days_unfolding

I confirmed that Illinois Canyon Trail at Starved Rock doesn't have stairs. It sounds like a nice hike. I need to dig out my hiking boots. Hmm, I need to get a second phone charger battery for camping. There's a limit to how much I'll rough it! I bought a travel dog bed for Bella.

It looks like Bella found another dead possum. Is she killing them? I might need to take her out on a leash at night. I’m calling her “Possum Breath”. Okay, she’s a dog and doesn’t know any better.

I was going to get ready for bed. Cats: not so fast. We didn’t get our second meal! They were right, so I fed them. Now I’m in bed.

Woke up at 8 AM. Emailed in sick. Two of the tickseeds are blooming!

We get Thursday off for Juneteenth, so I plan to do some gardening and cleaning.

Bella was digging in the back garden, so I threw a stick and distracted her. She’s busy chewing it. Now we’re inside. Bella is trying to “play” with Oliver and he gave her a swat. I told her that I speak Cat and he’s annoyed with her.

I need to check whether the lab at the hospital will be open on Thursday (Juneteenth). It would be a good time to get my blood work done.

Fed us all. My stomach hurts. Time to sleep.

Hmm, it’s going to go up to 87F today. I guess that I’ll shave my legs and put on shorts.

Bella is always up for a nap. My bed potato :) Woke up at 1PM.

I received the camping food. I want reusable grocery bags to put them in. I also received a tie-out for Bella, a lantern, and some pots. The tent should arrive on the weekend. Hmm, maybe I should save a box to also put stuff in. I’ll be "car camping".

I’m feeling better but shaky with some stomach cramps. Food should help. It did.

American Airlines flights to Reno are either early in the morning or late at night. I need to take a morning flight to get picked up in Reno by my dad. I’m wondering if I’ll need to overnight in Chicago.

Maybe I’ll take another nap. Bella was already in the bedroom ready to take a nap! Napped and woke up at 6 PM.

I’m feeling dizzy.

It’s predicted to be 93 and 95 F on the weekend. Fuck. Not great for yard work. It looks like an iris that I planted is coming up.

There are ants in my mailbox. It looks like some food spilled in there. I don’t have ant spray. I left the mail outside.

Fed us all. Ordered groceries. I’m trying to get the energy together to gather the garbage for pickup. Woah. I’m feeling dizzy.

The BBC had a video about how Cologne, Germany is sex-positive. It sounds like an interesting city that I’d like to visit.

Bella has a crinkly brown mailer. I can see the appeal. She’s now ripping it up.

I flipped through the destination guide to Greenville, SC, and it looks interesting.

Got most of the garbage out. Hot and dizzy.

I’m looking into Bark Air for when I study in Italy and France. Apparently they do take cats also.

I never did take a shower. I need to get up early to do so because I need to hand off my check to someone at work. It just occurred to me that I need to find out if I need to spell out the name of the consortium or not.

It's oppressively hot upstairs. And Lily wants to snuggle.

I bought a tent and a sleeping bag on eBay. I would like to do some camping. I bought a two-person tent, so I could take Bella camping! I looked into some HipCamp sites.

I found a campground that I like. It’s near Starved Rock, so I could take Bella hiking (although she probably wouldn’t like the metal stairs). I wouldn’t take the puppy until she gets older. Though Starved Rock is wall-to-wall people in the summer. The fall would be better. I found the one trail that doesn’t have stairs (Illinois Canyon).

Starved Rock has dog-friendly cabins, but I can’t find out how much they cost.

I should test out the tent and sleeping bag in the back yard.

Got up at 8 AM. Fed us all. Did laundry. (My white towels came out looking good!) Now it’s nap time.

Napped. Moved around some stuff that’s by the front stairs outside. Now I’m boiling. I turned the ceiling fan on in the kitchen, although Bella doesn’t like it.

I’ve been working hard on the kitchen and packing on breaks. I still need to figure out one more outfit for the trip. Hmm, if I hand wash the clothes that I’m wearing on the plane, I’ll be okay.

