days_unfolding

Overslept a little, but had time for my shower. Got a fecal sample for Bella, who is easy, but nothing from Oliver yet. Lily snuck upstairs, and Mimi freaked out, so I put Lily outside the gate.

The cleaner for Friday or Saturday didn't work out, so I'm trying another service for Monday.

Emailed the trust about my mom's safety deposit box and tax forms. I wish that they'd do stuff when I asked them the first time.

Overslept my nap. Sheesh, I'm tired.

Took Bella and Oliver to the other vet for their checkup before boarding. Bella seemed to like the place better; she had to check out every person who was there. Bella peed again. They manually took a fecal sample from Oliver, which must have been fun. The vet thought that Bella's eyes were red (I noticed that) because of allergies. And he cleaned some gunk out of Oliver's ears. They're going to check the fecal samples before finalizing the boarding. Oh, Bella looked like she was going to give the vet a kiss, and he said, "I have a boyfriend!" LOL.

My plan of record is to feed the hordes, bring in a recycling bin, take a short nap, and do the recycling.

I just contacted a pet waste cleanup person to clean up the yard. Yay, they'll do it, probably on Friday. Now I just need a house cleaner, and I’ll be in good shape.

Got us all fed. Nap time. Slept until 6 AM. I’m feeling dizzy.

Woke up at 8 AM. Bella saw some dogs out for a walk.

I’m looking for used grow light setups to start plants in the basement. I would have to start tomatoes right after I get back from my trip.

Okay, I don’t get this. I took Bella outside and stayed out for a good long time. She peed. And we came in. And she pooped in the bathroom. I did find her lost ball, which might have distracted her.

Bella on the picnic table:

There is a group called Indivisible that is holding a webinar about action plans to combat Trump’s changes tonight. I’ll attend. And there is a local group that I emailed.

Got us all fed. I want to take a nap, but I have Bella, Oliver, and Lily in here. This is not restful :) Oliver is out but Lily is still in here and Bella wants to play. I think that Lily needs to leave, alas. Okay, they’ve settled down.

Lily above the bedroom door:

Napped. Bella and Lily crashed out too.

Some neighbors look like they’re tapping a maple tree? Bella keeps trying to pull slimy leaves out of the plant saucers, so I tipped them all over. She keeps trying to pin Oliver down. Bella is now pawing the water dishes.

I’m trying to decide what to do when. I’m going to eat lunch. Then I think that I’ll corral Oliver and work on the aquarium so that the water can warm up so that I can put the plants in. But hmm, do I need to throw myself together for the webinar tonight? I need to put clothes in the dryer first. Then I’ll work on the kitchen. Okay, dryer, food, shower, aquarium, kitchen.

Me: Bella, whatever you’re doing, don’t do it. Leave Oliver alone. Lily, don’t eat the plant. Etc.

Hmm. I also like tops with pockets. (This is why I live in hoodies all winter long.). I looked at The Vermont Country Store and found a top that I really like, but no pockets. Sigh. I found a linen tunic with pockets on Etsy that I’d like in Dusty Rose.

It got up to 53F/12C today. False Spring.

I had Oliver and Lily in with me in the bathroom while I showered. I moved my soda so that Oliver wouldn’t knock it over but he did anyway :)

Bella pooped outside so yay.

I think that I’ll need garden fencing because Bella walks through the garden, especially because I want a vegetable garden. I’m looking at some fencing at Home Depot. I also need to get the fabric covers out of the gardens. It doesn’t keep the weeds out anyway.

I attended the Call to Action webinar. They want us to visit our Senator's offices to put pressure on them to keep Russell Vought from being confirmed as OMB Director. I emailed the local group to say that I want to join, but I don't have a group with which to go to Springfield.

I haven't eaten dinner yet, so I'm going to go downstairs and work on the kitchen while the pizza is baking. I should take Bella out first (done, and the pizza is in the oven).

I’m trying to gather up the recycling, but Bella is grabbing the cat food cans, which is why they’re on the floor in the first place. She also grabbed an envelope from me. Aargh.

