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.

Overslept but made it to Italian. My Italian is definitely rusty. (We missed a couple of lessons.) I told her about the vet visits, and she felt sorry for the cats.

I'd like a Pilea Chinese Money Plant. They're safe for cats. I should wait until I get back to order it though. And it might be too late to mail it?

Mimi is picking at her wet food but ate the dry food. I guess that's okay. I'm going to try her on the Hills dry food for senior cats because she doesn't need to lose weight.

Got my Jenny Craig food and put it away.

The real estate guy for Mom's house is waiting on some signatures to list Mom's house for sale. He showed me a preview of the listing, and it looks good. I suggested mentioning the built-in lawn sprinklers though.

I got on the waitlist for Prolific, which bill_schubert mentioned. It might help pay for my Amazon addiction. Oh! I'm off the waitlist! Speaking of Amazon, I was looking at a cookbook holder because I have a bunch of diet cookbooks that I want. I was going to buy spiral-bound when available, but they are very expensive, and I could get cheaper versions of the cookbooks with a holder.

I was looking at some essential oils made by a company affiliated with Disney. (I'm subscribed to a Disney group on Facebook.) The company has a way expensive diffuser, so I was looking at some cheaper options on eBay. I like how the house smells when the cleaner is here.

Booked my drinks and WiFi packages for the cruise. Dang, they're expensive. They must make their money on the packages and extras. I checked in to the cruise. I'll be boarding at 3:30 PM, so I guess that I'll go to the cruise terminal and have lunch and kill a couple of hours. Looked at the cruise schedule. Wow, there's a lot to do aboard ship, though a lot of them are selling something. Do I want to do Karaoke? I’ve been exploring their app and found out when breakfast is. Because I’m doing shore excursions, I’ll mostly be having breakfasts and dinners. You also can get a complementary Continental Breakfast in your room.

Hmm. Celebrity has a Japan cruise that looks interesting. And it’s not horribly expensive, although airfare will add a lot.

Fed the catlings. They’re sort of eating and sort of picking at the food. I’m keeping an eye on them. I don’t really want to go back to the vet yet again. Got the garbage out.

Went to Walmart. They didn't have any mums. I bought a “Happy Halloween” window cling, the word “Spooky” to put in a window, and some crime scene tape with skulls on it. And candy, which I had to sample :) That’s it for this year. I might get more ambitious next year.

Tried on the evening gowns. The one that was smaller fit me (yay!), but it's not terribly flattering.

I'm looking at another dress online. I also tried on the Land's End long underwear and snow pants and they fit (the smaller long underwear and larger snow pants). Now I just need to get some alpaca socks.

I need to check whether I have sunscreen and go to bed. I need to get up early to practice piano. It's been a quite a week.

It's looking like Florida largely dodged a bullet, though for those who did lose relatives, it still is a tragedy.

The app that the State of Illinois wants me to use wants me to log my weight. Well, my scale is broken so no dice. I ordered a new one from Amazon using my Flexible Spending Account (an account that uses pre-tax dollars for medical expenses) funds. I didn't want one from the FSA store because 1) it's expensive, and 2) that's the one that broke.

It's kind of been a zoo of a day at work. Lots of meetings.

Ran out to drop off my paperwork to join the University gym.

Got some recycling out. (I didn't get it picked up yesterday because I was asleep.)

Did some work that I meant to do last night.

Ow, my neck hurts. I'm feeling the effects of no yoga. I need to do chair yoga.

I canceled my renter's insurance from the old place. I'm going through my automatic payments and canceling a lot of them.

I want to lie down and stretch out my neck. Plus, I'm yawning (although I don't know why because I got a ton of sleep last night).

Overslept a little but got up in time for work. Zara is circling me like a shark. Now she’s on top of the refrigerator. Mimi: Mom, I’m starving! I’m wasting away! Etc. Mimi had snuggles with me after breakfast, and now she's taking a nap.

It's nice and cool upstairs in my home office. I like it a lot. It's my first fall in the house. Now it's raining.

I'm craving a croissant. The money from the hotel hasn't posted yet though.

I went into the bedroom for my lunchtime nap and saw this. Time to put the suitcase away.

