Week 50 - Finding Christmas Spirit

The week started out with me fighting tears but did get better. It had to.

I had been OK with Pie's death when I was home alone but at work on Monday people were being nice to me. That's always a problem when I'm feeling emotional and this was no exception. It got easier as the day went along though and after another round of niceness at knitting, I was fine by Tuesday. There was definitely a change in my household's dynamic but we'd adjust.

I finished my Christmas shopping for good on Tuesday with errands at lunch. Check that off. Then the work gang went to Union Bank's holiday open house on Wednesday, which has quite a spread. By the time Thursday night came around, I was ready to put up my tree. I was finally getting some Christmas spirit. My tree was a bit wonky but looks great, if I do say so, once decorated.

I had a busy weekend ahead so forced myself to swim on Friday and then ran some errands, which meant I got home pretty late. After eating a quick supper, I baked cookies until after 9:00 pm so that I wouldn't have that hanging over my head. I then went all adult and cleaned up the entire kitchen Saturday morning before heading to a holiday party and cookie swap with my spinning group. It was at Danielle's house, which is lovely, and she went above and beyond with the food. We all had fun and were home before dark. I finished neatizing and got the bar cleared because it was time to start wrapping.

After making a nice breakfast Sunday morning and getting the laundry going, I pulled out wrapping paper and presents and got It's a Wonderful Life on the TV. I had a lovely afternoon of wrapping and had 3 packages ready to ship on Monday. I was in the home stretch on holiday prep and feeling good about things. It was quite a contrast from last year when all my holiday deadlines were early because of my Norway trip. How nice to have such a stress free December. I hope all your holiday prep is going swimmingly. Just ten days until Christmas and fix until I fly east. Where has December gone?

Week 49 - Goodbye to Pie

The week started out great and went seriously downhill from there. The worst it can get pretty much.

I was in holiday clear out mode after my super productive Thanksgiving break so started the week with a get rid of everything lunch hour. I dropped 9 charity hats off for the School of Natural Resources adopt Clinton School campaign, then dropped the soap from UAAD's recent drive in a People's City Mission drop box and finally got rid of the Tokyo cage I'd had since last winter when I had Jay, the sick campus cat, in my spare bedroom. It was in my yard for months and then rattling in the backseat of my car for a week or more. Goodbye! Then I brought apple pie to knitting and Donna gave me a huge bag of lemons from her brother's tree in California. Nice day, right?

And Tuesday started out nice too. I went to Trader Joe's at lunch and bought mini poinsettias for everyone in the office along with lots of Christmas goodies. Stockings were almost done. But when I got home that night, it was clear that Pie's rally from Thanksgiving weekend was over. She had stopped eating again and the end was coming. I woke up at 3:00 a.m. that night to check on her and she was fading fast. But not fast enough because this was only the first Pie check in the wee hours.

The door decorating contest judging and party was at 2:00 on Wednesday. Since our door was not only festive but automated with a Rube Goldberg machine that turned on lights and music, I thought for sure we'd win. Nope. Everyone voted for their own door so the 2 offices with the most employees – Accounting and AP/Payroll – won. Lame! Union Bank provided lots of cookies so that was fun. It was a gorgeous day so we took a walk outside to enjoy it and then I went to swimming, which I'm so not into these days, and the instructor didn't show up. Seriously? We did our own thing and left a bit early. I went home for Survivor and a Pie check. Still alive and worse than the morning so I messaged the cleaning lady to warn her that a dying cat might be on the rug by the back door and to just ignore that entire corner of the room.

Pie was even weaker in the morning and I headed to work sure she wouldn't make it through the day, which was a quick one because I trained for 3 hours in the afternoon. Well, when I got home I went immediately to check on Pie and she must have been freaked out by the cleaning lady because she bolted down the basement stairs. Since she hadn't moved in more than 24 hours, I was shocked. I also couldn't find her so went to book club thinking I'd be crawling around looking for her when I got back. But when I got back she was back on her rug by the slider. Until she saw me and bolted down the stairs again. Clearly she'd had a traumatic day, which was sad.

When I got up in the wee hours to check for her, she was at the top of the stairs and unable to move. I picked her up and put her on the heating pad and she was still there in the morning. But when I opened the door to let the other cats out, she ran out too – across the deck and into the garage. I should mention that the temp had plummeted overnight and it was freezing outside. I called and called her but she didn't come and when I checked her favorite spot in the garage, there she was. She had somehow pulled herself up onto the cushions on the table and was sitting pretty. I figured she had gone to her happy place to die and left for work, not knowing where these bursts of energy were coming from. At the end of the day, I skipped swimming to go straight home and check on her. She was in the exact same spot and cold but still alive. Shocking. I picked her up (there was still some fight in her) and took her inside to her spot on the heating pad. I turned it up to medium and she flung herself off after awhile but it appeared she was done. I went to bed sure I'd find her dead the next morning.

OMG! She was still alive Saturday morning! She couldn't move and her breathing was labored but still alive. Such a will to live! She was sleeping in the sun on her heating pad with Pixel right next to her, which confirmed my decision to let her die at home instead of traumatizing her with a trip to the vet. But I could not face the thought of watching her die so when Andrea suggested an Omaha run, I jumped at the chance. I thought we'd only be gone for a few hours but her dinner plans had fallen through so we made a long day of it. My goal was to hit World Market for stocking stuffers and get milk at Aldi but we thrifted all over Omaha beforehand, including New Life Thrift. They have a seasonal store that I haven't been to in years and it was fun. By the time I dropped Andrea and got home, it was after 9:00 p.m. And yes, Pie was still alive. I could not believe it. All I could do was love on her and go to bed.

Pie was dead when I woke up Sunday morning. It had been a grueling week and as long as it took her to go, I questioned my decision to let her die at home. I had dug a hole in my side garden before I left for Omaha on Saturday so waited for it to warm up outside and then buried her. My plan had been to put my Christmas tree up but I wasn't feeling it. I had done one load of laundry and hung it out on Saturday (it was a damp mess when I got home so late – whatever) but did 2 more loads on Sunday. That's all I managed to get done. I didn't even knit much. I don't know what I did all day. Grieved I guess. But it was a blessing. Now to move on and get some Christmas spirit. Here's a picture of her from happier, healthier times. She was the most beautiful cat I've ever had. I called her my calendar kitty.

