Week 19 - Cranky but Productive

What a week! Between coaching the boys through monthly reports and prepping F&A responses for the feds (don’t ask), work was pretty stressful. Then add storms almost every night that kept me from sleeping well and I was pretty darn cranky by the end of the week.

To start the week, I made a list of all the things I needed to get done before leaving for England, vowing to get a few done every day. At lunch on Monday I walked my purse to the cobbler that’s a few blocks from campus to get the strap sewn down. Darla and I were thrifting after work (it’d been awhile since we’d gone) and I could pick it up afterwards. Then it was home to grab some ham then head to the library for knitting. I handed out skeins of Brown Sheep sock yarn to everyone so we can have a sock knit along.

Heat and humidity set in on Tuesday so I spent lunch ordering knitting supplies that I’d need for England, eating my bag lunch so I didn’t have to go outside. I was trying to get work done but the boys had zillions of questions so with the constant interruptions, it was hard to get much done. The day did fly by though and I managed to arrange for rides to and from the airport. One more thing crossed off. I had invited Andrea over for dinner – ham! – and so went right home. I had closed the house up so it was still nice and cool inside. After a nice dinner, Andrea took her plants from Spring Affair and I sat down to knit for awhile. There were storms right as I was falling asleep that kept me up way later than normal.

Wednesday was Josh’s birthday so we were going out to lunch at Hu Hot, which was fine by me. Veggies! Nora also brought scones so it felt like I ate all day. The questions continued all day and I was thrilled to hit the water after work. Then it was straight home for more ham (getting sick of it by then) and Survivor.

As soon as it was over, it was time to work on Mary’s birthday present. Nora had found a cute pouch made from vinyl covered candy bags so had bought the iron on vinyl and I was elected to make the pouch. I had directions from a blog but the directions on the vinyl package were lacking so I screwed up one of the candy bags and had to get dressed and head to the market for more M&M’s at 8:45. Once I got the vinyl on, the sewing was a breeze and the bag came out SO cute. I finished after 10:00 and then had to knit a bit to decompress before bed. I finished a sock that had been on the needles for awhile because I needed the needles to start another pair. Yes, I’m addicted to knitting socks but there are worse things. Unfortunately there were more storms so I was awake until after midnight. Thursday was going to be a long, hard day.

And it was. There were problems with the monthly reports, which nearly sent me over the edge. I kept working on the F&A stuff but as soon as I finished one question, I’d get assigned another. I felt pulled in every direction. Despite being cranky and super tired, I swam because it was my last chance until after Memorial Day. It felt great to hit the water. I couldn’t stomach more ham so had cereal for dinner and went to bed early. I had closed the house up and put on the AC for the cleaning lady so I was able to sleep through any storms and finally got a good night’s sleep.

Earlier in the week, I had suggested to Darla that we do breakfast one morning so had to be up at 5:30 so I could be in Lincoln at 6:30. We had a mediocre breakfast at HyVee but it was wonderful to catch up. I miss having Darla in the next cubie for sure. After breakfast I popped into Wal Mart for new bras (another thing off the list), got coffee, fed the cats and was at my desk just after 8:00. Unbelievable! I had a cathartic lunch with Layton (he was ever patient as I vented my frustrations.) It was blazing hot and humid (90’s in the first week of May – WTF!) and nowhere near cool enough in the office. Then at the end of the day, Lacey gave me yet another chunk of F&A work to do. At least the day flew by and I headed straight home.
I had been waiting for a swap package from my color swap group on Ravelry and came home to a fun package from Canada, fill of fun yarn, vintage sewing supplies, a gorgeous knitted bag that’s the perfect size for my iPad and a knitting project and so will definitely be going to England. There was also lots of fun yarn. I had also gotten a bag of mini skeins from another group so had lots of yarn to play with . The air was still on so the house was blissfully cool. I took a shower, got into comfy clothes and the sitting, knitting and playing with new yarn began. I did nothing but that on Saturday and only stopped for a bit on Sunday, when I forced myself to make a list and get a few chores done. And I do mean a few.

