Week 3 - Snow and Tragedy

You've gotta love a week that begins with a Monday holiday but this is the last one for months. Luckily I enjoyed it to the fullest.

Darla came over for lunch, which was all things chicken since I'd made soup and chicken salad from the rotisserie chicken plus some carrot/raisin salad to round it out. We chatted for hours and after she left, I placed a big seed order before heading to the library for knitting. It was a lovely day.

A storm was due on Wednesday so working on campus was optional. I went to Bomgaar's for birdseed and suet after work on Tuesdasy, refilled the feeders before bed and was ready to hunker down. I woke up to snow, which turned to freezing rain then back to snow. I had arranged for Tim and his sons to clear my snow, which they did late on Wednesday even though we'd be getting more snow overnight. He took care of the heavy wet stuff and I shoveled another light 2" first thing on Thursday. All done.

I had taken Friday afternoon off to head to Lincoln to celebrate Rene's birthday and I was on cake duty so made a white cake over lunch on Thursday then put it together after work - white cake with lemon curd between the layers and coconut frosting. Then it was off to book club, where we were discussing my choice - The Perfume Thief. It was a great discussion and my cousin Helen came for the first time.

Friday was fun. I worked in the morning then met Anne and Rene at Cook's Cafe. It's my favorite place for breakfast (best sausage links!) but lunch was nothing special. We went back to Rene's for cake and an afternoon of chatting and knitting. I left ~5:00 and remembered as I headed north that I could hit St. Theresa's Thrift Shop, which is only open on Fridays and Saturdays so I haven't been in years. I scored a bunch of fun yarn in grab bags - some for me, some for my sister and some to donate back. I stashed it all while I had a beer and snack supper plus another bit of cake. It was a wonderful day.

After morning chats Saturday morning with Carolyn and Deanne while sitting in the sun knitting, I was off to Fremont for spinning. Andrea and I did our usual Fremont run, ending at Aldi. I had hoped we could get sushi but Andrea had plans so I got frozen fish and chips from Aldi, which gave me horrible indigestion since I'd eaten nothing but meat, veggies and fruit for the previous 2 weeks except for Friday. I was struggling to fall asleep after getting up to get a Tums when the phone rang at 10:00 pm. It wasn't good news.

Anne was calling to let me know that Rene's son, who had lived with her until she moved into her new house a few months ago, had shot and killed his neighbor. OMG! We didn't know much but talked for awhile and then, needless to say, I had big trouble getting to sleep after that.

I had a low energy day on Sunday for sure. I talked to my sister in the morning and then made a list. I was totally distracted with worry for Rene but did manage to plug away at some chores between knitting and watching podcasts. I finished this pair of socks that had been on the needles for years. Literally.

Talk about ups and downs! The week started out so well but ended badly. I will be worrying about Rene, who has been so happy lately between retirement and her new house, for a long time. Nothing good will come of this. So sad.