days_unfolding

Hmm. Should I get a ticket for Stars on Ice in Chicago? It's on a Friday though, so I'd have to leave work early or take the day off. I'd enjoy it though. I'd also have to overnight in Chicago.

Overslept and got up at 7:30 AM. I’m feeling sad. I don’t know why.

At work now, explaining to Gracie that the cats don't want to play with her. She can't seem to grasp that.

I had a brief telehealth session with the sleep doctor, but because I haven't had my sleep study yet, there wasn't much to discuss. The telehealth session worked well though. I'll have to keep it in mind.

Gracie is flaked out cold in the guest room. I want to join her. It's gray and gloomy. Overslept my nap (in the bedroom).

My boss okayed my participating in a program sponsored by the university that teaches you about how to be a better volunteer in the community, the role of non-profits, fundraising, etc. I've been thinking about what I'll do when I retire, and this will help! I also am thinking about volunteering at a cat shelter.

Bella is whining because I'm not downstairs yet. I told her "two minutes".

I ordered the pet gate for Zara’s room with the coupon.

I checked into how to replace my Global Entry card. I want it for my trip this fall. Ordered.

Gracie is being difficult and not coming in. She almost did but changed her mind. Everyone’s now inside and fed except for me. I’m nuking food.

I got the prairie seeds.

Hmm. I read an article about heated drying racks, and wonder if I should get one. It might be a big help and save money. I need to get the large bathroom cleared out though. Ordered.

Time to post and crash.

Hmm. Chewy sent me a coupon for $15 off an order of $49 or more. The gate that I want for Zara’s room is $45. Maybe I’ll get it plus some toys. Oliver and Zara were snoozing near each other during my singing lesson. I wonder if I should get a cat tree for there to make it a kitty playground. Hmm. Maybe I should wait until they send another coupon.

I forgot to put the brace on last night. I was already in bed when I remembered, but I just rolled over and went to sleep. I need to put it in my bedroom.

Slept until 11:30 AM. Holy cow. Oliver is on my lap and closed the news that I was looking at on my phone. Pay attention to meeeee!

We have a routine. I go in Zara’s room to get her food dish, and Oliver goes in. I leave him there when I get the dogs in so that he doesn’t run outside. Apparently, I left the piano on last night. Lily is happy to be an only cat for a few minutes. She is showing me her belly. “It’s empty, Mommy. Fill it!”

I got Bella in, but Gracie doesn’t want to come in. Gracie was barking at Oliver, who was lounging in the window in Zara’s room.

Ugh. The grocery delivery guy came while Gracie was still out, so I took the items over the fence. I was bringing groceries in when Bella ran out. Shit. I got a new fresh donut for them and Bella snatched a bite of it. They decided to come back inside to get more. Whew. I’m going to leave the rest of the soda out there until later. I don’t want them to run back out. I fed them and need to feed Oliver and Zara after I rest for a few minutes. Okay, everyone’s inside and fed. Nap time after I take my meds.

Okay, I bought the grass seed and some wildflower seeds. And a book on growing plants from seed.

Now it’s apparently dog wrestling time on the bed. I’m telling them that they had been running around and should be tired. Take a nap! They finally did.

Napped. Patched the hole that Gracie made in the mattress with duct tape and put the new “bed in a bag” on the bed. It’s not bad. We’ll see how long it takes Gracie to destroy it. (I had to hustle to get it done while the dogs were outside. Lily was on the bed, however, and got in the way.) Fed the hordes and am making food for myself.

My dad said to figure out why I'm getting carpal tunnel. I think that I need to move the two-monitor setup for work closer to the center of the desk, but that means that I have to clean off the desk first. I also need to move the power strip under the desk.

Hmm. There is a sale on cedar planters with legs. That would be cheaper than the ones at which I was looking, for which I’d need a fence.

I need to get up early to go get the car's battery fixed. So I need to get to bed soon.

Bella is eating the food that she previously refused to eat out of the bag. Okaaaay. And now it’s the time for the evening dog wrestling.

Overslept an hour. Sigh. I went to bed early! Both Bella and Gracie don’t want to come inside. I need to get to work soon! I got Bella inside by grabbing her collar. Then the grocery delivery guy came with Gracie still outside, so I took the groceries over the gate. Gracie is still outside. I was late to work. Chaotic morning. Gracie finally came in about two hours after I let her out. Sheesh.

My presentation at work went okay, not great. But it's done. I'm starting to come out of crazy busy mode, although I was crazy busy today.

