Week 52 - Another Covid Christmas

Well, it was another covid Christmas but I made the best of it and managed some fun.

Since we'd been given the extra 2 days added to break, a few of us were going into the office on Tuesday since we'd all be home on Wednesday and Cindy and I were hosting lunch. I had baked cookies on Sunday but was also taking a loaf of bread and cottage cheese dip so got those ready on Monday before taking some cookies to knitting. After that, I wrapped the presents I'd be taking to my work friends. I also got completely ready to be up and out on Tuesday, set my alarm and went to bed.

It did well getting to work at 8:00 (all that prep worked) and, as usual, it felt weird to be in the office and it was really my first full day working in the new office. If there'd been work going on. I'd sent an invite for coffee and a spit test for 9:30 but Starbuck's was closed so it was just spitting for the last test of the semester because why not? I spent the rest of the morning training a new employee so that I could say I'd gotten some work done and then it was time for lunch. There were only 8 of us in and it was great to sit around, chatting over yummy food. When we were pretty much all done eating, the Vice Chancellor popped in to say goodbye since he's leaving UNL for a new job. He was super chatty and was still the boss so we visited for another hour then told us we could leave early. Nice. I took a walk with Dodie, came back for half an hour and then was done for 11 glorious days.

My plan was to get a shingles shot on the way home and I'd made an appointment at Walgreen's but they wanted $130 for the shot and had a list of charges, which included a drug deductible. Well if I have to pay that much, you can bet your butt I'll do it in January so it counts towards 2022's deductible so I'd wasted precious time and headed straight home without grocery shopping, which had been the plan. Starting break was more important.

I had 3 days of leisure before Christmas. Glorious! I spent the mornings knitting in the sun with cats on my lap, did some final shopping, dyed some yarn and cooked a turkey dinner. I also sent pics of my angry incision to my doctor and they called me in a prescription. Yes, it could be infected and with the holiday weekend, we didn't want to take any chances. I picked up a few groceries at the local market after the pharmacy. 

It was so warm on Friday that I called Lori and suggested a walk with her dog at the lake so she came in from Omaha. After a lovely walk, we had tea on my deck and were perfectly comfortable until we lost the sun. I think it was in the low 60's. It was a lovely way to spend Christmas Eve. After she went home, I put together the turkey tetrazzini I'd take to Anne's on Christmas. I also finished my advent striped socks just in time to wear them on Christmas Day. Perfect.

I had 3 stockings to open from my sisters and Carolyn and they all did a great job. As usual, there was lots of Goodwill yarn, including some sock yarn, from Dottie. Yay! I made some calls to thank everyone and headed to Anne's. We ate the yummy tetrazzini (if I do say so myself) and then walked her friend's dog (the friend was out of town for Christmas) before renting Belfast. Great movie and it was nice to watch it while knitting in front of a fire. So a nice Christmas despite being in Nebraska because of covid. It's good to have friends.

I can't remember what I did on Sunday but there were some chats with friends, more knitting in the sun and eating some turkey for sure. I had made a list of possible projects for break but there'd be time for that next week. I hope you all had a nice Christmas.

Week 51 - Packages and Socks

It was another package day on Monday. My last package was picked up and four arrived. How's that for a great way to start a week? As if that wasn't enough, I got an email from Tracie of Grocery Girls (my favorite knitting podcast) saying I'd won a prize. I don't know what it will be but I'm sure it'll be fun.

One of the packages that arrived was the skein of advent sock yarn I'd ordered. Advent skeins are designed with 24 different colors so you can knit one stripe each day and have new socks by Christmas. But I bought mine late so figured I'd knit 2 stripes/day and have a pair by epiphany. Then I started knitting and was having so much fun that I decided to do 4/day to get them done by Christmas. By Saturday night the first sock was done. Yay! I also finished 3 other pairs of socks, including the Christmas socks I'd started on the cruise. That deserves another Yay!

We had weird weather on Wednesday but since it was in the 70's, as troublesome as that is, I took advantage of it and met Lorri in the park for lunch. The sun wasn't out so it wasn't exactly balmy but still warm enough and I do enjoy our lunches in the park - one good thing that came out of Covid. Say what? But lunch was the calm before the storm. Literally. I taught from 1:30-3:00 and shortly thereafter, the weather changed for the worse. Tornado sirens went off and I was in the basement with the cats. We never lost power and the storm was over in 5 minutes. The temp dropped 20 degrees and the sky was an ominous yellow but it was over. At least for us. I saw a few trees down in the neighborhood the next morning but poor Kentucky. And so close to Christmas.

I had my neck lump removal scheduled Thursday at 11:30 WAY down south in Lincoln. I had considered going into the office but didn't so headed to the dermatologist after our 10:00 zoom. The surgery was super quick and after the first 2 jabs, I didn't feel anything. I left just after noon, stopped at Aldi and and HyVee, where I scored a cheap turkey. Then it was on to Anne's to eat the Panera salad I'd picked up. After that yummy lunch, I helped Anne do the heel on another Christmas stocking. I'd helped her on the cruise but she needed help again, which I was glad to give. I had considered running more errands but instead headed home for a cup of tea as the sun went down. Nice.

Friday was Ben and Brook's last day since they were both taking Monday and Tuesday off. The day didn't drag, which is a good thing for a Friday and I had no commitments on the weekend so would be staying in and getting things done.

I had a big to do list but spent most of Saturday sitting in the sun knitting. Oh well. I made up for it on Sunday, getting a few chores done but mostly baking cookies while listening to Christmas music. Cindy and I are hosting lunch on Tuesday for the few people who are coming in and cookies and homemade bread are my contribution. I made peanut butter blossoms, brownies and almond fingers. I had a bit of a snafu with the first batch of brownies, stumped with figuring out the equivalent to "2 squares" of baking chocolate when they're not squares anymore. The first batch had half the chocolate so was super sweet and not chocolaty enough but the 2nd batch was fine. I ended the day watching Elf, which I'd never seen before. Totally cute.

I'm heading into a two day work week so made a list of potential projects to do over break. I had decided to cook the turkey on Wednesday instead of this weekend so that'll be a fun way to start my break. I'm excited for break, as always. I hope your Christmas prep is going well now that we're in the home stretch. Have a Merry Christmas.

Week 50 - More Christmas Prep

The week started with my packages being picked up and me making a batch of egg nog bread pudding to take to Monday Night Knitting and the Christmas prep just kept going.

I put up my tree Tuesday evening. It's the smallest (and most expensive) tree I've ever had but putting the ornaments on brought some of the branches down so it looked great when it was all done and I love the granny square tree skirt my sister made me. Of course I fiddled with the ornaments for the rest of the week until it was just perfect. I love my little tree!

I trained on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and in between, Wednesday was a busy day. Not only was I going to campus but I'd made plans to meet Darla for breakfast at 7:00 so had to get up at 5:30. Wow! We had a lovely time and the HyVee breakfast was so huge that I took enough for lunch in a to go box. That worked because I hadn't brought lunch and had errands to run, which included picking up yarn I'd ordered. I'd bought one skein in the Knit Lincoln series that was inspired by Architecture Hall on campus but then bought a coordinating skein when I got there. I couldn't resist. Isn't it pretty?

