Week 11 - Stress and Yarn

It was a stressful week at work. Lots of trickle down stress – boss is stressed so supervisor is stressed and everyone shared down. Yikes! A co-worker and I vented over Starbuck’s one afternoon and I did some stress yarn shopping at lunch one day too. Something worked because by the end of the week, things were calming down. I had a nice dinner with the water aerobics gang on Thursday after work and it was looking good. Until I got a rush data request from the Vice Chancellor right at the end of the day Friday. Needless to say, I was ready for the weekend.

I had nothing scheduled for two whole days so vowed to dig in at home. My goal was to go through all of my clothes AGAIN and tackle the yarn mess in the spare room. The bed was piled with both clothes and yarn so they pretty much had to be tackled together. Luckily I had neatized most of the house early Friday when I woke up at 4:30 and couldn’t fall back asleep (how’s that for cup half full thinking?) so went home to an already picked up house, which meant I could start all the sooner.

After a quick trip to the bank Saturday, I started slogging. I cleared off the spare bed, dumping clothes in my bedroom and yarn in the front room. Since I wanted to do laundry sooner rather than later, I went through clothes first. I tried on at least 50 shirts, deciding as I went between hanging what fit, saving what would fit soon (hopefully) and splitting what was leaving the house between Goodwill and Helen. By mid-afternoon, I was done with the clothes and so started sorting yarn. I petered out late afternoon but still had all day Sunday.

The petering out coincided with some TV and knitting. Well, I got sucked into a pledge special on PBS by Dr. Mark Hyman. I had read and liked one of his early books – Ultra Metabolism – so was gripped by his new book – Eat Fat and Get Thin. He’s all about MUFA’s (monounsaturated fatty acids) and his new book was taking it a step further. He was espousing adding large amounts of fat to your diet on the premise that our bodies need fat and the whole low fat era has left our bodies starved, which he said has slowed our metabolisms and lead to binge eating in an attempt to replenish the fat we’ve excluded. Everything he said resonated with how I feel after a 3 week rotation where I’ve eaten almost no fat. The overeating and subsequent weight gains I’ve been experiencing on my off weeks were exactly what he was describing. I was going to have to find out more about this.

Anyway, I finished the rest of the yarn sorting and storage Sunday morning so spent a cozy afternoon cooking for the week. I made sloppy joes, cranberry walnut cole slaw and tapioca pudding for lunches, 2 pies for Pi Day (Monday) – one for work and one for knitting – and made hamburger stroganoff to eat for a couple of suppers. I was even a big girl and did all the dishes when I was done cooking. So all in all, it was a very satisfying weekend. I’d made it through my projects and chores, had a fridge full of food for the next week and had recuperated from the stressful work week. Nothing like playing with yarn to bring me back to center. : )

Week 10 - Desperate for Recharge

For all intents and purposes, spring has arrived. Now it might end up snowing yet but in the meantime, I sat in shirtsleeves on a bench in the sun on Monday at Hazel Abel Park. It was a 600 calorie day so I’d already scarfed my lunch earlier so enjoyed the sunshine instead of food. Daffodils were just a few days from blooming and I had the park to myself. It was lovely.

The lack of calories left me energy free by the end of the day and I was moving in slow motion as I neatized the house after knitting so it’d be ready for the cleaning lady. I was determined to get it all done because I’d been sleeping badly and didn’t want anything hanging over my head. Alas, it didn’t help. I slept like crap again.

Tuesday was monthly reports so the day flew by. I had bought the ingredients to make a pan of lasagna for Helen, who is home recuperating from surgery. That’s what I thought anyway. I didn’t have any big cans of tomatoes but cobbled some sauce together and had it simmering when I went to pull the cheese out, only to find it was shredded cheddar instead of mozzarella. I had to get dressed again and head to the market. I put it into the oven and it was torture smelling it when I was on another 600 calorie day. Eyes on the prize! I was exhausted but couldn’t fall asleep again so got up and took a shower at 11:00, after which I finally fell asleep. I was beginning to think lack of vegging was having an impact.

I finally got some relaxing time on Wednesday – first with a lovely concert by the Chiarra String Quartet at the library over lunch then when I got home after swimming and sat watching Survivor and knitting. Finally some vegging! It helped because I slept well at last.

