days_unfolding

Ugh. Feeling arthritis-y. Need to go to sleep.

Got up at 6:30 AM. Bella did her business quickly, so I decided to go back to sleep for an hour and shower at lunch. I overslept work an hour. Suckage.

Today is Friday, right? This week has been a blur.

I found a propane heater in case the power goes out in winter, but I need to think about how much money I want to spend on something that might never happen. (I could use it for camping though. Speaking of camping, I have the down sleeping bag for if the power goes out, but that won't help the critters.) On the other hand, this area has a danger of ice storms because we’re far enough south that snow can turn to freezing rain. And hmm, the food supplies would help being snowed in.

Fed everyone and took Bella and Gracie outside. It’s hot out (90F/32C). I think that I need to stop feeding Gracie kibble because it seems to give her loose stools. I'd have to feed her another can of wet food. Showered and put on shorts and a t-shirt and sandals.

Hmm. I should order some tubs in which to keep emergency supplies, but I should wait until I get them to see what size I need.

Medium doesn't allow you to make money off of AI-generated text, so I need to rewrite the blog entries. In that case, I might have to wait until retirement. We'll see. I am so busy right now. Maybe I could work on some in my hotel room at night during my trip. Or at the airport.

I have a strong urge to go back to Hawaii, to Maui, but it won't happen anytime soon. Plus, I want to wait until Lahaina is rebuilt. I wonder how long that will take. Maybe I should check out Molokai? That would be a nice sleepy place for "R&R". You have to take a commuter airline from Oahu or Maui to Molokai. I found a flight that I like. Hmm, should I go to Molokai next year? It would have to be a short trip because I will be taking a lot of time for my European trip in the fall. I was going to go see my dad though. Hum. I have three weeks of vacation and two personal holidays right now. I'll take two weeks in Italy and a day or two in January at the end of my cruise. I need to figure out how much time I'll take for the European trip (how many extra days I want to stay in Paris and Istanbul). I have airfare that I need to use up before mid-June. (Too bad that I already booked the flights for the cruise. But part of it was from the flight that I didn't take earlier this year after the full cruise.)

Oh. I forgot to mention that I bought a second travel vest the other day because I wear mine all the time for the pockets. They're very useful. I have a burgundy one and the new one is black.

Hmm. Do I want to go work downstairs now? It's 93F/34C and kind of miserable upstairs. Luckily, I'm not doing anything that requires two monitors.

Oh no. David Gergen died. I liked him on CNN. He was a presidential advisor that became a political commentator.

Bella is so jealous. If Oliver or Gracie jumps on my lap, Bella jumps on my lap (well, as much of her that will fit), chases them off, and kisses me. "I am YOUR DOG! And don't forget it!"

Zara didn’t eat most of her food (which is concerning), so I gave her food to Oliver and Lily. First Bella jumped up with her paws on the counter. I made her get down. Then Gracie jumped up. I made her get down. Then they both jumped up in unison, and I cracked up. I told them that they were dorks. I got Oliver and Lily to sort of share by moving the dish around so that Lily could get some food.

I ordered some dog DNA tests for Bella and Gracie. The results should be interesting.

One of the things that I need to do this weekend is find the chicken wire so that I can plug the gaps in the fence and let Gracie run around. She’s small enough that she could get out, and I don’t trust her to come back like Bella does.

I’ve added seeing the giant rubber duck that one_raido wrote about to my bucket list. Waukegan this year would be doable except that I’ll be in Italy. Sorry not sorry. I’ll have to bookmark its Web site. They should bring it to Chicago (if they haven’t already).

I started going through Amazon boxes. My emergency supplies are starting to arrive. Some will also work for camping, such as wipes to use in lieu of a shower. I got my weather radio and have set it up for alerts in my bedroom.

Note to self: go through my travel chargers this weekend and order anything that I need. Also check on my travel adapters and transfer them to my medium suitcase. I have my travel pillow and sleep mask, but I ordered a second sleep mask in case I lose one on the plane like I did on my last trip to Italy. Pack my swimsuits (or do I want to go swimming before I leave?)

Oh good. I’m yawning. I want to get to bed early so that I can get out early to do some weeding and planting.

Shit. Zara isn't eating at all. I'm really worried. The vet gave me some appetite enhancers, but I was going to crush the pills and mix them in her food. I wonder if she would take one mixed with a Churu. I also ordered some pill pockets, but I remember in the past that she would eat the pill pocket and spit out the pill. I'll call the vet on Monday if I can't get her to eat.

I need to look for the waterproof pouch for my cell phone and order a new one if I can't find it.

Someone (Zara?) polished off the baby food. No, it was Mimi. She’s been eating the baby food. I’m going to assume that she’s okay, just off her feed. Zara won’t eat anything, so I’ll bring her in. I’m mulling what to do on the probably long wait, so I think that I’ll grab an Italian book.

I didn’t find the waterproof pouch, but found my dress sandals. Now I found the waterproof pouch, so I canceled my Amazon order.

I brought both girls to the emergency vet. Zara was way too easy to get into the carrier. Mimi led me on quite a chase, so she can’t be feeling too badly. They’ve been through triage—Zara was her usual fractious self, and Mimi liked the fact that they petted her—and now we wait.

