days_unfolding

I bought bleach because my new towels are white. I'll have to learn how to use it.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I had the impulse to clean house, which is good. But I forgot to take my morning meds yesterday. I need to keep up with them to keep my energy up.

I had gotten Bella a couple of tug-of-war ropes that I had put away because she has no one with whom to play tug. She loves them. She tosses them around.

Woke up a little before 8 AM. Fed us all. Napped and overslept. Had a dream about my mom. We were looking for a particular type of bread for an event, and couldn’t find it, and she was crying. Mom is always upset in my dreams. I don’t know why. Now it’s around 11:30.

I was wondering if I had an appointment with my psychiatrist, and I did make one for next week. I want to stay on my current dose of meds. They’re working.

The “Oliver knocks everything off of the counters and Bella chews it” routine is active.

Got my Lowe’s order, including the garden fencing. I’ll have to put it up this weekend to see if it really keeps Bella out. If it works, I’ll get more.

Ate lunch. Now I’m waiting for my Walmart order.

Hmm. I’m thinking of going back to Michigan to pick up my stuff in the July 4th weekend.

Oliver was on my lap and Bella was trying to bite him. Play bites, but they still hurt. I kept on pushing her away, so she was biting me. This is why I want another dog for her to wrestle and play with.

Got my groceries in. I’m going to sit for a moment because my back hurts. Then I’ll shower. Booked a haircut appointment.

Bella came to see what I was doing. “Oh, you’re being boring [looking at my phone].” My arm was dangling. “Oh, you should be petting me.”

I was looking for a tote bag for my book and notebook, but I didn’t find one. I know that I have a bunch of them somewhere.

Showered and put on my makeup. Brought the garbage and recycling cans by the house. I have a half-hour to kill, and I don’t want to get dirty, so I guess that I’ll read my trust book.

Bella started out gently chewing my hands, but then she got overexcited and started biting down hard. I went “Aaaaah!” very loudly, and she backed off, to my surprise. She ignores when Oliver cries out, but I feed her.

I read an article about self-hypnosis. I want to try an app, but they haven’t sent me my login info yet.

At the nail salon. I read the “Trusts” part of my will and trusts book. I have an idea of what I want. Finding witnesses for the documents will be challenging.

My toenails look nice. My feet are sandal-ready!

Went to Home Depot. They didn’t have pansies; I think that it’s a little late in the year for them. They did have a dill plant and petunias. Gerber daisies might be a substitute for the pansies. They also have sunflowers, but I was planning to put berry plants where I originally wanted to plant sunflowers. They didn’t have coneflowers.

Ate at Steak and Shake, which knocked me out.

Now I’m home and need to feed the critters. Then I want to go to bed. So. Freaking. Tired.

Paid my property taxes. The first installment wasn't due until June, but I might as well get it all over with.

Woke up at 7 AM. Took Bella out and took her for a short walk as sunshine_two recommended. She still pooped inside around ten minutes after we came in. I'll try taking her out for an hour tomorrow and see what happens. At least, it'll be the weekend.

I shaved my furry legs and have shorts on. They're very comfortable, although the heat won't hit until later in the day. "Thunderstorms possible" late in the afternoon.

I'm trying to figure out where I want to plant blueberry bushes. Maybe in the front once I get rid of the daylilies overgrowing the garden? Yeah, I think that I’m going to grow blueberries and thornless raspberries in the front “sunny-side” garden bed. And strawberries in the back! I'll get some fruit in me! That answers my question of how many coneflowers to order. I'll order a bunch of plants tonight :)

I enrolled in legal benefits through work because I need to write a will.

Hmm. I started an online class through my health insurance about dealing with depression. It recommended doing new things to try to break through the depression and also getting people on my team to help. That suggests that I should join the Unitarian Church sooner rather than later. (This Sunday won't work though because of my flower arranging class.) And I'm looking into volunteer work. I'd enjoy volunteering at the Humane Society, but I'm worried that I would wind up with another cat. I could volunteer at the library, but I'm already a librarian. Maybe the Forest Preserve? I seem to remember a prairie conservation group? Yes. Being a "bat monitor" sounds interesting. And so does their plant sale.

It's humid as hell. And here comes the storm. There also was an emergency alert about dust storms. I'm glad that I'm staying home.

The summer session of the Dog Training Club will start right after I get back from my business trip in June and end right before I go to Italy. Perfect.

