Week 51 - Sitting and Knitting

I took my last pain pill on Monday morning and lived to tell when it wore off. With no pain meds on board, I was able to drive myself to knitting at the library and stayed the whole 2 hours, enjoying seeing people and being social. Progress!

The rest of the week was uneventful. I did start to do a few things in the house - a load of laundry, changing my sheets, making dinner one night.... that kind of thing. While it felt good to be doing more, it also had me taking a pain pill in the wee hours twice that week. I'd call that a worthy bargain. I was still spending most of my waking hours sitting and knitting while searching for something to stream on my many, many streaming services. Slow Horse on AppleTV was great and with 3 seasons, took a few days to watch. Got any streaming recommendations for me?

By the weekend, the weather forecast for Christmas Day was a blizzard so I called Anne on Saturday night to suggest we move our Christmas dinner to Sunday. She was doing breakfast with her family so said she'd call me when she was done with that and I'd head down. I got up Sunday morning and had the sauce on the stove before I sat down for CBS Sunday Morning. I put the lasagna together when my fave show was done and was ready when Anne called. She had a fire going and the oven pre-heated when I walked in the door. We had my lasagna and Anne provided the salad, bread and dessert. We tried to watch Maestro but gave up after an hour, switching to Big Eyes and then Willy Wonka when we were done with that. It was a lovely early Christmas celebration and I was home shortly after dark. It was raining lightly but would turn to snow overnight. I was more than ready for a quiet Christmas watching the snow fall.

So it was a very quiet week with a very quiet Christmas Eve dinner. My foot was definitely less painful and I was able to do a bit more to take care of myself. I was icing behind my knee since my toes were under an inch of bandage and so not accessible (hence the scarf tied around my knee holding the ice against the back of my knee in the pic), I had finished several pairs of socks and get this - started a crocheted afghan! That's how desperate I am for something different. Just one more week and I'd be getting my stitches out then 2 more weeks and the rods would come out too. I can do it!

Week 50 - Hammer Toe Surgery

When I was in London, I was answering Teams messages about rearranging my schedule for the 3 days before surgery. They needed to schedule interviews for my replacement (yay!) for Monday so had to reschedule one of my trainings. My 3 days were now jam packed and would be crazy but I'd live.

I started the week with a mammogram at the clinic first thing then a mad rush to campus for the first interview. We then took Ben, who had gotten a promotion and so was no longer our boss, to lunch. We went to Honest Abe's for burgers, which I split with Cindy. I felt like I'd eaten a side of beef and didn't eat again until Tuesday morning. We interviewed the second candidate that afternoon and I bolted home to get to knitting by 6:00. One day down, 2 to go.

Tuesday was crazy too. They had rescheduled my Monday training to Tuesday morning, which meant I trained from 10:00-12:00 and 1:30-4:00. During the first training, my doctor's office kept calling. Apparently they got called on their lame pre-surgery physical and the surgeon was demanding an EKG and blood draw. The minute my training was done, I ran to the clinic for both, gobbled lunch and was training again to an overfull class (I'd let in everyone on the wait list) at 1:30. When that was over, I ran to my eye doctor appointment, ate dinner and then went to a library board meeting at 7:00. Sheesh!

By comparison, Wednesday was a cake walk. I started at NebOrtho at 8:00 to meet the surgeon, dropped Darla's Christmas present on the way to campus and went right to the church where we were having our office Christmas party because I was on the set up crew. We had a lovely party and after cleaning up, I went to the office for an afternoon free to get some work done. I hit Super Saver for my final pre-surgery grocery run, did some last minute chores and set an alarm for 4:00 since I had to be at the surgery center at 5:30. I'd made it through 3 super hectic days and was ready for surgery and recovery.

I drove myself in and Anne came after her workout. The morning was a blurr (anesthesia will do that) and I was discharge before noon. Anne drove me home in my car and Rene followed in her car to drive her home. They set me up with a few things I'd forgotten (refilling the birdseed buckets) and food. The next days were a blur as I was taking pain meds around the clock and doing nothing but streaming and knitting with my foot elevated. When the nerve block wore off Friday morning, the pain level shot up but I lived. Better living through chemistry.

I have the best friends. Andrea came by the afternoon of my surgery and Lorri the next day, doing little things to make my life easier. 

The boot they had sent me home in was absolutely useless. I wasn't supposed to do any weight bearing on my toes but they didn't give me a slanted boot that would force my weight to my heel. Even using my cane, I every step was a chore. I emailed to ask if I could get a different boot, which they said was fine so I ordered a boot and a cast cover from Amazon. When they were delivered on Sunday evening, I took my first shower since Thursday morning, put on a fresh nightie and took the first non-wobbly steps in the new boot. Much better! I'd also been waiting longer between pain meds and was fine with that. I also ate 3 meals on Sunday for the first time since getting sick in Estonia. I was down 20 pounds! Losing weight is always good but not like this.

So, I had finally wised up and taken the rest of the year off so was facing weeks of sitting, knitting and streaming. I wonder how much weight I'll gain back? Only time will tell. And for those wondering why I scheduled surgery right before Christmas, it's the ever so broken American health care system. I'd met my maximum out of pocket on my health insurance so this surgery was 100% free. And it will be nice to be able to wear regular shoes again and hopefully not suffer from the ridiculous toe cramps I've been having. Wish me luck.

Week 49 - London and Home

We had two days in London before travelling home on Wednesday and while we were tired and ready to be home, we made the best of being in London at Christmas.

I woke up feeling like I needed to eat something so we went to a little cafe by the hotel and I had an egg, a piece of bacon, a piece of sausage and toast. Tiny amount but just what I needed. It was a dreary day with misty rain but we walked all the way through Hyde Park, taking pics and enjoying nature, then up to Oxford Street. We went to Marks & Spencers and Selfridges then got a latte and took a break to warm up. Anne suggested we go to a museum (!) so we went to the Wallace Collection, which was in an old mansion and only took an hour or so to go through. It was mid-afternoon so with some time to kill before evensong at St. Paul's (my choice) we headed to Burrough Market. We had hoped it would have some Christmas stalls, which it didn't, but it was interesting to see nonetheless. We walked across the Thames and to St. Paul's, where evensong was lovely. We took the tube back to the hotel, stopping for a sandwich and chips in a convenience store, which we split before getting into our jammies for a bit of streaming before bed. We had walked 20,000 steps!

I slept badly but we were going to Kew Gardens so after stopping at the same cafe for the same breakfast, we took the tube to Richmond. We spent all day at Kew, which still had plenty of things in bloom and the glass houses were toasty warm. We had tea and a treat in the cafe then headed out to catch a bus to Hammersmith, which is where Maria grew up. Hammersmith Mall was our destination for our last shopping. I found the advent candle and Christmas mug I was looking for and we hit Sainsbury's for treats to take home. After 23,000 steps, we took the tube back to the hotel to pack. We'd be flying home the next day.

We took the Elizabeth line to Heathrow and boarded our LONG flight to Denver. We had a layover there before our final flight to Lincoln. Andrea was supposed to be picking me up in my car, which had been in the body shop while I was gone, but arrived late with her boyfriend. She had neglected to confirm when she'd pick up the car and and when she arrived after they'd closed, it was locked inside the shop. Oh well. After waiting on the curb for 30 minutes, I was wide awake so didn't fall right into bed when I got home. I let cats out, unpacked and started laundry before shower and bed.

