Week 2 - Back to Work

It was my first full week of work in a bit and did it ever whip my butt! I was tired all week and yet still struggled to get good sleep almost every night. I dreamed about my friend Connie twice too. Was that my subconscious telling me to call her? Maybe.

I started rotating again and was tired of grilled chicken and veg for dinner by day 2. So on the third night, I sauteed some mushrooms, added some chicken and then made a sauce with the dregs of a bottle of Gulden's mustard and water. OMG! You would think I was eating gourmet food. It totally hit the spot and got me through the rest of the week. By the end of it, I was down 6 pounds so was off to a good start. I'll take it.

The whole world was waiting for snow on Friday. I ended up leaving work a bit early to avoid driving in it and would have been in for the weekend but for a Friends of the Library meeting on Saturday morning. As if it wasn't bad enough to have to get dressed and go out, only Lorri and I showed up so along with Denise, the library director, made all the decisions about the Wine & Dine. Unfortunately I did not have a productive afternoon once I got home. Oh well.

I did venture out again on Sunday afternoon to buy halogen light bulbs for my deck lights and bird seed. After nearly getting frost bite changing the light bulbs, I kicked it into high gear and took down my Christmas tree so at least that was done. I then slammed through some chores and cooked a big batch of egg roll in a bowl (Try this recipe. You won't regret it.) So I redeemed myself with a burst of productivity Sunday afternoon. Getting back into the swing of work was hard. WWWAAAHHH! : )

Week 1 - Happy New Year

With only 3 days until I had to go back to work and my annual knitters' tea on Wednesday to prepare for, Monday was the only day I could dedicate to a project so that's what I did. And what did I work on? Yarn, of course.

I had had a bit of a yarn fiasco before break where I couldn't find some yarn someone had bought and then couldn't find the replacement yarn she asked for either. I ended up having to ship her 3 lots of yarn in 2 separate packages and vowed then and there to get my yarn organized. So right after breakfast on Monday, I headed to the basement to deal with my oldest yarn. What did I find exactly where it was supposed to be? The missing yarn. I'd gone through that bin twice and hadn't seen it. See? My yarn was a mess. So I sorted all the basement yarn and then went upstairs to go through the bins in spare room. By the end of the day, I had it all sorted into bins based on whether it was listed for sale or was a keeper. I had bags and bins of yarn all over the front room so would have to deal with that before my tea but it felt like a good start. I headed to knitting at the library happy with my progress.

Tuesday started with more yarn work. I got the yarn all put away and started with the pricing and adding the bin location to my online stash. I picked up the entire house and made lemon bars before heading to bed. I moved furniture and got the teapots and cups out and washed on Wednesday morning. The only other thing I was making was cranberry brie bites but those went together quickly. I took a fast shower and threw them in the oven so they'd be ready at 1:00 when people would arrive. 

The tea was fun, as always, and it was a gorgeous sunny day so the weather cooperated. Anne came for the first time and she and Donna spend most of the afternoon untangling a skein of yarn that Erica had brought, which they volunteered to do. When the light started fading, people started leaving. I had the furniture moved back and the leftovers put away before full dark. Unfortunately, I had a stomach ache. I'd made the mistake of not eating lunch and so ate too many sweets because I was hungry. I felt like crap and wasn't sure what to do. I took some pepto, ate some crackers and sucked a tums before bed. I will not make that mistake next year.

My stomach was fine when my alarm went off Thursday morning. I wasn't dreading getting back to work and my normal routine. In an effort to eat something healthy, I ordered a salad from Panera and picked it up on the way to work. It was monthly reports day so I had plenty to do, which is always good after coming back from break. I went home and made the first decent meal I'd cooked since getting home - steak, mashed potatoes and green beans. Delicious! I saved some of the steak to eat on a salad on Friday night. I had scheduled lunch with Darla on Friday since Layton was still in Europe. Friday went quickly enough and it was the weekend again. Gotta love a 2 day work week.

On the knitting front, I went to Goodwill on Thursday (hadn't thrifted in what felt like a long time) and scored some gorgeous sock yarn. I've committed to cold sheeping (not buying yarn) in 2020 but have exempted thift and travel yarn. Clearly the gods are with me if I scored 4 skeins of sock yarn in my first thrift foray of the new year. Nice. I came home Friday to find a box of sock yarn I'd bought off ebay (late in 2019 so not breaking my vow) and had fun sorting that all. Then on Saturday I got a package of sock yarn from a trade I made with someone on Ravelry. I'll be looking to trade anytime someone wants some of my yarn this year.

Being the first Saturday of the month, I had errands to run. I picked up money at the library and did a deposit before heading to Dollar General for a stock up. After grabbing Burger King, I headed home to finish the laundry I'd started. It was above freezing and I'd washed 2 loads of linens, including all the valances in the house, and hung them out to dry. I had picked up the Downton Abbey movie for Andrea and we'd be watching it at my house Sunday afternoon so it was a good thing I had started chores on Saturday.