I kind of want it to be dinner time because I need a break. I’m soaking the dog and cat dishes and am cooling off from being outside. I’m going to take a shower (done) and see if I perk up. It’s been almost 24 hours since I had my brows done.

I have an impulse to say that I can’t go on the business trip, but I should go. Getting ready to go is a hassle.

Started more loads of laundry. Finished packing my suitcase. The linen clothes will be nice and cool. Remembered my swimsuit. (The hotel has two pools.)

Now I’m going to take a SHORT nap. Bella is zonking out.

Ugh. Bella found a dead possum and wouldn’t let it go. I finally got her to come in with a food bribe. I need to go out and get rid of it.

I’ve decided not to go. I just can’t. I’ll tell the people at work I’m sick. Not a lie because my stomach is really upset. I just canceled everything and will email them about it in a few hours.

I wound up getting my second wind and staying up late. Plan B is to log onto work at the usual time and work an extra 45 minutes in the evening.

Woke up at 6:30 AM. Took Bella out but decided that I wanted to get another half-hour of sleep, so I brought her in early.

Crazy cats are crazy and are chasing each other.

I'm looking at adult tricycles to use to run errands. There are stores that are not too far away to which I could bike. I found one that I like, and they sell it at a local bike shop, so they could put it together. Not sure how I'd get it home though. I could take side streets.

I got an email for the Amalfi Coast trip. Apparently you can customize where you stay and at what hotels. I don't need four-star accommodations. It sounds promising.

I've decided to grow snapdragons in my back part-sun garden bed. Lowe's has them. I was going to have them delivered, but that will double the cost of them, so I'll go by Lowe's this weekend. Actually, my eye doctor appointment this afternoon is nearby, so I'll pop in afterward.

I've run into a snag. My therapist is changing practices. She wants a LOCAL Emergency Contact Person, and I don't have one. I emailed her asking what to do. I really need to meet more people here. She said that she'll put a note to contact the local EMS if needed.

I'm mulling over volunteering at the local Humane Society. The good news is that I love working with cats; the bad news is that I love cats and don't want to end up with another one. Oliver and Lily get along so well that I don't want to rock the boat. Also, I have volunteered to take my dad and Sue's cat if they no longer can take care of him. He's a real cutie. (BTW, I'm adding the local Humane Society to my will. The proceeds from the sale of my car or cars will go to them. That should buy a lot of cat food.)

The appointment with the psychiatrist went quickly. She’s going to keep me on the increased meds and will see me in three months.

Bella is excited that I left and came back! She is happy! Silly pooch :)

I was wondering if the NokBox has a lock, and apparently there's a spot for a small combination lock. I want to put the logins for my bank accounts in it, but I don't want them available if someone breaks in. So I'll work on my list.

Created my list of bank accounts. It wasn't as bad as I thought last night. And almost finished my list of credit cards. But I need to get myself together for the eye doctor appointment.

The eye doctor appointment ran long. We were waiting a long time for the (virtual) doctor. My prescription didn’t change much and I have it in hand. Bought an expensive pair of glasses.

Went to Lowe’s and cleaned them out of snapdragons. Also bought a fern.

Bella is fussing over me again. So is Oliver, but he wants food.

Fed us all. Took a nap and slept until 1 AM.

A guy from my hometown whom I know on Facebook wants to meet with me. I don’t want to go. I’m going to tell him that my mower guy is coming by tonight to mow and give me an estimate on cleaning my gutters (true). Oh okay, he's asking about the 21st.

Arthritis is bothering me. It's not excruciating, just mildly annoying. My concern is more about my fingers instead of my toes because that could impact working on the computer and piano.

I'm falling asleep at my desk. Crashed hard at lunch and overslept my nap.

I'm looking into BistroMD again. I got tired of their food, but I did lose weight on it.

