Week 32 - Aug 4-10

It was another nice week that started with time inside and ended with all things social.

I spent the first three days of the week puttering inside, finally catching up on online things and doing more cooking. I was feeling guilty about so much streaming while knitting so switched it up to reading and knitting a couple of charity hats. Same chair and same sitting but somehow better. In my mind at least. Here are the hats.

My new friend Ana, who had been staying in Wahoo to go through family stuff and get some intensive PT, was going back to NYC so I said goodbye to her before knitting on Monday. She had been living in a hotel so I'd invited her over for many a meal over the summer and also worked on puzzles with her at the library. I'd miss her but she's planning to move back to Nebraska after she sells her apartment so I'll see her again.

A talk at the lake on Thursday morning was the start of my busy days. It was on specialty crops in Nebraska and was very interesting. From there I went to The Warehouse, the library and then dealt with the driveway weeds. I'd attempted to take them to the city burn pile earlier in the week only to find it closed because they were burning. So when I saw that Lorri had her trailer piled with weeds to take to her brother's farm, I asked if I could add mine. They'd been sitting on the alley for a couple of days and it had rained so they were a mess. She said I could so I loaded them back into the car and offloaded those. After that, I called it a day and relaxed all afternoon.

Friday was my Lincoln day and I had a full agenda. I started at the Nebraska Library Commission, dropping off the book club books they'd discussed while I was in Europe. From there I went to Knit Paper Scissors to pick up the August yarn that I'd ordered, which was a good thing because it sold out. Then it was on to the cancer center for what I hoped would be my last appointments for awhile. I was meeting with my oncologist and the radiation oncologist. I'm happy to say I am done for awhile with my next appointment scheduled for Halloween. I feel like I have my life back again. To celebrate, I met Dodie at Starbuck's and we chatted over yummy coffee. It was great catch up and from there I went to the newly opened Stuff Creative Reuse store and totally scored some yarn. They had a couple of cubbies with "special" yarn that was $10/skein. I scored another skein by the same dyer I'd just picked up and had paid $38 for. SCORE! I got another expensive skein and then all the others were only $1 each. I scored some labeled sock yarn and some remnants. After a grocery run, I headed back home. It was another lovely day.

My plan Saturday was to go to the Thrifty Artists Garage Sale, which I'd tried to get a vendor table at but failed. I'd sold there pre-Covid and wanted to have a table to sell yarn so was going to check it out and run Omaha errands. There had been storms overnight but I'd slept through them and only had a small branch of my silver maple down, which happens all the time so I gave it zero thought. Anyway, when I went to the ATM to get cash for the sale, they didn't have power then the next town towards Omaha didn't have any power either. I pulled over to check that the sale was still on and it was but they said they'd had cancellations of the food truck and several vendors because of the storm. Hmm.... I drove to Omaha and found an ATM to pay a $4 fee to get cash because that's what I'd need to buy anything.

I started by hitting all my fave carb places (Bagel Bin, Winchell's Donuts and the Rotella bread factory) then went to the sale. It was lame with nothing much at all that interested me. I spent $2.25 cents and called it a bust. I did talk to one of the people who runs the sale and suggested they not bury the call for vendors like that had this time, which is why I missed it. Also, a friend from my spinning group was selling so I offered to mind her booth while she went and got lunch so that was helpful.

One thing on my Omaha list was to go to the new Ollie's, which I'd been to in my sister's town and enjoyed. I thought it was on 72nd Street in the heart of Omaha but when I got to where I thought it was, it wasn't there so I googled. It was way up in north Omaha so miles further up 72nd. I stopped at a couple of thrifts on my way there but they were mob scenes. I guess I've become completely accustomed to weekday shopping when the stores are empty. Go retirement! I did make it to Ollie's and found a few things to buy but then made a beeline home for a cup of tea and the enormous apple fritter I'd bought at Winchell's. Note to self - never shop on weekends if it can be avoided. Duh!

I started laundry Sunday morning and then headed to Ashland. The "swim ladies" (Anne, Rene, Amanda and I so named by Amanda's husband) were getting together for lunch at BW's. We enjoyed lunch (I got a fried egg sandwich with tots - talk about an old school menu option!) and talked for so long that Amanda's son left, came back with a change of clothes and left again. Lots of chatting and catching up. I didn't go back to Amanda's because there were big storm clouds so I headed back and drove through torrential rain for a bit.

I'd call that another nice week. It was a good mix of relaxation, productivity and social events and it wasn't ridiculously hot. Still hotter than I like but that's summer in Nebraska. I'd be heading to Rhode Island for my annual beach week and it looks like it'll be much cooler when I get back. Can't wait for fall weather!