I slept until 5:15 after reading in wee hours so didn't get much sleep. Regardless, I started work at 6:15 and found almost 500 unread emails, which took me most of the day to get through. I had asked a few friends if they were going to Lincoln and ended up bumming a ride with my friend's grandson, who was heading back there after visiting her. I picked up my car, which was not only fixed but detailed so looked like the day I bought it. Nice. I stopped at the grocery store on the way home, where I bumped into an old water aerobics friends. We chatted for an hour and then I got a steak dinner to go along with a few groceries. I ate half of it when I got home and went to bed right at 9:00.

I woke up congested on Friday so not only didn't have my full appetite back yet but now I had a cold. Damn! I had my orientation call with the surgical center and when they found out I had never met the surgeon (I always saw the PA), I got a call that I needed to be at his office at 8:00 on Wednesday (the day before my surgery) to meet Dr. Swanson. I worked on space data all afternoon and even worked a bit late. Two work days and it was already the weekend.

Being my only chance to get all things Christmas done, I put up my deck tree, wrapped everything that was going out and had 2 packages shipped on Saturday and the final 2 scheduled for pick up on Monday. I also did some cleaning and chores. When you have 4 cats in the house for 2 weeks, things get dirty and messy. By Sunday night, I had gotten most everything done and so was feeling good about my progress. 

Just 3 more days until my surgery on Thursday. I'd be working all 3 days and would be flat out getting things done but my productive weekend had set me up for success. Wish me luck with my hammer toe.

Week 48 - Lithuania and Estonia

After a yummy breakfast, we started the day with a walking tour of the old town of Riga. Our tour guide was funny and knew everything about the days under the Soviet Union and everything they'd done since. It was beautiful but they don't shovel their snow and it was hard walking on the cobble stones. After a yummy lunch at a place normal Latvians eat at, we had a braiding class that was not super successful with a teacher who didn't really teach, just handing out supplies and written directions. I did find some souvenirs at the shop it was at and after going to a regular yarn shop where I only bought a single skein of yarn, we all went to a welcome dinner at a wonderful restaurant on the river with windows all around. We got to know our fellow travelers a bit, which was nice.

Anne and I went to an early breakfast then walked to the castle on the river before heading back to the hotel for a knitting class with our designer for the rest of the morning. Anne and I got sandwiches for lunch then we were off on another walking tour - this time of art nouveau houses, which Riga is know for. We went to a farmers market type thing (they said it was a Christmas market but not so much) then we got 30 minutes in a fabulous craft store that had the entire second floor of yarn. It was super cheap and I had to be an adult and limit what I bought but I did stock up on some needles. Anne, Celine and I had supper at a Swedish restaurant by the hotel, which was delish. I could not fall asleep that night and was still up at 2:30. Jet lag was nuts this trip, maybe because we were 8 hours off Nebraska time, which was more than I'd ever dealt with.

Wednesday was a travel day. I was shocked to see that the main highway between Riga and Estonia was one lane in each direction. Apparently the road to Russian in the east is much bigger. We stopped for lunch in a restaurant in a little village, at a cute shop in the middle of nowhere and then a wool mill. Tallinn was completely different from Riga - much more modern and busy. Our hotel was in the center of a bustling, bright downtown area rather than the old town we stayed in in Riga. We had supper in a restaurant by the hotel and settled in for an early evening.

We woke up to light snow but it wasn't particularly cold. We went to an Estonia heritage park where they had buildings from all different time periods in Estonia's history. One was an apartment unit from a collective farm and they had each of the 4 apartments set up to represent pre-Soviet, Soviet, post-Soviet and modern. It was fascinating. We had a tasting of Estonian food and walked through gently falling snow. It was magical and one of the highlights of the trip. We went to a museum on the way back in an old palace. When we got back to the hotel, we went across the street to the mall and had pizza in the food court. It was a wonderful day.

The snow was less magical on Friday, when we had a walking tour of old town. The wind was whipping and it was bitter cold. Our tour guide took pity on us and took us to a cafe for hot chocolate to warm up. We went to the Christmas market that afternoon and it was completely underwhelming. There were only 30 or 40 booths and most of them had food or booze and the few that were selling things were not handmade. It was not what I expected. We did some shopping on our own on the way back to the hotel, where we warmed up before heading back to a restaurant that overlooked the market, which was all lit up and very pretty. It went downhill from there.

I was halfway through dinner when I started feeling icky. Before long, I was puking in the restaurant bathroom. I went back to the hotel and spent the next 12 hours in and out of the bathroom on the toilet with the runs while simultaneously puking in an ice bucket. I haven't been that sick in I don't know how long. We had a class scheduled for Saturday morning but I skipped it and curled up in the fetal position and willed myself to keep immodium down. It took 3 to stop the cramping. We had to check out of our rooms at noon but weren't leaving for the airport until 1:30 so we sat in the lobby. I made the mistake of eating a yogurt that Celine had picked up for me. I puked it all up in a trashcan at Estonia TSA as they threw our knitting needles in the trash. Not pretty. 

At least that was the last of it. I slept the entire flight to London and we took a train to the city then a taxi to our hotel. Our room was tiny but clean and I fell into bed and slept like a rock.

I had made plans on Sunday to meet up with my friend Maria, who was with me in Orleans on my junior year abroad. I had warned her that I'd been sick but was OK to meet. We met them at Paddington then took the tube to a Finnish Christmas market in a Finnish church. We had some coffee and cake there then went to a pub for lunch. It was right on the Thames so had gorgeous views and it was great to catch up with Maria and her husband, John. I managed to eat some mashed potatoes and sausage but not much yet it felt like I'd eaten a side of beef. We walked a bit then said our goodbyes. 

Our friend Sue was coming into town to hang out for the evening. We met her in the hotel bar and ended up staying there all night, chatting and knitting. I opted for ginger ale instead of alcohol. We didn't stay up very late (Sue had an early train home the next morning) but it was fun to see her and she was fine with not eating. She's a stick who is not motivated by food. 

So not the best end to the week. The timing wasn't as bad as it could have been but I hadn't been that violently ill for decades. We had 2 more days in London before we'd fly home and I had high hopes that I'd be better quickly.

Week 47 - Bound for Europe

 I had three days at home before flying out for our Baltic trip so I was a machine, getting everything done on my pre-trip to do list.

Our anchor day was moved from Wednesday to Monday because of Thanksgiving so I was on campus on Monday and made the most of it. I a bunch of errands at lunch - Mailing Dottie's huge yarn box at UPS, buying my outside tree at Menard's, buying kitty litter at Super Saver and dropping stuff at Darla's office. I got that all done in an hour and 5 minutes! I went right home but knitting was cancelled so I finished Ginny's scarf and called it a day.

Having satisfied our day on campus, I was working from home for the next 2 days. I had my annual/pre-surgery physical after lunch on Tuesday and it was super lame. She barely touched me - only listening to my chest and looking in my ears. Seemed weird but I'm not the doc so didn't question it. I had been making piles of things to pack but started laundry that night for the last few things.

We were told to be done working at 2:00 on Wednesday, which was lovely. I used the extra time to make some notion pouches for the women from my online sock group who'd be meeting us in Helsinki. They only took and hour and then it was time for the final packing and chores. The kid who mows for me came and did my last mow of the season. I was ready to go.

