Week 48 - Busy Thanksgiving Break

This week was all about 4 days off. In a row. With no firm plans. Heaven!

The three work days flew by, which was an added bonus. With my usual long days with knitting Monday and swimming Tuesday, getting out just after 3:00 (they always let us leave early but don’t let us know until right before “trickle out” time starts) was extra nice. While I usually would make a beeline home, I’d gotten a Big Lots coupon for $5 off $25 and since I hadn’t been in awhile, I decided to go. I got lots of fun stuff so it was worth the trip and after a stop at the supermarket in Wahoo (so no long lines), I was ready for my Thanksgiving break. Or so I thought. I looked in the cupboard and didn’t find turkey bags so had to get dressed and go back out at 8:00 because I was determined to not leave the house on Thursday. Sheesh!

I slept late Thursday, which was wonderful because I’ve been having lots of nights of bad sleep lately, so instead of making a nice breakfast and then having turkey mid-afternoon, I had a bowl of cheerios first thing because I didn’t want to wait for breakfast. I enjoyed the morning, sitting in the sun and knitting, ate something small for lunch then got cooking. First up was blueberry pie and after that was done, the stuffed turkey and sweet potatoes went into the oven. I was keeping it simple so other than gravy and some broccoli, the cooking was done. I then got a wild hair (or it is hare?) that I needed to take a picture of my latest socks, called Corn Mint Socks, in a corn field. So despite my vow to not leave the house, I found myself driving the back roads outside of town looking for an unhavested cornfield. After settling for a photo on a single stalk at the edge of a field, I was on the way home when I found a half harvested field and trudged out to get my pics. I snapped this one in the stubble on the way back to the car. Gorgeous, right? It was worth going out in the cold and the smell of baking turkey when I went back into my toasty house was the icing on the cake. I enjoyed my turkey dinner for one (I’d declined two invitations in favor of my solo dinner, btw) and talked to my sister at the end of the day. It’d been a lovely Thanksgiving.

Darla and I were going out to breakfast and a movie on Friday so I was out the door at 8:00 to meet at a diner in Lincoln, having already chosen calendar pics, uploaded them and ordered prints from Walgreens. We had a yummy breakfast (they substituted tater tots for hash browns – nothing better!) and catch up the decided to hit our favorite thrift store before the movie. I’d popped in quickly earlier in the week but only to check for yarn (none) so we did the whole store. I got a short sleeved shirt and Darla got a pair of pants but we really scored in the yarn. They had bags and bags stuffed with yarn for $1.98 each. I filled the cart with bags for Anne and then hit the best bargain ever just down the aisle – a brand new pair of Birkenstocks in brown for $35. They’re the same style as a blue pair I wear all the time. Yay! We then headed to Interstellar. The weather had turned and it was warming way up so when we got out just before 3:00 (that was a shock because it was 3 hours long!), I headed straight home to mow. It was going to be even warmer on Saturday so mowing was just step #1 in my outdoor to do list.

I got up early on Saturday and stripped my bed to the bare mattress, flipped it and started washing linens to hang on the line. I had four loads done and on the line when I headed to Lori’s to drop my two pumpkins and my Thanksgiving dinner scraps for her girls (chickens.) After a quick lunch, I was outside trimming perennials out front. A complete stranger was driving by with a pick up load of leaves and after chatting to my neighbors, he helped me cut the last of the dead plants and then added them to his load a drove off. Nice! From there it was on to the monstrously overgrown yew in front of the house. I’d borrowed an electric hedge trimmer from Lori and started at it. It took hours and by the time the sun was going down, my arms were rubber and it was done but for a few tall branches in the middle that I’d have to use my loppers while hanging out my bedroom window. It’d have to wait until I could use my arms again. I forced myself to drain the hoses and store them away while my tea water boiled. I was exhausted but happy with what I’d gotten done. It wasn’t everything but was the big stuff. I’ll handle the rest in spring if it doesn’t get warm again.

So I’d made a huge list during the previous week of all the things I was going to get done inside over break. I’d done almost none of them so Sunday was going to have to be productive inside. I still had some clean up from cooking, more laundry to do, bags of yarn all over the back of the house and crap everywhere. I had also agreed to go to Lori’s for knitting at 3:00. I got it all done and even went through all the paper on my desk but never made it to my project list. The only thing I was really disappointed at not getting done was going through all my Christmas stuff so I could donate the spare stuff to the library’s holiday sale. Oh well. It’ll have to wait until next weekend. Knitting at Lori’s was fun and I didn’t get home until after 7:00.

Despite not getting to most of my to do list, it was a lovely break. I had good food, time with friends and got tons done. The warm weather was a gift. Did I mention that I did my outdoor chores in short and a t-shirt? And it was -4 with the wind chill 12 hours later. With the outside put to bed for winter and now that Thanksgiving’s over, I feel ready for Christmas mode. I have three weeks to finish my last 2 pairs of socks, wrap and ship stockings and get ready to fly to RI. It will all get done. It always does.