Drastically overslept my nap. Fuck. Now I'm logging on for class. During class, I thought about my assignment, which should include a video. I'm doing it about hobbies of mine, so I thought that I should sing a song. But what is in the public domain? I asked Chat GPT for pretty songs in the public domain, and it mentioned "Shenandoah," which is a song that I'm familiar with and like. I found some (free) music for it. So I need to learn the song and record it this weekend. Maybe I'll ask my music teacher to help me with it.

I'm looking into medical weight loss because I've been stuck for a while, although I seem to be losing some again. That might be because I barely ate on Sunday. I need to call Blue Cross Blue Shield though to verify that it's covered. I'll ask for a referral at my doctor's appointment next week. I should ask for a referral to a chiropractor too.

I took a nap after work and slept until 11:30 PM. Threw clothes in the wash. I want to stay up until I can put them in the dryer. I need to feed the cats and myself, do dishes, scoop the cat boxes, and post.

Oh crud. I didn’t get the garbage out. Well, it’s not happening now; I’m in my pajamas.

I belong to a solo traveler's group on Facebook. A recent post was by someone from Lebanon, who was supposed to go to the Galapagos with a friend soon but feels she can't go with the war going on. I think that I have problems; I don't have problems by comparison. (Mimi thinks that she has problems too, but she has a pretty good life!)

Good. My paycheck posted. I can get food.

I found an aspirational dress on Ann Taylor Loft. I’m wondering if I should buy one one size down for motivation. I ordered it.

Woke up at 9:30 AM.

I checked to see if the bookcases that I like are on sale at Target, but they aren’t.

Crud. I should have gotten more oatmeal when I got a Walmart delivery order the other day.

It’s kind of gloomy out. Crud, it’s supposed to rain, but I need to mow. Yes, here comes the rain. Napped.

Paid some bills for Mom's house. Bought the book The New Tourist: Waking Up to the Power and Perils of Travel.

I have to figure out what to do today given that the grass is wet. I'm about to study Italian. I need to put up the clock and key rack. Then I guess that I'll work in the music room. Maybe I could weed later.

Studied Italian. Watched an episode of the Golden Girls. Paid more bills.

It's raining again. And there is a tornado watch. The local July 4th festivities were canceled.

Took another nap. If you can’t nap on a holiday, when can you?

Hmm. I’m looking for a replica of the Canova Venus statue that I saw in Italy. I saw one on Etsy that might work. Well, I saw a nicer one on Chairish, but it’s $145. No. Ordered one plus a “Meet Me in Italy” t-shirt.

I hung the clock and key rack in the kitchen. You need to press a button to backlight the clock, which I don’t like. And it says that it’s 80 in here? The a/c is set, but come to think of it, I haven’t heard it go on in a while. I tried turning it on, and some cool air is coming in.

Eeek. How’d it get to be 8:30 PM? I need to get the recycling out.

I discovered that the clock needed to be plugged in. It helps if you RTFM! It’s working well now in a new spot.

Mimi is telling me that it’s a tough life being a cat.

I can be really stupid. I started to order shoes for the dress that I can’t fit into yet, and then I asked myself, “What am I doing?” I’m sure that there will be comfortable flats when I’m ready for them.

I read an article from the BBC about how Ancient Japan recycled almost everything. That reminded me to look for carbon offsets for my flight (although I also read an article questioning the ethics of carbon offsets). I bought some. I only hope that the company was reputable.

I want to get to sleep soon because I want to use the treadmill while it's still cool in the morning.

I was looking into massage therapy places near my mom's house. I should schedule a massage for mid-December.

I fell asleep with my clothes on again. So tired. Woke up at 5 AM.

I bought a new scale because my old one was giving wacky readings. I also bought a "sweater blazer" that I had been eyeing at Land's End for 50% off. Can't have too many blazers!

I took a nap and woke up again at 7:30 and got up. Now I'm working, but cool, they're letting us leave at 2 today.

Mom is on my mind today. It will be my first Thanksgiving without her, but we usually didn't spend Thanksgiving together anyway. Christmas will be harder. I had thought of watching Home for the Holidays, which takes place during Thanksgiving, when I get back to Michigan, but I'm sure that's one of the DVDs I chose to keep. Mom loved that movie. When the two sisters are fighting, it reminded her so much of her fighting with her sister that she kept on hitting my arm :)

The zipper on the Jeans That I Hate broke. Given that I hate them, no big loss, but I was going to wear them while I did laundry.

