Week 51 - Last Full Week

It was a busy week, both at work and at home, and the last full work week before break. Needless to say, it flew by.

I started the work week with 3 zoom meetings on Monday morning. Then I got the long overdue unemployment bill so that started a flurry of allocations, which take a chunk of time. I had zoom meetings on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday on top of our 3X/week team meetings. I think everyone was trying to finish things before Christmas and lots of people would be burning vacation time next week so this week was crammed full. And I jam packed my Wednesday on campus too.

We were having another party but this one was for our door decorating contest. Cindy, Lana and I were on deck for it all again. We were doing Christmas cookies and a hot chocolate bar for most of our building. I was in charge of cookies so had recruited bakers and made 2 kinds myself on Tuesday - brownies at lunch and Scandinavian almond bars after work. I loaded up the car for another busy day on campus.

We set up the conference room in the morning then I went to lunch with Dodie at our new place - Bison Witches. The door party, which started at 3:00, was a success and after we cleaned everything up, I had to bolt because I'd scheduled a shingles shot at CVS at 5:00. $215 and a sore arm later, I headed home for the 3 hour Survivor Finale. It wa a long but fun and productive day.

We had more weather but this week it was RAIN! We're 9" short on rain this year and I can count the rain we've had since May on 1 hand so it was wonderful to hear the rain on the roof when I woke up Tuesday. It rained most of the day and we got >1/2", which we desperately needed. I had book club Thursday night, which was rescheduled because of weather last week, and we had a great discussion. The next book is my pick - The Perfume Thief by Timoth Schaffert, who teaches at UNL. I've read most of his books and am looking forward to reading this one, which takes place in Paris.

I was busy right up until the end of the day Friday and when I zoomed with Cindy, she started working on me to go with her to a funeral. Our friend Nora's mother in law had died and since Cindy is related to her, she was going and wanted company. Betty had been to a couple of my July 4th cookouts back when I hosted them and Cindy laid the guilt on thick so by the end of the day, I'd agreed to go. It was in Cedar Bluffs (a small town 15 miles north of Wahoo) at 11:00 and the deal was that I'd go if we could go to Fremont afterwards for an Aldi run. 

After my Saturday morning chats with friends, I found some corduroys to wear and Cindy picked me up. Nora was happy to see us and we chatted with her during the lunch afterwards in the church hall then headed to Fremont. Before Aldi, we hit Thriftology and they were having a $5 bag sale so I filled a bag with all kinds of goodies, including a Christmas gift for my sister for Christmas 2023. Score! Then we did our Aldi run before Cindy dropped me back home. Despite her guilting me into going, I was glad that I did.

I didn't have many chores to do and did a quick clean up first thing in case Lorri stopped after church (she didn't) so had the entire afternoon to relax, a.k.a. stream and knit. The upcoming week was a short one and Lacey had made Wednesday on campus optional so I was in for the duration. We had some frigid weather coming so I was happy to be home with a fully stock larder ready for Christmas. Less than 4 days to go and before the ever blissful winter break. I'm so ready! Here's a picture of my little tinsel tree in my front window. Happy holidays!

Week 50 - All the Packages

It was a festive week that started with a party and then it was packages, packages and more packages. It was all the Christmas hussle that's early December when I'm staying in Nebraska so have to ship all my presents. I was ready.

Monday was our office Christmas party - a brunch in a room near campus - and Lana, Cindy and I were on set up duty. I had loaded some stuff into the car on Sunday and had another pile by the door so I could get to campus on time Monday. And I did. After offloading some stuff in the office, we headed right over and got the room all set up and decorated before everyone arrived at 10:00. The party was fun and by the time we broke it all down, it was noon. I drove to UPS to drop off my sister's huge package (I'd tried before work but they weren't open yet) so my first package was on its way. Yay! I went to Aldi after work so was late to knitting but now I was home for the rest of the week. Nice.

The rest of the week was packages. Every. Single. Day. My aim was to be done by the weekend so it was all about wrapping, packing, printing postage and a mix of post office drop offs and scheduling pick ups. The smaller ones were easy (socks in an envelope mostly) but my last big one went out on Saturday and like that, I was done!

The rest of the week was fine. I trained 2 afternoons, which always makes those days fly, and we had some weather on Thursday - rain that froze when the sun went down so we had to postpone book club. Better safe then sorry. Then somehow I pulled a muscle in my back while pouring coffee on Friday morning. It was near my left shoulder blade and was pretty uncomfortable. My boss told me to take the afternoon off and not to feel guilty so I did. I spent 3.5 hours on a heating pad and it made a big difference. I was adult about it and declined to go to Fremont with Andrea that afternoon. Bummer but I didn't want to make it worse because I had things to do on the weekend.

With my last package waiting at the back door for pick up that afternoon, I started Saturday morning chatting with 2 friends, ran some errands and got BK for lunch and then it was time to decorate my tree, which had been up but naked all week. I always watch It's a Wonderful Life so got that streaming and then decorated my tree. After some light issues, the ornaments didn't take long so I knitted through the rest of the movie and then enjoyed some eggnog in the dark with the tree lights on, which is one of my favorite things at Christmas.

The next day being Sunday, I had chores and cooking to do. I made a pie, meatballs and cabbage casserole so was all set for food for the coming week. Clearly it was time to knit and I did, getting up and down all day to fiddle with the tree. 

I was feeling good about things and with the packages all sent and everything decorated, it was time to start my not going to Rhode Island pre-Christmas relaxation mode. There would be lots of knitting and watching vlogmas videos on YouTube (these are daily podcasts by knitters showing their holiday prep and knitting and I totally love them) to get me in the spirit. Ho ho ho!

Week 49 - Brimming with Festivity

The week started in November but somehow I was already feeling pressure to get Christmas stuff done. Probably because I'm not going to Rhode Island, yet again - 3rd year, and so I have to get packages shipped early and it felt like Christmas was coming fast.

Getting the parking cut down on Sunday was a good thing because by Tuesday morning, it was flurrying. It didn't amount to anything but made it feel extra cozy when I made a blackberry/apple pie and potato ham puff (using up the last Thanksgiving potatoes) that night.

Wednesday was an on campus day and our mission was to decorate our doors for the 2nd annual door decorating contest. Our plan was to tape over our door, with a socially acceptable decoration on the outside with a hole in the middle to stick your head through. This is what you saw on the non-PC inside view. We called our door Christmas in the Rear View.

The festivity continued after work when I met Darla for dinner of hot beef sandwiches at Virginia's Cafe before heading to Menard's. They had more trees and smaller ones too. I was able to get a nice 5' Fraser fir for <$50. Yay! Then I got home to find a package of the Christmas yarn I'd ordered and I immediately cast on fun socks. Are you surprised? 

On Thursday, all my fave knitting YouTubers started their vlogmas posts. If you aren't familiar with this, starting on December 1st, it's a daily video of their life and knitting as they prepare for Christmas. I started watching these in 2020 (my first pandemic Christmas) and it's become a tradition. I watch a few at lunch and a few more after work each day. I get a peek at other knitters' Christmas prep and it's especially fun to see the British ones.

