days_unfolding

Hell. I feel like going to sleep and getting up early. I need a snack though (done). I DO have to get up early because of my Italian lesson. I didn’t go to the grocery store. Tomorrow.

I’m looking into French lessons as well.

I’m explaining to Oliver and Lily that they are not starving to death. They are not convinced.

It’s hot.

I brought a garbage bag into the bedroom to clean it up. Oliver is reaching under the door and pulling it out. This is a zoo :)

I got my electric bill and need to start turning off the porch light at night. Expensive to leave it on.

I’m pleased with myself. There is a book called No New Things, which I want to read, but I requested it from the library.

I’m having problems falling asleep. Suckage. Finally did. Got up a little after 6 AM.

I'm ready for my Italian lesson. Had the lesson. My teacher was sad about Mimi. We talked about the cruise for a while. Oliver and Lily showed up to say "Hi". We won't have a lesson for another three weeks because I'm gone next week and my teacher is gone the following week.

I'm really stressing about my check. Silence from the trust.

I have to hand it to Ameren. They replaced my gas meter and asked me to call them to have the gas turned back on. (They had been trying to set a time with me, but I kept forgetting to call them.) They had someone come out right away. Hot water for showers!

I have stomach cramps, plus I have to gather garbage, plus I’m tired, so I’m not going to the store tonight. I need to eat up some of the food that I have stashed. I listed my pet ramp that I bought for Bella to get into my car for sale on Facebook. (She didn't need it. She can get into my car perfectly well. She just didn't want to go in there.) I hope that someone will buy it. I'm trying to think of other things to sell.

Got the garbage out. I’m going to have some Ramen noodles and go to bed.

I found the itineraries for the Japan and Orient Express trips. The Orient Express trip still excites me; Japan not as much. They both are long trips, so I can’t take both of them and I should take a shorter trip as a second trip in the spring or summer next year. I'll look for a shorter cruise. Okay, I like this cruise. Or I could go to Bermuda on another cruise line.

One of the little plastic cat ball toys rolled down the stairs, and Bella chewed it into pieces. Once I get the check from the trust, I will subscribe to plastic cat ball toys if I can. They will get used and abused.

Woke up at 8:30 AM.

I got my blood test results, and my vitamin D and B12 levels are normal. That’s not why I’m so tired.

It’s raining lightly. Oh good, the rain will stop in the afternoon.

I’m using the MediSafe app recommended by bill_schubert. I think that it will be helpful. Notifications are off though, and I need to turn them on.

Crap. The doggie day care is full two of the days. Now what? Called and left a message at another place. There also is a third place, but it’s out of town and not convenient. The place that I called wants to do an evaluation on Thursday, so they couldn’t do Wednesday.

I really feel like going back to sleep. I’ll skip going to the library and go on Monday.

Bella already has a small pile of crap that she’s found to play with in the kitchen. I need to get after it with a broom while it’s still small.

Hmm. I’m looking at urns for Mimi, but nothing is saying ”Mimi” to me. Etsy has some that are painted to look like the cat, which I like.

Oliver came over for snuggles, and Bella promptly jumped on my lap. Jealousy….Later, Bella was about to poop on the kitchen floor, and I hussled her butt outside.

Well, took a shower anyway. I’m dragging. I was going to watch a movie, but my Hulu account is on hold because they can’t charge my credit card. I don’t want to use another card because I need to pay for Bella’s doggie day care. Netflix is hosed too. Okay, I’ve already paid for episodes of The Golden Girls. Watched a couple of episodes.

Now I'm going to feed the hordes and crash.

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.

Woke up at 8 AM. It’s starting to rain. They are predicting snow in Chicago this week, but not here. Bella is squeaking her squeaky ball. Got us all fed.

I spent a bunch of time finding my new moisturizer in my suitcase, but I finally found it. I’m ready for my voice lesson early.

Had a really great singing lesson. My teacher is awesome. Zara fell asleep while I was singing. Aww.

There was a groundhog in the neighbor’s yard. Bella was defending us against him or her :)

Had lunch. Now it’s nap time. Overslept my nap by an hour. Bella and I are both yawning. A smoke alarm is chirping, so I need to see if I have batteries for it.

Wrote the travel agent to get my Mexico cruise under my Holland America ID. Oliver and Lily are upstairs with me.

It's strange how different the household is without Mimi. I'm sorry to say that it's better because Oliver and Lily really wanted to come upstairs where I am during the day. Oliver isn't trying as hard to get out too. Lily is showing me her belly. Now she’s on my lap and purring. Oliver likes to lie in Mimi’s spot on the chair.

