Week 12 - Getting Stuff Done

It was the last full week before my trip so I had lots to get done but I didn't have many free days so had to keep focused. But first it was time to book a trip for next year.

Anne and I have been trying to get together for a trip with some Canadian knitting friends since covid killed our May 2020 Baltic knitting cruise. We had our eye on an April 2027 knitting tour in Denmark by the Irish Tourist Board. Presale, which we'd signed up for, was on Monday and Janice and I decided they would probably be sending the email when they opened at 9:00 am. Well that's 4:00 am our time so alarms were set. When I still hadn't gotten the email by 4:30, I called Dublin only to find out they were sending it at 2:00 pm their time, which was a much more reasonable time for their American travelers. I went back to bed and got the trip booked later. Yay! 

With that done, I spent the morning knitting in the sun and did some laundry. That afternoon, I went through a huge tote of my mom's pictures from trips she took. I went through hundreds (maybe thousands?) of pictures and only kept the ones with her, her sister (my Aunt Dot) or my dad, finding what might be the last picture of my parents together (sorry for the bad glare but I will make copies for my sisters). 98% of the pics went into the trash. Cross that off my list. Knitting didn't happen again between people being sick or busy.

Tuesday was a Helen and Debbie day and of course I ran some errands on the way to her house and on the way home. Helen made a full corned beef and cabbage lunch and we sat at the kitchen table crocheting and chatting all afternoon. I had scored some yarn at Goodwill in the morning and then hit another Goodwill on the way home. Besides yarn, one of the things I always look for is 100% cotton knit nighties and dresses, which are rare these days. Well, They had 6 or 7 Land's End nighties that looked brand new for $9 each. I picked one short sleeved and 2 long and since it was senior citizen discount day, they were only $7.20 each. Score! I then stopped at HyVee for a few groceries and picked up their fried chicken meal for supper at home. It was a super fun day.

I was home Wednesday so made a to do list and started crossing things off. I also wound all the sock yarn that Anne had found for me at an estate sale and got out my bleach and tested it all. All but one had nylon, which makes them sock yarn in my knitting world. Yay! I finished my challenge socks, cleared out the tea cupboard over the store (I'd ordered a huge box of my fave Tetley's British Blend that would arrive shortly) and made a cup of tea. It was 80 degrees so I didn't last long outside. I ended the day talking to my friend Cornelia. It was another good day.

Thursday started at 9:00 with a talk at the lake so I picked up Lorri and enjoyed the talk on NRD education programs. I had just enough time afterwards to pack a lunch and head to Lincoln for the Emeriti/Retirees Association lunch, which was a panel from Backyard Farmer (a local program on PBS about gardening), which was great. Afterwards, I had a meeting with Don and Al about taking over the membership committee duties. That was long but I was home in time for tea, which I had inside because it was now 83 degrees. In the middle of March!

Friday was supposed to be another busy day. I had an appointment with the cancer doc and had scheduled lunch afterwards with Dodie. She was sick so had cancelled and then when I got to the cancer center, they told me I had the date wrong and it was in mid-April. I was pissed and blame the awful outlook calendar app on my phone. To make my 3rd trip to Lincoln in a week worth something I went to Trader Joe's for lavendar dryer bags and spent $47. I then went to HyVee for their $.99 sale, where I picked up a slice of pizza for lunch. I picked up a pain au raisin at my fave bakery - Le Quartier - and headed home. I did stop at the post prom garage sale but bought nothing. It was now 88 degrees so I spent the afternoon inside with the house shut up. I refuse to put the AC on when a few days ago we had a blizzard. Sheesh!

Saturday was spinning in Fremont and Andrea was not going. I hit the Restore before the meeting and found $7 worth of goodies (love that store) and after the meeting I went to an antique store I'd heard about. I bought nothing. It was 99 degrees! I went home to my nicely cool house and did movie night, watching Eleanor the Great (good) and the Peaky Blinders movie (disappointing) and went to bed.

The heat broke overnight and with my trip just 5 days away, I made a pre-trip list and got busy. I was in the middle of things when the contractor who will be doing my basement while I'm gone came by with the guy who would be doing the dirt work. He had his 3 year old with him and he needed to use the bathroom. When he came out I asked him if he'd washed his hands because he clearly hadn't and he said, "It's ok. I didn't touch my penis." What a hoot! His dad just rolled his eyes and off they went. I had been making piles of things to pack and tried on all my long sleeved knit shirts to decide what to pack. PBS filled the rest of the night and like that, the week was over.

So it was a busy week with a good mix of social stuff and productivity. The weather was absolutely ridiculous but I made it through without resorting to AC so I'll call that a win. I would be leaving Thursday and had made enough of a dent in my pre-trip list that I wouldn't be stressed next week. Another win. Just 5 days until I'm heading to Belgium and The Netherlands on a river cruise. Can't wait.

Week 11 - Fun Between Snows

It was another week with huge temperature fluctuations and the clocks changed so we had the extra hour of daylight. As usual since they changed the spring forward to earlier, it was way too early to start spring clean up. I did find some things to do outside though.

It was 82 degrees on Monday and not too early to prune my roses, which I did in record time because the roses on the east side of the house got pruned and moved in the fall. So far no sign that any of those survived the winter in the raised veg bed I planted them in. Time will tell I guess. The rest of the roses got pruned and I drove the pokey branches to the city burn pile. I made tetrazzini that afternoon and talked to my sister, who invited me to visit for a sisters' thrift trip but it's when I'll be in Europe so that didn't work. Monday Night Knitting was cancelled because so many people weren't coming.