I still had plenty to do Sunday morning. The cleaning lady had come on Thursday so the house was as good as it gets then but somehow in 2 days it was a mess again. It took an hour to get it back into shape before Andrea and Mike arrived at 1:00 - sheesh! I had seen the movie in the theatre but it was good to see it again. Andrea and Mike liked it too. 

I'm making an effort to finish up some old projects in January while my Socks from Stash group is having a WIP (work in progress) challenge. I had finished one pair on Saturday and had started working on an even older pair (started in 2018) during the movie. When they left for church, I finished up my chores and ate some leftover pasta. I went to Dairy Queen for a peanut butter sundae, which would be my last treat for awhile. I will happily be starting to diet, rotating again, on Monday. Not only have I gained a bunch of weight this year but topped it off with another 5 pounds gained over the holidays. Time to get healthy!

Reading: I finished Jodi Taylor's latest book - Doing Time. It's a spin off from my fave Chronicles of St. Mary's series and is about the time police. Entertaining but I prefer the St. Mary's books. I then started Found by Jennifer Lauck, which is the book club book for this month. So far, so good.

Streaming: I started World War II in Colour on Netflix. I feel like I don't know enough about WWII and had considered watching the VHS set I bought for my dad one Christmas but that would have required hooking up a VCR. Netflix to the rescue! It's British so that's a bonus.

Knitting: I finished these socks, which will go into my to be gifted pile.

2020 - Just One Word

2019 was a fabulous year. I was healthy and happy plus had lots of fun. The Iceland cruise was the icing on the cake. But that said, on looking back, I feel like it was pure luck that it turned out so well. Because, for the most part, I just went with the flow rather than making conscious decisions on what to do. Except when faced with an absolute deadline, I just did whatever was in front of me with minimal planning. Can we say willy nilly boys and girls? That has lead me to the 2020 word of the year:

Intent

I want to be more thoughtful and intentional about life in general – what I spend my time on for the most part. While going with the flow can be a good thing, I don't want it to be my everyday MO. So I'm going to try to make choices rather than just waiting for something to present itself, which I'm hoping will lead to progress in a few areas of my life. Wish me luck.

On another note, I plan to start including a few new things in my blog - more pictures of my knitting projects and what I'm reading and streaming. I'm trying to be intentional in all those areas too so it's a way to keep track of things.

Week 52 - A Merry Christmas

With Christmas 2 days away, first thing on Monday was Stop & Shop. We'd made our list to get us through Christmas Day, leaving our open house shopping until the 26th, so braved the crowds and got what we needed. I had scheduled lunch with Auntie Margaret so left Carolyn making cookies and headed to Hope Valley. Bette was working so it was just the two of us so we stayed local and had lunch at Wood River Inn. It was nice to have some quality time with Auntie Margaret and I hung out at her dining room table for awhile before heading back to Carolyn's. We had pasta for supper and streamed something before bed.

First on Tuesday's list was a trip to DeLouise Bakery to pick up the danish ring we'd be having on Christmas morning. Normally we have a bigger breakfast but since dinner would be at 1:00 because Aaron was working at 3:00, we were going lighter. I thought we'd be gone half an hour. Foolish me. The parking lot was packed and there was a line out the door. We took a number - #99 - and they were working on #70. We'd clearly be there awhile. We were outside for 20 minutes or so and then made it inside. I had my coat on and was hot but had discovered outside that my cat head eaten away the armpit of my shirt (damn beast!) so the coat had to stay on. We got the danish and a few pastries and headed home. I had Christmas pudding to make and we weren't done with the cookies.

The pudding goes together pretty quickly but has to steam for 3 hours so I had that on by noon. I put Scandinavian almond cookies in the oven and Carolyn started oatmeal cookies, only to find she didn't have enough so I ran to Stop & Shop, which was less crowded than it had been on Monday. I left for my cousin's house ~3:30, pudding in hand. This was the first year I wouldn't be going to Marianne and Brian's house after Shelley's. Since dinner wasn't there, John was coming to Carolyn's so I still wasn't staying too long. I got to see my cousins Bette and David, the latter I hadn't seen in years. I ate plenty at Shelley's and left later than I'd planned so didn't partake of the Japanese food Carolyn had ordered. It was nice to be home early and good to see John. I added my presents to the already stuffed stockings and went to bed earlier than I had in years on Christmas Eve. Nice.

The danish ring was as good as Carolyn had said and after opening stockings (I had 3 this year because Dottie opted back into stockings this year and she used yarn as packing material - score!), we went into the kitchen to start dinner. The ham was easy but the scalloped potatoes, which start with a white sauce, took forever. I thought the sauce would never thicken! But we had everything in the oven on time for 1:00 dinner - ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans and rolls. Jamie, Aaron's girlfriend, brought a nice cookie tray so we had those for dessert instead of the ones we'd made. They'd wait for the open house. Aaron left for work and I sat at the table chatting with Carolyn's parents. When they left, we had a quiet rest of the day. Carolyn and I watched the Call the Midwife special then went to bed. It had been another lovely Christmas.