I almost forgot that I have a session with the life coach. I don't know what we'll talk about, but she usually thinks of something. We talked about setting dates for my move of my stuff from storage and the move of Mom's stuff that I'm keeping. All the other dates cascade from that. We also discussed my list of people to contact with changed dates.

I DoorDashed a poke bowl and a hot Earl Grey tea with milk and sugar. The tea was quite good. Actually, I'm craving another one. But I just convinced myself not to get one.

The office of my therapist sent me a zillion forms to fill out, which I did. I couldn’t remember Dad’s cell phone number (we usually email), but it was on my phone. I also emailed the therapist and told her that my date for being back in Urbana has moved two to three weeks forward.

Talked to the diet coach. I’m trying to find something to DoorDash that has vegetables but am having no luck.

Took a nap. Ate the rest of my poke bowl.

Ran to Best Buy and picked up an SD card reader. It hit me that I can modify the new house any way that I want, so I looked at Nest thermostats, doorbells, and cams and Ring doorbells and cams. I'm going to have a lot of fun fixing up the place the way that I want it. I need to find a handyman to help me with fixing the place up.

Went to Meijer and picked up soda, oatmeal, and some frozen Shrimp Scampi for later. I'm telling myself that it has spinach and tomatoes in it, so it must be okay :)

Now I'm resting for a minute and then will start laundry. I poked around an interior design site and it said that I liked a "classic" style with clean lines and minimal clutter. The "minimal clutter" will be the hard part!

I just ordered a ton of Kindle books. I ordered Barbra Streisand's autobiography (thank you, shadowkat), and the "you might also like" led me to Anderson Cooper's book about the Astors, which led me to Anderson Cooper's book about the Vanderbilts and a historical novel about one of the Astors. I won't lack for reading material.

Hmm. I can't stop yawning, but I wanted to do laundry tonight, so I started it. (I'm leaving tomorrow.) I suppose that I could start packing my stuff up too.

Hmm. I'm looking at January 8th for moving my stuff from storage to the new house. But when will I have it painted? Should I stay in a hotel in Urbana for the first week of January? And I'm looking at January 15th (if the movers don't have a holiday) for the movers to take my stuff from Michigan. I'd be out of the house by the end of the week. Then the estate sale can happen.

Now I'm wondering if the living room in the new place should be sage green. I have some time to think about it. I'm mulling over slipcovers for my mom's Pottery Barn loveseat and chair. I found one in gray with a kind of greenish tinge that I kind of like. I need to order swatches.

The clothes are in the dryer. The really nice guy who works the front desk in the evening asked me if I wanted some coffee before he put it away. I said "No," but thanked him for asking. He wished me a Happy Thanksgiving, and I told him that I would be driving, and he said that he hoped that I'd get a chance to rest.

Waffle House is on my list for tomorrow. My life coach and I were discussing Waffle House. She lives in Florida, and she said that if Waffle House closes during a hurricane, it's time to worry.

Got my French homework printed off and stashed in my backpack. Got my clothes together for both days of flights. I'm getting my second wind, but I still think that I'll pack my clothes in the AM.

Intel is going to be providing foundry services to NVIDIA. I'm trying to scrape together cash to invest. Okay, transferred some money. Bought shares.

Getting up before dawn sucks. I ate breakfast and fed the cats, but I decided to go back to sleep and pack tonight. I’ll go swimming in Kauai.

The handyman came to put up the screens right after I woke up. I had a new frontier of weirdness; I took a shower while he was in the house. I trust him though. He spent the rest of the morning changing some door locks. He said that the cost of the aluminum framing on the roof will be about $4500. Sigh.

I really like my new Hawaiian hoodie. It’s a coral reef and very nice-looking. So of course, I got some food on it. Aargh.

I found out how to use the fabric AirTag holders, so now they’re securely fastened in my suitcase and small carryon bag. I’m missing a couple of them, but I have one for the backpack. They aren’t expensive, so I can order more.

It’s really cold out. I think that I’ll wear the wool trench coat tomorrow because I’ll be waiting outside for the shuttle car.

I have hot and cold running meetings, so I'm going to go to the UPS Store tomorrow before work.