My mission at work was to finish moving to my new office, which took up most of my day so I didn't get monthly reports done until almost 5:00. But I was all moved in and could head home. I stopped at HyVee for some of the things I can't get at Aldi, including some fried chicken for dinner, which I'd been craving for a long time. I was happy to get into my jammies and watch Survivor while I ate.

It was a joy to be working from home again and the rest of the week flew by. I had one more pair of socks to get in the mail so that was my focus in non-work hours but I wasn't enjoying the knit. I had no plans on the weekend so would just power through.

I woke up to our first snow on Saturday morning, which was pretty and not enough to be a problem. I had 3" on my deck but my driveway was blown clear, which meant I didn't have to shovel to head to the Lutheran church for their cookie sale. I bought a pound of cookies and then was home for the duration. I spent the day knitting and streaming Star Trek Discovery. I finished the socks on Saturday then soaked them and hung them in the tub to dry. It was bright and sunny on Sunday so they finished drying outside. I packed them up and scheduled a pick up for Monday. It was my last package to ship so I was happy to be done with that. Now I could relax a bit and enjoy some no pressure knitting. 

Week 49 - All About Christmas

 I woke up Monday and cancelled my Christmas trip ticket before breakfast. I had already made the decision to stay home and safe for Christmas so it was time to cancel. With that done, I was ready for re-entry to work and to start plugging away at the Christmas to do list I'd made on Sunday.

I made it through my first day back at work and took an at home covid test at 5:00 (48 hours from leaving the airport), which came back negative so I was good to go to knitting. Yay! Now to get going on Christmas.

First up was shopping in downtown Wahoo when I went to get my grab and go lunch on Tuesday. I found a few things for Carolyn and bought a few groceries at The Warehouse, which would get me through to the weekend when I could grocery shop. Nice. I trained all afternoon so the day went quickly. I normally cook on Tuesday nights but with minimal groceries in the house, I ate some baked ziti from the freezer. I had thought I'd thawed eggplant parm so was disappointed but survived.

Wednesday was my first one back on campus but it started with a cortisone shot in my thumb. I was at the ortho at 8:30, dropped the charity hats I'd knitted on a friend's porch to include with the donations for the elementary school his department adopts every year, dropped books at the Library Commission and was at work shortly after 9:00 for a get together for one of the accountants who was leaving UNL. It was great to see people in person and then it was on to our 10:00 team zoom. Shortly after, it was time to pick Dodie up for lunch at Cracker Barrel. I'd parked at a meter all morning and so parked in a garage for the afternoon. I spent the afternoon doing monthly reports, finishing right at the end of the day, when I drove my boss to his car to offload the circular saw from my garage that I was gifting him. Then it was on to Menard's, where Darla was meeting me to help me pick out my trees. I had sticker shock but got my trees - one for the deck and one for outside - plus a wreath and a gorgeous poinsettia. We spent so long chatting in the parking lot that I skipped grocery shopping in favor of getting home in time for Survivor. How's that for crossing things off?

It was unseasonably warm on Thursday so I put up my deck tree over lunch after getting back from doing a huge cash deposit from the Friends of the Library holiday decoration sale. I only managed to get it up but the decorating only took 5 minutes at 5:00 because it's just a single string of white lights and red bows. My deck tree brings me joy and will stay up long past winter. I ate the rest of the ziti and headed to the library for book club at 6:30. We had a good discussion and then chatted on the sidewalk so I got home later than I'd planned but you have to take advantage of the warmer weather while it's here.

I was determined to finish my shopping on Friday so started work early and worked through lunch so Andrea and I could leave for Omaha at 3:30. We started at Trader Joe's then went to World Market, where my goal was to fill in the gaps on Carolyn's stocking. I did great there, so much so that we skipped 5 Below. I wanted to hit Dollar Tree for some Christmas picks for my outdoor pots but couldn't find the one I'd looked up online (obviously not well) so we went to Aldi. I did a big stock up since I'd cleared my food out before my cruise and hadn't shopped since. We were home just after 8:00 and I was happy to be done with my Christmas shopping.

My goal for the weekend was wrapping, packing and shipping my stocking boxes. I briefly considered slamming through it to get at least one in Saturday's mail but I talked myself down from that idiocy so I could enjoy it. After a couple of catch up phone calls in the morning, I headed to the library in hopes of finding the fake Christmas flower picks I'd failed to get. It was a bag sale so I found a few picks and then a few other festive things to fill my bag. I used the picks and cuttings from both of my trees to make pots for the front and side doors. After lunch, I blazed up some Christmas tunes and wrapped one lot of presents. Then I finished my sister's mittens, which were the last knitting for stockings. I might have done more but my neighbor who fosters kittens invited me over for some kitten fun, which was a wonderful way to end the day. 

On Sunday, I wrapped and packed the rest of the stocking stuff, having to go out again to buy a battery for my scale. By the end of the day, my boxes were ready and I had a pick up scheduled for Monday. My inside tree was up but not decorated but I was feeling good about my progress. I hope your holiday prep is going well and that you find some joy in getting ready. With the heat was off for me, I plan to enjoy the rest of the holiday season. Ho ho ho!

Week 48 - A Thanksgiving Cruise

What to say about a week of relaxation interspersed with adventures in ports?

I'll start with the ship time. We found a spot on deck 3 (Promenade) where we plunked ourselves in deck chairs and knitted the days away, leaving only to eat. And eat. And eat! We mostly ate at the informal buffet (you'd point and staff would dish the food) but did get breakfast a few times and dinner twice in the fancy main dining room. We also partook of afternoon tea several times. We did do walk the promenade deck a couple of times (4 laps was a mile) to break up the knitting. In the evenings, we watched movies in our cabin. Yesterday (the Beatles themed movie) and lots of period dramas. There was knitting and snacking during the movies, of course.

We got to San Juan at dinner time on Monday so ate early and then were off the ship. We walked around and checked out the Christmas lights, planning our next day as we went. We found a smoothie stand so enjoyed pina colada smoothies before hitting Marshall's for a straw hat for me. Our last stop was Walgreen's to replenish our M&M's. 

We hadn't booked an excursion so hit the tourist office first thing Tuesday and then set out on our own. We went to the closest fort and then walked to the other one. It was SO hot and humid. We stopped along the way to sit in the shade and drink water. We opted not to go inside the 2nd fort, despite our ticket from the first fort being good there too, because it was just too hot and the walk up to it was long. We checked out the cathedral then went back to our smoothie stand to cool down before heading outside the wall to walk along the water. Surprisingly there was some shade on that walk but we were still exhausted and depleted after so much time in the sun so we headed back to the ship for a swim. It felt wonderful! After sitting by the pool knitting (and I had the one and only drink I had on the ship - a blended strawberry daiquiri) it was time for a shower and dinner. It was a lovely day.

Wednesday was St. Thomas and we'd booked an excursion to Magens Bay beach via a mountaintop where we could take pics. We had 2 hours on the beach so did some walking, quite a bit of swimming and I sat in the shade happily knitting. After nipping back to the ship to change, we headed back out and did some shopping. The grocery store was a bust - no different than at home - but Anne bought some Crocs and we got another smoothie before going back just before sailing time. 

Thursday was another ship day for Thanksgiving. After another relaxing day, someone mentioned that the main dining room, where were were planning to eat dinner despite having to dress up (sea days are gala dress nights), didn't have mashed potatoes. That being Anne's favorite food, we decided to eat at the buffet. Along with said mashed potatoes, they did serve turkey and stuffing but it wasn't how I wanted it so there will be a homemade turkey dinner in the near future chez moi.

