Day Sixteen

So, less than four hours of sleep makes for a long day.

I got up early, as usual, to check on Maddie.  She was doing fine, and kept sleeping.  I then went to Menard's and got some buckets and a tarp to put rocks in.  I then went to Ridgedale to go to the Apple Store, but it was an hour before the mall opened.  I went home and did some more research, and still only found cases slightly different than mine, but not mine exactly.  I finally broke down and arranged an appointment for the Apple Store.

When I got to the Apple Store and finally met with the Genius I was assigned to, I explained to him my problem.  He was baffled. He had never heard of anything like that before.  He said really the only option was a restore.  Drat.  I let him do that.  He said it would take 5-10 minutes.  Fifteen minutes later, he came back that it wouldn't even boot up after restore. Um.  Not good.  He talked about options, but I pointed out I was unemployed.  You can apparently get a free iPhone 4 (which is my version) with a new contract, but I'd rather not do that.  In an ideal world in another year I'll upgrade phones again.  We'll see how life decides to treat me, though.

I came home, and while my iPhone synched up with my last backup (not quite two months ago...so I lost all pictures and data between now and then), I went out and mowed my lawn--both my front and back lawn!  I also worked briefly on the contract project, because my contact said she was having a problem with it.  Sigh.

After that, I went to Dawn and Nick's, and got a bunch of rocks from their garden.  I barely made a dent in it, but that was really all my car could handle.  I kinda wanna rent/borrow a truck to do this work, but I don't know anyone who's free during the day that owns a truck I could borrow.  Stupid Big Brother moving to IA. :P

I went over to visit the dog again, came home and ate supper, and played around with a few settings I'm having issues with, and then went to visit the dog again.  The road construction on that street is really interesting stuff, but I'll be kinda glad to not have to deal with it anymore!

Day Fifteen

Well, it was an interesting day, which the saga continuing to Thursday...

My day started early heading to Daniel and Amanda's to check on the dog.  When I came home, I intended to stay awake, but instead too a nap.  Ooops.  Not long after I woke up, I finally decided to pick up the page protectors that the kitties were so interested in that had fallen on the floor.  At first, I thought Oliver peed there, but I didn't actually smell it.  Eventually I figured out that it was not Oliver, but the liquid was coming from the fridge itself. Upon opening the fridge, I realized that I hadn't put the thawing chicken in a bowl or on a plate...and it was leaking all over the fridge.  I then started to put together the recipe for the chicken in the crock pot.  It wouldn't be done until later at night, but I knew I could deal.  (It smelled good all day!) 

I went out for a bike ride.  I saw a mother who was riding next to her young child on a bike, and she was pulling two toddlers in the trailer behind the bike. Impressive.  Just as impressive was the father with the two kids (on bikes with training wheels).  He was riding his bike, despite a broken arm. But my favorite part was a mother duck walking with her three little ducklings, all chattering away.  She was in a fenced in area of the bike path, so she was just walking along the edge.  It was cute.

I got back in time to head to visit the dog again, and let her out.  On my way home, I stopped at Target for some baskets to put in my fridge.  I bought some onesies to make Dawn&Nick and Hank&Rebecca some cute onesies. I need to get those done!  Wet cat food was on sale, so I stocked up a little bit. It wasn't a huge deal, so not a huge stock-up, but enough to get me through away, as well as some cat treats.  Since Boof insists on treats when I have cereal in the morning, I need more cat treats in summer (in winter I have oatmeal, so it's less of a temptation).

I got home with enough time to make sure I was appropriately dressed for church, and went there. 

When I got home, I cleaned out my fridge, which was less fun than it sounds.  (Drat.  I just remembered I still haven't washed the drawers out!)  I haven't really cleaned out the fridge for a while, so there was a a lot of stuff that just needed to go, so it was a good thing.

The unfortunate drama was that my phone refused to restart after updating some apps--not updating the phone but some apps!  It was doing some weird stuff that I couldn't find on the internet.  I was sure it would need to be restored, but I didn't want to do that, because it had been a while since I updated apps again!  GRR!  After trying countless things, I finally gave up and went to bed WAY too late. 

