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.