days_unfolding

I got myself together for my Italian lesson and was waiting, when I remembered that she had a conflict and wanted to do it on Wednesday. Oops.

I'm down seven pounds. Yay.

My Italian keyboard is not working even with new batteries, so back it goes. There's a Logitech one that should work, but it is more expensive, so I'm waiting to get paid again. Though once I get the refund, it'll cover most of the cost.

I asked the person with whom I work if she had any additional tasks, but no. So I'm working on my filing system.

I had a Jenny Craig hamburger for lunch. It was supposed to be a cheeseburger, but the instructions said to wrap it in a paper towel and microwave it, and all the cheese wound up on the paper towel. Pretty good though. Now I'm out of Jenny Craig until my next shipment. I'll eat Lean Cuisine because it is a similar size as Jenny Craig. Healthy Choice meals are too big. Hmm, I might need more Lean Cuisine because my next Jenny Craig order hasn't shipped yet.

I'm looking at Skinny Syrups, mentioned by yshaloo. They look good. I'm trying to figure out which ones to get when I get paid again.

Ugh. The IT person called me, and I missed the call. So I called her back and, so far, she hasn't gotten back to me. I need my (work) computer!!!

I'm thinking of dropping tai chi because I'm not really enjoying it. Yoga, yes, I love it. And both work on my balance, which is why I was taking them in the first place.

Mimi was sleeping on the futon in the "guest room," when she saw me swing around to get the full effect of the fan. That apparently meant that she had to jump on my lap. She got fur on my Firenze (Florence) t-shirt and then jumped off. A job well done.

Finally, I'm up on my work computer. Alleluia! And now I'm stopped on my reports with errors. Sigh.

Mimi got tangled up in the cords for my work computer and ran for it, dragging half of my computer down. My monitor still isn't coming up, and I need to figure out what's wrong with it later. Sigh. The joy of working from home :) Apparently, she trashed the connector between my monitor and the docking station. She's very lucky that she's cute :)

The feline wrecking ball, looking innocent. With cat barf on the treadmill as an added extra touch:

Went to yoga, but no one was there. Huh. I checked my email but didn’t see a notice of a cancellation. Came back home. I certainly have plenty to do around here.

Placed an order for more Lean Cuisine. Sheesh, the price has gone up.

Got the tons of recycling out. Tons of recycling is good because it means that I’m getting through boxes. Now I’m taking a break before going on to the next thing.

Does anyone have an idea what I could do with a couple of hats that my mom wore in the hospital and the stuffed animal that I gave her near the end? Getting rid of them is not an option. Thanks. Most of the rest of her stuff integrates with my stuff, but those have me stumped. I’ll also ask on some of my decluttering Facebook groups. One group suggested a shadow box, which is a good idea.

Someone in one of my decluttering and organizing groups suggested Hold Everything as a store for organizers. $75 for drawer dividers?!? Too rich for my blood.

I'm working on my Italian flashcards as a break. I'm thrilled that I'm learning a lot doing so. It seems like magic.

I checked with the person with whom I primarily work to see if she needed any help configuring things for our new libraries, but she is not responding. I guess that I'll leave my computer up and go post on LJ/DW in the meantime. I won't get some of the organizing stuff done tonight that I had wanted because I need to get up early for my Italian lesson.

I looked to see if swimming lessons are up for the fall at the university, but not yet.

Hmm. Someone is selling a shoe rack bench for $15. The trick would be getting it from the car to the house. Also finding a spot for it in the house because I want to put the bookcases where it goes.

Had problems falling asleep. Woke up this morning, looked at the clock, and it was 9:30 AM. Cursed, got up, put the cat dishes to soak, and went to log on. Only to find that I had read my watch wrong, and it was 6:30 AM. Went back to sleep until 7:30.

Allerton is having a tour of its formal gardens this Saturday. That would be a good way to get some steps in and see the gardens. Bought a ticket.

Down two pounds. It's a start.

I pulled a muscle in my back doing a high kick in tai chi. (My teacher told me not to do the kicks from now on.) And my knee spasmed out while I was driving home. I think that I was made out of surplus, low-bid parts :) So much for additional exercise. I think that I’ll clean off the kitchen table and do some filing tonight and rest my back.

