Week 7 - Wool Eating Kitty

If I had to pick one word for the week, it would be cranky. I don’t know if it was the incessant winter weather, not sleeping well on several nights, my new early morning workouts or what but my go to feeling was cranky, which meant things I normally would brush off just seemed to pile on and make me even crankier. At least there were a few bright spots in the week though.

I started the week by meeting Darla at 6:30 at Wahoo’s Stockyard Café for a birthday breakfast. I had not been in this café in more than 20 years but it was the only place to get an early breakfast so that’s where we went. Nothing has changed in the 20+ years I hadn’t been there and the food was yummy, plentiful and cheap. It was also great to get some face time with Darla. It also made for 3 days of disturbed morning routine so maybe that impacted my mood. But it was fun and so worth it.

I baked a decadent chocolate cake for Valentine’s Day and it was worth every calorie. It was a make up cake for my birthday, when I made blueberry muffins instead of a cake to take to work. It was delish and I ate it both Wednesday and Thursday. Like I said, worth every calorie.

I was also proud of myself for being so ahead of the game that I was ready for the cleaning lady before I left for work on Tuesday, which meant I didn’t have to slam Tuesday night. Nice but then the cleaning lady messaged me that she not only wasn’t coming Wednesday but would be completely skipping a clean. It was the death of a friend that meant she had to take her mom out of town so I can’t begrudge her the time off but I’d have to do some cleaning myself on the weekend now. Oh well.

By Wednesday night, the cranky had settled in. When I went to bed that night, I found one of my very favorite socks, which I’d worn on Tuesday and thrown in the hamper, on my bed with holes chewed in the cuff. There was no salvaging the sock so I’d have to reknit it and vowed to do so because they are favorites. I was sure it was Gansey, who had done similar damage to an almost finished cowl a couple of weeks ago. That I had foolishly left on the back of the chair she sleeps on (stupid, I know) so I assumed I had missed the hamper when I threw the socks in Tuesday night. Then I sorted laundry on the weekend and found a beautiful merino sweater I’d bought at Goodwill that was even more trashed. The little shit not only was chewing things but had jumped into the hamper to do it! Check out the pic of all her damage. I had to pull out my old wicker hamper with a lid on the weekend to keep her out of my knitting. Sheesh!

So the cranky persisted so much that after lunch on Friday, I decided to take the stray hours of vacation time in my bank (I like to have even days of vacation so I don’t fritter time away) so left work at 2:26, which used up my extra hours to the minute . I was home by 3:00 drinking tea and settled in to enjoy my weekend, putting the cranky behind me. After a relaxing night, I went to bed and slept like a rock until 8:30! That’s a rarity but I clearly needed the sleep.

The weather had broken too so it was going to be warm on Saturday – warm enough to hang out laundry. Andrea and I were heading to Fremont for spinning so I started on the laundry early, washing all my bed linens so I could hang them all out. When the phone rang, I assumed it was Andrea so picked it up without checking caller ID. It was my oldest friend, Deanne, who I'd been playing phone tag with for weeks. We chatted away while we ate our lunches (me in my favorite chair, Deanne on a bench in Alabama) and finally got caught up. This put my laundry behind though so Andrea patiently waited while my last load spun out then helped me hang the sheets before we headed to Fremont.

We were late to spinning but they were just watching a video (a boring one at that!) so we didn't miss anything important. There was someone there who had all the craft supplies from a relative who had gone into assisted living. We could take what we wanted in exchange for a donation to 4H so since I only had a $20, I took a bit more than the 2 lots of sock yarn I had my eye on. Some of it will go right into the prize kitty for our WIP contest. From there we went to Goodwill and HyVee before deciding to go to Todd's for burgers, tots and beer, which is our usual dinner spot after spinning. It was a nice day and I got home early enough that it was just dark and my linens on the line hadn't gotten night damp yet. Perfect! I made up my bed with fresh sheets (a rarity this winter) and put on my fresh nightie (also dried outside) and went to be content and happy.

