days_unfolding

Mimi is "sharing" my office chair with me. She takes up a lot of room though. Plus she keeps bonking me :) I love you too, Mimi, but would you give me a little more room?

Yay, I'm signed up for a Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO. And it even is costing me less! I also added money for glasses to my Flexible Spending Plan.

I'm thinking of dropping out of sewing because it's going to be hard to catch up from the day that I missed. I need to make a quick decision. Yeah, I think that's what I'm going to do. Yeah, I can take it again during the summer.

When I left my home office to make dinner, Zara and Mimi were both in the kitchen staring at me. It was a little like being called to the principal's office :)

Lay down for a "quick" nap after dinner and slept until 2 AM, after dreaming that I was showing President Clinton how to do something on a computer. Huh?

I forgot to mention yesterday that Mom said that she didn't feel up to going to Florida (specifically Disney World), which I kind of figured. She was wondering about her walking. I said that she could use a scooter, and she said that would make her feel old. So yes, my mom said that I could use her frequent flyer points to go to Oregon. That's cool. She also said that she has a lot of British Airways frequent flyer points, so I could use them to get to Italy.

Woke up with my alarm at 9 AM and decided to go with it because I need to study.

Studied Italian. I didn't do very well on some exercises, so I need to go through them again. After my finals. Studied programming.

Italian was a little frustrating. My teacher threw a lot of new stuff at us. I need to study hard after I finish my programming classes. Developing more vocabulary in Italian is one of my summer goals.

My brain will repeat music or languages. Right now, it's repeating Italian.

Took a nap with Zara.

Oh crap, there's a frost advisory. I don't have anything to throw over the plants. I can put plastic bags over the plants. I might look for a drop cloth at Dollar Tree though. Wait, I can use garbage bags. No, I ran out and got soda and a plastic drop cloth, which will be a lot easier to throw over and take off.

Put out the garbage and covered the plants. Studied programming. Ate dinner. Studied programming.

I took my programming final. It was hard but not impossible. Now we'll see what happens. One down, one to go.

I don't have time to do my sewing homework tonight, so I'll do it during lunch tomorrow.

Trip alternative sub n would be to go to Oregon this fall and check out Salem and Eugene. I'd also like to check out a couple of places in Portland too if I have the time. That would get me out of town but wouldn't have the hassle of an out-of-country trip. And I like Oregon. I found hotels in Eugene and Salem that have comparable prices to Airbnbs but are centrally located. Hotels in Portland are expensive though.

Or I could go to Florida, but my mom would like to come along if I go to Orlando, and I don't know if she'd be up for the trip right now.

Ugh. I lost Internet access for an hour in the middle of my work day.

Sewing was stressful. I was sweating bullets cutting pieces out. (I guess not everyone found it stressful because someone was humming.) I have to remind myself that this is just a bag and if I screw it up, no big deal. I did screw something up so I need to get some more fabric and cut out a piece. Someone I work with pointed me to the site 100 Acts of Sewing, so I want to check that out. They have a book out too.

Finished my homework and handed it in, so I'm going to get a decent night's sleep for once

I woke up early and decided to go with it. That way, I'll get a nap before I go out. Threw in a load of laundry. Made the oatmeal with berries, and it was good and filling. Went to wash my hands because I had berry juice on them--and squirted soap in my eyes. Yikes. Got water all over me washing the soap off.

Zara seems to like the fish k/d food better than the chicken. So far, anyway. I spoke too soon. She's left some in her bowl. Sigh. Zara, I'm just trying to help you! Now she's eating more of it.

I studied some Italian.

Had a nice nap. It's a little disconcerting to eat lunch with a cat (Zara) watching your every move. Now she's loving me up because I make food appear. It must be magic.

I requested a quote on a Costa Rica vacation. And damn, I forgot to say that I'd be traveling alone.