There was one downer in the week and that was at work. We'd heard that there would be a return to work announcement mid-November and we got a heads up that it would be coming out on Monday (early December - fail!) and the gist of it was that everyone had to come back to campus 50% of the time. Damn! Not 40%, not 60% but 50%. Of course I was cranky since I'd happily never set foot on campus again but I guess I should just be thankful that I got to work mostly at home for 3 years. We won't need to do the 50% until spring and after stewing for a bit, I decided I would do Monday, Wednesday and every other Friday. Any vacation time I take, and I'll have to start taking 2 days/month when I hit the max in my vacation pot in January, will be on those Fridays. Sheesh! But back to festive....

I started wrapping presents on Saturday, while watching Die Hard (yes, it's a Christmas movie). My goal was to have Dottie's package, which is huge because it has tons of thrifted yarn along with her stocking stuffers, ready to drop at UPS on Monday. It was fun to start wrapping and I made meatloaf so the oven was on, making it toasty and warm.

Lorri stopped by after church on Sunday and presented me with a bag of bulbs to plant. Luckily it had warmed up some so I dug another 6" out from my bird's nest spruce bed in the backyard and planted them immediately. And since I was outside, I cut the bottom of the inside tree and put it up in my back room. Naked but up. I'd decorate it later. I then went downstairs and ironed the vintage tablecloths I'd washed and hung on the line (they'd be part of the decorations at our holiday party) then made a drawstring bag that Carolyn had requested. My sister Dottie called at some point so I asked about which yarns she could use from my stash because her box wasn't full with the thrifted yarn. I ended the day getting her box packed, taped up and put in the car. 

Good week, right? It was only December 4th and I already had my biggest package ready to go and all the materials ready to wrap the rest. I had vlogmasses to watch while I wrap and my tree was ready to decorate. I would have plenty to do in the coming week but it was still early enough so as not to stress. Ho ho ho!

Week 48 - Thankful for Motivation

It was a wonderful week with a only 3 work days (and those punctuated with time off), a nice Thanksgiving, a fun Omaha run and outside productivity to end the week.

I had 2 more doctor appointments - my annual physical (she didn't push statins - yay!) on Monday and my eye appointment on Tuesday. That made for quick days and then we got out early on Wednesday. I was happily baking a blueberry pie at 3:00. I had spent lunches neatizing and cleaning so was ready for Thanksgiving on the cleaning front.

I started cooking as soon as I got up on Thursday. Anne was coming early so she could get home for some game or other but I wasn't cooking a whole turkey so it wasn't bad. I made stuffing (first time outside a bird), mashed potatoes (Anne's fave), Brussels sprouts (best veg ever!) and roasted sweet potatoes. We had a nice lunch in the sun in my back room then watched Spirited, which was fun. I had just enough light after she left to get everything cleaned it and it was time to sit and knit. It was a nice, quiet Thanksgiving.

I finished slogging through all the yarn on Friday, which felt great. With the early start the weekend before, I was done with My break project 2 days to go so I called Lori and scheduled an Omaha run on Saturday. I hit Trader Joe's before meeting Lori at our favorite yarn shop, where I was such an adult - only buying the 2 things I went in for. Then we went to Lori's for an afternoon of knitting, chatting and tea. After a stop at Aldi, I stopped at Menard's, where I had planned to buy Christmas trees and had even emptied my trunk and put the seats down for easy loading. 

I only get 2 small trees - the cheapest Scotch pine for the deck and a small 4 or 5 foot fir for inside. Nope. They had no small trees and and the prices were CRAZY. It would have cost me $130 so I drove away. I went by the farm store on the way home and they had even fewer and for the same price. I drove by SunMart, our little market in Wahoo, and they had 3' pines in a stand (meant for a table top I'm sure) so I bought one for my deck and would wait to figure out an inside tree. Was it time to go artificial? Not my jam but it might be.

Saturday had been the better day for working outside but the yarn shop isn't open on Sundays so that made the decision. With colder weather coming, I was determined to work outside on Sunday despite it being gloomy and chilly. The one yard thing that had to be done before snow flies is cutting down the perennials in the strip between the sidewalk and street. If I leave them up, they act like a snow fence and snow dumps on my sidewalk. So that was first on my list. It didn't take too long and I was able to load up the brush in my car and take it to the city burn pile. I also put up my cute deck tree ($30 well spent), my holiday flag and decorated pots at my front and back door. With that all done, everything outside was ready for Christmas and winter. Nice. 

I ate the last of my Thanksgiving food on Sunday and made a big pot of soup for the next week. What a great week and Thanksgiving break! Got my last 2 medical appointments done, had some good food and time with friends plus got lots of things done. If my upcoming Christmas break is half as good, it'll be a good one. But before then, I have packages to get ready. That's next on my list. Wish me luck.

Week 47 - My Sore Thumb

My November medical stuff continued unabated and I got several other things crossed off my list plus had some fun. Same stuff different week maybe?

I had a dentist appointment on Monday morning and since I still have to take a huge dose of antibiotics before dental appointments because of my knee and not wanting a repeat of the yeast infection hell from my last appointment, I had 2 doses of diflucan ready to take - 1 with the antibiotics and the 2nd 3 days later. So I was protected for yeast infections but had digestive issues that not only lead to bad indigestion but also some funky blood test results. At least this should be my last round of antibiotics since I'll hit the 2 year mark before my next dental appointment. Unless another molar explodes but let's not go there.

My thumb was still giving me fits and by Wednesday morning, my entire had was swollen. As usual, I was packing my Wednesday with stuff so started the day with a fasting blood draw at the student health center in preparation for next week's annual physical. Immediately upon getting to my desk, I went into the patient portal and requested the earliest possible appointment to get a shot in my thumb and was thrilled when they called 10 minutes later with a cancellation at 10:45. I juggled a couple of meetings and headed there, meeting Rene in the parking lot (her gym is right next to my ortho doc's office) to hand off the birthday cake I'd made for Anne's birthday dinner scheduled for that night at Rene's. After picking up lunch at Whole Foods, I went back to the office for a full afternoon of zooms and meetings then it was on to Rene's.

Rene had recently moved into a new house and was hosting Anne's birthday dinner and giving us a tour. Her house is cute and has a great yard with raised beds already built, which was the major thing she wanted in her new yard. She made dinner and I made dessert. We chatted after dinner and despite no ingredients that would explain it, I had the worst indigestion I've ever had. I had an old tums in the car so took that when I left, took another when I got home and got up a midnight for another. I'd been so worried about getting another yeast infection that I gave zero thought to the fact that those antibiotics killed all my good gut bacteria. Luckily I was back to normal (I rarely have stomach issues) by Thursday morning. But the blood draw I'd done that morning also had a couple of odd numbers due to those darn antibiotics. Ready to be done with those!

Remember my vow to just so NO in November? Well I forgot about that and sent an email to Andrea suggesting a ridiculous itinerary for Saturday morning before our 1:00 spinning meeting in Fremont. It involved going to Omaha for Trader Joe's, a fiber event and a yarn shop all before noon so we could then drive to Fremont for 1:00. Crazy! Within hours of sending it, I realized how nuts it was and told Andrea as much. Then when Saturday arrived, I didn't even want to go to spinning. I was hemming and hawing when Andrea reminded me that spinning is not mandatory so I sent an email bowing out. But could I just relax and enjoy the newly free afternoon? Nope. 