Tuesday had actually spring weather that worked great for another small town day with Anne and Rene. This time we were heading southwest of Lincoln to Fairbury and Hebron. We puttered through Fairbury then had a great lunch in Hebron. As we do, we went home a different way and explored all the little towns along the way. We got back to Lincoln well before dinner time so went to the new Buresh Meats on the northwest side of Lincoln and then went downtown to hit Lincoln Running Company's 50th anniversary sale. Anne and I both got new sneakers, which was on my pre-trip list so check that off. I bolted home and had just enough time to scarf a piece of quiche before heading to the library for a board meeting at 7:00. It was a long but fun day.

I woke up to snow on Wednesday morning! It was heavy, wet snow that didn't stick to pavement and it was 49 later that day so it didn't last. That's my kind of snow. I spent the day inside and had a frog party. Frogging means ripping out projects (rip it! rip it!) and I had many I knew I'd never finish - 2 blankets, 2 shawls and the start of a sweater. I also packed up an entire scarf project with the half done scarf, pattern, yarn and needles to donate. Frogging has been on my list for months so it was great to get those done and off my mind.

It was back in the 70's on Thursday and that worked for me. I did cat duty at the local shelter in the morning and then had my hair cut, which was with a different stylist because mine was out and I desperately needed a pre-trip cut. It takes my hair a couple of weeks to realize it's short and play nice. I had scheduled dinner with Darla in Lincoln when I had something else to take me there and when that was cancelled, I decided to do dinner anyway. I did some thrifitng, of course, and scored some indy dyed sock yarn from a Connecticut podcaster who I watch . I also dropped a bunch of yarn off at Stuff (gone is good) and then had a fun dinner at Tico's of gloppy nachos and margueritas with Darla. Well worth the drive.

My contractor (same one who did my bathroom last summer) came on Friday morning to do some last measuring for my basement wall project. I was thrilled when he said he could in fact do it while I'm gone, which means no noise to deal with and the cats will be inside so won't be getting in the way since there's a door to shut off that end of the basment. Yay! I made roasted veggie pasta for supper and baked a peach pie.

Saturday was the annual celebration of Lori and Andrea's birthday. Their birthdays are a week apart so I always take them out to lunch on the weekend between and this year it was a repeat of my birthday last month - Imagiknit to use the birthday discount and lunch at the Vietnamese restaurant in the same plaza. Andrea had a fancy dinner that night so we shopped for yarn first, enjoyed a yummy lunch then went to Lori's for presents and birthday peach pie. Lori had leftover chocolate cake from her sister so we had a bit of each. Yum! We left relatively early so we could stop at Aldi, which was a mob scene (weather related), and get Andrea home before 4:00. It was another fun day.

The reason for the grocery store mob scene was the blizzard that was coming on Sunday. It wasn't going to be particularly cold but with snow and 60 mph winds, they were telling everyone to stay home. I had cat duty so got there early, which was creepy because I was the only one there and all the lights were off but it was worth it because I was done by 11:00, which is right when it started snowing. The wind was crazy and out in the country where there was nothing to stop the snow blowing, it was whiteout conditions and they closed the highway east of Wahoo. I was cozy inside knitting and steaming and made a comfort food dinner of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and carrots. The nice thing was it was slightly above freezing so the snow wouldn't last.

Some week, right? We had all kinds of weather, which is typical for late winter 2026, and I had some fun, did some long overdue frogging and got good news from the contractor. I'm calling it a good week and am starting to make the pre-trip list so I can get prepared early and not stress. Just another week and a half before Anne and I will be heading to Europe. Yay!

Week 10 - Basement is Ready

I had been living and breathing the yarn sale for so long that this week was a joy. I'd made good money and lots of yarn was out of the house (gone is good) so it was time to assess and get back to normal life.

I started the week hanging at Helen's. After a yummy lunch of homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese, we sat at the kitchen table and crocheted all afternoon. We laughed and laughed, as we do, and I stayed so long that I had to drive thru McD's (a rarity) for a cheeseburger to eat in the car and went straight to knitting. It was a super fun day.

Tuesday was back to reality. I'd destashed the yarn that didn't sell on Saturday but I still had bins of yarn all over my back room, which was getting me down after a month of looking at it all as I'd prepped for the sale. I moved it all to the front room to get it out of my sight then swept, emptied trash and neatized the back room. I then went outside and redid the pots at my front and side doors for St. Patrick's Day and hung a new flag. I felt much better with all that done - like things were getting back to normal.

There was a lecture about Iran (announced before Trump started bombing) in Lincoln on Wednesday afternoon so I'd schedule lunch with my friend Mary. We went back to Heoya to order Korean fries after a boring choice we'd made the last time because I'd forgotten what was the thing to order. Delish and we chatted for a long time over our lunch. I tried to go to Lincoln Running Company to get new sneakers for my trip but it was the first day of their 50th year sale but there was a huge line and I only had 45 minutes. I went to the office and chatted with Erica to kill time, picked up cookies at The Cookie Company for talk snacks and met Rene at the library. It was more of a discussion lead by an emeritus professor from UNL's polisci department and was very interesting. There were only 2 people in the room who thought Trump's war was a good thing. I hit Aldi on the way home and ate my lunch leftovers for supper while I watched Survivor.

It was 65 degrees outside on Thursday so after cleaning up the kitchen and making some ham, cheese and apple crescents for lunch and a quiche for supper, I went outside for tea. I was gearing up for the next big project - clearing the east wall of my basement so it would be ready for reblocking, hopefully while I'm away at the end of the month. I was waiting for the contractor to come and measure and having the aread clear would help.

