Week 48 - Lithuania and Estonia

After a yummy breakfast, we started the day with a walking tour of the old town of Riga. Our tour guide was funny and knew everything about the days under the Soviet Union and everything they'd done since. It was beautiful but they don't shovel their snow and it was hard walking on the cobble stones. After a yummy lunch at a place normal Latvians eat at, we had a braiding class that was not super successful with a teacher who didn't really teach, just handing out supplies and written directions. I did find some souvenirs at the shop it was at and after going to a regular yarn shop where I only bought a single skein of yarn, we all went to a welcome dinner at a wonderful restaurant on the river with windows all around. We got to know our fellow travelers a bit, which was nice.

Anne and I went to an early breakfast then walked to the castle on the river before heading back to the hotel for a knitting class with our designer for the rest of the morning. Anne and I got sandwiches for lunch then we were off on another walking tour - this time of art nouveau houses, which Riga is know for. We went to a farmers market type thing (they said it was a Christmas market but not so much) then we got 30 minutes in a fabulous craft store that had the entire second floor of yarn. It was super cheap and I had to be an adult and limit what I bought but I did stock up on some needles. Anne, Celine and I had supper at a Swedish restaurant by the hotel, which was delish. I could not fall asleep that night and was still up at 2:30. Jet lag was nuts this trip, maybe because we were 8 hours off Nebraska time, which was more than I'd ever dealt with.

Wednesday was a travel day. I was shocked to see that the main highway between Riga and Estonia was one lane in each direction. Apparently the road to Russian in the east is much bigger. We stopped for lunch in a restaurant in a little village, at a cute shop in the middle of nowhere and then a wool mill. Tallinn was completely different from Riga - much more modern and busy. Our hotel was in the center of a bustling, bright downtown area rather than the old town we stayed in in Riga. We had supper in a restaurant by the hotel and settled in for an early evening.

We woke up to light snow but it wasn't particularly cold. We went to an Estonia heritage park where they had buildings from all different time periods in Estonia's history. One was an apartment unit from a collective farm and they had each of the 4 apartments set up to represent pre-Soviet, Soviet, post-Soviet and modern. It was fascinating. We had a tasting of Estonian food and walked through gently falling snow. It was magical and one of the highlights of the trip. We went to a museum on the way back in an old palace. When we got back to the hotel, we went across the street to the mall and had pizza in the food court. It was a wonderful day.

The snow was less magical on Friday, when we had a walking tour of old town. The wind was whipping and it was bitter cold. Our tour guide took pity on us and took us to a cafe for hot chocolate to warm up. We went to the Christmas market that afternoon and it was completely underwhelming. There were only 30 or 40 booths and most of them had food or booze and the few that were selling things were not handmade. It was not what I expected. We did some shopping on our own on the way back to the hotel, where we warmed up before heading back to a restaurant that overlooked the market, which was all lit up and very pretty. It went downhill from there.

I was halfway through dinner when I started feeling icky. Before long, I was puking in the restaurant bathroom. I went back to the hotel and spent the next 12 hours in and out of the bathroom on the toilet with the runs while simultaneously puking in an ice bucket. I haven't been that sick in I don't know how long. We had a class scheduled for Saturday morning but I skipped it and curled up in the fetal position and willed myself to keep immodium down. It took 3 to stop the cramping. We had to check out of our rooms at noon but weren't leaving for the airport until 1:30 so we sat in the lobby. I made the mistake of eating a yogurt that Celine had picked up for me. I puked it all up in a trashcan at Estonia TSA as they threw our knitting needles in the trash. Not pretty. 

At least that was the last of it. I slept the entire flight to London and we took a train to the city then a taxi to our hotel. Our room was tiny but clean and I fell into bed and slept like a rock.

I had made plans on Sunday to meet up with my friend Maria, who was with me in Orleans on my junior year abroad. I had warned her that I'd been sick but was OK to meet. We met them at Paddington then took the tube to a Finnish Christmas market in a Finnish church. We had some coffee and cake there then went to a pub for lunch. It was right on the Thames so had gorgeous views and it was great to catch up with Maria and her husband, John. I managed to eat some mashed potatoes and sausage but not much yet it felt like I'd eaten a side of beef. We walked a bit then said our goodbyes. 

Our friend Sue was coming into town to hang out for the evening. We met her in the hotel bar and ended up staying there all night, chatting and knitting. I opted for ginger ale instead of alcohol. We didn't stay up very late (Sue had an early train home the next morning) but it was fun to see her and she was fine with not eating. She's a stick who is not motivated by food. 