I need to get the quarantine aquarium set up and cycled. And I need to figure out what to do about the water in the aquarium while I’m gone. I might have to stage buckets with heated water upstairs. The pet sitter unplugged my fish tank, probably because she thought that it was bothering Mimi. That's not good.

I bought grass seed and topsoil repair and fertilizer from Lowe's for delivery tomorrow.

I have my Italian ready for Tuesday. I hate to tell my teacher that Mimi died. She loved Mimi.

Need to feed the beasties. I’m way dehydrated, so I’m swilling carbonated water. Lily is licking out the can for Bella’s food. We’re all fed now.

Hmm. I need to run a misdelivered Amazon box to my neighbors (done). Then I’m thinking of going to bed early. I don’t know why I’m so tired, but I am. Lack of sunshine today is probably part of it.

Got most of the recycling out. Went and got Mimi’s carrier from the U of I vet; I saved around $70 doing that. And now I have three carriers for three cats.

Got up at 7 AM. It’s cold, wet, and miserable out. Even the dog was less than thrilled.

I need to get someone to clean the gutters.

Bella ate Lily's food. Twice. Aargh. Bella is running around with her squeaky ball. She loves that thing. The pup is tired though. Oliver and Lily got kitty racetrack out of their system, I hope. Oliver is in Mimi's window looking at the birds. Lily is sitting on the rocking chair in the front window. I deem that "Lily's chair". Now Oliver is tunneling under the blanket on the guest room bed. Lily digs her claws in my leg when she goes on my lap. Ouch. Points to Oliver; he doesn't do that. Now Lily is checking out the mattress in the guest room. LOL. Oliver is tunneling under the blanket in the guest room, and Lily is jumping on top of him. Those two keep me entertained. A guy came by with two dogs when I was in the yard with Bella, and she hid behind me. That makes me wonder how she's going to do in the dog training class. The Dynamic Duo managed to 1) knock my soda onto me and 2) unplug my work laptop. Now Lily is on top of the fish tank.

I told work to load me up with meetings, but it hasn't been too bad.

I'm freaking tired.

I need to close my purse right now. I need to have the house cleaned, but I can do it myself. I'm getting pretty good at picking up the kitchen before I go to bed. Though hmm. The U of I music venue is having the Mozart Requiem on the 29th. I love the Mozart Requiem. Okay, I bought a ticket.

I asked my dad how to keep my energy up, and he said, “Lose weight”. All right then.

I'm looking at flights to San Diego for the Mexico cruise. I might have to go on Christmas Eve because I think that the bus isn't scheduled on Christmas. Or I might have to take the train, but I think that my suitcase might be too big for it? Oh, I can check luggage to Chicago. It would take me about an hour to get to O'Hare from the train station. I need to figure out something to do in San Diego before the cruise. The zoo? They have a great zoo. San Diego city tour? I'll need to find a hotel too. Found a hotel that I like.

My shade garden has shipped. I’ll need to get after the garden that I will put it in this weekend.

Bella: Pet me! Pet me! Pet me! She found a piece of styrofoam somewhere and was shredding it. I guess that I need to get out the broom. Had some Girl Scout cookies. Bella: Aren’t you going to give me some? Me: Nope!

Headache. I’m going to lie down for a little while. But the doggo wanted a belly rub. I’m sharing my bed with a can of tuna that Bella brought in. I only live here :)

Slept until 10:30 PM. I must have needed it.

Oliver knocked over Mimi’s dry food again. Sigh. He and Bella are eating it in a moment of feline-canine cooperation. Oy. I think that I'm going to leave the kitchen a mess, put clothes in the dryer, and go back to bed. Oops, I need to order soda.

Bella opened some cat food cans and dragged a plastic garbage bag onto the kitchen floor. The floor was clean! The pup is ready for bed though. She’s tired.

Woke up at 6 AM. That seems to be my new wake-up time.

Bella is telling me that she’s really glad to be home.

I looked into a grow shelf with lights to start tomatoes and Mamma Mia, expensive. I guess that I’ll just get plants at the store.

Fed the dog and cats (and me).

Lily is on top of the fish tank and Oliver is in Mimi's window. Life goes on....Now Oliver and Lily are chasing each other. The pup is still very tired. Too much excitement!

I talked to my boss and got the okay to be off on January 2nd for the Mexico cruise.

Cleveland Clinic: Exercises to Improve Posture.

I keep looking for Mimi-Bug :( I just started crying because I wish that I could have done more for her but I couldn't.

