Week 12 - The Last Snow?

The week started off with gorgeous spring weather - 62 and sunny. After weeks of gloom and chill, it was a treat. Otherwise, the week brought space data drama, yarny fun and snow. Yes, 4" of snow on Sunday morning. What!

Our space survey prep was not going well. We were more than doing our part but the consultant was falling down at every turn. Lacey went bad ass on them on Tuesday morning, which was impressive. I spent time every single day working on testing. We still didn't have a working space survey by the end of the day Friday. Lame!

My goal for Wednesday was to have a huge box of yarn ready to ship to my sister. She had requested cotton yarn so I went downstairs to pull the huge lot of cotton upstairs and spent all Tuesday evening untangling and sorting the skeins. And I mean from 5:00-10:30 with only a brief break for supper. When I finished at 10:30, I pulled a huge Chewy box from the front room, filled that up with acrylic and topped it off with some cotton yarn. I taped it shut, took a shower and went to bed.

I got up early Wednesday so I could bake the blondies I'd failed to do the night before and print a UPS shipping label for the box before I got ready for my day on campus. I fed cats, dropped the package at the UPS Store and was at my desk shortly after 8:00. In addition to the blondies I'd made, one of the accountants had brought cheesecake for Ben's birthday, which wasn't on our radar so not sure why it was on hers. Anyway, the treats were delish so I offered to drop some off at Brook's while I was out and about over lunch. I left at noon but bumped into our new vice chancellor and a VP from ITS on the sidewalk so we chatted in the sun and I didn't even get to my car until 12:30. I stopped at Brook's and chatted there for a bit then went to Nora's since she lives only a few blocks away. I was there for awhile too then had to drop things at Anne's. I got a teams message from Lacey to stop at her office so didn't get back to my desk until 3:00. I called it team building and settled in for the last 2 hours.

Rene and I were going to Anne's for supper, a fire, Survivor and to see some of Anne's Africa pics. I was providing dinner (the cabbage casserole I'd made on Sunday) and Rene was bringing dessert to go with the corn muffins Anne made. We had a nice time catching up but didn't see any pics because Anne had 3,000 and needed to get them organized and select a subset to show people. It was a long day but fun and I got a lot done. 

Next on the agenda was planning for Saturday. It was Fiberpalooza in Winterset, Iowa and I really wanted to go but had complicated it by suggesting we go for Anne and Lori's birthdays, which we had yet to celebrate. Unfortunately Lori had an obligation at 3:30 so couldn't go to Iowa and we still hadn't hear back from Andrea as of Friday evening. She finally called and we solidified our Saturday plans.

I picked Andrea up at 10:30 and we met Lori at Imagiknit, the best yarn shop in Omaha, at 11:00. They both had birthday discounts to use and are you sitting down? I fondled sock yarn but bought nothing! From there we drove to downtown Omaha to Block 16. I had been seeing it on Facebook and it looked amazing. It was. We had to wait 20 minutes to order but the food came quickly and we were enjoying our food 10 minutes later - duck confit and cheese curds on top of fries with a fruit drizzle and brown gravy along with a bacon and brie grilled cheese. Best food I've had in this country in years. I will definitely go back. After we dropped Lori back at the yarn shop, Andrea and I hit Aldi and headed home. It was a fun day but the disappointment of missing Fiberpalooza was still there. I will absolutely be going next year. No ifs, and or buts.

When I got home, I decided to see if there were still tickets available for Book of Mormon as a consolation prize. There were nosebleed seat for $56 and Rene was in so I bought them for the 7:00 show on Sunday night. Yay!

I woke up to 4" of snow on Sunday morning, which was 3.5" more than forecast. I didn't want it to get packed down so got dressed and shoveled as soon as CBS Sunday Morning was over. I'm glad I did because my friend stopped after church and by then my driveway was dry. I did my chores right after lunch and left for Lincoln at 6:00. The play was wonderful and I was home by 10:15. I couldn't fall asleep right away but since Monday was a working from home day, I knew I'd be fine.

Another good week, right? I checked a few things off my list and had lots of fun. The snow was mostly gone by the end of the day Sunday and hopefully will be the last we see this year. I'm so ready for warmer weather and being able to work outside. I just hope we don't skip the spring temps and charge right into heat. I also hope the drought is over and we have normal rains this year. Send vibes for a nice spring please.

Week 11 - Vinegar and Hamburger

It was another quiet week where the highlights were soaking things in vinegar and cooking. Seriously, that's it.

The week started with running Foundation reports. I do love a day where I'm busy all day and have lots to show for it, in this case emails with reports attached, at the end of the day. I also got to catch up with Cindy, who has been mostly out for weeks dealing with family things. I made a quiche for supper on Tuesday purely because I wanted some pie crust to make an individual berry pie for Pi Day. I usually make pie to share but wouldn't be seeing anyone and just couldn't skip it. My pie was cute and delicious.

I ran errands on Wednesday at lunch, including dropping some tetrazzini at Anne's for her to have when she gets back home on Saturday from her 2 weeks of safari in Africa. I tried to get my shingles booster at CVS after work but they wanted $200+, explaining that my CVS Caremark prescription insurance doesn't cover vaccinations at CVS. Go figure.

We had rain that turned to snow on Thursday and that's the day I got out the vinegar to clean the coffee pot and soak the sink sprayer, shower head and laundry room faucet. It's always lovely taking that first shower when the water isn't coming out so strong that it feels like it could cut you. Yes, that's how exciting this week was - vinegar soaking made the blog. Sheesh!

