days_unfolding

l copied off some music to take with me on the trip. I found an online virtual piano that I can use to help me.

Tried on my new pair of white jeans and some shorts. I’ll pack them tomorrow morning.

My “shock clock” is charging. It’s made in Canada, so I’m giving some money to our friends up north.

Overslept a touch, but got up early. It’s quiet outside. People must be sleeping in. No, I didn’t oversleep. My alarm went off after I got up. Fed us all. Napped.

Lily was playing with a q-tip. Oliver had to see what she was doing. And then Bella ran at them both. I’m telling Bella to chill, but she’s manic. Bella was barking at Lily and Oliver, who were wrestling. Everyone wanted my Lean Cuisine pizza. Okay, they seem to have settled down :) Now Lily is chasing Oliver.

Oh crud, I forgot to do my music theory homework. After my shower, I guess.

Bought extra chargers so I won’t have to grab them at the last minute.

Had my voice lesson. It went well, and I have some exercises to work on while I’m gone. Zara falls asleep when I sing. Aww :) (My singing teacher is in Canada too.) Here comes Zara.

I discovered the glories of Costco. I got my membership card. I bought my pet supplies, plus some cereal and munchies (their raspberry cheesecake bites are to die for). And I fell in love with a gray cat tree in which the platforms look like leaves. That would be perfect for my bedroom, so I bought it. I got a Costco hot dog and soda too. Then I returned my jeans at Staples and bought scissors and tape to put in my suitcase to attach the cruise luggage tag when I arrive in Miami. And I forgot to get big plastic bags for dog and cat food. Maybe I could use kitchen garbage bags.

I'm tired. I might be dehydrated, so I need to drink some water. I think that I'll work on packing after I finish feeding the hordes. Then I'll go to bed early and get up early. (This is a good time to test the "Shock Clock".)

As long as I'm upstairs, I'll post, though Mimi says that I should pet her instead.

I booked my next piano lesson, the songwriting and music theory classes, and the hotel for my trip to Michigan the weekend after the next one.

I forgot to mention that I found two trunks (one, two) that I’d like to use as end tables. But I’d have to drive to the Chicago area and Crown Point, Indiana. But they’re cheaper than buying similar ones on Wayfair. Hmm. It would be faster to go to both places in the same trip. I'm thinking of going on Sunday. No, I don't have enough money for them right now plus take my trip up to Michigan.

When I start dating, I might try Chemistry.com. I read an article about dating sites and it sounded interesting.

Overslept but logged on in time for work.

Reading LJ reminded me that it was 9/11, so I went back to read my LJ entries for that day. I'm surprised at how coherent my discussion of it was. And my mom got into an argument with rillifane. I can't believe that I've never been to New York since then. I hope this year. Mom had been back. In fact, she went to New York two weeks after 9/11, and she went to Ground Zero. I don't know if she ever saw the memorial site through.

Found a notebook to use for my songwriting and music theory classes. I need to take a shower because I overslept my nap at lunchtime.

I’m trying to “tell” my mom that I joined a choir. She would be interested. My dad, not so much. He never liked my singing. (I think that he thought that it was a waste of time. Something that makes me happy is never a waste of time.)

Well, great. The songwriting instructor hasn't showed up. I guess that I'll practice piano and singing until my music theory class. No, I ate dinner.

The music theory class did happen. I had a hard time hearing the teacher, so I ran and got my headphones. I'll need to order an extra set (done).

The songwriting teacher said that he had checked last night and no one was enrolled, so he assumed that the class was canceled. I enrolled after he checked. He said that he would be willing to gave the class just for me though. Cool!

I was practicing piano when my back started hurting, so I went to sit down and study Italian. I also need to get the garbage out (done). Finished practicing piano and practiced singing and one of my choir pieces. Scanned that choir piece for my singing teacher and sent it to her. Studied the Italian imperfect tense.

Now I need to do some work for work, do dishes, scoop cat boxes, and go to bed.

Found a really nice tan leather blazer in a bag of stuff from Stitch Fix. Went on the Internet to find ideas of how to wear it and bought a white sweater and green jeans. Actually, I think that I’m going to wear it on the Detroit-Chicago flight with blue jeans and a white sweater.

Woke up at 8 AM. I’m trying to convince myself not to go back to sleep because I need to practice guitar and voice.

I bought a cashmere sweater and skirt in burgundy from Quince. Actually, I bet that it would look good with the tan blazer. Or better yet, the pink leather blazer!

Bought some music flashcards. Practiced guitar.

We almost finished the crawl space. I have some papers that I need to go through, and there is some stuff way back in the space. Also, there is a ton of stuff that needs to be shredded, and I discovered that the UPS Store will do that. So I need to gather the shred stuff in boxes before I go there for my Amazon returns tomorrow.

I was sneezing from the dust in the crawl space until the organizer recommended that I wear a mask. It helped.

Had lunch and fed the hordes. Now I'm practicing voice.

Music theory and voice went really well. Guitar was a fiasco. Ah well. I’m kind of muttering,”I do this for fun?” I did buy a system of learning guitar chords that I’ll try when I get back. My teacher wants me to learn “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” but I’m stymied by the C chord.

I’m really tired. I think that I’ll get my laundry started, pack up some stuff in my backpack, set up the AirTags in my suitcases, and go to bed. I need to do some cleaning in the morning.

Mimi has been complaining up a storm, probably because she didn’t get her snuggles this afternoon. She wants me to go lie down. Now she’s snacking.