So not the best end to the week. The timing wasn't as bad as it could have been but I hadn't been that violently ill for decades. We had 2 more days in London before we'd fly home and I had high hopes that I'd be better quickly.

Week 47 - Bound for Europe

 I had three days at home before flying out for our Baltic trip so I was a machine, getting everything done on my pre-trip to do list.

Our anchor day was moved from Wednesday to Monday because of Thanksgiving so I was on campus on Monday and made the most of it. I a bunch of errands at lunch - Mailing Dottie's huge yarn box at UPS, buying my outside tree at Menard's, buying kitty litter at Super Saver and dropping stuff at Darla's office. I got that all done in an hour and 5 minutes! I went right home but knitting was cancelled so I finished Ginny's scarf and called it a day.

Having satisfied our day on campus, I was working from home for the next 2 days. I had my annual/pre-surgery physical after lunch on Tuesday and it was super lame. She barely touched me - only listening to my chest and looking in my ears. Seemed weird but I'm not the doc so didn't question it. I had been making piles of things to pack but started laundry that night for the last few things.

We were told to be done working at 2:00 on Wednesday, which was lovely. I used the extra time to make some notion pouches for the women from my online sock group who'd be meeting us in Helsinki. They only took and hour and then it was time for the final packing and chores. The kid who mows for me came and did my last mow of the season. I was ready to go.

I was having my car repaired from the Sioux Falls rear ending while I was gone so drove my car to the body shop and Anne's brother in law picked me up there. We were flying from Lincoln to Chicago, had a big layover and then flying overnight to Frankfurt. Anne only had one United Club pass so bought another and gifted it to me for early Christmas and birthday. The club was right next to our gate so we spent all afternoon there before boarding our flight. We had an empty seat between us and I was able to get a decent amount of sleep on the flight, which was uneventful.

We woke up in Frankfurt and had quite a long layover but went to the bakery we'd discovered last year and the boarded our flight for Helsinki. The man sitting next to us was very nice and gave us some tips of places to shop and helped us get the train from the airport. He even walked us most of the way to our hotel, which was right by the train station. It was a lovely room and I was up reading in the wee hours but still got a decent amount of sleep.

After a great breakfast at the hotel, we met up with Tarja from my sock group. She spoke excellent English and we walked around downtown and the docks before taking a break in a coffee shop. From there we went to a local yarn shop where we met Mari, another person from my sock group. I bought sock yarn, of course, and from there they took us to the main library, which was amazing. It had a coffee shop among the stacks and there was a big children's play area where a choir was singing Christmas carols. The downstairs was a makers space with all kinds of equipment to use and huge areas full of people hanging out. I've never seen a library like it. 

It got dark early so all the Christmas lights were on as we looked for someplace to eat an early supper, ending up at an Italian restaurant in the train station, which was delicious. They both had trains to catch to get home so we split up early and Anne and I went to Flying Tiger. We discovered it in Norway and it was right by the hotel. We found some fun things and then headed back to the hotel, tired after a long day.

We slept super late on Sunday and had to rush down to breakfast. We were on our own and our flight wasn't leaving until evening so we put our luggage in the hotel's luggage room and headed out. We did some shopping and walked around for hours, then stopped at Starbuck's and enjoyed people watching from a window seat while we warmed up with lattes. When we were done shopping, we headed back to the hotel, where we hung out until we left for the airport. We got there really early for our flight and it was less than an hour to Riga. We were met by our tour guide at our terminal (different from where the UK flight had come in) and joined the tour, saying a big hello to Celine before heading to our hotel.

We had such a great time in Helsinki, thanks to the two woman from my sock group and had the entire tour to look forward to. Life is good!

Week 46 - Stress Melted Away

The week started out with maximum stress but it didn't last and I went right back into pre-trip checking things off mode.

On Monday, I woke up to an email from Arena Travel, our tour company, asking for our flight arrangements and their wording set off alarm bells. I emailed to send our Helsinki to Riga flight and asked them to confirm that we were flying back to London with the tour. Nope. When we scheduled this all in May, the person we talked to had coded it that we were doing our own flights in both directions so they hadn't booked us tickets to fly back to London from Estonia. The back and forth began and long story short, we had to pay an extra 130 pounds each for the flight back.

During all  the flight drama, we realized that Anne had booked the VRBO in London for the weekend after we're back and of course, it wasn't available the prior weekend. I was in full on panic mode at this point but messaged John and asked him to find us somewhere in London to stay. He got right on it (he loves travel planning) and emailed a list later that day. There were all further out than I wanted so after knitting, I went to Trivago and found a hotel by Paddington and a few blocks from Hyde Park, which is my sweet spot for staying in London. I called Anne and we booked it, despite not having the final word from Arena. I woke up Tuesday morning to an invoice for the flights, which I promptly paid. With that payment and the hotel sorted, the stress instantly left my body. I felt like the trip was not only all set but pre-drama'd so had nothing else to worry about so headed to campus to work.