So, that was my week. I survived the work week, got lots of little things done along the way, did some fun crafting, got a fun package  and enjoyed a weekend of knitting and watching TV. I managed to get enough done so all I really have left on the pre trip list is do more laundry and throw it in the suitcase, which will happen near the end of the week. 7 days from now, I’ll be in England. Hard to believe it’s almost here. And I’m hoping to blog from the UK on my iPad so stay tuned.

Week 18 - Happy Being Busy

If my normal weeks seem full, look out because this week was nuts. I had something every night and all day Saturday too. Lots of it was fun stuff but it still made for a busy week.

On Monday morning, Tot didn’t come in when I called her. I spent quite a chunk of time calling, checking the basement and then driving the alley and next street over before giving up and heading to work. Now she had stayed out all day before but not since my neighbor was shooting at them with a BB gun so I was a bit concerned. I skipped lunch and left work a bit early, only to find her waiting at the back door. Since I was home so early, I mowed the lawn, showered and had dinner before heading to knitting. I could get used to that. When I got home, I did the books for the Friends so I’d be ready for that meeting.

I started Tuesday in the dentist’s chair but this time only for a check up. Look mom, no cavities! After stopping to pay my house taxes, I headed to work, arriving at 10:00. There’s something else I could get used to. Since I parked at a meter, I ran to the mall over lunch to return something I’d bought online and then taught all afternoon. I had a Friends of the Library meeting at 6:30 and then headed home. Wednesday was my only night without a commitment so I had a bit of a break coming.

It was supposed to the 90 on Wednesday so I brought a lunch and knitting so I wouldn’t have to leave at lunch. A bunch of people had the same idea so we had a fun lunch in the conference room. I swam after work and then went home to my cool house. I’d pulled a Mrs. DiPalma and closed all my windows and blinds so the house was nice and cool, despite the record setting heat outside. I watched Survivor and knitted but then the cats didn’t come in so I was up and down until near midnight (one was still out all night) and so didn’t get enough sleep.

I started the day Thursday at the Hort Club plant sale, where I tried to be restrained and only bought one flat of plants. I was supposed to go to a training at 9:00 but Mary nixed that so I could work on some queries for the F&A response from the feds. After doing that all morning and having lunch with Dodie, I taught all afternoon so another day flew by. I swam and then went straight to book club at the library, which was a fun discussion even though the book was boring. I helped a friend with a knitting question afterward then it was home for my dinner of champions - a bowl of cereal. I went to bed early because Friday was going to be a long day.

Friday was Spring Affair, which is my very favorite thing to do ever – helping people chose plants and putting my perennial knowledge to good use. The day flew by and Nora and I left at 3:30 to hit the pre-sale for volunteers, where I again tried to not buy too much and actually succeeded. We met up with Lorri at the sale and then the three of us went to HyVee for an early dinner before heading back for our shift at 5:30. Lorri and I were plant informants so worked together all evening. They’d changed the format a bit of the preview night so it was hors d’ouevres and drinks instead of a sit down dinner. This meant people were shopping from minute one so it had a more relaxed feel than other years. It was hard standing on my feet on concrete for 3.5 hours but I lived. It felt great to sit down for the drive home. It was a fun night but I was exhausted and ready for bed.

I had a hair appointment on Saturday at 9:15, after which I’d pick Lorri up to head back to Spring Affair for the talks, which would count towards our Master Gardner continuing ed. The hairdresser ran late but we made it just in time for the first session. We shopped a bit before the next session and then grabbed a hot dog for lunch after the next one. The sessions were all good, which I hadn’t expected from their descriptions, and then we drove across Lincoln to B&B Greenhouse for, you guessed it, more plant shopping. I really was trying to not buy too much because someone will have to take care of them when I’m in England and Lorri isn’t available for half the trip. Anyway, we were home by 5:00 and the sitting began.

