days_unfolding

I forgot to mention that I asked my dad for a recommendation for a macroeconomics book. I want to understand what's going on with the economy better. I bought a couple cheaply from Thriftbooks.

Overslept a little and got up at 6:30 AM. I heard the recycling truck while I was out with Bella. Got my leaf bags out, which was the important part, but I won’t get the rest of the recycling out. I’m going back to sleep for a little while.

Got us all fed. I have to watch Oliver and Lily eat because a certain dog will snatch their food if I'm not watching. Zara is behind a door, so she's okay.

I was wondering why Oliver and Lily like to run around upstairs so much, but then it occurred to me that the dog isn't there to chase them.

A grant awarded to the organization for which I work from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) was canceled. Trump's cuts have reached my work. Sigh. It won't impact our staffing though, just a program that we were going to lead.

My therapy session went well. My therapist said to wait a week or two to see if the tiredness wears off, and contact my psychiatrist if it doesn't. She also said that I don't need to work at coming up with as much stuff to talk about as I did this time (the cruise, Mimi, and the car)! I said that I hoped it would be totally boring with nothing to talk about!

I was feeling pretty good about myself, but then I made a dumb mistake at work. I don't handle that well.

I got a free issue of The Week, or rather my mom did, and I read it cover to cover. I think that I want to resubscribe to it. I’m also thinking of subscribing to The Economist. I’m sorry to say that US and world events are very interesting right now. Hmm, I might be able to get an academic discount for The Economist.

Bella wants me to follow her around the yard. She’ll stop and wait and stare at me if I’m slow (which is always because she’s a young dog and I’m an old human). I got out the collar and leash to take her for a walk tonight, and she got so excited and cooperated when I put the collar on. It’s a vast improvement from when I had to chase her through the house to get her harness on and when she’d freeze on a leash when I first got her. It was nice to walk in twilight. And most of the dog walkers were already gone. I’m not sure what she’d do if we met another dog. Hide behind me?

Had my quality time with Zara. Practiced piano. Zara was chirping at the piano for a couple of minutes and then sat and listened.

I’m going to go upstairs and practice Italian. My trip-to-be is motivating me. I studied Italian until my brain went into vaporlock. I'm tired.

I'm going to post, feed the critters, and crash.

I’m starting to get the Italy books in. I think that I’ll start with La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind.

I have a boatload of things to do today because I lost time from Friday night. I need to work on homework for both classes. And pack. Oh, and pay biils. And tidy up the kitchen and dining room. And get money for the packing guy. And go for a walk.

I’m looking at bookcases because that’s the first thing that I’ll purchase for my new house. Wow, they’ve gotten expensive. I’m also trying to figure out what to do about hangers. Should I try to take Mom’s or order new ones? But I’ll need Mom’s to hang her clothes up.

I don’t know what’s with the Urbana post office. I submitted a change of address from while I was down there and was getting mail from there. Now the person who took over my rental said that he was getting mail for me. Sigh.

I got up around 10 AM. Fed myself and the cats. Mimi is walking around complaining for some reason. I think that she wants me to take a nap.

I mollified Mimi and took my nap. I exist to serve :)

I read CNN when I first wake up, and the Washington Post and New York Times during breakfast and lunch.

There’s something that I needed to run out and get, but I forget what. Getting older can be the pits. Oh, money for the packing guy! The entry that I have been composing helped!

I’m looking for an antitheft camera backpack for the Italy trip. They seem to be either a camera backpack or antitheft. I wound up getting a PacSafe backpack.

Mimi wants something, maybe for me to go up and snuggle with her now that we all ate dinner. No, I went upstairs and she didn’t follow me.

Paid bills. I tried to submit a Change of Address form, but I never got a receipt. However, when I try to submit one again, it says that one is already in place. Okay, I just got the receipt. That was slow. I'm not sure what to do about LegalShield. I do need a will, but they charge $30 a month.

I printed off a chapter from our textbook for the algorithms class. I need to go read it. Hmm. However, I have a headache. Maybe I should just start laundry and go to bed.

I'm feeling freezing cold this morning. I don't know why because it's in the 40s F. I really want to lie down under warm blankets but have no reason to go out sick. I'll lie down over lunch.

I found a website with German numbers, so I'll work on flashcards for that. I also need to review Italian numbers.

My printer had a paper jam that was a bear to get out. I finally flipped the printer over and got the paper out. But it still said that it had a jam. Rebooting the printer and computer fixed the "jam," but the printer isn't pulling the paper from the paper drawer. I really don't want to replace the printer.

I read an article by a feline behaviorist that said that cats want a bunch of small meals throughout the day. That's what Zara is training me to do. She gets a big meal at breakfast, a little meal at lunch, a big meal at dinner, and a small meal late at night. As long as I keep working from home, I can do that.

I'm tired and don't want to comb my hair and put on makeup and go get cat food. I have just enough cat food to make it to tomorrow, so I'll hang out at home tonight. And so I napped and overslept. I don't know why I'm so tired. Stress? I'm worried about Mom as well as the state of the world.

I've been doomscrolling, well, reading the news, which I do anyway when there isn't a war. I read an interesting article about the noises that creatures make underground. I wouldn't have thought that they'd use noise to communicate.

Oh good. I've got the potato bags, so I can plant the potatoes this weekend.

There's a book of knitted dishcloth patterns that I'd like to try once I graduate from knitting class. It requires fingering weight cotton yarn, though, and people were complaining that it's tough to find in the US. So I've been searching online and found some.

