days_unfolding

Woke up around 6:30 AM. It’s looking completely uninviting for raking thus far—gloomy and cold. Fed us all.

It’s predicted to rain today. So much for raking. Maybe in the late afternoon. Napped. It’s seeming dryish out, but I might wait a few hours before raking. I wound up cleaning dog debris from part of the kitchen because I dropped an acetaminophen pill and couldn’t find it. I have a headache, so I’m going to take another nap.

I received my Sardinia book and flipped through part of it. Now I’m thinking of spending the first couple of days at the beginning at the Costa Smeralda (the resort area) and then go to Cagliari. I found a hotel that isn’t ridiculously expensive. I have to figure out how to get from there to Cagliari. Okay, there’s a train. I looked at an airplane, but I’d have to fly through Rome! Going there first will add a pile of money to the airfare though. I think that I still want to go there though. Hmm, luggage on the train may be a problem. I'm trying to find out if I can check luggage, but I'm not getting an answer from Trenitalia's (the train line's) Web site. They just said that I have to be able to handle my luggage and store it on the train. That rules out my big suitcase.

All the sleep seems to have helped.

Oliver is trying to stay away from Bella, who is being bitey. Play-bitey, but still, he doesn’t like it. She doesn’t mess with Lily for some reason, just Oliver.

Showered and put my makeup on, but the cats were hungry and so am I. Oliver has gone inside a tipped-over garbage can, and Bella can’t figure out how to get to him. She’s barking and whining. Okay, fed us all.

Raked the front yard. It’s a start. I’m going to continue to work on it Monday and Tuesday night.

Watched a couple of episodes of The Big Bang Theory for a break. Now I’m yawning. Should I go to sleep early? Oliver is fast asleep on the cat tree. Right, I need to get up early to run over to the car repair place. So, yes, bed.

I looked for a place to hang out in Reno when I take my California Zephyr trip because the train gets in at 8:30 AM, and my dad won't be able to get there that early. I found a restaurant with great breakfasts that's an Uber drive away. It sounds like a plan. And someone online said that the best time to take the Zephyr is in mid to late September. I'd need to make a decision to take the trip early because the Zephyr fills up (although kids will be in school then, which helps). Huh. It just occurred to me that I could rent a car and drive to Gardnerville. But I still want that breakfast.

I have a ratty old cat tree that Harlee loved, but Harlee has been gone for a few years now. It's on my list of things to get rid of. Now Mimi has decided that she likes it after ignoring it for years. Cats!

I stayed up late. Ridiculously late. And now I have dark circles under my eyes.

I ordered body wash in a reusable bottle, and shampoo and conditioner bars. We'll see how I like them.

Napped for 4.5 hours. I must have needed it. Cats: "Good Mommy, you got up on time to feed us!" Mimi was telling me a tale of woe about how she's starving to death :)

I've started the Butter Chicken in the slow cooker. Set up the Blueland hand soap; you put hot water into the glass bottle and drop in a tablet.

Mom is still not doing well. She's dizzy and barely walking. She thinks that it's a side effect of the meds that she's on but her doctor blew it off. Her platelets are also low. It's kind of a bummer to talk to her but I don't want to feel that way. She wants me to order an Uber for her on Monday because her car is being fixed. No, she won't get a smart phone.

I'm feeling tired again, but I need to wait for the Butter Chicken. I printed off Italian to study. I want to get away from the computer radiating heat.

Zara was on the top shelf of the closet again last night. I'd like to see her make that jump.

Both cats have moved to the living room this morning. I wish that Mimi would just let Zara have a room of her own.

Making a mental note to take the 9:00 train when I go up to Chicago for Christmas. The 10:30 train is consistently 1.5 to 2 hours late. The 9:00 train was late this morning too. The joys of going Amtrak.

Nap. Lunch. Did two loads of laundry. Scrubbed a litter box. Took the garbage and recycling out to be collected. Watched an episode of The Crown.

Spent a lot of the evening working on a homework assignment. It was kind of tedious, but now I can collect data from an HTML form and display the data on a confirmation page. Pretty cool.

Now I need to work on the other assignment due this week. I'm not going to get a lot of cleaning done, but if I go to sleep early, I could get up early and clean.