83F/28C. It's hot upstairs. It feels like 10 degrees cooler downstairs, so I won't turn on the a/c yet. You can feel the heat as you walk upstairs. I'm wondering if I should get an air conditioner or bite the bullet and buy a heat pump for upstairs. I spend a lot of time in my home office upstairs. I'm running a fan by my desk. It's hotter in Urbana than it is in Miami. And a lot hotter than Chicago.

It's kind of giving me the creeps that people with whom I worked at the beginning of my tech writing career have passed away. But they were a lot older than me, so it shouldn't be surprising.

I got the strawberry pot. And the Japanese Spirea.

Hum. I'm wondering if I should go to bed really early and get up early to work on the upstairs. It's too hot to work on it during the evening unless I stay up really late.

Oliver went over to see what Lily was doing. She was flat out because of the heat, and swatted at him. He walked away to lie down on the floor too.

Mower guy said that the lawn was too wet to mow. It was foggy this morning.

For my guest room, I was looking at the 8-drawer Van Gogh dresser that susandennis bought. But eight drawers is really more than I need. I found a 3-drawer version. If someone has more clothes, they can put them in the closet. Though if I got the 8-drawer one, I could keep colored pencils and such in some of the drawers. And some travel stuff.

Speaking of travel stuff, I looked at the linen outfit that I wanted to wear on the plane, and the color that I wanted is sold out. I could do a black-and-white top and white pants and a white blazer. I bought a “flax” top and pants and a “driftwood” blazer. That should look okay with my brown shoes.

Done with work. I have a cat (Oliver) in my face and a dog being manic. Fed us all. I was going to take a nap, but it’s late enough that I should probably go to bed for the night.

I started reading a new biography of Jennie Churchill. It’s interesting.

I’m feeling kind of dizzy.

Bella is out cold on her bed. She got up when I did though.

Great. Bella grabbed my debit card off of the table and ran away with it. Eventually I got it away from her, but there are punctures in it. I’m going to have to go to the bank tomorrow.

Lily got into the napkins and dropped a bunch of them on the floor.

I only live here :)

Woke up at 6:30 AM. They’re predicting rain most of the day. I really want to go back to sleep, but I need to go to the bank to replace my debit card. Maybe I could take a short nap.

One of my irises is blooming. How exciting!

Fed us all. Bella ate Oliver’s food. I told her that she was being annoying.

Time for a short nap. Had a nice nap.

I was looking into whether I could get the bus to O’ Hare on Christmas for my cruise, and the answer is no. I’ll have to go up the day before.

Took Bella out and ran into my neighbors. Bella was very excited.

I got my Paris and Istanbul books and the security cameras. Now I need to find a handyman to put them up. Ordered the batteries for my mower.

Showered and dressed. I’m trying to decide whether to drive to Monticello to pick up my plants today or tomorrow. Rain both days. I’m feeling like sticking close to home and planting the plants that I have.

Went to the bank to get a new debit card. Their machine wasn’t working, so no card. One of the people working at the bank heard what happened and we exchanged “dog talk”. So, I withdrew money because I’m not sure if the payments to my credit cards have posted yet. Got my library books. Got gas for the drive to Monticello, but I’m still thinking of going tomorrow. It’s gloomy today but not raining so far. Bella burst out of the door when I came home, and I told her that’s not good.

Ate lunch with rapt attention from Oliver, Lily, and Bella. Oliver got a hunk of cheese and spinach from my Lean Cuisine pizza. Oliver and Lily ate the cheese, and Bella gobbled up the spinach.

The forecasters say rain in the late afternoon, so I need to get out and get planting. I’ll nap when it starts raining.

Got the plants out of the boxes, and I have coral bells, bee balm, and tickseed. The bee balm will be complicated because I want to pull up the fabric covering the bed, but don’t want to disturb the irises, which are blooming. Planted the coral bells. I need a few more for the side yard. Planted the bee balm. I’m done for the day. I’m pooped, and it’s supposed to start raining.