Had a nice nap. Now Zara is climbing on me, so I can't get up. She was really loving me up, and I thought, "Aww. She really loves me." Then I realized what time it was. She wanted to be fed (never mind that I got up late this morning and fed her late).

Apparently Canada is opening up to US tourists. A while back, I talked to Mom about a trip during which we'd spend some time with her friend Kate on Vancouver Island, plus some time in Vancouver proper. So I priced airfares. I don't think that it's a great time to travel though.

I don't know what's happening with Italian. Out teacher asked us to RSVP, but I'm the only one who has done so. Okay, another student has said that she'll be there. My voice teacher has postponed my lesson tomorrow because she's getting a COVID shot today.

Hmm. I was just sitting here and realized something that I could try for a ticket at work.

Fed the girls. Took another nap. Repacked my gym bag with summer-weight clothes and put the old clothes in the wash.

Talked to Mom. She's doing okay, but she thinks that her yard is hopeless because she was gone so long. My aunt is feeling grumpy. We don't know where the world is going.

I think that I'm going to go to sleep and get up early.

I had a doctor's appointment this morning. Apparently they are doing on-site visits now. Nothing very interesting to report. Just a med check. They were a little annoyed that I didn't get a mammogram last time. Now that I have the vaccine, I'll set up an appointment. I didn't feel like it was worth exposing myself to the sick people at the hospital before the vaccine.

I keep forgetting to check on taking niacin for my high cholesterol. My insurance company said that they wouldn't pay for it because it's available over the counter, but I haven't found the over-the-counter version. I need to call the doctor's office for the proper dosage. I don't want to take statins because I've heard too many horror stories about them.

Zara just helped herself to a big bite of my banana bread. When I told her that it was mine, she started going after the box of slices. Sheesh, cat :) I can't blame the k/d food because I relented and gave her non-k/d food this morning.

Holy cow. Prince Philip died. That must be hard for Queen Elizabeth.

The food that I did not want from Metabolic Meals arrived. I need to make sure that they canceled my subscription (done). But at least I have food in the house. I also got my order from Chewy without the k/d stuff for which my vet wouldn't give them the prescription.

Had my guitar class. Apparently I was playing some chords wrong. I asked for help on strumming, and he gave me some pointers, but he also said that it gets better with practice, which is my least-favorite answer :) I need to order a lighter and more flexible pick. We're working on the song "Vincent" by Don McLean, and I told him that American Pie was the first album that I bought. Which I suppose is dating myself.

Ran and got Zara's meds. The guy who waited on me seemed like he didn't like the job. I suppose that the job could be kind of a drag, but still. I also had to talk to the pharmacist even though I told them that the med was for my cat.

I have a fuckload of stuff to get done tonight and tomorrow to prepare for my mom's visit. I need to organize and clean house and do as much homework as I possibly can do. At least my next programming assignment isn't due for a week.

However, I think that I will take a nap before launching into stuff. I did print off my homework, and that's a start.

I'm looking into an Italian school in Sardinia. The beaches there are gorgeous. Plus they offer Italian cooking lessons.

Stayed up late watching the news. Hard to believe all the destruction. I understand and support (like my opinion matters) the right of people to march, but the few people who are destroying property....Slate commented that people are equating property damage with being killed. There is that. My friend Anne commented that the businesses being destroyed could have employed a lot of people. I don't know what to think.

One of my friends from high school has a husband who's a Chicago policeman. He was working in downtown Chicago where the riots were. Apparently he made it home okay, " but traumatized". Long night for Anne though.

Oh great. I had to break up a cat fight. At least, they listen to me.

I checked Big R's web site, and it looks like they don't have Fancy Feast. They do have Science Diet, so I might run over there and grab a couple of cans to see if Zara will eat it. I've had bad luck getting her to eat better food. She wants her junk food! I bought some Fancy Feast on Amazon. And their dry food.

Napped. Watched the Governor's and the Chicago Mayor's press conference about bringing out the National Guard.

I read that there was looting in the town in which I went to college. SMH.

Got the garbage out for pickup. Repotted the cherry tomatoes. One of them needs a stake, so I'll have to go get one. I'm mulling over getting a mint plant if there are any left, so I could pick up a stake then.

Privilege of living alone: I don't feel like cooking, so I'll just heat up some chunky soup.

Did my timesheet for work because they're going to want it in the morning. Now I'm going to work on the kitchen for a while...

Added: I had some salmon with mint butter a few years ago, and it was really good. I went looking for a recipe and found Broiled Salmon with Orange-Mint Butter. That sounds good.

It's currently 11 degrees F out. Ugh. I don't care how I do it, but I must retire somewhere with nicer winters.

Had a little dustup with Zara. I was emptying the dryer, and I went to put underwear and socks in the bathroom. Zara hopped into the dryer. I asked her to move because I needed to dry my coat before I go to work today. No dice. I started to put wet clothes in there, and she lashed out and hissed, but she did hop out. Thank you Zara.

I'm so over all the coronavirus stories. You'd think that it was the end of the world. My aunt thinks that it WILL be the end of the world, but she doesn't understand probabilities.

Ugh. 3 degrees. "Feels like -7."

Home and thawing. It's a frozen pizza kind of night.

I need to make a grocery list and do my Italian homework. Done and done.

Mimi likes bubble wrap. I had a bubble wrap envelope from an Amazon shipment, and she was standing on it and kneading. Goof :)

The girls are already waiting for me to go to bed. Little do they know what's in store for them tomorrow (a visit to the V-E-T).