Week 20 - Law of Averages

What a week! The beginning couldn’t have been more different from the end in multiple ways. I hope the trend at the end keeps up for awhile.

The week started out blazing hot. It was in the low 90’s on Monday and although I’d planned to tough it out without putting on the AC, I realized my 8 month pregnant cleaning lady was coming for the last time on Tuesday and there was no way she could clean in the heat so with some relief for Ali being the reason, I put on the AC and left for work Monday. I stayed inside over lunch and then had a Husker Cats meeting after work. Just as we were gathering for that meeting, the electricity went off on our end of campus so we had the meeting in the west lobby of the building because we could see there. Unfortunately the sun beaming in also made it heat up quickly but I left just after 6:00 so I’d have time to stop at the market before heading to knitting at the library. Dinner was a couple of chicken strips and pickles eaten in the car. I was SO glad my AC was on when I finally got home after 8:00. I would not have slept a wink if it hadn’t been.

Tuesday was even hotter. We broke a record when it hit 97 degrees and it was super humid too. Polly and I went to Wendy’s over lunch and I went straight home after work and sat like a zombie, not even knitting. The weather was supposed to break on Wednesday and I couldn’t wait. August weather in early may is just WRONG!

Wednesday the campus was deserted. There was a terrorist exercise that lots of people in my department were involved with (playing dead or wounded, manning the command center, etc.) and it looked like lots of other people had taken the day off. I used the quiet time to make some progress on utilities and Nora, Lynn and I went to Panera’s for lunch. If you haven’t tried their steak and gorgonzola salad, go and have one now. Yum! By mid afternoon, the long awaited break in the weather arrived with a big thunderstorm. The change in the temp was immediate and wonderful. It also meant that it was too wet for Lorri and I to work at the Hansen House garden, which we’d planned to do at 6:30. I had a lovely evening at home, ending it with a long chat with Connie. Unexpected free time is always the best!

Thursday was a good day – better weather, lunch with Dodie and then I finished the tables for utilities billing just before leaving for a movie night. Cheryl’s husband was out of town so a few of us went to Thor after work. It was a total escapism movie and fun in 3D. But when we came out of the theatre, we could see it had rained and the skies were looking bad. I drove like a banshee to get home but wasn’t quick enough, having the scary experience of driving through hail. Since the storm clearly wasn’t over, I decided on an early night so went to bed to read. I was just drifting off when the tornado siren went off. I bolted out of bed and headed to the basement, calling the cats who completely ignored me. I turned on the TV and all they showed was thunderstorms. After 5 minutes, the siren stopped but I was wide awake. At least there was no tornado though.

Friday was another good day. I heard back from the programmers who had some changes for my utilities tables. I went plant shopping during lunch, finding a wonderful, family owned and operated greenhouse in south Lincoln that had the best bedding plants I’ve ever seen. EVER. I bought more plants I didn’t need and then headed to BSM to meet with the programmers. After an hour of discussion, I had some changes to make to the tables so headed back to get them done before the day was over. I finished just before 5:00, sent an update email to Nora and set my out of office messages. I was officially on vacation – yay!

First thing on my vacation agenda was a bee event at The Ross theatre with Nancy and Melissa, who I hadn’t seen in a couple of years. We got there at 5:30 and made the rounds of the tables. We had every kind of honey imaginable – raw, infused with spices/scents, honey marinated tofu (yum!), baklava, etc. After an hour, I felt like I’d had enough honey for a lifetime. We still had an hour before the movie was due to start and I was wondering what to fill it with when I noticed activity in a room behind the bar area. I went back to check it out and found people doing encaustic art – art with wax. You could either paint with colored wax or do collage that’s set with wax. I dove into the collage and had a blast. Digging through bags, cutting, arranging….loved it! I set it with wax and ended up with something so fun that I’m going to frame it for my bedroom. The movie – Queen of the Sun: What the Bees Are Telling Us – was good too. What a fun way to start my vacation.