Week 48 - Mishap and Thanksgiving

So it was a three day work week (nothing not to like there) and the weather was gorgeous but would be going downhill for the break so I took advantage of a gorgeous afternoon and left Monday at noon to finish prepping my yard for winter. A two and a half day week - even better!

I ran a few errands on the way home, including buying my 2 Christmas trees and a wreath, then I got busy as soon as I got home. While I had done a bunch of work on Sunday, there was still plenty more. I started in the driveway, clearing out all the pots in the wheelbarrow (sorted between trash, save and recycle) then started dumping pots into the newly empty wheelbarrow. When the driveway was cleared and swept, I went around and did the same on the deck. 

As the sun was going down and it was getting chilly, the last thing I did was set up the deck tree. The purple leaf winter creeper that has gotten out of control at the corner of my deck needed some trimming so it wouldn't interfere with the tree. Alas, in cutting that back, I also cut through my phone line. Luckily it was only part way so I still had internet but my landline was dead. Barrelin' Marilyn strikes again! I ended the day on the phone with Windstream and scheduled an appointment for the end of the day Wednesday, when I hoped to be home after being let out of work early.

Windstream has the absolute best tech ever in the Wahoo area. He went out first thing Tuesday, called me at work to discuss the issue and then called back to say he'd fixed it and had called and gotten my answering machine to test the line. Not only that but he'd cut back the winter creeper! Now that's customer service.

Wednesday sped by. Cindy and I worked on decorating our door for the Financial Services door decorating contest, I had lunch with Darla and then they let us out at 3:00. It was a snow sky and I made a beeline home. I had no plans to leave the house again until Monday morning. Heaven! Especially because the weather had turned and it was going to be raw, blustery and snowing on and off for the whole 4 days.

Alas, Pie, my old cat, had been failing. She'd stopped eating and was only licking the juice off of wet food for a week or more. She was super skinny - fur stretched over a skeleton. After getting the turkey in the oven late Thursday morning, I boiled the guts and she ate some of the liver. I then made it my mission to get her eating again. She ate treats and more wet food so I did leave the house on Friday afternoon just to run to the vet for kitty crack cat food - Hill's Prescription Urgent Care. At almost $3/can it's pricey but I knew she would eat it, which she did. I also set up a heating pad on the rug she sleeps on in front of the slider. She seemed to perk up a bit and I spent as much time loving on her as I could over the break.

Having 4 days off with no plans was an absolute treat. Between bouts of sitting, knitting and streaming with Pie on my lap, I managed to get lots done. Literally every single thing on my to do list. So by the end of the day Sunday, surfaces were clear, the fridge was full of food (mostly turkey leftovers but also soup, which I'd made with the carcass that I had in the crockpot overnight on Thanksgiving), I'd made pie for knitting and all the paper was gone through and in the recycling pile. I had loaded the car with things to get out of my house and had organized all of my Christmas stuff. And since Sunday was December 1st, I cast on new socks, which always makes me happy. 

I hope you all had as nice a Thanksgiving as I did. Now on to Christmas! My inside tree is waiting in a bucket of water in the laundry room and the naked wreath I hung on the door is mocking me but it'll all get done. Having spent most of last December in Norway and then going straight to Rhode Island from there, this year feels leisurely. I'll take it!

Week 47 - My Sore Thumb

As they say, getting old is not for the faint of heart. Who knew that saving my self from falling when I tripped while cleaning the garage a week before would cause problems this week.

I had noticed my thumb being sore the previous week but out of the blue, it got more painful on Monday, so much so that I struggled to knit at Monday Night Knitting. I didn't give it any thought until I woke up on Tuesday with my thumb throbbing and my entire hand swollen. Yikes! I called my hand doc but they couldn't get me in until the next Monday so I called my GP and made an appointment for later in the day.

Well, based on the location of the burning pain in my thumb, the doctor thought I might have broken my wrist! And the bone she suspected of being broken would require surgery to install a pin. Holy crap! After fitting me for a brace and handing me a prescription for ibuprofen 800's, she sent me off to X-ray. I wouldn't get the results until Wednesday morning so I went home to sit and not knit, which felt totally foreign. The good news was it wasn't broken so I just had to wear the brace, take the drugs and wait. I'll take it!

I was going to the JoJo Rabbit movie with Anne after work on Thursday so didn't have to face another night of not knitting. It was feeling much better by Thursday night (better living through chemistry) and on Friday I was able to not wear my brace at work, which made typing much easier. I went to another Merry Market, this time at the quilt museum, after work on Friday. I had hoped to find some cool stocking stuffers but just ended up buying fabric and a bit of yarn. Go figure. It was fun though. And I knitted a few rows when I got home and lived to tell. Clearly my thumb was on the mend.

Finally I had an entire weekend at home with minimal obligations. Yay! I had a deposit to do for Friends on Saturday morning and then stopped into Andrea's shop for a chat. When I left, I headed to SunMart to check out the turkeys. I didn't make one last year because I was leaving for Norway so soon after Thanksgiving so this year I'd be making one for sure. If I spent $25, I could get a bird for .47/pound but I wanted a small one. Boy did I score on the small bird - 8.5 pounds! In my attempt to spend the $25, I did something I rarely do (I'm a list maker and mostly buy sale items) and just roamed the aisles buying whatever. How old am I that that was fun? I got everything for Thanksgiving except Brussels sprouts, because they looked awful, which is often the case with produce in Wahoo. Oh well. Nearly done was good enough.

I had only been wearing my brace at night and had backed off some on the ibuprofen so tried some knitting on Saturday without a problem. After that success, I decided to do some yard work on Sunday. It was gorgeous out (high 50's and sunny) so I did the most important yard chore before snow flies - cutting down the perennial bed between the sidewalk and the street (called the parking here in Nebraska) so it doesn't act like a snow fence and cover my sidewalk in snow drifts. I got it all cut down and took one load to the city brush pile and threw the rest in my compost pile. It got chilly towards the end so I enjoyed a hot cup of tea afterwards. 

With only a three day work week coming up, I had decided to eat out of the freezer for dinners, making room to freeze some turkey leftovers. That made for a relaxing evening, which I'd earned after all my yard work. I went to bed in hopes that there wouldn't be thumb issues Monday morning. Time would tell.

Week 46 - Jam Packed Saturday

It was a quiet week. Good thing because the weekend was jam packed.