Day Fourteen

Tuesday, I went to an all-day training at the Workforce Center for Strengths Based skills.  It was much better than I expected, but I think the best part was that the entire class 11 were women who were laid off from Supervalu--all different levels!  I got to meet people I didn't know very well, and those I didn't even know worked there at all.  It was fun and interesting to learn different things about myself, because there were skills I wasn't even aware I had.  If I play my cards right, I can get these skills into my resume, and it will help me find a job I love.  After I got home and ate supper, I bummed around for a bit, before taking a walk during the Twins game.  I had to shorten my walk so I could get home before dark so I could go check on Maddie before dark.

Now that I'm caught up, I hope I can keep caught up!

Day Thirteen

I had to get up early to check on Maddie (this will be a theme!).  I came home to take a nap (again, a theme!).  When I woke up, I worked on my resume briefly, and then worked on my contract work for a few hours until supper time.  After supper, I went for a bike ride that that had a brief stop at Bobbi's, because she made mud bars that were positively yummy.  (She's a good baker!)  The bike ride was probably an hour and a half in total, because of the stop, but nice.  I went around Cedar Lake the opposite way than normal, and it was just fine that way.  I might like it better, in fact, because I'm going slightly downhill on the North Cedar Lake trail, and that's my nemesis, so it was slightly easier than normal.  I know it means I'm going uphill another part of the trail, but it's around the lake, and I don't notice it as much.  I like biking around the lake!  In the evening, I checked on Maddie again.

Days Eleven and Twelve

Saturday was a very busy day.  I got up to a lazy morning.  I went to a greenhouse to pick up a plant for my parents' 40th anniversary (which was Sunday).  I am so saddened by the fact that I am unemployed and couldn't make it more special for them--paying for a nice dinner, having a party, etc.  So I did what I could.  I bought them a red and white variegated petunia, because it's as close as I could find to ruby (the 40th anniversary) that could take full sun.  Dad's colorblind, so any reddish plant I got him would look bright red, anyway!  I wanted a hanging basket because I noticed when I was there last week that they didn't have any hanging baskets on the hooks in front of their house!

While I was driving out to my parents to drop off the plant, I got a call from Amanda.  I had promised to dog-sit, so she asked if I could come over and meet the dog.  So, I arranged to go there after going to my parents.  I stayed at my parents' long enough for my dad to get home from work (he works nights).

I got to Amanda's, and her husband and girls were gone fishing (I assume so she could have peace and quiet to pack.  The youngest was supposed to be napping, but we heard him singing in his bedroom).  I had never met Maddie before, but she was fine.  She's a 13-year-old dog who's deaf with a heart murmur.  She is a whippet, which is about as low-maintenance of a dog as you can get without getting a cat!

Then I went to the gathering at Bobbi's.  Karen and I were there and we watched the Twins game.  Phil showed up briefly, and Darcy showed up later in the evening.  We had a good time playing with her kitten, with a few hisses from her oldest cat, Jesse, and a few brief appearances from her shy cat, Jimmy.

Sunday I don't recall too much.  I know I got up early to check on Maddie, then went to church. OH!  The power was out for two hours on Sunday, so I napped through it.  I couldn't eat until it came back on, so I just slept.  Then I went to check on Maddie, went to church in the evening, and then went to check on Maddie again.

Day Ten

Well, last Friday was a bit weak on the work effort. 

I was invited to lunch with my aunt and two older ladies from church.  It was a lovely lunch, because they are all such lovely ladies.  It's sad, because there's another lady at church who is now in a nursing home.  She seems to be having memory issues, and doesn't really have any family to care for her.  (She is divorced, but is apparently estranged from all of her children. None of us knows why, and frankly, it's none of our business.  Someone with greater knowledge of the situation has made reference to that she's not completely innocent of the events.  But it's still sad.)

Alas, when I came home, I had a headache, and ended up sleeping away a lot of the afternoon.

Day Nine

I'm starting to get annoyed with myself for not doing what I should be doing.  At least I'm doing a little bit.

I did go for a 12+ mile bike ride today.  I caught up on one of my video podcasts (Suze Orman Show).  So, it's not like I did *nothing*, it's just that I didn't do what I was supposed to do.  And then Bobbi invited me over for supper (I had been dying for pizza and brownies all day and she was going to order pizza and brownies!) and to watch the Twins game.  Plus I got to spend time with a little kitten!

So, yeah.  And tomorrow I was invited out to lunch with some older ladies from church.  I think I'll go.  I'll have to remember to call Gwen in the morning and tell her I'm coming.