My plan for the weekend was to get all my chores done so I would start my vacation with a clean slate. Well, I ran errands on Saturday and then managed to clean up the kitchen before sitting down to finish a project for my swap. Not the most productive day but not a total loss. Then Sunday Andrea and I were headed to Omaha to meet Liz, our friend from the UK trip, which was a year ago (!), who was in town for her son’s graduation from Creighton. I had made brunch reservations at Dario’s in Dundee so we got an early start. Liz gave us a blow by blow of the Morocco trip, which sounded like hell. Sub-standards accommodations, not enough direction, lack of toilets (some rest stops had a drain in the floor for a toilet), sickness and stress from being a white western woman in a Muslim country. I’m SO glad I skipped that trip! And the next trip is in Greece, which I’ll probably skip too. When will they do another England trip? Anyway, it was good to catch up with Liz and before we split up, we had vowed to meet in Chicago this fall for what could be the first of many trips together. I got home just in time for the Survivor finale, which I loved. Boston Rob finally won!

So, it was a wonderful week with lots of fun and ended with my first 2 days of 9 off of work. The weather averaged out to a decent number. 90's to start and 50's at the end = mid 70's the average May temp in Nebraska. I didn’t get all my chores done but I’ll just plan to intersperse them with bouts of gardening and organization, hoping for an average productivity when all is said and done. With 7 more days to go, I’ll have plenty of time. Wish me luck!

Week 19 - Roofed and Cozy

The week started out on a good note – baking coffee cake to bring to work. It’s always nice to kick a week off with goodies. It was deans’ reports day so it flew by and when I got home, the roofers were there. It looked like bomb had gone off in my yard and when I went inside, it sounded like a war zone. I had planned to relax and eat dinner but with all the racket, it wasn’t going to happen. At one point they must have thrown an entire package of shingles and it was so loud when it hit that I screamed. I couldn’t take it so headed to the library 40 minutes early for knitting. By the time I got home, they were pretty much done, just coming back the next day to finish the peak on the garage. Yay! Step one – done. Next up – siding the garage.

Tuesday flew by too (day 2 of monthly reports) and then I hit the pool. On Wednesday I met Anne at the Union and knitted over lunch, which was fun. After work, Nancy and I sent to the Ross to see Win Win. It’s a very good movie. Go see it. From there we went to YiaYia’s for pizza then it was such a gorgeous night that we sat on a bench and chatted until after 9:00, enjoying what was probably one of the last bug free nights for awhile. I went right to bed when I got home. It was a good day but LONG.

Thursday was the last day in the pool for awhile. Next week is the annual shut down week and I had just had a vacation week approved for the week after. There were just 3 of us in the class but it was fun. I had decided earlier in the day not to scrapbook on Friday so was able to go home and knit, finishing the funky mittens I made to match my lotus hat. I went to bed early and slept like a rock. On Friday we took Brandy, our student worker, out for lunch to celebrate her graduation. The rest of the day went by in a blur as I tried to clear everything off my desk so I can concentrate on utilities billing next week, which Nora wants major progress on before I can take the week off. It’s blackmail I tell you! Actually, I’ve been putting it off for a LONG time so this was good incentive.

It was a nice weekend! I spent Friday night knitting, starting the cutest strawberry tea cozy ever, despite my vow to not knit anything new until I finished something. Oh well. I picked Lorri up early on Saturday (8:00!) and went to Fremont for a couple of plant sales, where, wait for it, I over bought plants. Would you ever have guessed? I started chores when I got home and Andrea came over mid afternoon, needing to escape the same roofing team that so disrupted my Monday night. We knitted, chatted, streamed videos and ate yummy dinner. After she left, I stayed up late to finish my tea cozy.

It was HOT on Sunday (pushing 90) so I spent some time in the basement, something I’ll have to do for another couple of days because I refuse to put my AC on this early when it’s going to be cool again later in the week. Between the heat and being tired, I didn’t do as many chores as I could have but did get all my projects felted and started another handmade for my knitting swap. And the tea cozy worked great. My second cup of tea was steaming hot, which didn’t help with the heat but was worth it. There’s nothing like a cup of tea to commemorate a lazy spring afternoon. I LOVE spring! Enjoy it.

Week 18 - Chick Shopping Trip

It was another busy week, both at work and home. At the start of the week, I had something scheduled every night but it was followed by a wide open weekend in which to recoup. I was confident I’d survive.

On Monday I had lunch my old friend Polly. We’d worked together in HR but I’d only seen her once since she left campus ~8 years ago. It was like old home week! We sat down and talked like we’d seen each other last week, which was wonderful. She’s back on campus at a temp job and hopefully will find something long-term. Add in Monday night knitting and it was a wonderful day.