I finally finished my medical stuff, which was delayed from October. I had a fasting blood draw on Tuesday (overdue from my physical and holding up my meloxicam refill) and then went to the eye doctor after work. Done and done. Otherwise, the week was dead normal.

On Friday afternoon, we had a team building event - a tour of Innovation Campus' makers' space. It was very interesting and inspiring but over by 3:00. We all agreed we wouldn't go back to work so enjoyed adult beverages at The Mill and headed home early, which was the perfect start to the weekend. 

Saturday was busy all day. Lori was in town for a hair appointment and while we usually do lunch, Andrea and I had spinning that afternoon so we all met at Mocha C's for coffee and a pastry, after which we hit all the shops in Wahoo for Merry Market. It was fun to see all the shops decked out for Christmas and I managed to score a few stocking stuffers. When Lori headed to the hair salon, Helen and I went to Fremont. Originally the plan had been for Andrea to be working in the fields so we'd both be skipping spinning. But Andrea wasn't helping with harvest so Helen and I had fun at the Habitat Restore (she loved it, as I knew she would) then grabbed lunch and caught up. She then dropped me at spinning, where I met up with Andrea. Such coordination!

Spinning was fun and then more shopping. We had a blast at Staples buying all kinds of things in an attempt to hit $20 so Andrea could use a coupon. Between the clearance prices and Andrea's discount, we just kept adding more and more to the pile. Then we hit Goodwill (more fun stuff), Aldi and Menard's. I didn't get home until 8:00. It was a long but fun day and I filled some gaps in stockings.

Sunday was normal chore day, with a chunk of time spent putting away everything I'd bought. It was a treat to just be home and have time to get ready for the coming week. The end.

Week 45 - Conference and Furniture

It felt like a busy week. Well, maybe it was more different than busy. 

I had a conference on Tuesday and Wednesday but it was in Lincoln near campus so you'd think it wouldn't be disruptive but it was. It was the Women Advance IT Conference and it was good with good speakers and breakout sessions. I even reconnected with someone I worked with decades ago at Brown, which was fun. She overheard when I was talking to one of the keynote speakers who was from Rhode Island. I got to Wahoo at 5:15 on Tuesday night and was able to buy some Wahoo Wieners at the Locker. Nice.

The conference was over at 3:45 on Wednesday but I stayed to hear the university's new president speak. He won't technically be the president for 30 days but I wanted to hear him speak. Another Rhode Islander! What are the chances? I introduced myself afterwards and we talked RI for a minute. I was there long enough that it was too late to swim. Oh well. I'm looking for any excuse to skip these days.

There is construction in downtown Lincoln that has the road between campus and the highway closed and it took me 30 minutes to go 4 blocks so I started going out towards the end of the day and moving my car to the other side of campus, which is still only a block from my office but allows me to leave heading north and bypass the blocked road. It should only be for one more week. Hopefully.

I finally made some progress on getting new insurance. My old Horace Mann agent, who no longer works for them, emailed so I got some quotes. I will be saving 40% on both my house and car with Progressive. The only thing I need to do is decide what to do about the latest ding in my hatch before I switch. Now to get an estimate. Still, it's progress and I'm looking forward to not having Horace Mann anymore. Sad, after 40+ years with them. Oh well.

I finally was getting my weekend with no plans so ran all my errands after swimming on Friday (yes, I went and with a better attitude than last week) and headed home. I had a lovely morning on Saturday sitting in the sun and knitting then hit the garage. It was almost 70 degrees and my goal was to get the desk out of the back of the garage so Hoot and Sadie's (the local chalk painting shop) could pick it up. It was blocked in by all kinds of crap so I had some slogging to do. I filled my trash can with junk and reorganized a bit but got the desk out and cleaned up a bit. I also added a ladder that I'd bought there and never used and a bulletin board. When I was done in the garage (thwarted by the full garbage can), I planted some bulbs and 2 perennials I'd bought in April (so typical for me) and then drained the hoses and put them away for the winter. With all that done, I took a shower and felt great with my progress, especially because the weather was due to change drastically on Sunday.

Sunday was my typical chore day but Lorri was coming over at 2:00 for tea and a catch up. I did my laundry and had some hanging on the line before I headed to the high school for take out turkey dinner from their annual Project Close Up dinner. As usual, it was enough food for multiple meals. Lorri and I were enjoying stollen bread pudding (made with the last stollen I had from last Christmas) and tea when she jumped up and said it was 4:20 and she had to go. I couldn't believe we'd chatted so long and it ends up we hadn't. She'd forgotten to set her watch back so when I realized the real time, I got busy in the front room. I added an end table to the Hoot and Sadie's pile and moved the yarn wardrobe and my yarn tree so the room looks much better. Nice!

By mid-afternoon, the weather had changed to cold, damp and windy so I ended up having to dry the clothes that I'd left on the line too long. Oh well. I didn't do any cooking since I had so much turkey dinner and Wahoo Wieners to a few suppers so I could fill in from the freezer. The weather was going to be brutal for the coming week so I'd be holing up. It's too early but I have hope for some moderation. Having bailed on Thanksgiving at Connie's, I hope to get more done outside over those 4 days. Wish me luck.

Week 44 - Better Each Day

It's never a good thing when you start the week with a hinky stomach. Yup, my stomach was off on Monday morning and I sat in my chair wondering if I should call in. Not a chance. Until something jettisons itself out of my body, I just feel too guilty so I got dressed and went to work.

My stomach felt fine by mid-morning, just in time for the email from Connie saying her conference had been cancelled due to the wildfires. So after all the drama over the tiny house, we wouldn't be going anyway. Of course I'd just bought my ticket to Rhode Island for Christmas the night before so my $350 Southwest credit will have to go for another trip. I got a full refund on the Alcatraz tickets too, no questions asked. Connie had to fight with AirBnB but got a full refund from them too. Oddly, I wasn't upset at all about not going. These days I just want to be home.

On another down note, Pie's mouth was stuck open again. I thought I had gotten it shut on Tuesday night and I may have but it was open again on Wednesday. I got it shut after work when snow drove her inside but was worried that it would start happening more often. As of this writing 10 days later, she's been fine. Aging isn't easy on cats or humans.

