days_unfolding

Oliver went into the poke bowl bag and fell off the kitchen table :) Now Bella is shredding the bag.

Crap. I was changing into my pajamas when Oliver tried to jump on my lap, lost his balance, scratched up my leg, and drew blood. I hissed at him and he backed off. Lily was sleeping through it all. She is a champion sleeper. I need to do laundry, but Lily is sleeping in my laundry basket, so I’ll get up a little earlier to do it.

Damn, my leg hurts. Oliver really did a number on it.

Crud. I apparently didn’t pay for my drinks package on the cruise, so I need to do that in the morning (done).

I signed up for the Yazio weight loss app.

Discovered that tickseed plants need full sun rather than shade, so I guess that I’ll plant them on the sunny side of the house.

Overslept and woke up at 8 AM. There were a lot of dog walkers out when I was out with Bella. One dog really wanted to play with Bella. The walker complemented Bella on how well behaved Bella was, and I told her that Bella is shy with other dogs. She asked how old Bella was, and I said, “a year”.

Got us all fed. I put the clothes in the dryer only a few minutes ago, so I’m going to just slap on some makeup for my lesson and shower later.

Sigh. Bella plays rough with Oliver, so he turns around and picks on Lily. She can give as good as she gets though. Mass chaos.

My singing lesson was good. She gave me a bunch of music theory homework. And we practiced some more complicated sight-reading lessons. I need to remember to pick a song from choir to work on for next time.

It’s really warm out (currently 48F). Bella likes it.

The local “Stand Up for Science “ group is looking for volunteers to organize a protest, but I’m going to be gone.

Hmm. I should donate to the local LGBTQIA group (done). I was wondering if they were going to have any protests. They also have an “aging” group that intrigues me. I also need to set up monthly donations to the ACLU because they’re filing most of the court cases against Trump’s actions (done). I’m trying to donate to the national LGBTQ Task Force, but I keep getting an error.

I need to replace my Echo Spot because it fell in Bella’s water dish and now it’s malfunctioning. Sigh.

Bella is ready for a nap. So am I. Overslept my nap. I was dreaming that I was living with my dad.

Saw the tree-obsessed neighbor while I was out with Bella. He was happy that I’ll be taking the tree down when I have the garage built. He liked Bella, but Bella didn’t like him. She was barking at him. People like dogs though.

Bella chewed off the end of my shoelace while I had the shoes on! Jesus, dog.

I’m reading the BBC. It’s scary how many votes were cast in Germany for the Nazi party. Dark times ahead.

I saw a really pretty garden with bushes and lavender. Maybe I’ll plant lavender in the area by the side of the driveway-to-be.

Got us all fed. Now Oliver was playing with my shoelaces. Sigh. He’s looking like such a grown cat though!

I’ve decided to work on packing tonight and tomorrow night. I ordered some jars for my moisturizer creams. Found some nice shorts that need to be washed. I also found a swimsuit with a wrap-around skirt. That would be good for the pool on the ship. Cleaning on the rest of the nights this week.

I’ll need to find a new housekeeper because mine is busy this coming weekend.

Oh wow. I saw some beautiful thornless roses on a Facebook ad. That would be great for the side of the garage.

I’m about to take a shower and have Bella, Oliver, and Lily in here. Yikes! Oliver just left.

Just ordered more pairs of underwear so that I can pack them and still have some to wear this coming week.

Bought a “cruise-approved” power strip and some magnets for my door. It will make it easier to find my cruise door with them!

Need to do laundry, but Lily is snoozing in the basket. I guess not.

I’m going to do some packing while my hair dries and then take Bella for a walk. Though hmm, she’ll need to go soon. She was snoozing though. Maybe I’ll post.

I bought some reef-safe sunscreen because I’ll have a full two weeks in the sun. Got my makeup organized for the cruise.

I had to take Bella out for an emergency pee and poop run, and now it’s feeding time. I’ve decided to get up early and walk Bella before we go to the vet. It would be good if she’s tired out. I’ll set up wake-up calls to make sure that I get up.

My prescriptions are ready for pickup, so I need to go on Tuesday.

I hope that Pete Buttigieg runs for president next time, but I hope that he does what is best for his family though. These are scary times to be running.