Andrea had invited me for lamb stew on Tuesday night so I headed there after swimming and grabbing a few things (for me and Andrea) at the grocery store. I didn’t get there until 7:30 and left at 9:30. It had been fun and the food was yummy but it made for a long day. I was supposed to go to the movies with Nancy on Wednesday, which we’d planned weeks ago, but I was feeling pretty tired when I woke up and so called and asked if we could postpone it a week since the movie was still there next week and there would be no swimming. Nancy was game, which meant I could swim and go home, which felt wonderful.

Thursday was all about gardening. I started the day at the Hort Club plant sale on East Campus, which had gorgeous plants this year. I bought the more beautiful geraniums, my tomatoes and lots of fun annuals. I brought them into my office so they wouldn’t cook in the car and had the pleasure of smelling lavender and seeing plants all day. The after work I had a Master Gardener dinner in Fremont to meet the new extension educator who would be coordinating our program. I made a bee line home and Lorri picked me up minutes later. It was a fun night and Natalia is a hoot! She gave us a pop quiz, asked us about some of her new ideas and then did a slide show of some of the botanic gardens where she had worked. It was a fun night but another long day.

The end of the work day Friday was not pretty. I had one of those doubting myself moments and there was no one there to bounce anything off. I tried Mary but she was too busy and the 30 seconds I got from her made it worse. I left work with a pit in my stomach and feeling like crap. But at least it was the weekend. Friday’s only post-work commitment was meeting the roofers at my house at 6:15. They were late but I picked my colors and they said they’d be here this week. Yay! And since my contractors are having another company do the roofing, they’ll be able to do my gutters and garage siding sooner. Once they left, I got on the phone with Carolyn and she made me feel much better. I went to bed early, figuring tomorrow would be a better day and it was!

I had an Omaha run scheduled with Andrea on Saturday afternoon. I wanted to hit the yarn shop for yarn for my swap partner’s project and a bowl and pod for Deanne, Penzey’s for Cake Spice for the swap and Trader Joe’s. Andrea added Tractor Supply and Target to the list. All was going according to plan – got the yarn I needed, were in and out of Penzey’s and headed to check out chicken coops at Tractor Supply. Well, they didn’t have any coops but they did have chicks and before you knew it, Andrea had 3 chicks, chick start, cedar chips and a feeder and waterer. We spent the rest of our shopping accompanied by the peep of chicks in the back of the car. How fun! I was home by 5:00 and the sitting and knitting began.

Sunday was supposed to be chore day broken up with an afternoon plant run to a local nursery with Lorri. I managed to get the laundry done before I left but nothing more. I bought more plants and a fun, cone-shaped planter then stopped for gas so I could go home and mow for the first time. When I was done, which felt good, I started knitting again. By bedtime, I had finished my 2nd bowl and had started the last pod. I didn’t get any cooking or more chores done but life will go on. It was a busy and fun week and I ended it knitting. Life is good!

Week 17 - My Disgusting Easter

This week started out with a leisurely pace, which was good because I needed it for the end.

The early week was uneventful – knitting on Monday night and a dentist appointment on Wednesday morning were the highlights. Boring! The dentist did offer to completely redo the crown on my hell tooth free of charge. I was so taken aback I didn’t immediately agree. Since I have to clean out around it every time I eat and it’s still sensitive, I’m going to be taking him up on his offer and just need to figure out the best timing for my schedule.

By Thursday, things were stacking up. I was swimming for the first time this week, stopping at a co-workers to give her landscaping ideas and food shopping before heading home. Everything took longer than I’d planned, even swimming, so I got to HyVee too late for the steak dinner and then had to do two loads of shopping. Andrea had emailed me earlier in the day to ask which HyVee was closest to Wahoo and figuring she wanted a couple of pounds of the butter that was on sale Thursday only, I said I was going anyway and asked what she needed. Before you know it, she had emailed me the shopping list for her Easter dinner! Two legs of lamb, a turkey, veggies and BUTTER. By the time I did her shopping and then mine and stopped to drop off her food, I didn’t get home until almost 9:00, when I ate a bowl of cheerios and fell into bed because Friday was going to be a long day.