The vet checked them over. They want to run blood tests on the both of them. (I figured that they would.) They said that Zara is “spicy,” and they probably will have to sedate her. Then they said Mimi was hissing, which shocked me because Mimi is usually pretty easy. So they might need to sedate her too. They did an ultrasound and didn’t see anything concerning. They said that it would be another couple of hours. I told them that I hadn’t eaten dinner, so they told me to go home and they’ll call me. So I did.

I got my Land’s End order with the snow pants and long underwear. That was fast. I need to try them on because I bought two different sizes because I didn’t know which would fit.

Filled out my replacement ballot. Brought down the suitcase and started packing for the cruise. I can’t find my white jeans that I want to take with me. I’m going to have to sort my clothes and put them away.

It had been four hours and I hadn’t heard anything from the vet, so I went back. Apparently, the girls’ blood work is done, and they need to just write up their discharge papers. The girls' blood work was good. Mimi's was completely normal, and Zara's was only a little elevated.

I had gotten checked out by a friendly big white dog. The dog was still waiting when I got back. I said , “Hi,” to him or her again. I’d like a dog like that.

We're back home. Mimi promptly chowed down. Zara is looking interested in food. We'll see. I really want to crash. I'm going to skip swimming tomorrow and collapse.

I was in a panic because I overslept 15 minutes. It was a quarter to 8, and I wanted to log on at 8:30, and I needed to take a shower and get dressed. I was waiting for the hot water to kick in for my shower, when I remembered the time change. I needed to log on at 9:30 local time. So I calmed down.

Mimi was upset because I was in the bathroom with the door closed, and she wanted to come in. Unfair to cats!

The plumber asked me to let him know if the cement was wet, and it looked still wet, so I told him that.

The meeting that I ran went well. So yay. My meeting with the life coach also went well too. We came up with a list of things to do when I get back. I need to book more sessions with her.

I checked on the cement, which didn't appear to have changed, so I touched it, and it felt dry. It's just dark. So I told the plumber that, and he came just as I was about to nap at lunch. He finished up quickly. But I forgot to ask for a receipt so I texted him. Aargh!

I got a really nice manicure in a chichi place in a chichi suburb a couple of town over. I wanted a neutral manicure, so I got a pale pink, but I don't think that's my color. I'll go for a rose color next time. But it looks nice and a lot better than any job that I would do. I also got money for the pet sitter (which reminds me that I left it in the car) and my prescription.

The cats reminded me when I got home that I was feeding them late! Unfair to cats! I'm feeding me late too.

There's a night market in Kauai (Lihue) one Saturday a month, and I'll be there for it! I guess that will be my Lihue day.

I'm drop-dead tired. I need to do laundry and pack some remaining clothes and do dishes, but then I think that I'll crash and get up really early. Oh, and I need to check into the flight.

I completely forgot about 1SE. I'll try to do better next month. I should have some interesting pictures from my trip.

The clothes are packed. The laundry is in the washer. I'll put it in the dryer in the morning. I'm not packing those clothes. Mostly I want to see that the washer is still working after all the work that the plumber did. Not that I know what I'd do if it isn't working because I'm leaving. I did the dishes with rubber gloves on to protect my manicure, and it does make it more pleasant, although I managed to soak my pajamas. I still need to pack my laptop and wallet, but I'll do it in the morning. Oh, and I checked in for my flight. And printed my boarding pass so they don't charge me to print it.

I got an email from the water company in Urbana saying that the meter had a zero reading twice in a row, so they think that something's wrong with the meter, and I have to let them in to look at it. I need to call them tomorrow.

Got my clothes in the dryer. I think that I'm going to stay in today and get stuff done around here.

Exchanged text messages with the executor of my aunt's estate (my aunt's nephew). Apparently, the estate sale didn't go very well. It barely covered costs and there was a lot left over. A friend of my aunt is boxing stuff up to go to the Salvation Army. The house needs to be cleaned before it goes up for sale on the general market.

I received the weighted blanket. I'm not going to unpack it now, but will put it with stuff for the bedroom. Now I'm wondering if I should get a body pillow. I'm now thinking that I'll get the innerspring Marriott mattress with the Marriott mattress topper and Marriott eco pillows. And I'm looking at down alternative comforters and high-thread-count sheets. I want my bedroom to be an oasis of peace. I'm going to need cheap pillows for the pillow shams, but I'll probably wait to get them after the move. Hmm. Pottery Barn has a flax linen comforter that sounds heavenly, but if you get the sheets and pillows too, you could spend over $500 on bedding.

I've started tackling the TV room because that's where the TV will go tomorrow. I think that I'll pack stuff up as long as I'm in there. I need to get rid of the old vacuum cleaner. And I dumped some old books, which would appall my mom, but no one would want them. My back is killing me, but I'm making progress. Mimi is getting in the way though.

Wrangled my aunt's TV into my bedroom. Now I just need to get the Roku set up, and I'll have television. It'll be even better when I can set it up at the foot of the bed in the new place.

I was looking at TravelZoo, and they have a great trip to the Greek Islands in October of next year. Do I want to go there instead of to Italy? They also had a trip to Portugal, but I'll probably wait on that.

There was a cat fight outside, and it riled the girls up. Mimi was in the bedroom window looking out when Zara jumped up to see what was going on. Mimi turned around and went after Zara. I broke it up.

Talked to Mom. She got her food ordered and delivered, although they were out of a lot of stuff. She thinks that the new TV will be great. (She said that she might not leave!)

Got things together in the TV room. Now I think that it's night tasks and bedtime. Oh, and I need to eat too.