I found someone who is selling a toolbox (which I sorely need) for $15. So I’ll try to get it and the bench this weekend.

Severe thunderstorm warning. Lovely. Got a lot of the kitchen table cleared off. I realized that I have Italian before work, and I was going to go upstairs and study Italian, when there was a tornado warning. I looked at the radar and decided that it was too close for comfort and went into the basement. All clear now except for a severe thunderstorm warning. Mimi was hiding under the table.

Okay, I found a poster that I have to have for my home gym: “Be a bad ass with a good ass” :) Though given that I pull my lower back muscles, I have to be careful on the ”good ass” part.

Well, I lost time in the basement, so I'm going to have to skip studying Italian tonight. I need to get to bed because I have my first Italian lesson in the morning.

I also ordered the CD with "Walking in Memphis" (Marc Cohn). Great song.

Overslept again. I need to stop staying up late. And I need to find my obnoxious alarm clock.

Got my grocery order. A turnover fell out of the bag. I'm trying to decide whether to complain to Walmart or not. I did and got a refund.

Mimi is crashed out in her spot on the wicker chest by the window.

The Italian teacher got back to me with an invitation for tomorrow.

I forgot to mention that I'm getting a lot of wear of my travel vest even after I came back, although Mimmo hated it. But pockets!

Oh cool. My bodyweight and dumbbell exercises have been delivered. Also got the shoes for tai chi and a pair of white jeans that I bought.

A colleague made a mistake that cost me about two days' worth of work. I like the guy and I make mistakes too, so I didn't give him a hard time about it. At least the problem is fixed. Ack ptuey, I might have to do it a third time using new reports. I'm stopping what I'm doing and waiting for things to shake out.

My bookcases are ready to ship. Got to move stuff in the living room.

The dress that is down a size also shipped.

I asked my dad how the heatwave was affecting him (he’s in Nevada), and the crazy guy has been outside doing yard work in the heat! Sigh. I can't stop him.

It is very humid. I’m not imagining it.

Went to tai chi. They are very patient with me learning. The shoes that I bought for tai chi are incredibly comfortable, so I just ordered another pair on eBay to wear exercising.

I should get to bed early because I have my meeting with the Italian teacher at 8 AM. I found the obnoxious clock. Yay.

Studied Italian. Now to bed.

It’s cold out: 59F/15C. I pulled out jeans to wear instead of shorts.

I saw the friendly outdoor cat yesterday, so he or she is still around. Mimi is in her napping spot on the wicker chest by the window in the guest room. Zara wants to snuggle during our lunchtime nap.

It's Annual Statistics time at work, which means a mad scramble. But I was jumping the gun on some stuff.

I checked my piano teacher, and she has lessons from eight to nine PM on Thursdays. That would work. I need to work on the music room on the July 4th holiday, although I'll need to do some mowing too.

I went to Tai Chi for the first time in a long time. We were starting a new session, so I figured that it was time to go back. It went okay. I wasn’t able to find out who asked me to bring back wine, so I guess that I’m keeping the magnet with wine bottles.

Hmm. I have to go study Italian. First, I needed to do some work for work because I overslept my nap. I ran some reports. Studied Italian. I'm staying fairly faithful to studying it.

The group leader wasn't happy with me that I wasn't at the meeting. We're all meeting tomorrow morning at 9:25.

Rome seems to come alive at night. I wasn't thrilled with what I saw today, and people are surly, but it's pretty in the evening.

I was outside, and a street vendor came up to me. He asked me if I had children, a man, mother, father, sisters, brothers, and I said only a father, and he seemed surprised. He gave me some good luck charms. Then he wanted money to eat, and all I had was a 20 euro bill, which he took and didn't give change. But he threw in an elephant bracelet that I like, which I'll wear on the trip in honor of my mom, who loved elephants. So, it was an expensive lesson, but not all bad. I'll get more money in the morning.

I'm surprised by how many signs are in English as well as Italian. I guess that they're used to visitors from the US and Great Britain.

I heard that they said not to go out by yourself. That's bad because I have a restaurant picked out for our "free" dinner. Instead, there’s a pizza and calzone place across the street that I might try.

