiting for the clothes to finish drying so that I can check that they’re actually dry. Nope. I need an appliance repair person.

Damn, I'm tired. I think that it'll take a few days to recover from the move.

I got my Ramen and frozen yogurt delivered. I think that I'll have Ramen for lunch to soothe my throat. I did and had frozen yogurt too. It went down well.

I hung some clothes up to dry in my “warm” bathroom so that I’ll have them for tomorrow. I guess that it’s pajama day today.

I found some bookcases that I like for the upstairs. They have to be short because of the attic roof.

I wasn’t able to nap. Mimi and I shared body heat though.

I’m going to wait to get rid of the mattress until after I get the dryer fixed because I don’t know how much it’ll cost. I have an appointment for the dryer on Friday morning.

For some reason, all the updates that I did on my work computer did not get saved. I got squared away with the organizer. She has my new address and I paid her. We'll meet next week. I ordered a new filing cabinet and supplies, which will arrive the last day of my organizing appointments. I guess that day will be the paper-handling day

I asked my dad if he thought that he would come to Illinois and see my house. He said that it was "unlikely" because it's a long trip. (They drive.) I told him that I bought some Web cams, but that I'd need an electrician to install them, so I don't know when that will happen.

I put the new Brooklinen sheets on the bed and wrestled the duvet cover on the comforter. I thought that I also had black pillowcases and pillows, but I’m not sure where they are. Oh! They are wonderful to lie on.

Got my writing/studying desk set up and I really like it. I'll use the gray drawers to keep stamps, pens, batteries, etc. in.

Got most of my empty boxes out for recycling. I met another neighbor, who was thrilled that I bought the house. Apparently, it was a rental for a long time.

Tried to nap but couldn’t sleep. I have a headache and body ache. I’m going to take my nighttime meds and then go to sleep.

Dyed my hair. While my hair was processing, I set up a presentation page on my professional Web site, and added it and a link to my Linked In profile on the site menu. (I didn't think that it made sense to post a PDF of my resume when it will quickly go out of date, and I'd have to update both it and my Linked In page.) Anyway, I decided that I rocked :)

I decided to wear cheap makeup because all that I'm going to do is laundry and then go to WalMart. The whole time that I was putting it on, I was thinking, "Ugh," but actually, it doesn't look too bad.

I had a conversation with a neighbor, who asked if my air conditioning was working. I said, "Yes," and she grimaced, but then I said. "It's cooling the downstairs well, but not the upstairs." She said that she had the same problem, so she closed some vents to get the a/c to cool the upstairs, and now it's not working. That's bad because It's been in the 90s F. I hope that they fix it.

I've put a load of laundry in. I need to go work on the bedroom before I lose my momentum.