Spring Affair was Friday after work and I LOVE volunteering there. It really is my favorite thing to do – helping people find plants and, strangely, I love neatening the plants after the sale. There’s something very satisfying about filling in all the gaps and ending up with a perfect flat. It harkens back to a peg game I was obsessed with during kindergarten play time. But I digress…. I met Lorri at the pre-sale at 4:00, where I was oddly unmotivated to buy plants. I think I’m finally growing up! I have plants I need to move and was thinking of those as I shopped, only spending $2 more than the $10 in free plants that I got for volunteering. From there Lorri and I went to HyVee for an early supper then back for our shift at 5:30. I spent 3.5 hours on my feet with lots of bending to fill those flats. When we left at 9:00, I was exhausted and achy. I could not fathom going back the next day for the education sessions and that was before I struggled to fall asleep because I couldn’t get comfortable in bed. I finally got up and took another meloxicam and fell asleep after midnight.

I woke up feeling better than I’d thought I would – tired but my knee was fine. But I knew I wouldn’t be very productive so when Lorri called, instead of making excuses and staying home, I agreed to go for all three sessions. I grabbed some knitting and we headed out at 9:45. It was a pleasant day of sitting in sessions knitting while watching slides of plants. What’s not to like? We grabbed a hotdog and shopped at the vendors between sessions (I only bought 2 more plants) and left at 3:30 with 3 hours of CE’s under our belts. It was cold and dreary so I spent the rest of the day sitting and knitting, knowing I’d have lots to do on Sunday.

I planned on my normal Easter – cooking a good meal (I had thawed a turkey breast) and working outside. I slept late and should have known when I wasn’t hungry at breakfast time that something was amiss. I had planned to have a big breakfast and then have the turkey mid afternoon but ended up eating a small bowl of granola after 9:00 and wasting away the morning on the phone. I finally got dressed and busy just before noon. I put in a load of laundry and sat down to make a chore list and get organized. But when I went downstairs to put in the second load, I was faced with a flooded floor in the laundry room. I knew I’d been on borrowed time with my drain since Ed fixed it out a couple of months ago but why did my main line have to pick Easter Sunday to completely clog? Adding to the problem, I had 2 big bags of kitty litter that were in the puddle and when I picked the first one up, the bag let go so I had a pile of litter in the muck. Not being able to use the water was going to put a huge cramp in my style!

I called Roto Rooter, deciding it was better to pay now and get it taken care of. It was only laundry water but it was backed up from the sewer and smelled BAD. Luckily Roto Rooter works every day and there was no extra charge for it being Sunday or Easter but I would have to pay $59 for them to drive to Wahoo. Sheesh! He got here mid-afternoon and cleared out the clog. But my bottom basement step being on bricks instead of attached to the staircase meant he couldn’t get the machine up the stairs (it weighs 350 pounds) so had to ask my neighbor’s Easter guests to help him. When he left after 4:00, I had a ton of clean up to do. The kitty litter was now soggy and I had to keep it from going down the floor drain so I scooped it into a bag, squeegeed the floor and then got out the mop and cleaner. I wasn’t done until 6:00, at which point I was exhausted and still had the turkey to cook. So I made the stuffing and got it into the oven by 6:30. I had a bowl of Cocoa Krispis while I waited for the dehumidifier to work in the laundry room then went down and did more laundry. When the turkey was done at 9:30, I ate a few slices and shared some with the cats before throwing it in the frig and going to bed. What a day! I still need to do another mopping of the floor but hopefully my drain problems are over. How was your Easter? Hopefully full of egg hunts, family and fun. Maybe I’ll aim for that next year.

Week 16 - An Uneventful One

It was a relatively uneventful week, which was nice. I knitted on Monday night and Wednesday over lunch, swam a couple of nights, had a busy week at work, slamming through the hopefully last identify management issues before the programmer I worked with’s last day and ended it all with a relaxing weekend. Not bad.

I had grand plans to get a couple of hours of master gardener continuing ed hours on Tuesday. I went to work early, which took some doing, so I could be at the Research breakfast by 8:00. I figured I wouldn’t want lunch so had planned to drive over to east campus for an arboretum walk at noon but lost track of time and missed that. Then I had planned to swim and head directly to one of Lincoln’s library for a composting presentation. But then I checked the forecast and saw that Tuesday was my only option for gardening after work so I decided to miss the presentation too. I went straight home and made more progress on the back bed I’ve been reclaiming, planting some more library plants. I’m really liking this new plan. An hour after work may not seem like much but it’s adding up and feels painless.