I went down on Friday morning and moved everything in the ebay room (a room full of vintage linens from when I used to sell on ebay, which I need to get back to) and all but the tall shelves in the storage room. After lunch, I went down to tackle the three 6 foot tall shelves full of Corelle and Pyrex. I'd left room for them so emptied the first one onto the floor, moved the empty shelf then moved stuff from 2nd shelf to that, moved the 2nd shelf and moved stuff from the 3rd to that then moved that and reloaded from the floor. That was heavy work so I called it good for the day. 

On Saturday morning I went down again to sweep the walls and floor, take down the curtains (oh the cobwebs!) and lastly to clear the door between the craft room and the 2 east rooms. I was hoping they'd do it all when I'm in Europe at the end of March and with that door closed, the cats would have no access to where they were working but could still get to the laundry room for their litter boxes. With that last step, I called the basement ready and went upstairs to relax. There was lots of knitting, chatting with friends and ended with Saturday snack supper. It felt great to cross that off.

Having recharged, I was back to busy on Sunday. It was a gorgeous day (high of 78) so I did laundry and hung it on the line. With the freaky warm days we've been having and the extra hour of daylight each day, I was looking for things to do outside that were not clearing beds, because it's way too early for that. I decided to sift the last compost in the bin I was using last year so it'd be ready when I'd start clearing beds.  I ended up with an empty bin and a wheelbarrow full of gorgeous compost, which will go into my containers and veg beds later. But I wasn't done. It was so warm that I decided I should wash my car. Since I've been getting my gas at Sam's, there's no car wash to add on. I dragged a hose out of the garage and washed my filthy car. Much better. I had hot dogs for supper (not healthy) and called it a week.

So that was a great week! It was a good mix of productivity and recharging and getting the basement ready was a major accomplishment to cross off my list. Now for the contractor to get here. Life is good!

Week 9 - Big Yarn Sale

It was a busy week mostly because I was going to the Thrifty Artists Garage Sale on Saturday to sell yarn from my stash. I had been preparing for it but this was the final crunch and I worked on yarn each day. But there were other things going on too.

Anne was having surgery on her thumb Tuesday morning and I was her transport. Of course she was the first surgery so I had to be up at 4:30 and on the road by 5:00 to get here there for 6:00. Since it was so early, I did some food prep on Monday to leave her with easy things to eat. I'd bought a cat shaped snackle box so filled that then made one of Anne's favorite things - spam buns. Her surgery went well and it was a good thing I was there to talk to the doctor because she was completely loopy and remembered nothing he said. After a Starbuck's run and picking up her prescriptions, I got her settled at home. I was home by noon so had a few hours for lunch and relaxing before heading to Fremont to pick up the art Andrea and I had won in the Fremont Art Association's auction. I had a zoom lecture scheduled at 5:00 but it ended up being boring so I bailed and streamed until I went to bed early. The 4:30 wake up had caught up with me.

It was back to yarn on Wednesday. I had borrowed some bins from Anne so sorted yarn into those based on what I'd charge for the yarn. As I sorted, I added the yarn to an excel spreadsheet so I could mark off what sold. That night I had a dinner at Southeast Community College in Lincoln with my friend Lorri. It's part of their culinary program and this was our 3rd. The food is alway delicious and this was no exception.

My goal was to have everything done and ready for the sale on Thursday because I had an all day zoom conference on Friday. I finished the sorting and the excel file the went to the library to print it, the bank to get change and then loaded the car. I even made time for a load of laundry and hanging it on the line. I ended the day with pizza from Johnny Rico's food truck and was ready for Friday.

I'm the president of the library board and treasurer of the friends of the library so needed to attend the Big Talks for Small Libraries conference on Friday. It started first thing and ran all day. I did skip one session but enjoyed all the others and since board members get CE's (continuing ed points), it helps the library. There were enough breaks between sessions that I made some ham salad and did more laundry to hang out  That evening, I packed the bag I'd take to the sale and called myself ready. I had high hopes of making some decent money, unlike the last time I did this, which was pre-pandemic and I was selling rubber stamp sets and fabric. I only made $200 which wasn't worth my time. I went to bed and slept well.

Andrea was helping me at the sale so I picked her up at 7:00 and we swung by The Bagel Bin for snacks and set up the sale. I was assigned spot #4, which was a good omen because that's my favorite number. The sale started at 9:00 and there was already a line of people filling the hallway at 8:30. I was the only person selling only yarn and did a brisk business all morning. It slowed down as the day went on, which meant we had knitting time, and it was over by 3:00. I learned a few things and will try to get a table for the summer sale.

Within minutes of the sale starting, it was clear we couldn't keep up with marking what people bought so instead I'd mark off what didn't sell after the sale. I brought the bins inside as soon as I got home and despite being tired, started marking off my spreadsheet. I had to then go into Ravelry (a knitting website that I have all my yarn and projects on) and mark the ones that sold as gone. It took hours but I was glad to have it done before I went to bed.

Sunday was a much needed recharge day. I knitted in the sun, chatted with friends and streamed most of Bridgerton. I was happy that the sale was over and with the money I made selling yarn I'd never use, most of which came from Goodwill yarn grab bags. I made enough to pay for most of the beach house rental this summer, so it was well worth the effort.

It was a busy week and I was thrilled to have the sale behind me. Next up was going to be prepping the basement for the east wall replacement. Checking things off while winter lasts. Garden season will be here soon and I want to be ready. I'm totally ready for spring, which is my favorite season.