Sunday was my typical chore day but since the cleaning lady hadn't come, I had floors to deal with. I swept and washed the back floor and since I got the vacuum out to do area rugs, I also vacuumed the stairs, which hadn't been done in years. All this was done by mid afternoon so I spent the evening cooking and prepping produce for the upcoming 600/900 calorie week. I haven't been doing so well on my diet so had high hopes to get back on track.

So a week that started off cranky ended well with a fun and productive weekend. Nice.

Week 6 - Living Last Minute

With my birthday week over, it was time to knuckle down and get serious about rotating. Between the constant eating out and skipping exercise of the previous week, I was nervous about my weigh in so was pleased that I'd only gained 2 pounds, which seemed like a miracle. I was on a 600/900 week so was hopeful I'd lose them quickly. On the exercise front, I was back to class but had told the instructors about my nerve pain so modified what I did and lived to tell. Yay!

I had an appointment at Honda on Tuesday at lunch for them to look at the tire pressure light, which had been on for more than a year. I had planned to take the shuttle back and bum a ride after work with Dodie but Cindy insisted on driving down so I wouldn't have to take the shuttle. We both ran an errand on the way down but when I got to Honda, the service guy asked if I'd hit the calibration mode button when I refilled my tires. What? I'd even read the book and had seen no mention of this magic button. He showed me how to do it, put air in my tires and the friggin' light went off! LAME! So Cindy and I hit Trader Joe's on the way back to campus so the ride down wouldn't be a total waste. At least now I'd be able to go right home after work. It would be my only chance to do that all week.

Book club was twice rescheduled and now was Wednesday at 6:00 - an hour and a day earlier. I was bringing pizza so we could be done by 7:00 so Lorri could get to choir practice. The problem was, I still had a bunch to read, despite having been reading it for more than a month. I read during breaks at work then went straight home Tuesday and read all evening, falling asleep with 15 pages yet to go. When the alarm went off Wednesday morning, I didn't get out of bed until I'd finished the book. Nick of time! At the end of the day I ordered the pizza and picked it up on the way to the library. I brought all the Wine & Dine door prizes and did some work prepping those once book club was over. Check and check.

Dodie and I enjoyed thrifty Thursday and then I left early to go to The Shape of Water with Tammie at The Ross. After having pizza for dinner Wednesday, I was having popcorn for dinner at the movie. Not a banner 600/900 week but tomorrow was another day. The movie was great and I hope it was the first of many now that I have a new Ross pass good for 2018.

We were getting yet more snow Friday night - the third snowfall in a week. At least it held off late enough that I could swim but when I woke up Saturday, it was clear I was going to need to get the driveway plowed. I tried to flag down the man who did it last time but despite waving from my front door, he never even looked my way before driving off. So I messaged Heidi to see if John could come and he could. I had a busy day ahead with a baby shower at 2:00 and the Wine & Dine at 6:30. Then the phone rang.

Helen, who was throwing the shower for her niece, had called Thursday night and sounded so exhausted that I asked if she needed help with the shower. She said that'd be great and she'd call Saturday morning. Well, I had been thinking I'd be going an hour early but she called at 9:30 and was already on her way there and asked when I could come. I told her I'd go as soon as I could get out of my driveway so went into high gear to get everything ready, not only for the shower but for the Wine & Dine too. It was a half hour ride away but I made it there by 11:30. I spent an hour wrapping little smokies with bacon then helped stuff mushrooms. Donna and Helen had done a beautiful job decorating and the food looked great. I was ravenous so enjoyed the food but I didn't know many people so sat with Brenda knitting while presents were opened. I bugged out before 4:00 since I still had the Wine & Dine.