I had hoped to get some yard work done on Sunday but it was dreary, chilly and damp with the high just 51. Since it was too cold to work outside, I spent the day inside, cooking, baking and knitting while streaming things on my computer. It was wonderful! I didn’t feel too guilty after the week I’d had and I still managed to get my chores done. I even made the ham I bought at Easter so ended the day with a nice dinner.

So, I made it through my busy week with everything done that needed to be and all set for a more normal week to come. And the coughing is pretty much over so I'm feeling normal again. Life is good!

Week 17 - Much Less Coughing

It was a good week. Spring cooperated, bringing gorgeous weather, and I was coughing less every day so the antibiotics were kicking in. Add a productive work week and all was peachy in my world.

I had a nice lunch with Darla at Panera on Monday, which has become my routine for Monday so I can eat my lunch in the car between swimming and knitting. But I was working on prepping allocations and had dug into a problem so didn’t notice the time, checking the clock at 5:10, which made it too late to swim since I have a 10 minute walk to my car plus the drive to the pool. So I stayed until I’d figured out the problem, which was mostly because I was tired so did something dumb, leaving at 5:45. I had time to grab some dinner before knitting, which was mobbed - 7 or 8 people, which is double normal. When I got home, I had a burst of energy and headed downstairs to make a felted coin purse for Deanne’s SIL’s birthday. Apparently I’d agreed to do this when Deanne and I went to Starbuck’s the day after Christmas when she showed up after the open house was over. Clearly I was so tired that I remembered nothing. I also didn’t remember that I was supposed to make one for Dee too, which I didn’t have time to do when I was under the gun that night. Add that to my list. Anyway, I packed that up as well as some yarn I was selling to a woman in Ireland. What a productive day!

Tuesday flew by and I made sure to leave on time so I could swim, after which I went home, nuked some dinner and sat on my butt for the rest of the night. Polar opposite from Monday but it felt good. I had trouble falling asleep that night. From a lack of activity maybe? Nope it was my rotten cat who wouldn’t come in so I was up several times trying to get her in, which I eventually succeeded at just before midnight.

Needless to say, I was tired on Wednesday but some extra coffee helped and I felt better as the day went on. Then I decided to get a KFC bowl after swimming. It tasted great but when I took my antibiotic, my stomach went nuts. It was not an easy night to get to sleep AGAIN and my stomach was still wobbly the next morning. I was beginning to think it was the antibiotic but the lack of sleep wasn’t helping. I was plugging away at my list at work, agreed to eat at Bruegger’s (Dodie’s favorite place, where I rarely want to eat) so had soup and a bagel. At 5:00, I was still working with Nora on a identity management problem so skipped swimming again. Bad but I wasn’t crushed. I picked up a steak dinner at HyVee, which included a baked potato, which Carolyn said was a magic bullet for antibiotic stomach issues. The dinner tasted great and I was in bed by 9:00 in hopes for a good night’s sleep.

I woke up feeling like a new woman on Friday and the day was over in a flash. Darla and I had planned to go to The Hunger Games after work but she had a family deal and had to cancel. I was doing an update with Nora at the end of the day when Mary came in to ask Nora if she was ready to go to a co-worker’s to cut up some tree limbs that had fallen in a storm. Before you know it, I was driving over with them to help. Within a minute of going into the death trap back yard (this yard and house need major work), I had tripped over a log and fallen on my knee. I could only hope it hadn’t messed up my knee more than its usual problems. We were done in a few minutes and I was headed home for the weekend. Nice.

My knee was fine the next morning – big relief. I talked to Carolyn in the morning and then started my chores. I was picking Andrea up for spinning at 1:00 and wanted to have all my chores done before I left so Sunday would be free and clear. I’d also convinced Andrea to go to the movie after spinning so it would be a long day. I just brought some knitting (no spinning wheel) to work on and had fun chatting and knitting. Then it was on to the movie, which I loved. I had a ton of popcorn at the movie so skipped dinner when I got home, finishing up my chores before bed. Yay!