Bella took off with one of my strawberry plants. I finally got it away from her. And I’m giving away my tomato plants because I’m afraid that Bella will eat them. Oh well. I’m waiting for a DoorDash of Italian beef.

The critters were highly interested in my Italian beef. Bella grabbed some and Lily was a little out of control. Bella also grabbed a french fry out of my hand. I ate too much.

I bought plants. I'm thinking of going to bed early and getting up early. Oops, I need to submit a Walmart order first.

Crud. It’s forecasted for rain again today.

Overslept and woke up at 8 AM. Bella didn't want to come in, so i did the "stick trick" and she came in.

I'm debating whether to shower or take a nap at lunch. You would think that I've gotten enough sleep. I probably should shower in case that the mower guy comes, although they are predicting rain this afternoon. Now they've stopped predicting rain. Whatever.

Ow. The base of my neck hurts. Good thing that I'm getting a massage this weekend.

Oliver and Lily are playing kitty racetrack with a little wrestling thrown in.

It's storming now. I want to take a nap. Ordered a deep dish pizza. Got my pizza. Bella was crying because she wanted it. Given that it has tomato sauce, that would be a “No”.

Napped. Bella is still asleep. Now she’s up.

Lily ate part of the lemon-blueberry cake that I got from the pizzeria. Bella absconded with the plastic box that the cake was in.

Spent too much time mucking around on Facebook.

I did think of a college town to check out for retirement: Clemson, South Carolina. It ticks all my boxes. I found a senior living community to check out. The place doesn't seem to allow pets, and I'm likely to still have Oliver and Lily when I would move there. So I started to look in Greenville, SC, and found a place that I like that allows pets. It sounds pretty perfect.

Booked a massage. My neck is killing me.

Woke up at 7 AM. Bella was too distracted by the outside world to do her business. She finally peed at least. Bella was being totally manic and she scratched me in the face. I gave her a Munchie Bone and she settled down. I’ve decided to take my shower at lunchtime because my clothes aren’t dry yet. So now I have time to kill.

Cool. I got The Economist's Guide to Investment Strategies for $4 on eBay. I'm going to have quite an investment library. And I received The Economist’s Guide to Analyzing Companies, which I will read first.

The arthritis in my toes is bugging me.

Had my therapy session. I told her that the increased meds were helping somewhat, but that I'm still tired. I looked tired. I asked how to force myself to clean up the kitchen, and we decided that I would make an appointment with a cleaner, and then I would clean up the dog debris in there before the appointment. She recommended that I get the security cameras put up and contact the garage people in the next two weeks.

The new pope is from my hometown of Chicago! There are jokes on Facebook about a deep-dish* Eucharist :)

I watered my plants outside and took the new plants out of their boxes and watered them too. Opened some Amazon boxes and my investment books are coming in. Now I just need time to read them!

My digestive system is roiling. I need to get to bed early anyway because I need to drop the car off to be fixed tomorrow.

I think that I'm going to hire someone to walk Bella because I've been so drained. I found someone who also does cat sitting, which I will need when I go to a conference in June. Also I'm going to hire an organizer to keep me working on decluttering and organizing.

* Deep-dish pizza is a thing in Chicago. It's several inches high and filled with cheese, meat, and other items such as mushrooms. Jon Stewart derisively called it a "casserole," but it's quite good.

Filled litter boxes and put another one on to soak. Started charging the batteries for the mower.

When I asked for handyman recommendations on NextDoor, a bunch of handymen posted but no one gave recommendations. I found someone highly rated on Yelp, so I’ll give him a try.

Got up at 7 AM. Fed us all. Got my groceries. I texted the driver to close the gate and she did. Oliver wants my food.

I was going to go to the bank at lunch, but I had problems falling asleep, so I need to nap at lunch. I'll go in the late afternoon.

I need to find someone to mow my lawn using a handheld mower, not a riding mower, so that they can close the gate. I'll ask on NextDoor.

I'm asking ChatGPT to come up with investment learning plans for me. I need to clear off my desk upstairs to have a good study space. I could use a desk lamp too (ordered).

My glasses are missing. WTF? Ordered a new pair from Zenni. Okay, I found them under my desk chair. It still would be good to have an extra pair.

