Week 42 - A Rough One

It was a hard week. I had more free time than in a normal week but that didn’t end up being a good thing.

The first worry was Rebar, my oldest cat, who is only 11 and had recently gotten skinny and weak. I called the vet and made an appointment for 4:45 on Tuesday. Since cats don’t usually get sick, I was pretty worried and was expecting the worst. I was so thankful when he said it was just a kidney infection. He gave her 2 big syringes of fluid and a shot of antibiotics and gave me pills to give her for a week. Within an hour, she was markedly better and got even better with every passing day. What a relief.

Since I was home from the vet by 5:15, you would think I would have gotten a lot done but it was like I didn’t know what to do with all that time on a week night. Except for making dinner, I ended up doing a whole lot of nothing. As if one non-productive night wasn’t enough, I went straight home Wednesday and did nothing worthwhile again. And I mean nothing. I didn’t even knit a stitch. Sheesh! At least I was well rested though because all hell was about to break loose.

I did something I rarely do and asked a friend for help via email on Thursday morning. Not because it was something I couldn’t do myself but rather because I had something I thought was perfect for her and that she wouldn’t mind doing. I was wrong about that and when she said no, I went into a funk. I was still feeling crappy so went out for nachos and margaritas after work with a friend, which made me feel better but left me to deal with the problem on Friday. By the end of Friday, several emails and phone calls later, I was in tears at my desk and my friend got so engrossed in an email that she missed her daughter’s track meet. Nothing about this was pretty but we talked Friday night and I believe our friendship has survived this verbal enema. I can only hope.

On Saturday, Andrea and I went to the Scandinavian shop in Elkhorn for an open house. I ate my first ebelskever and watched the Scandinavian dancers then found a few stocking stuffers in the shop. It was fun. After a quick stop for groceries in Omaha, I was home by supper time. Since I’m leaving for LA on Thursday, I should have been super productive on Sunday but ended up sitting in the sun knitting. Go figure. It felt good to be knitting again, having not knit a stitch all week. But now I’m going to have to cram stuff in every night to get everything done by Wednesday night. It’ll be the exact opposite of this past week, when I had so much free time I didn’t know what to do with myself. One of these weeks I’ll find some balance. At least I hope so. Wish me luck.

Week 41 - The Ebb Begins

Well, I vowed last week to slow down but I still had a few commitments before that could start. And I didn’t start the week off on a good foot when I woke up roasting in the wee hours Monday (I guess I jumped the gun pulling out the winter nightie) and lost several hours of sleep before falling asleep again. When the alarm went off Monday morning, it was a rude awakening. I spent Monday in a fog of exhaustion but still managed to run a few errands before knitting at the library.

On Tuesday I went to the pool after work and then went in search of a real milk shake for Nancy, who was recovering from surgery at St. E’s. I went to the UNL Dairy Store and got what they call a milk shake but it was so thick they served it with a spoon instead of a straw. Sheesh! I stopped for a chicken dinner for me and headed to the hospital. Nancy looked exhausted and the milk shake made her puke. The nurse took one look at it and exclaimed “Clear liquids! That is not clear.” Oh well. I just brought what she asked for. Plus she was a good sport about it and even let me take her picture holding her barf bag. There’s nothing quite like the fashion statement a hospital Johnny makes.

I didn’t get home until after 9:00 so went right to bed. Wednesday was the pool then knitting at Village Inn. It was good to see Mary again. The best part was that that was the last commitment for the week so I had a couple of free nights ahead of me. I had a hair appointment on Thursday at 5:45 so was guaranteed to be home early. Yay! I did run a few errands after my hair and was so tired when I got home that I couldn’t even hold up my end of the conversation when Connie called. I threw in the towel and went to bed early.

On Friday morning, I got up early and did a ton of stuff before work – got an oil change, picked up donuts, stopped at Starbuck’s, fed the cats and was at my desk by 8:10. Not bad! The day was busy and I even worked a bit late to make up for leaving to load cat food into the shed for Husker Cats. I stopped at Marilyn and Lynn’s on the way home to drop of some yarn and then headed home, ready and committed to doing less.