The weekend was another one at home. No complaints from me. On Saturday, I skipped spinning (with a program I had zero interest in, I couldn't muster the energy to get dressed, never mind get to Fremont) and enjoyed a day of catching up on TV and YouTube knitting podcasts while knitting away. I finished my sister's birthday socks so could sent them out early in hopes that she could wear them before it got too hot in Charleston. There were several video chats as Anne made her way home and had wifi in airports. When she got to Newark on Friday, we had a long chat that night. She'd be home on Saturday night.

Sunday was another relaxing day and I spent a chunk of it cooking with hamburger. I'd bought a 3 pound chub of frozen hamburger, which meant I had to use it all when I thawed it. I made cabbage casserole and concocted an Italian meatloaf (or flat meatball?) on top of a cabbage steak and topped with cottage cheese mixed with tomato paste and a layer of pepperoni. It was quite tasty and used a few things up that I had in the fridge.

So nothing exciting to report for this week. Yet another late winter Nebraska week when it's too cold to work outside despite the extra light. And speaking of the time change, you can reset a clock but not a cat. Even the coffee brewing didn't lead them to wake me up so after sleeping too late on Monday, I started asking Alexa to wake me up. At least it's to 80's music, which is always fun. TTYL.

Week 10 - Longing for Spring

It was an uneventful week except for a wee bit of exploration with Rene again. The other analyst on my team has surgery scheduled in mid-March so I have to front load my time off so I'd be working while he's out. This week's exploration was only Fremont though, which is a regular stop for me but Rene had never been.

The work week was nothing special - more space data (all problems) and working on files for Payroll but otherwise same old same old. I did find some yarn while thrifting at lunch on Wednesday so had fun sorting that after work. By Thursday I was cleaning my house - putting stuff away whenever I got up from my desk, washing the kitchen floor over lunch and cleaning the bathroom after work. This was all because Rene would be coming to my house on our way to Fremont so I needed to do my weekend chores before noon on Friday.

Rene arrived at 12:30 on Friday and after a potty break in my newly clean bathroom, we headed north. We started at the Habitat Restore then hit Main Street. We had fun filling a bag with scraps at the quilt store and shopped our way up and down the street. The big event was when Rene found the perfect vintage highchair at the Estate Dispersal Store. She was thrilled and after Aldi, we went to Todd's in Cedar Bluffs for beer, burgers and tots. So my normal Fremont run but with Rene instead of Andrea, who was out of town anyway so I didn't feel like I was cheating. : )

With all my chores done, I was all set for a relaxing weekend. I did some laundry and cooking (tetrazzini - yum!), watched Wild Bill on Britbox and chatted with friends on and off, including another video chat with Anne from Africa, between knitting. I finished my monthly challenge socks, which were made from scraps using one of my favorite patterns. Aren't ehy run?

So that's my idea of a great weekend, especially in late winter when Nebraska is drab and chilly. The clocks springing forward so early now doesn't help because I want to be outside because it's light so long after work but it's still too cold to do any gardening. Spring will arrive eventually but there's been no sign of yet so far. 

Week 9 - Tires and Wilbur

This week was all about lunches and travel but in an old lady life way, I was also thrilled to get new tires on my car. It doesn't take much these days.

I got new tires on Wednesday while I was on campus. I dropped my car before work and bummed a ride back after work with Allan, our computer tech who is a total peach. I had lunch with Dodie at Bison Witches so didn't need my car at lunch. The first drive home on new tires is always a treat. It feels like flying.

I had lunch with Helen on Thursday and then Friday was another exploration day with Rene. This time we were going to Wilbur - home of the Czech Festival each summer. We had to go through Crete (another town I'd never been to) so checked out the downtown and Doane College on our way through. Wilbur is a cute small town with 2 meat markets and just a few shops. We explored them all then called the museum to schedule a time to see it. After a nice lunch at the Wilbur Hotel, we met Doris at the museum and she gave us a private tour. Without her commentary, it would have been a quick visit but she knew all the stories behind the exhibits so it was actually fun. We then explored a few small towns on the way back, which included a stop in Hallam.

An F4 tornado hit Hallam in May 2004 and UNL sent busloads of staff down to help with the clean up. It was unbelievable to see it first hand - no amount of news coverage prepares you for the abject destruction. The group I was with spent our entire day helping one woman at her house, which had been pulled off its foundation and plunked back down a few feet away. Her name was Connie and as I slogged through her stuff trying to salvage things, I thought we had a lot in common - Penzey's spices, scrapbooking and Birkenstocks. I've thought of her over the years and when we were in Hallam, I took Rene to the street where she lived but all the houses were new so there was nothing to reference. There was a woman raking leaves so we stopped to ask if she knew Connie and it was her! What are the chances? We chatted for a few minutes, which was a treat. After a couple more small towns on the way back and a stop at Aldi, I dropped Rene off and headed home. It was another fun day of exploring small town Nebraska. We will do more of these for sure.

Having been out and about on Friday, I stayed home all weekend. I did my usual chatting with friends while knitting in the sun on Saturday morning and then got busy with chores. I had a fun video chat with Anne from Africa too. My project for the weekend was to clear out 2 corners of my back room, which was mostly knitting stuff. I put away lots of yarn, organized some WIPs (works in progress) and even ripped out and restarted a shawl from years ago. You never realize how messy something looks until it's gone and the cleared space looks so good.

So it was a fun week. Lunches, exploration and productivity to end the week. Nothing wrong with that and I hope I have a few more weeks like it in the near future.