Napped, but it didn’t rain. Went out and watered the plants.

I’m thinking of going to bed early to get up and clean out the garden bed for the tickseed plants.

I found my missing glasses. Remarkably, they are not broken. They would have been useful when I was bending over planting plants.

Bella was whining, but it was a false alarm. When I was outside, I noticed another box of plants. I won’t order more plants until I know what it is, although I don’t think that it’s coral bells because they came from another company. It was tickseed.

I’m feeling too tired to start cleaning now. I’ll go upstairs and do some things on my computer, and then go to bed.

Ordered some Bonkers dog treats from Amazon. Bella thinks that they are canine crack.

I’m communicating with my dad about a possible trip to see him next year. I think that I’ll do that instead of taking a cruise. He said that late May to early June is the best weather-wise.

Asked for handyman recommendations on NextDoor.

I'll order some coral bells and start wending my way towards bed.

I tried my dad’s system for timing the market, and it looks like we’re in a yellow light (basically, hold), although it has to be three days in a row to be official.

Woke up at 6 AM. I want to go back to sleep, but I need to take a shower because I have my appointment with the psychiatrist at noon. I just realized that I need to postpone my dental appointment tomorrow because I don’t have the money. Compromised and dozed for a 1/2 hour.

I’ve created a monster. Bella thinks that she deserves a treat for coming inside the house.

Okay, rescheduled the dental appointment. Nothing like talking on the phone with a dog licking your face :) Oliver is playing with my pen. Now Bella is chewing the pen, sigh.

I had a strong impulse this morning to retire. But I’m getting our Web site accessible, and I should finish that at least.

Bella and Lily are attending my shower. Bella is ripping up rags. Bella was being a little snot. First, she was bugging Lily. Then she tried to eat Oliver's food.

Lily is sleeping on the floor upstairs. I'm not sure where Oliver is, but he was there when I fed them.

I found a chair and ottoman that I want for the library room. The question is, can I get it in the car?

For some reason, I'm thinking of the joke: if you get to a psychiatrist's appointment early, you're anxious; late, you're depressed; right on time, you're obsessive-compulsive :) I was "anxious".

I'm up and down with the hospital at which I have my doctor's appointments. Don't like my primary physician; liked my gynecologist; love my psychiatrist. The psychiatrist listens well and is helpful and caring. She's bumping up one of my meds and wants to see me in a month to see if it helps.

Bella was really excited when I came back. "You were gone and came back!!! I'm so thrilled!!!"

It was okayed for me to take Amtrak to Chicago instead of car pooling when I go to the conference. Yay! I get a chance to read! I'll bring my macroeconomics book!

I have a real taste for carrot cake. I wonder if Meijer has some? I also have a taste for a poke bowl but need to wait until I get the money to order some. Hmm, I wonder if I could take the poke bowl on the train? I need to get some soda to take with me too. Hmm, carrot cake mix is a lot cheaper than an actual cake.

I just found a washable loveseat and armchair. I might get it and get rid of my mom's loveseat and chair because they're a pain to wash the covers.

Lily is sleeping in the guest room window.

Fed us all. Bella was acting really weird. I filled her dish with food, but she wasn’t eating it. Instead, she hid under the bed. I left her in the bedroom with the food and she did eat it. I took her outside, and she was acting normally except for barking a lot at a dog across the street. And she whined when a little dog came by across the street. Does she want to go back to the Doggie Day Care place? I’m going to board her there.

I want to put fresh sheets on the bed, but Bella is camping out there. I guess that I'll get them in the morning. I started cleaning the kitchen. I want to start packing for my trip, but I need to check the weather to figure out what to wear. So that's why I'm online. I'll post now though. I guess that I could wear a tweed jacket on Sunday? 63F/17C? And boots? Black-and-white top, black pants, and a black blazer for another outfit. Light red-and-black blazer, black t-shirt, and black pants for the hottest day. I need one more outfit. And it all has to fit in my carryon. Maybe I could rewear the black blazer with a different top. Hmm, I'm thinking my blue-and-white top, white pants, and a navy blazer? I might need a larger suitcase. Oh, and I found my charger case.