I was having my car repaired from the Sioux Falls rear ending while I was gone so drove my car to the body shop and Anne's brother in law picked me up there. We were flying from Lincoln to Chicago, had a big layover and then flying overnight to Frankfurt. Anne only had one United Club pass so bought another and gifted it to me for early Christmas and birthday. The club was right next to our gate so we spent all afternoon there before boarding our flight. We had an empty seat between us and I was able to get a decent amount of sleep on the flight, which was uneventful.

We woke up in Frankfurt and had quite a long layover but went to the bakery we'd discovered last year and the boarded our flight for Helsinki. The man sitting next to us was very nice and gave us some tips of places to shop and helped us get the train from the airport. He even walked us most of the way to our hotel, which was right by the train station. It was a lovely room and I was up reading in the wee hours but still got a decent amount of sleep.

After a great breakfast at the hotel, we met up with Tarja from my sock group. She spoke excellent English and we walked around downtown and the docks before taking a break in a coffee shop. From there we went to a local yarn shop where we met Mari, another person from my sock group. I bought sock yarn, of course, and from there they took us to the main library, which was amazing. It had a coffee shop among the stacks and there was a big children's play area where a choir was singing Christmas carols. The downstairs was a makers space with all kinds of equipment to use and huge areas full of people hanging out. I've never seen a library like it. 

It got dark early so all the Christmas lights were on as we looked for someplace to eat an early supper, ending up at an Italian restaurant in the train station, which was delicious. They both had trains to catch to get home so we split up early and Anne and I went to Flying Tiger. We discovered it in Norway and it was right by the hotel. We found some fun things and then headed back to the hotel, tired after a long day.

We slept super late on Sunday and had to rush down to breakfast. We were on our own and our flight wasn't leaving until evening so we put our luggage in the hotel's luggage room and headed out. We did some shopping and walked around for hours, then stopped at Starbuck's and enjoyed people watching from a window seat while we warmed up with lattes. When we were done shopping, we headed back to the hotel, where we hung out until we left for the airport. We got there really early for our flight and it was less than an hour to Riga. We were met by our tour guide at our terminal (different from where the UK flight had come in) and joined the tour, saying a big hello to Celine before heading to our hotel.

We had such a great time in Helsinki, thanks to the two woman from my sock group and had the entire tour to look forward to. Life is good!

Week 46 - Stress Melted Away

The week started out with maximum stress but it didn't last and I went right back into pre-trip checking things off mode.

On Monday, I woke up to an email from Arena Travel, our tour company, asking for our flight arrangements and their wording set off alarm bells. I emailed to send our Helsinki to Riga flight and asked them to confirm that we were flying back to London with the tour. Nope. When we scheduled this all in May, the person we talked to had coded it that we were doing our own flights in both directions so they hadn't booked us tickets to fly back to London from Estonia. The back and forth began and long story short, we had to pay an extra 130 pounds each for the flight back.

During all  the flight drama, we realized that Anne had booked the VRBO in London for the weekend after we're back and of course, it wasn't available the prior weekend. I was in full on panic mode at this point but messaged John and asked him to find us somewhere in London to stay. He got right on it (he loves travel planning) and emailed a list later that day. There were all further out than I wanted so after knitting, I went to Trivago and found a hotel by Paddington and a few blocks from Hyde Park, which is my sweet spot for staying in London. I called Anne and we booked it, despite not having the final word from Arena. I woke up Tuesday morning to an invoice for the flights, which I promptly paid. With that payment and the hotel sorted, the stress instantly left my body. I felt like the trip was not only all set but pre-drama'd so had nothing else to worry about so headed to campus to work.

I had a shot in my thumb at 4:00 and was out of Nebraska Ortho in less than 5 minutes - no exaggeration. I stopped at Rene's to see her half done kitchen renovation and was home early. Nice. Wednesday was another campus day and I was almost done with space and had picked up the next books for book club, which will meet while I'm away, and took a late lunch to go to a Vietnam documentary screening that afternoon. It was financed by the woman who wrote Death Zones and Darling Spies, which we'd read for book club, and was very interesting. At 5:00, I met Rene and Anne for Thanksgiving dinner in the dorms. The turkey was absolutely delicious and it was nice to have some since we'll be flying on Thanksgiving Day so unless they serve turkey on the plane, we won't have any. I was home in time for Survivor so it was a nice day. Things were absolutely looking up.

Thursday was another good day. It's always joyful to work from home after 2 days in a row on campus and I got my entire kitchen picked up before work. I then finished space and sent the file off. Add a Ripples professional development zoom and it was a banner day. I had finished a pair of socks for a Christmas gift the night before and started another pair for another Christmas gift. I was cranking on the Christmas knitting. Yay all around for this day's accomplishments. My last list item for the week was a haircut after lunch on Friday and before you know it, it was the weekend.

While I still had pre-trip things on my list to check off, I was feeling so much better about life that I was able to head to Fremont for spinning on Saturday without stressing. Andrea and I did our usual route - Restore before spinning and our errand stops afterwards, ending with sushi for an early supper.

I got up Sunday and made a new list first thing. First up was to prep a box of yarn for my sister. I had a huge Chewy box and was able to pack it all up, making for the biggest box I've ever sent. It cleaned up the front room and spare bedroom floors. Gone is good. That done, I spent the rest of the day puttering - clearing surfaces, making stacks to pack, sorting laundry.... before sitting down to a night of PBS and knitting, during which I finished the shortie socks I'd started on Friday morning. Fastest socks ever and only one more Christmas gift left to knit.

What a difference from the beginning of the week! With less than a week before my trip, I was feeling good about getting the last things done without being too stressed. Here's a picture I sent to Darla that summed up my Friday, which was such a relief after the start of my week. I'll take it. : )

If you celebrate, have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Week 45 - Stressed and Cranky

I had a full week ahead, cramming in appointments and social stuff around work, which still had me prepping huge data files for the F&A project. Despite feeling relatively on top of things getting ready for my trip, the stress was building with each passing day.

After my team zoom at 10:00 on Monday and a dentist appointment at 11:00, I had a 4 hour zoom with the F&A team. I was there for questions on the data files I'd created so was able to work on my other screen some. I was totally absorbed so had the door open for the cats to come and go. Well, I certainly woke up when Hazel dropped a garter snake next to my desk. I screamed then grabbed a dish towel and put it outside. Talk about adrenaline! I had a similar rush when Goodie brought in a bird during our team zoom on Friday, which she promptly leg go and it flew down my basement stairs. I opened the slider wide and when it came up, it flew out. Sheesh!

I was on campus Tuesday and Wednesday this week. When I was driving to work on Tuesday, I heard something under my car but thought I'd driven over something. Well, when I was running errands at lunch, I could hear something so looked under my car and there was a huge thing hanging under the front of my car. I drove to TO Haas, where I get my tires and should have gotten my oil change, and they took off the splash plate and put it in my trunk. I called Jiffy Lube, who are apparently notorious for not bolting this back on after an oil change, and made plans to go back there at lunch on Wednesday. Maybe that's why I woke up in a fowl mood on Wednesday, which lasted pretty much all day. They did fix it and refunded what I'd paid for the oil change but did I need this? Absolutely not!

