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!