Bernie was on campus Thursday, which was kind of fun. Thousands of people lined the street in front of my office and we heard periodic cheering all morning while they waited to get into The Lied Center. I had a nice lunch at Noodles with Dodie and then went right home after work, which felt decadent. I slept well again so was beginning to feel better.

Friday was my normal lunch with Layton then I dropped my car at Auto Connection to have them unrotate my tires, which fixed the horrible road noise. I had corn chowder in the fridge for a knitting night at Anne’s so we could hang with Kate, who doesn’t swim anymore so we don’t see her. But she called Anne and cancelled (sick) so we bailed. I gave Anne half the chowder, went to the pool and then went home for the weekend. With dinner cancelled, my weekend was completely free and I was insanely excited about it.

My goal for Saturday was to sit in the sun and knit, staying in my jammies as long as possible. Success! I got up early, started knitting and didn’t get moving until 2:00. I can’t say I accomplished much of anything at all but it felt wonderful and was the much needed recharge time I was desperate for. I could barely keep my eyes open and went to bed at 8:30. Clearly much needed.

I woke up Sunday at 5:30 and felt like a new woman. I had the kitchen and family room picked up, dishes soaking and laundry done before the sun was up. It was also my first day not rotating so I had a yummy breakfast of oatmeal with raisins. How far I have come that that felt like a treat? 71 pounds down, btw. 

Anyway, when Lorri called to say she couldn’t stop after church because she needed to go to Omaha to pick something up at Barnes & Noble, I offered to go with so we could catch up on the way. We had a nice chat and did a bit of shopping but I was still home by 4:00 in time to enjoy a cup of tea. It was 75 degrees so I opened the windows and started cooking. Baked cauliflower cheese (another treat that’s still pretty darn healthy) and ham. Yum! Then I made bread pudding to take to knitting and steamed Brussels sprouts to go with a casserole I pulled from the freezer for later in the week. By the time I was done, it was time to sit down to the Downton Abbey finale. What a nice week and more spring weather to come. Enjoy!

Week 9 - Total Spring Fever

With gorgeous spring weather dominating the week, I couldn’t help but be in a great mood. Everything just seemed better with spring in the air – a new cashmere blend sweater that felt lucious and perfectly matched the shawlette I designed myself, going to the The Lady in the Van with Anne, losing more weight on a 1200 calorie week… All good. The work days flew by too. I trained 2 afternoons, which always makes them fly, and had meetings every other day (a rarity for me) so the work week was over in a flash. I may have overscheduled my weekend a bit but even that all worked out and I lived to tell. There seemed to be nothing that could befoul my mood. Spring is the absolute best season! Am I right?

The weekend started with a retirement party for one of my database customers at 4:30 on Friday, which I thoroughly enjoyed for the half hour I was there. Then it was off to swimming and then to the hospital to visit Helen. I stopped at Fresh Thyme on the way there to pick up a wrap to eat in the car and a lovely primrose for Helen. I got home at 9:00 and by the time I put groceries away, it was time for bed. Anne would be at my house at 8:45 to head to another auction in Fremont. 

This time Anne wanted the cone yarn. I was just going along for the ride. Denise, my auction buddy from last week, was there so Anne and I sat with her and the acutioneer recognized me and agreed when I suggested the yarn NOT be the last thing up for bid. He was true to his word and it was up just after noon. Unfortunately an antique dealer who wanted it all was there and kept bidding the price up, leaving just a few skimpy cones and odd cakes for Anne to get for $15. I wish I’d bought some for her when it was so cheap the week before. Oh well. She got some and we were on the road and back to my house by 3:00, which felt like a gift. I gave Anne 2 of the cones I’d gotten the previous week and caked some too. She left happy and I got to enjoy a cup of tea in the sunshine. Since Sunday would be another early day, I started my laundry too. I went to bed early because Sunday was another early day. If only I’d known how early….