In the spirit of checking things off, I ran errands at lunch on Thursday. I made a Friends deposit at the bank, went to the Senior Center Thrift Shop, stopped at The Warehouse and got my flu and Covid vaccines at the pharmacy and still had time to eat lunch before an hour was up. Gotta love small town living.

I did manage to have some fun between all this. On Tuesday night, Dodie and I went to Piedmont Bistro, my favorite restaurant, for dinner and then attempted to go to a rehearsal for an upcoming Christmas concert but were put off with being the only people there besides the singers so we left rather than get stuck there. I took advantage of the extra time and went to Aldi on the way home. I enjoyed the leftovers from my meal with a glass of wine on Wednesday night after my cranky day. That and a night of Survivor and finishing All the Light We Cannot See on Netflix helped my mood immensely and I woke up feeling better on Thursday.

It was Merry Market weekend in Wahoo and I was at the library from 4:00-8:00 Friday night for the holiday decoration sale the library has every year. It was busier than previous years and I got some knitting done. The next day, I met Lori and Andrea at Adelita's for lunch and then we shopped the stores downtown. I found a few things but with stockings either cancelled or "light" this year, not much. But I did get a wonderful, maple nightstand to replace my Ikea special. My dressers are maple so it matches. Love it! After we split up, I enjoyed a cup of tea then went outside right before dark and cleared the front bed, taking a load to the city burn pile as the sun went down. Cross that off.

Despite having some fun at the end of the week, my pre-trip stress was building and I woke up from a stress dream at 3:52 on Sunday morning. With no chance of getting back to sleep, I was up making bacon and eggs at 4:30. I did manage a bit more sleep after my breakfast but after my morning of knitting with watching CBS Sunday Morning (my fave), I could not settle. I ended up going back outside and clearing the east bed, cutting more brush and raking it out. I threw that back on my alley compost heap and called my yard work absolutely done for the year. I made some cookies to take to knitting with my last nervous energy and was ready for a shower and evening of PBS after that.

So it was a good week as far as getting things done and I did have some fun but the crankiness on Wednesday and building stress put a damper on things. Just 10 days until my trip when what is done is done and I'll be having fun. I'll be excited when I get on the plane. : )

Week 44 - Halloween and Stress

It was a relatively quiet week with lots of data crunching at work followed with a productive weekend but my stress level was creeping up with every passing day.

We started the week buying plane tickets to fly from Helsinki to Riga. Why you ask? Because after pretty much demanding a detailed itinerary from our tour company because our trip had been taken off the website and I needed to know when we were getting back to London so I could book a hotel, I saw why it had been taken down. When they finally sent one, it was with an apology and a 100 pound refund because they'd screwed up. This is a knitting and Christmas markets tour in Latvia and Estonia but they'd scheduled the trip before one of the markets started so had to flip the cities and we'd only be doing one market instead of two. I wasn't too upset about missing a market but we were flying into Helsinki and taking a ferry across the Baltic Sea to Tallinn but now the trip was starting in Riga. You can't take a ferry from Helsinki to Riga so we had to cancel the ferry tickets and buy a flight. Not cool and little did we know that was just the beginning of the trip drama.

On a happier note, Tuesday was Halloween and a campus day. I was going to Anne's after work for pizza and to help her with the heel on a Christmas stocking she was knitting for her great niece. I was there all evening and the door only rang 4-5 times with trick or treaters. It was bitter cold but still. Kids just don't go door to door anymore but the pizza was yummy and I knitted the heel for her so Anne was happy plus I left with some snickers. Happy Halloween to me.

On Wednesday, I had a nice lunch with Darla, who was on vacation for the week, at Stauffer's Cafe and Pie Shop. I had dropped my car next door at Jiffy Lube for an oil change while we enjoyed hot beef sandwiches and pie for lunch. I managed to stay awake all afternoon after that big lunch then went straight home for a bowl of cereal for a light supper and Survivor.

The rest of the work week was all data all the time. I was still on Teams with Janae at 6:45 on Thursday evening working on space. At least that made the time flew by and it was time for the weekend.

I had a moment of panic thinking I only had 2 weekends before my trip but then looked at a calendar and saw that I had 3. Despite that realization, I headed outside and did the one yard work chore that must be done before winter - cutting down the perennials between the sidewalk and the street. I leave the brush up all winter everywhere but the ones in the parking because that acts like a snow fence and drops feet of snow on the sidewalk. Despite it only being a couple of feet wide, it took trips to the city burn pile before it was clear. I was happy to finish and head inside for a shower and tea with my friend Lorri, who was coming with scones. We had a nice catch up and I was happy to have my outdoor must do crossed off my list. 

The clocks went back but my cats didn't get the memo so I was up early. After a nice Sunday morning knitting in the sun, I got dressed and headed to the high school for the Project Close Up turkey dinner. After enjoying that, I headed back outside. I emptied all my containers into my veg beds and put the pots away, cleaning up the driveway and deck too. By the time I was done, everything looked much better and ready for the winter. If I did nothing more outside, I'd be good to go, which felt great. Winter is coming!

Week 43 - First Hard Freeze

It was indeed a much better work week - darn good thing! On the home front, we were getting our first freeze of the season, which is later than normal and going to be a hard free but we started the week in the 80's. Freaky weather but good for getting the kittens acclimated to going outside and the warm weather coincided with my WFH (working from home) days.

Work was much better. It was a training week but both of my classes were small, both in the number of people signed up and the even fewer people who actually showed up. I had lots of data prep to keep me busy ahead of a 4 hour working zoom with the F&A consultant on Thursday. My 2nd campus day was Friday because it was the service awards lunch and I was getting my 25 year award - an insulated coffee mug chosen because it's useful and would last.

The freeze, which was coming overnight on Friday, meant that I had things to do. Since Friday's weather was cold and windy, I got busy on Thursday over lunch and after work. I had to bring in all the plants I'd be overwintering and pick the squash and any last produce from my garden. I just put the plants anywhere then headed next door to pick the squash in my neighbor's yard because my vines had jumped the fence. They were enormous and so heavy that I had to lift each one over the fence and drop it on my side. When I was back on my side and moving the squash inside, one was so big and awkward that I dropped it and it split. What to do?

My friend Cindy was coming to Wahoo to pick apples and I'd declined to help her when she asked. But I knew that Cindy would cook the broken squash rather than waste food so I headed her way. She had already picked a bunch but I joined her and between the 2 of us, we filled all her boxes, stopping only when it got too dark to see. We then went out for burritos at the other Mexican restaurant in town, which is smaller and not as gussied up but, come to find out, has WAY better food. Plus the portions were so big that I took half of mine home for another meal. All that for <$10. I know where I'll be going for Mexican food from now on. What a nice night considering I'd originally opted out of the apple picking. And my broken squash found a good home too. : )                                         

Service awards coincides with the all university picnic but that has degenerated barely more than a bag lunch - a pulled pork sandwich with a bag of chips and a bagged cookie. Gas station food. But we had fun with the photo booth (I do work with the best people!) and before you know it it was time to head home, stopping for groceries on the way home. I was ready for the weekend.