Week 8 - Weather and Art

What a week of crazy weather. It was 71 on Monday and by Friday we had 7 inches of snow. There was some working outside and some hunkering down inside. I was also starting to get ready to sell yarn so the inside time had some yarn time.

It was still full on winter so there wasn't much I could do outside but I did find a few things to do. I took down my deck tree and moved it and my inside tree, which was still in the stand on the deck, to the alley. I didn't want to lose the lights from the deck tree so moved them to the purple leafed winter creeper that is growing on my deck railing. It works and the light makes me happy. After I was done outside, I pulled out the under the bed boxes and pulled some of the workhorse sock yarn that I knew I'd never use, most of which was brown or dull shades. I then enjoyed tea outside and with no Monday Night Knitting because of the holiday, I called it a good day and knitted all evening in my comfy chair.

It was even warmer on Tuesday - 75 for the high - and it was an abbreviated Lincoln day. I went to the annual Mardi Gras lunch on East Campus with Darla, which is always delish. With another Lincoln day coming on Thursday, I didn't linger so had time when I got home to go through the indy dyed yarn on my Ikea to pull some to sell. Yes, I had many to let go of, mostly extra skeins I got either at thrifts (I buy even ugly indy yarn when it's a deal) or from lots I bought during lockdown on Facebook Marketplace. Having had a big lunch, I made a single pancake for supper because Mardi Grad is Pancake Day in the UK. Way to honor my heritage!

The high temp on Wednesday was 64 but that was early in the day. A front dropped the temps and the weather forecast was all about snow on Thursday. I spent most of the day sorting yarn and I downloaded my stash into a huge excel spreadsheet so I could keep track of what I was bringing to sell and then what sells.

Thursday was a Lincoln day again, this time for the Emeriti/Retirees meeting over lunch on incarceration in America. Since watching 13th, I was interested to hear more so made the trek. The talk was definitely worth it but the forecast was for snow to start right after lunch so I made a beeline home. While it did start snowing earlier in Lincoln, it didn't start in Wahoo until 3:30. I was happy to be cozy at home when it did and made a yummy dinner of veggies roasted with herbed goat cheese, which made a sauce for pasta. I opened a bottle of wine to have with it. I do enjoy chardonnay with a pasta with cream sauce. It was delish and nice to enjoy while watching the snowing and blowing.

I woke up to 7" of snow on Friday morning. I'd already arranged for my snow guys to come but went out in my nightie to clear a path for the cats to get to the hatch that let's them get under the deck. I got dressed later (mostly because I didn't want to still be in my nightie when the snow guys came) and shoveled paths on the deck and out to the compost. Cam came and did my driveway and sidewalk in minutes. Anne, Rene and I had a pottery class scheduled that night but both the community college we'd booked it through and the art center it was going to be at were closed for the day so we assumed it was cancelled and stayed home. 

The sun was shining bright Friday and again on Saturday so most of what had been plowed had already melted. Saturday was spinning in Fremont and getting there was not a problem at all. We meet at the Fremont Area Art Association and to get to the meeting room, we have to go through the gallery and they were having an auction. I was immediately drawn to 2 pieces and immediately logged into the site and placed a couple of bids. Then Andrea asked me to big on some for her. Spinning was fun (I sat and knitted socks as usual) and then we hit Aldi before heading home. I started the new season of Night Manager on Netflix and called it a day.

I stayed home Sunday and spent the afternoon bagging up yarn, cooking and watching the auction, which was ending ~5:00. I was thrilled to win both of the pieces I had bid on and Andrea won 3 items. I don't think they did any or much advertizing because all of them were deals. I love geraniums and both of my wins featured them. The one of just the pot is maybe 12x16 inches. The outdoor pic is HUGE. Luckily I have one blank wall in my house - the wall by the window in the spare room. It will look great there but now it's official - my house is full of art. If I buy any new art, something has to come off a wall. I'm good with that.

I stayed up too late finishing Night Agent and then struggled to fall asleep because I was thinking of Hazel, who died 2 years ago to the day. Such a sweetie and I'll love and miss her forever. But back to this week. It was a good one, right? Had some whacky weather but I worked with it, I had some fun with friends and aquired some original art. Life is good!

Week 7 - Enjoying Warm Temps

It was 77 degrees on Monday, which broke an old record, so the week started out outside. It ended outside too. I had a good mix this week of being out and about and vegging at home. I like weeks like that.

With the warm temps on Monday, I had scheduled tea in the park with my friend Lorri. With that my only plan, I opened the windows to get some fresh air in the house and then started cleaning, ending with vacuuming. Cleaning is rarely a priority so I have to go with it when the urge hits. I was almost done when I called Lorri and asked if she wanted to come to my deck instead and she said yes. I put towels over the cushions and a tablecloth over the dirty table and put the kettle on. It was lovely outside but the table was in the flight path between my crabapple in the front yard and the maple in the back. We got bombarded with bird poop, which was mostly crabapples. I laughed it off but after getting hit twice, Lorri was clearly skeeved and left shortly thereafter. I changed my shirt and called it fine, heading to knitting at the library after supper.

It was cooler, but still above normal, on Tuesday so I knitted in the morning sun then went out for a personal pan pizza and to exchange a pair of socks I was gifted from the local flower/gift shop. I came home with a pretty bouquet of stock (my favorite florist flower) and carnations. I had a relaxing afternoon of reading and tea in the front room then a short library board meeting that night. Perfect day in my book and a good recharge for the next 2 busy days.