I was super conflicted about Halloween. I went home Tuesday night and trimmed the crabapple where it blocked the sidewalk but had no intention of trimming by my front door. The tree is still in recovery mode from the insane pruning of the wheel chair man a few years ago so I'd decided not to do Halloween because the kids wouldn't be able to get to my front step for candy. But as the week wore on, I just couldn't do it. On Thursday I came up with the plan to sit in the driveway with a fire in my firepit and hand out candy from there. I ran to Walgreens at lunch and bought 4 bags of candy and was set up in my driveway by 6:30 with a fire, candy, knitting and an adult beverage. It was pretty darn cold so people appreciated the fire and it kept me toasty until I went inside at 8:00. I had about 25 kids, which was probably down due to the cold. Regardless, I'm glad I participated and this might be my new Halloween plan.

Despite the Halloween success and a nice lunch with Layton at Cracker Barrel, where he rarely agrees to eat, I was cranky as all get out by the end of the day Friday. I went to swimming but with a super crappy attitude, venting to Carol about all the ways I hate swimming, which I do. She vowed to turn my mood around and she did. I apologized at the end of class. After a quick Aldi run, I was home for the weekend.

This was the weekend I'd been looking forward to just being home but Helen, my cousin who I seldom see, had asked if I wanted to go to a Christmas market in a nearby small town. I immediately agreed and we met there at 10:00. The plan had been to shop then have lunch at the local restaurant, which I've been dying to try, but it was a game day and with the game at 2:00, the restaurant was packed for a Husker party. Nope! After buying nothing and failing on lunch, we stopped at gift shop out in the country (nothing there either) before heading to my house. After catching up, we went to Mocha C's for chicken salad croissants. Helen knows the owners so they chatted away well past closing. By the time I got home, the day was shot. I did manage to finish the dishes though so had Sunday yet to get things done.

I've had a daunting to do list since getting back from my trip and haven't managed to make a dent. So Sunday I started slogging through the spare room. I have entire wardrobes for 20 pounds less than what I weigh now and 20 pounds less than that. The piles of clothes were out of control so I shuffled some yarn to free up 2 medium sized totes and started culling. I was cut throat but got it down to 2 totes – one for each size. It will be a start if I lose weight again and is now a manageable amount. I loaded 4 enormous bags of clothes into the car and then brought in plant stands and got the plants I'd brought in to overwinter all situated, which felt good. It was a good way to end the week after its less than ideal start. I'll take it!

Week 43 - Some Iowa Fun

It was a good week with bouts of productivity, Taco Tuesday, a yarn score and some travel fun on the weekend.

I started the week with a marathon of getting things done over lunch on Monday. I hit UPS to ship another box of yarn to my sister, dropped all the peanut butter UAAD members had donated at the food bank, got gas and went to the bread store. In an hour. Can I get a hallelujah? And the productivity kept up during the week, with me full on adulting by chipping away each night at my pre-cleaning lady neatizing so I wasn't slamming the night before. Nice.

A bunch of us from work went out for Taco Tuesday on, duh!, Tuesday. We usually do our FAC on Thursdays but since we were going to a new taco place by campus, we did Tuesday. It was fun to hang out with work friends outside of work. We should do it more often.

On the yarn front, I continue to sell yarn. A lot of yarn. I don't know if it's the cooler weather or what but I'm shipping 3-4 packages per week. And since my PayPal balance was over $150, I decided it was time to buy some yarn. I know, I don't NEED it but I got a great deal on someone's sock yarn leftovers. Unfortunately they're coming from Lithuania so it'll be awhile before they arrive. I didn't notice that when I bought them.

I am struggling with swimming these days. I really hate going. I hate the pool, which is too shallow, cold and we only have one lane to work in. I hate that I don't have a locker so have to schlepp all my stuff. I just hate it all. I did go Wednesday but could not bear going on Friday. When we decided to leave at 4:45, that was reason enough to skip. It was nice being home by 5:30.

Saturday was a Des Moines run with Andrea, who had bought something on Goodwill auctions that needed to be picked up. That was in the northwest suburbs and our other destination was West Elm (downtown) so I'd mapped out some thrift shops on the way. We hit Goodwill first to pick up the quilt frame and found a few things there but the other thrifts weren't really thrifts at all. Little did I know that our route was through Des Moines' ritzy neighborhood so the things I'd found were super fancy full of soul-less cast off furniture donated by rich people who redecorate constantly. Ick! From there we hit a skanky and overpriced Salvation Army before finding another Goodwill by chance, where we found more good stuff. So much for all my internet research.

But I had a personal recommendation for lunch at Zombie Burger, which was conveniently right across from West Elm. We put in our names (they'd text when our table was ready) and I got the stocking stuffers I was after at West Elm and then did some other stocking stuffer shopping in the nearby shops. I especially liked Raytown. Our late lunch was delish - deep fried Brussels sprouts, garlic and blue cheese fries and a burger, all of which we split. We shopped a bit more but then headed home, getting to Omaha in time to hit Trader Joe's and Aldi. It was a fun day that also felt productive. Nice.

After such a long Saturday, I holed up on Sunday, which is always lovely even if it is just chores and getting ready for the coming week. No projects got done but there'd be other weekends for that. I'm just hoping for one that's warm enough to make a dent in my garage. With the wackadoo fall we've had, it's looking iffy but I live in hope.

Week 42 - A Trying Week

It was a trying week all around. It seemed to just be one thing after another all week long but at least the weekend was fun.

First off was the tiny house fiasco. I am going to Berkley next month to meet up with Connie after her conference is over. Since she was already booked into a hotel during the conference, we had decided that I’d book the Alcatraz tickets and she’d book the hotel. But when the hotel ended up costing $389/night, I suggested we consider an AirBnB instead and sent her a link with options in Berkley. She expressed concern that most of them had only one bed, to which I said that I was OK sharing as long as it was a queen sized bed and reminded her that we’d need parking for the rental car.

Fast forward to this week when I poked her having heard nothing back from her. Well, she sent an email saying she’d book this little house. Yes, a tiny house that’s 9x10 feet, with a double bed up a ladder, no kitchen, no seating and an outside shower. In November, when the average high temp is 67 degrees. When I emailed to ask what she was thinking, she said she might have booked the wrong one but didn’t want to cancel and lose money. We went back and forth and when I mentioned the outside shower and how cold it would be in the morning, she said “Outside shower?” I don’t think she even read the listing! But at least the shower was the deal breaker so she cancelled that listing and booked us a reasonable apartment. Sheesh!

