days_unfolding

Mimi was having problems jumping on my lap, so I picked her up. Surprisingly, she didn’t mind.

I found a recipe for a mixed berry smoothie. They suggest adding 1/2 a frozen banana to it, so I need to pick up some bananas and freeze them.

Ow. My right arm was hurting when I pulled up the comforter. Don’t know what’s up with that. Getting older is the pits!

I signed up for BlueSky: adriennerad.bsky.social.

Ugh. I woke up at 7, decided that I'll take my shower at lunchtime, and went back to sleep for a little while. And overslept. So much for getting the recycling out.

Holy cow. 7.0 earthquake in Northern (way Northern) California. I hope that people are okay. The "pretty big one," the Loma Prieta Quake that I experienced, was a 6.9 or 7.0. Personally, I don't want to experience a quake again over 5.5. Funny, a person that CNN interviewed said that he got "seasick" because of the quake. I described the movement of the cruise ship as "being like an earthquake".

My dad is annoying me. I had sent him an email saying that I wanted to take a Panama Canal tour in a couple of years. He sent a response that the most important things are 1) finding a life partner and 2) getting your financial house in order. He said that travel, while satisfying, was less important than 1 and 2.

Well, I’m not certain that I want a life partner (most men remarry after a divorce, but women are more dubious), although I’d like to date, and that was the reason I was losing weight, although I’ve fallen off that wagon. Plus, I need to declutter my house, both to make it look nice for dating and also I don’t want to leave as much of a mess as Mom did.

As for finances, I have retirement money. And I’m working to get a pension from the uni. (Honestly, that’s the thing that is keeping me from retiring right now.) I’m working on getting the rest of my finances in order.

As for travel, I know that there will always be “one more place,” but when I die, if I haven’t been to a majority of the places to which I want to go, I will be pissed. Plus, I belong to a Facebook group of retired women, and they consistently say, travel while you can. I’m aware that my traveling time has a limit. And it makes sense to me to travel as much as I can while I'm still working. And I'm consciously doing the things that are important to me: travel, singing, piano, and Italian.

My therapist agreed that I need to live my life my way. She thought that my dad was out of line and doesn't know how to parent an adult child.

I’m waiting to cool down before responding.

Had my piano lesson. She commented that I had did a lot of work on my recital piece. In fact, I had played it so much before the lesson and at the lesson that I got really tired and stopped being able to play. That never has happened before. And I never have been so aware of my ability to concentrate as a limiting factor.

I'm need to go to bed early because I need to get up on time and take a shower and put on my makeup because we will be introducing ourselves to the governance board at work. I know I keep saying that but staying up late, but I need to stick to it this time. Posting is a start.

Placed a Walmart order for delivery. One less errand. The nylons that I ordered from Amazon were too dark, so I added some to the Walmart order. After debating back and forth, I bought some Obsession perfume to wear on the trip.

I got my sandals and nail polish. They look good.

I’m communicating with the swimsuit people. Apparently, I didn’t get a receipt for the order, just the PayPal receipt.

Got my Walmart order.

I’m thinking of skipping swimming today because I have a boatload of stuff to do. I need to clean the house! And drop off my returns.

Bought a AirTag to put in my luggage.

Reading articles about the election and getting depressed. They emphasized that we don’t know what will happen.

I think that I’ll take a shower. I need to take some stuff from the living room to the storage shed outside. I have a singing lesson at 4.

I have a cream-colored polyester blazer that looks like satin. I’m trying to decide whether to bring it on the cruise. It has long sleeves though. Puerto Rico is currently in the 80s at the end of the day. Now I’m thinking a blue-and-white top and navy jeans. I did order an iron from Walmart though.

I tried on the Obsession perfume. It’s kind of Far East amber and patchouli. I like it. A little goes a long way though.

I’m thinking of retiring sooner rather than later. It would be good, though, to wait for Medicare. I don’t know. I’m just tired. I’m just feeling like the last year wore me out.

I had my usual helpful singing lesson. I asked her what I could do to practice while I’m gone, and she suggested listening to recordings of the music on headphones. That would help; the more familiar I am with the music, the better. I’ll also make copies of the music to bring with.