I talked to the life coach, and she was her usual helpful self. I now have a list of things to do when I get back, but the TaskRabbit ones, I can do from Hawaii. We also talked about my getting a spa treatment, and I found a place that I like. I need to figure out when to go there.

Talked to my weight-loss coach, who is still like nails on a chalkboard. She wants to turn everything into an end goal, and I'm more about the process. And I have been losing weight, so I wish that she'd back off.

Mover guy called me back. He asked if the move could be later if I need it delivered later, and I said no. He said that he’d look into a “container move” and will get back to me tomorrow morning.

I got everything done that I wanted to get done for work. The pet sitter stopped by and got the key. I dashed off some things for my goal-setting class.

Had my Dare to Dream class. Put my stuff for the UPS Store in the car for tomorrow morning. I’m freezing cold so I went upstairs. Packed my main suitcase. Now I'm boiling hot, so I came downstairs to print stuff off. I just need to pack my little "jump bag," and I'll be ready to go.

Checked in and printed off my boarding pass. Printed off maps. The spa is just a short distance away from my hotel. The only thing is that with the time change, I won't be able to call them from here tomorrow morning. The time that I'd need to call them is the time that I'm being picked up. I might be able to call from my hotel in Chicago. Otherwise, I'll have to wait until I get there. Okay, my travel documents are printed off. Printed off cat instructions.

The landlord leaving stuff at my rental house can't get into the garage. I didn't know what to tell him.

I'm going to go finish off packing my little jump bag, pack my meds, clear off the mail on the table, and then go to sleep. I should get a decent night's rest.

Did part one of my pedicure this morning. (I pushed back my cuticles, exfoliated my feet, and clipped my toenails.) I'm planning to paint my toes this afternoon, after my errand to the bank, so that my toes can dry while I'm working. Efficiency :) The pedicure is done.

I'm down 20 pounds! I just need to do this three more times, and I'll be at my target weight!

Hmm. I need to give a key to the handyman in case he or the real estate guy need to get in while I'm gone, but he's not here yet.

Well, hell. The animal hospital near me no longer does boarding. A lot of the kennels around here are dog only. I called another animal hospital and left a message. They left a message and said that they don't do boarding. Yay, I found a place, but they want a leukemia shot as well as rabies, so I need to see if they've had one. Got the vaccination record, but they weren't vaccinated for feline leukemia, so I need to bring them to a local vet for shots as soon as I get back.

So many plates to keep in mid-air. I want another set of shelves for my pantry area before the Urbana organizers get there. Because I'm running into Christmas when I get there (what am I going to do about food?), I need to get them while I'm there for the on-site meeting. I suppose that I could get frozen food too. I think that I have some for that matter if it's still good. I paid my deposit for the Urbana organizers.

I’m going to have to work on my performance appraisal this weekend because my boss wants it done before I leave.

I’m wondering where a small tin that had what I think was my mom’s safety deposit box key in it. I think that I kept the tin, so it’s probably in storage. I’ll need to look for it when I get back.

Had my voice lesson. but I kept yawning, so we postponed guitar and music theory until Sunday.

Oh yikes. I got the date wrong on the flight back to Detroit from Chicago; I needed it to be a day later. I jumped on the phone with the airline and got it changed. I'm glad that I caught that.

I'm thinking of going to bed soon.

I contacted some moving companies for a quote.

My back feels better this morning. Got a load of laundry started. Painting guy is here and is making lots of noise. The cats disapprove. Got my big bag of laundry downstairs. Now my back is hurting again. Sigh.

Oops. I’m wearing a pair of jeans that I want to take to Hawaii. I need to remember to throw them in the wash.

I noticed that the scale that I had been using was out of whack and added five pounds. I figured out how to get my digital scale back on pounds (I stopped using it because it reset to kg), and it says that I’m a few ounces over 190 pounds. Good.

Now I have a headache. I'm a mess.

Tons of meetings today, and the handyman talked to me between meetings. He thinks that both the front and back garage doors need to be replaced. Sigh. I told a colleague that this should be a reality TV show called The Money Pit. Oh, and all the movers are calling me. I didn’t think this through.

I just freaked Mimi out by tripping over some boxes and kicking one towards her. She can sure move fast for a chunky cat. Now she won’t go near me.