Ate dinner with marked attention from Oliver, Lily, and Bella. Now I'm upstairs with Mimi. I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. I'm going to get up early to give Bella more time outside before work. Mimi is paying attention to me. I need to get my music in the binder for choir tomorrow. Oh, and I need to do Italian homework tomorrow.

Oops, I need to write the trust.

Dollar General also has some storage bins that I should check out.

I was talking pet fountains with my boss (she has cats), and Oliver is interested in water, so I bought one for Oliver and Lily in the kitchen and one for Mimi upstairs. (Zara does not like pet fountains.)

Oh! The delivery of the larger harness is scheduled for tonight, not last night! I was confused because the delivery from PetSmart is usually right on time (done).

Had my doctor's appointment. I'm still not thrilled with the doctor but there was a good nurse. When I was looking at my online chart, it said that I was due for a pneumonia vaccine, so I set up an appointment next week to get it at the doctor's office. The nurse said that they could do it today after my doctor's appointment. The only thing is that no one knew my appointment was over, so I wound up cooling my heels a little. But I got it done. It's kind of a painful shot and my shoulder is hurting.

And I completely forgot that I had an appointment with the new local investment firm. I logged on a couple of minutes late. I liked them, but I have a feeling that my dad won't like their investment strategy. They cover only investments, but they can partner with a bank that could administer a trust. And they don't do taxes, but can work with a tax accountant. They wanted to know more about the trust and the account balance, so I said that I would get more information from the Michigan trust.

The university sent an email saying that the new federal policies didn’t necessarily apply to us. Good because we work remotely.

When I get an electrician in here, I want to get a motion-sensitive light on my front porch. I wind up leaving mine on all evening because I go in and out with Bella. Worse, I leave it on all the time when I'm out of town and have a pet sitter. So I should get it changed sooner rather than later.

I've decided not to do the food kits while I'm getting the kitchen organized. I'll pick it up afterward.

Oliver is really the one who pisses me off. He was trying to get upstairs, so I picked him up to drop him on the stairs so that I can get in. He dug his claws in my arm and got in. I'm not particularly proud of myself but I yelled at him, and eventually got him out. I guess my next step is a feline behaviorist because I'm at my wits end with this cat. Now I feel like crying. It just occurred to me that I could give him food or treats and go up while he's eating. Maybe I could discuss strategies with the vet on Monday.

Oliver knew I was mad at him. He was hiding when I came downstairs. I talked to him calmly and he came out. And then he tried to get upstairs when I went to get Mimi’s dishes. Sigh. I think that I have some Greenies that I could give him when I go upstairs. If I can’t find them, I’ll order more. I have Churus. I can give him kitty crack. He’s my 10th cat and by far and away the most difficult. I only hope that he’ll settle down as he gets older. It’s ironic that his sister, Lily, is the perfect cat.

I could shut Oliver up in the bedroom during the day, but it would keep Bella out of the room. But she doesn’t sleep during the day. Oliver would be more comfortable in there.

I also ordered Oliver a treat puzzle. He’s curious, so he might like it.

Well, the new Costco wet dog food was a hit. Bella inhaled it.

I’m thinking what to do tomorrow. I want to take Bella for a walk. There is a Dollar Tree in Urbana, which I didn’t know, so I’d like to go there, but I need to get the pet supplies organized so that I can see what baskets I need. Maybe I’ll organize the pet stuff tomorrow and go to Dollar Tree on Sunday. Also, I need to get my tax info together and write the trust about various things. Also finally get the aquarium set up.

Oliver got upstairs when I took Mimi’s food upstairs. I shut him in the guest room by picking up the door that needs to be hung. I think that I need to shut him in the bathroom when I feed Zara and Mimi. I took it more calmly though.

I think that I’m going to take a short nap right now. Then I’ll work on the kitchen and practice singing and piano. The puppy is already asleep.

I’m having problems falling asleep, so I should get up and do things. It doesn’t help that I have to lie on a different side than usual because of the shot. Bella: if you aren’t going to sleep, you should pet me. LOL. Now the puppy has gone back to sleep again. Hmm. Now I’m yawning. I think that I got Bella’s new bed, so I’ll get it set up and then post and go to sleep.