I have a wrap dress that I want to try for the day that we get on the ship. It might be too small though. I had a blue-and-purple dress that I would like to wear, but I’m not sure where it is. Maybe I’ll check Ross out. They have some nice dresses sometimes. No, I don’t have enough money to go to Ross right now.

Oh ack, it's raining. It's supposed to stop at 7:00 PM though, so maybe I'll wait to go out. I was thinking of going out on Tuesday instead, but it's raining then too. Heavier rain, but it's supposed to stop at night.

The Harris campaign wants me to knock on doors in Wisconsin and Michigan. Not. Happening. I need to work.

Well, crud. Kohl’s wouldn’t take the Land’s End return and said that I needed a QR code. (They did take the Amazon return.) I need to investigate that. I could try to return it tomorrow before rehearsal. I can figure it out. Then I think that I want to go to bed and get up early to clean. I’m tired and feeling the time change. I might be starting on Seasonal Affective Disorder too because it was gloomy today.

Okay, I need to return the Land's End items to Staples tomorrow with a QR code.

Oh! I found a pair of fleece lined PETITE pants that would be great for winter! I also found a space heater that I like. (The attic room that I work in is hot in summer and cold in winter.) Hmm, it might be a good time for sales on air conditioners.

I drastically overslept. Fuck. Got up just in time for work.

Mimi makes a big production out of jumping on my lap. First, she sits there and meows at me. I told her that I'm not going to get smaller if she meows at me and that she can do it. Eventually she jumps.

I didn't get a grade for the first assignment in my Web programming class. I emailed them about it, but no answer yet. They said that they graded it, but the grade is not showing up. Sigh.

I forgot that I have choir rehearsal tonight. I won't get to mow. Tomorrow I'll do it.

I went downstairs and then went, "Why did I go downstairs?" Then I remembered that I need my insurance card because I need to call Blue Cross Blue Shield. They said that I need to go through a virtual program first, but I can call them to see if I can do the local weight loss program. I also checked to see if I can still get a discount on weight loss programs, but they don't seem to be offering it anymore. However, I seem to be unstuck on my weight loss. I’m down under the weight that I was stuck at. I left a message at the virtual program that I wanted to take a local program. They said that I need to contact the State of Illinois' benefit program.

For some reason, the song “Empty Garden” (Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s song about John Lennon) is playing in my head. I don’t know why. It’s not the anniversary of John Lennon’s death. Maybe because I was thinking about the New York trip and I always go to Central Park outside of the Dakota Building when I go to New York.

Crud. I'm going to have less money in my next few paychecks due to tax withholding for my tuition waiver.

I had my appointment with my new doctor. And I really, really dislike her. She probably doesn't like me either because when she was going through the depression-screening questions, I commented that the nurse had already asked the questions,. She did send me for an xray of my foot though and is going to try to get me in to see a psychiatrist. But the search for a doctor continues.

I can get a 10% discount on fees at Brookdale Senior Living from my employer, which might add up into $$$. But they allow only one pet per apartment though.

I heard hissing. Sigh.

Went to choir practice. I was the only alto there, which made me nervous, but the choir director was nice and didn't make me sing alone.

Ran to Walmart. The checkout machine ate my money, and it took two different people to resolve the problem.

My foot is hurting, probably because of wrangling it for the xray plus walking in the hospital.

Studied Italian. I'm going to go to sleep because I have Italian tomorrow morning.

I'm really fighting the impulse to quit my classes, quit my job, and retire. But I'm only 61 and should wait. But I'm tired and have been doing too much for too long. When the work on mom's house is done, that will help.

Today is the one year anniversary of my mom's death. It's hard to believe; the year went fast. It's probably not helping my mood though.

Had my meeting with the life coach. She keeps asking what I will do for me, and for me that's gardening. So I need to get with the guys about the garden first thing. I also need to bring down the pots for the front yard. I want to plant Japanese spireas in them.

Hmm. The nature retreat/conference center (Allerton) in the next town over is having an event in which if you hike all their trails in a year, you get a t-shirt. I'm mulling over signing up for it (done--I need more incentive to get out of the house). It sounds nice. Campus Recreation is offering ice skating lessons, which I'd like to do but not this year. Yoga and Tai Chi and swimming lessons are enough.