I got my act together to go to piano class today. It went okay. I really need to practice more often. Oliver burst in when I came in Zara's room/music room/library-to-be. He walked on my digital piano several times and was nosing around the room. I ducked out fast after class to leave Oliver in there because I wanted him behind a closed door when I brought the dogs in and took the recycling out. I'm looking at used Chromebooks to use in the music room because my mom's laptop is running Windows 10, and I'm getting tired of getting nastygrams from Microsoft. I found a few possibilities in the area.

I watched the three ice dancing pairs that won medals. I was rooting for Chock and Bates, but the French skaters were awesome. They deserved the gold medal. All three pairs were great. I fed Lily because I wanted to feed her when the dogs were outside and Oliver was shut away.

Gracie didn't want to come in, so I worked on getting the big bags of dog and cat food inside because it's going to rain tomorrow. I had just brought the bag of cat food inside when the bottom of it broke. 25 pounds of dry cat food in my front hall. Crappity crap. I scooped up some of it in a plastic container. Then I tried to bring Gracie in, who wanted to come in, but wouldn't walk on the food. So I used a snow shovel to pick up more and push the remaining food to one side. Gracie came in this time.

I fed the dogs and myself. Then I brought the recycling out and rolled it to the curb. I put plastic drop cloths over the boxes with my garage shelves and workbench that are too heavy to drag over to the garage. (I need to open the boxes and carry the pieces to the garage.) Then I grabbed some clothes to hand wash (currently soaking) and let Oliver out. Fed him and Zara. Whew. (I should have time tomorrow to work on clearing the bathroom to fix the washer.)

I want to put my clothes in the dryer and go to sleep soon so that I won't oversleep tomorrow morning. I hope. Oh, and I need to submit an order to buy more of a stock that's doing well. How exciting!

Woke up with my alarm at 7 AM. I want to go back to sleep. I did and woke up a little before 9 AM. I’m at work now. Got my scuzzy butt into the shower at lunchtime.

Finished up some stuff at work, which was satisfying.

I think that tonight I'll catch up on the trash that I wasn't taking out because it was so cold.

Off work. I finished my book on the Appalachian Trail. I love reading about the AT, I don’t know why. I don’t think that I could ever hike it because, while I could take the dogs, I also have cats. Plus I’m badly out of shape. I’d like to do shorter section hikes though. I bought two more books about the AT. I don’t like the person in my new AT book though. She’s trying to get the fastest time on the trail. Ugh. I wonder where my picture book of the AT went.

Note to self: Reschedule French lesson (because I'm having my dental implant that day). Done.

Hmm. I’m gathering garbage, but the snow should melt by next week, so maybe I won’t roll the can through the thick snow now. I hate winter. Emptied litter boxes and garbage cans. Got Oliver out of Zara's room, which he ran into. Snot.

I've done everything that I want, except that I'm handwashing clothes. I want to get to bed early to get up early, brush off the cars, and put my garbage bags in the bin.

I always forget to set the faucets dripping until after I’m in bed. I sigh and get up. Come on warmer weather.

Overslept. Sigh. And I forgot to turn the dryer on last night. I’ll take my shower at lunchtime.

Cold out (4F/-15C). The dogs came in right away. Fed everyone except me, although Lily didn’t eat because she’s down in the basement and won’t come up. I can’t tell if she’s stuck in a crawl space or not. I put some food down there to encourage her to come out. She ate it, so I guess that she's okay. I put down some water for her too.

Work is kind of a zoo, but I'll have lots of time this afternoon to work on stuff.

I had a headache earlier and think that it’s probably because I’m dehydrated. I’m trying to chug some water down. I received some new water enhancers that I need to check out.

Managed to get my weary and cold butt into the shower. Received my grocery order. Walmart bagged three sodas a bag and the bags broke, so I'm not happy with them.

Fell asleep at my desk. I haven't done that in quite a while. I'm not sure how long I slept, a half hour? I emailed and canceled my singing lesson because I can’t keep my eyes open. I know that the sleep doctor told me not to nap at night, but I’ve got to nap.

Bella and Gracie are chasing each other through the yard and play-fighting and don’t want to come inside. I’ll give them a few minutes and try again. This time they came inside. Fed the dogs and started soaking the cat dishes. Nap time. Slept for 5.5 hours. Oliver: Mom, are you going to get up and feed us? Did so. Both Bella and Gracie have diarrhea, sigh.

I bought a Wyze scale after reading susandennis' mention of it. I bought the scale with Bluetooth so that it can send readings to my phone. What can I say; I love tech. And I paid for it with my FSA account. I'm counting the days until my annual physical so that I can ask for Wegovy. I want the pills; I'm a pain wuss.