The shop next door has an “Italia” t-shirt that I might get. My souvenir budget is for a t-shirt each in Rome, Florence, and Venice.

I think that it’s bedtime. I slept through to 6 AM, waking up a couple of times. I'm still feeling jet lagged (I haven't been following the program), so I think that I'll pop a caffeine pill. Had a protein bar for breakfast. The pet sitter is on the job and texted me pics of the cats.

Showered and makeupped and feel a little more perky. Apparently, we get breakfast in the hotel, so I went and had a second breakfast. The scrambled eggs were runny, but they had an awesome apricot tart. And Earl Grey tea! I didn't linger because it was busy up there.

I didn't wash jeans because I didn't think that they'd dry before we go to Florence, but I washed a top. And my compression socks, which I won't need until the trip back, but I might as well wash them. I changed my mind and washed the jeans. I'll wring them in a towel. And I could dry them with a blow dryer.

Now I have some time to kill. I'm drinking a ton of water; I must be dehydrated from the flight.

We went to the Roman Forum and Colosseum today. I couldn't find my headphones for the radio connected to the guide (I still can't find them), so I caught only part of what she said. But I have a low interest in Roman ruins anyway. (Mom, OTOH, would have been in her element.) Everyone has seen pictures of the Colosseum, but it is impressive though in real life.

It was a lot of walking. My feet started to hurt near the end, but I made it. We had lunch at a local restaurant, which had really delicious cheese made from sheep's milk. Now we're back at the hotel, and I'm waiting for my phone to charge.

Our tour guide said that our bus drivers were candidates for sainthood driving in Rome, and that (as you can see) the dashed yellow lines were only a suggestion :) I was wondering if walking in Rome would be difficult, but it hasn't been too bad.

The time change is strange. It's mid-afternoon here (and it feels like it), but it's in the morning back home. Hmm. Now I'm yawning, but I don't dare take a nap because I'll oversleep.

I bought a burgundy t-shirt that says, “Roma, Italia,” so I’m happy with that. They don’t have diet soda anywhere. Coke and Pepsi yes, diet no. I bought some peach iced tea that is good. And headphones.

Attended a lecture about the Sistine Chapel, which we will see tomorrow.

My reaction so far is that Road Scholar keeps you too busy for my taste. There is a Paris one “at a slower pace” that I might try next. But I’m feeling overscheduled now. These are long days.

I found a perfect item at the store next door. My tai chi instructor said that I should bring her back some wine from Italy, and the store had a magnet with little bottles of wine on it that says "Roma". ( A few pictures )

I bought a pair of waterproof orthotic shoes for Italy. We'll see how they work.

Oops, I forgot to ask the Italy tour guide if my suitcase will be too big for the train. I’ll do so tomorrow (done). They said that there were no limits, but I need to be able to lift it.

Got clothes in the dryer. Showered and shaved my legs so that I can wear shorts. First, I need to find what box the shorts are in, but I think that I know which one. Yeah, I found them. I'll bring a couple of pairs to Italy, but a lot of the places (e.g., museums) have a dress code that precludes wearing them. I need to dig out some sandals. Now I'm working barefoot. But it's 88F today, and I'm able to cope in my home office upstairs with shorts and a t-shirt, my fan, and bare feet. I want to use an air conditioner only if I have to use one.

I'm debating whether I should go to tai chi tonight or not. I'm so freaking tired and want to lie down after work. I'm going to stay home. Self-care :)

I looked up "how to tame unruly brows," and found a recommendation for some brow gel that is made from mustache wax. I'll give it a try (ordered). It's certainly cheaper than brow lamination.

I'm trying to figure out how much money to put in my flexible spending account (FSA). I'm going to have a ton of money from last year because I didn't have therapy appointments. (I plan to spend a pot of money on glasses. I checked into moving up my eye doctor appointment, but can't move it earlier.) I will have dentist appointments though. The amount that I can carry over from this year will pay the copay for two-thirds of my therapy appointments. I think that I'll log on later after it cools off to figure the amount out. I need to look at my copays for previous dental appointments, although I'll be going to another dentist in Urbana. Crap. I looked up my balance, and I have way too much money to spend by June 30th. I need to set up a dental appointment for right after I get back from Italy. The flexible spending account should be $700 plus dental. Dental is looking like $110 a visit, with four visits, so $1140 total. This, apparently, is when my medical ship comes in.

