Week 4 - Enjoying the Flow

The week started out with the long anticipated trip to Omaha with Dodie. We’d been inspired by the decorating blogs to go to Anthropologie so planned a day of shopping and lunch centered around Regency Court, the hoity toity shopping mall where Anthropologie is. And taking advantage of being off on a weekday (so few people here celebrate MLK Day that it barely counts as a holiday), I made an appointment to get my car looked at at Superior Honda, which is where Dodie met me. From there I introduced her to Penzey’s and then we headed for Regency.

Anthropologie is the coolest store! We completely ignored all the trendy, skinny girl clothes and concentrated on the house stuff. I found two perfect things – a flower shaped hook for my hallway and a wonderful tea light holder to complete my decor8 project in the bathroom. The rest of the mall was a dud though so we headed to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch and from there went to Whole Foods, another new experience for Dodie. With our stomachs and shopping bags full of yummy, good food, we decided to call it a day and headed back to get my car. Since this was my first day feeling even remotely functional after my cold, I was happy to head towards home.

Despite being only four days long, the work week seemed endless. The clear highlight was Wednesday, when Paul Wesselmann was coming. Paul is the founder of the Ripples Project and would be doing a lunch program but I was looking forward to the 3 hour session I’d signed up for for the afternoon. I’m Paul’s biggest fan and have been to every program he’s done at UNL for years. We’ve also spoken at length a couple of times while he was walking his dog on campus and I was feeding the campus cats. I love talking to him but also think he is the most wonderful presenter! He makes you think and you leave in such an up mood, energized to go forth and do good. The afternoon session was all I’d hoped for.

Just as the day was winding down Friday, I grabbed a handful of m&m’s from Mary’s bowl, popped one in my mouth and BROKE ANOTHER TOOTH! Yes, another molar exploded, leaving a jagged edge to irritate my tongue all weekend. I’m sure it’ll require another crown, which will be my fourth one in just over a year. At this rate, there are only 4 more to blow. How’s that for looking at the bright side?

My plan for the weekend, which did not begin with scrapbooking on Friday night because I’d failed to prep for it so canceled, was to stay inside, slog through paper and do some cooking. That so didn’t work! I was watching This Old House and got inspired to figure out how to replace the burned out light bulb in my stove hood, which required removing seven screws and taking off the whole bottom. That done, I headed out in search of a replacement bulb and, having survived one night with my jagged tooth, some dental wax. Since I was out anyway, I decided to stop at Andrea’s store to pick up another ball of yarn so I could start a new lace scarf project, knowing full well that’d suck up a chunk of time. I had been there awhile when Donna called saying she was on her way over. Being her first foray out after knee replacement, I decided to stay long enough to say hi. Needless to say, we stayed at Andrea’s until she closed the store and I headed home to start slogging.

Then the phone rang. I’d mentioned my drip in the basement and Donna was calling to say she was bringing her husband over to check it out. All it needed was tightening but he wanted to let it sit a bit to see if it needed another turn. I put on the water for tea and the three of us spent the rest of the afternoon chatting. The drip was indeed fixed and I’d had a wonderful, social day but the paper was still waiting. I decided to wait until Sunday and settled in to watch some dvd’s and go to bed early.

I was up early Sunday and had the kitchen cleaned up and ready to cook before 7:00. I sat down to read the paper and watch Sunday morning TV before digging into my chores and projects. I was shocked as I watched the sun come out for the first time in weeks! I spent a glorious morning absorbing the sun, planning to be super productive all afternoon. Then the phone rang again. Nancy had time to kill in Wahoo and wanted to hang at my house. I threw a batch of cookies in the oven, started the laundry and waited for Nancy. We had a lovely afternoon catching up and I started my new scarf while we talked. By the time she left, I was well into my knitting and decided my paper project would have to wait until next weekend. I did manage to get some cooking and a few chores done before sitting down for an evening of Masterpiece Theatre. My to do list was still full but I’d enjoyed an impromptu weekend of friends and fun. Sometimes you’ve just got to go with the flow.