I need more hoodies and jeans so that I don't need to do laundry all the time. I bought most of my hoodies from one shop that sold kind of bohemian and zen stuff, but now I can't find it. Cosmic Clothing Co.? They don't seem to have hoodies now though. They have t-shirts. No, they do have hoodies too. Bought a couple pairs of jeans and hoodies. I need to eat dinner yet. Then I'll feed the critters their crunchies and go back to bed.

Oliver likes to sleep on my down coat. So I looked for a down cat bed, and there aren’t any. I found a plush self-heating bed that wasn’t too expensive and ordered it. We’ll see if he likes it. I also found a shag dog bed on Chewy, but it’s large.

Got up reluctantly at 6 AM. The problem with getting up early is that I want to go back to sleep. But I need to feed the cats first. I think that I forgot to give them their crunchies last night. I suck.

I’m not going back to sleep. I need to take a shower because I have a short lunch today.

Bella is being manic.

I rescheduled my lab visits so that I can wait until Sunday to jump-start the car. I have to brush off the cars today so that I don’t get a ticket.

The cold bathroom is COLD. (I think that it once was a porch that someone converted into a bathroom. There's very little insulation and the floor stays cold.) I almost didn't take a shower because I didn't want to take my pajamas off. And after the shower, I was chanting COLD COLD COLD as I got dressed. It's cold upstairs too, but I'm cranking the space heater. My dad said to close the bathroom door so that the heat vent heats only that room, but I have litter boxes in there, so I need to figure out what to do with them. There is a door hook thing that opens a door to let cats in but keep dogs out. I should look into that as a possible solution.

Note to self: Cabela's is where I got the wool socks. Cozy! I ordered some more compression and regular socks on Amazon, and I'll order wool socks later (done).

sunshine_two's passing has left me a little shaken up. She was two years younger than me. I wonder what happened to her dogs and cats. You never know, so I was thinking about my dogs and cats. I think that I'll contact Hospice Hearts (dog and cat shelter for pets whose human becomes incapacitated or passes away) and see if I can mention them in my will along with a hefty donation.

I have a short lunch because my 11:30 meeting ran long and I have a 1:00. Bella and Oliver are in my face; Bella for pets and because she’s lonely when I work upstairs (she won’t use the stairs), and Oliver because he’s hoping that I’ll feed him again. (Not.) Oliver and Gracie: We’d be happy to eat your food. Me: I bet you would.

Piano class went well. Nothing exciting to report. Zara was happy for the cuddle time.

I shut Oliver in the bathroom when I let the dogs in so that he doesn’t get out. There are other advantages. Lily can eat without him eating her food when he’s done with his, and I can feed Zara without Oliver bursting in there.

Gracie still has a scarcity mentality about food. She needs to clean up every scrap of food around. She was found in a park (probably dumped—people suck) and probably had to scrounge for food. I told her that she hasn’t missed many meals here, but she still worries.

I’m not going to fix the washer tonight because it’s gotten late due to my piano class. I have some black clothes that someone, probably Lily, got fur on. I’ll run them in the dryer along with some hand-washed underwear and socks.

I think that I’ll wait until lunchtime tomorrow to brush off the cars, even if I get a ticket. There’s a wind chill warning now through tomorrow morning.

I’ve been reading Pete Buttigieg’s autobiography. I thought that it would be dry, but he’s a good storyteller, plus the way that he built his career is fascinating. Recommended if you are interested in politics and like biographies. It’s called Shortest Way Home.

I've got the underwear and socks soaking in the sink. I grabbed out the wide sink plug that I take with me for traveling. It's very useful to make a good seal. So I'll post, give the cats and dogs their crunchies, put the clothes in the dryer, and go to bed.

Oh, how stupid do people think that we are? I got a phishing email about a "Microsoft upgrade"--from an AOL email address. Right.

Overslept until 7:30 AM. Gracie did not want to come inside. I finally filled her bowl with breakfast and shook it, and she eventually came in.

I rescheduled my blood test for next week. I can’t cope with it this week. Now I can jump-start my car tonight and not have to get up early. I really want to nap over lunch, so I guess that I'll shower after work. Fed us all.

Someone (Bella?) is stealing the special unscented dish detergent that I got for the cats' dishes. One vanished, so I brought out the other one, and that vanished. She likes to hide things under the bed, so I need to get a broom to clean it out. I'm a little afraid as to what I'll find. And I need to get more and keep it under the sink. I bought a magnetic white board for the refrigerator to note down stuff for the next grocery order.

