gilda_elise

Two heat waves, and two sets of storms to break them. Pleasant this morning and a sunny and warm weekend predicted (so I can cut my grass.)

What I've Just Finished Reading

An interesting reading week! A selection (but not everything):

A Garden's Purpose: Cultivating Our Connection with the Natural World, by Felix de Rosen. A very pleasant read inside in the AC when it's too outside hot to garden. Not a garden how-to but a garden think-about, with lots of really nice photos.

Bad Badger: A Love Story, by Maryrose Wood, illustrated by Guila Ghigini. Charming middle-grade novel; if the illustrations has been in color it would have been breathtaking. For Monthly Keyword: Story.

The Last Murder at the End of the World, by Stuart Turton. Whhhhhhhaaaaaaat was this even. Postapocalyptic, twisty, confusing. I had The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, by the same author,on my To-Read list, based on

rachelmanija's review (Summary: "It was weird"), but now, nope. It wasn't horrible, just too - something, and I don't quite know what. For a Goodreads "Poolside Puzzlers" challenge.

On the other hand, Arboreality, by Rebecca Campbell, climate-change distopia, but also hopeful and lovely. Interrelated stories joined to novella-length, lovely characterization.

Saving the best for last: Orbital, by Samantha Harvey. Not a plotty book - 24 hours in the lives of an international group of astronauts on the ISS. Gorgous prose, introspective characters, passing mention of things happening outside their metal cocoon. [A spoiler, but a worthwhile one, so no apologies: NO horrible crisis pops in from nowhere, so you don't have to be on tenterhooks, as I was.] Very short, barely 200 pages, won the Booker Prize last year, which usuallly makes me go "Uh-oh, this will be too thinky for me", but what I think is that I'll buy my own copy for when I need soothing. For Monthly Motif: Single Day Story.

What I Am Currently Reading

Just this morning started The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V.E. Schwab, also for a Goodreads challenge.

What I Am Reading Next

I'm planning my holiday weekend around Somewhere Beyond the Sea, by T.J. Klune!

Question of the Day: I don't have one. Do you?

embersofe

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Current Mood: amused

days_unfolding

I went back to sleep this morning. So tired.

I think that Gracie is teaching Bella to bark. She’s small but feisty. I think that she’s the "top dog" of the pack despite her size!

I’m having the antibiotic delivered. I just need to buy some probiotic yogurt.

Gracie had her first vet appointment. She was pronounced healthy and "stinking cute". They think that she might be part beagle; in which case, she might not get much larger than she is now. They think that she's six-to-eight months old because her adult teeth are in. We have an appointment to get her spayed in two weeks. Bella had to give Gracie the once-over :)

I'm wondering if I should get a reMARKable tablet and electronic planner. It would be great to store notes there. It would be great for trips. Maybe I'll check it out at Best Buy tonight. Well, no I'm not going to return the shoes tonight. I'm going to practice dog training stuff with Bella. But Amazon has it on sale with a leather cover for the same price as it's at Best Buy without one, so I'll probably get it. Now I’m looking for a purse that will hold the tablet.

Took a short nap. The dogs are flaked out.

Work is being a pain. Some of my files are now read-only, and I needed to edit them. Sigh. Then Access was being temperamental. I hate Annual Stats time. And people were bugging me about getting things done even though I had computer issues. I was posting my status! Leave me alone!

Bella had a roll of toilet paper that she’s shredding, and Gracie is trying to get it away from her. I don’t approve of shredded toilet paper, but the tug-of-war is kind of funny. Oh, and Bella stole Gracie’s lamb toy.

Hmm. I’m thinking of getting up early to work with Bella on dog training stuff. I’m tired and cranky right now and need my patience. I guess that I’ll feed everyone now (done), get the garbage out (done), and post my data to the Web.

Hmm. The Gracie Project might be backfiring. Bella is trying to play with Oliver as if he was Gracie, and he doesn’t like it.

I’m looking into farm stands here. There’s a place that sells different types of cheeses, and I’m looking at a fresh baguette, cheese, and honey combo. And you can volunteer to feed baby goats! Oh! They have a CSA where you can get fresh bread and cheese weekly! I’m so there! There also is a farmers’ market nearby on Saturdays and a little farther away on Tuesdays. I should stop by.

I ordered a ceiling fan for the bedroom. Oh, and I got the new cool bedding, but I might wait until tomorrow to put it on.

I’m crazy tired, so I’m going to post and go to bed. I should have time on the morning to post my data as well as work with Bella.

vysila

More big activity this month as the renovation continues. A very busy and stressful month!

5. Read Vorkosigan series
Thanks to friends, I was able to find an ereader app that works on my tablet and then sent the books I am missing to me, so I could read again, yay! Thank you,

spiffikins and

mrlnpndrgn!

Read Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance and Flowers of Vashnoi. Ivan and Ekaterin get their own books!!

28. Weight monitoring
This was depressing, although not unexpected. Still stress eating, still gaining weight. Must find the discipline again. I don’t feel anywhere near as good as I did before gaining, although stress is likely a big part of that.