I was scheduled to pick Andrea up at 9:30 for an Omaha run - something we hadn’t done in awhile. A Penzey’s coupon for 2 free jars of Pie Spice was our impetus for going but we had other things on the list. Well, I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and was wide awake so got up and started plowing through the spare room. Our first stop was Goodwill so I figured I could cull some clothes that no longer fit to add to my donate pile. By 5:00, I’d reorganized the piles and there was stuff all over the floor but I was getting tired again so went back to bed. I thought I’d just lay there but at some point I fell back asleep and didn’t wake up until 8:45. I had just enough time to eat some breakfast, get dressed and load the donations into the car before picking Drae up. I wasn’t even late. I only found one thing at the second of the two Goodwills we stopped at while waiting for Penzey’s to open but offloaded donations so it was still good. With our Pie Spice jars in hand, we hit Trader Joe’s and then Aldi before heading home. I was home mid-afternoon again so even though I’d had 2 early mornings, I had relaxing afternoons at home to make up for it. And the weather was still gorgeous so I enjoyed my first steak grilled outside on Sunday night. More spring wonderfulness. Gotta love it! Now to get those piles from the spare room and all my auction goodies put away before the cleaning lady. It’s always something. : )

Week 8 - Yarn Auction Fun

Starting the day off at the gym for a 6:30 Power Pump class means I have to do all my prep (clothes and food) the night before and still be up half an hour early, which puts me on the road at the time I’m normally getting up. Since I have knitting Monday nights at the library, it makes for a very long day but feels like a good start to the week so I try. Having missed it the previous week when I called in sick, I was ready to go this Monday but when I went out to my newly repaired car, the battery was dead! I called AAA but since it was a holiday, they said their regular person wasn’t available so they’d “put it out to dispatch,” whatever that meant. And the waiting began. Someone called at 7:00 to say they were on their way and my car was running by 7:30. I threw on clothes without showering (ick!) and headed to campus. The bill from Friday’s work was still on the front seat so I called my mechanic and said I’d be dropping it off. Checking the battery, hoses and such was the very thing I’d asked them to do that they’d clearly not done. They were very conciliatory and agreed to check it all as well as replace the battery. Fast forward to the end of the day when I was presented with a bill for $500, which added to what I’d spent last week exceeded my $1,000 limit that I swore would have me buying a new HRV. Well, the is absolutely the last money I’m putting into my trusty Fit.

With that drama over with, I was ready for some normal life with zero drama. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. My cousin and I were going to Paint Yourself Silly for my birthday and we were 20 minutes into creating our masterpieces when she told me she has some irregular cells and so was having a hysterectomy the next week. Wow! Despite that, we had a great time and ended the night with some illicit ice cream and a promise that I’d visit in the hospital. Wednesday was pretty normal but then Thursday more drama reared its ugly head.

Anne and I had decided we’d bite the bullet and pay the big bucks for tickets to Scotland on United. We’d exhausted all the possibilities for a cheap flight so Anne would be using her miles and I’d be paying big bucks. She came over to my office after 5:00 and we got her miles account on one screen and the paying version up on the other and after 2 calls to United, we hit enter, getting seats next to each other on all the flights. Anne got a confirmation email immediately but I didn’t. After waiting 10 mintues, we gave up and headed home. Well, I arrived home to find an email from Chase saying they’d denied my purchase suspecting fraud. Really? Fraud on an airline ticket? Wouldn’t that be pretty darn easy to figure out? I called and they took the block off, saying that they’d conference in United and call me back. Well, they called back to say the hold time was too long so I’d have to call myself and wait on hold. OMG! You can imagine how unhappy I was at this point but what could I do? I waited on hold for 40 minutes and finally had my ticket. Enough drama already! But was it over? Nope.

The next morning I emailed our flight into to the travel agent who’s coordinating the trip, who immediately replied to say since we were getting in so much later (in order for Anne to use points, we opted for a 2 layover flight that gets us to Shannon overnight then had a regional flight to Edinburgh that arrives just after noon) than most of the people on the trip, we were on our own to get from the airport to our hotel. I immediately saw red and whipped off a scathing email. If transfers are included in a trip and they haven’t given you a time constraint up front, they damn well better be included! The woman waited until the end of the day to respond and said she’d work something out. Damn right! With that settled, I was ready for swimming and the weekend.

