The beginning of the week was all about getting the last things on my to do list done. I didn't have much - a bit of wrapping, packing and last minute house stuff. My super productive weekend had gotten the majority done but there must have been something on my mind because I slept like crap for the first few days and so was getting more tired with each passing day. But I was ready to go by Thursday, plants watered, cats fed and suitcase in the car when I left for work. I had slept better the previous night and was anxious to just be there.
The first flight was delayed but so was everything going into Chicago so I'd still make my connection. I'd be getting in after 1:00 and Carolyn had to work on Friday. Reminder to self - pay more or take another vacation day because we're too old to be at the airport after midnight! I got on the second flight and so was finally able to relax. Then my stomach started feeling off. Before I knew it, I was in the bathroom. Puking on a plane - not the way to start a trip, nevermind at Christmas. I was sick twice before we landed but still felt OK. I was hoping it was nothing because I had a full day planned on Friday.
Nope. I was sick again on Friday morning so had to call Cornelia and cancel breakfast then Auntie Margaret and cancel lunch. Everyone left for work and I curled up on the couch. When Carolyn called at her lunch break and woke me up, I'd been asleep for 3+ hours. Yikes! I still felt pretty good and by the end of the day was able to eat a bagel. I was on the mend, which was a good thing because Carolyn and I had a full day on Saturday.
I woke up feeling pretty darn good so ate a bagel and started in on the day. Carolyn had a cookie swap to go to so I had made plans to have lunch with my oldest friend, Deanne. She picked me up and we had a lovely lunch at The Chapel Grill, which is in the church at the old reform school we used to be threatened with. "If you kids don't stop it, I'll send you to Sockanosett!" It was the bad boys/girls school but is now a lovely shopping center. I had delicious chicken escarole soup (a RI thing), a salad and dessert. We chatted for almost 3 hours, leaving just in time for Deanne to meet up with Carolyn.
From there, Carolyn and I went to the East Bay. If you grow up in West Bay, going to East Bay is an excursion. If you could go by boat, it'd take 5-10 minutes but to drive takes the better part of an hour. I'd probably only been there a handful of times before I moved to Nebraska. It's another RI thing. Our destination was Warren, where there was a yarn shop (an endangered species in RI) and The Cheese Plate - a restaurant specializing in, you guessed it, cheese. Carolyn had a groupon and we'd had it planned for months. The yarn shop was fine and I managed to find a couple of skeins to buy but the person on the register was having Old Home Week with the customer in front of me so it took a ridiculous amount of time to get out of there. So long that I was contemplating leaving. Sheesh! The restaurant was lovely and we shared a fun grilled cheese and a plate of slice meats. We bought some unusual cheeses for the open house the next day and left. I was still feeling fine but was pretty darn full. I was thinking I was over my bug.
At 3:15 I made my first trip downstairs to the bathroom with diarrhea. Two more trips over the next few hours and I was spent. There was nothing left in me and it was clear I wasn't over it. Oddly enough, I still felt fine. I got up and took an immodium and called it good. I ate another bagel and felt fine. The open house was scheduled at 4:00 so I needed to feel OK. Between the cookies from Carolyn's swap and the shrimp, olives and cheese plate, most of the food was ready to go. Carolyn made hot artichoke dip and I stayed away from the food just in case. It was lots of fun. Sharyn and Butch, Bob and Daisy, the Buttis, Maruta and Cornelia all came. Everyone had fun and left with full bellies. Another successful holiday open house. And with that done, we could relax for a bit before the next round of cooking and entertaining. I was hopeful that I was over my bug for sure now. Time would tell.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
Week 50 - It's Not Fungal!
Well, the week started with me feeling pretty desperate. Not
only were my hands not better, they were killing me. Putting on the cream,
which I was doing religiously, stung so much that I had to ice my wrists. It
was clearly time to call the doc. I needed some immediate relief because I had
a lot to do this week. Also, Carolyn was beginning to freak out about the idea of me bringing a fungal hand rash to her house over Christmas. With her eczema, it was the last thing she needed.
I called and made an appointment for Tuesday at 4:00 then go
busy. I had lunch with Marcy from HR at lunch on Monday then picked up the
photos I’d printed for the calendars at Walgreen’s. I knitted at the library
after work and then went home to make a swag for my back door so I could bring
the leftover greens to work for Cheryl who had a plan. Don’t we all this time
of year?
When I got to the doctor’s on Tuesday afternoon, she took
one look at my hands and said it wasn’t fungal. I had dyshidrotic eczema! With
that it was all about moisturizing constantly, which was the exact opposite of
what I’d been doing when treating it as fungal. She gave me a prescription for
cream and a shot of steroids and sent me on my way. My hands sucked up the
cream and instantly felt better. No stinging now! I got out my white gloves and
aquafor to wear to bed. That felt great too. I was overjoyed to have a good
diagnosis and a plan. It was like the weight of the world was off my shoulders.
That felt even better than the newly hydrated skin on my hands.