Friday was our last day and we were going to a private island for more beach time. Having already gotten plenty of sun, I found a chaise in the shade while Anne sat in the sun. We went a bit early for the huge BBQ they put on and it's a good thing we did because it started spitting rain as we got back to the beach. This is what it looks like when sand sticks to raindrops on your skin. By the time we got to the tender to go back to the ship, it was pouring. So it was a short beach day but we still had fun and it was nice to take a warm shower and get into dry clothes. It was our last night on the ship. How did that happen? We packed, put our suitcases outside for pick up and went to bed.

We had gotten the latest time available to get off the ship but even so, we were off just after 9:00 and ubered to the airport. Since our flight wasn't due to leave until 6:10 pm, we decided it was worth every penny to pay and extra $150 each to take a morning flight, which was even direct with no plane change in DC. Perfect! We were boarding group C so sat apart for the first leg but sat together with an empty middle seat for the 2nd. We stopped at HyVee to buy milk and an at home Covid test for me and I was in my house before I would have even left Florida. Totally worth the money!

I unpacked Sunday, did laundry and generally caught up. With that done, I went right into Christmas mode and started making lists. The cruise was fun but it felt great to be home too and I had a busy week ahead. Time to get holiday ready with Christmas in less than a month. Ho ho ho!

Week 47 - Countdown to Cruisin'

Anne and I were leaving for the cruise at o' dark thirty on Friday and besides getting ready for that, my work week was jam packed with zooms and training plus an eye doctor appointment and some yard work snuck in too. Busy busy!

I had an eye doctor appointment on Tuesday afternoon and it was super warm outside. I walked there and back (it's a block from my house) and then slammed through clipping the parking before going back inside to finish the work day. I could have waited but was happy to get my last pre-winter yard work done. I have to cut the perennials between the sidewalk and street before snow flies or they act like a snow fence and my sidewalk ends up piled with snow. Done is good.

I had zooms all day on Wednesday - ALL DAY! One after the other, ending with my PD with The Ripples Guy, which I normally enjoy but was so zoomed out that I didn't get much out of it. Oh well. I started packing that night, which mostly meant transferring the stacks I'd made into a suitcase. I also made lists for the next day, which would be jam packed with everything pre-cruise that I hadn't done yet.

I had done some work Wednesday night (I'm a sucker for answering late emails since I'm in front of my laptop anyway) and then woke up early on Thursday so started work early. I had a training demo to do at 3:00 and then had 2 covid tests scheduled - a spit test on campus and a nose swab behind the mall. Working the extra meant I didn't have to put in 2 hours of vacation time. Nice. I did my spitting on East Campus then had a peppermint mocha with Darla in the East Union before heading to the mall. I was there early so was home early too, which was great because I had more to get done and Anne was picking me up at 6:15 the next morning so it all had to get done. And it did. It helped that I was using my big suitcase so had plenty of room. There may have been extra sock yarn thrown in over the course of the night.

I set the stove timer and an alarm clock but woke up before either of them went off. I had a bowl of cereal and some coffee before Anne arrived and we were off! We talked our way into free bags on United (at least Anne's should have been free since she used miles and is the primary card holder on the United visa we charged the fees to but something wasn't right so we both had our $35 waived by the agent - yay!) and had a completely uneventful flight, which seems like a gift these days. Anne had passes to the United lounge so we had snacks and good wifi during our layover - another gift before our second leg. We called the hotel shuttle when we got to Fort Lauderdale only to wait nearly an hour in the rain for it to arrive. We ate at a seafood restaurant next to the hotel and went to bed early. The next day was cruise time!

Our boarding time had been moved earlier 3 times already but we still had the morning to kill so walked towards Walgreens to pick up a few things, settling on Dollar General when we saw that first. It was hot so we were sweating but happy. We checked out, took an uber to the ship and were ready to go! We checked in, showing our vaccine cards and negative test results, and were onboard. Our veranda room was palatial compared to cabins on our previous cruises and we were ready to relax. We had 48 hours at sea before we'd get to our first port so settled in, explored the ship in search of the best knitting spots on deck where we could take our masks off and scoped out eating options. Let the cruising begin! It felt great to be out of town and in warmer climes. Life is good!

Week 46 - Cat Delivery Service

I started the week with a sore back from all my gardening on the weekend but it only lasted a day or 2 so was super worth it. And I was in full swing by mid-week.

I'm supposed to be working on campus on Wednesdays but the boss isn't bothered if we don't go and this week I had a dentist appointment in Wahoo at 11:00 so it wasn't looking good. Until I volunteered for cat delivery service. When Andrea said she was ready to adopt a new cat (her old cat died 2 years ago), I put her in touch with Becky, the woman who bottle raised my cat Gansey. There was some back and forth and Andrea had gone to pick up the cat and he wasn't "ready" so Andrea left without him. I stepped in and arranged to pick Tiberius up on Wednesday after work so I did head to Lincoln after the dentist.

I started with lunch with Darla at Noodles, which was lovely, and was at the office at 1:00. I had a carrier in my car, which Becky picked up and the plan was for me to head south after work and pick him up at her house. Well, Becky was coming back to campus to work the evening so she delivered him to my car, which saved me tons of time and meant I was home earlier than I'd expected. The cat was a dream on the ride home, despite all Becky's admonitions that he was the worst cat every (Becky was the problem, not the cat) and I got to Wahoo before Andrea was done working. I knitted in the parking lot then followed her home. She set up the litter box and food, let him out of the cage and he was fine. We chatted while he roamed around, exploring the house. All good. Here's a low res pic of Tiberius - a total cutie. Gotta love a ginger.

It felt great to be working from home on Thursday. I truly would be fine with never working on campus again. There are so many reasons but having time to get things done is near the top. I spent Thursday lunch going through papers and finished up that evening, including clearing off the desk, which has reverted to my hot spot since I no longer work from there. And on Friday, I cleared the bar. Yay! I went into the weekend with surfaces clear. I also made a pumpkin pie at lunch. Yup, I love working from home. : )

I can't tell you what I did on the weekend. It was my last weekend before my cruise so there was planning and cleaning for that plus some knitting and streaming, of course. I did finish my sister's Christmas socks so got that crossed off too. All good and in less than a week, I'd be cruisin'! I was feeling good about my progress and had high hopes that I wouldn't be stressed as I got ready to leave. Four more days!

Week 45 - A Quiet Week

I finally had a quiet week at work with no training sessions. And that was even with monthly reports and going to campus on Wednesday for the first of what will be the norm going forward.

Monday was full with monthly reports and on Tuesday my day started with a snag. Normally I check my calendar as soon as I get up but for some reason I didn't on Tuesday. When I logged on at 8:00, I saw that I had an 8:00 meeting that I was already late for and I was still in my nightie. I got dressed in a flash and was only 7 minutes late. When the meeting was over, I went into my bedroom and found the nightie that I'd thrown on the bed had no armpit. My rotten cat, Gansey, had chewed 2 holes in it. Grrr....

Wednesday was the rescheduled donut party for Mary's retirement and I was on donut duty. Not only did I have to be dressed in socially acceptable clothing and be on campus by 8:00 but I had to pick up donuts before leaving town. I made it and the party was fun. Having not seen each other in 20 months, we all went around the room and gave an update. It wasn't an hour after her retirement party that we got an email from the Vice Chancellor saying he was leaving UNL and Mary would be the acting VC until the job was filled. So much for retirement! It was a busy day and weird being on campus so I wasn't upset when my friend cancelled our movie date that night. It felt good to go right home.

