days_unfolding

 

Poor Zara thinks that I want to put her back in the carrier, and she vanished when I fed them. Need to put the carriers away.

 

Started tackling the table.

 

They're predicting another polar vortex next week. Lovely. They're predicting that it won't be as bad as last time though.

 

I flipped through a book about a woman whose family was killed in the Rwandan genocide. That put my problems in perspective.

 

Mimi likes to lie in one of the carriers. I want to put them away to calm Zara down, but don't want to put the one that Mimi likes away. Don't know what to do.

 

I think that I'm going to try meditating again.

 

Fed the girls. Need to eat and go to sleep.

 

The neighbors appear to be moving out.

 

Took a nap. Studied Spanish flashcards. Took a quiz. Studied Spanish grammar. Developed some Spanish questions for my lesson. Scrubbed a litter box. Had a bite to eat. Took another short nap because I've been feeling really tired. (I think that I forgot to take my meds this morning in the rush to get out of the house.) I can stay up later cleaning now that the neighbors have moved out.

 

Had my Spanish lesson, but my instructor couldn't hear me. He thought that it was my headphones, but I did the Web site's AV test, and I was able to hear my recording. I don't know what was wrong.

 

Wanted to vacuum, but Zara was sleeping so peacefully that I decided not to. Then I went in the kitchen, and Zara and Mimi magically appeared. Started cleaning the kitchen and bathroom.

 

Mom had quite a week. She was stuck in the house due to weather on Wednesday, when she has her therapy appointment. Then the Check Engine light went on when she was going to her chemo appointment. She canceled the appointment and went to the car dealer, who couldn't fit her in, but told her that she could drive the car, and later the Check Engine light went off. She's going to keep an eye on it.

 

Had some warmed up lobster mac-and-cheese for dinner. It was still good. Zara thought that it smelled really good too; she was hanging around until I finished it. She had just eaten too.

 

I have a headache, so I think that I'll go to bed early and get up early.

 

Studied Spanish flashcards while I finished my coffee.

 

My library books are coming in. Good. Need to figure out which one to take to San Jose for those times when electronic devices have to be shut down.

 

The clothes that I wanted to wear were in the wash, so I cobbled an outfit together from my Goodwill bag containing clothes that I haven't put away. Came up with a pretty cute outfit, which I might also wear on the plane. Not that anyone cares what I wear, but I kind of do. My mom tells me that she goes out with uncombed hair (under a hat) and no makeup, but I'm not there yet.

 

I forgot to mention that the conference is giving us lunch on Wednesday and Thursday. I'll get reimbursed for food, but not having to spend money is easier. I'm trying to figure out what Pop-Tart-like or granola-bar-like food I can stick in my suitcase and won't cause a problem at Security. That'll be breakfast when I take my meds.

 

There must be people who prepare calmly for a trip, but those people are not me. I'm kind of stressy.

 

Fixing the boots with the floppy sole with Gorilla Glue worked quite well. Now I'm wondering if I should take them with me in case of a downpour. Don't really want to get my nice leather ankle boots wet. I'm watching the weather next week in Lincoln, Chicago, and San Jose like a hawk. Looks pretty good next week except for a wintry mix when I'm coming back from O'Hare on Saturday. (I take the bus from O'Hare to Normal and then drive home from Normal, which is a slightly longer drive than going to class because the bus stop is in the center of town.)

 

Printed off maps, directions, and the conference agenda. Trip is getting real. There's a reception on Wednesday at The Tech. I thought about going to Original Joe's afterward if I was still hungry (they're serving finger foods at the reception), but O.M.G. $15 for a sandwich? Are you kidding me? Jack-in-the-Box is still downtown, and that's more my price range. Also thought about taking an airport shuttle from SJC to my Airbnb, but holy cow. $45 to go about a mile (although Hwy. 85 is in the way, so there might be some routing around)? No. I found out how to get there via light rail. The only problem is that I'm getting in late. I might do my one splurge on Uber for that trip. (Which reminds me; I need to install Uber on my new phone.) It's promises to be an interesting conference. Geeky to the max, but I knew that it would be.

 

Just remembered that I have homework for class tomorrow. It shouldn't take long.

 

Woke up at 10 AM. The snow is coming down at a pretty good clip.

 

Fed the girls and peace reigned over the land. For the moment.

 

Studied Spanish flashcards.

 

Zara always goes flying into the microwave box, and I hear a thud, and think, "What the hell?" Goof.

 

Work has been quiet.

 

Freezing rain tonight and tomorrow morning. I hate freezing rain.

