Outstanding Example of an Amateur

Woke up with my alarm at 6 AM. Bella was being annoying this morning. She kept on going back to where I think that she found the possums and barking. If that was the right spot, the mother had moved them. (Now I think that she saw the groundhog.) I kept trying to get her out of there and she kept on going back. I finally, finally convinced her to come in.

At least, I'm clean now.

Dropped my check for the flights and one-half the registration fee off. Now it’s nap time. Oliver was on my lap and he and Bella were squabbling, and I was trying to keep the peace. Then Oliver nipped me, and I escorted him out of the bedroom. Then I realized that I was so spaced out that I didn’t put The Club on the car, so I went out and did so. NOW it’s nap time.

Now a storm is rolling in. It's a big, nasty storm. It's making me nervous. There's a tornado warning northwest of here.

I found out when the Allerton Camp for Adults is taking place this fall (October 9 - 12). But it'll take two vacation days, and I'm using up my vacation days for the Sardinia trip, so I might not be able to do it. But now I know when I can go to Pere Marquette State Park to see the fall leaves. (Note to self: weekend of October 24th) I'll book the HipCamp soon. Hmm, I should try to make a camping meal at home before going camping. I want to do a dry run of everything.

I really want to nap tonight. I'm still having dizzy spells. I'll get the recycling out and lie down.

The tree people wanted to take the tree down tomorrow, but I said that it was a holiday for me, so I'd rather have it done on Monday.

Oh cool. Music of the Baroque is still offering concerts on demand. There are at least three concerts in which I'm interested. I had been chucking their mailings out because I thought that they had ended on demand. (They're in the Chicago area.)

Chico's sent me a coupon, and they have some great dresses, some of which have petites! I usually can't wear maxi dresses because I need petites. I found two dresses that I want: "Rio" dress and Metallic dress.

Got the recycling out. Go me. (They probably won’t pick it up tomorrow because of the holiday but just in case….)

I took Bella out on a leash. She was not happy. She did bounce back enough to pick up a stick, but she did not do her business.

Fed us all. Nap time. Couldn’t sleep. I’ll go post, feed the beasts, take Bella out, and go to bed for the night. Oh, and buy the Chico’s dresses and book the HipCamp for October. Bella is fast asleep though. I hate to disturb her. She jumped on the bed, and I’ve been snuggling with her. Very cozy. I found a petite travel outfit on Magellans that I like.

Okay, I've got the cat food dishes soaking and bought the clothes. I'll wend my way towards bed. Hey, I can sleep in tomorrow!

I confirmed that Illinois Canyon Trail at Starved Rock doesn't have stairs. It sounds like a nice hike. I need to dig out my hiking boots. Hmm, I need to get a second phone charger battery for camping. There's a limit to how much I'll rough it! I bought a travel dog bed for Bella.

It looks like Bella found another dead possum. Is she killing them? I might need to take her out on a leash at night. I’m calling her “Possum Breath”. Okay, she’s a dog and doesn’t know any better.

I was going to get ready for bed. Cats: not so fast. We didn’t get our second meal! They were right, so I fed them. Now I’m in bed.

Woke up at 8 AM. Emailed in sick. Two of the tickseeds are blooming!

We get Thursday off for Juneteenth, so I plan to do some gardening and cleaning.

Bella was digging in the back garden, so I threw a stick and distracted her. She’s busy chewing it. Now we’re inside. Bella is trying to “play” with Oliver and he gave her a swat. I told her that I speak Cat and he’s annoyed with her.

I need to check whether the lab at the hospital will be open on Thursday (Juneteenth). It would be a good time to get my blood work done.

Fed us all. My stomach hurts. Time to sleep.

Hmm, it’s going to go up to 87F today. I guess that I’ll shave my legs and put on shorts.

Bella is always up for a nap. My bed potato :) Woke up at 1PM.