So with Sunday free, the world was my oyster. I had plans to work at the library with Lorri at 2:00 but it was SO windy that we decided before lunch to reschedule. But I already had a gooseberry pie in the oven (the thank you pie for Bob helping me with my weed trees) so I said I’d drop it off later. Andrea stopped by to pick up a sock needle and we ended up watching a dyeing DVD I’d borrowed at spinning, during which I finished crocheting a sock blank to dye. After she left, I delivered the pie and had a nice walk around Lorri’s yard, checking out her clematis and many blooming things. When I got home, I got out my kool aid and started dyeing. I also made a nice dinner of fish, mashed potatoes and fresh asparagus from Lorri’s garden. Yum! I had also made myself a strawberry rhubarb pie with my first rhubarb of the season. What a great way to end the week – yummy dinner, pie and dyeing. Life is good!

Week 16 - Coughing Mystery Solved

Well, I started the week out still coughing but it was a relatively normal week until I gave into it on Thursday. Low energy ruled after that. At least the weather helped justify my weekend of sitting. Sheesh!

Monday was normal – lunch with Darla, swimming, eating in the car then right to knitting. Despite the lingering cough and sinus drainage, I felt OK. Tuesday was another normal day, with swimming after work. So far, so good. I had a full morning training class on Wednesday. I’m not fond of training in the morning because I always feel drained when I’m done but this was the reschedule a couple of weeks ago when I was first sick and Nicki was out all week so was a special circumstance. I survived fine and didn’t crash afterwards. However, Wednesday was my night to go home and work in the yard and I was tired by then so didn’t dig into anything big, just puttering in the yard.

The event for Thursday was my new iPad. I had planned to buy the low end iPad 2 before going to England and just mentioned that to Layton. Well he had his high end iPad 1 that he wanted to get rid of so sold it to me for $200, which was less than half what the new one would cost. So he brought it in on Thursday and got me all set up for UNL’s wireless and such. Then Allen set me up for my email and I was good to go. SO exciting! Layton even lent me the UK plug converter for my trip. I put it away because, after all, I was at work. After a lunch at the dorms with Darla, I had another full class in the afternoon. I had planned to swim but was SO exhausted on the walk to my car that I just went home and sat. I was still coughing and it was clear I needed medical intervention.

I called my doctor first thing on Friday and got an appointment for 4:15. Of course I’d left the house with nothing – no iPad, no knitting – stupid! Anyway, the day flew by as I attempted to prep allocations so I could run them Monday but there were problems with the files so it was a frustrating day. I left early for the doctor and guess what she’s treating me for – whooping cough! Yes, apparently I’ve got whooping cough, which could leave me coughing for 6 weeks (3 down, 3 to go.) I was skeptical but Carolyn googled it and I do have lots of the symptoms. Nuts! I started antibiotics Friday night and the doc said I’d feel better by Monday or Tuesday.

Well, I don’t know if it was hearing that I really was sick, the weather or a combo but I had a LOW energy weekend. Saturday we had tornado warnings and big storms. By mid afternoon, it was near dark outside and it was pouring. Other than doing some dishes, I didn’t get much done at all. When I went over my day, the only things I’d done were cleaning out the car, changing the kitchen light bulb and refilling the q-tips. Lame. Knitting and TV ate up most of the day. Oh well.

I was determined to do better on Sunday but spent most of that day doing “something close to nothing but different from the day before.” (extra points if you know where that comes from – think 80’s) I watched Avatar (not for the small screen, clearly) and got very little done, hoping I’d have a productive evening. But then Carolyn called and mentioned a blog she liked – thebloggess.com. That was it. I was totally sucked in and read for hours, laughing my head off at times, which often left to coughing but was worth it. I finally stopped at 9:35, only because I clicked on a facebook link and it wouldn’t go back. I took that as a sign and blazed through the kitchen, finally getting that cleaned up. I went to bed just after 10:00, feeling better about facing the week. I hadn’t cooked a thing so was facing a week of PB&J and eating out of the freezer but there are worse things.

