Week 45 - Warmth and Friendship

The weather was going to be freakishly warm so I hopped in and scheduled 3 afternoons off. I would have taken all 5 but was teaching 2 days so 3 would have to do. I had big plans for getting things done.

I did manage to make a huge dent in my garage on Monday afternoon, after making cupcakes for my cousin's birthday. Now I'd missed it by a couple of weeks but it hadn't been warm enough to get together outside so I hadn't done anything. Banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting were first on my to do list but I got them done right away and was tackling the garage just after lunch. My goal was to clear the entire wall on the shallow side of the garage so I can have shelves built. I cleared all the way back to some plastic shelves before I ran out of light and energy. It was a productive day and ended with the extra cupcakes at Monday Night Knitting. Nice.

So it was a good thing I got so much done on Monday because the lunch with my cousin turned into all afternoon. I picked up my usual grab and go x2 and we sat in the sun on my deck until almost 5:00. I don't spend enough time with Helen and this was wonderful. It was also a good distraction from the election from hell. I had a beer with dinner then switched to Skrewball but didn't watch any election coverage until just before bed. As I suspected, there was no clear winner so I went to bed, falling asleep pretty quickly after the whiskey.

I taught Wednesday and Thursday afternoons so those 2 days both flew by and I was able to grab a cup of tea on the deck during a post training break. I was watching the news but nothing else because the election was still up in the air but looking better for Biden with each passing day. I had Friday afternoon off too so the work week was over in a flash.

Earlier in the week, Rene had said we had a trifecta of nice weather, a recipe she wanted to try and my fire pit but when I told her I'd taken the afternoon off, it was moved up to lunch. Rene and Anne, who takes every Friday afternoon off since she's at the max in her vacation bank, came up for 12:30, which gave me just enough time to set the table and brush off the cushions. Rene brought a delicious cottage pie and I had even more cupcakes (Helen only took 2 home rather than the entire tray I'd perpared for her) so we enjoyed a delicious meal and good conversation all afternoon while knitting in the sun. Lovely!

The weather held over the weekend so I went straight outside and did the last of my pre-winter yard work. I had emptied one compost bin over lunch one day so started clearing my veg beds into that and dumped all my containers into my big wheel barrow and put all the pots and hoses away. I was thrilled to come in to the news that Biden had won. YAY!!! He will bring a return to civility in our government and hopefully that will trickle down to the country. I celebrated with yummy pasta with wine for dinner.

It was getting colder and windier on Sunday but I took advantage of that to wash the enormous load of my handknitted socks that had been piling up in my hamper. I also did the last must do pre-winter task and cut down the perennials in my parking (the strip between the sidewalk and street for those not from the Midwest) which act as a snow fence if I leave them up. I got that done and went inside to do a few chores to prepare for the coming week.

What a nice week. I had lots of social interactions, which may be the last for a LONG time since we're not supposed to have people in our houses, and got plenty done. I even posted some things from the garage clear out on Facebook Marketplace because gone is good. I'd call that week a win!