After work, I bought a couple of dahlias to grow in pots. I thought about putting them in my tall planters, but dahlias are tall, so maybe not. I'll order large pots for them (done).

I bought the following book: You Don't Have to Change to Change Everything: Six Ways to Shift Your Vantage Point, Stop Striving for Happy, and Find True Well-Being. I hope that it helps.

I got my program working!!!! I am so stinking happy!!! Done and dusted. Now I just need to run errands and tackle my mom's house.

I contacted some moving companies for a quote.

My back feels better this morning. Got a load of laundry started. Painting guy is here and is making lots of noise. The cats disapprove. Got my big bag of laundry downstairs. Now my back is hurting again. Sigh.

Oops. I’m wearing a pair of jeans that I want to take to Hawaii. I need to remember to throw them in the wash.

I noticed that the scale that I had been using was out of whack and added five pounds. I figured out how to get my digital scale back on pounds (I stopped using it because it reset to kg), and it says that I’m a few ounces over 190 pounds. Good.

Now I have a headache. I'm a mess.

Tons of meetings today, and the handyman talked to me between meetings. He thinks that both the front and back garage doors need to be replaced. Sigh. I told a colleague that this should be a reality TV show called The Money Pit. Oh, and all the movers are calling me. I didn’t think this through.

I just freaked Mimi out by tripping over some boxes and kicking one towards her. She can sure move fast for a chunky cat. Now she won’t go near me.

I looked at retirement places in Portland, OR, and found a place that I liked but have no idea what it costs. Okay, I found the prices, and holy cow, it's expensive. That's another reason to wait. Ideally, I should get a place where I could move into memory care when and if I need it. If my plan is to move to a retirement place, I’ll probably live in Urbana in early retirement and then move. Also, I plan to live in Europe for a year and maybe two as a language learner, so I’d want to keep the Urbana house then. (Now I’m thinking a year in Italy and a year in France.)

I have to work some tonight to run some reports and save the results, but I have French late this afternoon, so no big deal.

French went okay. I'm having issues with verb conjugations, so I need to study them. Italian was at the wrong time this Sunday, so we canceled it until after my trip. I think that I want to take my French and Italian verb tense books to Hawaii with me to study in the airport or on the plane. Or maybe I could just copy some pages from them so that I won’t have to bring the whole books. Despite the long time since I studied French, I still speak it better than Italian. Not surprising though because I studied French from middle school through college. I pull bits of French out of mid-air. I wanted French and Italian flashcards for counting and ordered some, but the Italian ones will get here after I leave. I also got some French verb conjugation and basic vocabulary, and Italian travel phrases and basic vocabulary flash cards.

Mimi came by for dinner long after Zara ate her food :) I said, “You snooze, you lose,” but I gave her some dry food.

I had a ton of cleaning supplies come from Amazon. I just need to order some floor cleaner, all-purpose cleaner, and cleanser from Meijer for tomorrow (done). The cleaner will be here mid-afternoon on Wednesday. I’m getting my brows done at noon, but should be back by then.

I got the garbage and recycling out for pickup. I have a headache and my knees hurt, so I’m going to lie down for a few minutes before going back to work. I couldn’t sleep, but the headache went away.

Mimi wanted something, which turned out for me to lie down and snuggle. So it worked for the both of us. She’s now blissfully asleep. The only thing is that I want to wash the sheets. I guess that I’ll get them in the morning. And the towels and my gym shoes.

Zara is trying to train me to feed her four times a day instead of three and is disappointed that it’s not working.

dadi asked for pictures of my new haircut. This is how it looks when I don't blow-dry it.

I'll try to blow-dry it sometime this week to show how it looks then.

I'm done with work. And I'm getting another flipping headache :( I'm going to change into pajamas and put another load in the wash and go to bed.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I got the title to Mom's car, and it made me sad because I can now sell it. My colleague/friend at work suggested that I keep it and get rid of my car. I'm considering it. I wish that it had map lights like my car. Now I'm thinking of keeping both cars for now because one will be better for hauling the cats, and the other will be better for hauling the planters and other breakable items. I can get it straightened out in Illinois. Maybe I'll buy a new car when the estate is settled.

My jeans keep trying to fall off of me. They actually did fall off the other day. I'll be happy when I go down a size.