Week 15 - Back to Spring

Monday was deans’ reports day but I was teaching the boys how to do them so spent Monday answering question after question, getting little done myself. I had left the house without a lunch so Darla and I went to Valentino’s for the pizza buffet. I ate too much and was super full all afternoon. I had my rescheduled podiatrist appointment at 4:15 so stopped at the market after that, killing any time at home before knitting. It was still blazing hot out so it was no great loss. I skipped dinner (still full from lunch) and headed to the library. It was stuffy inside but when we stepped out the door, it was like being on a different planet. The front had finally come through and the temp had dropped dramatically, which felt heavenly. I opened all the windows and the cool wind dropped the inside temp in minutes. After a shower and TV, I headed to bed thrilled that spring was back.

Tuesday was more of the same at work and then swimming. I was worried about having a coughing fit in the pool but was OK. Wednesday was more of the same. I finished the monthly reports and emails and moved on to prepping for a meeting on our next big project, which ran late but I still swam despite only getting 30 minutes in the pool. From there it was home for Survivor and dinner.

A planned working lunch on Thursday turned into lunch at Green Gateau and by the end of lunch, we’d all decided to take Friday off. Since Darla was off Friday too (was anyone going to be on campus?), we went to our favorite thrift store (nothing!) and then stood talking in the parking lot for an hour. The weather was gorgeous and it was good to catch up. I miss having Darla in the next cubie, even though she’s still right down the hall.

Friday was a gorgeous day. I had a huge list of errands to do, including mailing my swap package. Yay! I ran all over town, starting at the library paying bills and then ending back at the library cutting back the grasses in the front bed. I got home ~1:00 and made hot dogs on the grill for lunch. After taking a bit of a break, I headed out again to pick up the rest of the grass debris from the library and to get gas for the mower. I did my first mow of the year (way early!) and called it good for the day, going inside for dinner and Friday night TV. It was a good day off.

On Saturday morning, yet another rain chance passed Wahoo by (the wet morning had been part of the reason I took Friday off) – bummer. I puttered inside and was at Andrea’s at 1:00 to pick her up for our Omaha run. We started at Personal Threads, where I picked up the 3 skeins of yarn they were holding for me and a bunch more from the clearance rack. Then it was on to The Joslyn Museum for the Egyptian exhibit. We didn’t have much time (they close at 4:00) so did the Egyptian exhibit then a quick buzz through. It’s a beautiful museum so we need to go back when we have more time. From there we hit Aldi and Super Saver, opting to skip our planned nacho dinner because of the milk in the car. Although I hadn’t planned to, I bought a ham. I’m not sure why or what I’ll do with all that meat.

My goal for Sunday was to start clearing my beds and get my early veggies planted. I spent the day alternating by knitting inside and working outside. While I didn’t clear any beds, I did prep two more veggie beds and got all my early veg planted and watered in. I’m also almost done with a sock I started Wednesday, which is super fast BTW. I didn’t end up making the ham. I had been craving Mexican so made a Mexican lasagna and broccoli plus a big pot of chili. Not your traditional Easter dinner but it hit the spot. Guess what I’ll be eating all week. Maybe I’ll make ham next weekend.

Week 14 - Hacking and Blowing

I woke up Monday in a pool of sweat but within minutes was cold. I had a fever. And as much as I hate calling in, even I wouldn’t work with a fever. So I sent off an email and sat all day, blowing my nose and hacking up a lung. What a treat! I did have a nice long talk with Auntie Margaret that afternoon though, which was a treat. I called my podiatrist to cancel my 4:30 appointment and knitting was out of the question too. Being sick sucks.

I went to work on Tuesday but shouldn’t have. I was absolutely exhausted, having had trouble sleeping due to my cough. I was a zombie all day and only made it until 3:00 before heading home. I had training on Wednesday and Thursday with full classes so needed to get better quickly.

I slept badly again Tuesday night (still coughing) but went to work Wednesday, stopping for some Mucinex on the way to work. Just walking the aisles of Wal Mart made me break out into a sweat but I ignored it. Well, when I got to work, there was an email from Nicki, the woman I train with who had been out all week, saying she was not coming in. I called her at home to ask about Thursday and when she said she wouldn’t be able to train then either, I had her cancel both classes. There was no way I could teach alone. I wasn’t even sure I’d make it until 5:00 just sitting at my desk. Cancelling certainly took the pressure off.