I got Bella’s new bed put together. She says, “This is new. I don’t like it.” So I’ll leave both beds set up tonight, which doesn’t leave much room in the bedroom! (She’s so conservative about new things that she should be a cat.)

I’m going to sit for a moment, then start the late night feeding routine.

Project Churu worked really well. I gave Oliver a Churu, and I was able to go get Mimi’s dish while he was occupied. Except that I think that Bella licked up the Churu :) Next time, I’ll give it to him on the counter.

Lily was on my lap getting petted, and Bella got jealous and put her front paws on my lap. Lily hauled off and slapped her. Way to go, feisty little cat!

Oliver realized what I'm doing with the Churus and abandoned it to follow me upstairs. Sigh. He's too smart. Lily ate the Churu. So now I'm shutting him in the bedroom when I come upstairs.

Everyone is fed. Did dishes. Watered plants. Scooped litter boxes.

I keep adding places to my "bucket list" as I check them off. I saw a beautiful picture of Vietnam, so now I want to go there. Road Scholar has a trip to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Not at the top of my list though.

Anyway, I'm going to post and go to bed. We'll see if Bella dares try the new bed.

I'm looking at swimsuits for my cruise. I should order relatively soon to be sure to have it for my trip. I'll definitely have two beach days plus pool time on the ship, and possibly some beach time in San Juan. I think that tankinis are the way to go. I'm thinking this one and this one. Or possibly this one. I definitely want the purple one. I just have to decide on the second one. I also need a "wet bag" in case I swim in San Juan and then need to pack the swimsuit for the cruise.

I found out what is the best swimming beach in San Juan and want to book the Hilton Caribe, which is right near the beach, and it also has a pool. I'll have to look into transport to the cruise dock (found transportation).

I discovered that most lawn weed-killers kill clover, which I included in my lawn seed. Bother. I hope that the clover crowds the other stuff out. I found some instructions on how to kill weeds without killing clover. This guy has a blog all about lawn care, including what to do when.

I overslept this morning. We had a meeting with a job candidate at 10. When I logged on at 9, I went "Eeep" because we'd need to be on camera, so I jumped hastily into the shower. (Yes, I made up the time.) The candidate was very good. We'll have to see how the one in the afternoon is. She was very good too. I don't envy the search committee having to make a decision.

The house cleaner is here. I forgot to mention the Italian stickers to her, and she removed two of them until she realized what they were. That's okay. She's doing an excellent job and she's super nice. She finished and did a great job. And she's not open for reoccurring appointments, damn it. She said that it all depended on her schedule, and we exchanged phone numbers.

The other night, I saw a listing for a cat who loves everyone, and "species doesn't matter". If she's still available, I'll check her out once the library room is done and I get stuff out of the living room. There's another one who is similar at the same shelter, which is convenient.

I intended to go to the DMV tonight, but apparently then close at 5 tonight, not 5:30. I'll have to get up early and go tomorrow.

I'm trying to figure out what to do after work. I guess that I should unload the car. I need to do laundry and pack. And I want to clean the upstairs. That's probably the least amount of stuff that I've had to do the night before a trip. Most of the cleaning has been done.

I'm tired, so I'm going to go to bed early and finish up in the morning. I need to get up early to go to the DMV anyway.

Tried to make an appointment at Midas to have the license plate replaced and an oil change, only to get a "something went wrong" message.

My weather clock is saying rain, but I don’t see it in the forecast.

I want to post signs in the kitchen with my measurements and the fact that I want curves like I had when I was younger (done). I have colored pencils.

Walmart didn’t give me the salad that I ordered.

Woke up at 7:30 AM. Ate breakfast and fed the cats. Napped.

Some of the things my friends from high school are posting on Facebook about Trump getting shot are bugging me.

I thought about having lunch, but I'm not hungry yet, so I went to study Italian. My (electronic) flashcards are displaying verbs, and I'm having a hard time remembering them, so I'm making physical flashcards of them. I can study them when I take a break from mowing.