I didn't get up early. I had some problems falling asleep (my brain would not shut off), so I was tired and having problems in Italian, so she said that I didn't have to have the lesson today, which was nice. So I can log into work early. The alarm on the Echo Spot did work though. And it did play Bach, but I didn't have time to listen to it.

So. Freaking. Tired. I’m feeling dizzy. Maybe I need water. I emailed in sick and will lie down this morning. I told them that I might not have my slides done by 5 PM.

Everyone’s fed. Someone knocked a chair over.

Napped. I feel better now.

I asked my dad:

What do you think will happen with the stock market with Trump's tariffs? And consumer goods? And construction (I want to have a garage built this Spring)?

He said:

Nothing much in the short term. There's going to be a lot of posturing back and forth until things settle down. Don't worry about your garage, small jobs are always sourced locally and so are not affected by tariffs. If you were about to build 100 houses, then you would have a source of worry.

Got my slides done for work. So yay.

My face has been looking puffy, so I need to go back on a diet. Need to figure out what to eat for dessert--yogurt?

Oh joy. Freezing rain is expected tomorrow morning. That's worse than snow.

There ARE going to be some people going to a Senator's office in Springfield tomorrow, but I can't go. I need more lead time than that. It will be great when I retire and can do spontaneous things like that.

I want to lie down after work, but I need to feed the critters first (done). Nap time. Yikes, I have Bella, Oliver, and Lily in my bedroom.

Napped until midnight. I must be getting acclimated to the colder weather because it’s 26F/-3C and didn’t seem bad. Bella was running around in it too.

Mimi really chowed down on her food. Good girl.

The trip to protest in Springfield was postponed to Friday due to the ice storm. Hmm.

Woke up at 8 AM. Bella saw some dogs out for a walk.

I’m looking for used grow light setups to start plants in the basement. I would have to start tomatoes right after I get back from my trip.

Okay, I don’t get this. I took Bella outside and stayed out for a good long time. She peed. And we came in. And she pooped in the bathroom. I did find her lost ball, which might have distracted her.

Bella on the picnic table:

There is a group called Indivisible that is holding a webinar about action plans to combat Trump’s changes tonight. I’ll attend. And there is a local group that I emailed.

Got us all fed. I want to take a nap, but I have Bella, Oliver, and Lily in here. This is not restful :) Oliver is out but Lily is still in here and Bella wants to play. I think that Lily needs to leave, alas. Okay, they’ve settled down.

Lily above the bedroom door:

Napped. Bella and Lily crashed out too.

Some neighbors look like they’re tapping a maple tree? Bella keeps trying to pull slimy leaves out of the plant saucers, so I tipped them all over. She keeps trying to pin Oliver down. Bella is now pawing the water dishes.

I’m trying to decide what to do when. I’m going to eat lunch. Then I think that I’ll corral Oliver and work on the aquarium so that the water can warm up so that I can put the plants in. But hmm, do I need to throw myself together for the webinar tonight? I need to put clothes in the dryer first. Then I’ll work on the kitchen. Okay, dryer, food, shower, aquarium, kitchen.

Me: Bella, whatever you’re doing, don’t do it. Leave Oliver alone. Lily, don’t eat the plant. Etc.

Hmm. I also like tops with pockets. (This is why I live in hoodies all winter long.). I looked at The Vermont Country Store and found a top that I really like, but no pockets. Sigh. I found a linen tunic with pockets on Etsy that I’d like in Dusty Rose.

It got up to 53F/12C today. False Spring.

I had Oliver and Lily in with me in the bathroom while I showered. I moved my soda so that Oliver wouldn’t knock it over but he did anyway :)

Bella pooped outside so yay.

I think that I’ll need garden fencing because Bella walks through the garden, especially because I want a vegetable garden. I’m looking at some fencing at Home Depot. I also need to get the fabric covers out of the gardens. It doesn’t keep the weeds out anyway.

I attended the Call to Action webinar. They want us to visit our Senator's offices to put pressure on them to keep Russell Vought from being confirmed as OMB Director. I emailed the local group to say that I want to join, but I don't have a group with which to go to Springfield.

I haven't eaten dinner yet, so I'm going to go downstairs and work on the kitchen while the pizza is baking. I should take Bella out first (done, and the pizza is in the oven).

I’m trying to gather up the recycling, but Bella is grabbing the cat food cans, which is why they’re on the floor in the first place. She also grabbed an envelope from me. Aargh.