Got the laundry started. Filled a litter box. Gathered stuff to wash the bathroom floor in the morning. Packed up most of the things to go in my backpack. I couldn't get the AirTag containers that attach to fabric open, so I just tucked the AirTags in pockets of my luggage.

I just remembered that I have French homework. Le sigh. I can't remember what sections of the book we were in though, so I guess that I won't do it.

Time to crash and get up early to clean.

My strategy with eBay is if I find something that I like, I wishlist it, and often the sellers will give a discount. It worked for the blue tweed blazer that I wanted.

Woke up around 8 AM. Selected my BistroMD meals. Started a load of laundry. Got boxes for the packing person. Had a good petting session with Mimi. Found my missing pair of glasses; they were on the floor in the bedroom. I don't regret ordering more though.

Took a short nap. OMG, there are more pictures in the other dresser in my room. Crud. The packing tape order that I placed was delayed. I just placed an order at Mejier for more tape. I want the packing person to pack up all the pictures in my room. Plus, I need to pack up the clothes that I'm returning.

Oh okay. I have a hair appointment next Sunday, and I had the thought in the shower that the organizer scheduled for that Sunday, but it was the following weekend.

Oh. The packer is having car trouble, so she wanted to reschedule. And I started my Italian homework, but Italian isn't until next week. I am confused :) Scheduling stuff is a pain. Oh good, the pet sitter confirmed for my Kauai trip.

Zara wants lunch! Now! I’m making my lunch too. I got up to order a book for the Kindle called Honest Aging, mentioned in the Washington Post, and both girls got excited because why would I get up except to feed them? They're charmingly self-centered. I fed them.

Crud. I put clothes in the dryer, and it was making a weird noise. I might have to replace it sooner rather than later. And I put a load in the wash, and I'm almost out of detergent, so I placed a Kroger order too. I also ordered blue dress pants to go with the blazer and blue top.

Got the tape. Yay. I’m practicing guitar and my chords are going better.

I booked a cleaner for Friday. Ordered more boxes. Urgh, I have a headache, but I've been practicing voice. I think that I need to power through. Okay, I've got my song memorized. Back to guitar. I'm getting hungry.

My music teacher was nice to reschedule me for a half-hour later. I told her that it wasn’t necessary this week because no Italian, but she decided to stick with the time.

Oh no! I lost my voicemail when I switched phones, including voicemails from mom! I need to see if I can get them back.

Music lessons went well. I have a bunch of homework, and I'm learning a new song as well. I need to order more guitar picks (done). We're also having an issue with printing off one of the books that we're using. I bought an electronic version of the book, but it will let me print it only three times. I'm thinking that I should go to Kinko's and print the whole 280 pages off.

Zara wants food. I thought that she was trying to con me, but she’s right, I didn’t give them dinner. (I can tell because her pill is in the pill splitter.) So I’ll feed them and take a short nap. I’m doing mass quantities of laundry because I want to start packing for Hawaii.

I reminded my Italian/French teacher that the lesson tomorrow should be French, and she said "perfect- perfetto-parfait :). So I guess that we've got the schedule worked out.

Tried to nap but couldn’t sleep. Gathered up clothes to pack. I'm getting a crashing headache, so I think that I'll go to sleep and do stuff in the morning.

I booked an Italian lesson and French lesson. Well, the teacher doesn't like the times. Sigh. I think that we've negotiated times, but she wanted to start next week because she's not feeling well.

Holy cow. My Global Entry application was conditionally approved, and I have an appointment the Monday of Thanksgiving week. Far out. And I have the appointment here, which saves me a trip to Chicago. And there is short-term parking at the airport, but maybe I want to Uber?

I just remembered that I have more vaccines today.

I'm trying to figure out how to get the boxes in storage back here. Maybe I could get a TaskRabbit guy with a truck? I don't really want to rent a U-Haul again.

I went to get my vaccines, but they wanted another card from Blue Cross Blue Shield. I doublechecked my old wallet, but haven't got it. So I need to call them on Monday. I hope that they will send it here. Picked up more batteries and some makeup.

The Total Gym arrived. That plus the BCBS problem sent me into a tizzy, but I remembered what my life coach tells me. I went to look for my to-do list notebook, but it has vanished. So I got one of Mom's old pads of paper, wrote down "Monday" and "Call BCBS". It helped. I sent a message to the TaskRabbit guy. He accepted. The Total Gym is just going to have to spend the night outside because I can't get it up the stairs. I emailed BCBS. Ordered another to-do list notebook.

I can't find the guitar tuner anywhere. I told my teacher, and she said that we could do music theory instead. That turned out to be useful, so I'm wondering if I should add a half-hour for music theory (done). She has decided from working with my voice that I'm a mezzo/alto, which is kind of what I figured. She told me that "my musical instincts are good," whatever that means but I'll take it! I'm starting a song that I don't know at all, "Once Upon a Dream" from Jekyll and Hyde.

By the way, I didn't do 1SE again last month. I suck.

I was obsessing about how I didn't want to get the dead possum out of the basement. So I told myself that if I did that, I could have the rest of the evening off to work on my blog or my video. That worked. I tried to pick it up with a shovel, but wound up having to use my mom's grabber. "Older people's stuff" can be useful!

The WordPress theme that I was using for the blog is buggy and wouldn't do what I want. So I bought another theme. But it somehow has gotten late, so I'll work with it some other day.

Added: Okay, I've got my blog site set up. Now I need to write some blog posts. Tomorrow after doing my task for the house.