First stop on the 26th was Job Lot. I scored a bunch of gift bags for socks and a couple of large presents for Andrea and Lori's birthdays in March so would be taking the gray duffle back to Nebraska again. Oh well. With Job Lot done and the open house scheduled for 5:00, we made a final list and went to Stop & Shop again. Since it was at supper time, we were making Italian Sloppy Joe for a crowd and Israeli salad with assorted snacky things, the cookies we'd made and a Lemon-cello cake that Matt had picked up at The Cheesecake Factory. My favorite - yum! We had plenty of time for prep so took our time.

People started arriving right at 5:00 and it was a good mix of Carolyn's friends from work and our mutual friends. Sharyn, who didn't respond to the invite, showed up, which surprised the heck out of me. She looked great and it was fun to catch up. Everyone seemed to have fun and we had everything cleaned up before 9:00. Another successful open house.

I was leaving Friday but didn't have to be at the airport until 4:30. I had woken up early so packed first thing, even managing to fit everything without using the duffle. And I was done before anyone else was up. Carolyn had a hair appointment at noon. Cornelia couldn't come earlier than the 2:30 we'd arranged and Janice was fresh from the oral surgeon so I had some downtime to knit in the sun at Carolyn's table - one of my happy places. Cornelia picked me up and we headed to The Crow's Nest for a late lunch. We chatted longer than our food lasted then she dropped me off. 

The first flight was uneventful and I was facing a long layover in Chicago. But I have Midway all figured out and had downloaded stuff from Netflix so headed to my favorite spot and enjoyed the extra long layover (my 2nd flight was delayed) while steaming, knitting and enjoying the best sack lunch I see all year, full of Christmas leftovers. I dozed a bit on the 2nd flight and arrived at 1:00 a.m. to pouring rain in Omaha. After stopping at HyVee in the wee hours for a few groceries, I walked into my house at 2:01, which was 3:01 eastern time. I unpacked my carry on, let the cats out for a bit and was in bed at 3:00. I did not set an alarm. : )

I had plans to meet knitters at 11:00 at Mocha C's because Lori was in town for a hair appointment. I slept until after 9:00 so wasn't in horrible shape and enjoyed the company and my favorite chicken salad sandwich. We closed the place down so I only had enough time to unpack my big suitcase before dark. I had a relaxing evening and oddly enough didn't go to bed particularly early. It felt great to be home and I had a typical chore day on Sunday - laundry and neatizing. I had a few more days of break and planned to get busy on Monday.

Week 51 - Heading Back East

It was the last week before Christmas but things were going swimmingly. I had a few things left but had a plan.

I had scheduled a pick up so left 2 packages at my side door when I went to work and had the 3rd in my car to drop at UPS over lunch. Lana went with me and after UPS we hit the bread store and Aldi. Checking things off with a friend for company - nice. Then I finished my last pair of Christmas socks for Nebraska giving (I still had a bit more on one pair for Rhode Island gifting) at knitting that night. Day one and doing great.

I had a demo scheduled on Tuesday afternoon on one of my databases. While I wasn't nervous about it (I wrote the DB and am confident showing how it works), I slept like crap the night before for some reason and was dragging. I had a nice lunch with Anne, picking up winter solstice sock yarn that I'd pre-ordered and then hitting HyVee, where I bought a bottle of the super yummy Skrewball peanut butter whiskey. The demo went fine, of course. No clue why I lost sleep over it. Oh well.

Wednesday was our white elephant Christmas party, which is always fun. I got a skunk present - old bowling trophies and some silly string. My present was well received though so I was happy. I had planned to wrap during the Survivor finale that night but didn't, spending the evening knitting and messaging with Dawn instead. I needed to bag up the socks for my co-workers but still had Saturday to wrap Carolyn's stocking. 

I got a few more things checked off my list over the next 2 days and heard on Thursday that we'd be getting out at 3:00 on Friday. So I bagged the socks for work Thursday night and they were all well received. When we got out early, I went straight home, blazed up Die Hard and got wrapping. I was done wrapping by dinner time and still had Saturday to pack. For once I had left myself a day of the weekend to get ready. It was lovely to be able to get ready at a leisurely pace. I showered and went to bed early, setting 3 alarms for 3:30.

Well, I woke up before the alarms and thought the clock said 2:30 so laid in bed waiting for the alarm. When it didn't go off after a long while, I put on my glasses to see it was only then 2:30 and I was wide awake so I just got up. I had time for an egg sandwich before heading to the airport. My flights were uneventful and I managed to doze a bit on the 2nd flight. Getting up that early sucked but I was in Rhode Island before noon. 

Deanne picked me up and we met one of our old girl scout friends for lunch. It was fun to catch up and when we left the restaurant, Dee and I drove through my old neighborhood and then stopped to visit Mrs. Bassett, our old girl scout leader. Then we stopped at Dee's mom's house to say hi. By then I was fading so we headed to Carolyn's.  

Carolyn had had a houseful for latkes for the first day of Hanukkah but everyone was gone by the time I arrived, which had been the plan. I ate some leftover latkes and settled in for Christmas week. Carolyn's is my home away from home and I had plenty of time before Christmas so it wouldn't be stressful. Yay!