days_unfolding

Ooh, I saw a floor lamp on Marketplace that I like for the library room. And a washable rug. Maybe I’ll go get them this weekend. And a Westminster chime clock (I had thought about a grandfather clock, but that would be a hassle to get here) and a basket for my meditation cushions. And a nail gun. I just bought safety glasses to use with the nail gun.

For some reason, my alarm didn’t go off, and I slept until 8:30 AM.

The dogs don't want to come in. I told them that I have a meeting and they'll be out a long time, but they don't care. They finally came in at lunchtime. Oddly, Gracie was more cooperative, and I had to get Bella by the collar to come in.

I'm looking at grant writing classes. A certificate at Parkland Community College is $2500, which is a lot, but I'll investigate payment plans.

Hmm. I should get a money belt for my trip in the fall because we will be traveling on trains a lot.

We had a mini-crisis at work because the library system that our libraries use went down. We had to scramble to respond. We're moving to a new ticketing system tomorrow, so I guess that was the last hurrah on the old system.

Piano class went well. Oliver and Zara settled down for a snooze while I played.

I’ve been busy canceling subscriptions bit by bit.

I really want to work on the library/music room (“Zara’s room “). I think that I’ll use it as a carrot to get stuff done on the rest of the place; if I spend X amount of time on the rest of the place, I can spend X time on the library room. I’m getting excited about it. Plus, getting that room together will move book boxes out of the rest of the place.

I found a cheaper version of the grant-writing courses. That will work.

There’s a “slippery road” alert due to snow melting and refreezing. Terrific.

Crud. The BBC has gone subscription-only. Do I want to subscribe?

Got the recycling out. Fed us all.

Enrolled in the grant writing classes for $450 instead. Still pricey but much better.

Need to wrap things up and go to bed.

Woke up a little after 6:30 AM. Got my groceries. I forgot a couple of things, so I’ll have to submit another order tomorrow. Got an enormous bag of oranges, so I’ll have to work on eating it. And I think that I'll pop some blueberries.

I put my compression socks on after my shower. I put on the ones with pink flamingos because I thought that they'd go best with my "under-the-ocean" hoodie. Style is important :) I'm saving the navy polka dots ones to wear with my navy London hoodie tomorrow. I hope that they work. And I bought an enormous water pitcher to bring upstairs with me. The socks feel kind of good, like they're massaging my legs.

Oliver is growling at Gracie. I don't blame him because earlier, Gracie pinned him down, and Gracie and Bella were play-biting him. I had to break it up. He was Not Amused. I'm asking Gracie how someone as cute as her can be such a little hellion.

I need to get two more pillows for the pillow shams. I'm buying cheap pillows because Gracie chews on them.

I read an article called "How to Make Your Economy-Class Seat a Little Less Miserable," and one of the things that it says is to get an aisle seat for long-haul flights. I haven't booked my flights to Europe later this year yet (I'll do that this weekend), so I'll get an aisle seat.

I have meetings right before and right after lunch, so no nap today.

I need to make some lentil soup to get some B vitamins in me. I'll look for a recipe. Found one. Maybe I should go grocery shopping after I return the sleep equipment tomorrow. I need a blender for the recipe. Do I have one? Yes, I have a fancy one that Mom's friend bought her.

I did get a short nap. My 11:00 meeting ended early.

My boss and I were taking about cats and dogs and such, and I just remembered that I need to put up the bird feeder. I'll add it to my weekend list.

Made an appointment to have my car looked at a week from today. (It's making sounds like something is dragging and thumping noises when you turn the steering wheel hard.)

Off work for the weekend. Fed the critters. (I’m not hungry because I ate lunch late. I’m not sure what to do until I need to go to the sleep clinic. I guess that I’ll work on a grocery list (done).

I’ve had a sore throat and slight cough all day, but that’s it for symptoms.

The book that I’m reading suggested Factor Health for extensive blood tests. Quest Diagnostics has something similar, but I think that Factor pays for two blood tests a year. Yikes, they take around 10 vials of blood.

Got the sleep study equipment. He asked me when I was going to bed and I said, “I don’t know,” so he picked 11 PM. I think that I’ll have to sleep without the dogs. So I’m going to eat (done) and post.

Holy cow. All the check money posted to my account. So I could have gone to the conference, but who knew? It’s going to be a bill-paying night. Plus I want to open a money-market account in which to stash most of the money. I want to order more stuff from Walmart.

Yay. Had a WARM shower. Things are looking up.

Submitted another Walmart order with lots of cat litter. And napkins and oatmeal. Bought some travel guides related to the Orient Express trip (I'll contact the travel agent tonight) and a weed puller. And the security cameras. Paid some bills that were critical.

I'm thinking that it might be time to see my dad, but I'm not sure when I can squeeze it in? Maybe fly out and spend a long weekend? (I can only take a few days of my dad at a time.)

Our presentation at work went well. And now it's over :)

Dozed lightly during lunch.

I'm trying to figure out where I could hide some cash in the house. I found a fake book with a combination lock. Don't worry; I won't stash thousands of dollars like my aunt did. I also want to create a stash of cat and dog food and cat litter.

Bloody hell. The delivery guy for my Walmart order left the gate open, and Bella got out onto the street. I dropped everything and ran after her. She ran up and down the sidewalk a couple of times, threatening to go into the street proper but didn't, and finally she turned and ran into the yard. Whew. Then I realized that I had left the front door open, but Oliver did not come out, thank goodness. Maybe he didn't want to be near the crazy lady yelling for the dog to "Come here!"

I need dog training books, pronto.

Crud. It's going to start raining "for several hours". So much for planting my plants. They're also saying rain late Saturday, so I need to get up early and plant my plants before I go to pick up the plants from the university.

I put a deposit down on the Orient Express trip.

I'm tired. Fed the dog and catlings. I'm not hungry, so I'll eat later. Now I'm going to pay bills. Paid off my credit cards. Opened a money market account. Paid some other bills. Tried to open a checking account only for my student loans, but ran into issues. Okay, opened an account with Ally, and it was easy-peasy.

Ordered Bella a new collar with my phone number on it. She's not thrilled with wearing collars, but she needs to wear this one. And I ordered "Dogs at Play - Please Close the Gate" signs.

Had dinner. I need to go to bed soon. I’m exhausted. Got my Hulu, Netflix, and Sling TV accounts working.