I was going to an auction in Fremont on Saturday, lured by a bunch of cone yarn and what I really wanted – a yarn tree to hold cones. I started a new pair of simple socks to knit while waiting to bid and got there at 9:15. I grabbed an empty seat next to 2 lovely ladies from Fremont and proceeded to have a fun morning yucking it up over the stuff up for bid, and putting an occaisional bid on something interesting. By the time Andrea arrived at 12:15, I’d spent a whopping $4 and had bought some fun, albeit unnecessary, items. Andrea bought lots of stuff and I scored a couple more, including a fabulous 50's saimese cat TV lamp, before they finally got to the yarn ~3:00. I had already sorted out the cones I wanted and talked to the ladies hovering near the yarn to encourage them not to bid it up since there was plenty for all of us. I bought the 16 cones I’d set aside for $1 each and then scored the fabulous yarn tree for $10 so was very pleased. By the end of the yarn bidding, it was going for $2.50/shelf of yarn, which one woman bought all of for $25. When the shelves were bare, I bought a plastic snap together one for $2.50 – my final score of the day. I was pretty tired and hungry so Drae and I went to HyVee for an early dinner then hit Goodwill. By the time I got home and it was almost 8:00. It was a long day but fun and I had all my treasures to sort through. Check out my fabulous new yarn tree and lamp!

It was gorgeous Sunday so I headed outside early, starting with emptying the car so I could then load it back up with recycling. I broke down a bunch of boxes in the garage then pulled the cases of boxes from the basement that had gotten wet. Then I took down the last of the Christmas decorations and did some general neatizing in the yard. When I went inside, I got all my chores done then started cooking, ending the day with a week’s worth of food ready to go and my first steak on the grill for dinner. Yum! I had totally redeemed myself after sitting on my butt knitting at the auction with a day of super productivity. And I would be in good shape for the work week, which is a lovely thing. And to top it all off, it truly seemed like spring was coming early, with flocks of robins eating the crabapples off my tree and V’s of geese heading north. I know we could have a foot of snow in a week but still. I’m going with spring fever. : )

Week 7 - Back to Rotating

I woke up Monday morning with a blazing headache and couldn't face the thought of work so called in and went back to bed. I slept the morning away, waking up fuzzy headed and droopy but with the headache gone. I sat like a zombie all afternoon and got nothing done. Not an auspicious start to the week. Oh well. Tuesday flew by with catching up from Monday plus it was a food day, which always makes for a fun day. Wednesday was a busy day of training and meetings so the week was half over in a flash.

My check engine light came on on the way to work Wednesday, which considering I drive 60+ miles everyday was a concern. I made an appointment for Thursday and dropped my car in the morning, asking for a general once over because the car was almost at 180k miles and had never had a tune up. Kevin told me it didn't work that way anymore and that I should wait for something to go wrong. They had to order a part so I dropped it back after lunch Friday and picked it up after work and before swimming. The tire rotation made for a nice ride and I had high hopes to not need anything else for awhile. This repair had come in at ~$600 so was below my $1,000 threshold that will have me buying a new car.

The Friends of the Library's annual Wine & Dine dinner was Saturday night and very little had been done to prep for it beyond booking the country club and caterer and selling tickets. The emails were flying and it became clear that my Saturday would be consumed. I put a call out to the knitters for door prizes and after a Skype date with Eileen Friday night, I slogged through my spare room looking for things I'd bought and set aside, which was no easy task because my spare room is a nightmare. 

After a 10:15 vet appointment with 2 cats on Saturday morning, I had 6 door prizes packed up and left for the library at 11:30 with the intent that I'd organize the prizes and head back home. Well, Denise already had them in her car so she suggested I meet her at the country club at 1:30 to help with set up. That killed any hope of free time on Saturday. I was at the country club until almost 4:00, leaving just enough time to head home for a cup of tea before getting dressed and heading back for dinner. I sat with Andrea and Mike, Donna and a friend of Andrea's and the prime rib was good. I left at 9:00, happy that it was over and that it had been such a success. Note to self: Make sure things are being taken care of next year instead of trusting that others are helping. 

I was happily starting another rotation on Sunday morning. I had gained a ridiculous amount of weight in Florida (I blame the constant pistachio consumption) and had eaten everything in sight since getting back. I felt like crap and was happy to begin eating healthy again. In between laundry and chores, I spent a chunk of time prepping produce for the week, determined to have a good rotation. Carolyn has been "rotating old school" - no extras and sticking to the menus - with great success so I plan to do the same. Time to get back on track and lose another chunk of weight. Wish me luck.