Wednesday was a Lincoln day, starting with an appointment with my radiation oncologist. Not sure why I had to go having just been to the oncologist but whatever. I was in and out quickly then picked Dodie up for another birthday lunch - this time for spring rolls at Pho Factory. I dropped her back on campus then went into the office for a party to celebrate Dana getting a kudo, which is an award by the Board of Regents. From there I headed south, stopping at Anne's to drop off some scones before going to my friend Becky's for tea and scones. She recently retired and it was great to catch up. Becky is who I get my cats from. She's a peach and we chatted for hours. I picked up a spinning wheel from Rene, who had trash picked it for Andrea at my request, then hit Aldi on the way home and called it a day.

My friend Darla's birthday was Wednesday and we ususally do something around our birthdays so Thursday was it - a thrifting day in St. Joe, Missouri. I had mapped out ten thrifts and we were going to eat at The Big Biscuit so I was at Darla's house at 7:45 for an early start. She was driving which meant car knitting time for me. Yay! 

The first thrift store we hit was by far the best. It was called Pivotal Point and supported transitional housing programs. It was the nicest thrift shop I'd ever been in and we happened to hit a half price day. We both found lots of fun stuff and that ruined us for the rest of the day. We had a great lunch at The Big Biscuit. I had chicken and waffles and they were the best chicken fingers I've ever had. We had lots of other thrifts but mostly found nothing. I did score a beautiful aqua colored drinking glass and some other bits and bobs at a sketchy downtown Salvation Army thrift. Our last stop was Southside Flea, which was an odd mix of booths that had everything from crafts to antiques to stuff that looked like someone had cleaned out their shed. I found a bunch of bamboo stakes for gardening and a couple of other things. We were out of stops so headed home from there and got back to Lincoln relatively early. I dropped some cone yarn I'd bought to Anne, who lives near Darla, and then hit the best Lincoln Goodwill and found a couple of skeins for Dottie. It was a fun day all around.

I was home on Friday with zero commitments, giving me one day to recharge before another day out. I had bought a big heart at the first thrift so made a bow and hanger for that and hung it on my front door before doing a load of laundry and hanging it out. That's about all I accomplished that day but did enjoy tea outside.

Saturday was a busy day, which had been rescheduled from the following Tuesday. Since it was Saturday, I invited Andrea to join Lori and I for our plans. The first stop was the Nebraska Humane Society to pick up Pixel's ashes. Lori had warned me that I might have to wait but it took no time at all and I was able to hold it together, mostly. With time to kill, Andrea and I hit the thrift across from the restaurant we'd meet Lori at for lunch when her church retreat was over. We had a lovely lunch and then went next door to Imagiknit so I could use my birthday discount. I had a blue/green combo in mind but couldn't find any so settled on a pink skein of sock yarn. We split up from there and Andrea and I headed to Trader Joe's. The parking lot should have been a clue. The store was packed and the lines from every register were down the aisles. We gave up and went to Aldi instead. It was another nice day.

It was 70 degrees on Sunday (more freaky weather for February) so you guessed it - I did some laundry and hung it out and had tea on my bench in the backyard. It was a lovely end to a lovely week. There was snow in the forecast for the next week so our warm spell was nearing its end. I actually won't mind some actual winter weather. Snow is a lovely thing when you're retired and don't need to leave the house. : )

Week 6 - Goodbye Sweet Pixel

What can be said about a week that starts with putting your cat down on Monday? That was sad but the week got better from there, of course, but it was a tough start.

I woke up at 3:00 am to check on Pixel and she had dragged herself to my favorite chair and was sleeping. But when I woke up in the morning, I found her with her chest and front legs in the tipped over water bowl and sitting in the resulting puddle of water. I don't know how long she was there and felt awful seeing her like that. I cleaned her up and called the vet when they opened, making an appointment for 3:30. I then made arrangements to have her cremated at the Nebraska Humane Society in Omaha. I cried on and off all day.

I tried to give Pixel the best last day ever. She spent the morning mostly on mylap (you can see her wet paws in the first picture) then I took her outside to her favorite sleeping in the sun spot and fed her all kinds of treats. I brought her in  and put her back in her Sponge Bob bed to sleep. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to drive in rush hour while in tears so called my friend Lori, who lives right by NHS. She came to my rescue, driving from Omaha to take me to the vet, where I loved on Pixel until the end. She then dropped me back home and took Pixel's body to drop at NHS. She is a wonderful friend. It was hard but I know it had to be done so I was able to pull myself together and go to Monday Night Knitting.

The reason I couldn't take Pixel myself on Tuesday morning was that was my birthday trip to Kansas City with Rene. I was up and out early and Rene and I had fun in KC. We started with a yarn shop in Leavenworth, Kansas and they recommended a coffee shop for lunch whose speciality was cheese cake. Yum! That yarn shop owner had told us about a brand new yarn shop nearby so we went there after lunch and I resisted buying yarn but got a stitch a day perpetual calendar. We then hit Penzey's but had to rush because we parked in a 10 minute space out front. I miss the Penzey's in Omaha, which closed during lockdown. We then hit Yarn Social (the only yarn shop in KC proper) then ended at Ikea. I scored a new non-stick (no forever plastics involved) frying pan. We then headed home, stopping at a gas station for snacks on the way home. I was a fun day and I got lots of car knitting in as the icing on the cake.

Wednesday was supposed to be a birthday lunch with my work friends but Sheila, one of the accountants, had died and her funeral was Wednesday morning. I got dressed in my best clothes (rare these days) and joined everyone for the service. I spent the entire time looking up at stained glass windows and the ceiling trying not to cry because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to stop if I started. The church was packed and there was a nice funeral lunch afterwards. Sheila was only 61 and had been fighting cancer for a few years. Gone too soon. I was home early but did nothing that afternoon and finally slept well that night. 