I had a shot in my thumb at 4:00 and was out of Nebraska Ortho in less than 5 minutes - no exaggeration. I stopped at Rene's to see her half done kitchen renovation and was home early. Nice. Wednesday was another campus day and I was almost done with space and had picked up the next books for book club, which will meet while I'm away, and took a late lunch to go to a Vietnam documentary screening that afternoon. It was financed by the woman who wrote Death Zones and Darling Spies, which we'd read for book club, and was very interesting. At 5:00, I met Rene and Anne for Thanksgiving dinner in the dorms. The turkey was absolutely delicious and it was nice to have some since we'll be flying on Thanksgiving Day so unless they serve turkey on the plane, we won't have any. I was home in time for Survivor so it was a nice day. Things were absolutely looking up.

Thursday was another good day. It's always joyful to work from home after 2 days in a row on campus and I got my entire kitchen picked up before work. I then finished space and sent the file off. Add a Ripples professional development zoom and it was a banner day. I had finished a pair of socks for a Christmas gift the night before and started another pair for another Christmas gift. I was cranking on the Christmas knitting. Yay all around for this day's accomplishments. My last list item for the week was a haircut after lunch on Friday and before you know it, it was the weekend.

While I still had pre-trip things on my list to check off, I was feeling so much better about life that I was able to head to Fremont for spinning on Saturday without stressing. Andrea and I did our usual route - Restore before spinning and our errand stops afterwards, ending with sushi for an early supper.

I got up Sunday and made a new list first thing. First up was to prep a box of yarn for my sister. I had a huge Chewy box and was able to pack it all up, making for the biggest box I've ever sent. It cleaned up the front room and spare bedroom floors. Gone is good. That done, I spent the rest of the day puttering - clearing surfaces, making stacks to pack, sorting laundry.... before sitting down to a night of PBS and knitting, during which I finished the shortie socks I'd started on Friday morning. Fastest socks ever and only one more Christmas gift left to knit.

What a difference from the beginning of the week! With less than a week before my trip, I was feeling good about getting the last things done without being too stressed. Here's a picture I sent to Darla that summed up my Friday, which was such a relief after the start of my week. I'll take it. : )

If you celebrate, have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Week 45 - Stressed and Cranky

I had a full week ahead, cramming in appointments and social stuff around work, which still had me prepping huge data files for the F&A project. Despite feeling relatively on top of things getting ready for my trip, the stress was building with each passing day.

After my team zoom at 10:00 on Monday and a dentist appointment at 11:00, I had a 4 hour zoom with the F&A team. I was there for questions on the data files I'd created so was able to work on my other screen some. I was totally absorbed so had the door open for the cats to come and go. Well, I certainly woke up when Hazel dropped a garter snake next to my desk. I screamed then grabbed a dish towel and put it outside. Talk about adrenaline! I had a similar rush when Goodie brought in a bird during our team zoom on Friday, which she promptly leg go and it flew down my basement stairs. I opened the slider wide and when it came up, it flew out. Sheesh!

I was on campus Tuesday and Wednesday this week. When I was driving to work on Tuesday, I heard something under my car but thought I'd driven over something. Well, when I was running errands at lunch, I could hear something so looked under my car and there was a huge thing hanging under the front of my car. I drove to TO Haas, where I get my tires and should have gotten my oil change, and they took off the splash plate and put it in my trunk. I called Jiffy Lube, who are apparently notorious for not bolting this back on after an oil change, and made plans to go back there at lunch on Wednesday. Maybe that's why I woke up in a fowl mood on Wednesday, which lasted pretty much all day. They did fix it and refunded what I'd paid for the oil change but did I need this? Absolutely not!

In the spirit of checking things off, I ran errands at lunch on Thursday. I made a Friends deposit at the bank, went to the Senior Center Thrift Shop, stopped at The Warehouse and got my flu and Covid vaccines at the pharmacy and still had time to eat lunch before an hour was up. Gotta love small town living.

I did manage to have some fun between all this. On Tuesday night, Dodie and I went to Piedmont Bistro, my favorite restaurant, for dinner and then attempted to go to a rehearsal for an upcoming Christmas concert but were put off with being the only people there besides the singers so we left rather than get stuck there. I took advantage of the extra time and went to Aldi on the way home. I enjoyed the leftovers from my meal with a glass of wine on Wednesday night after my cranky day. That and a night of Survivor and finishing All the Light We Cannot See on Netflix helped my mood immensely and I woke up feeling better on Thursday.

