Week 35 - End of Summer

Well, a week that starts with being stood up for breakfast first thing Monday can only get better, right? It actually wasn’t that bad. I did have to be on the road by 6:30 but that’s normal on Tuesdays and Thursdays so not that hard. But the minute I drove up to the restaurant my usual 5 minutes late and didn’t see Darla’s car (she’s always early), I knew she’d forgotten. After sitting in the parking lot for a few minutes and failing to get in touch with her, I ordered takeout and was grocery shopping by 7:30. With that out of the way, I had an easier rest of the day because I wouldn’t have to deal with after work crowds. How’s that for looking on the bright side?

One impulse buy from my early morning shopping was a gorgeous mum for $5 so when I got an email from Lorri Tuesday morning saying she was looking for volunteers to spruce up the Hansen House gardens, I said I would get 2 mums for the planters out front so headed back to Super Saver for 2 more. I picked up a trowel for <$1 at The Warehouse and planted the mums on the way home Tuesday night. Done! Fall like weather had finally arrived so it was actually pleasant.

On the getting things done front, Anne and I bought our tickets for our Norway trip in December, I scheduled a mammogram and 2 doctor’s appointments all for the same October afternoon (to save on sick leave) and I got a long overdue pedicure over lunch on Wednesday. Then the end of the work week was fun.

UNL had a kick off for a new campaign – In Our Grit Our Glory. This started with a big presentation for staff, that was standing room only, and then a free hotdog lunch behind the union. They had DJ’s and free t-shirts and Dairy Store ice cream, which was all fun and full of energy. The perfect fall weather was the icing on the cake. Then when I got back to the office, I found an envelope on my desk that had come through campus mail. I opened it to find the clothesline hanger clips that I’d lost when my neighbor’s tree took out my clothesline. I had been too cheap to $25 for them on ebay since they’re only ~$5 in the UK. Darla had bought them for me! How nice was that?

There was more nice from Darla, who I met for lunch on Friday at Tico’s (local Mexican restaurant) since Layton had taken the day off. We had a lovely lunch where I ate too many gloppy nachos (so worth the calories though) and then she insisted on paying for having forgotten me on Monday. It wasn’t necessary but she wouldn’t let me pay. Despite my overfull stomach, the afternoon didn’t crawl and I was swimming and heading home for the long weekend in no time.

With rain due Saturday evening, I got busy first thing Saturday morning and did all my laundry and most of my chores. John came and mowed that afternoon so most of my to do’s for the weekend were out of the way. The first Huskers football game was scheduled for 7:00 and the whole state was crazy excited about the new coach, Scott Frost. I, of course, couldn’t care less but it was sad when the front with the monster storms came through right as the game started and after hours of pouring rain, they changed the delay to a cancel. I was happily streaming Netflix though so wasn’t bothered. I had plans for Monday but nothing on Sunday, which is usually my chore day, so went to bed Saturday night unsure of what I’d do Sunday.

So Sunday was a leisurely morning of watching TV and knitting in my jammies. When Lorri stopped by after church, it was nearly noon and I wasn’t dressed. But she invited me to tea at her house at 3:00 so I took a shower and made myself presentable. We had a lovely time catching up over tea and cookies then walked around her garden. My empty day was salvaged and I was ready for some fun on Labor Day. Gotta love a long weekend.

Week 34 - Ribbons and Sushi

It was a good week health wise. I was doing well on my rotation. I lost 6 pounds in the first few days – mostly water I’m sure but I’ll take it. I even managed to do OK at a food day. I brought a big salad and ate that and some pulled pork and only had 2 tiny sweets. All good. I was back in the groove of Fit & Fueled too. Having to be at the gym just after 7:00 is killer and the TRX session on Thursday was brutal, leaving me sore but in a good way. Progress. It’s all about progress.

I had entered some knitting (6 pairs of socks and a cowl) in the state fair for only the 2^nd time and must have hit refresh a hundred times on Friday (the first day of the fair) waiting for them to post the results. The finally did in late afternoon. While I didn’t win the best socks in the state, beaten out by Nan from my spinning group who entered a gorgeous pair of socks knitted with her handspun yarn, I did get ribbons on everything, including one first. I was pretty happy with that because unlike in the county fair, not everything gets a ribbon at state – only the top 5 entries in each category. My friend Jill always sends me great pictures and this year was no exception. : )

With a week long bout of rain in the forecast, I got up early Saturday and did my laundry so I could get it out on the line on the last dry day. With that done early, I was looking for something to do when I got an email from Jerry (the man we met after spinning last month who was clearing out the house next to the library) saying he was prepping for the final sale and if Andrea or I wanted the sewing machines, we could pick them up before the sale. Andrea was up for a Fremont run so we headed up there at dinner time. Andrea loaded up a couple of sewing machines and then we went out for sushi. Yes, sushi in Fremont, Nebraska. I was completely skeptical but the online reviews were good so we gave it a try. OMG! The sushi was AMAZING! We got 2 – 1 basic and 1 super fancy. Both were delish. It was  so good that I think it will replace tots at Todd’s after spinning. Shocking!

With all my chores done on Saturday, I spent Sunday cooking and knitting/streaming. It was a nice, relaxing way to end the week.

Week 33 - Stress and Vegging

It was a weird week. Still no swimming, cancelled lunches and then a friend in the ER lead to stressful times.

I spent Monday lunch looking for instant polenta in Lincoln. I tried HyVee, Whole Foods and Fresh Thyme and no one had it. I’m going to have to look farther afield I guess. I last bought it at Whole Foods in Omaha, which is bigger than Lincoln’s store so there’s hope. But did I remember to check when I was in Omaha on Saturday? Nope. Grits will have to do in the meantime. Not the same though.

Darla had to cancel lunch on Tuesday so I thrifted with Cindy that day and ended up having lunch with Darla on Thursday instead. But between the two days was stress galore. Carolyn had thrown out her back and it was so bad that they called 911 and she was taken to Rhode Island Hospital by ambulance Tuesday night. I had a tough time sleeping that night and was up at 5:00 then spent Wednesday messaging back and forth with her – me at work and Carolyn on her phone from the ER. They never ended up admitting her so when she went home late Wednesday afternoon, my worry level went down. I decided on the way home that I needed beer, a hotdog and chips for supper so stopped twice in Wahoo and enjoyed a relaxing evening at home. The rest of the work week was uneventful. Yay!

Saturday was hanging in Omaha with Lori so on Friday night I got busy and loaded up the car with donations for Goodwill so I’d be ready to go in the morning. We met at First Watch for breakfast, timing it so we’d be done right at 10:00 when Penzey’s opened. From there I went to Goodwill to offload and then met Lori at The Omaha Antique Center, where she wanted another look at some end tables. Good thing the back of my car was empty because they fit right in when she bought them. We then went home and arranged her living room before sitting down to knit. We went out for Burger King in the early afternoon because Lori’s vegan and they have a good veggie burger. I chose a bacon double cheeseburger. Ha! I hit Aldi on the way home so was all ready for my usual chore day on Sunday. I was starting a rotation so did some cooking – sugar free jello, steamed broccoli and grilled chicken. Boring but it felt good to get back to healthy eating and, at the same time, take eating decisions off the table. When it’s only 600 calories, I know exactly what I’m eating. Exactly. And I’d be back in the pool and starting my Tuesday/Thursday Fit & Fueled classes in the mornings so it was all looking up.