Week 6 - Beach to Blizzard

Monday was my birthday and we woke up to rain. Since there was limited covered seating at the bar, I suggested we go out for breakfast instead of eating at the hotel. We found the Midway Café online and it looked great so we headed south for a delicious breakfast in a fun place. From there we went to the closest Sandal Factory Outlet, which are all down the Keys and have billboards everywhere. Anne and Rene both bought sandals and I got a Life is Good t-shirt. By the time we left, the rain was over so we headed back to the hotel. The storm had brought in Portuguese man o’ war jellyfish so swimming was out but I was fine with more sitting/knitting to while away the afternoon. We’d gotten muffins at the café so had those with tea mid-afternoon then went to a restaurant recommended by one of the staff for dinner and had the least impressive meal of our trip there. It wasn’t bad, just nothing special. I did get free key lime pie for my birthday but I wasn’t a fan of that either. Cross that off my list. Then it was back to the hotel to pack. We were scheduled to leave the next morning.

Now we’d be keeping an eye on the weather in Omaha, which had a blizzard going on. UNL had already cancelled and Lorri had emailed that 50+ Omaha had flights had already been cancelled. We were flying through Houston and didn’t want to get stuck there so we called the airline and they rescheduled us no problem. Now instead of a stressful day of travel worrying whether we’d make it home or not, we could relax on the beach. But since we were all dressed, we decided to head north for my free Starbuck’s drink and lunch. After a fun lunch in a vintage restaurant, we went back for some kayaking and knitting on the beach. Since we’d had a big lunch, we just snacked for supper, eating all the leftover snacks with chicken fingers from Anne’s lunch. Our new flight was leaving early so we had to be ready to go first thing. It was a lovely bonus day.

We were up and out at 7:00 on Wednesday morning and were graced with another gorgeous sunrise. We’d be driving through rush hour traffic so left 2.5 hours for the drive. We had intended to stop at a Dunkin’ Donuts for road breakfast but never found one so kept driving. We did hit some traffic in Miami but had left the extra time so were nearing the airport with time to kill so got off the highway and found an IHOP for breakfast. We then returned the car, checked in and were ready to go. The flights were both on time and uneventful, even getting in 25 minutes early to Omaha, where my car was mostly blown clear of snow. I was back home at sunset and found my driveway all clear thanks to Tim. Nice. I unpacked and settled in for the night thankful for such a nice travel day after the blizzard.

Thursday was a blur of catching up at work and home. Nora decided that we should do breakfast for my birthday on Friday morning so I got up and out Friday to be in Lincoln by 7:30 only to find that Nora had texted that she couldn’t come. Cindy, Cheryl and I had a mediocre breakfast and headed to work, where the day was another blur of post-vacation catch up. After a stop at Aldi for a big grocery stock up, I headed home for the weekend. I had tons of laundry to do. Go figure. I had lots of other catch up to do and totally enjoyed being home for the weekend after such a nice vacation. I could get used to these winter vacations in warm places. : )

Week 5 - The Floriday Keys

Well, the week started with a storm and the worst winter driving in recent memory. I left work Monday at 4:30 and was shocked to see that Highway 77 was a sheet of ice with packed snow all the way. Top speed was 40 mph and even at that there were times when my tires would lose traction and spin only to catch and shoot me forward. And no, I didn’t have my cruise on. It was a harrowing drive home but when I got there, my driveway was 75% shoveled! I parked in the street and went to get my shovel to finish and by the time I turned around, there was my neighbor Judith with shovel in hand. I don’t know what possessed her but it was wonderful. We got the rest done in just a few minutes. She and Gerard are wonderful neighbors.

Most everyone had already emailed that they’d be skipping knitting so when Andrea called, we decided it wasn’t worth life and limb so both decided not to go either. You’d think with a free evening I’d be productive but not so much. I knitted and watched TV, ignoring my leftover chores. I made up for it Tuesday morning, getting a few things done before work but any happy feelings were negated by the drive in. The roads were only slightly better in places but washboards of icy ridges in others. Not fun. Good thing I’d be headed to Florida by week’s end. : )

Before then, I had to find summer clothes to pack. I’d lost enough weight that nothing from last summer fit so I started digging in the spare room and spent hours trying things on to come up with 4 or 5 suitable outfits. I know – boo hoo. It was a bit stressful but I managed. I had a stack of possibilities before bedtime on Wednesday, which were destined for the washer.