Feeling guilty, I decided to start the spare room project, which had been my plan for Thanksgiving break. I pulled out tote after tote of yarn, pop up bins of yarn, random containers of yarn - are you seeing a pattern here? The front room was now FULL but I could see the floor and bed in the spare room so I was calling it progress. 

I did do some sorting on Sunday but only after spending a big chunk of the day on the phone and even facetiming with my Canadian friend, Eileen. We hadn't talked in ages so that was a treat. I also had chores to do (mostly laundry) and went to the cookie sale at St. Wenz to get some homemade Christmas cookies for tea next week. So not much yarn got sorted but with everything pulled into my spare room, it'd be waiting for me come Thanksgiving break. Good thing Anne and I were eating in the sunshine in the back room.

So it was another good week with another medical appointment crossed off, no yeast infection, a fixed thumb (I was able to knit a bit on Thursday night and was fully functional by Friday) and the next week was a short one. Add the start of my spare room project and I'd call it a banner week.

Week 46 - Too Much Knitting

Yes, that title is real. I actually did too much knitting and paid the price but there was plenty of fun before that.

There were a couple of fun food events. Nan hosted a Friendsgiving for the Monday Night Knitters so with pumpkin pie in hand, we headed to Fremont. The food was delish and we chatted for hours after dinner at her dining room table, not leaving until 9:45, which felt even later with the darn time change. Wednesday was a grilled cheese food day at work, which was something we'd never done (Ben's idea) and was a big hit. Our group was doing the grilled cheese (I bought the butter) but I made brownies too because I like to bake. It was all good.

I taught on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, which always makes for a fast week. I then took 2 hours of vacation on Friday afternoon to do an early Fremont run with Andrea. We had fun at our usual stops - The Restore, the new thrift shop we'd discovered on Main Street, the Estate Dispersal Store, Goodwill and Aldi. It was well worth the 2 hours of vacation time, especially because I'll be hitting maximum vacation in January so will have to take 2 days/month or stop accruing, which will NEVER happen. I might as well take some hours here and there while the weather isn't cold so I'm not taking it in the dead of winter.

With my errands all done, I was happily home all weekend. I made mixed fruit chutney, which is the key ingredient to one of my favorite sandwiches - ham, cheddar and chutney. I make a batch every other year and it's a great way to use the last of the garden tomatoes and any other fruit I have. This year I cleaned out little bags of frozen berries and used up apples along with the last couple of tomatoes and dates and raisins. Yum! On Sunday, I made a project bag for Anne's birthday with Christmas kitty fabric I'd bought especially at Missouri Star on our recent road trip. All in all, a good weekend, except for the too much knitting.

Having sorted my sock yarn leftovers a few weeks ago, I was excited to cast on some new monster socks on Thursday over lunch. The Grocery Girls (my fave knitting podcast) were live and I knitted away my lunch hour and went right back to it that night, spending hours knitting monster socks, which are my favorite kind because... using things up, which is my favorite thing. With all that knitting, my thumb started acting up. I had last had a cortisone shot in May before my Faroes trip so clearly that had worn off. I switched to crochet thinking that would use different muscles but by the end of the weekend, my entire wrist was sore. Not good. Clearly I'd need to stop knitting. Yikes! Maybe there would be another shot in my future.

So that was my week. Fun, productive and painful. Getting old is not for wimps but better than the alternative. 

Week 45 - Mammograms and Mums

Before Covid, October was my month to get all my medical stuff done but it was all delayed during the pandemic so most things moved to November. Except my mammogram.

I had scheduled it for Halloween afternoon and other than having a new tech who seemed to lack confidence, it was quick and easy. Then I got a phone call saying I needed to go back for a diagnostic mammogram. With only one option available, I cancelled a much needed haircut and took the Thursday afternoon appointment. Now I'm not a worrier but hearing you need a second mammogram does give one pause. I had trouble concentrating on work Thursday morning and had to wait a bit before they took me in that afternoon, only to have the usual tech tell me I was there for calcifications. I thought my head would explode.

I've had calcifications in my right breast for years and they've been well documented. I told the tech that and she went out to tell the radiologist but still came back to do more ouchy squishing. Yikes! The radiologist, who ended up being the sister of someone I work with, did a good job of explaining the calcifications and told me they were fine and I didn't need to come back until a year out. So, complete and utter waste of time, worry and money. I'm going to fight the charges. What's the point of having my mammogram at the same place every year if they never look at the prior ones? Useless!

Otherwise, the week was fine. I didn't do Halloween - going to knitting at the library instead since so few kids trick or treat in Wahoo anymore. I got one final walk in at the lake on Tuesday after work and went to a movie (God's Creatures - a moody Irish film) then grocery shopping after work on Wednesday. All good.

The weather was due to change and there was a chance of rain on Thursday night so I spent the week prepping to plant some of the mums I'd had for fall decorations. This entailed watering 2 spots in my beds to soften up the rock hard soil, which I did every day until I planted them on Thursday after work. We did get 1/2" of rain overnight, which is more than we've had had in ages, so they got watered in. I hope they make it through the winter.

It was cold and dreary on Friday, as forecast, so I made a cozy lunch of mac & cheese and then spent the afternoon looking up dead people in SAP. Yes, that's a thing. It was perfect Friday afternoon work and it was 5:00 before I knew it. The weekend had begun.

It was warmer on Saturday and I spent the day puttering - doing chores, knitting and giving some love to all the plants I'd hastily brought in before the freeze a few weeks ago. The clocks went back but you can't reset a cat so I was up on Sunday even earlier than the clock change warranted. Darn cats! This left me tired but I survived. I had my last mow of the year and the gutters cleaned, which meant hanging outside with Tim while his son worked. After lunch, I headed downstairs. I had to make a Christmas project bag, which I always offer as an October prize for my Socks from Stash group. I'd bought fun, vintage Santa fabric on our Missouri trip and I was pleased with how it came out. Cute, right? Then I made a pie to take to Nan's on Monday for the Friendsgiving she was hosting.

All in all, it was a good week. I'll adjust to the time change and don't really mind that it'll be dark after work. All the more reason to hunker down and get cozy. I'm ready!

Week 44 - Walking in Daylight

It was my first quiet week and I was excited to have a free weekend but before then, I had some busy evenings.

I was keenly aware that the clocks would be falling back soon so planned to take advantage of the light after work and that started Monday. I walked to the library for Monday Night Knitting and then bummed a ride home with Nan. Less than a mile but steps are steps.

Despite vowing to not make plans, I had suggested a few week before that Lorri and I go to a Nebraska Statewide Arboretum event at the new hotel on campus after work on Tuesday so we'd bought tickets. I picked Lorri up and we arrived 5 minutes before the event was to start. Not even started yet and most of the food was gone. We did manage to find seats inside the bar but clearly there were many more people than could fit inside so people spilled outside, where there were benches around fires. Unfortunatelly they opened the doors, which were right behind our table and it was cold outside. Then there was no sound system so despite being only 12 feet from the speakers, we couldn't hear. Add the $18 we paid for a glass of wine and a small beer and it was a total bust. LAME.