I'm feeling freezing cold even though it's warm outside.

I finally got some Panama Canal pictures sorted that I'll post tonight.

It's funny how much calmer Oliver is now that I'm letting him go upstairs. He doesn't feel left out!

I have Bella registered for the dog training class (i.e. I paid for it).

My hands are feeling arthritis-y. Ouch.

I fed the critters and need to get the garbage out after I eat.

Bella is digging a hole to China in the front yard :(

Picked up after the dog. Started dishes and laundry.

I’m going to take the garbage out, post, and get to bed early. I want to take Bella for a walk before work. If I’m waking up at 6 AM, that would work.

I went to Guest Services to close out my bill. It turned out that they owned me money. But then the rep started looking at my shore excursions. She’s trying to get mine canceled, which is nice, but no guarantees. So I wound up spending a fair amount of time there.

Woke up at 4 AM. Washed, packed, and breakfasted, and I am running early for my “immigration inspection “.

I was cooling my heels for 45 minutes while the port authority was looking at my documents and checking who knows what. I was finally cleared to leave and got my passport back. Then I almost left my purse in the bathroom. I’m tired.

The cruise rep did get my shore excursions canceled, though. The cruise people have been awesome.

This is the trip of great customer service. I’m at the Courtyard by Marriott near the airport in San Jose, Costa Rica. They found me a room even though I got here at 11 AM.

Crap. Mimi has a brain tumor. I just got the message that her vet left yesterday. I’m trying to reach her vet.

Conveniently, there is a Walmart next to the hotel. I got some soda and some empanadas.

I really want to nap, but I’m waiting for the vet to call.

I had a lengthy conversation with the vet. It's a large tumor near the cerebellum, and could wind up pressing on her brain stem "which would be catastrophic". He offered surgery, radiation treatments, or euthanasia. I said that I was thinking about euthanasia, but that I wanted to be there. He said okay, they will keep her comfortable until I get back.

I napped for five hours. I’m a little worried about getting up on time, although I have the zap alarm with me. No wake-up calls. I’ll take my shower tonight.

I think that I'll post and get ready for bed. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.

The Room Service meal got there quickly and was very good. It’s an option if I get tired of the cafeteria. This is a two-week trip!

My pet sitter is back to asking about the garbage cans. This is good. She did say that Mimi wasn’t eating, but I think that she’s stressed from the vet visit.

Another reason not to do the shore excursion today is that we start the transit of the Panama Canal at 6:30 AM tomorrow, and I want to be up. It’s the main reason that I booked this trip!

I do like the looks of Cartagena though. I looked it up and the Internet says that it’s dangerous, so not a retirement spot. Plus I’m pretty dug in in Urbana.

I’m planning my day, such as it is. I want to wash some shorts and a t-shirt in the sink. I want to gather the laundry that I want them to wash (jeans and pants). I probably will stop by the Future Cruises desk. I want to zero out my cruise tab. (They make it too easy to charge stuff to your room.) And I want to try the pool.

Laundry taken care of. Now I want to take a nap, but they’re having a crew safety drill with a lot of announcements. I abandoned my nap until things settle down. The laundry fairies whisked away my laundry. I’m a little nervous that I won’t see it again, but the workers here seem to have their act together.

Paid my tab. Future Cruises wasn’t open yet. Le sigh. Now I’m killing some time before lunch.

Lunch was good. The Sweet Shop guy asked what my name was :)

I need to figure out what exercises to do because I don’t want to become a hunched-over Little Old Lady. Pilates? Yoga? Posture exercises?

I was wondering how many days we’ve been on the cruise. Their app says Day 5. They have a mat in the elevators telling which day of the week that it is (Tuesday). Easy to lose track!

Nap time, finally. Wow, I zonked out.

It just occurred to me that I haven’t called to check on Bella (dog) and Oliver (cat). (They’re being boarded at a vet.) I’ll do so Thursday or Friday. I’m sure that they’re fine. Oliver is probably running the place!

I talked with the Future Cruises person. The price that she quoted was higher, but she said that she could send the booking to Vacations to Go for their discount. So win win. I get both discounts from Holland America and Vacations to Go.

Oh Christ. Mimi has deteriorated. The pet sitter thinks that she needs to be put down. The vet says that it looks like cancer but we could have her transferred to the U of I, which is what I asked for. If the scan shows cancer, I will have no issues with euthanasia, but she deteriorated so fast that I’d like to know what’s going on. The pet sitter totally disagrees with me.

I feel like crying.

She’s at the U of I now. I gave them my debit card number. I might even have a drink.