The new Whole Foods opened in Lincoln on Wednesday so Nora
and I decided to brave the crowds and check it out for lunch. We went at 1:00
and it wasn’t too bad. There were lots of people but not crazy. We had a lovely
lunch and I vowed to go back and do the aisles before Christmas. I stopped at
Yarn Charm on the way home to pick up Ginny’s socks, which had been on display
for the last couple of months. I managed to spend $70 too. Chalk it up to
supporting my local yarn shop. : )
Thursday was our office Christmas party. It seemed rushed
and less festive than usual but the white elephant swap was fun. I ended up
with a Husker condiment set that will be the start of a Wine & Dine door
prize. Nora donated her gift towards the Wine & Dine too. Two down and I
have at least one more at home. Nice. Did I mention I’m in charge of door
prizes this year again?
I had continued to check things off my to do list all week,
fitting things in either at lunch or after work. The best part of the week was
I was finally getting some Darla time. We met at Cracker Barrel for dinner on
Friday and caught up over fish fry. We then hit Bed Bath and Beyond for her
Christmas gifts, which are a swap of As Seen on TV gifts. How fun is that!
Anyway, seeing Darla was a wonderful way to start the weekend. It had to be a
productive one.
Saturday’s to do list included errands, picking up the
house, doing the calendars and putting up the tree. After a nice chat with
Carolyn, I got busy and got it all done. NBC did fail me. I always put up my
tree while It’s a Wonderful Life is on and it had been on the schedule but when
I turned on the TV, their live Sound of
Music was playing instead. Good thing I have a small tree so I got it up in an
hour while watching Rudolph on CBS.
Sunday was my last day before flying to get it all done. I
did the house cleaning (must find a cleaning lady after Christmas!), cleaned
the frig out completely including scrubbing the shelves and bins (I have a huge
pile of food for Lori’s chickens) and then started wrapping. I had Dottie and
Ginny’s stocking packages ready to ship but my printer failed me (it won’t
print in black) so I had to save the shipping labels as pdfs and will print them
at work and walk the packages over to the union. Then it was on to Carolyn’s
stocking, which I finished at 10:00 p.m. All that’s left are gifts for Aaron and
a few friends, which I’ll do one night this week.
The paper from the calendars and all the wrapping sucked the
moisture out of my hands so they are a bit red. All the cleaning didn’t help
either but the to do list is mostly done and I’m in good shape to fly out on
Thursday. It’s all good.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Week 49 - More List Making
With just 2.5 weeks until I head east for Christmas, I went
into full list mode. The weather was also going to get frigid cold so I was
front loading the week’s list to get as much done in the first couple of days
as possible. And I planned to make full use of my expensive parking, running
errands over lunches too.
Monday was Christmas trees. I ran to Menard’s over lunch and
got 2 trees – 1 for the deck and 1 for inside. It was so beautifully warm out
that I put the deck tree up after knitting and then struggled with my old, lame
saw to make a fresh cut on the inside tree. It was after 9:00 when I schlepped
the tree down to the laundry room where it’ll stay for almost 2 weeks before I
put it up on the 14th (I always put it up the weekend before
Christmas while watching It’s a Wonderful Life on NBC.)
I started Tuesday with a fasting blood test at the student
health center. Lunch found me at Trader Joe’s, where I easily spent $100 on
mostly Christmas chocolates, which was the last thing I needed for Dottie and
Ginny’s stockings. I was exhausted but forced myself to swim after work. It
felt good to swim but it killed the rash on my hands. It felt so good to go
home, lube up my hands and sit.
I had planned to run more errands – Big Lots and Joann’s –
over lunch on Wednesday but the weather had turned cold earlier than forecast
so I stayed inside and called it good. I had a haircut scheduled after work and
then got some online shopping done so still crossed things off my list despite the
weather. Sharyn called right after Survivor to thank me for the socks I’d
mailed her and we had a wonderful chat. But the best part of the day was
getting the results of my blood test, which showed no problem at all with blood
sugar. The rush of relief was unreal! I need to work on my LDL and
triglycerides but at least it’s not diabetes.
I talked to my doctor’s
office on Thursday about my results and at that time asked for another round of
the oral antifungal meds because my hands were still a mess. I thought the
pharmacy was open until 6:30 so I dinked around after work and got there at
6:12 – 12 minutes after they closed. I was pissed as I headed home to grab a
quick dinner before book club. I’d only finished the book that morning and the
questions were all aimed at 12 year olds (it was yet another young adult book)
so the conversation lagged. To top it all off, the library commission had sent
the wrong book for next week. Sheesh. And my hands were killing me.
Friday was a new day! I was at the pharmacy when they opened
at 8:00, hit Starbuck’s, fed three feeders (last day covering the 2 extra –
yay!) and was at my desk by 9:00. I had a nice lunch with Layton and picked up
cat food next to the Chinese buffet (cross that off) and the afternoon didn’t
drag. I skipping the market and headed straight home. By day’s end I had
rebooked my return flight on the 26th ($68 more seemed well worth
not having to leave for the airport at 4:00 a.m.), ordered all Aaron’s presents
and had a plan for a productive weekend.