As usual, I made the most of my Wednesday on campus. I bought a thumb drive to backup my laptop when I did my morning Starbuck's run, had a lovely lunch with Dodie at Bison Witches, which we've declared is our new spot, and bought new slippers and cookies after we were done eating. Nice. Then I hit Super Saver for a big produce stock up after work and was home and in my jammies for Survivor. Way to maximize my on campus day.

Ben asked me to zoom at the end of the day Thursday and I got a new project for Mary, which I worked on all day Friday so the day flew by and it was time for my weekend at home. At 5:00, I head off for another walk at the lake, which was a lovely way to start my weekend.

With the whole weekend in front of me, I had endless possiblities to choose from on Saturday so, of course, I played with yarn. Cindy had given me a set of plastic drawers that had been languishing in the basement for a long time so I brought it up, gave it a good clean and sorted all my leftover sock yarn into the drawers by weight. It was a happy chore. Then I frogged (knitting lingo for ripped out) a pair of socks that wasn't working for me and immediately started another pattern with the same yarn. I worked on them on and off over the weekend and they flew off the needles. I finally watched the newest Downton Abbey movie Saturday night and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The weather was dreary on Sunday so I didn't get to enjoy knitting in the sun all morning. But dreary was perfect for cooking so I got going, clearing out the fridge and making blueberry pancakes, roasted tomato sauce with some of the last produce from my garden, a loaf of bread for sandwiches, banana bread to have with tea and steak and rice for supper. 

All in all, it was a perfect weekend and just what I needed. I am looking forward to more of these in NOvember, when I will be saying NO to any social obligations so I can stay home and recharge. And with one more week before the clocks go back, I hope to get some more walks in too. It's good to have a plan. : )

Week 43 - Last Busy Week

Like most of this month, this week was busy and ended with a mini road trip. All fun but after weeks with no downtime, also exhausting. I do hope this is my last busy week for awhile.

I took Helen to lunch for her birthday on Monday. I don't see enough of Helen so it was fun to catch up over Mexican food. I got DQ after knitting that night, which is always a treat. All this made for a nice start to the week.

Monday was also Boss' Day but since we wouldn't see Ben until Wednesday, I had volunteered to make Twix cookies, after learning last week that Twix was Ben's favorite candy bar. I'd found a recipe online and had bought a bag of Twix at Aldi so was good to go. My plan to make them at lunch on Tuesday was thwarted when I saw that the dough had to be chilled for at least 2 hours, which the recipe specifically said should not be skipped. I put the dough in the fridge and waited until after work. They were a total pain to form (should have formed them before chilling) and then the caramel made it hard to get them off the sheet. But it was only in the 40's so having the oven on felt good and I put homemade pizza in as soon as the cookies were done. Yum!

The cookies were a big hit on Wednesday and a bunch of us were going to Tico's for magueritas and nachos after work so I had that to look forward to. I decided to skip lunch, eating leftover pizza at my desk, so I could leave at 4:30 but that made the afternoon drag. My solution was a visit to Dodie in her new office, which broke up the afternoon nicely. Tico's was fun and with a belly full of nachos, I was home in time for Survivor. Another nice day.

I woke up Thursday feeling, as my mom would say, punk - low energy and mood. I wondered how I could call in but I don't do mental health days (I feel too guilty) so logged on at 8:00. It didn't take long for me to decide to use vacation time to take the afternoon off. Knowing that made it easier to get through the morning. After eating my weekly grab and go for lunch, I cleaned up all the pans from my cookie baking then headed downstairs to make some project bags. I had the idea to make Halloween project bags for my friends but the 1st one was a total hack job and I fixed all my problems with the 2nd bag but it wasn't big enough. Done with that. The afternoon was very restorative so worth the 4 hours of vacation time.

Friday was busy at work and the day flew by. When the clock struck 5:00, I put on my sneakers and headed to the lake, stopping for birdseed at Bomgaar's on the way. I downloaded a pedometer app (didn't know about iHealth) and spent the next 45 minutes walking across the jetty and back. Just shy of 2 miles and nearly 4k steps. Not bad and a great start to the weekend.

Saturday was a fun day. I picked Andrea up at 8:15 and we headed to Lori's in Omaha for a mini road trip with her and her cousin Michelle, who used to knit with us.After driving through Scooter's for coffee, we did the 3 hour ride to the Missouri Star Quilting Company in Hamilton, Missouri, arriving at noon. There are a dozen or so different shops, each one specializing in one type of fabric. We shopped the first few then went looking for lunch but every restaurant we tried was closed so we ended up at the only open one, which was a toy store/tea shop with a seriously limited menu. It was yummy and they brought our food out on multi level plates. We then finished the rest of the stores, which are an entire side of one block, with shops upstairs too. We finished right at 5:00 when they all closed. We'd all found fun things to buy and headed north towards Lori's, eating scones Lori had made in the car. I was home at 9:00, had a bowl of cereal and went to bed.

I slept until 8:00 on Sunday, which is late for me, and then had a relaxing day. The weather was nuts again - high 80's and very windy. I believe we broke a heat records set in the 1800's, so I spent the day hiding inside where it was cool. I talked to my sister, knitted, of course, and caught up on my blog while watching podcasts on YouTube. I cobbled together meals that didn't require the oven (too bad I just ate the last casseroles from the freezer) and settled in for an evening of PBS. 

So my month of weekend commitments is done and I'm happy about that. Everything I did was fun but I'm ready to hunker down and get some stuff done in the house. We have 2 more weeks before the clocks change (why are we still doing that?) so I plan to get more walks in after work. It's a nice way to end the day and I need the exercise. Here's hoping I actually do it because talk is cheap, right?

Week 42 - Fun in Fremont

This was supposed to be an off week without commitments but you know me - when something fun comes up, it's hard to say no. But the work week was pretty quiet and I made more progress in the house before my busy weekend.

Like I said, it was a quiet week. Work was extra quiet when we arrived to find that none of the accountants were in, having come in Monday instead. I had lunch at one of the dorms with Jennifer, who used to work in Accounting before they were sucked up by Central Administration and moved across campus. I got some yarn that I'd ordered awhile ago from the UK - gorgeous! The weather was crazy - back in the 80's and so windy once the fall temps came back that I had to hang my laundry in the basement for fear that it'd blow off the line. Sheesh!

My going through stuff mojo was still strong so I spent several evenings in the kitchen annd back room. I cleared off the chest under the side windows, inventoried the freezer (I'd done the basement freezer a few weeks ago but not upstairs) and made a dent in the crap that always collects on the bar. Not bad. Just a bit more to go through to finish the back room.

Saturday was the first ever Gallery Walk in downtown Fremont and Heidi, Andrea and I were going. Heidi was heading to Omaha afterwards so met us at the Restore, where Andrea bought a mid-century modern record/hifi cabinet and I found a few goodies. Then we headed to Main Street. There was a map of all the locations with art, some of which was paintings and such but some was musicians, and if you got 10 stamps on your map, you got a free drink. We had fun shopping all the stores, where I got some fabric scraps for my crumb quilt and quite a few stocking stuffers. Nice. We ate snacky things along the way - cookies, mini muffins, popcorn and such - but ended the day with a free beer at a brewery. We'd bumped into Nan and her husband so they joined us outside for beer in the sun. After a trip to Aldi, we headed home. I was starving and had nothing ready so ordered BK from the car for supper. 