 

Zara was manic after I fed her. She was flinging herself in the box, circling, and flipping over. I told her to settle down because she sounded like a herd of elephants. She has quieted down. Goof :)

 

I'm stressing about a possible government shutdown. I go to San Jose (hmm, I almost wrote $an Jose, which is probably about right) a week from Tuesday.

 

 

 

Way overslept. So much for getting stuff done this morning.

 

Zara is refusing to eat. I wonder why. I said "Hello" to her later, and she rubbed against my hand and started to eat. I don't know what that was about. Mimi upchucked her food, which worries me, but I had her checked out by the vet when I boarded them over Christmas. 

 

Studied Spanish flashcards while I drank my coffee. Packed my gym bag. Told my accountability partner that I was going to the gym after work, so I guess that I'd better go :) She wants us to send Snapchat pictures of us at the gym, so I installed Snapchat.

 

I did go to the gym. Go me. Wow, am I out of shape. Just did 15 minutes of cardio and 6 weight machines, but I went!

 

I didn't study Spanish though, and it's getting late.

 

 

 

Had my doctor appointment. Made a reservation to board the girls at the vet later this month. (They were glad because "there was only one cat back there".) 

 

Stopped at the new gym, got an overview from the owner (whom I really liked), and got the combo so that I could come in any time. They have a rowing machine! I love rowing machines! If I want to take classes though, they aren't included in my health insurance membership, so I'd need to pay $5 a class. Hmm, they have a Zumba class on Wednesday that I'd like to try. I'd have to eat dinner at my desk though.

 

Went grocery shopping, and also bought a fitness journal that I can use to track my exercises. Now I'm eating.

 

Took a nap and slept way longer than I had planned. Fed the girls.

 

Wrote an e-mail to my new accountability partner. Also posted to Reddit looking for a gym accountability partner.  My new accountability partner wrote back, and she sounds great. I put in over an hour on Spanish, so already having an accountability partner is helping me! Someone also responded to my Reddit post, but I'm a little more dubious about her.

 

Can't stop yawning. Need to crash.

 

Bah-ha-ha. Louisiana is expecting two inches of snow, so the governor declared a state of emergency.

 

My teacher DID cancel class. Unfortunately, I had taken a shower and gotten dressed, but I can lie down in my clothes. Class is canceled on Thursday too.

 

I think that I'll run errands before work so that I won't have to run errands in the Arctic cold tonight. Checked to make sure that I had cake pans because I want to make carrot cake tomorrow. Yum.

 

Napped. Put my makeup on. Ate Ramen. Ran errands.

 

The University of Illinois, which prides itself on never closing, canceled classes from tonight through tomorrow. However, they're telling their staff to come in tomorrow. That's cold. So to speak. Glad that I don't work there.

 

The library has been deserted tonight. Not surprised. The only cars that I saw when I left were Domino's Pizza Delivery cars. And a couple of guys buying booze were at the convenience store. I guess that's one way to deal with the cold :)

 

Someone on Facebook posted instructions on how to dress for very cold weather. I went looking for nylon mittens to put over my gloves, but sheesh. Expensive. I finally found petite women's long underwear at LLBean. It figures that they would have a decent selection. Also expensive though. The cold has been going straight through my work pants. Maybe I could build up my extreme winter wardrobe slowly. I could wear nylons under my pants as the poor person's long underwear. I have a jacket that I could wear under my coat.

 

I want to find an accountability partner for studying Spanish. Knowing that I will talk to my instructor helps some, but I don't study every day and should if I want to make good progress. I found Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/GetMotivatedBuddies/, so I'll try there. There might be a Reddit group for language learning too. https://www.reddit.com/r/learnspanish/ https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/

 

 

 

Kitty drama as soon as I got up. Mimi and Zara were chasing each other and batting each other. They sounded like a herd of elephants. I told them to cut it out. Surprisingly, they listened.

 

Forgot to put coffee in the coffee-maker. Way to go.

 

Studied Spanish flashcards while drinking my coffee. Pondering how to say "My cats don't like each other. They fight." in Spanish. Need to look it up.

 

Zara is hanging out on my lap. Apparently my lap is more cozy than the fuzzy blanket.

 

Now I'm thinking that maybe I should shovel the driveway tomorrow. It's supposed to be warmer, and I need to run errands tomorrow.

 

Took a nice nap with Mimi. Woke up before my alarm went off, and couldn't fall back asleep, so I guess that I had enough sleep. Put on my cleaning sweats.

 

Had a bite to eat. 