Ugh. I have a lot of work to get done but I'm soooooo tired. Well, one thing down.

Overslept my nap at lunchtime. I really conked out.

Oliver is being a "lover boy". This will last just a few minutes until he's off doing something else. Actually, he started digging his claws in and biting me, so I dumped him off of my lap.

Finally remembered to call to get my physical therapy for my knee set up. They're scheduled out to late February. My list of health care visits is scary. I have visits on 2/20, 2/23, 2/24, 3/2, two on 3/3, 3/9, 4/14, 4/23, 4/28, and 6/9. Sheesh. I know that you have more doctor's visits as you get older, but yikes.

This weekend is going to be a zoo. I need to catch up on work, plus I have an added incentive to work on the house. That reminds me to check on the status of the steam cleaner. Still sitting.

Blasted through some stuff at work. I still have a bunch to do, but it seems more manageable now.

Okay, I found a t-shirt that I want. It has pictures of Bach, Gluck, Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart with the caption "I listen to dead people".

I’m going to stay in my pajamas and deal with the car in the morning. If I get up early enough, I could have the Kia jump-started or get the Honda to the DMV. But I don’t want to go out now.

Spent some time talking to Zara and Lily. I told them that I know that Oliver is a little shit. But he’s MY little shit.

Ooooh. Costco has some interesting groceries. I should defrost my chest freezer and order some.

Crappity crap. Oliver jumped down from the ledge over the bedroom door onto my face, claws outstretched, and cut my lip. It’s bleeding a lot, but I don’t think that it needs stitches or anything like that. I’ll have to make sure that it doesn’t get infected. I told Oliver that I was unbelievably mad at him. The plus side is that I impressed him enough that he didn’t eat Lily’s food (though he tried). Damn cat.

All the critters are fed. I need to eat, but I’m waiting for my lip to stop bleeding to eat. Maybe I’ll post first. Well, it seems to have stopped, so I’ll make some food. I ordered some Neosporin (and some other stuff) rush delivery from Walmart. At least, I’ll get the unscented dish soap for the cat dishes that either Bella or Gracie is stealing too. I got the rest of my stuff, but when I canceled the first order because I used the wrong card and pressed "reorder," it didn't copy over the dish soap.

Anyway, I'm going to post, brush my teeth, put on some Neosporin, and go to bed.

I had a hard time getting up this morning. Called Carle and rescheduled my doctor's appointment from today. Told work that I feel better but need a nap. The dogs aren’t letting me sleep. Gracie is going to get evicted from my bedroom in three-two-one. I didn’t evict her, but she wound up snoozing with her head on my leg.

Slept until a little after 11:30 AM. Fed the critters. Ate lunch.

Bella the glove-stealer is busy stealing gloves. Sigh.

The forecasters are predicting light snow.

Work is a zoo right now. Well, I got through my email :) I might have to work a little this weekend. Well, no, a colleague kindly took some work off of me. I work with nice people.

I want to put in a coneflower garden this Spring. Also, I’ll need to order roses for the side of the garage. Hmm. I stopped ordering bare roots plants because Bella dug them up. I wonder if she’ll stop now that we have Gracie? I could put a fence up too. She can knock down the little garden fences that I put in, but she respects them. I ordered some beautiful roses. I’m excited!

Here's the flashiest of the roses:


My dad was telling me to walk to get exercise, and it’s important because I’ll be walking in Europe this fall. (Do I need a cane? I bought an “all-terrain” folding one in purple.) I decided that I would trade off taking Bella and Gracie for walks because the two of them can almost knock me over. And I’ll be walking with a cane.

I wanted to make some frozen burritos for dinner, but they require an air fryer. I need to get it set up this weekend. I also need to find a good recipe to make some from scratch. Found one.

I might need to change my car appointment on Friday to another time because I need to renew the car’s registration. I’ll see if I’m up to getting the registration renewed tomorrow, but I doubt it. I’m planning on going to bed soon though.

Woke up a little after 6:30 AM. Got my groceries. I forgot a couple of things, so I’ll have to submit another order tomorrow. Got an enormous bag of oranges, so I’ll have to work on eating it. And I think that I'll pop some blueberries.

I put my compression socks on after my shower. I put on the ones with pink flamingos because I thought that they'd go best with my "under-the-ocean" hoodie. Style is important :) I'm saving the navy polka dots ones to wear with my navy London hoodie tomorrow. I hope that they work. And I bought an enormous water pitcher to bring upstairs with me. The socks feel kind of good, like they're massaging my legs.

