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 was looking at Road Scholar's Independent Trip to Florence for next year, but you can also add an Independent Trip to Venice as well with a train trip. I want to go to Florence in Mom's honor, but I would really, really like to see Venice. So hmm. I emailed my boss and asked her if there would be better or worse times to travel next year because we're bringing on a bunch of libraries. I really want to take this trip. Bummer. They aren't syncing up the Florence and Venice trips next year. I'd have to do The Best of Italy: Rome, Florence, and Venice.

I was looking at when student loan payments resume, and it looks like this summer. I'm planning on sticking a bunch of money in a separate checking account and putting it on automatic payment. That way, I'll be certain to pay on time, which is necessary for loan forgiveness. I decided to get my student loans set up because the sooner that I pay enough for forgiveness, the sooner I can retire. So I applied for an income-based repayment plan and transferred some money to my Capital One account, which will be my student loan account. I'm also paying off some other debts.

Oh ugh. It's raining. I guess the grass won't get mowed today. The rain seems to be pouring off the gutters, so I need to get them cleaned sooner rather than later.

Zara is being a manic panic cat. Yeah, they're feeling at home.

My Italian teacher moved the lesson later, so I have time to nap and still study Italian. Awesome. I couldn't sleep very well, so I got up.

Oh great. We've got ants. I killed them but there's probably more where they came from. I guess that I need to clean the kitchen tonight.

Italian went well.

I'm looking at the Amazon Kindle Scribe that susandennis mentioned. I'm seriously considering it for programming books, but I'd like to trade my Kindle Fire for 20% off. The Kindle Fire, of course, is in a box in Urbana. Huh. I'm also pondering how much memory I should get. I have a ton of books on my Kindle Fire, but my Kindle Fire is only 16 GB. Okay, I bid on a used one on eBay, my favorite bargain-hunting place. I won it (64 GB with a cover).

Speaking of which, I got a Fitbit Sense 2 for $100 off on eBay. I like it but I'm still learning about the things that it can do. And the watch band doesn't fall off, which was the problem with the Charge 4.

Cantonese was really difficult. That shouldn't surprise me; it's the most difficult language for English speakers. My brain feels like it's going to explode. Hmm, I want to order some Dim Sum for tomorrow because we were talking about Dim Sum. Okay, I ordered Dim Sum for pickup tomorrow night.

I'm thinking of going to sleep and getting up early. After I feed the cats, that is. Zara is on my lap to remind me :)

I found a Keto meal service that actually is low carb: https://www.freshmealplan.com Need to consider it. I ordered some meals from it.

It's snowing, but there isn't a lot of accumulation thus far. It's supposed to snow, then rain, then snow again. A good day to stay inside.

Bought another Keto cookbook. I keep worrying about getting bored with food.

Had my Italian class. Only three people were there this time. I like that he makes us talk, and it is conversationally oriented, although talking in class is nervewracking. One student knows a lot of Italian (I don't know why she's in the beginners class), and she rattles it off, which makes me feel dumb. I guess that I could reframe it as "this is what you'll be able to do in a while".

Had a bite of lunch, and now, a nap. Zara is really enamored of the bed because she didn't come into the kitchen to see what I was eating for lunch. I've got a bed monster! Bed hog!

Got the mail from yesterday and in it was a tax form that I was waiting for. Put out the garbage for pickup.

Got hit with a pang of missing Harlee, maybe because her picture is in here. Love my girl.

Got my desktop computer working again. Apparently the monitor cable was loose. Good deal. Now I don't have to use my work computer when I'm scanning stuff.

Finished my homework for my Java class. Math awaits me....

Realized that I forgot to fed the ravening hordes because Zara didn't remind me by hanging out near her dish. Yeah, like it's her fault :)

Lay down for a nap and slept through until morning except for a short time up at 1 AM.

Not much to say about Monday. Picked up my groceries, so now I have low carb stuff in my refrigerator. Did homework. Got my Keto Slow Cooker book. A lot of recipes are "throw everything into the crockpot," which is my kind of cooking. I can't stop yawning, so I'm going to go to bed with the cookbook and flag recipes.

The Google Home Mini worked really well as an alarm. I'm going to save it, though, for times when I have an early appointment so that I don't get used to it. It also has a sleep function with nature sounds, but I found that annoying.

I almost forgot to feed the girls last night. I was in bed last night with the lights off when I started to wonder if I fed them. Sure enough, I hadn't. They need to tell me to get with the program.

Well, hell. The permanent crown isn't back yet. The dental office said that they tried to call me, but I missed the call. (It turned out that they called my work number. I just called them and gave them my cell number.) I went and got Zara's meds, frozen tortellini, and cherry turnovers from the discount rack. I couldn't remember if I needed milk, so I got some, only to find that I had plenty. So I'm freezing it. I'm going to go back to sleep for a while.

My dad e-mailed me that his cousin has terminal cancer and is going into hospice. I'm kind of shaken up by that. I don't know why because he's in his mid-80s, but he was one of my favorite relatives when I was a kid. I told my boss that if there will be a memorial service in Chicago, that I'd want to go. (Zane lives in Palm Springs, but he's from Chicago like the rest of us.) Dad said that I should call Zane, but I really haven't talked to him much for years and mostly remember him from when I was a kid. Called Mom and told her about Zane. She agreed that a phone call might be awkward, so I'm going to write a letter with some memories of him (some of them funny).

I'm exhausted. I'm going to go to bed early and get up early to work on the letter.

There's a way to transfer Evernote entries to OneNote, so I'll archive my notes in that way. I'll just keep Evernote for one more month and then cancel it. However, there's a problem with the Google Keep extension not working to keep Web clippings. THAT'S a problem. No, now I got the extension to work. Cool beans.

I looked at 55+ communities in California just for kicks. "Low to mid 1M". Ha Ha Ha. Not. I could live in Redding or Los Baños, but they don't really appeal to me.

Mower guy left a sign for his business on my lawn. He sent me a text asking me if I minded. I don't mind, but it's the people who run the complex that he needs to worry about. I've heard that they take stuff that they don't like.

Overslept this morning. My cell phone updated, so it didn't go off, but the other alarm did. Have a crashing headache. Thought about calling in sick, but I have too much to finish up before I take next week off. It's a good thing that I came in because the front desk worker was off this afternoon.

Interesting cataloged book of the day: The Radioactive Boy Scout, about a kid who built a nuclear reactor in his backyard. No, I'm not making this up. It's really not funny, but it kind of is. Must read.

Hmm. I'm eating dinner (my lunch) at work because I'm low on gas until I get paid tomorrow. But if I ate dinner at work all the time, I'd cut the amount of gas that I use in half (except for trips to Bloomington or Springfield). But I like going home for lunch. Need to think about this.

Mom bought the shelves for me. One organizing thing down.

I looked up "tea to get rid of headaches," and peppermint tea, which I've been drinking, is supposed to help. It hasn't. I should try chamomile and ginger tea. I've got to find more mango passion fruit tea because I love it.

The budget webinar was selling something, of course. But I was able to get the presenter's books "free" with Kindle Unlimited (which isn't free, but I use it enough for it to be worthwhile).

Zara is being a kamikaze kitty. She's freaking Mimi out. Settle down, Zara.

I have some leftover celery that I'm trying to figure out what to do with. Any ideas? I might make some hummus and eat the celery with it. I'm trying to decrease my food waste, but with some mixed results. I found a good Cream of Celery Soup recipe, but it requires more celery than I have.

I'm working on a grocery list for Saturday. I'm going to get new tires first, but will shop afterward. I'm not going to use the grocery pickup because I don't know when I'll be out of the tire center.