Week 19 - Flowers and Graduations

It was a really nice week that started with some really, really good news and was punctuated with gorgeous spring weather and lots of flower shopping. Lots.

The week started with Anne’s call to United. They had changed the first leg of our trip to Scotland by a few minutes, which meant that we could rebook without fees. Despite the fact that it only added 5 minutes to our newly shortened layover at O’Hare, they let us rebook to the princess flight. So now instead of Omaha > Chicago > Shannon > Edinburgh, which was our only choice so Anne could use her miles but left me dreading the final leg, which we’d be doing while exhausted and would make us miss our airport transfer that included a tour of Edinburgh, we were booked Omaha > Chicago > Edinburgh. Yay! Not only was a excited when I heard but the relief of not facing that awful itinerary seems to have opened the flood gates and pre-trip excitement is now in full swing. Just 6 more weeks to wait.

On Tuesday I moved cubies back to my original one. It was just one cubie away and Dawn’s cubie was pretty bare bones so the actual move didn’t take long. I’m happy to be back with the better airflow and closer to the door so hopefully I’ll hear people come in before they pop around my wall and scare the piss out of me. I also have a direct sightline to Cindy. And while I didn’t got through everything, I did slog through a big stack of paper later in the week so made some progress there.

I had a lovely Skype date with Eileen on Thursday night then did a long overdue neatization of my house, which meant I would be going into the weekend with my house already picked up. I’d have laundry and dishes to do but otherwise would be free for something big. I had graduation parties both Saturday and Sunday nights so was hoping for productive days.

There was much purchasing of flowers this week, continuing a recent trend. On Thursday I went to one of my favorite local greenhouses – Urban Trails. I always find gorgeous heucheras (coral bells – my fave perennial) there and was hoping to replace one I’d bought 2 years ago but planted in the wrong spot so it didn’t live. The owner said he hadn’t grown that variety but I was thrilled to find just one and another I just had to have. Not to repeat my prior bad spot selection, I spent Saturday afternoon pulling self-seeded phlox out of my deck bed and replacing them with 3 new heucheras and a perennial geranium I’d bought at Spring Affair. But could I waste those phlox? Nope. So I dug a new bed around the corner of the deck and planted 3 big phlox there. Now my deck is completely surrounded with flowers. Nice.

I made my favorite rhubarb dessert (first rhubarb of the season) to take to Jessica’s party Saturday night and it was a big hit. (I've included the recipee below in case you want to try it. The mini marshmallows are the secret ingredient.) Jessica is our water zumba instructor who just got her PhD and is headed to St. Lawrence U in upstate New York to be a professor. I had fun making her socks that have both St. L's colors and UNL's. She'll look all legit above the shoe but be all husker inside. She seemed to like them and they were a fun knit, which I finished just hours before her party. You know me - I'm good with a deadline.

So, nice week, right? I could have been more productive on Sunday but did manage to get my laundry done and did a tiny bit of gardening so the rain coming late Sunday would water it all in. But I got sucked into streaming Catastrophe, which is so funny but also loaded with sex scenes (you've been warned!) It totally cut into my Sunday afternoon but I was busy enough Saturday to assuage my guilt. Because that's the other thing I'm good with - self-imposed guilt trips. But who cares. I've got a real trip coming up that I'm pretty excited about. : )

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

4 c diced rhubarb
1 c miniature marshmallows
1-3/4 c sugar, divided
1-1/4 c flour
1-1/4 tsp baking powder
dash of salt
1/2 c milk
4 T butter, softened
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
Put rhubarb in bottom of 9x13 pan and sprinkle with marshmallows and 1 c sugar. Mix remaining ingredients until blended and put over rhubarb. Make 40-50 mins at 350. Enjoy!