Oliver is growling at Gracie. I don't blame him because earlier, Gracie pinned him down, and Gracie and Bella were play-biting him. I had to break it up. He was Not Amused. I'm asking Gracie how someone as cute as her can be such a little hellion.

I need to get two more pillows for the pillow shams. I'm buying cheap pillows because Gracie chews on them.

I read an article called "How to Make Your Economy-Class Seat a Little Less Miserable," and one of the things that it says is to get an aisle seat for long-haul flights. I haven't booked my flights to Europe later this year yet (I'll do that this weekend), so I'll get an aisle seat.

I have meetings right before and right after lunch, so no nap today.

I need to make some lentil soup to get some B vitamins in me. I'll look for a recipe. Found one. Maybe I should go grocery shopping after I return the sleep equipment tomorrow. I need a blender for the recipe. Do I have one? Yes, I have a fancy one that Mom's friend bought her.

I did get a short nap. My 11:00 meeting ended early.

My boss and I were taking about cats and dogs and such, and I just remembered that I need to put up the bird feeder. I'll add it to my weekend list.

Made an appointment to have my car looked at a week from today. (It's making sounds like something is dragging and thumping noises when you turn the steering wheel hard.)

Off work for the weekend. Fed the critters. (I’m not hungry because I ate lunch late. I’m not sure what to do until I need to go to the sleep clinic. I guess that I’ll work on a grocery list (done).

I’ve had a sore throat and slight cough all day, but that’s it for symptoms.

The book that I’m reading suggested Factor Health for extensive blood tests. Quest Diagnostics has something similar, but I think that Factor pays for two blood tests a year. Yikes, they take around 10 vials of blood.

Got the sleep study equipment. He asked me when I was going to bed and I said, “I don’t know,” so he picked 11 PM. I think that I’ll have to sleep without the dogs. So I’m going to eat (done) and post.

Woke up at 6:30 AM. I’m running late, so l’ll need to run to the cats’ boarding place at lunchtime.

Gracie is having diarrhea. I think that the boarding place got confused and fed her wet food. I bribed Gracie to come in with a stale donut, and Bella took it. I told Bella that she was a little snot. I’m telling Oliver that he’s a dorky cat. (He knocked my soda on me.)

Showered, dressed, makeupped. I'm ready to run my errand at lunchtime and go to the doctor this afternoon.

I have to get my groceries from the front porch (mostly done).

The dogs have been crashed out. Apparently they got a lot of exercise at the kennel! The cats have been crashed out too. I guess that they feel safe at home.

Got the meds from the cats' boarding place. My car is making thumping noises, so I need to bring it in. It never rains but what it pours. And person crossing the street at a crosswalk: I'm happy to stop for you, but do you have to stop in the middle of the street and look at your phone? Couldn't it wait until you get to the other side of the street? Sheesh.

I'm getting a stiff neck and a headache.

My note to work:

Hi everyone,

I have a doctor's appointment today at 3:30. It's the next entry on a busy week (Sunday: Arrive home, Monday: Pick up pets, Tuesday: Doctor, Wednesday: Electrician, Thursday: Lily to vet, Friday: Sleep clinic, Saturday: Collapse, singing lesson, and return sleep study equipment). I'll be back afterwards.

Thanks,

Adrienne

Yikes.

Had my doctor's appointment. At first, she was kind of brusque with me (I think that she was under time pressure), but she warmed up. She's going to give me a referral to a Physical Therapist for my knee, but she thinks that I should see an orthopedist. (I said that I had seen one, and they can't do anything for my torn ACL because I'm too old). She's giving me a referral to a hand doc for the tingling sensation. She thinks that I should wear compression socks for the fluid in my ankles. She showed me hers, which look like a candy cane, and said that she had some with pink flamingos on them, and I said "Oooh!" I said that my mom had such bad swelling in her legs that she couldn't lift them, and I said that I didn't want it to happen to me. She ordered an EKG and blood tests for me though. And she thought that the dizzy spells were due to dehydration, so she wants me to chug water to see if it helps. I had an EKG and blood tests right after my appointment, which was convenient.

Oh, I forgot to mention that she said that it was important to get my sleep apnea managed because that can cause cardiac problems.

My CBC came out normal.

Hmm. American Airlines is having a sale on flights to Europe right now, plus I have a voucher on them, so I emailed the organizer of the "Orient Express" trip this fall and asked for dates. She sent me the dates, so I’ll look into it.

I also found some compression socks that I want to order.

But I need to get to bed soon because the electrician will be here around 7 AM. I want to be presentable by then.