Got my new debit card. It’s a different number than the old card, so I need to change it in 15 gazillion places. There was a Panera nearby, so I decided to eat there. Well. They took the sandwiches that I liked off of the menu, so I had grilled cheese. They still did have French Onion Soup, which I ordered. The 1/2 a sandwich was smaller than it used to be. But the food was good.

I picked up a library book. Then I went to pick up my prescriptions at a grocery store. I now am the proud owner of a hibiscus plant! They had some outside and I found one that I liked. They were cheaper than at Lowe's.

I had to wait a long time for the prescription and then there was no price on the hibiscus, but eventually I made it out of there. Bella was really excited when I came home. You would think that I had been gone a year! I was singing “I’m So Excited“ to her. Logged onto work for a while.

Oh hell, I forgot to take out the garbage (done and my back hurts).

Ordered two plants for my shade garden to replace the ones that Bella chewed up. I received my new coral bells, so I should be done with it.

I'm beat.

Overslept a half-hour but made it to work on time.

Now I'm mulling over retiring at the end of next year. I'll be 64, which isn't too terribly early to retire. But I won't have Medicare yet. Waiting until the following year would be better.

The good news: I received my check from the trust, finally. The bad news: the money won't post to my account until next week, so I can't pay the pet sitter and go to the conference. I'm in the process of trying to cancel my reservations and get refunds. Now I wait to see the fallout. The people at work have been nice about it though. Okay, I was able to cancel the hotel with no penalty and the conference with a $50 cancellation fee. My train tickets are non-refundable. I told work that I'd pay back any money lost, so I owe them $92. Not bad. They said that I don't have to reimburse them. That was very nice. Have I mentioned lately that I work with great people?

I can't wait until I don't have to deal with the trust anymore.

I've been drinking protein shakes for lunch to keep from spending money. Maybe I'll lose some weight, which will be good.

I'm wiped out with all the stress and drama. I think that it's nap time after work. At least, I don't have to scramble to clean the house before the conference.

Oh. I've gotten distracted. The water in the shower was only lukewarm today, so something is wrong with the pilot light. I'll have to look at it and call Ameren.

Eeek. Someone emailed me directly, asking me to moderate a session at the conference to which I'm going in June. So I said yes, but public speaking nerves!

Hmm. When I retire, it occurred to me that I could work part-time on Web Site accessibility remediation. Though the Title II updates are due next year.

Fed us all. Bella is being a prima donna and wants to be fed in our bedroom. She camps out on the bed. Oliver is being a snot and tries to grab my food while I’m eating. Bella was barking at people who were walking by, which I’m not thrilled about. I told her, “Yeah, you’re a watchdog—NOT!” She also whined when a dog walked by. I’ll send her occasionally to doggy day care when I have the money.

Got the recycling out. This time I got smart and corralled the cats before going in and out. Now it’s nap time.

Huh. I was going to take a nap, but it’s late enough that maybe I should just go to bed? Bella has been happy to hang out with me though.

Some of the garden plants that I ordered are supposed to arrive tomorrow. It’s probably good that I’m not leaving this weekend. I’ll also have to pick up the plants that I bought from the university plant sale. And I can clear garden beds and plant seeds. I think that I’ll wait a little longer to bring out my dahlias though.

I found places to replace the garden plants that Bella chewed up. (Note to self: Lady fern and Japanese forest grass. At least I know that they’re pet safe.)

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.

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. It occurred to me that I could plan a quieter, gentler trip to Italy. Maybe I could go to Sardinia, stay in Cagliari, poke around, and go to the beach. I’m doing some research. I found a hotel that I like. Maybe I could do Italian language lessons? I think that there is a language school there? Language school I'm trying to find out how I'd get there. It looks like I'd need to fly to Rome and then take another flight to Sardinia. Excellent. The language school is a 10 minute bus ride from the hotel. I found a guidebook to Sardinia too. The weather is still good in Sardinia in September. I found a good flight too. (Apparently the more direct route is to fly to another European city, in this case Munich, and then get a flight from that city to Sardinia. I saw another route that had four flights! No!) I found a store that sells linen clothes that I’d like to check out.

Got up at 6:30 AM. The Kia is still here, so I need to stay up. Maybe I’ll start work early.

I found a place that sells astilbe (the bare-root plants that Bella has been digging up) in pots. Not cheap though.

I rescheduled my massage appointment to later this month. My membership renewal is upcoming, so I didn’t know if the massage would be paid for. Plus, I can just come home after the protest. I need to figure out where I can park for the protest. Okay, I have a plan.