I had a colonoscopy scheduled for Friday so would be out of work Thursday and Friday, which meant the only night I could swim was Wednesday. Much as I wanted to go straight home (water aerobics is no longer any fun now that we’re in the lap pool), I headed to the Rec Center. Well, when I was leaving the parking lot, I backed into a traiiler hitch that was sticking out 2 feet from the back of a construction trailer that was parked in the lot. It was blocking half of the driving lane. So the same parking lot and now I have a big honkin’ dent in my freshly repaired hatch. OMG! I could not believe it and vented to Anne when  I got home. At this rate, the colonoscopy wasn’t looking so bad!

Now this would be my 3^rd colonoscopy and 4^th colon prep but things clearly have changed since my last one. I had a list of foods I couldn’t eat for a week before (basically anything with fiber) so ate like crap all week. Then my prep was all over-the-counter – Dulcolax tablets to start with a Gatorade chaser with miralax mixed in. They wanted me to start at 1:00 with the pills then do half of the Gatorade starting at 4:00. All of that was fine but they wanted me to do the 2^nd half of the Gatorade 6 hours before my procedure, which was at 8:30 a.m. I had asked if I could do it sooner and they insisted it had to be 6 hours before so I set an alarm for 2:30 and got up and started drinking.

I think my problem was I went back to bed after the first 2 doses. When the alarm went off for the third, I knew things were not going well. As happened last time I did colon prep, it was no longer moving past my stomach, which felt distended. I paced through the house, trying to settle my stomach but nope. I barfed it all up at 4:00, gave up and went to bed. At least I got a few more hours of sleep but I was nervous that I wasn’t all cleaned out so went early to discuss it. I paced around the hospital waiting for the verdict but they said they’d do it anyway. Big relief! 

Two nurses had trouble finding veins in my left wrist and the back of my right hand so I left with huge bruises but the new short acting anesthesia was great. I was a bit woozy at the hospital but by the time I walked into my house (delivered by my friend Lorri, whose husband drove my car back so I didn’t have to go back later) I felt fine. There was no fatigue at all and after eating my way through my kitchen, I had a lovely afternoon. The week was looking up!

Andrea and I were headed to Fremont for spinning but were going early to hit a Habitat Restore that neither of us knew was there plus a craft fair. The Restore was in a warehouse area by the tracks, which might explain why we’d never seen it, and was enormous! It had way more than the usual furniture and building supplies, with lots of kitchen stuff and was very neat and organized. I could have spent hours there but we had places to be so powered through. I found all kinds of fun stuff and then we hit the craft fair, closing the place down. I got a few stocking stuffers so it was worth it and we were only 45 minutes late for spinning but appeared to have missing nothing of import. It was a big group and they’d moved the tables so we were all sitting in a circle, which was much better. From there we hit Goodwill (lame compared to the Restore) and Aldi before stopping at KFC for $3 bowls for dinner. It was nearly 8:00 by the time we got home but it had been a good day.

I ended the week with my usual Sunday routine – CBS Sunday morning, chatting with my sister and then cooking up a storm. I even organized the freezer, finding some stuffed shells to bake in the leftover jarred sauce I had in the fridge. I love ending the week with all the food for the following week ready to go in the fridge and my chores done. Despite the early issues in the week, I ended on a positive note so all was good in my world. Yay!

Week 41 - Fall Has Arrived

Having run out of steam Sunday night, I got up Monday morning and made a pie for knitting with the strawberries and rhubarb that I'd thawed. How can a week that starts with pie baking not be good? The day got even better when I went to Joann's at lunch to use 2 coupons on sock yarn, of course, and found boxes and boxes of clearance yarn right up front. I sorted through them all and found many, many skeins of Serenity Sock for $2.97 each. Score! Then knitting was fun, with 2 pies because Drae brought a pumpkin pie. I had some of both and all of leftovers got sent home with Donna for Ed. Gotta keep that man in pie since he's so helpful when I need stuff done in my house. It's time to make a serious list for him.

I went back to Joann's on Tuesday to get whatever sock yarn they had left. I got a few single skeins to use for dyeing. I went straight home after work to prep for the cleaning lady so I wouldn't be frantic on Wednesday night. I got busy immediately and had everything except the dishes, which needed to soak, done before I sat down for dinner. I swam on Wednesday and then did the dishes over the course of the evening, doing a few at each ad break during Survivor. Easy peasy and ready for a clean house.

While the weather had been fall-ish for the past week, we were getting our first freeze on Thursday night so I went home and put plants in the garage rather than dirty up my clean floors. I did bring in my lantana tree and the cats found a big praying mantis on it, which I prompty put outside. But when I shook it out of the jar, I didn't see where it landed and then something poked my foot so I screamed. It was a stick. Ha! Anyway, it looks like the plants can go back outside after the weekend for at least a couple of weeks. Nice. I also picked all the green tomatoes, a few peppers and a sink full of chard, all of which I washed Friday before work. The end of another gardening season.

I made a big to do list for the weekend. I had called to have my trash picked up next week (I have a will call can so pay $20 each time they pick it up, which is only a few times/year) so wouldn't be starting my garage until I had an empty trash can. I'd also stopped at Hoot & Sadie's, the chalk painted furniture store in town that wanted the desk I have in my garage, and the woman is out of town until the 15th so no point pulling that out. Clearly the cleaning gods were against me so the garage would wait. Oh well.

While I was loving sitting in the sun in my nightie on Saturday morning, I forced myself to get dressed and head outside for just a bit after lunch. I pulled the bent tomato cage out of the trash to make a bit more room and then put a few things from the garage in there but the real reason to be outside was the beggar's tick. It's a weed that grows prolifically in my yard. Last year, I was good about pulling it out before it went to seed and there was less growing this year. But I hadn't pulled it this year and the cats were bringing the stickers inside on their fur. So I started pulling it, getting covered with burrs, and then drove the full bag to the city burn pile so the seeds would be gone. It took me half an hour to pick the burrs out of my clothes and I just threw the hoody in the bathtub to deal with later. Next year I need to pull them earlier for sure.