I called Glenda when I got home to check in and she said everything was all set so I sat down to a cup of tea. The brief respite between events was lovely. The Wine & Dine was interesting with a new caterer. The food was fine (the potatoes were excellent - I went back for seconds) and there were door prizes for a third of the people there. But there was a ridiculous amount of plastic involved, which went right in the trash rather than being recycled. I wasn't happy about that but what could I do. I happily went home early enough that I was in my jammies by 9:00. I was pretty darn tired and went to bed early. But cold I fall asleep? Nope. I finally got up and was still awake at 1:30. Not good but I had no plans on Sunday at least.

We get another dusting of snow overnight and it was brutally cold Sunday morning but the sun was shining and I wasn't as tired as I could have been. I had gotten the kitchen cleaned up Saturday while John was shoveling so the only chores that needed doing was a general neatize and laundry. That left me sitting in the sun and knitting all morning, which was a joy. After lunch, I did manage to get the laundry done and cleared out the fridge, even trudging through the snow to the compost pile after I prepped produce for the week. I was going into a 1200 week but had already decided to go for 600-900 days as often as I could between a few eating obligations. I can only hope I at least lost the 2 pounds I'd gained over my birthday week. Progress. I'm just looking for some progress here. As for the knee, I walked around for 2 hours on Saturday before I realized the nerve pain was completely gone. That was a nice end to the week and progress on that front. I'll take it.

Week 5 - My Birthday Week

It was my birthday week and boy did I eat! Despite just starting my Fit & Fueled program, I gave myself permission to enjoy my birthday. And a food day. And donuts. Sheesh!

I went to my first Fit & Fueled nutrition session on Monday over lunch, having missed the first one last week with my personal snow day. I learned absolutely nothing but got weighed in so there was that. As usual, I ended the day with knitting, which is always fun.

I was at the gym bright and early on Tuesday morning for exercise class, which was very knee intensive. Lunges a-go-go. I was aware of a specific muscle in my knee but thought I escaped unscathed. Until just before lunch when I started getting horrible stabbing pains in my knee - like I was being poked with a straight pin. It would only last a second or two but the pain was so intense that I gasped every time it happened. And it happened a lot. I emailed the surgeon's office and they confirmed that it was a nerve coming back to life and they told me to ease off on the exercise until it lessened up. Good thing it was a food day (soup themed) so I didn't have to go far for lunch. I iced and elevated all afternoon then went straight home, exhausted by the constant pain. Oh well. A nerve coming back is still progress, right?

I didn't swim Wednesday and  went to Noodles with Dodie for my birthday - a day early because I was scheduled with the work crew on my actual birthday. I got up early Thursday and made Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins to take to work as my birthday treat. We then all went to Phat Jack's for barbecue at lunch, which was delish. I had barbecue nachos with brisket and all the fixins. After work was dinner with Rene and Anne at Bethany Cafe, where we started with muscles in cream sauce (Rene and I anyway because Anne would never eat a muscle - so Nebraska!) Then it was pork marsala, which isn't what I ordered but the chef messed up and I went with it. Good thing it was yummy because I took home plenty to eat again. I also had leftovers from lunch so the birthday eating wasn't ending anytime soon.

Layton was out of town so I thankfully had a normal lunch on Friday and then swam because my knee was feeling much better. The pain had morphed to skin pain instead of the stabbing and swimming didn't make it worse. Yay! Just one more birthday celebration to go.

I had a Friends meeting at 9:30 and then was meeting Lori after her hair appointment. We went to Hoot & Sadies then enjoyed lattes and knitting at Mocha C's while we waited for Drae's shop to close at 1:00. Lori helped me unwind my Bulk Barn sock blank for my next pair of socks, which I excited to start. When Drae showed up, we headed to Ashland for lunch at BW's, chosen because they had loaded tots on the menu. We started with roasted Brussels sprouts then I had my tots and my fave vanilla porter. SO good! We all enjoyed lunch then did some shopping on the main drag. I marvel at how vibrant Ashland is compared Wahoo. What gives? 