It was Merry Market weekend in Wahoo and I was at the library from 4:00-8:00 Friday night for the holiday decoration sale the library has every year. It was busier than previous years and I got some knitting done. The next day, I met Lori and Andrea at Adelita's for lunch and then we shopped the stores downtown. I found a few things but with stockings either cancelled or "light" this year, not much. But I did get a wonderful, maple nightstand to replace my Ikea special. My dressers are maple so it matches. Love it! After we split up, I enjoyed a cup of tea then went outside right before dark and cleared the front bed, taking a load to the city burn pile as the sun went down. Cross that off.

Despite having some fun at the end of the week, my pre-trip stress was building and I woke up from a stress dream at 3:52 on Sunday morning. With no chance of getting back to sleep, I was up making bacon and eggs at 4:30. I did manage a bit more sleep after my breakfast but after my morning of knitting with watching CBS Sunday Morning (my fave), I could not settle. I ended up going back outside and clearing the east bed, cutting more brush and raking it out. I threw that back on my alley compost heap and called my yard work absolutely done for the year. I made some cookies to take to knitting with my last nervous energy and was ready for a shower and evening of PBS after that.

So it was a good week as far as getting things done and I did have some fun but the crankiness on Wednesday and building stress put a damper on things. Just 10 days until my trip when what is done is done and I'll be having fun. I'll be excited when I get on the plane. : )

Week 44 - Halloween and Stress

It was a relatively quiet week with lots of data crunching at work followed with a productive weekend but my stress level was creeping up with every passing day.

We started the week buying plane tickets to fly from Helsinki to Riga. Why you ask? Because after pretty much demanding a detailed itinerary from our tour company because our trip had been taken off the website and I needed to know when we were getting back to London so I could book a hotel, I saw why it had been taken down. When they finally sent one, it was with an apology and a 100 pound refund because they'd screwed up. This is a knitting and Christmas markets tour in Latvia and Estonia but they'd scheduled the trip before one of the markets started so had to flip the cities and we'd only be doing one market instead of two. I wasn't too upset about missing a market but we were flying into Helsinki and taking a ferry across the Baltic Sea to Tallinn but now the trip was starting in Riga. You can't take a ferry from Helsinki to Riga so we had to cancel the ferry tickets and buy a flight. Not cool and little did we know that was just the beginning of the trip drama.

On a happier note, Tuesday was Halloween and a campus day. I was going to Anne's after work for pizza and to help her with the heel on a Christmas stocking she was knitting for her great niece. I was there all evening and the door only rang 4-5 times with trick or treaters. It was bitter cold but still. Kids just don't go door to door anymore but the pizza was yummy and I knitted the heel for her so Anne was happy plus I left with some snickers. Happy Halloween to me.

On Wednesday, I had a nice lunch with Darla, who was on vacation for the week, at Stauffer's Cafe and Pie Shop. I had dropped my car next door at Jiffy Lube for an oil change while we enjoyed hot beef sandwiches and pie for lunch. I managed to stay awake all afternoon after that big lunch then went straight home for a bowl of cereal for a light supper and Survivor.

The rest of the work week was all data all the time. I was still on Teams with Janae at 6:45 on Thursday evening working on space. At least that made the time flew by and it was time for the weekend.

I had a moment of panic thinking I only had 2 weekends before my trip but then looked at a calendar and saw that I had 3. Despite that realization, I headed outside and did the one yard work chore that must be done before winter - cutting down the perennials between the sidewalk and the street. I leave the brush up all winter everywhere but the ones in the parking because that acts like a snow fence and drops feet of snow on the sidewalk. Despite it only being a couple of feet wide, it took trips to the city burn pile before it was clear. I was happy to finish and head inside for a shower and tea with my friend Lorri, who was coming with scones. We had a nice catch up and I was happy to have my outdoor must do crossed off my list. 

The clocks went back but my cats didn't get the memo so I was up early. After a nice Sunday morning knitting in the sun, I got dressed and headed to the high school for the Project Close Up turkey dinner. After enjoying that, I headed back outside. I emptied all my containers into my veg beds and put the pots away, cleaning up the driveway and deck too. By the time I was done, everything looked much better and ready for the winter. If I did nothing more outside, I'd be good to go, which felt great. Winter is coming!