 

Apparently some people were stuck on a United flight for 14 hours when it had to make an emergency landing in Newfoundland. The plane couldn't take off again, and there were no Customs people in the airport overnight, so they had to stay on the plane. I don't know why they couldn't have gone into the airport if they couldn't leave. They ran out of food, and someone brought them Tim Horton's though. Yay, Canada. Finally, another plane arrived with food that was able to take off.

 

Speaking of airplanes, I forgot to mention that Mom was worried about the TSA situation when I fly to San Jose. I'll get to O'Hare airport three hours before flight time, but if things are really bad, that could be a problem. I can get to San Jose airport really early because I'm taking the red-eye. Mom thinks that the government shutdown will be over by then though. I hope so.

 

Decided to wash some towels and rags, charge my cordless Bluetooth headphones, and soak a litter box while I watch a movie. (It would have been more efficient if I started everything but the litter box while I napped, but I didn't think of it.) I'll switch the laundry part-way through. Emptied the dryer. I don't know where all the pads for my steam mop have gone. I bought six, and I'm down to two. Need to buy more when I get paid, I guess.

 

Zara is on my lap again, which is slowing down the process.

 

I watched The Woman in Gold. It's a true story about a woman who tries to get some paintings stolen by the Nazis back from the Austrian government. The movie got lukewarm reviews, but I was riveted. There's one scene in which the woman says goodbye to her parents before fleeing Austria that had me in tears.

 

Something like that happened in my family. When the Russians invaded Lithuania, my grandmother, two of her sisters, and their families fled the country. My grandmother's youngest sisters stayed with their parents. My grandmother never saw her parents again. My great-grandmother and great-grandfather were sent to Siberia.

 

After the movie, I filled the clean litter box and cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms, except for the floors. Made dinner. I have homework to do, but I'm going to go to bed early and get up early because I need to get up early for class on Tuesday.

 

Threw in a load of laundry. Called Zara's prescription in. Fed the girls and myself. Need to wait until I can throw the clothes in the dryer before I can take a nap. I love naps. 

 

Had a nice long nap. Had a bite to eat. Made a short shopping list. Have a bad headache, but I need to get moving. Some acetaminophen and a shower helped.

 

Now the weather forecasters are saying that snow will start at 10PM. Works for me.

 

Apparently I can ask my Google Home for stock prices.

 

Back home and ready to be snowed in. The store was packed; I guess it was the combo of being a Friday and the oncoming storm. The store was out of a lot of stuff. I had a taste for grilled cheese and tomato soup, so I picked up some cheddar and soup.

 

Now they're saying that the snow will start at 11:45 PM. Big honking storm on the radar though.

 

The grilled cheese and tomato soup were good.

 

I've got the yawns, but I need to study Spanish.

 

I tried putting out a fuzzy blanket on a kitchen chair for Zara, but she freaked out. I dumped the blanket on my chair.

 

I've been studying Spanish and adding new words to my vocabulary as I construct sentences. "Microwave oven" is "microondas".

 

The weather forecasters are predicting a major snowstorm this weekend. 6 to 8 inches. If I need to run errands today, though, I need to get them done before the snow starts. The college president is concerned about the students coming back to school this weekend. I'm glad that the library is closed this weekend.

 

Perked up a little. Started a load of laundry. 

 

Made a grocery list. I don't need much. I want to pick up soda in case I'm socked in most of the weekend though.

 

I was paying a bill and leaning over my computer when Zara jumped on my shoulders. Goof. It was cool to hear her purr though. She has a subvocal purr, but I could hear it with her body up against my ear.

 

Took a brief nap. Had a bite to eat. Zara jumped on my shoulders again.

 

I wonder if Google is selling the details of my shopping list to advertisers. Probably.

 

Threw myself together. Ran errands. I bought a new winter hat to replace the one that I lost. I must have been hungry because I also bought some stuff to nosh on.

 

Back home. There are some movies on Netflix that I'd like to see. It's a little late to watch one now, but maybe later this weekend. I had heard that the Harry Potter movies were coming to Netflix later this month, but apparently that's only in Australia and New Zealand. Bummer. I was looking forward to watching them.

 

Looked into building PCs again. I want to build a web server. I found some instructions online, but the components that the person chose cost $700, and I can't afford that. OutletPC has decent prices on components. I ordered a "For Dummies" book on building your own PC. I'll probably consult with Erik too.

 

Studied Spanish. Looked up how to say "there's a lot of snow" in Spanish ("hay mucha nieve"). And here comes the snow....

 

Can't stop yawning. I think that I'll go to sleep early, and pick things up tomorrow. I'm not planning on going anywhere tomorrow.