I was up in the wee hours unable to sleep and with most of my chores already done, I was ready to veg on Sunday but that was not to be. We were having a killing frost overnight so I had to deal with my plants. I overwinter geraniums and lantana each year so had some decisions to make. I spent all afternoon setting up shelves, repotting plants and picking the last of my garden produce. I was also saving some geraniums from planters at the library so drove there to dig those up. I was exhausted by the end of the day but my plants were all safe inside and ready for winter.

I'm ready to hunker down myself. The weather has been all over the place lately but I have high hopes for a nice fall and some time at home. I only have one more event in October and then can be home for the long haul. Sounds great to me.

Week 41 - Stromsburg Spinning Retreat

It was a nice week with quite a bit of socializing during the week and then was capped off with our annual spinning retreat, which this year was at Spindle, Shuttle and Needle yarn shop and wool mill in Stromsburg. But before I get into Saturday, here's what went on during the week.

One of the things I found when sorting through my death pile last week was a stack of recipes that I intended to write into my keepers recipe binder, one of which was Firecracker Brownies. We'd had a brownie bake off in the office years ago and my old supervisor from my HR days had brought these, which were his mom's favorite brownie recipe. They didn't win but I thought they were the best entry so had asked for the recipe, which he gave me on paper. Ick. Anyway, when my friend Lorri asked me to come to lunch at her house on Tuesday, I offered to bake these. They were delish and we had a lovely lunch on the deck but it got me thinking. 

I worked with a woman named Lila at Brown and her brownie recipe has been my go to for decades. Since I wanted to compare them to the Firecracker Brownies, I made a pan Tuesday night and brought them both to work to have people do a taste test. Well, it was totally inconclusive with votes split pretty evenly. I left with a plan to combine the 2 recipes because I prefer using cocoa but also wanted less sugar. I'll share the results when I get to that.

Here's the recipe for Lila's Brownies if you want to try them.

2 squares baking choc

1/3 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

½ cup flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp vanilla

½ cup chopped walnuts

 

Put butter and chocolate into microwave to melt. Beat eggs into sugar until creamy. Add melted choc/butter and mix. Add in rest of ingredients and mix. Pour into greased 8x8” pan and bake 25 mins at 350.

After the brownie taste test, I had a nice lunch with Dodie at Bison Witches, which is going to be our new lunch place. Yay! I heard from Honda that my rebate was approved and then went to Aldi after work. I went home for Survivor and enjoyed tetrazzini, which was my last casserole from the freezer, with wine for supper. It was all delish but I don't know if it was too much rich food in one day or what but I was up in the wee hours puking. : (

On that note, let's move onto spinning. Since I was going to Stromsburg for the retreat, I decided that I should take the sheep fleece I had in the basement and have it spun. I had gotten it years ago from one of the ITS programmers I worked with whose dad was a meat sheep farmer who had no use for the fleeces. I had prepped some of it years ago and it was worthy of spinning but I have no plans to spin anytime soon so called the mill owner to ask about options. When I found out she could blend it with nylon so I could use it to knit socks, I was in. I was afraid of what I'd find but when I pulled the bag out from under the basement stairs but it was fine. I spent lunch hour on Friday sorting the poopy bits out and ended up with a big bag of yarn to drop off. It won't be ready until February but I'm excited to get it. I'll have fun dyeing it with Kool Aid for sure.

The actual retreat was fun. Janet came to my house and Andrea picked us up. We stopped for coffee at a wonderful, little coffee shop in Osceola and got to Stromsburg right at 10:00. Other spinners were late so we were delayed getting started dyeing but I spent that time choosing yarn, sock of course, to buy from her shop. We did a bunch of dyeing using all different techniques, walked down the block for a yummy lunch at the cafe (burger and tots - my fave) then went back for a tour of the mill. After a stop at the grocery store on the square, which has all kinds of fun Swedish items, we headed home. It was a long day but fun and look at the fabulous yarn I dyed!

Sunday was a catch up day of chores and cooking plus some knitting on my cousin's birthday socks. I'd been on the lookout for a baker's rack to use in front of my slider this winter for overwintering my plants and starting seeds. I found one on Facebook, contacted the seller and drove to Cedar Bluffs to pick it up. It was perfect and even folded up. The trip there and back only took an hour so didn't take too big of a chunk out of my day. Totally worth it

Fun week! Baking, yarn, friends... all good. And I have several pounds of yarn to look forward to this winter. Maybe it'll be ready to make it a birthday trip to Stromsburg but that's a long way off. I hope you are all enjoying the cooler weather as much as I am. Happy fall.

Week 40 - Goodbye Death Pile

Am I the only one with a death pile? What I mean by that is a stack of paperwork and such that is long overdue for dealing with yet sits untouched. Well I had a doozie of a death pile, that was a mix of current stuff and ancient. And now it's ALL DONE.

There were some big deal items in there - the Honda rebate for my bum transmission in spring 2021 that I'd never submitted and a year's worth of medical bills to get reimbursed for from my flex account. Dealing with both of those meant $3k more in my checking account. But there were also lots of little things including a URI sticker I'd had since 1994 that is now on my car window and a couple of articles I'd clipped when I still living in RI (I've been in Nebraska since 1996) that I sent to a friend. Those are just examples but there was lots more. I plugged away at the pile and when I mailed a package at lunch on Friday, it was officially done. It was a huge relief and a load off my mind. Yes, I know I am an idiot for letting that stuff wait so long. Oh well.

The week started with skipping knitting on Monday to go to a tax meeting at the school, which was prompted by the fact that my house taxes will be 40% higher this year based on a higher valuation and a tax hike. Well it was a complete waste of time because the budgets that caused the increase were already submitted and the various presenters didn't answer any questions so it was just taxpayers complaining to people who offered nothing. I feel bad for the people who will be hurting because of the higher taxes, which is the last thing anyone needs in this economy.

But the week got better from there. Before tackling the death pile, I had a nice time at work on Wednesday at the all employee picnic after the service awards. The weather was gorgeous and I saw all kinds of people I hadn't seen in ages. After work, I went to Cindy's to teach her husband to knit, which he took to immediately. I hung out with Cindy and had a nice supper and chat after Dave left for choir. 

I spent the weekend slogging through my bedroom. I had baskets of clothes that had been on a chair since I washed them a the beginning of lockdown. Yes, 2.5 years ago. I went through the basket, most of my drawers and the closet, ending up with 2 bags of clothes for friends and 2 big bags of donations. I dropped those off in the Peoples City Mission drop box on the way to Colon (yes, that's the name of a town in my county) on Sunday for takeout of their annual roast beef dinner. I spent the afternoon finishing up chores and then knitting this cute candy corn hat that will go in my donation pile.

So all in all, it was a banner week for getting rid of stuff and getting things done. One of my mottos in life is "Gone is Good" and this week was filled with that. I need a few more of these spurts of energy to finishing sorting through the rest of the house. 2 rooms done and 2 to go. Upstairs that is. I'm saving the spare bedroom for Thanksgiving break so next up will be the family room. Wish me luck.

Week 39 - Connie's Birthday Trip

What a difference a week makes! I was a mess the previous week and had to face a few more hot days and the queen's funeral but everything got better on Wednesday.