I bankrupted myself at Joann Fabrics. In fact, I had to put some stuff back. My lunch bag is going to be black, purple, and white (matching the fabric that I'm using for the pockets). The drive to Peoria isn't bad. I'm thinking of flying out of there for my next trip. It's $100 more but free parking, so it's a wash. That won't work when I move to Champaign though.

Talked to Mom. She forgot to tell me that her phone wasn't working but I got her on her cell phone. She was in a cranky mood and very tired. My aunt is doing well though.

I ordered more sewing supplies from Amazon.com. I need to go get thread though from Walmart tomorrow. And I need to "preshrink" the fabric that I bought.

Oh, I got the Santorini book and a Greek phrase book.

Note to self: I have a discount code worth $150 off a Cost Saver trip.

I looked into a Comcast cable package with more channels (namely CNN), and I'd be paying almost as much as I was before I decreased my cable package. Sling it is. Sling has a deal in which you can get a Google Nest Hub if you prepay three months of Sling TV. Can't decide. I'll sleep on it.

I woke up early, which is good. I'm catching up on my sleep. Fed us all. Zara has been coming into the kitchen, which I'm glad to see.

I'm looking at instructions to build your own bed tent. But I don't think that Mimi would like it. Maybe I should forget it.

I had a nice nap. I had some Chinese food for lunch.

I figured out how to rearrange stuff in the bedroom to set up the sewing machine in there. I've started putting stuff away to make room, but I'm sitting down because my back hurts. I probably won't make it to get the folding table for the sewing machine because I'm waiting for my clothes to finish drying before I take my shower.

Forgot to mention last night that I was looking at a map (and Mapquest) to see how to get from the Phoenix airport to Prescott, and Mimi was standing on the map of Prescott. Oh no, it's Catzilla! Run!

Called Comcast. They got me CNN without my paying extra, so I said "Okay". CNN's New Year's Eve, here I come! I was looking at Google Nest Hubs on Mercari because I was going to get the one on Sling, but I don't really need one. Amazing how you can convince yourself that you want something that you weren't considering before. It makes more sense to save money for my trip.

Paid a couple of bills that aren't on automatic payment. Checked my utility bill, and it's still within the realm of reason.

It just occurred to me that I have some empty hat boxes, and I could use one as a sewing basket and another one for crochet stuff. And they're free! I need a pincushion though. I can't believe how many different types of pincushion there are. Are the ones that you can wear on your wrist helpful? One of the sewing books that I checked out suggested making your own pincushion.

Ran out to get soda. Wow, it's cold and windy out. Winter is back.

Looked through the sewing books that I checked out and decided on the one that I want to buy. Still kind of expensive though.

Don't know what's going on with me. Earlier, I had a sore throat. Now I feel like burrowing under a pile of blankets. I don't want to get sick. (I suppose that's stating the obvious.)

Watched an episode of The Crown. Looked at what's on sale at Land's End. I'm trying to decide whether to get some long underwear on sale. I won't use it much, but if we have subzero temps, I'd be glad to have it.

I'm going to go to sleep and, I hope, sleep the creeping crud off.

Zara snuggled in the crook of my legs when I went to sleep last night. She spent the night there. Very sweet.

I keep getting a Facebook ad for an afghan crochet kit in which you get yarn and new stitches every month if you buy a subscription. Someone pointed out that you'd be paying almost $300 to make the afghan. So, no. Pretty afghan though.

I went to call the Jo-Ann Fabrics store about borrowing a sewing machine for the Friday "Learn to Sew" class, only to find that it was canceled. Bah. Udemy has some sewing classes. I might try them because they're cheaper than the store, and I can take them anytime.

Oh crap. The weather forecasters are predicting snow on Thursday. I need to get my snow shovel out of storage. We're getting the dreaded "wintry mix" tonight. Have I mentioned that I hate winter? It's the biggest thing driving me to the South for retirement.

No note from the mobile home park management about the inspection. Need to clean my bathroom tonight anyway.