I’ve decided that whenever I go upstairs, I should take a box of photos from Mom’s house. They will be the last thing that I will organize.

The air conditioner left upstairs fits in the window and works! I’ll be able to work out upstairs! And not swelter while working! (The upstairs is a finished attic room that I use as a home office and mini-gym.) I’ve got the a/c running now to cool it off!

I’m looking at bookcases for the upstairs, but I need to get the living room bookcases first.

I have a headache, so I’m going to lie down for a while.

Hmm, it’s taking a while for the a/c to cool the upstairs. The a/c plus fan is quite comfortable though, so I guess that I’ll move the fan around while I work out.

Hmm. Some of my dumbbell workouts require an exercise bench. I used to have one in California, but I’m not sure what happened to it. I have my eye on one on Amazon. We’ll see if it goes on sale. I might buy a used one. Actually, some people are selling them used on Facebook Marketplace, but I don’t know how I’d get them into and out of the car. Hmm, I wonder if I could use boxes as a bench. Or my bed.

Mowed both sides of the house. That’s enough for today. I’m inside now and dripping sweat. Ate dinner.

I set up a calendar of to-dos in Asana. It's free for personal use. The one thing that I don't like about it is that it doesn't have a way to add recurring tasks.

Hmm. I'm kind of feeling hungry all the time. But I remember going through something similar with BistroMD. My body needs to get used to less food.

Walked on the treadmill. I was getting bored silly using it. I have a TV upstairs that I was going to put in the bedroom, but I'd get more use of it by the treadmill. I need a Roku stick for it (ordered). I want to order a "Don't wish for it; work for it" poster for the treadmill corner. And a “Don’t stop until you’re proud” magnet for the kitchen.

I think that I want some bananas. I can pick some up after tai chi tomorrow.

I'm trying to get to bed on time for once. Maybe I'll read a little.

Hmm. A study in the New York Times said that weight training burns fat. I need to get to the gym. No fitness classes today due to the holiday.

Up at 3:30 AM, which is the wrong direction. Went back to sleep and got up at 7. Mimi is nosing around, eating Zara’s leftover food.

Oh crud, I forgot to put the garbage out. Got some laundry going.

I ordered Marie Kondo’s books in Italian. I also ordered a book called Dirty Italian, which I could have used to get the guy bothering me to get lost.

Crammed my Euros in the new wallet. I have more than I thought. I really want to book the next Italy trip but should wait until my mom’s house sells.

Mimi is circling me, meowing.

We got our official “Welcome home” email from Road Scholar.

Went back to sleep and woke up at noon.

Wondering what to do now. I think that I’ll shower and fire up my CD player and work on putting clothes away. I have the Marie Kondo book that says how to fold clothes. I need to get the recycling out too.

I set up my new scale. Apple Health said that I was more active than usual over the last couple of weeks. You think?

Took a nice cool shower finally.

I found the Road Scholar tour with the garden at Ravello, which I want to see.

Hmm. Midnight Rome time.

Hmm. I’m being a lazy bum today. I should at least get the recycling out.

Me to Zara: Did you eat your food? You need to eat your food, Zara.

Zara: blinks.

Got the recycling out. I’m boiling. It’s currently 85 F. I’m coated in sweat. I’m going to go to bed soon and get up early to run errands.

I'm burnt like toast. These two weeks are jam-packed with tasks.

The vet in Urbana keeps contacting me to set up appointments for Zara and Mimi. As soon as I get to Urbana, I’ll do so.

I need to call the movers and junk hauler guys (done) back.

I ran to the bank and deposited checks. I’ll need to get money for the movers next week.

I’m thinking of going to bed early. I need to get the statues and pictures down in the morning so that I can put them in the storage unit. But I’ll need light to do so. And I have a hair appointment at 11 AM. And I’m meeting the guy to bring the boxes from storage at 2. Oh, and I need to get money for the packing guy for tomorrow. And I need to work on packing and homework.