After a nice chat with Carolyn Saturday morning followed by some knitting in the sun that beams through my slider, I decided after lunch to do the dreaded STOP class so my speeding ticket wouldn't be on my record. It said it took 4 hours but I started at 12:45 and didn't finish until after 6:30. I took the bare minimum of breaks so the 4 hours was a definite lie. And if you haven't had the pleasure of taking an online STOP class, it requires constant screen interaction so there's no walking away. There's also a test at the end and if you don't get 80%, you have to do the whole class over. I paid attention and got it done. That's one dead Saturday.

As for Sunday, since I'd only brought the plants in but hadn't situated them, I brought in the baker's rack and spent some time getting the plants in their winter spots. I also did some cleaning and cooking and had some wine with supper. I tried to watch Hocus Pocus because I'd never seen it and felt like I was missing something. Nope. It must be a nostalgia thing for people who saw it as a child because I barely got through an hour and called it good, happily switching to PBS for the rest of the night. I'll find some way to cope with the loss. : )

Week 42 - Bad Work Week

Am I getting old, out of shape and overweight or just completely sick of work? Not sure but I'm finding it takes all of my energy to get through the work week and all I want to do is crash all weekend. Anyone with me on this?

It didn't help that I started the week with a campus day. While I don't like doing 2 days in a row, with Wednesday being our anchor day (everyone's in the office), not doing 2 days in a row means working a Monday or Friday on campus, neither of which appeals. Yup, might just be sick of work. 

The reason to be in on Monday was a free lunch in the dorms for staff appreciation so the whole team went for lunch. It was a perfect fall day so a nice walk. I left work a few minutes early to mail a HUGE box of acrylic yarn to my sister but there was someone at UPS trying to mail a package to Africa without a full address. I was held up so long there that supper was a banana in the car on the way to knitting. To end the night, Hazel peed on bed. Right in front of me, I think taking exception to the boxes which I'd neglected to change on the weekend. I ran out to get litter just before the stores closed, changed the boxes, remade my bed and was so keyed up that I had to take Benadryl at 11:00 because I couldn't sleep. Not an auspicious start to the week.

Thankfully, Tuesday was a quieter day. I had all the bedding to wash and hang out, worked on grad allocations all afternoon and had chicken parm for supper before heading to the library for a board meeting.

Wednesday was campus again and absolutely crazy busy. I had a long zoom in the morning to start the huge F&A process, had a meeting with the Vice Chancellor about Husker Cats, which went long do I didn't get a lunch break. I had my car loaded up with stuff to drop off all over town and was dreading doing it during 5:00 traffic but told myself to buck up and do it. After dropping everything off, I hit Aldi. The icing on the cake? I got a speeding ticket on the way home. I was on a paved road north of Lincoln that's my shortcut to get to the highway when I leave Aldi, came over a hill and there was a cop. Total speed trap since it's farm land with no houses. $124 or STOP class. DAMN! Thursday had to be better, right?

Nope. I got an email first thing and realized I'd completely screwed something up at work. It required lots of work for several people and had me slamming until 2:00. I felt bad for causing so much extra work for others and was pretty upset with myself for a stupid mistake. I had a Ripples zoom at 2:00 and just barely made it. I calmed down over the course of that hour. I made a yummy supper of steak and mashed potatoes then ended the day taking Goodie outside for the first time. I stayed out with her for 30 minutes or so and she did well, not venturing very far from the deck. At least the day ended well.

Friday was some better, with a couple of frustrating computer problems in the morning but I dug in on F&A data in the afternoon so it flew. I took both Goodie and Hazel out after work then had a nice supper before settling in for good Friday TV (I'm watching several things that have new episodes on Fridays.) It was the weekend at last. Good riddance to the work week.

Saturday was out spinning retreat at Camp Fontanelle, which is about 40 miles north of Wahoo. It was a gorgeous day and with all meals included, I was on the road at 7:00 and eating breakfast at 8:00. I did the morning class, which was making a pin from zippers and felted wool. I did not participate in the afternoon fiber blending class so sat outside in the sun knitting socks. I did duck out for a Fremont run for Aldi and a huge free frapuccino from Starbuck's. That meant I could head directly home after supper, which was nice. It was a lovely day and I was home by 7:00.

After a LONG week, I was ready to crash on Sunday. I talked to my sister (Dottie not Ginny!) and Deanne in the morning then made a to do list. I had a lovely day interspersing chores between streaming and knitting, ending with some cooking. I made an apple pie to take to knitting then a small quiche from the leftover dough with broccoli on the side. There may have been some wine with dinner and then it was PBS and knitting all night. 

The weekend went a long way towards offsetting my icky work week. I had the door open on Sunday and the kittens were in and out all day long. I checked on them many, many times but they were always somewhere in the backyard and always came when I called them. They're good girls and continue to bring me joy. Despite my less than stellar week, I can still say life is good! Hopefully next week will be better.

Week 41 - Kittens Got Spayed

The focus of the week was the kittens being spayed on Thursday. Since Gansey was spayed before I got her, I hadn't gone through spaying since Tot 12 or more years ago and had no memory of the details so was a touch worried, of course.

I worked on campus Tuesday (pretty much alone in the office) but went to lunch with Darla at Noodles, which was a treat - both the company and the food. Finding a praying mantis and spider in my car afterwards was not so fun but is what I get for hauling yard waste in my car. I hit Aldi on the way home for my stuff and Andrea's (she'd given me a full list) and just had time to put my groceries away before a Gro Big Red zoom event on fall gardening at 7:00. Talk about a full day!

Wednesday was our anchor day when everyone comes in so working in the office meant seeing people, going for coffee, having lunch with Dodie and a work event at The Scarlet Hotel after work. We were celebrating a belated welcome Erica (the new accounting director) and goodbye to Allan, our computer tech who was going to Athletics. It was a lovely time on their rooftop deck and I left in just enough time to get home for Survivor.

The girls were going in first thing Thursday so no food for any of the cats from bedtime Wednesday. I was waiting at the vet for them to open at 8:00 and then kept busy all day, which was easy because it was Foundation reports day. I called at 2:00 and they were doing fine. It was going to be a quiet evening without them but at least I wouldn't be worrying. Right before bed, Tot brought in a mouse and promptly dropped it in the front room. It disappeared and I had no choice but to go to bed with it loose somewhere in my house. : (

I woke up to find Tot parked in front of the linen closet so I jammed a towel under that door to keep the mouse in and sat down to breakfast. Shortly thereafter, Tot brought in another mouse! I was able to corner it in the kitchen so grabbed the dish towel and took it outside. Then I emptied the floor of the linen closet and got that one outside too. I shut the slider with Tot outside - done with the mice thing! I got dressed and was at the vet when they opened to pick up the girls. Goodie was cranky and hissing at her sister but they settled down pretty quickly and slept the day away. They were still dumpy but beginning to perk up by the end of the day. 

My plan was to stay close to home for the weekend to keep my eye on the kittens. I did run to the farm store for some birdseed but otherwise hunkered down. It was a rainy, cool weekend so I made homemade baked beans, which had the oven on for hours. Other than that, it was chores, streaming and knitting while giving some extra love to the kittens. I also found a bunch of squash in my neighbor's yard where the vine had grown through the fence. They are even bigger than the ones I found on my side of the fence. Anyone local need squash? : )

It was a lovely weekend to end the busy week. With the kittens vaccinated and spayed, next step will be letting them outside and getting them used to that before it gets too cold out. Should be fun.

