days_unfolding

Costco isn't sending me a card. I need to go over there and visit the membership desk to get my photo ID. Meanwhile, I have a digital membership card on my phone.

Hey, I don’t need to set an alarm tomorrow! So I woke up at 5:30 AM. Sigh. Fed myself and the girls and won’t set an alarm while I nap. Slept until 10:30. That’s better.

Yikes, American Airlines had a ground stop. I’m glad that I’m not traveling.

I’m trying to figure out what to do. This is a “working” vacation for me (plus I have nothing to do for Christmas). I think that I’ll chop the stuff for the chowder tonight and put it in the slow cooker tomorrow. I need to finish cleaning the aquarium and get it upstairs. I guess that the rest of the time will be spent in the library room. I’ll bring a boom box and play Christmas carols.

Hmm. My chopping knife is missing. I came up with a Walmart order for delivery, but the earliest that it will come is Thursday. So I guess that I need to shower and get dressed and go over there. I checked Costco, but they’re all about expensive knife sets. Meijer didn’t have much of anything.

I played a fun game of “where are my bras hiding” but finally found them. (The house cleaner/organizer reorganized my clothes.) It’s great to go into my drawers and pull stuff out though.

I decided to take another short nap. Walmart is open until 6 PM.

I want to see A Complete Unknown, but I’m not sure when I’ll go.

On my way to Walmart, I passed a Domino’s Pizza and thought that pizza would be good. I told myself to buy a frozen pizza at Walmart because it would be a lot cheaper. I found an Uno’s pizza there, and I love Uno’s. Got the chopping knife, some food storage containers, and some frozen food. Oh, and some caffeinated soda because I’m going through it quickly. Now I’m preheating the oven for the pizza. Zara wants food.

I can’t eat a deep dish pizza without thinking of Jon Stewart saying, “What is this, a casserole?” :)

I got my musical notes clock! That’s a great Christmas present to myself. The only thing is that I want to move the piano under the stairs, so I need to wait to put it up.

I’m getting lots of aquarium supplies from Amazon. And some of my plants should get here this weekend. I hope that I get the substrate, which has also been shipped, before I get the plants.

The pizza was delicious. Food coma now though. I’m lying down, and Zara has happily flopped down next to me. Love my girl.

I’m in my sleep dilemma again. Instead of taking a nap, I should just go to bed. I need to pay my piano teacher for some music and print some music out, but then I’ll go to bed.

Got the flannel sheets and flannel duvet cover on the bed. They’re so soft! Zara came in partway through but decided that she didn’t like what was going on. Later, I came in to go to bed, and she was happily curled up on top of the comforter with the flannel cover. Now she's glued to it except when she wants food :)

I had problems falling asleep. I got up once because I realized that I scheduled my piano lesson at the same time as Dial-A-Carol. I ate oatmeal and finally fell asleep. And overslept, sigh. I have to find the box with the "Sonic Boom" alarm.

Yeah, I think that staying home over Winter Break is a good idea. Hard to believe that I work Monday, and then I'll be off!

Very quiet at work. My boss told me to "feel better" when I went out sick yesterday, which was nice.

I'm about done with Walmart delivery. They dumped my groceries by the gate, and I had to go across my lawn with slippers on. How hard is it to put them on my porch?

I just emailed the real estate guy about the closing date on Mom's house. He said "sometime this week".

Ugh. My back and shoulder hurt. I shouldn’t be this sore shortly after a massage. Showered, so at least I'm clean.

Went down to get the mail and found a Jenny Craig order. I need to cancel them, but at least I'll have a stash. I'm now thinking of doing a bunch of cooking and freezing stuff next week, when I'll have time. I'm getting a bunch of emails from Costco, but no card yet. I plan to bring the cars up to Costco for gas because, why not? And maybe I could get new windshield wipers for the Honda there. And investigate moving my prescriptions, although it's convenient having them down the street. Maybe not.

I think that getting a used aquarium is the right idea. I priced new ones and geesh. Expensive. And I'm getting only a 20-gallon tank! Though I also want a 55-gallon tank for the library room. Actually, I found a used 50-gallon tank that I like, but I'd need movers to move it. And I need someone to check that the floor is stressed for it.

I've decided that I don't like the prescription face cream that I've been using. (It was making my skin flake.) I'm trying something new from Dermstore, and we'll see how I like it. But the shipment is delayed.