Just posted on Facebook to my Chicago peeps that I'm going to be there.

I need to go to the grocery store.

The lawn is shaggy and I need to mow this weekend. And I should seed the bare spots. And plant my seeds. And clean the house. Busy, busy. Actually, I should wait to plant things until after the conference to which I'm going in early May. Speaking of which, I emailed a plant store, asking if they could ship my plants a week later due to the conference to which I'm going, but I haven't heard back. I need to check my spam filter. Okay, they did email me and they're shipping it a week later. Yay.

Woke up at 7 AM. Today is a work from home day, which is nice. Lily went into the shower and Bella was barking at her.

i keep forgetting about AARP discounts for travel. I should compare their price when I book hotels for my trips.

The Medisafe app is working well for medication reminders. I always remember the nighttime doses, but in the morning, I get distracted.

The May 1st protest will be in the evening, so I can go. I need to make my sign this weekend.

I had to turn my fan on upstairs. Spring tends to go from cold directly to hot in Central Illinois.

Silence from the trust about my check. I'm getting annoyed.

Had a therapy session. My therapist thinks that I should get a lawyer to deal with the trust. She also is concerned that I'm still having depressive symptoms and wants me to talk to my psychiatrist. I went online to contact the psychiatrist, only to find that I have an appointment on Monday. That'll work.

I don’t know what to do. I should go pick up a library book, but I’m crazy tired. I’m dropping the Kia off to be fixed tomorrow and don’t know if I’ll have it on the weekend. I did get new wrenches though, so I should be able to connect the battery in the Honda though. Ugh. My stomach is upset.

Slept until 11 PM. Started laundry. I figured out what I'm going to wear tomorrow. I have another offsite meeting. My colleague is going to pick me up at the car repair place.

Oliver, get off of the keyboard!

Overslept until 8 AM. Oh well.

My Italian teacher was nice about skipping next week. (We have an in-person meeting, and I'll be driving to it during the Italian time.)

The travel Meetup people also have a Yosemite trip that I might do sometime. I never went there when I lived in California!

Oliver is playing with his beloved little plastic ball. He carries it around in his mouth!

Got my groceries.

I saved a link to a hydration pack for larger people. That might be good for wandering around Italy. (I haven't forgotten almost passing out in Florence.) And the Sardinia trip will be in August.

The car repair people called. They want me to bring the car by so that the painter can match the color of the car. I said tomorrow morning. No, I'm going to take my shower during lunch and come by in the late afternoon. Crud, on the way back, I discovered that the stereo isn't getting any power. I called the repair shop, and they'll look at it when they put the new lock on. Hell, is this ever going to get over with?

The next "official" protest being held by the group that I joined is on May 1st. Crud, that's a work day.

I'm having a tough time finding someone to let Bella out at lunchtime during my meetings next week. I'm looking into doggie day care as an alternative. Called a place and they're sending over a release form.

I'm thinking of shelling out for a Roam hardside suitcase. They're pricey, but are supposedly well made. My Hartmann case has gotten stained, which is the disadvantage of softside luggage.

Bella, Oliver, and Lily attended my shower. Lily walked around on the shower stall and then jumped in. I thought that she might want to leave, so I opened the door and Oliver walked in. Then Bella walked in. I got Bella to leave but had to remove Lily, protesting. Oliver decided to leave on his own steam. Partway through my shower, both Oliver and Lily were standing on the shower stall batting at each other. Those two are a laugh riot!

Flaming headache.

Apparently my cleaner was texting me to confirm for tomorrow and I missed the messages. I hope that we're still on. We are.

Received the ferns for my garden. They are bare roots plants, which Bella likes to dig up and play with. I'll need to plant them this weekend, rain or not, and dig deeper to hide them.