And it felt great Thursday morning to not set an alarm and start my work day in my nightie. Going back to campus, even just one day a week, is going to be a slog. I've gotten so used to my working at home routine that working on campus is a huge disruption. Woe is me. I know I shouldn't complain but that's my reality these days. I thoroughly enjoyed working from home on Thursday and Friday and was ready for the weekend.

A warm and sunny weekend was forecast so I would be spending time outside again, which is what convinced me to do a Fremont run Friday night for groceries and a Dollar Tree stop to get bins to finish organizing my yarn. With that done, I was in for the weekend.

It was sunny and reached 70 on Saturday so I spent hours outside getting the yard ready for winter. I started by cutting down the dead sunflowers in the parking and took a load of those to the city burn pile then grabbed BK for lunch. As soon as I was done eating, I started sifting compost. I had some still in the working bin so sifted that into my old wheelbarrow then added the last of this year's soil on top of that. With the bin empty, I decided to start clearing my veg beds and start filling the bin. Then with the big wheelbarrow empty, I dumped all my containers into it and got the pots into the garage. I then drained the hoses and was done. 

Andrea had invited me over for a beer so we sat on her front steps in the sun, chatting and enjoying a cold one. I left when we lost the sun. My lower back was singing with pain so I took a shower, got into my nightie went to bed early just so I could lay down.

My back was still sore on Sunday but quite a bit better. With my yard as ready as it needs to be for winter, I was staying in. I started the day frogging knitting projects that I knew I'd never finish. That felt good and when I was done, I went to the high school to get a take out turkey dinner from the Project Close Up fundraiser. I look forward to it every year and missed it last year when it was cancelled. I only ate half of it but was still stuffed. I did some chores and then went down to my craft room to make a Christmas knitting project bag, which I'd donated as a prize in my Socks from Stash group on Ravelry. I made 2 - one for me since I don't have a Christmas bag. It was dark as I finished them - damn time change.

So now the darkness begins. I'm glad I had a couple of nice weekend days to get things done because once it's dark at 5:00, I find it really hard to get motivated. I need to figure something out to get moving so I don't have a sore back after a few hours of gardening. I need to get busy! Wish me luck.

Week 44 - Prepping for Winter

Well, my mood was still high at the start of the week and it didn't flag as the week went on.

I'd heard from most of the knitters that they couldn't knit on Monday so I had planned to stay home myself but when I called Andrea, she was at the library pinning the quilt we'd helped her lay out the previous week. She had to leave at 6:30 but I wanted to see it so I headed to the library. I wasn't staying there alone but the Christmas decoration sale was starting that week so I got to rummage through the boxes and found some fun decorations to buy. That was worth going out for.

The work week flew by with, you guessed it, yet more reporting classes to teach. I was also slamming on allocations so was super busy. I ended the week with my annual physical and mammogram on Friday afternoon. I had planned to go back to work but had already worked plenty of extra hours so headed to Fremont with Andrea at 3:00. We got to the Habitat Store 10 minutes before they closed and someone had donated an entire fabric stash so Andrea bought it all. Then we hit Goodwill and Aldi then got sushi for supper, which was delicious. And I do like starting a weekend with errands on Friday so I can be home Saturday and Sunday.

After ridiculously warm weather for most of October, the weather was changing on Sunday and we'd have our first hard freeze. That meant I was outside on Saturday. I bring plants inside to overwinter every year, which meant cleaning shelves and repotting plants. I also went through my veg beds, harvesting the last of the produce. I do love fall.

It was dramatically cooler on Sunday, which wouldn't bode well for trick or treaters. I had given thought to having a fire in the driveway but it was super cold and I worried that I'd be out there alone so I opted to stay inside. I turned on the light and spent the first hour doing more work in the front room, which I'd moved furniture out of earlier in the day. Once I had things sorted and the table cleared, I brought in my laptop and watched Call the Midwife. When that was over at 8:00, I'd only had about a dozen kids and had lots of candy left, despite only buying 2 bags. I turned the light off and called it good. 

I don't know if it was the cold, the pandemic or the fact that there were only 3 houses out of the 12 on my block giiving out candy but that was a pathetic showing. I have always liked seeing the kids. Oh well. Hopefully it will be better next year.

Week 43 - A Total Turnaround

The week did not start well. I was in a total funk - sick of work and the crazy amount of training I was doing, tired of the pandemic and just plain over it all. Luckily that turned around as the week went on.

I don't know what the deal is with everyone on campus wanting to come to my training but it feels like all I do these days and it's getting old. My classes were so full plus with full waitlists so I had to schedule my 4th round of classes in 6 weeks. Then I was asked to demo the database I'd designed to help departments and it was scheduled for right after my monthly Ripples professional development, which kind of killed the joy of that because I had to leave early. When my friend Layton called me on Wednesday, I was in a total funk. 

Then I got an email from Holland America late Wednesday. Now I've been getting a couple of emails a week since my cancelled Baltic knitting cruise in May 2020 but I just trash them unread. But this one came up in my preview and I noticed the magic words - vaccinated cruise! I read further and saw that they were not only requiring proof of vaccination but also a negative test 48 hours before the cruise. My interest was piqued and I got chatting with Anne. Long story short, Anne and I were on the phone with the travel agent until almost 10:00 that night and on Thursday we booked a cruise over Thanksgiving week. Yay!

We'll be flying to Fort Lauderdale the Friday before Thanksgiving and will cruise from Saturday to Saturday, hitting Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and a private island. All of these are American so have better access to vaccines than other Caribbean islands. Plus we upgraded to a veranda room so will have fresh air and our own private lanai to hang out on should we feel the need to social distance. And between our cruise credits, free tickets getting there using miles and my Southwest credit going against our flight home, it barely cost anything. Talk about happy! This was just what I needed - something to look forward to and travel that's as safe as you can get during the pandemic. I'm smiling just thinking about it. 

The week just kept getting better! The Ikea wall unit that I'd ordered in August was delivered mid-week and it was a desperately needed rainy weekend so I got busy with that happy project. I put it together on Saturday, having to run to the farm store midway when I broke some of the dowels after I screwed up and had to take it apart and redo it. But I got it up and called it good. I had more fun on Sunday, sorting all of my sock yarn. I put all my indy dyed and better quality yarn on my new shelf, sorting by fiber content as I went. The work horse yarn went into under the bed boxes in my spare room. How's that for a happy project!

What a turnaround - from nearly despondent to happy with a trip to look forward to and a gorgeous wall of yarn that totally brightened up my front room. Life is good!

Week 42 - Helen's Birthday Fun

Despite the gorgeous fall weather finally arriving, it was not an easy week. In addition to yet more training at work (4 sessions), I was stewing on something that kept me up a few nights. The absolute highlight of the week was an afternoon with Helen to celebrate her birthday.

I took Thursday afternoon off and Helen and I spent the afternoon in Omaha. We started at The Cheesecake Factory because Cake! Our table was well separated from anyone else and we talked and talked, far past when we had finished eating. The waitress was lovely and Helen made a point of telling the manager as we left, which was nice of her. After a stop at Trader Joe's, we went to a yarn shop. The best one in Omaha was closed for the day but we made do with another and both found some yarn to buy. With Starbuck's in hand, we drove back to my house for more chatting while Helen opened her presents. It was a lovely day and we need to make the effort to get together more often but life always seems to get in the way.