I had plans to go to Omaha with Andrea on Saturday afternoon but she called to say she’d messed up on the date and the open house at the Scandinavian store was next weekend. So I made a to do list for the weekend and was ready to start when Lorri called and asked if I wanted to go to Great Plains Nursery. When we checked and found it closed, we decided to meet at the fall fair at the library and then grab a coffee. So I headed outside to mow, showered and then headed to the library. Unfortunately, after having an iced blended chai I went home and crashed. I spent most of the rest of the day sitting on my butt and not accomplishing much. Oh well. Sunday was another day.

While I would have preferred another day of vegging, I had to force myself to get my chores done. I did a bit of cooking, plugged away at my chore list and even finished framing/hanging art, which was still all over the dining room table from my week off. All my yarn is organized and put away too. All in all, I got enough done to feel good about my day. So, I’m ready for the coming week and have only 1 night with anything committed. That’s a week to look forward to.

P.S. I finished a good book this week – River of Darkness by Rennie Airth. It was a post WW1 mystery set in England and there are 2 more in the series I’ll have to track down. But on and off while I was reading it, I had the nagging feeling I’d either read it before or had seen it on TV, mostly likely on Masterpiece Theatre or something similar. I googled around but couldn’t find any reference to it being on TV so I either had the worst case of déjà vu or had read it before. So, from now on I’m going to include the books I read at the end of my blog. It’s just my latest effort to keep track of the things I keep forgetting. These days, I need all the help I can get.

Week 40 - WAY too Busy!

Holy crap! I tend to be pretty busy and count a night where I’m home at 7:00 after the pool an early one but sheesh. This week was so maniacally busy that I hit the wall and decided something’s got to give. This seems to happen every few months but I’m really going to have to work on doing less. Sound good?

Monday was knitting at the library so I didn’t go to the pool and even had time to eat before knitting. What a nice start. On Tuesday I was scheduled to go the movies at the Ross with Nancy – Winter’s Bone. It wasn’t anything I was dying to see but we hadn’t gone to the movies in awhile and Tuesday worked for both of us so off we went. From there I had to go home and bake a cake for Food Day on Wednesday. Wednesday was water aerobics then knitting at Panera. I had planned to leave early but didn’t and got home at 9:00. I was toasty fried by this point.

Then Thursday morning hit and nothing went right. I had to go back into the house twice for things I forgot and so was late for work, which meant I didn’t get a spot in the loop and so had to drive across campus to the other lot, getting stuck behind a biker riding in the road the entire time. By the time I got to my desk, I was in a foul mood. My office mates pitched in to cheer me up. A singing chicken card from Darla, a latte from Nora and lunch with Dodie turned my mood around. Damn good thing!

By then I had flipped the calendar to October, only to find I was scheduled to scrapbook on Friday, which meant I had to upload pics, find all my supplies and get the car loaded when I got home. So I decided to skip water aerobics in favor or heading home. But I had a couple of stops, including watering at Lorri’s, and got home at 6:40. I changed right into my comfy clothes and was ready to nuke some dinner when Helen drove up. Now I love my cousin and rarely see her, but she had to show up Thursday? We chatted for over an hour and she finally left at 8:00, by which time it was pitch black out and I was starving. I ate dinner at 8:15 and decided to load the car in the morning. I went to bed early, knowing Friday would be a long day.

Friday was deans’ reports day so it flew by. I had parked at a meter all day so left immediately at 5:00 and headed to Gretna for scrapbooking. I was starting a new album of my England trip and was planning to be home by midnight. Well, that didn’t work out. I got into it and didn’t leave until midnight, which meant I didn’t get to bed until 1:00. Too late!

I had a Friends’ meeting at the library at 9:30, which I got to ten minutes late and was elected Treasurer before I left. At least I didn’t get pressured to be President, although that probably would be less work. Oh well. I was home before noon but spent the rest of the day in a zombie funk watching TV and not having enough energy to even knit. I was counting the hours until 9:00, which is the earliest I can go to bed and still sleep though the night.

I woke up Sunday feeling like a new woman. I slammed through my chores and baked some cookies before Nancy stopped by. We had tea on the deck and enjoyed the fall weather before she left with all my recycling in tow. Cross that off my list. Yay! I headed to the market and then watered at Lorri’s before stopping at Andrea’s for kolaches hot from the oven. Then it was home to make baked penne with pepperoni to enjoy in front of the TV. It was a nice end to a super busy week. And the best part of this week, besides having the mania over, is that I’m committed to doing less. I will not be having such a busy week for a long time. Promise. : )