Needless to say, I don’t feel like going swimming tonight. I do need to eat something though, although I’m not very hungry. Pizza. I want pizza.

The U of I vet called. I agreed to have her hospitalized until they can do a scan. They said that it might be a bad ear infection or it might be cancer. They said that she would need nursing care, so I need to call Good Friends (where Bella and Oliver are being boarded). It’s a vet hospital. Only time will tell what’s right, but I’d hate to euthanize her over a bad ear infection.

No pizza, so I’m having pasta as the next best thing. And pineapple sorbet for dessert, which was awesome.

The guy at the bar where I get soda remembered my name :) He asked where I was from. I just tell people “Chicago” because most people have heard of Chicago. He asked if I was traveling by myself.

I need to get to bed early because I want to get up at 4 for the Panama Canal transit.

I came back to my room to find my laundry on my bed. The service here has been top-notch.

I like this Holland America Japan and China cruise, but I was thinking of 2027 for a Japan cruise, not 2026. I'll have to see if they could cut me a deal because I'm on one of their cruises now. The cruise itself isn't that expensive, but the airfare would be (around $1700).

I’m trying to figure out what’s on the docket for today. I have a massage at 3:30 PM and a facial at 8. I want to give myself a pedicure in case I want to go swimming tomorrow. Maybe I’ll talk to the future cruise person about the Japan-China cruise. I should find out what Vacations to Go’s price would be, though, because they are usually cheaper. Got a speedy quote from them ($3667, not including airfare). Now to see if Holland America would do better.

One thing that I like about the staterooms is that they have clotheslines in the bathrooms. I have some shorts and a t-shirt soaking in the sink.

I burned the roof of my mouth on hot pizza in Miami, and it still hurts when I eat.

I think that it’s nap time.

The toilet in my room isn't working. Called, and they said that they were having "a tech problem".

I left my purse at breakfast. As I was leaving the room, a guy working on the ship said for me to go to Guest Services. It was there and everything was in it. Bless the honesty of my fellow passengers and the crew.

I looked at the cruise-line branded stuff and am trying to decide what I want. They have a coffee mug that I like, but I’m afraid that it would break. A water bottle? I forgot mine. They have a nice zip-up hoodie, but do I need another hoodie? I could wear it on the plane flight from California though.

Yeah, I think that I like this cruise. It feels less crowded than the other one, and the Aging Frat Boy Quotient seems lower. I go on a cruise to relax, not party, although there are some folks drinking their breakfast. Cruises are very relaxing, and the sights come to us (or so it seems).

Took a bunch of debit and credit cards out of my wallet and put them in the safe in my room. I don't need them here.

Well, hell. Went to take off the old nail polish off of my toes, only to find that the nail polish wipes that I bought don't have nail polish remover on them. I have no choice but to get a pedicure now.

I went down to the future cruises desk. It wasn’t open. It will be open later in the cruise. I gather that I can get a shipboard credit if I book with them, but I’m dubious about the price.

I’m at the spa now. I made an appointment for tomorrow for a manicure and pedicure. It’s at 5PM, which is later than I would like, but that’s what I get booking at the last minute.

My pet sitter is very worried about Mimi. And she can’t find Lily. She wants me to come back, but I explained that I’m on a cruise ship. I’ll look into ways to get back, but I’m not hopeful. There is a flight from Cartagena, Columbia in two days. But I want to talk to the vet first. I don’t know what to do.

(She also managed to blame me and the dog (?) for Mimi being sick. Never mind that I took Mimi to the vet a couple of weeks ago.)

Had my massage. My brain was whirring, so I wasn’t in a receptive mood. But she upsold me to a hot stone massage. I guess that it helped my tight muscles. She said that it did. She also asked me what I did for my tight muscles between massages, and I said ”…nothing?” She thinks that I should get one of those massaging shower heads, which is do-able. (I really should start up yoga again.) And she sold me some body oil because my skin is dry (it is) and some foot cream. My neck does feel loose now.

Okay, I found a reputable service to get me from the cruise terminal to the airport in Columbia. Now I see how things play out.

I think that facials are largely the placebo effect, but the glop that she was putting on my skin must have hydrated it some. I got a new moisturizer to try. And she told me to drink more water.

I was thinking that I needed to have laundry done if I take the flight from Cartagena. But they want 24 hours, which is cutting it a little close. But I have some clean jeans. I could wear jeans, a t-shirt, and buy the Holland America hoodie and be presentable enough. It’s no worse than what other people wear on planes. If I wind up staying, then I will have laundry done.

I want some late-night nosh.