I was perseverating on something that had me still awake at 1:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. I had already turned the light on and read a couple of times and finally got up and took a benadryl. I got up to let Tot out at 6:30 but it was so chilly in the house that I went back to my cozy bed and slept until 9:30! I then spent the morning on the phone, first with Carolyn who helped me think through what was bothering me, then Deanne, Lori and Dottie. It was 1:00 before I got dressed and I can't say I did much more that day. Oh well.

With my mind at ease, I fell asleep quickly on Saturday night but I woke up hot at 4:00 and never fell back asleep so got up at 5:00 and made an omelet for breakfast. It was a long wait for the sun and there was no CBS Sunday Morning so I called Ginny early and then headed to Omaha to Lori's. We were going to have lunch and knit on her patio. We had a lovely time, joined by one of the neighborhood girls she had recently taught to knit. Lori needed to leave for yoga at 3:00 so I dropped donations at Goodwill then grocery shopped. It was another nice afternoon, which I needed badly.

So I ended the week with my mind more at ease and looking forward to enjoying the fall weather. Here's a happy autumn picture from my deck. The bright woodbine is a volunteer that I think I'll let grow for its lovely fall color. But more important is the English ivy that has finally taken off. This was my third attempt to transplant ivy from the house I grew up in in Rhode Island, which originally came from my dad's parent's house in Providence. I had planted some when I first bought my house but ChemLawn came to the wrong house and killed it with what they sprayed. I'd tried again a few years later but it didn't survive. Third time lucky! I think this is the 4th year from when I planted it and it's finally thriving, which makes me happy. I'll take it. Now to see if I can encourage it to grow on the railings instead of across the floor. : )

Week 41 - Campus and Covid

After a super productive weekend, I was ready for a good week ahead. Hmmm....

I should have been suspicious when one of the regular, as in comes every week, knitters didn't show up on Monday. I'd seen her on Saturday and she hadn't mentioned anything and when I called her from the library she didn't answer. I emailed later and she responded Tuesday morning to say she had woken up with a cold and didn't want to share germs. OK. After teaching a rare morning class, I had lunch in the park with Lorri at lunch and didn't give it much thought.

I was working a full day on campus on Wednesday, not because I needed to but because I had errands to run. I had made plans to eat lunch on a bench with Dodie and somehow offered to bring my regular grab and go from Mocha C's for both of us. So not only did I have to set an alarm, get dressed, make up my thermos and be out the door by 7:15 but now I had to pick up lunch, which I ordered at 7:00 when they opened and picked up before heading to Lincoln. I was at the Library Commission just before opening (had to knock on the door) to drop the book club books and was at my desk just after 8:00. Not bad.

I have to say that despite enjoying lunch with Dodie and going to the Union Starbuck's with Lana that afternoon, absolutely nothing made it worth the effort of going to Lincoln to work. I'm expected to go back every Wednesday as soon as our new office is ready - probably early November. I am NOT looking forward to it at all but guess I will have to suck it up and cope. Oh well..

I trained on Thursday afternoon (my 4th class in 2 weeks - where are all these new employees coming from?) and it was over capacity but I was hoping to get out early enough to head to Fremont to get a Covid booster. I did get out on time, registered online and headed north. I picked up a few groceries, got my shot and used the $10 gift card (totally unnecessary considering it's my 3rd shot so I didn't need the bribe) toward my groceries. I was feeling pretty good and hoping for no side effects but it I had them, it would be on sick time on Friday. Ha!

I heard from my friend on Friday that it wasn't a cold but rather Covid AND SHE HAD BEEN IN MY HOUSE ON SATURDAY!!!!! I looked it up and the 48 hours before symptom onset is when someone's most contagious, which is when she was in my house. I started freaking out, not for myself but worried that if I had an asymptomatic breakthrough case, I might have passed it on to my 80+ year old friend I'd had lunch with on Tuesday. Or my younger but just as dear to me friend who I had lunch with on Wednesday. I called my doctor's office to find out where I could get tested, put in sick leave and drove to Lincoln, where I got a test in a tent behind the mall. I drove through Panera for my favorite salad (had to get something good out of my 3rd trip out of town in as many days) and went home to wait for results.

I had no plans for the weekend so hunkered down and did a tiny bit of cleaning and lots of cooking. I made bread pudding, banana bread and roasted tomatoes from Connie's garden to make red sauce, which was a first for me since I never get enough tomatoes from my garden. Somewhere in the middle of all this, I got my results - Negative! I was so relieved. Even as vaccinated as I can possibly be, I'm still scared of Covid. I drove some of my cooking over to my Covid cootie friend, dropping them at her door and running.

Now I was free to leave the house but did I? Nope. I spent Sunday morning on the phone, did some chores and started cooking again. This time was egg roll in a bowl, an apple pie using mostly the apples Nan had given me from her friend's tree (mystery variety) to take to knitting and a small quiche with the extra pie dough. I had to stretch a single crust recipe to get the extra crust for quiche because I was out of flour. And when I called my friend Lorri to ask when she was going to CostCo again (she gets me the 12.5 pound bag of King Arthur unbleached a couple of times a year), she told me that she had gone to the mall in Lincoln a few hours before me on Friday getting a Covid test herself (nothing to do with lunch with me) and she was negative too. Happiness all around.

So it was not as relaxing and normal week as I'd hoped for but I made it through and there's another week coming. I have high hopes for this one. : )

Week 40 - Driving and Home

 I was up and out the door before 7:00 on Monday and despite gas in the Black Hills being 50 cents more per gallon than farther east, I filled up in Sturgis and headed out. After getting past Rapid City, it was clear sailing and a completely deserted highway. I stopped at every single rest stop to pee but otherwise didn't stop until Mitchell, which is halfway home. I bought a pumpkin at the Salvation Army thrift shop, got a frapuccino at Starbuck's and settled in for the long second half. I had intended to stop in Sioux Falls but I-29 south bypasses the city so I ended up in a tiny town mid-afternoon getting BK because it's all there was. I got to Fremont around 5:00, hit Aldi for a few groceries and was home in time for supper. I must be getting old though because I was absolutely exhausted. Sleeping on an air mattress at Connie's might have had something to do with that though. I didn't have the energy to get back in the car to go to knitting so just unpacked and ate dinner.

Tuesday was back to the grind and I had a full training class that afternoon so had barely gotten caught up before I was teaching. I had a couple of zooms on Wednesday and taught again on Thursday then Friday was the first of the month so was full with deans reports. Talk about a week that flew by!

Book club was Thursday night and there was a bit of a snafu getting the books. I had planned to work on campus Wednesday but that didn't happen so I tried to find someone to pick them up but ended up arranging to have someone who lives in Wahoo but works at the Library Commission bring them. Then he forgot them on Wednesday but they arrived just before we met at 7:00 on Thursday. We discussed The Authenticity Project, which I had read in May. I liked it and we had a good discussion. 

I had nothing planned for the weekend, which was just what I needed. By Saturday afternoon, I was ready for a project. I had recently found the list I made when they first sent us home to flatten the curve, when I thought we'd be back to work in 6 weeks. Despite it being 1.5 years since then, most of the list was not done. 