Week 40 - Sunflowers and Squash

With the new month came new weather (it was in the mid 90's the last week of September - crazy!) and with that came yard work. To some that's drudgery but i get great satisfaction from it.

I still had the AC on on Monday but I was able to turn it off and open windows on Tuesday. Yay! We had big storms that evening and I couldn't find Pixel after the thunder and lightening stopped. I went to bed worried and got up several times - calling her, checking the yard and street (thinking of Gansey), in my nightie of course. After a couple of hours of this, I found her happily sleeping in her favorite chair in the front room. Huge relief but sheesh! It took a dose of benadryl to get me to sleep after all that adrenalin. 

I was exhausted on Wednesday morning and it was a campus day. I was getting ready on auto pilot and while not thinking, I opened the damaged hatch of my car. Immediate panic set in but when I was able to get it shut easily, I was super happy. With the ability to use my trunk, I could now use my car as a pick up truck and take stuff to the city's burn pile. I was ridiculously excited about this.

After a full day of F&A at work and a reprieve for going in on Friday (I flat out asked my boss if I could work from home and he said yes!), I was ready for the weekend.

First up was cutting down sunflowers, which volunteered a few years ago and are all over my yard. I started in the parking and it looked SO much better with those huge stalks gone (the flowers had already faded) and that filled the back of my car. I drove the first load with my hatch open and stalks hanging 10 feet behind the car. When I got done with that load, I started cutting the ones by my driveway and garage then went to the east side of the house. I finished that load with prickers stuck all over my clothes but powered through and got it done. I also found a some ready to pick squash by the garage, which was a bonus. I went in for a much needed shower and called my work day done. 

I spent Sunday inside and cleaned out my fridge, making a batch of applesauce with the random apples in my crisper then made applesauce bread. I ended the day making an old fave from my college days - chicken a la king over ramen. Yum! It was a nice ending to a productive weekend and the cool weather was a balm for my soul. Next up for a cool weekend will be cooking one of the huge cushaw squashes I found.

Week 39 - Big Beef Weekend

It was a pretty average week, which felt great after my drama filled previous week.

I started the week with a recorded interview with Progressive, which is my insurance company. They agreed that it was not my fault and gave me contact info for the insurance company of the guy who hit me (apparently it's my job to contact them?) I started emailing, leaving messages and finally got some traction when I got an email saying the person I was trying to get was away but the backup team would help. Which they did. After leaving messages all week, they handled it all on Friday afternoon so I ended the day with some resolution. The body shop had what they needed to order parts and I scheduled to have it repaired while I'm in Europe. Yay - progress!

Work was super busy with a new project for Budget that had me awake in the wee hours trying to figure out the logic for some data I was struggling to pull. After work on Wednesday I went to my cousin Helen's new house in Lincoln for a tour and visit. It's gorgeous and a total departure from their house at the farm. I worked on campus on Friday because I'd scheduled lunch with Layton and Steve a month ago so we could take Steve to our old fave lunch place, which is only open for lunch on Fridays since Covid. It's a biker bar with great burgers so Steve was happy. I hit Aldi and headed home, happy for the weekend.

I love a weekend at home and got a few chores done and pulled a bunch of yarn for an Omaha school teacher who was teaching her home room kids to crochet and boxed up another huge box of yarn for my sister in the process. Otherwise, the highlight of the weekend was going to Colon for their annual roast beef dinner. After eating some for lunch, I still had enough for another dinner and a lunch. Gotta love the fall church dinners around here. Next up will be the Project Close Up turkey dinner at the high school.

Here's a picture of my older cats, Tot and Pixel. Time to give them some picture love since it's been all kitten pics for quite some time now. : )

Week 38 - Sioux Falls Fiasco

What a week! Not only was it blazing hot but I had drama galore. Sheesh!

I started the week waiting for an email from the feds saying I was approved for Global Entry and could schedule an interview. Anne was scheduled in Sioux Falls on Tuesday and was hoping I could go along with her and her friend, Beth. I kept refreshing my gmail account - nothing. When I finally logged onto the Global Entry website, it said I was ready for an interview. Of course, by the time I did that (I never did get an email, btw) there were no Sioux Falls appointments left on Tuesday. After scheduling for Wednesday evening in Des Moines, I decided Wednesday during the day would be better for driving so I rescheduled to then and would be driving alone.

I was supposed to meet Connie in Sioux Falls on the weekend at the end of her business trip but I called her to see when she'd be arriving. It worked out because my appointment was at 11:45 and she'd be arriving around 3:00. We could hang out Wednesday night instead of on the weekend. Yay! I could easily kill a few hours (local yarn shop!) so was feeling better about missing driving with Anne. I put in vacation time for all day Wednesday and Thursday morning and called it good.

I was on the road first thing Wednesday and had Siri giving me directions. But as I reached Sioux Falls, Siri went silent. I'd looked at a map (old school, I know) before heading out so took the exit I thought was right. Well, it was one exit too soon and I had only gone a few blocks when I stopped because someone in front of me was turning left. The man behind me did not stop and rear ended the hell out of my car. OMG! I had a number for Customs in Sioux Falls so called them to say I wasn't going to make my appointment. It wasn't the right office but he said he'd call the Global Entry people and let them know, telling me to head there as soon as I could. 

The guy who hit me took total responsibility for it - I only looked down for a second! - when the cop finally arrived. I headed to the airport 30 minutes later with an accident report in hand. When I walked into the bougie private terminal where they do the interviews, they knew all about me and were super concerned. They took me right away despite there being people already waiting and really didn't interview me at all, just saying the required blurb and taking my fingerprints. From there I went to the Honda dealership for them to check my car out (drivable, which the tow truck driver who towed the other guy's totaled car had thought too) and got a Starbuck's. I didn't have enough time for yarn shopping so went right to Connie's hotel, where I knitted in the parking lot for a half hour until she arrived.

Connie had a working meeting at 5:00 but was otherwise free so we headed downtown for a late lunch. When we got back, the woman she was meant to work with said she was in the lobby and had already started so we sat at a table in the lobby. Connie worked and I knitted. When we were done, we went to the bar in the hotel for a drink. We were still there at 10:00! As people from her work arrived, they joined us so I got to meet all her co-workers (who had all heard lots about me apparently) and a wonderful woman from their board who was super interesting. It was a fun night. For the record, I only had 1 Guinness in all that time. Totally missed opportunity, I know.

I didn't sleep well at all but we got up for breakfast early because Connie had to be at an event at 8:30. I was on the road by 8:00 and it started pouring rain as soon as I hit the highway. It was torrential and so was a white knuckle drive for the first bit but it let up when I got to Sioux City. I had hit a big detour on the way up so was taking a different route home, which took me down I-29 in Iowa. I'd scoped out a yarn shop in Sergeant Bluffs and was there at opening time. I was ready to buy some pity yarn, feeling sorry for myself after being rear ended. I found some lovely yarn and the owner was fun and had great style. I even took pictures of the furniture in her bathroom. It was a nice interlude and I was back on the road. It took longer to get home that way so I drove through Pizza Hut and got home just in time to login for work at 1:00. I was tired but had my interview done, had spent time with Connie and had some new yarn. All that helped with the whole accident thing

I hadn't planned to go to campus on Friday but when I called the body shop, they had time to do an estimate so I drove to Lincoln at lunch, got the estimate and worked in the office that afternoon. I then hit two regular markets on the way home, which is a nice change from Aldi. I headed home fully stocked and ready for a relaxing weekend at home.