Hmm. I haven't gotten the itineraries from the Meetup travel people yet. I'm pondering going over to Paris an extra couple of days early to wander around and follow ChatGPT's tours.

I went on the BBC’s app, and they were streaming the debate in Canada, so I left it on while I was cleaning up the kitchen. It was interesting. They brought up some of the same issues being discussed in the US. They are taking Trump's wish to annex Canada seriously. The discussion about healthcare was interesting. They were saying that their system was getting more privatized, and I was wondering why. There also was a discussion about Canada's role in supporting the Ukraine now that the US is no longer doing so. The polite Canadians were talking over each other! Anyway, I learned something and also got stuff done on the house.

I got a bad case of the shakes and did something to my knee. I'm going to go to sleep and get up very early to finish tidying. I'll set a wakeup call to make sure that I'll get up.

Picked up the car. They didn’t fix the driver’s side lock, so they’re going to order parts and call me.

I'm really tired, but can't justify calling in sick, so here I am.

The university is having a plant sale. I can get astilbe for not a lot of money. But I'm really low on funds because of the deductible for the car. I hope that the trust check gets here soon. They have lilacs too. And African daisies, which I'd like to grow in the house.

I do have enough money to submit a Walmart order instead of going there. It's arrived.

Lily: Mom, are you going to feed us? (Yes.)

I found a group on Meetup that arranges international travel. They have a Cherry Blossom trip to Japan next year that interests me. (I’d have to skip the cruise.) And an “Orient Express“ trip. I’m attending a Q & A session on Wednesday. Don’t know how they accommodate solo travelers.

I’ve put The Club anti-theft device on the Kia. I hope that it works.

Lay down for a nap but couldn’t sleep. Then I did and slept until a little before 2 AM.

Hmm, if I want to go to La Maddalena (an island off of Sardinia), I'd have to take an expensive one-hour cab ride to the ferry each way. But I'd really like to go there. I need to create a Sardinia document with my findings in one place.

I was outside, and Zara was sitting with her back in the window. I tapped on it, and she kept on meowing at me. So now I’m sitting with her in her room. She heard Oliver and went away and hid. So I’m keeping her door closed at night. (I was keeping it open in case she wanted to wander around.)

Overslept this morning and got up at 7. I went to the car repair place and signed the paperwork. Now I wait. The Honda is still running smoothly though.

Man, I'm tired. I'm wondering if I'll be up for raking tonight. It's a beautiful day for it though. (I dropped out of choir for this semester because I've missed a lot and I'm worn out. I'll pick it up in the fall.)

I was wondering where Oliver and Lily went, but now they're upstairs with me. They seem to have a napping spot of which I'm not aware.

Ow. The toes on my left foot are aching. Arthritis? Now the joints in my hands are hurting too. I had something like this happen several years ago. Aargh.

Ugh. It’s cold out and windy. The forecasters are predicting a freeze tonight, so I need to cover the plants. No raking today. After I eat dinner, I’ll do some dishes, take my nighttime meds, maybe watch an episode of The Big Bang Theory, and get to bed early. I have Italian tomorrow morning.

There was a discussion on Facebook about what clothes are made in the USA. I’m actually glad that I have too many clothes. Speaking of which, I went into the library room (Zara’s room) to visit with Zara, but Oliver and Lily busted in a couple of times, so Zara wouldn’t come out. I started sorting clothes and filled a bag to go to the thrift store. And I found my white jeans that I had been looking for. I’ll try to sit with Zara again before I go to sleep, when I feed her again. Practiced piano. I need to get more money from the trust before I can schedule more lessons, but I should practice anyway. There’s going to be a recital, and I want to do “Danny Boy”. I’m slowly picking up the threads of my life.

Watched an episode of The Big Bang Theory. Now I'm going to post, feed the cats, take Bella out, and go to bed. Oh, and cover my plants while I'm outside. I should let Bella in first because I could just see her grabbing the dropcloth with which to cover the plants and running with it.