Okay, now it's too hot to be working on a computer upstairs. I'm going to go downstairs and cool off. Bother. The ceiling fan in my bedroom doesn’t work. Zara thinks that it’s cuddle time. Aren’t you hot, Zara? Though she’s been downstairs where it’s cooler all day.

I finished reading the novel about a family with a transgender child: This Is How It Always Is. It’s good.

Okay, I want to use part of the FSA funds to get a fancy scale, an ear cleaner, and an eye mask for headaches. And maybe a massage gun. No, a Sharper Image massage heating pad. Maybe a shoulder relief pillow system? I think that I can spend the money. And compression socks. Okay, I bought a mini massager that will go with me to Italy if it gets here in time, a headache wrap, a neck wrap, and the scale. Oops, I went back and got compression socks, which I hope will get here before I leave for Italy. And the ear cleaner.

I had thought about getting an electric toothbrush, but apparently, that’s not FSA-eligible. Why?

A security bulletin at work convinced me to change my passcode on my phone to an alphanumeric one. It’s kind of a pain, but probably is more secure.

The cats are off their feed. I don't know why. Because it's hot?

I'm going to go to bed and get up early, when it's cool.

Oh crap. Now they're saying that the mower will get here on Wednesday. That will give me very little time to mow. Crap. And I can't take time off because I need all my vacation time for the Italy trip. Maybe I could take some time off Friday afternoon and make it up in the evening.

I bought a protection plan for the new mower because I don't trust it.

Zara said that she’ll make things better by giving me head-bonks. Good job, Zara.

I am so screwed. Now they said that the mower will come on next Monday, when I’ll be gone. I called them and they said that if no one signs for the order, it will go back. Meanwhile, I tried to get it from Walmart, but I didn’t have enough money in my account to buy it twice. I’m transferring some money, but that will take a couple of days. Shit. FedEx still says that it will get here on Wednesday. I can only hope.

The real estate guy for my mom's house keeps on adding things that weren't in our agreement for the work to be done. I protested and he took some of the cost off, but I wish that he wouldn't do that.

Had my first tai chi class. I’m moving way too fast :) It went well though, and the people are very friendly and all introduced themselves.

Mimi: Mommy, you LEFT without FEEDING US. BAD! Actually, I did feed them before I left, so I got conned :)

I worked on some slides for a shared slide desk for work while I can work on them when no one else is. I need to work on my final, but I think that I'll get up early to work on it. Maybe I can duck out a little early on Wednesday to catch up on the time.

I just realized that I can't contact the pond guy about the sprinklers because I have my meditation group at 5. Oh well. Tomorrow.

How'd it get to be Wednesday already?

I dropped the Kia off at a dealership to be diagnosed and, I hope, fixed. I like that dealership. The guy who dropped me back at the house thought that the house was beautiful. I gave him the short version of what's been going on with the house.

I exchanged emails with my dad about my plane crash preparations. He said that I shouldn't fly if I'm scared, and I said that I wasn't scared. Later I said that this was problem solving, not fear, and I think that it sums it up very nicely.

I bought a pretty Hawaiian shirt to take with me to Hawaii and to wear around here to think of being in Hawaii. If it's warm enough, I'll wear it on the plane. I also previously bought a cheap amethyst and opal bracelet and now a couple of cheap rings and a couple more cheap bracelets. My therapist probably would say that it's a good sign that I want to wear jewelry. I want a couple of my mom's necklaces too.

My meditation class went well. I started falling asleep during one of our meditation practices though. We did a stretching meditation, which was hard, and it reminded me that I want to join the YMCA and take Yoga and Tai Chi classes. I just sent an email to them asking them if I can join month-to-month.

One of the keys to my mom's car flew out of my pocket when I was in the bathroom. I haven't found it thus far. And some of Mom's magazines spewed out over the floor, making it even tougher. Sigh.

I started laundry and fed the cats. I need to fill a litter box, do dishes, and work on tidying up the bathroom. I haven't heard anything about Zara's med refill, so I need to call the Walmart pharmacy tomorrow.