I received the camping food. I want reusable grocery bags to put them in. I also received a tie-out for Bella, a lantern, and some pots. The tent should arrive on the weekend. Hmm, maybe I should save a box to also put stuff in. I’ll be "car camping".

I’m feeling better but shaky with some stomach cramps. Food should help. It did.

American Airlines flights to Reno are either early in the morning or late at night. I need to take a morning flight to get picked up in Reno by my dad. I’m wondering if I’ll need to overnight in Chicago.

Maybe I’ll take another nap. Bella was already in the bedroom ready to take a nap! Napped and woke up at 6 PM.

I’m feeling dizzy.

It’s predicted to be 93 and 95 F on the weekend. Fuck. Not great for yard work. It looks like an iris that I planted is coming up.

There are ants in my mailbox. It looks like some food spilled in there. I don’t have ant spray. I left the mail outside.

Fed us all. Ordered groceries. I’m trying to get the energy together to gather the garbage for pickup. Woah. I’m feeling dizzy.

The BBC had a video about how Cologne, Germany is sex-positive. It sounds like an interesting city that I’d like to visit.

Bella has a crinkly brown mailer. I can see the appeal. She’s now ripping it up.

I flipped through the destination guide to Greenville, SC, and it looks interesting.

Got most of the garbage out. Hot and dizzy.

I’m looking into Bark Air for when I study in Italy and France. Apparently they do take cats also.

I never did take a shower. I need to get up early to do so because I need to hand off my check to someone at work. It just occurred to me that I need to find out if I need to spell out the name of the consortium or not.

It's oppressively hot upstairs. And Lily wants to snuggle.

Now I can’t sleep. I got up and took my nighttime meds. Slept a while and overslept. Got up and emailed work. Exchanged emails with my boss. Said that I would be out sick.

Poor Bella is out cold. I told her that she could sleep last night and didn’t need to get up when I was up, but she stayed up late with me.

Slept for a while. It’s dark and slightly rainy out. I had to turn the lights on. Now it’s pouring. Bella and I came in just in time. Fed us all.

I saved an article about ticks because that’s what worries me the most about camping and hiking. I need to buy some "Off". I think that Bella’s flea meds also work on ticks. Ordered a camping lantern.

Good. The people at the conference are in the process of finding a new moderator, so everything is being taken care of. Time to go back to sleep.

I’m looking for a HipCamp near Pere Marquette State Park. I’ve wanted to go there in the fall for a while, but it’s a three-hour drive. I’d like to take Bella. I haven’t found any HipCamps in the area. I found a hotel in the area that someone said was pet-friendly, but their Web site doesn’t say that. I’ll look into it later. Okay, I found a pet-friendly hotel in Missouri that’s nearby and not very expensive. I need to pick a weekend in October because places will fill up with leaf-peepers (like me!) I’m telling Bella about it. Lots of new smells for her! I found a HipCamp that’s one hour away. I might do that. It looks like the closest place in Illinois.

I also found a HipCamp in Missouri that’s is very pretty with creeks and small waterfalls.

I’m feeling a sense of foreboding, and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s stress. Went back to sleep.

Bella was trying to eat a firefly. I told her no, we like fireflies. Oh good, it took off. It must be mating season because there are a ton of them.

I need to reimburse work for my flight, so I’ll need to book a trip within a year. Maybe I’ll fly out of the local airport when I go see my dad to use up the money. Or I could take a cruise, but I’ll use up a lot of my vacation time on the trip a year from this fall.

I need to feed the beasts (done). Bella is being manic. I had a vanilla yogurt with cookie dough crumbles. They are pure crack. Oliver is being snuggly. That’s my boy.

I was going to say that I’ll go to bed early, but it’s already almost 9 PM.

Bella cracks me up. When I feed the cats, she puts her paws on my lap and looks away from the cats because if she looked at them, she might lose control and eat their food. She seems to understand that I don’t want her to eat their food. I fed myself too.

Now I need to email work (done), post, take Bella out again, and go back to sleep.