29. BMI monitoring
We all know what happens when you gain weight. The BMI goes up. *sigh*

33. Semi-annual checkup with PCP
Not nearly as bad as I’d feared, despite the weight gain. The visit was cordial and he was kind and sympathetic about all my stress issues and didn’t lecture me on the weight gain. Most of the labs were way better than expected.

35. Tracking A1c to keep under 7
Honestly, I was shocked that my A1c came in at 6.6. It’s a far cry from the previous 5.7 but I’ll take it, and at least it remains under 7.

67. Replace damaged closet door in middle bedroom.
I had thought to replace two doors in that room but the entry door was salvageable. The closet door was purchased, painted and installed. I have a new handle but someone needs to drill a hole in the door so it can be installed.

69. Replace damaged subflooring at stairway landing
Done! Also ended up replacing a few pieces of subflooring in the upstairs family room – most likely pet damage from previous years.

71. Renovate upstairs bathroom
This part of the job was seriously noisy but the room was gutted at long last. All the tiling is done as well – the shower and the flooring, with plumbing rough-ins. The old hanging fluorescent light in the bathroom has been removed and a nice clean can light installed. Still waiting on a few things to be done, but the main bones are there now.

73. Repair damaged wall areas in upstairs rooms
Lots of remudding work involved on the ceilings and walls. Quite the lengthy process – mudding, sanding, remudding, more sanding. So much dust! The A/C got so clogged it stopped working. I’m changing filters every couple days at this point to get rid of lingering dust.

74. Paint ceiling, walls and trim upstairs
The upstairs painting has been completed, and as I said elsewhere, the white on white effect is underwhelming to me, but at least it is done and is fresh, clean and the rooms upstairs are now flooded with light.

This wasn’t a separate item in my list, but the electrical work is also completed upstairs. Those horrid old fluorescent lights in the ceiling have been replaced by snazzy new can lights, 6 in the family room, 1 in each closet and 4 in the bedroom. Oh, and one in the bathroom. Let there be light!!

92. Curate book collection
Done and done! I did go through my final selections and decided to keep all of them. I’ve kept around 50 books, just those I tend to read over and over.

Current Mood: accomplished

days_unfolding

Joshua Bell is playing in Chicago on August 6th. I'd like to attend the concert, but it’s the middle of the week so no can do.

I separated Bella and the pup. They were being manic, wrestling.

I think that I want to go back to sleep for an hour. I can return the shoes at 5:30 PM if I leave right away.

Bella was getting overexcited and was barking at the pup, so I brought them in early.

Hmm. Bella has gotten used to the ceiling fan in the kitchen, so maybe I could replace the one in the bedroom.

I really want to go back to sleep, but I should shower. Oh, I’ll shower at lunchtime. I need to sleep.

The puppy is tiring Bella out. She’s crashed on the bathroom floor. Oliver is giving himself a bath. Now he's asleep too. I think that the pup is tiring me out too :)

The puppy likes diet cola. Strange pup.

Hmm. The money from my mom's life insurance isn't in the trust. It's a lot of money to be "missing".

I'm still so freaking tired. The doctor says that I have a UTI and is calling in an antibiotic. I'm looking for probiotic yogurt.

I'm going around in circles with Marriott. They say "we're here to help", but they are making it very hard to get a copy of my bill.

I'm going to lie down after work.

I have a vet appointment for Gracie tomorrow morning. I booked a massage on Saturday and a pedicure the following Saturday. Silence from the garage guy.

Crazy dogs are crazy. I'm glad that they're happy. Booted them out of the bedroom. I have Oliver on my lap instead. He’s much more low-key. (Though he used to be manic too, but he’s growing up. He and Lily probably had a birthday around now. Yeah, June and May respectively.)

Overslept my nap. Bella is chewing on Oliver.

The grass was wet outside. They’re predicting more rain overnight. Bella and Gracie were barking at nothing in particular, so I hustled them back in. Fed us all.

The puppy was looking up the stairs and crying. Cat up there?

I should get to bed soon and get up early to return the shoes.

alierak posting in

dw_maintenance

We're having to rebuild the search server again (previously, previously). It will take a few days to reindex all the content.

Meanwhile search services should be running, but probably returning no results or incomplete results for most queries.

bordo posting in

prosnewsletter

Pros Newsletter #877 - June 23 to 30
made by <user="angel_ci5">

♠ Mainstream Media
♣ The Harold Pinter Theatre posted Book A Man for All Seasons Tickets at the Harold Pinter Theatre Official Box Office

( read more )
Have any Pros fandom news you'd like to include? Send me an email at borenym(at)gmail(dot)com, or leave me a comment here. Please, tell me if I made any mistakes or left something out!

days_unfolding

I evicted Bella and Gracie from the bedroom because they wanted to wrestle and I wanted to go to sleep.

Woke up a little before 7 AM. The puppy was missing her collar, so I put the slip-knot leash on her. We have a problem in that the puppy wants to go in before Bella has done her business, and Bella comes in. I found Gracie’s collar, and it is intact. I think that I’ll order an extra one just in case. I also ordered personalized collars for Gracie and Bella. Crud. The collar is sold out at PetSmart, so I ordered one from Chewy along with puppy food to get free shipping.