I was back in the car Thursday for the rescheduled birthday lunch at Green Gateau - one of my favorite Lincoln retaurants. I stopped at Petsmart to return all the litter box stuff I'd bought on Sunday and since I'd declined the receipt (stupid!), I only got a store credit. I also went to Sam's for a huge can of tomato paste for Cindy, who would be at lunch. We had a great time and even Lacey was able to come. Odd but I declined getting my fave dessert - Italian lemon cream cake - because I was still working on the cake Lori had sent home with me. Next time. I rushed home because I had a 2:00 Ripples zoom, which always pumps me up. I got pizza from the Johnny Rico's Brooklyn Pizza truck that was in Wahoo that night and had it with a beer. Yum!

I was ready for a day at home on Friday so after I took care of the cats at the shelter (my only time in February), I knitted in the sun all morning and then reclaimed my kitchen. I finished a pair of scrappy socks and it took me 2 hours to weave in all the ends. This leisurely day was just what I needed after such a busy week.

I had asked Andrea if she wanted to hit a garage sale at the Catholic school in David City so I picked her up early on Saturday morning. It was a great sale and I found all kinds of treasures there and when we hit Buresh Meats afterwards. I was home before noon and since it was in the 50's, I puttered outside all afternoon. I redid the pots at my front and side doors for Valentine's, changed the flag and door wreaths and just hung out. It was lovely.

It was even warmer on Sunday so I did one of my favorite chores - doing laundry and hanging it outside. I washed all the cat stuff too to freshen it up post Pixel. I had tea outside on my bench and ended the day in a fresh nightie watching PBS and had fresh sheets when I went to bed.

It was a busy week but that helped me recover from Pixel. It was the right decision but it's still hard so all the activity took my mind off it. The nice weather at the end of the week was lovely too. I'll never take warm weather in the dead of winter for granted because it was a balm for my soul to spend some time outside. Spring is coming and I'm ready for it, even with the mild winter we've had.

Week 5 - Birthday and Pixel

It was a quiet week that found me staying home until the weekend, which was busy with birthday celebrations but ended on a sad note.

With nothing much on my calendar, I had time to get some things done inside but a I also struggled on deciding whether or not to leave the house, even just for errands. As I've discovered, I do better when I have a few things on my daytime calendar to work around. At least I got some stuff done with all the days at home.

As the treasurer of Friend of Wahoo Library, it was time to pull together more than a year's worth of bank statements. I sent a fiscal year support report to Denise, the library director, but was missing one bank statement for the 2025 annual report. I slogged through a lot of paper and found it so did that report and emailed it. Cross that off my list.

I talked to both of my sisters and a few friends between crocheting/knitting and streaming/reading, sprinkling in a few chores over the course of the week. I spent nearly an hour fixing my Bird Buddy and did some cooking. Then came the weekend.

I had won an auction or a Shark vacuum so drove to Fremont with Andrea to pick that up on the way to my birthday lunch in Omaha. Lori, Andrea and I went to lunch at the Inner Rail Food Hall, opting for an Asian dumpling vendor. Yum! We then went back to Lori's for cake and knitting. Lori made me an amazing cake and had all kinds of other goodies. It was a wonderful day and the first of several birthday celebrations to come.

Sunday was birthday dinner at my cousin Helen's. I had errands to run so headed to Lincoln early. My first stop was Petsmart to get a senior litter box, which has one low side for easy entry, and scoopable litter to set up a box upstairs for Pixel. I hit a couple of thrifts and Stuff for green yarn for my crochet project but was still too early for Helen's. I talked to my sister from a parking lot and then hung out at Rene's to kill some time. I had a great time at Helen's with a yummy meal and lemon cake. Celebration #2 was in the books and I was a happy camper. Until I got home.

I came home to find Pixel, my 17.5 year old cat who had gone blind in December, on the rug in the front room. That in itself was odd because she was right next to her preferred spot - the recliner. I picked her up and found that her back legs were no longer working. She'd been fading recently and this was the sign that it was time to put her down. I loved on her, took her to her litter box, then food and settled her in her Sponge Bob cagt bed and went to bed. I'd be calling to make an appointment the next morning as soon as the vet opened.

So it was a sad end to a fun weekend but on the other hand, I wouldn't be worrying that I'd made the wrong decision on putting her down. This was the sign I'd been waiting for. It would be hard on Monday and I'll miss her so much but I knew it was time. Now to get through that.

Week 4 - Cold while Cold

With my cold in full swing and me without meds, I was at the pharmacy before 8:00 Monday morning waiting for them to unlock the door and was in and out with ClaritinD in hand in 2 minutes. I didn't do much more for the rest of the week.

I took the ClaritinD for the next 3 days and did absolutely nothing for most of that time. I skipped everything - knitting and a lunch in Lincoln on Tuesday - staying inside and crocheting or reading. I had no appetite so wasn't eating much. I didn't get my energy back until Wednesday afternoon. I made a pot of stew, which was delicious and a nice break after eating whatever for days.

I didn't take meds Thursday morning, deciding to see how I'd do without it. I had a mamogram scheduled at 2:00 so could take one at lunch if I was too much of a mess but I was OK. I wore a mask while I was there (I forgot how awful the plastic masks are) and got a clean bill of health so am back to annual mamograms - yay! I got slice of Brooklyn style pizza from the truck in Wahoo for supper to celebrate.

