Week 29 - Chatting and Yarn

Despite being in the house all weekend, I hadn't cooked anything so put a pot roast in the electric frying pan and babysat it all afternoon on Monday while working 6 feet away. Chalk that up as one of the benefits of working at home. I added parsnips, carrots and mushrooms and made mashed potatoes and gravy. Yum! Winter food and the first meat and potatoes I had in a long time. A lovely night of knitting and a drumstick blizzard topped off the day.

This is going to sound familiar - Mocha C's for grab and go lunch, going through stuff in the basement and swimming. Same stuff, different week but Thursday brought something new.

After a nice long podcast over lunch and a town hall meeting zoom with the Chancellor that afternoon, I headed out to Deer Springs Winery east of Lincoln. We had a social distanced bridal shower for Janae, one of the accountants who is getting married. We got a glass of wine then sat in a huge circle under the trees and chatted. It felt like a little bit of normal. I left in time to get 10 minutes at Aldi before they closed. It was a lovely night. 

Friday afternoon was endless but 5:00 finally arrived and like a good doobie, I went downstairs. This time I tackled the closet in the craft room then came upstairs for some TV before bed. That was practically the highlight of my weekend.

I spent Saturday crocheting (!) and talking on the phone until mid-afternoon. I had brought up a bucket of tangled yarn from the basement and after balling it all up, I started a crocheted afghan I've been planning to make for years. I crocheted while taking, starting with Carolyn then John beeped in. After a quick lunch, I called Dottie, who asked if I'd gotten the box of yarn she sent (not yet), to see if she would help me make squares for the afghan with her leftover yarns. We talked for an hour then Dodie beeped in. I hung up with her at 3:00, made a cup of tea and finally got dressed. The day was shot but had been fun. 

A HUGE box of yarn (I put the mug on for perspective) was at my side door and I had fun digging into it. I stayed up late after being such a slug all day. Sunday was more of the same - Ginny then Deanne. Since I'd talked to just about everyone I know already, Sunday afternoon was free. I had an exciting afternoon doing dishes and laundry then had chips for supper. Just another exciting week in my quarantine life. 

Week 28 - Another Quarantine Week

It was pretty much another normal quarantine week.I did the usual - knitting at the library, Mocha C's for a grab and go lunch on Tuesday. You know, the usual. After going downstairs after work on Tuesday, I cleared out enough crap to load up the car. I dropped all of it and recycling plus sent 2 boxes out at UPS before water aerobics on Wednesday. Getting rid of stuff and swimming - it was a banner day.

Alas, I couldn't fall asleep that night and then was up in the wee hours so was absolutely exhausted on Thursday. Then I was disappointed because my favorite podcast wasn't on over lunch. It was a LONG day but I forced myself to the basement after work and managed to get a bit more done. I went to bed early and slept like a rock. 

Despite being rested, I couldn't face a full Friday so took the afternoon off. I headed down to Anne's and enjoyed a nice afternoon of knitting and chatting. From there I went to Van's for driveway beers. I had intended to hit Trader Joe's afterwards, which is right by Van's, but there were storms out west that were supposed to miss Lincoln but it got windy, dark and the temp dropped so I got in the car and headed north. Of course the sun was out within ten minutes. Oh well.

With my socializing done, I had a low key weekend staying at home. I did the usual knitting, finishing 2 socks and casting on 2 more pair. I did manage to do a bit of cleaning too but mostly just sat on my butt. Just another week of quarantining.

Week 27 - It's Already July!

When did July get here? I know I'm not the only one who feels this way but where is the time going? I guess I'll just consider myself lucky that all this time at home isn't dragging. Being busy at work helps and I know I'm lucky to be working too.

The big news is that with July 1st came my vow to get busy in the basement. My goal for July and August is to head downstairs at 5:00 on any work day when I'm not out of the house. I hope it only takes 2 months. Anyway, Monday was knitting at the library (Lori came from Omaha), Tuesday was still June (reprieve!) and Wednesday was swimming (I came home to a power outage so showered by the light of an LED flashlight and the power came on just as I was heading to bed) so Thursday was my start. 

I started in the craft room, which is my priority. Every surface is stacked with crap and the wall unit I set up down there is completely unorganized and so I started with easy pickings. I filled 3 big bags easily and loaded them into the car. I had hopes that this was a good start.

It was a 3 day weekend for the 4th and I did absolutely nothing on Friday. Sitting/knitting/streaming is my nothing these days. I did get dressed at 3:00 so I could water and get the mail. Lazy day! Having gotten that out of my system, I couldn't face another day of doing nothing on Saturday so called Lori. She was feeling the exactly the same so I pretty much invited myself to her house. Our plan was to sit outside and knit but it was SO hot. We ended up in her front room, sitting far apart in the AC and it was a lovely day. It's so much better knitting with a friend than alone with Netflix. I popped into HyVee for a few groceries on the way home. What a lovely day!

Sunday was chores and cooking to get ready for another work week. Since Labor Day isn't a holiday this year at UNL, this was the last holiday weekend for a LONG time. Good thing I had the visit with Lori as a bright spot. I hope you were able to find something fun to do too.

Week 26 - Water Aerobics Again

The weeks are getting more and more the same. Week after week. But there were a few bright spots with fun people. That makes all the difference these days.

Nan and Janet came to knitting at the library on Monday. We'd talked about it at spinning but it was nice that they drove down from Fremont. They were a nice addition to the group and I hope they keep coming.

The weather Tuesday was spectacular - no humidity and not too hot so I took the afternoon off. I started with a nice lunch in the park with Lorri and her husband then headed home for an afternoon of gardening. It was lovely. Then Van came up from Lincoln and we walked at the lake. I was hesitant but invited him back to my deck for beer and snacks, including some from my latest Yum Box filled with Philippine goodies. I hadn't picked up the house and as I feared, he went in to pee before he left. Oh well. My house has been worse.

Wednesday's event was my first time doing water aerobics in one of Lincoln's pools. A bunch of us met at Belmont pool, which is on the north side of town and not too far from campus. It was an absolute joy to be in the big pool (plenty of room for social distancing) and outside. Love that! And at $2, it's the deal of the century so I plan to swim often this summer. From there we went to campus to eat dinner at one of the tables near the library. I had hoped to get a Panera salad but the downtown location now closes at 2:00 so Renee got me a KFC bowl, which was yummy but not the salad I wanted. Anne brought cookies and we chatted until nearly dark. I had my wet swimsuit under my dress so was soaked and it actually got chilly. What a perfect evening!

Thursday and Friday were busy at work and otherwise uneventful so the weekend arrived quickly. Not that that was anything eventful. I sat on my butt knitting and watching Little Fires Everywhere (I highly recommend it) all day Saturday. I accomplished nothing. Sunday was a better day. Andrea came over to do a load of laundry in the morning (her washer is on the fritz) so it was nice to chat. I did the bare minimum of chores that afternoon and redeemed myself with more swimming in Lincoln - this time at Ballard pool with Cindy. I showered this time so I could do some grocery shopping before heading home. I stocked up on produce, at last.

So it wasn't a bad week but all this time at home is getting old. I never thought I'd feel that way but I do. I may be sick of being at home but I'm not going to do anything stupid so it's time to get busy. This is my official notice that July is going to be the month I get my craft room organized. I asked Andrea to hold me accountable for this. If I can't get it done when I have this much time at home, there's no hope. Wish me luck.