I had book club at 7:00 on Thursday so left work half an hour early so I could put in the single load of wash and have it drying while I was at the library. I threw the clothes into my suitcase when I got home and was pretty much ready to go. The cats were all set – food and litter boxes – and the house was as in order as it was going to get. The cleaning lady was coming while I was gone so there was some neatizing but not much.

I had to be out of the house early on Friday and would be driving through rush hour traffic but it wasn’t bad and I met Anne and Rene at the airport right on time. The travel was blissfully uneventful so we picked up our rental car and headed to a yarn shop. Because who doesn’t start a trip buying yarn? No one I travel with! We went to The Knitting Garden in Coral Gables, which was close to the airport and we’re glad we did. Not only did we all buy yarn, including Rene who doesn’t knit but bought yarn for me to knit her socks. Hmmm… Anyway, the ladies in the shop were lovely and gave us lots of recommendations on what to see in the keys. Mile marker by mile marker. They also gave us a dinner recommendation for a Cuban restaurant where we enjoyed yummy dinner, leaving with boxes of leftovers for another meal.

We drove to Islamorada in the pitch black so didn’t see much along the way but it was all good. The hotel was lovely and we scoped out the beach after dropping suitcases in our room. There were no waves! I remarked that that was not normal and there must be a breakwater or something because the water was smooth like a pond. It was late enough that we just went to bed. Let me just say that I was glad I had ear plugs. : )

Our plan for Saturday was to head to Key West, figuring we might see things along the way that we’d go back to another day. We enjoyed our free continental breakfast by the beach and headed south. Since we had no firm plans, we enjoyed the ride, stopping at Anne’s beach for a pic of Anne on the beach. Cute. When we got to the key with the key deer sanctuary, we decided to stop since Cindy had recommended seeing them. Well we never found the sanctuary but saw plenty of deer, including one that walked right up to me at the open house we stopped at. Yes, we scoped out real estate because why not? Nice property but a bit out of our price range.

From there we drove to Key West. There was an art festival going on so the downtown was a mob scene. After passing on $30 to park for the afternoon, we found free parking a few blocks away in a state park. It was right next to a NOAA exhibit so we popped in there for the bathrooms and to get tips from the park ranger. Well, as a federal employee he couldn’t recommend restaurants but he did hint at one that was the same place the knitting shop had recommended but could only remember that it was a woman’s name. It was Caroline’s and we had the most amazing lunch there, sitting outside under trees in February. Nothing wrong with that. Having gotten our picture taken at the Mile 0 sign for route 1 already, we wandered into the art festival, where I found a fun pin as a souvenir. When we were done with that, we found the Conch Train office right in front of us, which was something the knitting lady had also recommended. And because our day was just magic, a tour was leaving in 7 minutes. We had just time to grab a drink for the ride and off we went for a couple of hours of local history, including the fact that a coral reef a few miles out kills the waves. Knew it! After the tour, it was just before sunset so we headed to the water (a block away) to watch that with hundreds of other people. We then started back towards the car and even found someone to unlock the gate by the Little White House that cut the walk back to our car in half. Magic! We couldn’t have planned a better day if we’d tried. And on that note, we drove back to the hotel.

Sunday was the warmest day in the forecast so we’d saved it for playing in the water at the hotel. Anne was swimming right after breakfast while the Floridians were wearing sweaters. I opted to sit on the beach and knit for most of the day. Anne and Rene went kayaking and Anne paddle boarded. Me, just more knitting. We ate our leftovers from Friday night for lunch and went to The Hungry Tarpon, which was another recommendation from the knitting shop lady and just the next key south. It was a total hippy place and we sat on the water under a tree and enjoyed fish tacos. It was delish and a total Keys experience. Then we headed back to the hotel where we commandeered the big screen TV near the bar for Downton Abbey. It took some doing to get the right channel and sound level but it was fun to be watching it outside. Unfortunately the woman staying in the room right above us came down and said the volume was disturbing her children so we lowered it and then struggled to hear. Oh well. We got the gist and it was still an experience. We ended the night vegging on the lanai. I could get used to Florida in winter. : )