I forgot to say that I'm proud of myself. I had been having problems with the sound on the laptop that I had on the digital piano. I bought two computer speakers to try to fix it, but they didn't help. Eventually, I got rid of the laptop and swapped in my mom's laptop. So I still had the speakers, but didn't need them, so I gave them away on Buy Nothing! It's a drop in the bucket, but still, I'm pleased with myself.

Hmm. I had been thinking of getting a used grandfather clock for the library room, but now I'm thinking that I should move the Buddha in there and put a wall clock (with chimes) above it. Also cheaper. Though I wanted a "Namaste" hanging above the Buddha. And maybe, above the aquarium-to-be, I want one of those maps where you can rub off the paper on the country if you have visited it.

I got my Beaches calendar for by my computer. December is Maui. Excellent. I just need a nail with which to hang it. I need to make a list of things to get done over break.

I was eyeing the treadmill. I think that the first errand on my list is to get the small Smart TV for in front of my treadmill. I'll watch The Golden Girls and The Big Bang Theory while exercising!

I found the “Sonic Boom” clock! Good because I need to get up early tomorrow because the house cleaner is coming tomorrow morning. I also found my hatchet, which should go in the basement.

Now I’m eating dinner and putting the Jenny Craig meals away (done).

Hmm. Holland America is trying to upsell me on dining. They have a steakhouse and an Italian restaurant. I need to think about it.

I'm back from Dial-A-Carol. This apparently was Pros night. There was a group that was singing in four-part harmony and sounded fantastic! (One of looked embarrassed when she saw me listening, but I don't know why.) And there was a young woman who must have been a singing major. (In fact, I think that she might have been at the carols concert?) I was somewhere in the middle. I'm usually on tune if I know the song, but I don't sound as polished. I just bought the sheet music and a couple of CDs of "traditional" Christmas music. I'll work on them during break. Driving home, I felt full of love for Champaign-Urbana because there are so many fun things to do here.

I'm sitting for a moment with Mimi, and then I need to tidy up the kitchen and bathrooms for the house cleaner. Oh, I think that I'll post because I'm here. No one needs the blow-by-blow of my tidying :)

I also want to bring up to Dad that I am buying used furniture on Facebook Marketplace. I just found a (washable!) rug that I like. And a coffee table and end table.

I had problems falling asleep. I got up once to eat some oatmeal, which usually helps. Then I got up again to take a shower, so that I could sleep later. And then I woke up at the original time to get up. I'm tired.

It's cold in the house. I think that's because of drafts (the joys of having an old house). I'm looking into the plastic stuff that you can put on windows in the winter to seal them. I also want to look into insulated curtains for the bedroom.

I've got everything that I need to make cookies! Yay!

We did our introductions at work, so yay. Now I can be off-camera the rest of the day.

I'm looking into Costco. I belonged to it a long time ago, but I let my membership lapse because I was mostly buying batteries there. But you can get great deals on hearing aids there. (I'm thinking of getting a new pair because I've been having problems hearing in certain situations.) And if I could get cat supplies there, that would really help. And they have acrylic organizers. And Stack Social is having a deal on Costco memberships. And they have travel discounts. They have some good travel deals.

I want to get some brewer's yeast to put into my smoothies too.

Holy cow. I just got the check from my aunt's estate, and it's a fairly large chunk of money. It will help a lot. When the check clears, I'll get the housecleaner in to help clean and organize my stuff. I might splurge on a robot vacuum and mop; the one that I want is on sale. Actually, what I want is a massage. My shoulders, neck, and back have been bugging me. Heck, I could go to New York City, but I think that it's more important to finish stuff up in Michigan instead.

Deposited the check. When I went to the grocery store to get yogurt, I smelled some Chinese food that smelled really good. I decided to get a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store, mashed potatoes, and some frozen cheddar broccoli. I should get at least two dinners out of it. No, three dinners. Damn, the food was good.

The cats want THEIR dinner. I think that Zara is looking for the chicken.

The local humane society has a cat who sounds really good. She’s a dilute tortoiseshell like Zara, but with different markings. They said that she’s chill about dogs. I’ll have to ask about other cats. It would be nice to have a chill cat. My two are divas!

Zara is picking at her food again. Of course, she does this when it’s the weekend. I’m trying to find the med that the vet gave her to increase her appetite. She’s being a cuddle bug though.

Nap time. It got to be 8 PM, and I decided that I should just get ready for bed. Laundry. I need to do laundry. And freeze the bananas so that I can make a smoothie tomorrow morning.