I got up early on Monday to watch the funeral but not early enough. I guess I did my time math wrong because by the time I tuned in, the service was over and they were on the streets. I watched for a bit but gave up well before work started at 8:00. I thought I'd see some of the service at some point but never did find it. Oh well.

It was 101 degrees on Tuesday and we broke a record. As you know, I'm SO over the heat and wrote this summer off but breaking that record broke the heat too.

We woke up Wednesday to actual fall weather. At last! Since I had the AC on until then, I baked a banana cake for work and frosted it Wednesday morning before driving in. I also fed all of the feeding stations (Anne had asked me to cover hers) so was a bit late. Nothing new there. I had lunch with Layton and Steve at the Chinese buffet that was one of our standbys pre-Covid. I thrifted after work and found a bunch of yarn for Dottie then went home to the Survivor premiere. Now that's a good day on all counts. Yay!

I normally go to Connie's house in the Black Hills for her birthday every year but with her daughter and her family living with her, we had a plan B to meet in Sioux Falls, which is the only city roughly in the middle. It's a longer drive for Connie so I was only taking Friday afternoon off and we'd meet ~3:00. I had an audio book ready to go and hit the road right at noon, arriving on schedule and just a bit before Connie.

On my flight home from Rhode Island in August, I watched an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and they did Sioux Falls so we planned to hit several of those. Connie was starving after her drive so we went to an early dinner at Urban Chislic. It was delicious and a nice start to the weekend. Ice cream at a local dairy shop finished off our night.

After a lackluster hotel breakfast Saturday morning, we walked to Starbuck's for good coffee then headed to downtown Sioux Falls for shopping. It was fun going into all the shops, which I haven't done in years, and I found a few stocking stuffers. We wanted to eat at Bread & Circus for lunch and were told it was walkable but what a LONG walk. We shared 2 sandwiches - chicken (delish) and tuna melt (not so much) - and fries, which were delish. We then walked all the way back to the car, stopping at a couple of shops so it didn't seem as long. Then we headed to Falls Park, where we got our feet in the river. I ended up with a muddy butt but it was totally worth it. We ended the day with an Ethiopian meal and antiquing. Lovely.

Since Connie would lose an hour driving home (she lives in mountain time) and had a longer drive, we were leaving pretty early on Sunday. But first we went to Look's Marketplace for a yummy breakfast then hit Aldi before heading back to the hotel to check out. I was on the road before 11:00 and home at 2:00. This left me time to unpack, do laundry and even catch up on the last Ken Burn's holocaust episode. 

It was a wonderful end to a great week. Cooler weather at last and a fun weekend with Connie. It doesn't get better than that. And despite having been all over Sioux Falls and in some beautiful locations, we took the only selfie of the weekend in the hotel parking lot. It's a great picture of great friends so the background is irrelevant. : ) 

Week 38 - Hot and Cranky

The title says it all. The weather was blazing hot and I had to put the AC back on in September! Nope. Add that to finding out the Chancellor had nixed shutting our building down for the HVAC redo and I was super cranky.

There were a few bright spots though. I still don't like going in on Wednesdays but the only benefit is seeing people, which I did in spades. I had a lovely lunch with Dodie at the new bagel shop by campus and then met Darla at Goodwill after work. I didn't find any yarn but chatting our way through the store was fun. After a stop at Aldi, I went home for the new season of Handmaid's Tale. But the best thing was it was going to be cooler overnight so I was able to open the windows before bed.

I was working on the new course fee process at work and after having to reverse the first load, I got it done on Friday morning. I celebrated with a thrift run to the Senior Center Thrift Store over lunch, where I scored a bunch of vintage fabric and linens. I continued celebrating with wine and chips at 5:00 then watched the first episode of the new season of The Great British Baking Show, which is one of my favorite shows. The weather may not be cooperating but at least the new fall TV is starting. Shetland started this week too.

There was a slight chance of rain in the forecast for the wee hours Saturday but I woke up at 3:00 a.m. to pouring rain and it was almost 1/2" by the time it ended. We need every drop we can get. Saturday was spinning at Danielle's and she was serving us lunch. It was a fun time and Andrea needed something in Fremont so we drove there for Goodwill, Aldi and Staples. I found a new laptop to replace my ancient Windows 8 one. They didn't have it in stock but gave me the info to order. The icing on the cake was going to Todd's in Cedar Bluffs to split a burger for dinner. Of course there was Vanilla Bean Blonde beer to go with it and tots. Yum!

My plan for Sunday was to reclaim my front room but before that, I headed to St. John's in Weston for a to go chicken/ham dinner. I'd never been to St. John's but as is typical with church dinners, there was enough for several meals. The front room wasn't in horrible shape and I got it all put right after lunch. It felt good to have it done and then I divvied up all the food and put the chicken bones in the crockpot to make some stock. You've got to love the fall church dinners in Nebraska.

So the week wasn't a total loss but the hot weather seems unending and there's some even hotter weather coming next week. Cooler weather has to get here eventually, right? Here's a picture of my front room, all shiny and bright. At least there's that.

Week 37 - Goodbye Queen Elizabeth

Monday was a holiday and Heidi hosted knitting in her yard, which was lovely. But the blazing hot weather was really getting me down. I was also still not over my yeast infection so things were not all good.

I tried to get a doctor's appointment on Tuesday but the phone lines were so busy that I couldn't get through. The nurse called me back and the earliest they could get me in was Thursday. I thought I'd go crazy by then so ran to the pharmacy where I bought the last Monistat kit in Wahoo. Luckily this 3rd round of meds finally did the trick so I cancelled my appointment and called it done. About time!

On Wednesday, the team all dressed drab in gray shirts and black pants just to poke me for a comment I'd made the previous week. Team work? The good news was we were told there was a good chance that the HVAC in our building was going to be completely replaced and we wouldn't have access to the building for 3 to 6 months starting in January. Hallelujah! That was great new and if they said 3-6, it'd be 6-9 for sure so I was stoked. Now for it to actually happen.

Thursday was a sad day after hearing about the queen. I was a big fan and spent the entire night glued to the TV watching the coverage. I cast on a pair of tribute socks to honor her because socks are what I do. The color isn't accurate in the picture (it's bright yellow) but you get the idea.

After several days in the 90's, a front came through Friday afternoon and finally brought some fall weather. And to top that, I woke up to rain Saturday morning. We're in extreme drought in Nebraska and this was only the 3rd rain since spring. I was thrilled. I was outside weeding as soon as it stopped and did some more on Sunday, which was a top ten day. I took a carload of brush to the city burn pile. Add that to the wood I'd taken to Heidi's burn pile on Monday night... gone is good. 

I hope this is the beginning of cooler weather and some progress in the yard. This summer was awful and I'm ready for fall in a BIG way. Here's hoping...

Week 36 - Goodbye Weed Trees

It was nice to be home! My body didn't get the message though. Not only was the yeast infection not gone but I had eczema all over my hands and zitts like a teeanager. Seriously? I called my doc and got some meds, which would hopefully get me feeling better soon. And it rained overnight! First rain we'd had in weeks. Only 1/2" but it's better than none.