Ate dinner with marked attention from Oliver, Lily, and Bella. Now I'm upstairs with Mimi. I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. I'm going to get up early to give Bella more time outside before work. Mimi is paying attention to me. I need to get my music in the binder for choir tomorrow. Oh, and I need to do Italian homework tomorrow.

Oops, I need to write the trust.

I was kind of wishing that I had my original Italian teacher because we talked politics a lot. He was fascinated by US politics and knew a lot about it. I was pleased with myself when he talked about the far right taking control in Italy, and I knew about it. Hey, I read the BBC and the Guardian, both of which cover European politics well. Our conversations got so intense that we’d start out in Italian and sometimes wound up lapsing into English :)

Hmm. I wonder what my mom’s Canadian friend Kate heard about and thought about the debate. She kept on calling my mom about how the US elected a fascist (Trump). I just pinged Kate on Facebook. Kate said that the Canadian press was also saying that the debate was a disaster, and "it is unnerving to think about the next four years". Yep. I told her that I'm sorry that she has to live next to us.

Jon Stewart's recap of the debate was the best thing about it. In it, he said that he was calling a real estate agent in New Zealand. Right behind you, Jon.

Oh crud, it’s predicted to rain on Saturday. I was going to mow. The rain is early in the morning though.

Crap. I overslept. I really need to take a shower at lunch (done).

I love the Italian word for "pain reliever": "Antidolorifico". It sounds like it would get rid of sadness as well as pain.

I checked that the balance on my Flexible Spending Account was low enough to roll over on July 1st, and yes.

Work is quiet today. A lot of libraries have Fridays off during the summer.

I really want to take a nap.

I've got the personal air conditioner. I need to get it set up. And the new trash can. The a/c is charging. It recommends putting ice in it, so I’m looking at ice trays.

Hmm. I found a handyman on Thumbtack, but they have a two-hour minimum. Maybe they could look at the outside water faucet as well as the doors? The doors don't have screws either. I can take out one of the screws holding the hinge on to match it. Hmm, maybe I could put the doors on myself. One of the things that I need to do this weekend is tidy up the upstairs.

Emailed the Italian teacher that Mimmo found.

Napped. I need to eat dinner, but I’m feeling too sleepy to be hungry.

I need to see if I have a Phillips screwdriver. Couldn't find one, so I ordered a set from Walmart along with drill bits to attach the outdoor weather sensor to my porch.

Studied Italian. I'm trying out reading the verb tenses to myself.

Nothing much of note happened on Monday except for mower guy mowing my lawn. Then I took a nap after work and slept through until 4:30 AM. Got up to turn lights off. Zara wanted me to feed her, but I explained that she wouldn't eat breakfast if I did. She didn't think that was a good reason not to feed her.

It's raining. I fell back asleep and overslept a little, but had time for my shower. I realized that I didn't feed the girls last night because I gave Zara her snack late. I planned to get up and feed them. Bad Mommy!

I attended a health benefits webinar because I want to change my health insurance for next year to have more options for a therapist. I learned a lot. I need to sit down and figure out what to enroll in though.

I'm shocked about the possible overturn of Roe vs. Wade. That will galvanize the base for the midterms though.

Wow, I'm busy at work when my work partner is out. I didn't get a chance to look at my benefits, so I'll look at them tonight. I'm planning to stay home and take my piano class and bake some cranberry bread as well.

Piano class went well. I need to get back in the groove, but I need to skip next week because I signed up for a decluttering class which meets every week night next week. It was only $5 (though of course, they tried to upsell me, but no dice). My piano teacher and a student are learning to play chess, so I might try it.

I fell down an Internet rabbit hole. Ask A Manager ran a question by someone whose colleagues found out that she belonged to the Satanic Temple, which is a First Amendment gadfly group. Her colleagues are harassing her. So I read the comments and then read some articles about the Satanic Temple, and it got late. I'm going to wait until tomorrow to make the Cranberry Bread. I want to sort out my health benefits though, or at least make a start on them. I haven't gotten the benefits package from the uni though, but they also are online.

Got my benefits sorted. I'll be paying more, but part of that is putting money in my Flexible Spending Account for therapy. And yes, the therapist that I like is covered. Also, there is another therapist in Champaign from the same practice that is "LGBT affirming".

Now I think that I should head towards bed because I do feel better when I get more sleep. And I do need to do my nighttime chores as well.