And that's what I had. I didn't leave the house all weekend and even found time on Sunday afternoon to tinker with my sock machine. I cranked two sock tubes that are ridiculously loose but I was happy with my first try. After the week I'd had, I needed some happy. Now to get the insurance sorted and the car fixed. Wish me luck.

Week 37 - Hammer Toe News

The start of the week was same old same old - knitting on Monday, working on campus on Wednesday (had lunch with Dodie and we had cake for Allan, our wonderful computer guy who got a new job in Athletics), etc. But a couple of good things happened towards the end.

My new passport, which I'd applied for in August (a renewal) and had worried wouldn't come until November, arrived in the mail on Thursday. Anne had already applied for Global Entry and had an interview scheduled in Sioux Falls for the next week so I immediately went in and did mf Global Entry application, in hopes that I could get an interview too. The waiting began.

I had an appointment for my foot, which of course was 100% better by Friday, but I wanted to get more info on getting my hammer toe fixed. When I'd asked about it before, she (the PA for the foot specialist at my ortho practice) said it was 6 weeks of no weight bearing. Since I've met my maximum out of pocket, I was considering it for later this year. Well, this time she said I would be in a boot that put all my weight on my heel and I could walk day 1. I was thrilled to hear this and she said the scheduler would call next week. My plan is to schedule it for Thursday, December 14th, which will be a week after I get back from my trip and before Christmas break. Progress.

I picked up my favorite Panera salad on the way to campus, which I ate at my desk. I had a 1:00 meeting across campus and so went to the real Starbuck's and redeemed some points for a huge frapuccino. Yum! Since I worked through lunch, I left early enough to hit St. Louise's and then because it was Friday, went to St. Theresa's (another thrift shop that's only open Friday starting at 4:00 and Saturday). I bumped into Andrea there. What are the chances? We talked about going out for dinner but couldn't come up with anywhere we wanted to go so split up. I drove through Arby's on the way home. Lame!

Saturday was spinning so Andrea and I headed to Fremont. We hit the Restore before spinning, which was a basic spinning lesson and there were 18 people there, which is way more than normal. From there we went to the Estate Dispersal Store before Goodwill and Aldi. Since we'd failed on Friday night, we stopped on the way home at Todd's in Cedar Bluffs for burgers and beers.

While I was feeling unenthused about it, I started a rotation on Sunday and I started with a fast. While I wasn't eating, I made a big pot of cabbage soup and a batch of sweet pickle relish with cukes from my neighbor. I did eat dinner but figured the one meal day would be a jump start and hopefully bring some inspiration. I need to lose some weight before my trip.

So I'll call that a good week. Work was fine, I got good news on my toe surgery and had fun in Fremont before my usual chore day on Sunday. Hopefully I'll be successful with my diet and will find motivation to keep at it. I'm also loving the fall weather, which finally arrived. Here's a picture of one of the volunteer sunflowers that are growing all over my yard. Enjoy.

Week 36 - Enjoying Some Nachos

Nachos. Yeah there were a few and I enjoyed them all, which may have been the highlight of the week.

It all started on Monday - Labor Day. I got my weekly email from the local yarn shop in Lincoln and they showcased their September yarn from a local dyer who often uses Lincoln locations as inspiration. September's was Tico's, which is the Mexican restaurant where Darla and I like to go for nachos. I immediately bought the yarn (sock yarn, of course) and instantly had nachos on the brain. It was supposedly inspired by a stained glass window but all I could see was salsa. I will make socks for Darla's birthday and maybe we can celebrate over nachos.

So my plan was to have a productive day to make up for having been a total slug for the weekend. But with nachos on the brain, I decided to bag productivity in favor of nachos. Tico's is closed on Mondays and Darla had plans but my two retired friends were game so I drove to Lincoln and we went to El Toro for margueritas and nachos. Yum! I dropped off a trunk load of donations for the Stuff for Strays garage sales that my friend Becky, who brought me the kittens who saved my summer, runs to raise money for cat care. And when I got home, I put the leftover nacho toppings on chips I had at home and had nachos for dinner. Double yum.

Tuesday was a blur of catching up and troubleshooting and Wednesday was a campus day. Those are all about what I can get done while I'm in Lincoln so I did some thrifting at lunch and scored a sturdy end table to put my new circular sock knitting machine on. Yay! After work, a bunch of us were going to Tico's as a welcome for the new Director of Accounting but she had something come up and worked from home. Bummer but I enjoyed MORE NACHOS and another marguerita while chatting with work friends. I stopped at DQ in Wahoo on the way home and was disappointed that the summer Puppy Chow Blizzard was already over but I got a peanut butter sundae and called it a day.

The rest of the work week was uneventful and I had no plans for the weekend. I ran some errands on Saturday and got my favorite grab and go for lunch and then made bean dip for Saturday snack supper, which I ate with tortilla chips so nacho adjacent.

I had a few more chores to get done on Sunday but the plan was to see if I could get my sock machine set up. Before I could start that, I needed to change the litter boxes. Well, I stepped wrong when I was doing that and instantly had searing, burning pain in the tendon that's been bothering me, which goes from my right big toe to under my arch. I'd never had burning and it was very painful so I spent the day icing and elevating my foot while streaming (Dark Winds on AMC, which was good) and knitting. It did some good and I was able to make dinner, which was a chicken enchilada casserole with a side of broccoli. That's more Mexican food than I normally eat in months and I'd be eating the casserole 4 more times. Good thing it was yummy.

So it was plan B all week and not the productivity I'd planned but as long as I have clean underwear for the following week, it's all good. I started taking big guns ibuprofen Sunday night and would keep that up to hopefully help the sore tendon. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

Week 35 - Holiday Weekend Slug

I started the week waking up at 2:30 in the morning worried about not having put out the recycling. You guessed it - I went out in my nightie and put it at the curb. My week didn't get much more exciting than that.

Wednesday was not a campus day because UNL was going for breaking the record of the most spectators at a women's sporting event so we were forbidden from going to campus. They did break the record, which was all over the national news and even across the pond on BBC. Go figure.

As for my week, I had knitting Monday night then 2 zooms Tuesday after work - a Husker Cats meeting and then a Grow Big Red one on fall garden prep. I taught 2 of my monthly classes and ended the week with monthly reports, which I was alone on because Brook was out. We got to stop work for the holiday weekend at 3:00 but I wasn't done so kept working. Oh well. At least I had lunch at Wahoo's new steak house with Helen as a prelude to the weekend.

I had no firm plans for the weekend but Andrea and I went to Fremont early on Saturday so as not to kill the entire day. The Restore was closed for the holiday weekend but I scored some fun stuff at Goodwill before hitting Aldi. The groceries were put away by 2:30 but my day was still dead. I knitted while streaming for the rest of the day. I had high hopes for Sunday.

Nope. I talked to a couple of friends and did laundry but nothing else. I thinking I could redeem myself by being productive on Labor Day. Check out my next post to see if that happened. : )

Here's a picture of the girls just because they're so stinkin' cute.

Week 34 - Miserable Heat Sucks

When I cancelled my trip to Vienna with Connie, I immediately extended my RI trip so wasn't flying home until Tuesday. Of course the weather was finally wonderful but I was going back to blazing heat in Nebraska so would be enjoying my last days in RI.