The thing I decided to tackle was the cupboards under the bar. They had been badly organized since I bought my house 22 years ago. I pulled everything out and culled a bunch of stuff I never use. In the middle of all this, a friend stopped by and came into my house, which is a rarity these days since I don't have people over. The kitchen was a wreck with piles of stuff on every surface and on the floor. She took a few things that were destined for donation and left, after which I put everything back in better order. Now the things I use most are on the top shelf. Yay!

When I was done with that project, I did something I haven't done in ages. It was only possible because I was reading an actual book instead of on my iPad. I made a cup of tea and sat on the deck and read. It was SO enjoyable and I was reading a great book that my cousin recommended - The Rose Code about code breakers at Bletchley Park during World War II. Between the gorgeous weather, the tea and a great book, I was so happy. What a lovely day!

I was up early on Sunday and had all my chores done early. I had a few errands to run in town and then ran to Colon, a town 6 miles north of Wahoo, for their annual roast beef dinner. It was $15, which was up from 2 years ago but I get 2 big meals out of it and it's a fundraiser so.... I was back home and eating lunch by 11:30 so decided I should keep going on cupboards. I started with the cupboard above the bar, which has glass on one side. I culled bunches from that too and rearranged it so my pretty china is showing nicely through the glass. With that done, I decided to get out my step stool and do the way high up cupboards, which were chock full of crap. Most of that went into the donation boxes and I ended up with some empty cupboards. It felt great to slog though it all.

So after starting with a LONG day of driving, I had a quick work week and a super productive weekend. Now if I can keep the productivity going. I hope so. The cooler weather is an inspiration so at least that's going for me. : )

Week 39 - South Dakota Bound

I was leaving for my annual visit to Connie's on Friday so the week flew by. Beside making lists and getting little things done here and there during the week, Wednesday was the bright spot.

I got a call from Lori that she would be in town for a hair appointment so we made plans for a late lunch and I ran to get our regular Chinese food - broccoli and rice - because Lori's a vegan. It was a quick lunch on the deck but nice none the less. Then I had a professional development zoom with Paul of Ripples fame at 2:00. I always look forward to those. Then it was back to my to do list after work. I finished everything up Thursday and was ready to go.

I was taking a different route to Connie's just to mix it up. I was going via Wayne because I wanted to hit Thrift Warehouse, which Andrea and I have shopped at before. Alas, I didn't buy a thing and the other thrift shop in town was gone, replaced by a shop full of things with words - mugs, wall hangings, etc. Blech! After failing in Wayne, I failed thrifting again in Yankton, which has a nice downtown that I'd like to explore sometime. Then it was on to Mitchell, where I got Starbuck's before hitting I-90 for an 80 mph blast across South Dakota. I stopped at the river town of Chamberlain to get gas and hit a thrift shop, where I finally found something - yarn from New Hampshire and a couple of nice masks.

I was at Connie's by 5:30, which wasn't bad since I'd stopped so many times along the way. Connie made pasta for supper with sauce from her home grown tomatoes and we spent the evening chatting and catching up.

Connie had to give a presentation at Custer State Park (the other side of the hills from where she lives) at 1:00 on Saturday so we had protein for breakfast and then headed east. We stopped in Rapid City for some shoe shopping (Connie found some cute ones on clearance) and the we stopped at Starbuck's for her free birthday drink. That didn't go well. There was a huge line at the drive thru so we went inside. My drink came right away but Connie's didn't and after waiting as long as we could and getting zero satisfaction from the barista who said they had to prioritize the drive thru and not even her birthday would get it made sooner, we left without Connie's latte. Lame!

Her presentation was in a tent and did I mention it was 90+ degrees? There were only 4 people there so I sat at the entrance where there was a little breeze and knitted while she talked. We attempted to do the art festival at the park but it was just too hot and all western stuff (it was the governor's buffalo round up event after all) so we headed to Hill City and grabbed a burger in a little cafe because we were pretty hungry by that point. We went into a couple of shops but found nothing and then headed home via Needles Highway, which winds through the southern hills and is gorgeous. That night we watched Come From Away on Apple TV and I absolutely LOVED it. It's exactly the kind of musical I like and I'd put it up there with A Chorus Line. Now I want to see the play live.

Our plan on Sunday was to drive up Spearfish Canyon - one of my happy places - and go wading at Roughlock Falls - definitely one of my all time favorite things. The canyon was gorgeous, as always, but the falls was packed. We couldn't find parking and Connie wasn't willing to wait a minute for the people who were leaving so no wading for me. I was not happy with her impatience and had to talk myself out of a pissy mood. We then went to Cheyenne Crossing, a cute little restaurant at the top of the canyon, which was packed to the gills. I put our name in and we were about to give up when the hostess asked if we'd be willing to share the big table with 2 other parties of 2. We've had good luck with this in the past so happily agreed and had some good conversations over our lunch, which was breakfast for all of us.

After lunch, we went to Lead for a bit of shopping (I found these fun Scandinavian fabric panels - love them!) and then to Chubby Chipmunk for truffles. I was getting a big box for Cindy (she'd put in an order), a couple for Andrea as a thank you for feeding my cats and of course some for me. 

Connie had thawed rib eyes so went home for dinner and Hamilton. The steak was not the best and then I absolutely hated Hamilton. It's exactly the kind of musical I abhor - all singing with no spoken words. Phantom, Les Miz and now Hamilton. Ick! Thankfully we stopped watching it and then started Hacks with Jean Smart, who just won an emmy for it. It was so good that we stayed up late and binged the entire series. Watch it if you have HBO.

It was a late night since Connie had to work the next day and I like to get an early start since I lose an hour driving back. And since she had to be zoom ready at 7:00, I packed and got as ready to leave as I could before bed. It was a fun weekend but I wasn't looking forward to the drive home. Oh well. That's what happens when your friend moves 500 miles away. Worth the effort for sure.

Week 38 - The Big Itch

I woke up Monday morning with itchy legs. I chalked it up to having weeded in a dress on Sunday, put on some lotion and didn't give it another thought. That was not going to be the case later in the week.

I woke up Tuesday with itchy legs again and this time I had to do lotion and hydrocortisone, which was WAY out of date. It was pretty itchy and was further up my legs so I called and made an appointment with the only doc who had an opening. Of course by the time I got there at 1:30, the rash was 95% gone but at least I scored some of the Rx cream I used to put on my eczema - with refills. He told me to keep taking benadryl at night, which I'd been doing to help me sleep anyway. 

I woke up Wednesday with no sign of the rash and went along with my work day. When I went to bed that night, it didn't even dawn on me to take a benadryl. OMG! I woke up Thursday with not only out of control itch but big, red welts all the way up my legs. The itch was CRAZY so I called in sick, took a benadryl and went to bed. I woke up before lunch and the rash was completely gone. What? I worked that afternoon and did a quick Omaha run after work to pick up fan parts (I'd broken a ceiling fan blade trying to kill a mosquito with a broom) and some groceries at Aldi. I absolutely took a benadryl that night and continued to for the rest of the week. Sheesh!

I was going away the following weekend so spent this weekend at home cleaning, cooking and getting ready to be gone. The garbage disposal I'd ordered from Amazon had come and now I needed my fan worked on so called Ed to ask him to think of fitting me in sometime soon. The weekend was not only productive but I spent a chunk of time on the phone with friends. All good. I had a 4 day work week coming up and then fun with Connie so it was good to be caught up. And no more rash after Thursday's flare up. I'll call that a good end to a weird week. 