They picked up the Kia. Apparently, I was supposed to leave the keys in the car, but they didn't tell me that.

I talked to the people who have Mimi's ashes, and I made arrangements to take 1/2 a vacation day on Wednesday to go get them in Bloomington (about an hour from here).

Got my food delivered.

Overslept my nap. I am so freaking tired.

Here comes a storm. Urgh, the weather will be lousy for the protest tomorrow.

Hmm. Holland America wants to "help" me book my flights. I wonder if they would book it earlier than the cruise starts.

I took Bella outside, and she wanted to come in right away after she peed. I told her that she wouldn’t like it out! It’s pouring now. And there’s thunder and lightning.

Someone on Facebook posted a protest sign, “You know things are bad when librarians start protesting”. Totally stealing that.

Apparently, the car repair place called for me to come sign an authorization. I didn’t get the message until after they closed though, so I’ll go on Monday morning.

Napped and woke up at 11:30 PM. Oliver had snuck in and was biting my leg. He was hungry. All right then. Bella was playing in the mud outside. :(

I’m too groggy to make my protest sign now, so I’ll get up early to do it.

Ugh. Bella got a big smear of mud on my jeans. And I want to wash them to wear tomorrow.

I ordered a martingale collar (recommended by the dog training folks) and a double-handled leash for Bella.

Woke up at 7:30 AM. Ordered groceries for delivery.

shadowcat said that A Complete Unknown is now on Hulu, so I want to make time to see it. Also, I want to see A Real Pain. Maybe on Sunday? Or maybe one of them tonight? I used to have a Friday night ritual where I watched movies. I liked it. Or maybe after raking on Saturday. I'll be too tired to do more stuff around here. No, the Mozart Requiem concert is on Saturday. I need to figure out what to wear.

Bella cracks me up when I feed the cats. She comes to me for petting as a distraction because otherwise, she might lose control and eat the cats' food. LOL.

The groceries were delivered earlier than I expected, so they sat out for a while. But now I have soda and food.

It’s warm out, and Bella didn’t want to come in, but she did so grudgingly.

Overslept my nap. I'm tired.

I'm definitely going to go to the Hands Off! rally on Saturday, 4/5, but there's also one for trans rights on Monday, 3/31. It's two hours during lunchtime, and I'll be working, so I'm not sure how that would work. I couldn't work late because I have choir. I need to get some poster board and markers. At Dollar Tree? Actually, Hands Off! has printable signs. The problem is that I agree with most of them. Hard to make a decision. Oh, there's one with everything. I think that I found my sign.

The cats knocked down my trackball and the ball part is missing. What did they do with it? I'm glad that Oliver is happy but sad that it took Mimi dying to make him happy. He just stole my pen!

Oh, it occurred to me the other day that I'll have to get someone to let Bella out at lunchtime on the days that I have my in-person staff meeting at the end of April. I'll look on Wag first.

Goofball Bella was rolling on her back outside. She clearly loves the weather.

I'm actually feeling warm with my hoodie upstairs, so I took it off.

Oh man, am I stiff. I definitely need to go to yoga tomorrow.

Lily's stomach clock is good. I feed the dog and cats after I take Bella out after work at 5:30 PM. Lily was on my lap, purring and head-butting me at 4:45. Lily has gotten so big that I do a doubletake, thinking that she's Mimi (although she still is smaller than Mimi).

Speaking of Mimi, I haven't gotten a call about her ashes. I'll need to call on Monday and find out what's going on.

I really want to learn Forex trading (don't worry; I won't risk money for a long time after paper trading), so I made a list of books to get. I asked ChatGPT how to learn it and it gave me some recommendations. I also asked about Web site building, but that might wait until retirement.

Hmm. Daily OM has an event that kind of interests me and it isn't too expensive: Expert-Led Fascia Stretches to Eliminate Sitting Damage

Hey! I can get a Senior Membership to the Urbana pool and gym. They have free Folk [Music] in the Park, and a beginner’s Pickleball League! And I think that choir will be over for the summer, so I will have more nights free. They have a rail trail ride if I get back up to speed on bicycling.

I think that I’m going to go to bed early to get up early and rake. I have yoga and the concert tomorrow too, so I need to get up really early. Crap, now they're saying rain tomorrow. I'm still getting up early.