Oh, the junk hauler guys said that leftover paint (Mom has some in the basement) will dry when mixed with kitty litter. Then they can haul it off. So I need to get a big bag of cheap kitty litter. And something to stir the paint with.

I woke up late, around 10:30 AM. The cats were going, “Get with the program and feed us!” (I did.) Mimi is telling me that it’s a tough life being a cat. She wants me to go upstairs for snuggles or to let her go down in the basement.

I’m figuring out what I need to do today. I need to pick up my Apple Watch and also get some ice melt. I need to work on my box and the kitchen.

I was trying to find out how to pair the AirTags with my new phone. It turns out that I need to replace them. Sigh.

The wallpaper on my phone tells me the weather. It shows a graphic representation of what the weather is. Right now, it’s showing snow flakes, and we’re supposed to get snow flurries for the next hour. It was a few hours. Flurries are okay. I don’t want a huge dump of snow.

I discovered on my phone that my electric razor arrived in December, so I looked at the boxes in the front hall and found it. It’s now charging. I want to wait to take a shower until I can use it.

The new The Home Edit books look useful. I also received The Complete Book of Home Organization and Design the Home You Love. What is with, though, those people who shelve books by color? Yeah, that’ll make them easy to find.

I've decided to get rid of my ratty large spinning rack for DVDs and VHS tapes and buy shelving that kind of looks like a bookcase with smaller shelves. Though I might wait until later to do that. (Money, money, money....)

I’m feeling really tired. I think that I’ll run my errands tomorrow. Plus, it’s snowing, although it’s not very heavy.

I’ve decided that I will work on organizing my bathroom and bedroom first after we move. I’ll spend a lot of time there.

One of the cat bowls fell, and I can’t find it. I ordered four more from Amazon. That should hold us for a while.

Paid bills. I'm going to get the boxes to shred ready (done) because I need to drop a return at the UPS Store, and I might as well bring the boxes to shred too. And I should get Dad's box of stuff ready to ship. I’m going to need packing paper for Dad’s box because it needs to be long to fit a piece of inlaid wood in it, but I don’t have enough stuff to fill the box. I thought that I had packing paper, but I don’t see it, so I ordered some.

Did dishes. The cats want a fourth meal, and I finally caved. I'll feed them and go to bed.

I got the Mental Health pack from StruggleCare.com. The "How to Clean Your Depression House" booklet gave some great ideas for cleaning supplies, so I got them from Amazon. And it gave some good suggestions, like cleaning crumbs off the stove with a hand-held vacuum cleaner. It also had some questions to ask when you look for a therapist, so I'll use them when I talk to the possible therapist.

Got up, had breakfast, and had a nice nap. Had lunch. The StruggleCare.com handouts had a to-do list that breaks big tasks down into little tasks, so I wrote some out. Knocked two mini-tasks off my list already. Zara: Mommy, aren't your forgetting something IMPORTANT? Fed the girls.

Damn, it's hot when I move. Weather.com says that it's only 81F though.

Got the garbage out. Started laundry. Ordered some biodegradable garbage and pet poop bags because I'm running out of garbage bags. Went to turn on the bread maker, but it got stuck in a setting, so I'm waiting for it to clear. I don't think that I'll be able to make bread until tomorrow. I also want to make banana-walnut bread in the bread maker because I have three overripe bananas, but it requires buttermilk, so I ordered some buttermilk powder from Amazon. Everything is complicated.

Dawn Powerwash (suggested by StruggleCare.com) does make a really good cleaner as well as dish soap.

Made the spinach salad. Made biscuits and gravy and ate them. I'm doing more dishes, and then I'll do my other nighttime tasks and go to sleep.

I called and made an appointment for a mammogram today. Little by little, I'm catching up on stuff.

I did something to my left side, and it hurts by my ribs. Weird. Maybe it's from when I fell yesterday.

Now I'm thinking about a trip to Florence in November if I can pull one off. That's my mom's favorite Italian city, so it would be nice to compare notes with her. Plus, I read an article that said that it's a good time to go because there are fewer tourists, although it will rain.

The pain in my side is distracting, and I'm not getting anything done. I guess that I'll go to sleep early.