Sunday was a lovely day. It felt like the first normal Sunday in a long time, which means I did chores. After a lovely breakfast of pancakes and bacon, I sat in the sun enjoying CBS Sunday Morning then kicked it into gear. I pulled 2 bags of sweaters out of my spare room and washed them all on delicate and hung them out on the line to dry along with my sheets. Then I got busy on the food front. I made a huge pot of red sauce, carrot raisin salad and prepped and froze all the chard and the salsa pork and rice I had in the fridge. It felt like a treat to be cooking my own food. Too bad I'm going into a colonoscopy week so have to be careful what I eat. Oh well. October is medical month for me and after this one, I'll be free for 5 more years. Colon health is important. : )

But the high at the end of the week had to be committing to our next trip. Janice, a fellow alum of the Jean Moss trips, posted on Facebook that a few other alums had already booked a Baltic knitting cruise for next May. It's 2 weeks and leaves from Amsterdam, hitting Denmark, Russia (yay!), Finland, Sweden and Norway. the back and forth lasted for days but Anne and I decided to go and gave our info to the travel agent, who was very responsive, on Saturday. So our next trip is all set when we've barely gotten over the last one. Life is good!

Week 40 - Back to Reality

This was the easiest jet lag recovery ever! I was sleeping normally within a few days and felt absolutely normal by Monday. All good.

The highlight of the week was going to the Downton Abbey movie on Tuesday night with Dodie. She had given me that as my birthday present in February not realizing it wouldn't come out until fall. It was so fun to see the cast again and we totally enjoyed it.

I waited to join the gym until October 1st because I was going with a full membership and fit pass because water aerobics only is no longer an option now that it's in the main gym's lap pool. Despite it being cramped and shallow, it felt good to be back in the pool on Wednesday night. Friday was homecoming so that was the only class for the week, which fine by me. I needed to ease back into it and hopefully will do more than swimming twice a week since I'm spending so much per month.

I had thought my cleaning lady would be coming on Thursday but when I messaged her on Wednesday afternoon, she said it was next week, which was wonderful to hear. That meant I didn't have to go home and madly neatize the house that night. And it's not like the house got horribly dirty in the week since I'd been home. : )

I started hitting the thrifts again and totally scored at the Vine Street Goodwill. They had 2 gorgeous, hand quilted quits in perfect condition in the camping blankets bin for $5.99 each! Check these out. Not bad after not thrifting for weeks.


I hit HyVee again on Friday night to get just a few things but ended up buying pumpkins and mums for my house. Oddly, I was looking forward to being home on the weekend because I wanted to start cleaning out my garage, which is my goal between my trip and when the snow flies. That was the plan until Saturday morning.

I woke up Saturday morning and found an email for Lori, who had forgotten to mention that she had a hair appointment and would be in town. Not a hard decision to make between cleaning the garage and hanging with friends. I ran to the bank before they closed then went to the coffee shop to knit and wait for Lori and Andrea to come. We had lunch (they have yummy chicken salad croissants) and closed them down but had more chatting to do so went to a park and knitted the afternoon away. It was windy but as long as we sat in the sun it was warm enough. By the time we left, the day was gone but it was so worth it.

Sunday was chores and cooking. I'd bought an enormous pork roast at HyVee so cut it up and made pulled bbq pork with half and salsa pork roast with the other half. The crockpot was going all day. After eating so much on the cruise, I had thought I'd start a diet as soon as I got home but I was enjoying eating "normal" food so put that off. At least I'd dieted before the cruise so was just back where I started from. And after a full day at home, I was truly feeling 100% recovered from my trip. Back to reality.

Week 39 - Heading Back Home

Monday was out last day of the cruise and I was looking forward to spending a few hours in Ireland but it was pouring rain. Not the typical misty UK rain but pouring. We headed out anyway but I made the mistake of not wearing my jacket so when my umbrella blew inside out, I got drenched. I would have been anyway. It was raining that hard. But we didn't let it stop us from shopping on the high street. Despite only being there 2.5 hours, I bought more in Ireland than I had the whole time in Iceland. Go figure. Still no yarn but a few other goodies. 

By the time we got back on the ship, we were soaked to the skin but it was  nothing a good towel off and change of clothes wouldn't fix. We had clothes hung all over the cabin in hopes that they would dry some because our luggage had to be out in the hallway by midnight. We had our last class that afternoon and I went to the last afternoon tea and brought scones with clotted cream (the sign said cotted cream for the whole trip - ESL alert!) and jam for everyone. It felt strange to pack up our class supplies and clear out the conference room.

We started packing before dinner and finished afterwards, resorting to packing our still wet clothes in plastic bags. We spent our last night outside of the bar, knitting with the entire group. It was going to be sad to leave everyone but we vowed to stay in touch. Teresa, the tour manager, had offered to drive Anne and I to Heathrow since she would be driving right by so we didn't have that to stress over. I slept fine on our last night on the ship.

We met the group for an early breakfast at the sit down restaurant then waited in our designated spot until we were called to leave. We picked up our luggage, took the bus to Teresa's car and were off. Teresa knew that I'd failed to find any Kellogg's Country Store (my fave UK cereal) so we stopped at a Tesco Express and ASDA (Wal-Mart in the UK) but didn't find it. What a peach Teresa is, right? She dropped us at Heathrow and we checked in no problem. We had middle seats on the flight home, which is NOT what we'd booked but oh well. I watched a movie before finding the HBO series Chernobyl, which I managed to watch all 5 episodes of with just minutes to spare. It took forever for our luggage to come out in Chicago but I waited in the customs line while Anne waited for the luggage and we made it through customs, rechecked our luggage, changed terminals and got through TSA and to our gate with time to spare, even before our flight was delayed. Almost home.

When I called Andrea to say my flight was delayed, she offered to pick up my car from the body shop before she picked me up at the airport. When I got outside the Lincoln airport, which is tiny, my car was so clean that I didn't recognize it. Really. The repair was perfect too, which was the frosting on the cake. Andrea drove me home and had even left her car at my house so she could drive herself home. What a great friend she is. I was pretty tired but immediately unpacked and hung up my damp clothes before showering and going to bed. It was nice to be home, sleeping in my own bed surrounded by my cats. The house was also cleaner than it's been in years, thanks to my new cleaning lady who had come for the first time on the day I left. The toilet looked brand new. Yay!

I felt right to sleep and slept until after 5:00 - not bad for jet lag but staying awake for 24 hours helps. Since I was up so early, I did 2 loads of laundry, ordered a Panera salad to pick up on the way to work and headed in. I was fine all day, not even fading in the afternoon, and was caught up before I left right at 5:00. But so much for feeling so awake that morning. I found the side door wide open and I hadn't hit go on the dryer. Oh well. I'd made it through the day so called it good. I was super tired but the Survivor finale was on so I watched that and finished the laundry before going to bed. I slept well again and while I didn't sleep until the alarm, I still got plenty of sleep. 