Despite still coughing and being totally congested, it was like someone switched a switch mid-afternoon and my energy came back. Good thing because my friend’s husband was coming over that night to cut down weed trees in my yard. I helped pull the trees down as he cut (some of them were 15 feet tall and 6” in diameter – sheesh!) then nuked the stumps with Round Up. He left just before 7:00 so I showered and was watching Survivor by 7:05. I felt great for the first time all week. Still coughing and blowing but feeling better.

Thursday was more of the same – work, coughing, blowing my nose and no swimming – and lunch with Dodie. Friday was lunch with Layton and thrifting with Darla after work. I felt better every day but was still plagued with symptoms. This cold was a doozie!

Saturday was the master gardener conference in Council Bluffs so Lorri was picking me up at 7:30. It was forecast to be 90 so I did the Mrs. DiPalma thing and closed up my windows and lowered the shades to keep the house cool. The day was fine. The keynote speaker was very entertaining but the break out sessions were a crap shoot, with some better than others. I was home at 5:00 and my house was deliciously cool so I settled in for an evening of knitting and TV. I had started some monster socks (socks using leftovers from previous socks) that morning and was past the first heel before bedtime. Nice.

Sunday was another hot day so I shut the house up again when it started heating up. The only thing on my agenda was laundry and chores. I figured I’d head to the basement if it got hot upstairs but never needed to. I did end up down there ironing some but not because it was hot upstairs. And yes, I’m still coughing and blowing my nose but it’s a bit better every day. This has got to be the longest cold I’ve ever had. I’ll be celebrating this week because this heat is supposed to break and I’m looking forward to losing this cold. I live in hope.

Week 13 - Hot and Cold

It was spring break at UNL this week but it felt like the middle of the summer. The week started with weather in the mid-80’s and because it was spring break and should have been chilly outside, it was our annual chilled water outage. No air conditioning! It was SO hot in the office on Monday that it was hard to concentrate. By Tuesday it was raining and cooler outside but it wasn’t comfortable in the office until Wednesday. Sheesh!

The most fun thing this week was the yarn haul Darla picked up for me at Brown Sheep in Mitchell, NE. They were going to be in Scottsbluff doing training so I called Brown Sheep and placed a huge order for fiber (to spin) and lots of sock yarn. The woman was digging through closets to find samples that hadn’t made it to production. I have scads of fun yarn that will keep me knitting and spinning for ages. And all for cheap, which was the icing on the cake.

The other thing worth mentioning from the week was going to the ortho doc for my knee. Of course, by the time I got there my knee was fine and despite being manhandled by both the PA and doctor, nothing hurt. They said it wasn’t arthritis because I have plenty of cartilage so they assumed it was my meniscus, which means I have that problem in both knees. Yikes! They can’t tell without an MRI but said I could come in before my trip for a cortisone shot or an Rx for steroids if I was having any pain. So, I’ll just be playing it by ear. After I left the doctor’s office, I called Helen and we met for a coffee in the hospital lobby. It was nice to catch up.

I was supposed to scrapbook at Camp Fontanelle on Saturday and Sunday but when the rain cleared at the end of the week and the forecast was for gorgeous weather, I knew I couldn’t do it. I gave Jenny a check for the $45 to give to Dori and crossed that off my list. Now the weekend was all mine.

I woke up Saturday with a sore throat. I did go out and cut down some trees in the yard but didn’t do much else outside. By Sunday, I had a cough and felt like I had bricks on my chest. I laid down for an hour in the afternoon and despite getting more congested by the minute, it helped. I was able to do a tiny bit more in the yard then made dinner and some banana bread. Clearly this was not the productive weekend I had planned on but I didn’t plan on getting sick. It’s been awhile since I had a cold so I guess I was due. And even though it feels like summer, it’s only March so I’m not going to stress about the yard work yet. Give me a couple of weeks.