Anyway, the last birthday celebration was done. I had 2 lots of leftovers yet to eat but no more gatherings. I reveled in a Sunday at home to get chores done and relax. What a nice week I had. Even the deadline knitting I had for Wine & Dine door prizes and next week's baby shower went well. I slammed out all 3 projects between Saturday night and Sunday. All I had left was Darla's socks but I had another week. All good. I am grateful to have such wonderful friends to help me celebrate.

Week 4 - Exercise and Ikea

I woke up Monday so hopeful that UNL would be cancelled like the rest of the state already had on Sunday night. Nope. And it was so remarkable that it was open that the news basically said everyone but UNL is closed. It was already snowing at 6:00 a.m. and the forecast was for blizzard conditions so I stayed home. It was well worth the vacation day and my decision was validated by the white out conditions I watched from inside my cozy house. Then my cousin called to say it had taken her almost 3 hours to drive home from Lincoln and it had been harrowing. I happily sat inside knitting and streaming all day. I did run outside in my oh so inappropriate pink lounge pants to flag down the man in the bulldozer who was clearing half of the driveways on my street. I have him $20 and he did my driveway. The sidewalk would have to wait. I never once considered going to knitting at the library and don’t think anyone else did either. I’m not sure they were even open at that point. The snow stopped swirling before bed so there was that at least.

Tuesday morning was the first exercise class of the new Fit & Fueled program I’d signed up for at Campus Rec. It was the perfect solution to getting back to the gym. In addition to a weekly nutrition meeting, with weigh in of course, there were 2 morning workouts at perfect times – Tuesday and Thursday from 7:10-7:40. At just half an hour, it would ease me back to working out and it started late enough that I wouldn’t even have to set my alarm earlier. I was pretty excited to start. My morning routine was hosed, despite prepping things the night before, plus the snowy roads made for a longer drive in but I made it just a few minutes late and enjoyed the workout. I couldn’t do everything but I mostly kept up. I felt off all morning and just chalked it up to my disrupted routine, the extra exercise and a 600 calorie day. I taught all afternoon and went home absolutely exhausted but satisfied.

Well, I woke up Wednesday morning with horrible cramps and ran to the bathroom. Clearly the hinky stomach the day before had been something working on me because now my intestines were acting up. Sheesh! I took Imodium and emailed that I wouldn’t be coming in. I am normally racked with guilt calling in but not in this situation. I sat in the sun all day feeling punk and I ate next to nothing, going to bed early, pretty sure that I’d be OK to work on Thursday.

I had had a one-on-one session scheduled with the exercise person on Wednesday over lunch so rescheduled that for lunch on Thursday instead, cancelling with Dodie because shit happens. I got to class on time that morning and then had a one-on-one with the nutritionist after that so Thursday was all Fit & Fueled. We’d also planned treats for Lana, who was leaving on Friday for Alaska to see her new grandson so we had a nice breakfast in the office. I taught again that afternoon so the day was over in a flash. I happily went home to crash. At least I was feeling better.

Friday was uneventful, which worked because Saturday was a big day. I had a hair appointment at 8:00 and then was driving to Waverly to meet Cindy. We were driving to Kansas City for our 2^nd annual Ikea run. We chatted happily for hours and stopped in St. Joe, Missouri for Starbucks and some thrifting. There’s a lovely Goodwill right across from Starbucks but I’d also scoped out a DAV store that was on the way back to the highway. Holy crap! The DAV shop, called Red Racks, was enormous and having all kinds of sales that weekend. We happily spent an hour there and scored all kinds of finds. By the time we drove the last leg to KC, we arrived at Ikea at 2:00. We were starving so ate at the café then spend a couple of hours shopping. There was some finagling of items at the register so we’d both have enough to use the $25 off $150 coupon I’d downloaded but it all worked out. We then were so intent on our conversation on the way back that we almost missed our exit at Nebraska City. I walked into my house at 9:00, tired but satisfied from a fun day.

Sunday was a quiet day of chores and putting stuff away. I needed a day to recoup from Saturday and get ready for the coming week, which would be my first 5 day week of 2018. At least I hoped it would be. Time would tell.