Crossposts: https://days-unfolding.livejournal.com/903784.html

Stayed up late reading a book about a young woman who finished high school while homeless and got into Harvard. In the book, she talked about how her biggest challenge was herself. I think that's true of most of us.

I forgot to take my meds at first, which didn't help me wind down to fall asleep. Mimi was asleep a long time while I was reading, but then Zara came in and curled up on the bed, which is unusual.

Took a nap after breakfast, and both Mimi and Zara were napping with me. It was nice, and I felt loved, although I was wondering if they'd get fractious. But they didn't.

Priced the trip for mom and myself on the California Zephyr (Chicago - San Francisco) and the Coast Starlight (LA. - Seattle). The Zephyr is really expensive, not surprisingly. We probably would need to get a Superliner bedroom with a private bathroom because of Mom's digestive problems. Plus, especially on the Zephyr, I'd like a private shower. I hope that we'll be able to do it if mom wants to go.

My audacious goal is to become a good public speaker and speak to people about my illness. That'll require a lot of work. First step, Toastmasters, after I recover financially from the trip and Harlee's bloodwork and meds.

Time to make pancakes!

Crossposts: https://days-unfolding.livejournal.com/851278.html

I stepped on Mimi this morning. Bad Mommy revisited. Zara was upset too.

I got us up on the new catalog system at work, a day early. And removed the capability to select books for the Normal campus. So I got a lot done in the last couple of days.

We're allowed to take books that we're getting rid of, and I scored a set of books about various art museums around the world. Nice coffee table books.

My boss gave me some peppermint white chocolate fudge and a gift card to a local coffee shop. That was very nice. I was pondering if I could cash out the gift card at the coffee place (I was kind of hoping that it was a Walmart gift card). but on the other hand, it would be nice to treat my mom to a chai. Given that I'm boarding the cats, I won't have much cash left over.

And now we're on Winter Break! I don't go back until January 3rd.

Oh, I've been following the news about the Amtrak derailment closely because I enjoy riding the train. Here's hoping that Amtrak and those who own the rails implement Positive Train Control quickly.

Crossposts: https://days-unfolding.livejournal.com/819679.html

Not much to report. Woke up slightly before my alarm went off. Work is winding down for the holiday weekend. Looking forward to being off.

The wind is confusing the motion sensor on the outside light. I need to remember to shut it off before I go to bed. (Usually I just leave it on.)

I have the urge to jump on another Amtrak train, but not right now. It would be nice to take a long train trip.

Added: I saw an ad on Facebook for a salad cutter bowl, which I thought would be good to have given that I'm eating more veggies. I looked on Amazon, however, and found the exact same bowl for $6 cheaper. It pays to shop around!

Crossposts: https://days-unfolding.livejournal.com/803663.html

I lay down for a short nap to get rid of my headache, and overslept. The nap helped though.

I had a strong premonition that my uncle is going to die soon. He's in rehab right now. The premonition was so strong that I checked my messages, but nothing. I hope that I'm wrong.

I ate dinner, and I'm going to do what I can with the time that I have. Can't wait until the holiday.

I think that it's funny that I can recognize the sound of the Amtrak train. It sounds different than a freight train.

Added: found my cutting boards so that I can cut up tomatoes and avocados for sandwiches. Every little bit helps.

Crossposts: https://days-unfolding.livejournal.com/803092.html

Little Lincoln had a bit of excitement this morning. Apparently someone got on an Amtrak train at Springfield (next stop southwest) with a "suspicious package". They evacuated the passengers in Lincoln, moved the train out of town, evacuated some buildings and closed a road near the train, and checked out the package. I'm glad that they took it seriously.

Ran most of my errands, except the dentist's office wasn't open. I need an itemized receipt from them for my flexible spending account. Also need to make an appointment to get more work done. Note to self: get up early on Monday and stop by before work.

I also need to scan my driver's license for my tax refund, but I can do that on Sunday when I work.

Now I'm home. I'm doing laundry and eating dinner. The first thing that I want to do when I'm done is set up my cable modem and router so that I stop running up my data bill on my phone.

I have a box in the kitchen over which I threw a blanket. I didn't think of it as a cat bed, but Zara thinks that it is. I want to get the futon cleared off so that she can sleep there if she wants.

Crossposts: https://days-unfolding.livejournal.com/789989.html

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