Deanne had an appointment Monday morning so I happily knitted away before she came back and we went to Whole Foods for lunch. We we going to visit our old girl scout leader, Mrs. Bassett, that afternoon, which has become our summer tradition. After a nice catch up, we went to Dee's mom's house to visit her. It was nearly supper time by the time we left so we went directly to Federal Hill for a yummy dinner at Massimo. It was a fixed price menu so we had salad, an entree and dessert with wine for $35. Such a deal and the gnocchi was wonderful and I took some home, which I froze so I could take it home on the plane. Perfect. I packed and we watched the final episodes of Lioness. I was definitely ready to go home.

Another tradition is that Cornelia drives me to the airport and we have a lovely breakfast on the way. She picked me up before 8:00 and we ate at our favorite breakfast place then went to Pawtuxet to chat on a bench by the water until it was time to head to the airport. It's always a nice send off and I love time with Cornelia. Despite having a C boarding pass (I'd missed the check in reminder when we were eating lunch the day before), I managed to snag a window seat and the flights were fine. 

When I got off the plane in Omaha, the heat smacked me upside the head. It had been in the low 70's in RI but it was over 100 and humid in Nebraska. It was so hot that the cats, who had been inside for 12 days, only stayed out for a few minutes before coming back inside. I had stopped at Aldi on the way from the airport and after unpacking my groceries, I nuked the now thawed leftover gnocchi for my last taste of RI.

Despite being on vacation for 2 days, which I count as campus days, I went to campus on Wednesday. Again, the cats chose to stay inside. It was that hot. The main reason to go to Lincoln was to pick up my 2 foster fail kittens - Hazel and Goodie. I ordered pizza, which Rene picked up, and we ate an Anne's. They both came with me to see the kittens. The house they were in was full of cats - 2 litters of kittens and another ten or so cats. You had step carefully between all the cats and their various toys and towers. I happily took my 2 and left. They were right back at home within 5 minutes. Pixel and Tot were not happy to see them again and went out for the night.

It was such a relief to work from home for the rest of the week. I was still catching up at work and had a Ripples zoom at 2:00 on Thursday. I made polenta with sausage & peppers (from my garden) for supper, watched Backyard Farmer and went to bed early. Such a lovely day at home. Friday was another nice day. I took a short lunch so I could get a haircut that afternoon then Jeanie came at 5:00 to drop off a sock knitting machine that she'd found at an antique store years ago and no longer wanted. How fun it will be to crank out socks but there will be a learning curve. To top off a nice couple of days, storms came through Friday night and broke the heat wave. Yay!

I had the whole weekend ahead of me with no obligations and the weather was gorgeous. I opened the windows and got busy. I flipped my mattress and cleaned underneath the bed (HUGE dust bunnies) then did 5 loads of laundry, which I hung on my newly strung clothesline. I kept it up on Sunday. After a yummy breakfast of pancakes and bacon, I organized the linen closet, ironed and put my bedroom curtains back up then vacuumed. With the house was looking better, I went to Lorri's that afternoon to drop off some thank you gifts for taking care of my plants and cats while I was gone. While I was there, Connie called from Vienna on a video chat so we both talked to her. Lorri shared some produce from her garden so I went home and made leek carbonara for supper and enjoyed it with a glass of wine. Nice.

What a nice week. One last day in RI, an easy trip home, getting my kittens back and then the heat breaking so I could have a productive weekend at home. I don't have any trips until the end of November so hope for more productivity at home until then. Wish me luck.

Week 33 - Zero Beach Weather

We had made very few plans for the week with only a beach day with friends for Wednesday. It was going to be a relaxing week and we were both happy with that.

It was cloudy Monday morning so I happily knitted outside while John went for a bike ride. He brought back pastries which I had with tea and we had pork chops and cuke salad for supper. It was a nice first day.

Our Tuesday plan was to head to Newport to pick up John's beach chair, which his aunt was storing. It was nice to see Jean and I bummed some flour with a dash of cinnamon so I could make a pie for our dinner with friends on Wednesday. Only when I was buying the blueberries and pie crust did I realize we didn't have a pie pan (the kitchen was sparsely provisioned in both staples and pans) so we went back to Jean's to borrow a pie plate. We had a nice lunch at a bar called Pour Judgment, drove Ocean Drive and then stopped for sweet corn on the way home. We skipped supper in favor of snacks while streaming and I made the pie, which looked great.

The weather betrayed us on Wednesday. What had been forecast to be a perfect beach day was cloudy and cold. My sister was supposed to meet us at the beach with some of her husband's family but that didn't happen. Deanne was still coming down so we ended up buying tickets to Barbie, which was wonderful. The sun was out when we got out of the theatre so we went to Shepherd's Run - the event center in an old mansion where Aaron (Carolyn's son) works. He was off that day but we enjoyed wine on the patio before heading back to the cottage.

John's friends from high school were coming for dinner. This was the 3rd year for this Kate, Nancy and Deanne dinner (Covid made that impossible the first year) and we had a lovely time. We had chicken kebabs, rice, grilled eggplant I'd brought from my garden, Mexican street corn and my pie with ice cream. It was all wonderful. I had a lot of alcohol over the course of the day and I don't know if that was the problem but I struggled to fall asleep that night.

We woke up to fog and chilly air on Thursday so were just hanging out when our friend Bob called. He asked if we were free that afternoon and came down with his daughter, Daisy. Cornelia was coming for dinner and we didn't want a teenager to cramp our style so Bob didn't stay for supper, which was swordfish. Yum. And it's always fabulous hanging with Cornelia so it was a lovely evening, even if we needed a sweatshirt after the sun went down.

We had one more day left and the crappy weather continued. We woke up to a storm on Friday morning so were stuck inside while it poured. We went to Aunt Carrie's for lunch of clamcakes and chowder, which was yummy. I got a piece of coconut custard pie (a RI specialty) and we headed back. The sun had come out but it was super windy. After an afternoon of knitting in the wind, I made a mish mash dinner with all the leftovers in the fridge. It was the only night that I cooked. Princess Merry. John is a great cook.

We packed up Saturday morning from our beach week where I never so much as touched sand nor put a toe in salt water. We were out at 11:00 and after a stop at John's uncles to return some chairs we'd borrowed, John dropped me at Carolyn's and headed off. We had spinach pies for lunch and I chatted with Carolyn, who was still recovering from her ankle surgery so hadn't come down to the beach (and why bother with the weather we had?). Deanne picked me up later that afternoon and we went to Al Forno for an amazing dinner then home where we started watching Lioness on Paramount+. It's very good if you haven't seen it.

Of course Sunday was perfect beach weather. Sheesh! We had made plans with a friend from high school so walked on Blackstone Blvd then got lunch to go from a cafe nearby. Deanne and I went back to her apartment and spent the afternoon at the pool. It was a nice, relaxing afternoon and then Dee made shrimp spring rolls from scratch, which were delish.

What a week! 5 days at the beach without a bit of beach weather but still relaxing and perfectly pleasant. Lots of time with friends and plenty of knitting time. And since Deanne knows who bought our old cottage, we got in touch and there's a chance we can rent next summer. If not, we'll do the tiny house again but will make sure to bring a double size blow up mattress. We can't possibly have the bad weather we had this year again, right? I live in hope.