The tree people called to say they'd be coming on Wednesday. Perfect! After a tragic Q&A session on the toolbox I'd deployed before I left where no one asked any questions, I headed outside after work on Tuesdasy to cut up the half rotted sides of my old raised beds that needed to be out of the way for the tree people. I had hoped they'd take them but they couldn't so I needed them to fit in my trash can. It was hot work but I got it done.

Wednesday was a lonely day in the office with Cindy out (her brother in law had died and the funeral was that day) but I took Dodie to Heoya for Korean BBQ at lunch and then made a beeline home after work to check out the trees. These pictures are from the back of the garage, which shows the difference best. My deck is now baking in the sun but I'll get an umbrella and my veg beds will be much happier. Life is good!

After eating out of my freezer since getting home, it was time to do some cooking. I went to the tiny Wahoo farmers market and bought some eggplant then went home and made sausage and peppers, tabbouleh and cuke salad for dinner. It felt good to be eating my own food.

The tree people came by to say they had an opening and could prune my crabapple Friday morning, which I wanted to be home for. So I headed outside for an hour and directed them on what to cut. They filled a 20 foot trailer with all they cut off. It will never look as good as it did before the guy in the wheelchair hacked it up but it's much better. Lacey had given the word first thing in the morning that we could stop working at 3:00. Nice. Then a front came through and the temperature dropped. How's that for a banner start to a long weekend!

I had some football ticket drama first thing on Saturday. The people who buy my tickets were at my door at 8:30 needing tickets for the game. I didn't have a clue where they were, thinking maybe they'd gone to my office, so took my laptop to the deck in my nightie (!) and managed to transfer the tickets to her phone. After they left, I went through the stack of mail on my counter and there they were. I fessed up and dropped them at their house when I went out for BK at lunch. My bad. Andrea and I were headed to Omaha for an afternoon of knitting on Lori's patio. It was lovely and we hit Aldi on the way home. 

Sunday was eggplant day but first I chatted with Carolyn and my sister then cut and salted it all. After I rinsed and dried it, I did all the floors, which were a mess before the cats spent a week inside. I stopped for tea and Sharyn called. How nice was that! When we hung up, the frying began. I made a huge 9x13 pan so will eat it until I'm sick of it then freeze the rest. Yum.

So all in all, it was a good re-entry week. Work went well, the weather was cooler and my yard has been transformed. Now for real fall weather - I'm talking sweata weatha - so I can get more done in the yard. Some rain would be nice too. : )

Week 35 - Odd Beach Week

I had some medical issues that put a damper on my week but it was still a beach week so it was still good.

It was full on raining on Monday morning but I wasn't going to let that get in my way. It was too much for the awning so I dragged out the base and umbrella and sat under that for more knitting. I had packed all my WIPS (work in progress socks) and was perfectly happy working on those while watching the rain hit the water. I made BLT's for lunch and we did a Job Lot run to Wakefield afterwards. 

My sister, who was in town from South Carolina, called to tell me that they'd flown (the last I'd talked to her, they were still planning to drive after being delayed by getting covid bad (unvaccinated - duh!)) and so didn't have a car. She'd arranged for Bob's daughter to drop them off at 7:30 on Wednesday and pick them up after work. Um.... NO! Who in their right mind would think that's appropriate at all? Crazy. I hung up, conferred with John and called her back. I would take John's car, pick them up and take them to dinner that night. MUCH better. It was average food, good dessert and any pleasure at seeing my sister was offset by her husband's presence. Family. And on that note, I'd spoken to my cousin, who said that my Auntie Margaret pretty much doesn't leave the house these days so having them come down to the beach wasn't going to be an option. Bummer.

John went for a bike ride on Tuesday morning and, you guessed it, I sat at the picnic table and knitted the morning away. He picked lunch up on the way home and then Cornelia came by after a hair appointment. It was wonderful to see her, as always, and then John and I headed to Newport to see his family. After drinks with his aunt and uncle at the yacht club, we met the rest of his family for Thai food. John and I went to The Christmas Tree Shop, which is one of my favorite stocking stuff places, afterwards but I bought nothing. I had a bout of gastric distress there so was happy to head home. We looked for ice cream on the way but everything had closed early (a dreary Tuesday at the beach doesn't give you many customers) so we got some at the grocery store and went home to eat it.

Carolyn was coming for a beach day on Wednesday and in typical Carolyn fashion, she wanted to be at the gate at 9:00 when they opened. I set an alarm and was ready to go at 8:45. John didn't join us but said he might later. We walked the beach, which is always lovely, and then sat in our chairs chatting and reading. It was too windy to have the umbrella up so I took it off its post and tipped it sideways with it only partly covering me. By 1:00, I was ready to go home and take a shower. John picked me up and that's what I did. Carolyn stayed until 4:30! John made chicken and sweet corn for supper. It was a nice day but I was feeling off and by bedtime, I was miserable. I had a yeast infection from all those antibiotics and I was a mess. I couldn't fall asleep and contemplated waking John up to get the keys and drive to Walgreens but eventually I fell asleep. Sheesh!

I was a total mess by morning and asked Deanne, who was coming for the day, to stop and get me some drugs. I got the one day dose and had high hopes for a quick result. We went to the beach after lunch (the parking lot was full so Dee dropped us and drove back to the cottage then walked back) and let me tell you - when we went swimming, I was not a happy camper. Things did start improving as the afternoon went on though (yay!) and I volunteered to walk back and pick Dee and John up. Two of John's friends were coming for supper (skirt steak salads) and by then, I was able to sit more comfortably. I had high hopes that I was on the mend.

Friday was our last day and our only plan was to have lunch at Aunt Carrie's. We got there to find that they were only doing take out but we could take our food into the restaurant. We had clamcakes and chowder and I was happy that they had coconut custard pie, or so I thought. When we got home, it was coconut cream pie. Nope. Didn't eat that.

After lunch, we drove around looking for a new cottage to rent for next year. We looked near Sand Hill Cove, on Great Island and then found a contender on Harbour Island. It's waterfront on a salt pond (our preference) and bigger (only a bit more espensive) than our current cottage. John emailed and we have high hopes that it'll work out for next summer. Supper was "refrigerator magic" - John's term for leftovers. Cute. We started packing and watched bad TV. It was hard to believe the week was already over.

We were up and out at 10:00 on Saturday. John drove me to East Greenwich, where we were dropping borrowed beach chairs at Matt's car and meeting Deanne. I was flying out Sunday so was staying at Dee's that night. We visited her mom then met a high school friend for lunch. I hadn't had a lobster roll yet but the trying too hard restaurant Dee had picked only had a lobster BLT. Nope. After lunch, we went to Linda's mom's to visit. She had been our girl scout leader and we'd popped in last summer too. Since I hadn't had a decent night of sleep in days and Dee had jetlag from her Italy trip so we picked up snacks at Whole Foods and headed to Dee's for an early night, which suited us both. We watched The Gray Man on Netflix, which was pretty good. Go figure.

After a quick breakfast, it was time to head to the airport. My first flight was on time and uneventful. I had a 2 hour layover at Midway and we boarded my second flight but then sat on the tarmac. There was a big storm and we had to wait to be rerouted. It was a rough flight with lots of turbulence but I was still back in Omaha in time to hit Aldi and be in my house by 8:00. I upacked, took a shower and went to bed.

