Marilee J. Layman

05:24 pm: NAAAAAAP
It turned out that the Code Orange was only further in and we were clear, and I passed the neuro tests online, so I took my BFAC and another package to the Post Office. The other package wouldn't have fit into the APC bin tomorrow so I wouldn't have gotten it out until Monday and now that I'd packed it, I wanted it to go.

But now I'm sleepy and I'm going to take a nap. Delayed sleepiness.

Tags: errands, sleep

05:42 pm: Another Sweltering Day
I actually turned the light off last night at 4am and planned to be up at noon, which is normal recently, but I kept turning and moving and I realized I hurt too much to sleep. So I got up and took some pain meds. I went back to bed and was still tossing and turning at 6am, so I took more pain meds, put my robe on, brought the newspapers in/by Luke's door, and sat and watched almost an hour L&O:SVU on USA. Then I went to bed and right to sleep. So when the alarm beeped, I turned it off and slept until 2pm. So much for getting back to a normal schedule.

Then I took two DVDs to the post office, got money for next week, and had lunch at Tony's -- mushroom and tomato foccacia and iced tea -- and home. There was a catalog destined for the mixed paper recycling and another DVD in the mail. The cats were curled up in the recliner and didn't move until just now.

My right blinker indicator is solid, which means I need a new lamp, so I'll drop the van at the shop after I get groceries and bring them home on Monday. As I pulled into the shopping center with Tony's, I could see a woman waiting to pull out cussing at me because I didn't have my blinker on, but I don't think she would have seen my left arm raised through the minivan, either.

Tags: cats, errands, sleep, van

08:36 pm: Water Goddess
Yes, well, not quite. It's raining again, although not big storms, and the mulch in front of my porch was about to float off into the street because the landscape people always put it in so it blocks the openings to under my porch, where there's a drain that empties down some steps. So I went out with my reacher and scraped a channel to the closest recent opening and then used the end to move stuff out, and voila! Now the water is going from the drainpipe to the opening and out the drain to the lawn out back. When I bought the condo, my porch was 2" above the ground. After 16.5 years of mulch, the mulch is almost equal to the floor of the porch. I have to email management about it.

I did manage to stay up until regular bedtime this morning, but then I slept 11 hours. It's still only three more and I probably would have slept four or five extra last night, so it's probably better. Last night, Spirit heard Shiva charging after her and she smacked him in the face. This morning, they scuffled for a second or so twice, but he hasn't grabbed her again yet.

NBC says Tom Brokaw is going to run Meet the Press until after the elections -- that gives them time to decide who to pick.

Tags: cats, sleep, weather

08:31 pm: The Overseen
I was up late working on my friend's website text so I got up late today. While I've been sitting at the computer, Shiva has been sitting on the half-wall next to me, literally overseeing me. I tried to get the camera to take a picture, but he was too interested in me opening the drawer and moved.

I'd normally wash sheets today, but I've been putting off washing clothes and they'll take too long. Tomorrow I wash cat blankies, so Tuesday I'll wash sheets. Lucila isn't coming Tuesday; I asked her to skip a session, so she'll come the first. I'm just way off schedule and I don't think I could manage to get up in time for her to clean. I'll work on moving back to my normal in the next couple of weeks, but I've hit another period of being really sleepy.

I remembered to put cat food on the grocery list for tomorrow.

Tags: cats, sleep

06:36 pm: Shiva Is Nuts!
He's still playing with the crayon-smelling bracelet and has been trapping and ignoring (cycle) a bit of paper I crumpled up. Such a silly boy.

And then while I was settling into the recliner with the duvet, Shiva started chasing Spirit because he wanted to dash. She didn't want to dash and took refuge on the duvet. I set my phone to alarm at 9pm, but it made the "feed me!" dings before that and I turned it off so I woke up at 11:00pm. I don't hurt as much (no recliners in ERs) and I don't think I'm as sleepy.

I didn't do much today -- I was up late early this morning finishing LJ & ML and so I slept in. Then I started online and then I had a nap. I think the next few days will be similar, but with less sleeping. We have a heat advisory Sunday and Monday. I'd normally stay in Sunday anyway and I'd planned to stay in Monday since they'll be topping our section then and the van will be back out in the circle, so I don't think it will affect me very much, but there are still areas with lots of people who don't have power. Many cities are already setting up heat relief centers. It isn't the actual temperature that will be so bad, but the humidity has struck early, so the heat index will be over 100F.

Tags: cats, sleep, weather

09:27 pm: More Stormy Weather
I got up early because Lucila was coming to clean and I called management to find out if they had an idea of when they would do our section. She was a bit exasperated with me and said they'd put new signs on the clusterboxes. I reminded her that I can't usually walk that far and my van is even further, and she let up. They plan for Friday or Monday, although more likely Monday. I'll watch tomorrow for someone to give me a ride to the van so I can bring it in. I'd like to take the recycling out.