Since I don't have any other pics for the week, here's a pair of socks that I finished. I mostly worked on them during zoom meetings. They're orange so of course are for me. Perfect for fall. If it will only get here!

Week 37 - Labor Day Fun

I'm sure I say this every time there's a Monday holiday but there's nothing wrong with a week that starts with a day off. 

Rene was coming over for lunch so first thing up was to clean up the deck. It had months worth of leaves and the table was covered with a layer of gunge. An hour later, everything was neat and clean and the new cushions were on the chairs. I had told Rene I'd order a pizza but with all the veg from my garden and the stocked fridge from my Omaha run, I decided to cook. I made sausage and peppers (from Lorri's garden) and caprese salad with my tomatoes and served it with my favorite asiago cheese bread from HyVee. We had ice cream sundaes with my peanut butter caramel sauce for dessert. It was getting hot by mid afternoon so we spent a few minutes sawing up branches then went inside to the AC and knitted and chatted the afternoon away. It was a lovely end to a long weekend that was both fun and super productive. I need a few more like that this fall.

I spent every evening outside finishing up more weeding and dealing with the last of the branches and by Thursday I was done. My body was done. I was still covered with cuts and bruises and now my whole body was sore. It was time for a break. I rewarded myself with a pizza on Thursday night after taking my last load of brush to the city burn pile. I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend, especially because it was going to be hot again. I woke up feeling tired and dumpy on Friday but made it through the work day. 

I had nothing pressing on the weekend so pulled a bin of mystery yarn from my stash and started bleach testing. Every time I got up, I put snips of 3 different yarns in little cups of bleach. 100% wool completely dissolves but nylon, which is in sock yarn, doesn't. Since I mostly knit socks, I was hoping that some of the yarn would have nylon and quite a bit of it did. 

I can't say I did much beyond testing yarn and the bare minimum of chores that weekend. I did a tiny bit of weeding Sunday night but didn't even cook so would be scrambling the next week. I did get the recharge time that I needed though. It was going to be another hot week coming up so there'd be more sitting and knitting in my future, which would leave me fully energized for more gardening when it cools down again. I'll take it.

Week 36 - Finally Some Gardening

It was only my 2nd week of work since my vacation but I was already looking for more time off and with Labor Day weekend coming and finally some cooler weather, I put in for Friday off. The 4 day work week, which included the 1st monthly reports of the new fiscal year, flew by. All good.

I started Friday by cleaning the house and getting errands done. My thinking was that I wanted my mind clear so I could dig into gardening. I took Tot to the vet where they told me she is allergic to the enamel on her own teeth and would need ongoing cortisone shots. Really? The vet said it's not uncommon. If she stops scratching at her face and eating better, it will be worth it. I had all my errands run and the house in decent order by mid afternoon and that's when I headed outside.

I started in the front cutting back the volunteer sunflowers that had taken over the parking (the strip between the sidewalk and street for the non midwesterners) but with the loppers out and that done, I started in on the crabapple tree. It had never been the same since the guy in the wheelchair hacked it up a few years ago. I started at the bottom and got busy taking out the entire lower level of branches, using just a 6 inch pruning saw and loppers. I went in for some dinner and then was back outside past dark finishing up. Sometimes you just have to go with whatever inspires you.

I was right back out there Saturday morning. I cleared up the branches and started in on the enormous yew, which I'd left to grow out after I took out the other 2 in hopes that it would show some new growth. It was time to cut it back to where that new growth was starting and see if it fills in next spring. I took load after load of branches to the city burn pile and had cut up some smaller branches to burn in my fire pit. There were some bigger branches to saw into logs and Rene was coming with her chain saw on Monday to do those. By the time I finished all that, I looked like I'd been through a war with cuts and bruises everywhere. But it was all looking good and I felt great about what I'd gotten done. Here's the before and after.

With all that done, I headed to Omaha on Sunday for some much needed grocery shopping. My first stop was Trader Joe's, where I got the Greek chick peas with parsley and cumin that John had turned me onto in Rhode Island. That's why I did Omaha instead of Lincoln because the Trader Joe's is closer. I stopped at my friend Lori's for a bit and then hit HyVee and Aldi. I had a scare between those 2 when a big praying mantis appeared on my dashboard right in front of me when I was driving 50 mph down Maple Street. There was nowhere to pull over so I kept my eyes on him as he swayed side to side and stared me down. At one point he flew up the the visor. I screamed. I pulled over as soon as I could and it took 2 tries but I got it out of the car. Talk about adrenaline! I ran through Aldi and headed home with more groceries than I've bought at one time in years.

So all and all, it was a great long weekend and I still had Monday to go The cooler weather was a balm to my soul and it felt great to be able to start gardening again after losing so much of the spring gardening season due to my knee, which was doing absolutely fine even with all the heavy work. Yay! So even though I missed the post-vaccine pre-delta variant window of freedom, I guess it was still worth it having my knee done. I have the entire fall to look forward to with a fully functional knee and my gardens to get back in shape. Life is good!

Week 35 - Fighting the Pissiness

So, it was no fun being back to reality and with every passing day, I was getting more and more frustrated with the whole Covid mess. I had long ago given up on trying to speak reason to the anti-vax people in my life but as the delta variant ramped up more each day, I was getting pissy. My go to mood was now pissy and I had zero patience with anything - not just Covid - and had to fight it at every turn. Not good.

I did have a couple of bright spots in the week. I had to go to campus because I needed 2 screens to test a new reporting program so drove in over lunch on Wednesday, stopping at Panera to get my favorite salad. After I tested the system, I met with Sheila, one of the accountants, in person. That was novel. Then I went to the movies with Tammie. We had to wear masks and the theatre was only 1/3 full but it felt pretty normal. It was nice to see Tammie again too.

On another positive note, a huge box of sock yarn arrived in the mail. I'd found a posting for 7 pounds of sock yarn on Facebook Marketplace for only $30 but it was pick up only in St. Louis. I had posted on my monster sock group in case anyone was near there but a week later, it was still for sale. I asked the seller if she'd be willing to ship if I paid and she said yes so I paid $65 for the lot including shipping. There were lots of almost full balls and leftover bits too. I kept about 1/3 for myself and shared the rest with my knitting group. How fun is that! And such a deal. Not that I need more sock yarn, I know. At least I shared and I'll take all the joy I can get these days.

I learned a new British term that perfectly described my weekend - faffing about. I spent the weekend puttering around doing this and that. There was some cooking with squash from my garden, streaming, knitting... the usual for another blazing hot summer weekend, which I'm SO over. Fall cannot get here soon enough for me.

Week 34 - Back to Work

Back to work. At least fiscal year end mania was over but my beach week had gone way too fast.

After catching up on Monday, I had scheduled a spit test on campus at 5:00 on Tuesday because everyone had to have a re-entry test in order to go back on campus. I needed to food shop anyway so going to Lincoln worked. I scheduled the test at the spit hut by Darla's office so met her and we hit Goodwill (found nothing) before I headed to the market. It's always good to see Darla.