It was brutally cold on Friday - -9 with a windchill of -33 when I got up. Of course I had to volunteer doing the cats at the shelter. I put on mittens and a hat over my nightie and went out to start my car. I let it run for 30 minutes and was OK to drive there. It was toasty warm at the shelter and since the car was parked in the sun, I decided to run to the library to get a book I'd reserved and got an applesauce donut at the bakery to have with my tea. Since I was out anyway......

I woke up to just shy of an inch of snow on Saturday and still super cold. I had  no intention of shoveling but when Tim, who does my snow removal, mentioned that it would turn to ice if I drove over it and that ice wouldn't melt anytime soon, I changed my mind. I bundled up and had the driveway and sidewalk cleared in less than 20 minutes so it wasn't too bad. With that done, I called it a day and spent the rest of it steaming and crocheting waiting for bedtime so I could get warm.

Anne called on messenger first thing Sunday morning because she's in India (11.5 hours ahead) and would be heading to a location without wifi the next day. After hearing all about her trip so far, I started laundry then headed to the shelter for cat duty. I took a shower as soon as I got home and sat down to finish the afghan, which I did. Yay! I had a nice long chat with Carolyn and zoomed with Lia in Germany in between crocheting all afternoon. The last thing I did was lay the afghan out on my bed to find any ends that needed weaving in. I looked frm the front, then the back and still found a few I'd missed when I folded it up. I started this in 2020 and had lots of help from Dottie making hundreds of the centers but all the white was me. I'm super happy that it's done.

So it was a quiet week with the miserable head cold keeping me in at the start of the week and the fridig cold weather keeping me in at the end. It was nice not to have pressure to work while I felt so crappy. Yet another benefit of retirement. Have I mentioned how much I love not working? : )

Week 3 - Fun to Cold

I had no problem with too much free time this week because I was in Lincoln on 3 days this week. Unfortunately I picked up a germ somewhere so had a monster cold by the end of the week.

Monday was Rene's birthday and we were having a kool aid dye day at Anne's to celebrate. I loaded up the car with totes with every color of kool aid and pans and yarn and headed south. Rene picked up Chinese and we got our yarn soaking before eating lunch. We each dyed 2 skeins and it was lots of fun. Rene's skeins were definitely the prettiest. With the yarn drying outside (it was pushing 60 degrees), we had brownies with ice cream and Rene opened some presents. It was a super fun day and ended with Monday Night Knitting.

Tuesday was my friend Cindy's birthday so I started the day with a zoom chat with her then got busy finishing some chores. One of my yarns had turned out drab so with chores done, I got out a pot and overdyed it, which brightened it right up. After reading in the front room in the sun that afternoon, I had a library board meeting and called it a day. I was home Wednesday too and ran Wahoo errands and brought all the amaryllis upstairs, topping them up with good potting soil and getting them in the sun by the slider. Hopefully they'll wake up soon and give me some nice flowers this winter.

I had been invited to an Emeriti/Retirees Association board meeting on Thursday afternoon so had scheduled lunch with Dodie beforehand. Of course I thrifted on the way in and found some sock yarn at Goodwill to start the day. Lunch was great and I had time to pick up book club books at the Library Commission and grab a cookie before heading to east campus. No one knew I would be there except Don who had invited me (sheesh!) and other than talking to Don for a few minutes after the meeting, there was no point in me being there. Oh well. I was home in time for a cup of tea in the front room just before the sun went down.

Friday was my last Lincoln day - this time for an appointment with the oncologist. I drove right there via the bypass and was in and out in 15 minutes. I had time to grocery shop before meeting Darla for lunch at the dorms, which is probably where I picked up cold germs. It was a nice lunch and all I did afterwards was grab gas at Sam's and so was home early.

Saturday was the annual Back to Basics at spinning but it was super cold out and I don't spin (yet) so don't have much to share so wasn't feeling it. I also figured there woulnd't be many people out and about with a high of 13 degrees not taking windchill into account so decided not to go. I hunkered down and got a few things done inside. It ended up being a good thing that I skipped.

I had a slightly scratchy throat when I woke up on Saturday morning but didn't think anything of it. Big mistake. I woke up on Sunday morning with a full blown cold, feeling like my head was going to explode. I was supposed to feed cats at the shelter but texted the cat group and someone covered for me. Of course I had no ClaritinD on hand and wasn't up to a 60 mile round trip to get some so took a single, way out of date Claritin and took some also old sudafed over the course of the day. They knocked it down a bit and I did something I rarely do - took a nap and actually slept. And it didn't impact my ability to fall asleep when I went to bed. My plan was to be at Wahoo Pharmacy at 8:00 when they opened to get some drugs.

So, it was a busy week with lots of productivity and fun before I was brought down with the cold. Hopefully it wouldn't last too long and I didn't have a jam packed calendar for the next week so I could rest and get over it. One of the benefits of not working is not having to push through and tough out a cold. If I feel like crap, I can stay home and cozy. Wish me luck for a speedy recovery.

Week 2 - Wide Open Schedule

I had a wide open calendar this week with only doing the cats on Friday and that seemed like a good thing after the previous busy week. But too much choice had its problems too.

With all that free time, I managed some productivity. I cleaned out and organized the food cupboards, fridge and freezer, renewed my license and even spent an afternoon outside working on plants. It was 67 on Wednesday so I took the lantana and geraniums I brought in to overwinter out to the deck and pruned and pulled off dead leaves and such. I then enjoyed tea outside with the cats, including Pixel, who is newly blind so needs to be monitored outside. They were very interested in a squirrel on the power lines.

