Week 35 - Rain and Connie

Wet, wet, wet. Looking back at the week, the main thing I think of is rain. We had almost 9” in as many days. The grass was growing like crazy, the flowers were looking beaten up and all the tomatoes in my garden were splitting from so much water. My basement was dry until the 2.5” of rain we got on Wednesday, which put us over 7” since the previous Friday. It wasn’t pouring in but rather seeping up from the saturated ground. And there was yet more rain in the forecast. 

The last straw was when I was driving home on Thursday, late after swimming and a stop at the market, and found 77 closed due to flooding. I had to drive 8 miles east, 6 miles north then back 8 miles west to go over the dam north of town, which was supposed to stop this kind of flooding. I didn’t get home until 8:00 and was exhausted. By then I was coming down with a cold and Connie was due to arrive the next day. At least I was done with preparations. All I had left to do was move the stuff on her bed into my bedroom, where it would only stay until she left, when it would go right back on the bed. 

I woke up completely congested on Friday after not sleeping well at all. While I hate to call in sick, I knew I had to if I had any chance of being functional while Connie was here. I sat in my chair and did nothing all day, which must have worked because I was feeling OK when Connie arrived late Friday afternoon. It was great to see her. Phone calls are just not the same face time. 

I popped another Claritin D (genius product!) and we headed to Omaha on Saturday morning. Our first stop was the Farmers’ Market, which we used to do when she lived in Auburn. We would have preferred Lincoln’s market but it was a game day so no chance. We had a great time and bought some goodies for later. From there we went to Lauritzen Gardens, which was free for the weekend. It was still cloudy and cool-ish so we enjoyed looking at all the gardens, although the flowers were beaten down by the rain and the lawns were squishy. We finished just as the sun came out and the heat started up. We grabbed lunch at Noodles then hit Trader Joe’s (more goodies for dinner) and Aldi before heading home. We had a lovely evening snacking on our purchases and watching the entire season 3 of Sherlock, which Connie hadn’t seen yet. I was still holding up so was hopeful for Sunday. 

Nope. I slept like crap again and woke up feeling, as my mother would say, punk. I made blueberry pancakes and bacon for breakfast and that used up all the energy I had. We were headed to Lincoln for pedicures, lunch and shopping with Connie’s daughter Rachele, who was visiting from New Jersey. It was pouring rain as we got to Lincoln and I was dreading the full day ahead. I’d brought my knitting with the idea that if couldn’t keep up, I could sit in a coffee shop and knit while they shopped. When Connie realized she’d forgotten something in Wahoo that she’d brought for Rachele and announced she’d be heading back later, it was music to my ears. I could now just do the pedicure and then be dropped home and Connie could shop with Rachele. I was SO relieved because I was coughing constantly and feeling worse by the minute. So after a relaxing pedicure, they drove me home and I spent the day sitting like a lump in my chair. It was exactly what I needed. Connie was racing home before another fierce storm (she didn’t quite make it so drove through some hellish rain) and got home in time for BLT’s for dinner and one of my favorite movies – The Station Agent. She loved it and I was feeling better after staying home. 

It was as good a weekend as I could have hoped for considering how crappy I felt. Connie was leaving in the morning after a quick but fun trip. Hopefully I’ll see her sometime soon but if not, there’s our cruise in February. The icing on the cake was that the rain seemed to be done for awhile so things could dry out. I am so ready for fall.