Because I'm not taking the sewing class in Springfield, I've decided to run errands on Friday close to home, and go down to Springfield the following week to get to the bank.

I decided not to go get cat food because it's raining cold rain, and I'm a wuss. I have to go tomorrow weather or not.

I was reading an article about "how to be disabled and green," and the article mentioned biodegradable poop bags. I use plastic bags for cat waste, but that does kind of bother me. The bags are $0.50 each though. Need to think about it.

I'm tired and cold (hmm, I should make tea), so I'm going to sleep. I need to get up early and clean the bathroom!!! I also need to go get the snow shovel, although now the forecasters are saying an inch or less of snow on Thursday.

I was cold last night when I settled into bed. So I brought out the serious blanket: my velour throw. That did the trick. I had three blankets on me, but people pay good money for a weighted blanket. I need to fiddle with the thermostat because I think that it was colder than 68 degrees F in here. The cats didn't seem to mind though.

OMG. I saw on Facebook that my friend's daughter (the one who made my blog logo) and her dog were in a major car accident, but both were okay. The car, not so much. I hope that she has good insurance.

Kitty contretemps. I think that they must have gotten in a major dustup recently because Zara is walking around the kitchen floor like she owns it, which is good. But they were squabbling before I fed them.

Looked at hand cream sets on Amazon for a Christmas present for my aunt. But I want to check out local stores first. I'm trying to remember what DVD my mom wanted, but I have a memory like a sieve. (It was a Santana CD.)

I'm wondering if I could pull off two sewing classes a month. December is a short month though. Maybe I could take the pants class in December and work on pajama pants over break. I was looking at flannel fabrics at Fabric.com. I found some YouTube videos on sewing flannel.

Dozed for about 45 minutes, and decided that I wasn't really going to fall asleep and got up.

I took a test about your purpose in life ("sparketype") and got The Maven; that is, I love learning for the sake of learning. My secondary "shadow sparketype" is The Scientist. Sounds about right. Of course, they want to sell something about your type. Nope. It would be interesting if my dad or mom took the test to see what he or she got.

I'm wondering why Walgreens hasn't filled my prescriptions yet. Usually, they're fast. But now, they're closed.

Talked to Mom. She had problems with her email and snail mail this week. Plus a planter fell through a bench in the backyard. I forgot to ask her how the doctor's appointment went, but she would have told me if there were problems.

I think that I want to make it an early night. Both Mimi and Zara are in the bedroom right now, so I might have company.

It occurred to me that I'd like to make sweats and thermal underwear when I get the sewing machine (and learn to sew!) So much for not trying to make clothes. There are some old patterns on Etsy for them. (And if I screw something up, no one will see.)

I learned more about the Arizona Senior Academy in Tucson. It is affiliated with a particular 55+ community, but the lectures are open to the public. I'd have to decide whether to join that community or just attend as a member of the public. Other larger 55+ communities have things like stained glass, lapidary, and woodworking studios, which interest me. But! I found out about a community chorus that I could join! Tucson is looking promising.

For some reason, my phone was making noise at 7 this morning. I couldn't figure out what was causing it, so I finally rebooted the phone to shut it off.

Got up early to see Mom off.

Now the girls and I are fed, so I'm going to go back to sleep for a while.

I heard scratching and went to investigate. Couldn't find Zara. More scratching. Crap, did she go behind the washer again? She was under the kitchen sink.

Had a bite to eat. Napped. Had another bite to eat. Zara is under the sink again. Napped.

Mom made it home okay.

Zara finally came out from under the sink to eat. I watched a Facebook Live by the Disney guy. (I enjoy his Facebook Lives, but they do take a lot of time.) I ate also. The tomato soup is making me drowsy. I think that I'll go to sleep and get up early and get stuff done.

Just heard "bam, bam, bam!" Went to investigate, and it was Zara trying to get under the sink. I finally held the door open for her because I didn't want to listen to her try to get in all night long. Goofy cat :)