The rest of the week flew by and the weekend was here in the blink of an eye. It was a strange one. I had no plans, Carolyn was busy with Aaron’s birthday so we wouldn’t be talking as much and Andrea was out of town, which meant no dropping by the store or other visits. It felt weird. On top of that, the weather was cloudy and chilly so working outside wouldn’t be pleasant. I was facing 48 hours with potential but was facing an ambition shortage. It figures.

I managed to get a few things done Saturday – organized my coupons, created binders for all my knitting patterns, weighed all my yarn leftovers and posted the amounts, stocked up at Dollar General – such gripping stuff! I did try to do some gardening but it was really chilly outside so it didn’t last long. I had considered going to Omaha but decided against it.

By Sunday, my chores were all done so I spent the day knitting and cooking. Mid day, Totnes (the kitten) came in holding her paw up and meowing plaintively. I couldn’t find anything and she could walk on it so I just kept an eye on her. Then the swelling started. It was pretty dramatic. Her paw swelled enormously and then it started moving up her leg. I called the vet who recommended a drop of children’s Benadryl, which I borrowed from my neighbor. The swelling lasted all afternoon but after a brief nap (brought on by the Benadryl maybe?) she was wanting out and seemed fine. I can’t believe with all the cats I’ve had this is the first bee sting they’ve had. Get a load of the size of her paw though – scary. Anyway, I ended the day with a bunch of cooking. Like I said, an uneventful week but one of those is nice every once in a while.

Week 15 - Clone This Week!

Although the week started off on a downer, it turned out to be a good one. The weather was gorgeous, I made progress in my yard and ended with a long weekend. What’s not to like?

The downer was a phone call letting me know that the Library Foundation had decided to rip out 3 of the perennial beds in favor of (gasp!) rocks and more grass. While I wasn’t surprised (I’d actually predicted it when the new president – the one who kicked me off on a technicality and then surrounded himself with bobble heads who nod in agreement every time he opens his mouth – was elected), I was completely disheartened. These were the very beds that I wrote my first grant for and spent countless hours tending in the past five years – weeding, mulching, even starting new plants from broken stems after a hail storm. Anyway, we were given until Saturday to remove any plants we wanted to salvage. Five whole days. Gee, thanks!

I surveyed the beds before knitting, seeing there was plenty that I could find new homes for, and then went inside for knitting therapy. Andrea bailed me out when I had to rip out an inch on my color work mittens and couldn’t get them back on the needles. It’s good to have friends. : )

I had planned to go to the pool on Tuesday but got held up at work, leaving just late enough to make it not worth getting wet. So I spent some quality time with my campus cats and then went home for Plan B – gardening in the gorgeous weather. I started by the air conditioner and just kept going until I had gone all the way around the house. I was tired but felt great about my progress. I also figure I got a better workout than I would have had in the pool. Win win!

Wednesday at lunch was the first get together of the new UNL knitting group. I drove over to the Beadle Center and we met in a conference room. It was lots of fun and I got to meet some new knitters. By then I’d also decided to take Friday off to meet Lorri and Sarah at the library to dig plants. I ended the day at the pool then home for Survivor. What a nice day!

Thursday flew by. I had a nice lunch with Dodie at Panera and then crammed to get everything done before my day off. I ended up working late so didn’t make it to the pool but was OK with that because I’d be getting a gardening workout in the morning.

I slept in on Friday and met the others at the library at 9:00. It was damp and chilly but we had a nice time catching up, talking plants and digging. When we finished earlier than I’d thought we would, I suggested we go to Hansen House (a historic house in Wahoo where Lorri maintains the gardens) and plant the 2 bushes we’d dug for there to save time. While we were planting, a reporter from the Wahoo Newspaper showed up for some pics and an interview. I insisted she not feature my butt in the air while planting so she cropped accordingly. What a relief! It was still cloudy and cool when we were done there so I decided to keep going at home and planted a rose bush and three lots of perennials in the parking strip. It took a long time digging out the old rose bush and I was exhausted and ready for a shower. I had a late lunch and spent the afternoon knitting. What a perfect day off!