I looked at retirement places in Portland, OR, and found a place that I liked but have no idea what it costs. Okay, I found the prices, and holy cow, it's expensive. That's another reason to wait. Ideally, I should get a place where I could move into memory care when and if I need it. If my plan is to move to a retirement place, I’ll probably live in Urbana in early retirement and then move. Also, I plan to live in Europe for a year and maybe two as a language learner, so I’d want to keep the Urbana house then. (Now I’m thinking a year in Italy and a year in France.)

I have to work some tonight to run some reports and save the results, but I have French late this afternoon, so no big deal.

French went okay. I'm having issues with verb conjugations, so I need to study them. Italian was at the wrong time this Sunday, so we canceled it until after my trip. I think that I want to take my French and Italian verb tense books to Hawaii with me to study in the airport or on the plane. Or maybe I could just copy some pages from them so that I won’t have to bring the whole books. Despite the long time since I studied French, I still speak it better than Italian. Not surprising though because I studied French from middle school through college. I pull bits of French out of mid-air. I wanted French and Italian flashcards for counting and ordered some, but the Italian ones will get here after I leave. I also got some French verb conjugation and basic vocabulary, and Italian travel phrases and basic vocabulary flash cards.

Mimi came by for dinner long after Zara ate her food :) I said, “You snooze, you lose,” but I gave her some dry food.

I had a ton of cleaning supplies come from Amazon. I just need to order some floor cleaner, all-purpose cleaner, and cleanser from Meijer for tomorrow (done). The cleaner will be here mid-afternoon on Wednesday. I’m getting my brows done at noon, but should be back by then.

I got the garbage and recycling out for pickup. I have a headache and my knees hurt, so I’m going to lie down for a few minutes before going back to work. I couldn’t sleep, but the headache went away.

Mimi wanted something, which turned out for me to lie down and snuggle. So it worked for the both of us. She’s now blissfully asleep. The only thing is that I want to wash the sheets. I guess that I’ll get them in the morning. And the towels and my gym shoes.

Zara is trying to train me to feed her four times a day instead of three and is disappointed that it’s not working.

dadi asked for pictures of my new haircut. This is how it looks when I don't blow-dry it.

I'll try to blow-dry it sometime this week to show how it looks then.

I'm done with work. And I'm getting another flipping headache :( I'm going to change into pajamas and put another load in the wash and go to bed.

The outside painting is going to be expensive because he needs to fix rotting wood on some of the sills. I checked the account balance and found, to my horror, that I didn’t have enough money. I sent a panicked note to the trust, and they’re working on a disbursement, but it could take 10 days. I can send them bills in the meantime.

The life coach helped me figure out what I need to do with the house to be done in December. I want to do the kitchen this weekend so that I can get the house cleaned.

My scissors are MIA, so I placed a Meijer order that includes scissors. I have some coming from Amazon too, so I’ll be drowning in scissors, but that beats the alternative. My clothes are coming in, so I need scissors to open the packages! Got them and opened the packages. I got a really cute tweed blazer that would look great with blue jeans. I’m thinking that I’ll wear it to the onsite work meeting in November.

Yikes. Things are heating up at work. And there are a ton of meetings. I tried to get off of the phone with the weight-loss coach quickly, but she wasn't getting the hint.

I’m going to try L’Oreal skin care because, while I love the skin care that I’m using, it’s too expensive. No, actually, I canceled that order and am trying some items from DRMTLGY. It's still less than half of what I'm paying for the stuff that I've been using.

Did some emailing of house-related people.

I decided not to take a nap after work because I have a lot to do, but I'm yawning. I might make this an early night.

I got the kitchen table cleared off. Go me. But my glasses have vanished. I had them on earlier, but can't find them anywhere. And I already had another pair of glasses that had vanished. So I just ordered two more pairs from Zenni, rush delivery. And I ordered two chains for the glasses so that I can keep them with me when I'm not wearing them. Oh! I just found them! They were on the floor, which I swear that I looked at, but didn't see them. At the rate that I'm going, though, having two more pairs of glasses might not be a bad idea. I'm going to put a pair with the stuff for Kauai.

I'm going to go to sleep and get up early and get boxes and garbage out of the kitchen.

P.S. I found the scissors too. There are too many hiding places in this house.