I needed to do a grocery run and could not seem to decide when to go. I was going to a talk on biophilia at the lake Thursday morning, which was interesting, but it was gloomy and raining plus I had slept like crap so wasn't feeling it. Luckily HyVee announced a one day sale for Friday so that finally decided the day. Then I couldn't seem to decide which direction to head - Fremont, Lincoln or Omaha. I finally decided to go straight after doing the cats and with a quick trip to Fremont. Sheesh! Is this indecision a retirement thing?

I had a quiet weekend after my indecisive week. I took down the Christmas tree and assorted decorations on Saturday and did a few small chores. I spent most of Sunday cooking now that my food was organized and replenished. I started with pancakes for breakfast then made a strata, a casserole for supper with the new "Wahoo burger" I bought at the locker - a mix of ground pork and beef for $2.99/pound because beef has gotten so expensive. It was OK. I made brownies to end the day, which would be for Rene's birthday lunch on Monday.

So clearly having too much unplanned time is not good for me. Lesson learned. Time to schedule some lunches and such so I have things on my calendar to work around. At least I managed to get a few things done besides crafting and streaming. : )

Week 1 - Busy New Year

After a pretty quiet Christmas, I had lots of New Year's plans. None of them would involve staying up until midnight nor booze but that's fine by me.

Before I get to the social stuff, I had an eye doctor appointment before Christmas and my Rx hadn't changed much and my glasses were from summer 2024 so I didn't get new ones. But as I sat with that decision, I felt like I hadn't gotten my money's worth out of a year of premiums so on Tuesday, the 2nd to last day of my coverage, I went across the street to the eye place (yes, it's the next block from my house) and ordered a pair of sunglasses. I told them I wanted cheap frames and nothing fancy so with single vision lenses, they were $26. Score! This will be the first time I've had sunglasses in decades. Nice.

Also, my internet had died and they had scheduled me a week out for a service call. Well, I got a call on New Year's Eve morning saying they could come that day. I had tried to get a new modem last time I had a service call but they said mine was up-to-date, which was so not true. Not only did he give me a new modem but he found that I'd been getting half the speed because of a problem at the pole, which he fixed. So now I'm going lickedy split fast for the new year. Yay!

Now for the fun....

My friend Cindy had requested to come over to hang out and relax over break so I called her on Monday and we decided on lunch on New Year's Eve. I told her I wouldn't clean but of course I did. Nothing crazy but I did the floors (even bought a new spin mop) and the bathroom between streaming, knitting and baking. I put a loaf of anadama bread (yummy bread with molasses and cornmeal - love that grit) in the bread machine and made a big pot of corn chowder. We had a lovely afternoon chatting in the sun. It had been awhile since we'd had a catch up. That was enough fun for New Year's Eve and I was in bed long before midnight.

Pre-covid, I used to host a knitters' tea on New Year's Day and loved it but the pandemic killed that. I've still done tea but for a much smaller group - usually 3 guests max. Well this year, Lori said she wanted to host and I jumped at that. I did bring some cookies I'd made but not having to do all the work made it extra special. Lori's cousin and sister were there plus Andrea and me. Some gifts were exchanged and there were even finger sandwiches. It was wonderful and the perfect way to start 2026.

My last social even of the week was tea at Lorri's (not the same one - 2 R's vs 1) that afternoon. I had one of those mornings where everything went wrong, including knocking a plant off my baker's rack, which resulted in soil everywhere - in my coffee, in everything on the rack, in the keys of my laptop - so I was happy to leave the house to enjoy tea and goodies with a friend. It turned my bad mood right around.

With all my socializing done, it was time to get busy. I started with something fun - rewinding and organizing all my sock yarn leftovers. These had been living in a couple of jars on a bookcase but had exploded out of them to cover the whole top of the bookcase. I now have 2 baskets with nicely caked leftovers 2 layers deep so they might actually get used now.

I did the cats at the animal shelter on Sunday morning, talked to my sister and a friend, tested the yarn I'd gotten in an advent and from my sister for nylon, which is what I want to make socks (mostly sock in the advent and zero sock from my sister) then put it all away. Otherwise it was regular Sunday chores and a nice meal of pork roast, mashed potatoes and butternut squash. Just like that, the first week of 2026 was in the books.

In case you're looking for something to stream, here are a few things I watched over the course of the week:

Nightsleeper (Britbox) - good
Whitstable Pearl (Hoopla) - fine
Run Away (Netflix) - good

Happy 2026!

Just One Word - 2026

Last year's word was Groove, as in find my grove for retirement since 2025 was my first full year of being retired. Well, being diagnosed with breast cancer in January and dealing with surgery, radiation and therapy put a big dent in winter and spring. Then summer was all about travel, so much so that I was thrilled to stay home for the entire fall. And I did get into a groove once the weather cooled down. I was out working in my garden on any day I was in town and it wasn't raining, usually for a couple of hours after lunch. That worked great but once winter set it, I sat down and have struggled to come up with an inside plan for productivity and exercise. 

Now that the retirement honeymoon period is over, it's time to think about what I should be spending my time on to get the most out of retirement so the word for 2026 is:

Maximize

I love not working and thoroughly enjoy my days, especially the ones at home, but I need to go way beyond what I spend my time on. I need to focus on doing the things that will help me maximize my retirement. For instance, I need to focus on health - losing weight and getting more exercise when I can't get it gardening - so that my body is ready for anything and everything. I need to go through my entire house and purge stuff. Having less clutter will lead to more comfort (so I'm told) and getting my craft space under control will bring joy back to crafting. I need to find a way to make some money on the Corelle and Pyrex that have taken over my garage and basement so I can make my savings last longer until I decided to start Social Security and/or starting using my retirement funds.

So this year needs to be about doing things that will improve my future. Wish me luck.