Bella is barking more. Protecting the puppy?

Cats: we’re hungry! (Fed them.) Bella ate Gracie’s food. Gracie ate Bella’s food. At least, everyone is fed. Nap time. Bella and Gracie are wrestling, and Oliver is looking at them in total alarm.

Hell. Someone (Gracie?) chewed off the charger for my Apple Watch. I bought a bunch of chargers for same-day delivery.

I shut Bella out because she and Gracie were wrestling. The puppy let me sleep. She’s crashed out.

Took Bella and Gracie out. Wow, it’s a hot day. The heat index is 93F/34C. Should we stay in? I really need to weed and plant things though. Hmm, they’re saying possible thunderstorms. Maybe we will stay in. I have plenty to do inside. Anyway, it’s lunchtime. I need to drink water. I’m falling behind on that.

Got a cat food can away from Bella. Oliver knocked them over, and I must have missed one picking them up.

Now they’re saying no storms, so I need to water the plants at the very least.

Treated Zara’s ears. She hissed at me.

The clock got chewed up too. Sigh.

Oliver is out cold. He is breathing though, so I guess that he’s okay. Bella and Gracie are wrestling though and making noise.

I’m going to take another short nap. It’s been an eventful weekend. Gracie is crashed out on the dog bed.

Oh! The clock is working! The outlet was turned off. I ordered another one, but I think that I’ll keep it as a backup. Alarm clocks are important.

Realized that I didn’t take my meds. Got up, and the puppy followed me. Bella came into the bedroom while we were gone. Bella is letting the puppy chew on her. I told Gracie that she’s perfect, and she covered my face with puppy kisses.

Oh fuck. I forgot to book a singing lesson for today.

Oliver is on my lap. It’s good to spend time with my little boy.

Opened up some boxes and found my new sandals to try on. Also, the new bathmat looks good.

I like the Orthofeet water-friendly sandals, but not so much the slip-ons. So they go back. I saved the box just in case. The swimsuit from the Vermont Country Store looks good, so it's going to Sardinia with me along with the sandals.

Bella and Gracie are playing tug-of-war with a Lean Cuisine box.

Fed the critters and took Bella and Gracie out. Gracie barks at passersby a lot.

I’m wondering what to do now. I think that I’ll sweep the front hall. Someone, probably Bella, has shredded toilet paper there. Hmm, I need to get up early to return the shoes. They cost $200, so you better believe that I'll return it if I don't love it. So I need to go to bed soon.

embersofe

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Current Mood: optimistic

days_unfolding

The puppy held it and peed and pooped for me outside. Excellent. She really wants out of the bathroom, and I told her that I’d let her out after Bella has done her business.

I need to wait for Gracie’s new collar to get here before staking her outside. I will feed us all and take a long nap.

I was right about Gracie being able to wiggle out of the yard though. She’ll have to go out on a leash.

Gracie is smart. She’s already figured out the stairs upstairs, which Bella has never figured out.

Fed us all, except for Bella because she hasn’t pooped yet. Bella and Gracie are playing on Bella’s bed. **Dies of the cute**

Now Bella and Gracie are under the bed. Bella pooped in the bedroom, so I cleaned it up and shut the door while they were out of the room. Now I’m up. Gracie went into the bathroom with me, and Bella was crying. BFFs? And Bella is leaving Oliver alone, which is part of what I was trying to accomplish.

Gracie is tired and yawning. I tried to feed Bella, but Gracie is eating her food. I might need to feed them separately. I’ll take a shower in a minute while we’re waiting for Gracie’s collar to arrive. I almost forgot to eat lunch (done).

Got Gracie’s collar and leash. She’s not thrilled because Bella runs around and she wants to run after her.

Gracie has figured out how to jump on the bed. Bella is crashing out.

I’m getting tons of doggy kisses. Started to take a nap, but Bella was barking at something. Now she and Gracie are out cold.

Gracie isn’t using her bed—she prefers mine—so maybe I won’t need to get one for Oliver.

They’re up now. I need soda, but I want it delivered after dark. Okay, showered. It’s so quiet in here right now. The pup is snuggling up to me. Aww. I was napping with Gracie and Bella until I fell out of bed. That woke everyone up.

Took Bella and Gracie out. Someone left the gate open and Bella got out, but she came back in. Bella and Gracie wrestled a lot. Came back in and fed the cats. I need to go out and water the plants. Oh hell, I’ll water the plants tomorrow. I want to eat. I had Bella, Gracie, and Lily on me :)

I’m thinking of going to bed early. I’m tired! But it’s still light out! Oh wait, I have a grocery order coming at 9 PM. I'll post in the meantime.

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gilda_elise

July 2025

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Reading

What Am I Reading Wednesday, July 2, 2025

July 1st

Gracie's Vet Appointment

Mission 116 Update for June 2025 (Month 14)

So. Freaking. Tired.

Rebuilding journal search again

Pros Newsletter #877 - June 23 to 30

Sandals

June 29th

Gracie's First Day

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