Besides getting over jet lag and catching up at work, there was lots going on. My friend Lorri, who had fed my cats and watered my containers while I was gone, went away so I was watering at her house after work every night. I also had book club Thursday night at 7:00. I did a big food shopping at HyVee on Friday night so was good to be home all weekend. I had no plans beyond getting back on track. While I had unpacked Tuesday night, there were still piles on the bar and table so I got all that put away and had a nice, relaxing weekend, catching up on Ravelry and some TV shows I'd missed. It was lovely to be home and I had wonderful memories of a fantastic trip. Life is good!

Week 38 - Fun in Iceland

We woke up docked in Reykjavik. Yay! Iceland at last. I was hopeful that the 3 days of rough seas would be worth it. I'm happy to say, I was not disappointed.

We had knitting excursions booked for both days, which had been hastily redone while we were at sea because weather had forced the ship to reroute and we were circumnavigating Iceland in the opposite directions so were in ports on different days. They both went swimmingly.

We started with a tour of the Istex yarn factory - nice. Unfortunately they didn't sell any yarn there but it's always fun to see yarn in production. Our tour leader posed by some wool. From there we went to the Parliament Waterfall, which is where tribes used to meet to "govern" Iceland. In days of yore, of course. Then we stopped at geysers, which the Brits pronounce geezer. Ha! After another waterfall and several rainbows (I think we saw 6 that day), we stopped at a yarn co-op, where I did buy a couple of hat kits because there was no sock yarn in sight. The scenery was beautiful everywhere we went and I took many pictures of rocks and lichen, loving the colors. After a full day, it was back to the ship for dinner. But Anne and I had other plans.

When we got off the bus, we asked the tour guide if there was a supermarket nearby. She said there was one about a 15 minute walk and pointed the way so off we went. Well, the walk was closer to 40 minutes and it was pretty darn chilly but the market was cool. It was a warehouse type market, as in boxes ont he shelves but not Costco size, more like Valueland for my Rhode Island readers. Anyway, you walked into a cooler room that had the produce before getting to groceries. There were separate cooler rooms for dairy and meat. We found the candy aisle and bought a bunch - some to eat and some to take home. I didn't find my Kellogg's Country Store. Oh well. The walk back to the ship was even colder and we'd missed dinner in the dining room so headed to the buffet, where we found Trish so ate with her. Needless to say, we hit 20,000 steps that day and it was great to sleep in port with no waves.

Our second day in Reykjavik was another excursion with a designer visit and some shopping time. For the life of me, I cannot remember the designer's name (found her card - Bergros Kjartansdottir. See? Not easy to remember, right?) but we went to her house, which doubles as her studio. It was beautiful and there was inspiration everywhere you looked. Her designs were gorgeous too, sort of modern Icelandic. Then we drove to the main cathedral and had a couple of hours to shop. Anne and I went up and down the street but other than a couple of skeins of scratchy Icelandic yarn, I didn't buy much. We headed back to the ship mid-afternoon and enjoyed afternoon tea before settling in our favorite spot outside to watch the ship leave port and knit until dinner. We sat outside with a few friends after dinner too, using blankets from our cabins to stay warm. It had been a lovely day and we'd make up in the northern fjords the next day.

I LOVED Isafjordur! It was a small town that was easily walkable and we had fun shopping. The first stop was a little craft shop, where Anne found me the only skein of indy dyed sock yarn in the shop. Then we hit a lovely bakery for a sweet, coffee and wifi. It was delish and it felt good to catch up on emails and Ravelry. There was a little grocery store there too (we bought more chocolate) and then we walked along the fjord. We even found a friendly cat who let us love on him and pick him up. Nice. We had a lovely day and were back on the ship for afternoon tea and dinner then more knitting on the deck. We got the heaters turned on so were able to stay out there longer. I was loving this cruise!

Wednesday was Akureyri, which is the 2nd largest metro area in Iceland. We had an excursion to mineral baths booked for the afternoon but were up early and headed out for the most northern botanic garden in the world. Of course it was an uphill climb but so worth it. They had it lit up with fairy light and it was fun to see how the plants grow in Iceland. Things that bloom in the spring in Nebraska were blooming in fall there and were all smaller. Gotta love a botanic garden! We found another bakery with wifi (not as good as the one in Isafjordur) and were back on the ship in time to grab our swim stuff for the baths a sandwich from the buffet to eat on the bus. I was super excited for this excursion.

We stopped at the Waterfall of the Gods on the way to the baths and this one was perfect. It was like a miniature Niagara Falls and we could walk right up to it. The colors were amazing and I took a bunch of pictures. After 45 minutes there, we got back on the bus to head to the baths. Yay! The baths stank of sulfur but you only smelled it for a few minutes. It was cloudy and chilly but the water was so warm that it was fine. When we got out and showered, my skin was SO soft and that lasted for days. The baths ended up being the highlight of the trip. 

Our last Icelandic port of call was the teeny, tiny town of Seydisfyordur - population ~600 so we tripled the population when we docked. All the excursions were booked so we were on our own. We saw a cool waterfall from the ship so headed there after breakfast. It was straight up the side of a mountain so got us going first thing. We were climbing in t-shirts and mystified by the Brits in winter coats. We climbed a path of switchbacks then a flight of stairs to get to a landing ~20 feet below the falls. Anne wanted to climb up the loose rocks to get to the actual falls but I declined and watched. She only made it halfway up and then came down on her butt. She spent the rest of the day with muddy jeans. The rest of the day consisted of coffee and wifi, hitting the small market and walking around town. We had exhausted the town's potential and it was only early afternoon. We knitted on a bench but went back to the ship when it started misting. 

The visitors' center had wifi so I setteled in to download season 2 of Stranger Things, having watched season 1 over the course of the crise. I didn't have my charger and ran out of juice before I was done so I went back on the ship to plug in and have afternoon tea before getting back off to download the rest. I made it back just in time to sail. It was sad to be leaving Iceland and doubly sad when I saw all the yarn the people who went on one of the excursions got in a real yarn shop that was in one of the towns they stopped in. It was hard to believe how little yarn I'd bought on this trip but there was hope for Ireland.