It was supposed to be pushing 90 degrees on Saturday so after a hardy breakfast, I headed right outside. I spent two hours clearly the back bed around the maple tree, sweating buckets in the process. I had just sat down with a huge glass of water taking a much needed shower when Nora called. She was coming to Wahoo with scones in hand for tea and to dig up some plants. I ran around neatizing the house and just finished as she drove up. She had Drew and Elise with her so we had a little tea party. After she left, I started my chores and did some more knitting. It had hit 89 degrees outside so I was cowering inside, where it was only 76 because I’d shut up the house and pulled the shades to keep the sun out. Andrea popped by after dinner to drop off more of her home brew and we chatted for awhile. Yet another nice day!

Sunday dawned much cooler. The front they’d forecast to come through mid day had come through overnight so it was cloudy and cool. I was feeling like a third day of knitting would be too decadent and I wasn’t feeling up to gardening for a third day in a row so I just started doing chores and let the day unfold. I did end up outside doing low impact gardening – weeding mostly – on and off all day in between cooking all kinds of things. By the time the day was over I had a frig full of food ready for the week and I hadn’t knit a stitch. Still, it was a wonderful day and a nice end to a wonderful week.

If the rest of April is this happy and productive, I’ll be on cloud nine and my yard will look like a magazine. OK, it’s not likely but I can dream. There’s no time like spring for fresh starts.

Week 14 - Evaluating My Commitments

Other than having a couple of nights of bad sleep that left me exhausted and numb by Thursday, it was a normal week – knitting, swimming, blah, blah, blah. But normal for March meant more dreary weather. March was a miserable month. It felt like the sun was never out and we got snow on and off all month. Blech!

When I woke up Friday after a great night’s sleep, the world looked shiny and bright. April had arrived with sun and warmth, which couldn’t have been more welcome. It was deans’ reports day so it flew by and I headed home to prep for the weekend, joyful that spring seemed to have arrived overnight, both the weather and my mindset.

I had a Friends of the Library meeting Saturday morning to prep a treasurer’s report for plus was scrapbooking at Camp Fontanelle. I was up until 10:30 doing the report and uploading pics to Walgreens. I woke up to another gorgeous day, made a nice breakfast, loaded the car and headed out. Only 3 other people were at Friends and I had printed the wrong report after being so ahead of the game (damn!) so we weren’t doing much. I left early to make deposits, headed to Nancy’s to drop some seeds and drove to the camp, stopping to pick up my photos in Fremont on the way.

I unpacked the car, set out all my supplies and started sorting pictures for my UK trip album. After a lunch of bad chili and no dessert, I tried to dig in but the room was stuffy and hot and I was sitting right under the vent. I was clearly not into being there. Having spent so much time inside in March, all I wanted was to be outside. When the heat kicked on yet again, I grabbed my knitting and headed outside to sit in the sun, hoping inspiration would strike. But after basking in the sun and knitting for awhile, I was fighting tears at the thought of going back inside so I gave my $45 check to Dori, packed up my stuff and left. It was absolutely the right decision.

I didn’t get home until 5:00 so Saturday was shot but I got organized so I could have a productive Sunday. After a yummy breakfast and enjoying Sunday morning TV and the paper, I dug out my gardening gear and headed outside to start my gardening. I tackled the bed between the sidewalk and the street first, figuring that had the most impact, then pruned some roses and the crab apple before hitting the first bed in the backyard. By then it was getting windy (not a good time to be raking) and I was petering out. I took a restorative shower and had my favorite comfort food – a tuna melt and tater tots. Guaranteed this was a better day than I’d have had scrapbooking. After lunch I started chores and did some cooking. What a wonderful day! If I can have one of these every weekend this month, this will finally be the year when my gardens looks like they should. I can only hope.

The take away from this experience is it's time to revaluate where I'm spending my time. Mindful - isn't that my word for the year? While sitting in the sun at Fontanelle thinking about how little free time I seem to have, I decided it was time to get serious about choosing how to spend my time. That may mean changing up my workout so I have less days in the pool and so can get home in time to do some yard work. I also need to work on not offering my time so liberally, which is always my knee jerk reaction. So if I offer you help, please remind me of being mindful. It's going to be a hard change to make but I'll work on it with your help. : )

P.S. I came into work and round this Ripples in my email. How perfect! Time to start creating my life.