So another beach week was in the books. I hadn't made many plans, which worked out since I was under the weather. As always, it's good to be home and back into my routine. I'd be tired on Monday but I'd live. I'm completely ready for fall weather and getting some things done. Wish me luck.

Week 34 - Heading Back East

The week started with rain in Nebraska, which is in severe drought, and ended with rain in Rhode Island, which is also parched. Yay for both rainy ends of the week.

I was flying out Friday morning so it was a short work week. Of course I was jamming things in. I did a major demo of my HR Toolbox to all the business center staff and I'll admit to a small freak out before the session but it all went well. Afterwards I sent them all the database, which meant the rest of the week was answering questions and troubleshooting problems but that was OK.

I also had a dentist appointment on Tuesday afternoon - 3 hours in the chair for a crown and a filling. The dentist asked me if I'd taken my antibiotics, which I'd forgotten, so he numbed me up and sent me home to take them. That would come back to bite me. However, the new crown, which he made in the office so it was done the same day, was great. Hopefully this will be my last one for awhile.

Otherwise the week was uneventful. I packed Thursday night and did all the pre-trip chores so was able to relax on Friday morning. I left for the airport at 10:00, picking up my usual grab and go lunch on the way out of town. I'm happy to report that my flights were uneventful and on time. Carolyn picked me up and we had chicken chili for supper and went to bed early. 

Carolyn had bought bagels for breakfast (I haven't had a good one since Bruegger's in Lincoln closed) and I spent a lovely morning in her dining room, which is one of my happy places. John came to get me at noon and the 3 of us went to Crow's Nest for lunch. Belly clams! We split up and John and I hit Trader Joe's and Stop & Shop for groceries then headed to the cottage. Not only was it our last year because it had been sold to someone who would live there rather than renting it out but Vivian, the lovely woman next door, had died last month. Normally she'd have been over to greet us first thing. Sad. We unpacked and settled in.

We woke up to pea soup fog on Sunday, which was kind of nice. The new owner had installed a sundowner awning so I rolled that out and spent a lovely day knitting while watching on and off sprinkles hit the pond surface. John made bacon and eggs for brunch and we had saugies and John's celery salad for supper. It was a lovely, relaxing day. I didn't mind the non-beach weather at all. It was going to be a good week.

Week 33 - A Quiet Week

Normally after fiscal year end, I'd be jumping on a plane to Rhode Island but we were delaying until later in August so John would be at the cottage for his high school reunion. I'm not used to being home after fiscal year end so I was ready for a quiet week and I got one. 

The weather was gorgeous on Monday so I popped a pie in the oven and then ate my lunch on the deck. That's a nice start to my week. I spent the work week catching up on everything I'd let hang during fiscal year end and did 2 one-on-one training sessions so the week was over in a flash. I had the last swim of the summer after work on Wednesday and flexed my time on Friday so Andrea and I could do a Fremont run at 3:00. All good.

We did our regular Fremont run so started at the Habitat Restore, getting there 30 minutes before they closed. I found a few things but the score of the day was a fun, vintage quilt for $5! Isn't this a beauty? It's tied and some of them are coming undone so I may see about having it quilted. I love it! We also did our usual Goodwill and Aldi shopping then got sushi for supper. I love starting a weekend with a Friday Fremont run, which means I have the rest of the weekend at home. Even with mostly working from home, having an entire weekend at home is still a treat.

I had grand plans for getting down to the craft room to start organizing. Normally I work on my crumb quilt during fiscal year end but this year I haven't quilted a stitch so wanted to get the craft room in better order. Well, I spent most of Saturday knitting and streaming For All Mankind on Apple TV+. It's about the space race but has a bit of a twist and I was totally sucked in. Only out of sheer self-imposed guilt did I force myself downstairs in the late afternoon. I went through all of the bags and baskets of sweaters that were piled in front of my fabric cupboard. They were bought either for felting or for taking apart for the yarn, mostly for $.99 back when Goodwill had those sales, which they don't anymore - another thing covid brought to an end. I had way more than I could ever use so if they were wearable, I bagged them up and loaded them in the car for donating. Don't worry, I kept plenty for future crafting. And it felt good that I'd accomplished something.

Cindy called on Sunday and was looking for a break from her house full of people who were there to visit her dying brother-in-law. I had my first ever box wine (an Aldi purchase Andrea encouraged me to get) sitting in my fridge so we had a lovely afternoon of chatting over wine and I hope she left feeling bettter for the break. I went outside after she left and planted a few seeds for fall crops. They were mostly the old seeds I'd planted earlier this year but I had nothing to lose so planted away.

So, it was a nice, quiet week and I felt recharged from the mania of fiscal year end. Just one more week to go and I'd be heading back east, which is always a treat. Hopefully the next week would be quiet too.

Week 32 - The Big Spreadsheet

Closing meetings were going swimmingly but at the end of them all, it's time for the Big Spreadsheet. This is a huge report that I have to download from SAP and then format galore. I'm talking 26 columns wide and more than 2,000 lines with formulas and subtotals all the way through. It takes hours and I had talked to Mary early in the week about when I should start it. She said Thursday so I planned my week accordingly. Of couse that didn't work out.

I invited my cousin, Helen, to come for lunch on Wednesday (we were not working on campus until after fiscal year end to ensure no one got sick and could keep working) for sausage and peppers, with the peppers from my garden. I had prepped everything the night before, including cutting up the sausage and peppers, so I could just start cooking them at 11:30. Great plan until Mary called to say she wanted the spreadsheet ASAP. I downloaded it as soon as she hung up and had it partway done when Helen arrived. Well, that put a damper on lunch. We had a nice time but when she lingered, I was getting anxious. I finally told her I had to get back to work and what could have been a leisurely lunch (I'd already worked plenty extra so not slacking!) was cut short. I plowed right back into the spreadsheet and was done by the end of the day.

Because I'd done it early, that meant I had to keep making updates to the downloaded data as the numbers changed. I was also keying carryforwards as they came in from the colleges and that kept me busy. Mary was flying to Europe on Sunday so was slamming to get things done and she called me on Friday afternoon saying things were off by $20,000 and she couldn't find it. This had never happened in the 20 years I'd been prepping for meetings. I spent all Friday afternoon going line by line and comparing to the college spreadsheets and managed to find all but $700. I called Mary at 6:00 pm and said I was giving up. She said she'd take a break and look again. She emailed at 10:30 that night that she'd found it. Whew!

I was absolutely fried and spent Saturday watching the Severance on Apple TV+ and knitting. I'd started a new pair of scrap socks and that happily cleared my mind and let me recharge a bit.

I had more energy on Sunday so between chores, I rewarded myself by dyeing some yarn. I'd been inspired by Kevin of the Needles at the Ready podcast and did my first ever gradiant. How fun! It will make some fun socks for sure. Then it was on to Lincoln to hit a couple of Goodwills and Aldi before swimming. A front came through while we were in the pool - wind and a huge temp drop but no rain, of course. I drove back home in a wet suit and went right into the shower, rushing to get done in time for the start of Masterpiece. It was my last Sunday swim of the summer and that made me sad but at least there was cooler weather so I had that to look forward to. And another fiscal year end was done. I'll only have one more before I retire and that's something else, albeit longer term, to look forward to. I'll take it!