Saturday and Sunday were sea days. We had classes morning and afternoon plus I went to a couple of horticulture classes that explained why all the plants in Iceland were so short (to be below the snow line come winter, in case you were wondering). We had our second dress up dinner and plenty of time to enjoy afternoon tea and knitting. The weather had turned again and it was cold and windy but the waves were nowhere near what they were at the start of the trip. But during dinner on Sunday, they announced that it had held us up enough that we'd be late into Cobh in Ireland and all excursions were cancelled. That didn't impact Anne and me but other were disappointed. Oh well. I was looking forward to roaming around an Irish port for a few hours and went to bed happy.

Week 37 - Bound for Iceland

My trip was finally here! I don't think I'd ever been in such need of a break. Just one more day of work and I'd be off. 

Monday was full with getting the last few things on my pre-trip list done, including a Wal-Mart run over lunch for a pair of black dress pants for dinners on the ship. The body shop had taken over dealing with my insurance company and assured me I could leave the car even though he didn't have final approval and he'd get it done. Work went swimmingly, getting the last few things done, and I was out the door right at 5:00 with out-of-office messages on both email and voice mail. Done and ready to boogie! I went to knitting and then finished packing when I got home. I was 95% done and had time yet in the morning.

The plan was to pick Anne up at 9:15 and then drive to the body shop, which was right by campus, to drop off my car. Anne's friend, Beth, was meeting us there and dropping us at the airport. I woke up at my regular time so had a leisurely morning before heading to Lincoln. We had a bit of a snafu with luggage and despite having paid with Anne's United card, I had to pay for my luggage. Oh well. Since we had separate tickets from Lincoln>Chicago and then Chicago>London, we had a long layover planned. Luckily Anne had one-day passes for the United Club and while we had to backtrack to the first terminal, we had a lovely afternoon snacking on free food and enjoying the free wifi, after which we headed to our next flight. It was uneventful and, of course, we got almost no sleep. At least we enjoyed the Elton John movie.

Exhausted but happy, we were in the UK. We made our way to the coach station and bought one-way tickets to Bristol. We were both asleep before the coach left the depot and only woke up when it stopped in Bristol. Bridget was there to meet us and it was great to see her smiling face. She drove us to our AirB&B, where we dumped our bags and headed to the local pub for some lunch and catching up. Then we drove to a little craft shop, where I bought a skein of sock yarn. Go figure. We walked around the cute downtown area but our energy was flagging so we ended up back at the B&B, where we chatted the evening away.

We got up the next morning and headed to the seaside at Weston Super Mare for breakfast and shopping, making a point of crossing Bristol's famous bridge too. It was fun to be hanging out with Bridget again. We had an early embarkation time so only had until just after lunch. Bridget dropped us at the ship and we were off.

We got on the ship and found our cabin easily. Unfortunately there was a note on the bed saying we would not be going to the Faroes due to bad weather so would be starting with 3 sea days and would be circumnavigating Iceland in the opposite direction so all our plans had to be remade. Not our problem though. After a mandatory lifeboat drill, we found a spot to knit on the aft deck until dinner time. First up was getting changed for a cocktail party to meet the knitting group and then dinner, where we had 3 full tables and the people we sat with were all nice. It was going to be a fun time.

The storm that was making it impossible for us to go to the Faroe Islands was also making for rough seas. Six meter waves! There were sick bags hanging every 2 feet along the cabin decks and on every stair rail but neither Anne nor I needed them. You could not stand up without holding onto something and walking was problematic. Oh well.

We had a dedicated conference room for our classes and our designer was lovely. We had morning and afternoon classes and got to know everyone while learning Icelandic knitting. Between classes, we were eating all the time - breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner before ending the days knitting by the bar on deck 9. I was totally enjoying the time on the ship, unlike my previous Carnival cruise, and it was a good thing because we had 3 days before we'd set foot on land. By the end of the weekend, we wore more than ready for land. Iceland here we come!

Week 36 - Preparing to Cruise

It was my last full week before heading to Iceland and was it jam packed. Thankfully, things were moderating at work so the funk I started the week with started lifting. Progress is good.

Like I said, I was in a funk and Labor Day was more of the same so my 3 day weekend was a total loss. I was supposed to drive to Grand Island to pick up fair entries but Helen called early in the day to say she and Charlie were going to go so she picked up my ticket and I crossed that off my list. I rallied late in the day and got a few things done at home, which kept me from stewing more and gave me a better start for what would be a busy week.

First thing up was to talk to Nora. The thing most on my mind over the weekend had been worry that Nora would be upset with me over the sh*it from the previous week. I didn't see her on Tuesday at all but we went for coffee first thing Wednesday and we're fine. I was SO relieved. I didn't want anything going on at work to impact us. By the way, Brook and I now report to Ben - the new guy in the office. 'Nough said about all that. 

Since I'd be gone for 2+ weeks and would be ending the month with jet lag, I had front loaded all my training for the month into the first week. I had 3 classes to teach and one was extended because someone was coming to town from an outstation so I was doing a 2-fer. Between all that, I was sending out an update to of my database to all the departments so would be fielding calls. The week was jam packed and the days flew by.

I was also busy during lunches and after work prepping for my trip. I found some fancy clothes for dinners on the ship for both Anne and me. I was running errands and making piles of things to pack all week. And drama was rearing its head at every turn. My sister, Ginny, called to say they were bugging out ahead of a hurricane. I was trying to get the iPhone 6 Lori gave me hooked up (failed). I was fighting with my insurance company, who had completely fallen down on processing my claim. And I was trying to hire a cleaning lady to start cleaning while I was gone. Nothing like a deadline to get me motivated!

The weekend was my last chance to get things sorted out but with the lists and piles I'd been making, I wasn't feeling too stressed about packing. I had a nice lunch with Lorri at Mocha C's on Saturday and otherwise just worked my way through my final to do's. Anne and I talked/texted a zillion times about every little detail of the trip. Too funny.

On the cleaning lady front, I thought I had one all lined up but she bailed on me at the last minute and so I went to Facebook and found another person who would come out Sunday at noon to see my house and could start cleaning while I was gone. My friend Lorri was also planning to hire the one who bailed so she stopped after church to meet her and then took her to her house. We both hired her and she'd be doing a thorough cleaning on Tuesday so I'd come home to a clean house. Yay!

By the end of the weekend, I had my luggage upstairs and had started transferring piles. While work had settled down some, I was still in desperate need of this vacation. I was ready to get out of the country and enjoy some European time. Just 2 days to go.