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!

Week 31 - Closing Meeting Week

Closing meeting week had arrived but it didn't look like it would be too bad. Mary was doing the meetings and they were nicely spaced out and I'd prepped most of the reports so would just be updating numbers. I had high hopes for it not being stressful.

It was also fair week (they always coincide) and I was entering 5 small knitted items, including the hat I showed in last week's post along with 4 pairs of socks, and made rugelach to fill the 6th entry tag on my sheet. There's a limit of 5 in any one class so I'm always looking for another class to enter in and this year it was food. The extra rugelach went to knitting. Perfect.

I had lunch with Helen at the Mexican restaurant in town on Tuesday, which was fun, and made a beeline to the fairgrounds after work to check my ribbons. I got blues all around and best of lot on these socks, which were my own design and I'd dyed the yarn. i almost didn't enter them but am glad I did, clearly. : )

The closing meeting prep went well and so I managed to fit lots of other things in amonst them. I had lunch with Steve and Layton on Wednesday (3/4 of the original lunch bunch from HR days), swam after work and then went on the spur of the moment to Haoya Korean BBQ with Rene after swimming. My boss had recommended it and while they were out of the pork when we arrived 20 minutes before closing, the chicken BBQ fries were delish. 

I got a haircut and my grab and go lunch on Thursday. Was I trying to make up for not eating out during the pandemic with all the eating out this week? Maybe. I also got a fry bread taco on Sunday at a bar in Wahoo when I went to the fairgrounds to pick up my entries. That's plenty of eating out for one week.

I spent some time on the weekend clearing out some of the brush pile beside the garage in anticipation of the trees coming down. It was satisfying work with some being broken up for burning in my firepit, some going to the city burn pile and some of the shmutz at the bottom going into the 2nd compost bin, which I'd emptied before I started. I top dressed my containers with some of that and will probably keep some in the garage over the winter for using in houseplants.

I ended the week with errands in Lincoln before swimming. I had a credit at Menard's so got birdseed there, which was much more expensive than at the farm store in Wahoo, and hit some thrifts. I love ending the weekend with swimming and there aren't many more weeks of that. I will need to figure out something else to do when that's over but I can put that off for a bit. Viva procrastination!

Week 30 - Enjoying the Calm

This was the last week before closing meetings started so I filled the week with as much fun as possible. But before the play, I also started attacking some long overdue stuff.

I finally called someone to take down the 40 foot tall weed trees growing beside my garage. They're technically not my trees but when my neighbors put up a chain link fence, they ended up on my side of the fence but not actually on my property. I should have chopped them from day one but they weren't mine and now I'm paying the price. A branch already tore a hole in my garage rooof ($200 to fix that) and the roots cracked my garage floor so it was time. Tim's Tree Service came and gave me an estimate of $3k. Yikes! But they need to go. It was blazing hot out but I spent a lunch hour moving a woodpile that would be in the way and pulled all the cement borders on the overgrown berry bed in the back after work. It was hot work but I was ready for them to come and that'd be one major job off my house to do list. Nice.

Wednesday was another day on campus but I made the most of it with having lunch with Dodie, spent the afternoon training a new business manager and then hit some thrifts and swam after work. Wednesdays are long days but I make the most of having to drive in.

I had lots of things planned on the weekend. On Saturday morning, Andrea and I met Lori and Michelle at Vidlak's Brookside Cafe in Omaha for breakfast. I hadn't seen Michelle since pre-covid so that was nice and I had the best chicken fried steak I've ever had. Yes, for breakfast with eggs - delish! From there we went to Imagiknit - the best yarn shop in Omaha - for their sale. We had fun and I found a few treasures (sock yarn, of course) and then Andrea and I hit Aldi on the way out of town. I was home by 2:00 and had already had all that fun. 

I had more fun planned for Sunday. Cindy and I had bought tickets to a flight of plays by local playwrights, including one that a friend was directing and acting in.

They were wonderful and we had time for a huge burger at Honest Abe's before heading to the pool to swim. So much fun and culture to boot.

So how's that for bookending the weekend with fun social events? And I had bought a skein of Woolstok yarn to go with some minis I'd found in a Goodwill grab bag. It's not superwash so will have to be handwashed but it's gorgeous yarn and I love the hat that I cast on as soon as I got home on Saturday and was almost done before bed on Sunday. There will be more of this yarn in my future for sure.

Next week closing meetings..... duh, duh, duh.