Work on Monday and Tuesday felt pretty nutty, with the people who were gone at the end of the week trying to cram everything in before they left. But at home, things were pretty normal since I’d don’t all the shopping on the weekend. I swam and knitted at the library on Monday and just went home to relax in the AC on Tuesday. Considering how hot it was, everything else wasn’t an option.
To beat the heat, I got up early on Wednesday (would actually have loved to sleep a bit late but it didn’t happen) and did the outside prep for the cookout, which was mostly cleaning my deck and furniture and pulling tables and chairs out of the garage and getting them set up. I did do a bit of yard work but it was already too hot by noon so I gave up and called it good. I headed inside to get the food prepped. I ended up having to bake because after calling the people who were coming, I was going to be short on desserts. Otherwise, everything was ready and I had some knitting time in the afternoon, finishing a sock I’d only started Sunday, which is a record for me.
I showered just before people arrived and had burgers and dogs going too. It was over 100 and muggy at 6:00 so it was not my normal cookout. Other than the brief time when we ate outside, the women were inside, the men were outside at a table in the shade and the 10 kids were running in and out the whole time. The Harts left early because their two oldest were detassling and had to be ready before sunrise and Andrea left too. Nora and company stayed for the fireworks so we did our usual clean up before we left for the park, even getting the dishes washed. The fireworks were wonderful (they seem to get better every year) and everyone was gone shortly after so I was showered and in bed by 11:00. Too bad my neighbors had spent a ridiculous amount on fireworks because they were still going off until midnight.
I was exhausted when I woke up on Thursday but stopped at Starbucks for a big coffee and headed into work. Unfortunately I forgot my coffee in the car and despite it only being 9:00, I was dripping wet when I walked back to my car to get it. I was SO sick of the heat. Cheryl and I went to lunch and I swam after work. I was just going through the motions but made the effort so called it good.
When I got home, I looked out the slider and there was one of the neighborhood cats who sleeps on my deck, meowing at the door, skin and bones and with a broken leg. He must have been holed up somewhere until he could move. I haven't fed cats on my deck since last year's BB gun incident but I gave him some food and water and then asked the BB gun toting neighbor is she knew whom he belonged to. She did so I trudged over there and had her come and get him. Since she never bothered to neuter him, I was a bit skeptical that she would take him to the vet but she said she would so I called it good. I can only hope he's OK.
Friday morning was even harder. All of my cats had refused to come in Thursday night so I left them out. Well, first thing Friday they were all at the back door except Tot, who is the youngest and most likely to get in trouble. I called and called but nothing. I was worried that if she had followed me the night before or maybe was stuck in someone's shed, which she wouldn't survive in all day because it was still blazing hot. So I tried to keep the worry at bay and had breakfast then went to get dressed so I could walk the streets calling her. When I went to the back door to leave, there she was! I was super relieved but with that, all the energy I had (which was minimal to start) drained out of my body. I even laid back down, fantasizing about calling in, which, of course, I'd never do. Bummer.
I made it to work but felt like a zombie. At least I was getting some stuff off my desk because it was dead quiet on campus. After lunch with Layton, I intended to dig into the NUCorp bill, which needed to be rewritten against new tables, but didn’t finish something for Mary until 2:30 so only started then. I was in the middle of it with the programmer at my desk finagling something to get me the tables I needed when the phone rang. It was Tammie from Facilities saying she needed the bill Tuesday, which was early. So I ended up working late on Friday (SO wrong!) to get it finished because I had a busy day Monday doing allocations so I could rerun the bill first thing Tuesday to pull them in. So, I had to get it done. Damn!
I had planned to do the aisles at Menard’s after work. I did have a short list of things I needed but since I haven’t shopped a whole store in years thought I’d see things I needed and it would be cool. Not so much. Either the AC was broken or they were being cheap but it was as hot inside Menard’s as outside so I got my three things and was out in 5 minutes. After a quick stop at the market, I was home for the weekend. Yay!
The heat was supposed to break overnight but not with a storm but just gradually. It was some cooler Saturday morning but with no storm to blow the heat away, the hot air was still hanging around. I had planned to spend the morning cleaning out the garage and then head down to the craft room in the afternoon. Well, I had just started the garage when I looked up and a woman from work had dropped by on her way through town. So before I’d even begun, I was sitting on the deck visiting with Jennifer. She left ~11:00 so I was behind schedule. It was also pretty hot outside so I worked for an hour and a half before heading inside for lunch. Then I went back outside to finish and get the yard furniture into the newly organized garage. I was a sweaty mess but loaded up the recycling and cookout leftovers and headed to town. When I got home I loaded up the Lincoln recycling and took a shower. It was 3:00 and I was done. The craft room would have to wait. All I managed to do for the rest of the day was the 2 loads of laundry of garage stuff, which I hung on the line.
Despite having so much down time on Saturday, I was slow getting going on Sunday and had just gotten out of my chair at 11:00 to get dressed when Lorri stopped by. So I was still in my nightie at noon but got dressed and busy. I had three more loads of laundry to do and my regular chores. The cleaning lady called to say she was coming first thing Monday so I had to do them all.
All in all, it was a good week. I got to spend lots of time with friends, got lots done at work and had a relatively productive weekend. But the best part was that the heat was over.
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