I'm feeling depressed about my dad's memory issues and knowing that I'll probably have 10 years to do what I want in retirement before I'll have issues too. Aging is a bitch.

I'm wearing one of the new tie-dye hoodies and love it. It's very pretty in tones of purple and blue. I'll take a picture of it later.

I forgot to choose my BistroMD meals. I now have a reminder set on my phone. And now on my electronic calendar!

Okay. The dumpster people said that they'd pick it up tomorrow.

The sprinkler guys were here, and the fix was easy; the water was not turned on! Now to get the lawn reseeded....

I got my work calendar to sync to my electronic calendar. Excellent. Life at a glance! The calendar can also function as a digital photo frame when you're not using the calendar, so I decided to get the add-on. It would be cool to see some of my trip pictures while I'm working.

Ugh. I just realized that I never submitted Mimi's dental bills to the pet insurance. Too much was going on around then.

Verizon has already sent me a bill. Um, can you wait until I get the new phone activated?

The trust said that they are still in the period where creditors can claim debts on the estate. It'll end mid-October. They said that the house is not a part of the trust, however, and they need the binder with her will. I just found it and said that I would drop it off (done).

I had a free consult with a marketing student from the uni about promoting my travel blog-to-be on social media. She had some good ideas. I joined some Facebook groups for solo female travelers.

Yay. I finally got an estate sale person coming out tomorrow with a lot of misses because the house was out of people's areas. I think that some companies concentrate on the ritzy suburbs north of here.

I figured out that I want to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn when I come back to get the interior of the house painted. It has a refrigerator and a microwave. And I'm sure that their WiFi would be good.

I made an appointment to get COVID, flu, RSV, and shingles vaccines on Saturday. Wow, am I going to be sore.

Through a couple of hours of effort (and help from Sinéad O'Connor), I got my bedroom picked up and more organized. The suitcases are closed (and two are stowed in the closet), and you can walk through the room! Mimi does not approve because it's different.

Yay, I got the Jane Austen Pride shirt. And white shorts to go with it. It's chilly this morning, though, so I'm wearing cleaning sweats.

I'm still mulling over how to get the large ceramic pots to Illinois. Now I'm thinking that I could put them in storage and pick them up when I come back to get the interior of the house painted and take them in the car. This assumes that I could lift the pots by myself.

I'm feeling a little depressed this morning for no apparent reason. I took my meds though.

The car mechanics wanted a $2000 down payment for the parts (done). I guess that I can see why, but who knows when I'll get the car back.

Hmm. I was looking at retirement houses in Madison, which are kind of expensive, so that got me wondering, if I was going to pay those kind of prices, maybe I should move to Chicago when I retire. I found a condo I kind of like. But could I live in a multiunit building again? I kind of like being able to make noise at any hour. And I'd guess that I would stay up even later if I don't have to get up for work.

Road Scholar wants my passport info for the Italy trip. They asked me for my favorite airline, which is Delta, which led me to looking into a SkyMiles debit card. I should open an account and pay for big-ticket items there. Huh. Or maybe I should use it for my student loan payments?

That somehow connected in my mind to an old United Airlines ad that my Mom and I loved back in the late '70s (?) It was for United's "Sun trips" to Florida. It had a average-looking middle-aged guy shoveling snow in a parka, hat, scarf, and gloves. You heard a voice saying "take it off...take it all off". Then you hear stripper music and this guy was doing a striptease with his hat, scarf, gloves, and parka, with his horrified wife looking out the window. He was great and it was hilarious. We think that someone must have complained because it was on TV for only a short time. Too bad.

I posted my mom's frozen food on a Facebook "Buy Nothing" group, and it's taken! I still need to move the remaining stuff out of Deanna and Ken's freezer. Ken is impatient to take it.

Today is garbage and recycling day, so I've been opening the packages that I've gotten recently. I got several pairs of shorts, including a floral one that I liked better than I thought that I would. I decided that I need another pair of navy shorts, so I ordered one from eBay. I got the "Don't say DeSantis" shirt and the Hawaiian shirt. I got the TravelPro carryon bag and love it. It fits on the luggage handle for my suitcase. I'm taking it with my suitcase, well, on all my upcoming trips.