The rest of the week was the same old working from home routine, with a zoom training class (I taught it) and a big zoom meeting about testing a new system. It was still hotter than blazes so I found myself downstairs quilting again. When I looked back, I'd started my crumb quilt exactly a year ago after getting through fiscal year end and coming back from the beach. So apparently that's my quilting time. I was pretty obsessed and would quilt at lunch and then again after work. By the end of the week, I had made more than I had all last year.

Saturday was spinning in Fremont and we did some dyeing, which was fun. I did manage to slip and knock someone's jar off the table which made a total mess. Oh well. I went to Nan's after spinning and we chatted over Crabby's, which I'd picked up on the way. Then I hit Goodwill and Aldi before heading home.

Sunday was chore day - I really was back to the normal grind. At this point, I was counting down to fall and pretty desperate for cooler weather. And until it arrives, I'd be quilting in the basement. At least there's that.

Week 33 - My Beach Week

Monday was not a beach day. It was overcast and since we were waiting for John's Covid test results, we laid low all day. There was boggle on the deck and John did a bunch of meal prep and cooking so we were totally relaxed when John's negative results came in. We went for a drive to the other side of our salt pond and had yummy grilled chicken for dinner. We were all relaxed now and ready for some beach weather.

Carolyn came Tuesday afternoon and we headed to the beach. John had taken his morning walk so he stayed at our base camp while Carolyn and I walked the entire beach. It was my first long walk with my new knee and it did just great. John and I went swimming and then it was home for a shower and dinner on the deck. It was a nice day.

Auntie Margaret and Bette were coming at 1:00 on Wednesday for a visit so we headed for Wakefield to pick up some snacks and festive beverages. It was great to see them and after nibbles and chatting, Bette wanted to get in the water so she and I rolled up our shorts and walked around the pond. It was nice to get some cousin time while Auntie Margaret regaled John with stories of her childhood and my dad. They left mid afternoon and John and I headed to Aunt Carrie's for an early supper, which was delish. I was disappointed that they didn't have my favorite coconut custard pie but we got ice cream and walked down to the shingle beach, which felt like old times. Nice.

Thursday was a full day but more for John, who had plans to meet a friend in Wakefield before his Covid test, which he needed because he was flying to Scotland on Saturday. I enjoyed a morning of knitting on the deck. I had planned to call Sharyn but had left my wallet and phone under the car seat the night before so that was out. Deanne came down and we headed to the beach, which I'd never gone to with her before. After walking the beach, of course, I was pleased to hear that Dee was a swimmer so we had a ball in the water before heading back for dinner. John's friend Nancy from high school came for dinner so the four of us had fun. The week was flying by.

Friday was our last day. Carolyn came down for another beach day but the tide was in so we weren't able to walk the entire beach. Otherwise, it was a perfect beach day. John and I had plans to go to his aunt's in Newport for supper after hitting The Christmas Tree shop, where I scored some stocking stuffers for my sisters to go along with the ones I got at Job Lot earlier in the week. Nice. It was warm in Jean's house but dinner (Thai food) was yummy and we chatted with his cousin Mel and her husband. It was a nice end to the week.

We had to be out of the beach house by 10:00 Saturday so started doing some packing when we got home Friday night and were up early finishing on Saturday morning. We gave a bunch of food to Vivian, our trusty next door neighbor, packed the car and were out exactly on time. We stopped at John's uncle's house for a visit then went to Carolyn's to offload groceries and have lunch. I had time to kill after John left to return the rental car and get the train to Boston. Carolyn's dining room is my happy place so I enjoyed a couple of hours with Carolyn before she took me to the airport. I had a nice, tight itinerary so would be home just after 9:00 pm.

And then the delays started. The trip from Providence to Chicago was on time and uneventful but there was an hour delay on my connection. Then it was another hour then another. We boarded the plane 3 hours late and then sat waiting for paperwork. Well, that took so long that the pilot timed out and couldn't fly more that day, which meant they had to fly in a new crew. They were letting people off the plane but there was a sleeping kid in the next seat so I didn't get off. Little did I know we'd be sitting on the plane for 3 hours! I was so antsy by the time we took off that I was pumping my legs and twirling my ankles, neither of which helped much. I did manage to doze a bit, which was good because I didn't walk into my house until 3:00 am, which was 4:00 RI time. Sheesh! I took a shower and went to bed. Exhausted!

I slept until 9:00 because the cats had gone out in the wee hours so didn't wake me up. I had a blazing headache that lasted all morning but by the afternoon, I was able to unpack and do load after load of laundry because I had 2 sets of sheets from the beach plus a week's worth of clothes. It felt good to be home and despite my troubles getting home, it was a lovely week. Also, I got a $100 credit from Southwest so that was nice. That's why I always fly Southwest.

Week 32 - Slamming and Relaxing

Well, there was payback for the break in year end meetings last week. Not only were there meetings one after the other all week but I worked 12.5 hours on Monday. I have a huge spreadsheet that I have to download, format and create formulas galore on and I had thought I'd go to campus to do it. But after working all day, I decided to get it done so did it from home on Monday night. Yes, I skipped knitting. Shocking, I know.

I made time between meetings on Tuesday for a Ripples zoom and then made sure I could leave for my last swim of the season on Wednesday evening. I slammed on year end stuff until 4:40 on Thursday, when I finished the carryforward entry for Mary. Then it was time to do some laundry and pack. I'd already done some packing during the week but it was time to finish and get the last chores done - changing cat boxes, emptying trash, etc. Because I was flying to Rhode Island on Friday morning.

Friday's travel was completely uneventful. I was at the airport with time to spare, my flights were full but on time and Cornelia picked me up at the airport on Friday at dinner time. Corn was flying to Denver Saturday morning so Friday was her only option to see me and Carolyn had invited her for dinner. We had a lovely time eating a nice meal and then chatting. She didn't stay late but it was great to see her.

John was taking the train from the city on Saturday so Carolyn and I were on Trader Joe's duty. Worried about crowds, we were there at 9:00 a.m. but it wasn't crowded at all. Finding the uber specific items on John's list took some time but we had the food back to the house and headed off for pedicures, my first in 2 years, at 11:00. From there we went to the Crow's Nest and I got my favorite fried clams for lunch. Delish! I even had some time for tea and knitting in Carolyn's dining room - my happy place - before John arrived. Nice.

John arrived later than he thought (issues with getting the rental car) and I screwed up. Apparently I'd told John we'd eat at Crow's Nest on our way south so I happily went back, this time getting a lobster roll. Yum! With full bellies, we headed south towards our beach house, hitting Stop & Shop for more groceries on the way. There was unpacking of groceries and clothes, making of beds and generally getting settled. It felt great to be back on Potter's Pond and I went to bed happy.

When I woke up on Sunday, John was on the couch and didn't look happy. His NYC Covid app had pinged him to say that on Thursday he'd been within 6 feet of someone who tested positive for more than 10 minutes. The kicker was, he had been home all day and only saw a single person in the laundry room but not close up and not for more than 10 minutes. Since it's based on proximity of cell phones, he figured it was someone in the next apartment. But just to be safe, he scheduled a drive thru Covid test so off we went. It was cloudy and spitting rain on and off but we walked around Wickford and had lunch at an outside table, confident that the ping was a mistake. His test came back negative the next day, of course, but what a way to start our relaxing beach week. Even with this start, I knew the coming week would be fabulous. Just to be playing Boggle on our deck overlooking the salt pond felt like heaven on earth. Hey! I think it just might be.