Since we’d be knitting at Christmas on the Prairie from
2:00-5:00 on Saturday, I was determined to get tons done before I left for the
bank to do the Friends’ deposit. I slammed through my list, neatizing the
entire house, sweeping the back room, doing the dishes and cleaning the
bathroom. After stopping at the library to pick up more money, I hit the bank,
the thrift shop bag sale (mostly got clothes for Lori but a few things for me)
and Burger King for lunch. Check, check, check. The afternoon was perfectly
pleasant and then it was home to make turkey soup for dinner and watch The
Wire. It was a very productive and fun day.
Sunday was chores, a bit of cooking, shoveling (we got 4” of
snow – it was gorgeous to watch falling) and calendars. I went through boxes of
pictures looking for just the right ones for each page. It took hours! Then I
had to scan, upload and order prints. I had planned to cook dinner but ran out
of time. Good thing Andrea stopped by with homemade soup to save the day. I
also managed to finish my last pair of Christmas socks so it was another good
day. Now to work on the list for next week. I fear there will be yet another trip to the clinic for my hands. Bummer.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Week 48 - Checking Things Off
What can I say about a 3 day work week – isn’t it great? The
work gods smiled on me and the days flew by. Then, as usual, they let us leave
early (3:00) on Wednesday. I stopped at my favorite thrift shop on the way out
of town and scored this gorgeous scrap quilt for $10. What a wonderful way to
start Thanksgiving break!
For years I’ve hosted Thanksgiving at my house on the
weekend because Helen works on Thanksgiving but this year Brenda was hosting on
Saturday. All I had to do was make a couple of pies, which I’d do Saturday, so
I had all the time in the world. While everyone else was slamming to have
turkey ready on time, I got to sit totally relaxed knitting in the sun.
Perfect! For the first time ever, I watched the entire parade and then the dog
show. It was a lovely day and I was thankful for that. I had bought a turkey
but didn’t get my butt in gear to have it done in time for Thursday so had
ravioli and called it dinner. That was what we ate on Thanksgiving when I
studied in France so it just felt right.
I did get the turkey cooked on Friday but had a bit of a
mishap trying to manage getting the juice out of the cooking bag solo. I ended
up with a broken bag and all the juices running down the sink. In falling into
the dish drainer, the turkey lost all cohesion. Even the stuffing fell out.
Since it was already a mess, I pulled it apart right after I ate and had the
bones in the crockpot to make stock overnight. Done.
There was a complicating factor for the pies though. I had a
rash all over my hands and had gone to the doctor on Tuesday for drugs. Since it
was contagious and Brenda’s
pregnant, I had to make the pies wearing Playtex gloves. Let me tell you, that
is NOT easy. And since peeling apples would have been a bear, I made pecan and pumpkin
instead. I also dug out white cotton gloves to wear so I wouldn’t spread anything.
Talk about odd. I was called Minnie Mouse and a mime. Family – gotta love ‘em!
Everything was yummy and we had fun playing farkle after dinner. It was a
perfectly pleasant Thanksgiving.
Since it was going to be gorgeous on Sunday – high 40’s – I decided
to start the day outside. I needed to neatize the yard, put the hoses away,
clear the deck and mow to mulch the leaves. It took a couple of hours but by
1:00 I was done, showered and enjoying turkey dinner leftovers. My laundry was
hanging on the line and I’d made a dent in my chores so was feeling good about
life. Andrea had asked me to come over and give her ideas on reorganizing her
sewing room. I got there ~2:00 and ideas lead to moving furniture, sorting yarn
and general reorganization. Why is it so fun to do that with other people’s
stuff but not my own? Oh well. I made a cup of tea when I got home and sat for
awhile to give my knees a break but was up again cleaning up the kitchen and
finishing the laundry.
I didn’t get everything on my list done but will attempt to
make a dent before and after work this week. Beyond chores, I made my Christmas
to do list and have to be diligent to get everything done sooner rather than
later to minimize pre-holiday stress. I live in hope. How’s your holiday prep
going?
Week 47 - Not Ready Yet
Am I the only one struggling to get into Christmas this
early? My regular radio station went Christmas a week ago and then my back up
station went on the Friday before Christmas. That left me flipping between a
rock station and NPR. I won’t be ready for Christmas music until mid-December
so I’m sunk.
Not helping the holiday spirit was the weather, which was so
warm at the beginning of the week that I was able to take knit breaks and sit
outside. That all changed Wednesday, with some snow and bitter cold. I guess if
that keeps up, I’ll be getting into the spirit soon.
Otherwise it was a pretty average week and it ended on a
culture note. Andrea and I did one of our rare culture days. We had planned to
see Twelve Days a Slave then do lunch and the quilt museum but my cousin Debbie
called me out of the blue on Sunday morning we talked long enough that it was
too late for the movie. We did the museum, which is always fun and just the
right size to do in an hour, and then had lunch at Dempsey’s. Guiness and
truffle fries were the stars. I ended the day with chores like a typical Sunday
and was looking forward to the upcoming short work week. Hopefully I’d be able
to get in the spirit after Thanksgiving.
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