The garbage and recycling are out, and both cans are full. I still need to do dishes and mop the bathroom floor.

I had intended to shower when I got up in the morning, but I overslept. And I didn't shower during lunch because I napped. I threw on my makeup because I had a Zoom meeting for which I turned on my video. I needed to run to Dollar Tree and Walmart, and I just combed my hair and did it. No one backed away from me, so I guess that I was okay :)

I previously lost the ball for the trackball for my computer, so I've been transferring the ball back and forth between my personal computer and my laptop. Well tonight, the trackball fell, and I couldn't find the ball. I wound up ransacking my home office. After quite a bit of time, I found one of the balls. The other one is still missing.

I looked into the calculations for my Social Security benefit, and I should get 75% of it plus my pension. Cool beans.

I need to go and freaking shower....

The rain has started. It's going to rain on and off all day.

Italian went well. Mimi joined in at the beginning. We talked about animals that bring good luck in Italy. Now it's storming.

I want to take a nap, but my pension fund is having a meeting. I want to hear their update. I found out that only half of the pension liabilities are covered by their investments, and they need to rely on the legislature for additional funding. Sounds shaky to me. They pointed out that you forfeit cost-of-living increases if you take a lump sum, but still, funding sounds iffy.

I've been enjoying the scones, so I looked for a recipe to make them from scratch. I found one with sour cream and raisins for which I have all the ingredients, so I'll make them after I finish the carrot-cake ones.

Had a nice nap. Had a strange dream about cataloging books. I was groggy when I woke up, so I finished going through my box of books. I got a couple of books to keep, a couple of books to sell, a bunch of books to toss, and a bunch of books for the library. Zara has discovered the empty box :) And now Mimi has checked it out.

Worked on the kitchen. Got the garbage out. Opened a couple of windows to get some air in. Had dinner, but it was the last of the veggie bake, and I might need to have some soup before bed too.

Oh ack. I went to list some books on Amazon, only to find that two books required approval to sell, which I got but it hasn't gone through the system yet, one had too many listings, and then I got a good one, but it wanted me to change my debit card again. Sigh. I need to check eBay. Oh, at least I got the Amazon seller app, which you can use to scan barcodes. Oh, and eBay has the same thing too! Oh, and I found some CBT books that I would like to get. (Yes, I'm fighting a losing battle with the number of books that I have!)

I'm not sure what to do now. Maybe go through some magazines. And get to bed early.

Added: I found a Web site with healthy recipes: https://www.eatingbirdfood.com/

Comcast was down when I first woke up this morning, but luckily, it was up by the time that I started work. (I'm working from home today.)

I ran out at 4 PM to get receipts from my eye doctor and dentist for my Flexible Spending Account. The eye doctor wasn't sure how to print an itemized receipt but said that she would call the main office and find out. I got an interesting library book called Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, which also had a meditation CD. I might dig into it on Friday, which I'm going to take off for my birthday. Hmm, it's getting panned on Amazon though. I'm not sure how I ran across it.

I started looking into how to transport pets if I live in Italy for a year when I retire. I'd like to take them across "the pond" on the Queen Mary 2, but you have to make arrangements a year in advance. That would be a cool trip though. Cats get two kennels, one for the litter box and one for "living quarters". Dogs get walked in a special area of the ship. You can visit your pets during the journey. It would be $1836 for me in an inside stateroom. And probably around $1000 per pet, so it would be pricey. Then I could take the pets on a EuroStar train.

Ran out to return a library book, get gas, and get a bottle of soda for work. Now I'm going to sit for a moment and then make a grocery list. I'm trying to figure out what to make for dinner next week. I found a recipe for a Spinach-and-Mushroom Quinoa Bowl that I'm going to try. Hmm, I'm also considering my Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna, but that might be too much spinach and mushrooms. Maybe Peanut Butter Chicken? Oh yeah, I wanted to make Carrot Soup! I also found a recipe for No-Bake Carrot Cake Bars, but they call for Medijool Dates, which I'd probably have to get online? Okay, the Quinoa Bowl and Carrot Soup it is. That sounds disgustingly healthy :)

I'm going to start my nightly tasks in the hope of getting to bed early. I work from the office tomorrow.