I slept while Lucila cleaned -- Shiva slept under the duvet with me and Spirit stayed in the castle. After she left, I needed to sleep some more and I was awakened at 2:30pm with a barrage of rain and wind. At first I thought I wasn't quite awake because I thought the wall of a building across from us was rippling, but then I saw the siding pull off and go over the building. I called management again to report the loss of siding. At the moment the siding went, the power went out. Now, this is really weird. We went for many years without losing power and now, twice in a short time, lost it. It was too dark to even read without a flashlight so I went back to sleep and woke up at 5:30pm when the smoke alarm beeped because it got the power back.

The dream I woke up from then had a big storm in it,and my house (not the condo, just a house) had slid down the lot and had traps inside and all my books were sopping wet. I kept trying to call the insurance company, but people kept keeping me from doing it.

I started resetting time on the TV/VCR/DVD stuff, plus the old VCR needs to have its channels refound. I thought I'd try that on the new DVD/VCR, too, and I have an amazing number of digital channels I didn't know about. And I'll have to look up how to get to them without going through the sub-channels. I don't have the expensive channels, still just expanded basic, but apparently a lot of the basic channels now have sub-channels.

We've had tornados to the north of us and to the south of us and another line of storms just through. We're due another tonight and more tomorrow.

Luke went out between storms and brought the mail back. I have my certified birth certificate which I'll take and put in the safe deposit box when I go out next, and I got the stickers for my license plate for two years. I always renew registration online and for the last five or six years they've asked if I knew I had old plates and did I want new ones. They look fine, it's not as if I drive into things, so I always say no and just get the stickers. That's expensive enough.

Tags: mail, management, sleep, weather

07:31 pm: A Sleepy Day
Lucila was here today and even though I slept while she cleaned, when she left, I went and told Shiva she was gone and I was going to sleep more and he followed me back to the living room. We slept another 2.5 hours with Spirit tucking in under the top of the covers for the last 40 minutes or so. It's chilly and damp outside again and it will be in the 60s the rest of the week. The local NBC weatherguy said this is the rainiest May in 55 years, so we'll have to watch more for mosquitoes.

Shiva ate the new canned food happily, and Spirit had some, too. I think we may move to that when they finish the current packets. The two of them would share half a can a day and that makes it about 21 cents a day cheaper, plus the cans are recyclable.

snippy was kind enough to receive the fax from the journalist and make it into a PDF. The fax looks like it's from the actual newpaper page and some elements didn't come through well. The numbers that look scribbled over are actually a gray highlight that showed which had the higher amount. In any case, this should bring some idea of the benefits former presidents get.

Tags: cats, politics, sleep

09:16 pm: Sleep is Queen
Apparently. I didn't sleep well last night -- I woke up with Shiva under the covers and he kept moving around and finally got out and lay down next to me, leaving me just enough room to turn over in place so I kept waking up. When the alarm went off, he dashed for the safe place in the back of the closet and I turned it off and slept for two more hours. I was up long enough to feed the cats (Spirit is learning she can't have the AD), put the paper in the right order, and watch Meet the Press, and yawned like crazy during the last 15 minutes of that. I was determined to stay awake and moved my reading glasses and a banana over to the desk but then without thinking, got the duvet and pillow out of the closet. So I went ahead and set the VCRs to watch TV and slept for 3.5 hours. I don't think this is benefiting having to get up early on Tuesday to take Shiva to the dental vet.

Tags: sleep

08:08 pm: Definitely to Dream
Or at least sleep. I set the alarm for 10am and brushed my hair and put on yesterday's clothes and took the van up to the shop and came back to go back to bed. I reset the alarm for 12:30pm to account for the 30 minutes I was up, but when it went off, I just turned it off and slept until 3pm and wasn't showered and up and competent until about 4:45pm so I'll do the appointments tomorrow. (However, when I brushed my hair the second time I got up and went into the bathroom to set up for the shower, I saw in the mirror that my hair was swept up and out, kind of like bird wings. The guys at the shop didn't even look like anything was weird.)

The van needs two new rear tires to pass state inspection, which didn't surprise me because I asked them to look at one of them, and they've fixed the clickity noise (a belt needed to be replaced) and the windshield washer mechanism (new pump). They did the annual oil change (only 2746 miles this year, but it's easier to get it done at state inspection rather than go back when it hits 3K), too. The tires come tomorrow so I'll get the van back then. I stopped briefly on the way to the shop to get yesterday's mail but something is up under my latch again (the mailperson was really late yesterday, so it probably wasn't Anne who knows not to stick things under latches). I hope to get the mail by Saturday.

The vet comes tomorrow for the annual kitty checkup and I got the small cage out of the storeroom, put a towel in it, and put it on the couch. Spirit and Giorgio sniffed at it, but Shiva has been inside since he saw it. I'm surprised he fits, but maybe tight spaces make him feel better. Tomorrow I'll put one cat in the bedroom closet and one cat in the bedroom bathroom and close the bedroom door and the last cat in the cage. I think it will be easier to catch them this year.

Tags: cats, sleep, van