I had a self-esteem moment. I realized that I accomplished everything that I set out to do last fall (well, I'm still wrapping up the move, but I'll get it done). Move the things that I wanted from my aunt's house? Check. Move the things that my mom wanted from my aunt's house? Check. Get good enough grades in my classes to continue with the program? Check. Move? Partial check and I'm working on it.

I had a feeling that when I got the mail that I'd hear from my friend Lance, and I did. He sent me a Christmas card. His handwriting is always challenging, but I got more out of it the second time that I read it :) He's itching to move somewhere else too (he lives in Kansas City), but doesn't know where or when.

I read some articles about keeping your mobility as you get older. They recommended yoga and tai chi, which is also in plan. And they recommended a walking habit. I looked at Mayo Clinic's walking plan, and it starts with five minutes of warm up, five minutes of walking, and five minutes of cool down. I can do that. And I pulled out cards for some of the yoga poses that we did in class to practice them. And I asked ChatGPT for the most commonly used yoga poses. Hmm, there is a tai chi place in Champaign that is on Tuesday nights starting from January 25th. But I'd miss yoga.

I just found a bunch of organizing books that I don't want to pay for, so I need to get a library card at the local library and have at it! I downloaded my electric and gas bill onto my phone along with my lease. I still need to get the printer fixed though. Speaking of my bill, it's rather high though, so I need to find ways to save on the bill.

I'm poking at kitchen boxes and found my utensils, which looks like a good place to start. I'm going to have to shift stuff around for some of it because I can't get books up until I get rid of more boxes. I'm looking for the box in which I packed the electric cord for my treadmill, but haven't found it yet.

The utensils were from the utensil junk drawer, which I don't have in this kitchen. I have exactly one drawer. I could put some of them in a pencil cup, but what about stuff like measuring cups and cookie cutters? Oh, someone suggested hanging them on the inside of cabinet doors. I could get command hooks. When I need a break, I need to sit down and figure out how to organize that stuff. There was a shallow pull-out drawer in which I put a bunch of utensils.

I'm looking at spice racks. I think that I found a winner, but I'll need two of them and sheesh, expensive. (I had them on the side of the refrigerator in the old place, but can't do so here, plus I had a lot of overflow.)

I need to take the recycling out, but I wish that it would stop raining. The forecasters are saying that it will rain until 11 PM though. Bummer. I threw on my raincoat and put it out.

I had a fabulous dinner of Meijer's shrimp and lobster bake. Now I want a short nap. I wasn't able to sleep, but I spent some time in a darkened room with a purring cat snuggled up to me. Very relaxing.

Now I've run out of steam, so I'm going to do some change-of-address work and then go to bed early on this rainy, dreary day. I can't nap during lunch because of classes and after work because of yoga, so I need to get some good sleep.

I changed the address for the DMV and Capital One. PNC and Comcast are not coming up, so I'm going to pack it in and call it a night.

The Illinois Tax folks say that they need a copy of my W-2, so I need to upload it.

There's a small storm going on. Whoa, there's some loud thunder. Maybe it's not so small a storm. They're predicting rain for hours. I'm glad that I planted the potatoes yesterday.

I need to get some bubble mailers tomorrow so that I can sell some books on Amazon.

Yikes. I called to make an appointment with the eye doctor, and the receptionist kept on getting my information wrong. But finally, I got an appointment in mid-September.

My voice lesson went well. The problems that I was having with my voice magically cleared up. My teacher thought that it might be allergies or lack of sleep. We're now working on one of my favorite songs, "The Dimming of the Day" as covered by Bonnie Raitt.

Did a session of Tai Chi. It would be a good morning activity (if I could pry myself out of bed early, ha!) because it made me feel warmed up and energetic but relaxed. Maybe I could do an abbreviated version once I learn the moves. Or it would make a nice break from sitting at my desk.

Studied Italian. I feel like I'm making progress.

Oh cool. I've made plans to see Randy Rainbow with ljravengirl in Chicago. Oh, does that sounds like fun. I haven't done anything frivolous in a long time.

Practiced piano. Did some knitting practice and got frustrated. I'm still having problems with the Perl stitch, so I dumped what I had and started casting on again.

I uploaded my tax W-2. Hopefully, that will get the tax snafu resolved.