Week 43 - First Hard Freeze

It was indeed a much better work week - darn good thing! On the home front, we were getting our first freeze of the season, which is later than normal and going to be a hard free but we started the week in the 80's. Freaky weather but good for getting the kittens acclimated to going outside and the warm weather coincided with my WFH (working from home) days.

Work was much better. It was a training week but both of my classes were small, both in the number of people signed up and the even fewer people who actually showed up. I had lots of data prep to keep me busy ahead of a 4 hour working zoom with the F&A consultant on Thursday. My 2nd campus day was Friday because it was the service awards lunch and I was getting my 25 year award - an insulated coffee mug chosen because it's useful and would last.

The freeze, which was coming overnight on Friday, meant that I had things to do. Since Friday's weather was cold and windy, I got busy on Thursday over lunch and after work. I had to bring in all the plants I'd be overwintering and pick the squash and any last produce from my garden. I just put the plants anywhere then headed next door to pick the squash in my neighbor's yard because my vines had jumped the fence. They were enormous and so heavy that I had to lift each one over the fence and drop it on my side. When I was back on my side and moving the squash inside, one was so big and awkward that I dropped it and it split. What to do?

My friend Cindy was coming to Wahoo to pick apples and I'd declined to help her when she asked. But I knew that Cindy would cook the broken squash rather than waste food so I headed her way. She had already picked a bunch but I joined her and between the 2 of us, we filled all her boxes, stopping only when it got too dark to see. We then went out for burritos at the other Mexican restaurant in town, which is smaller and not as gussied up but, come to find out, has WAY better food. Plus the portions were so big that I took half of mine home for another meal. All that for <$10. I know where I'll be going for Mexican food from now on. What a nice night considering I'd originally opted out of the apple picking. And my broken squash found a good home too. : )                                         

Service awards coincides with the all university picnic but that has degenerated barely more than a bag lunch - a pulled pork sandwich with a bag of chips and a bagged cookie. Gas station food. But we had fun with the photo booth (I do work with the best people!) and before you know it it was time to head home, stopping for groceries on the way home. I was ready for the weekend.

After a nice chat with Carolyn Saturday morning followed by some knitting in the sun that beams through my slider, I decided after lunch to do the dreaded STOP class so my speeding ticket wouldn't be on my record. It said it took 4 hours but I started at 12:45 and didn't finish until after 6:30. I took the bare minimum of breaks so the 4 hours was a definite lie. And if you haven't had the pleasure of taking an online STOP class, it requires constant screen interaction so there's no walking away. There's also a test at the end and if you don't get 80%, you have to do the whole class over. I paid attention and got it done. That's one dead Saturday.

As for Sunday, since I'd only brought the plants in but hadn't situated them, I brought in the baker's rack and spent some time getting the plants in their winter spots. I also did some cleaning and cooking and had some wine with supper. I tried to watch Hocus Pocus because I'd never seen it and felt like I was missing something. Nope. It must be a nostalgia thing for people who saw it as a child because I barely got through an hour and called it good, happily switching to PBS for the rest of the night. I'll find some way to cope with the loss. : )

Week 42 - Bad Work Week

Am I getting old, out of shape and overweight or just completely sick of work? Not sure but I'm finding it takes all of my energy to get through the work week and all I want to do is crash all weekend. Anyone with me on this?

It didn't help that I started the week with a campus day. While I don't like doing 2 days in a row, with Wednesday being our anchor day (everyone's in the office), not doing 2 days in a row means working a Monday or Friday on campus, neither of which appeals. Yup, might just be sick of work. 

The reason to be in on Monday was a free lunch in the dorms for staff appreciation so the whole team went for lunch. It was a perfect fall day so a nice walk. I left work a few minutes early to mail a HUGE box of acrylic yarn to my sister but there was someone at UPS trying to mail a package to Africa without a full address. I was held up so long there that supper was a banana in the car on the way to knitting. To end the night, Hazel peed on bed. Right in front of me, I think taking exception to the boxes which I'd neglected to change on the weekend. I ran out to get litter just before the stores closed, changed the boxes, remade my bed and was so keyed up that I had to take Benadryl at 11:00 because I couldn't sleep. Not an auspicious start to the week.

Thankfully, Tuesday was a quieter day. I had all the bedding to wash and hang out, worked on grad allocations all afternoon and had chicken parm for supper before heading to the library for a board meeting.

Wednesday was campus again and absolutely crazy busy. I had a long zoom in the morning to start the huge F&A process, had a meeting with the Vice Chancellor about Husker Cats, which went long do I didn't get a lunch break. I had my car loaded up with stuff to drop off all over town and was dreading doing it during 5:00 traffic but told myself to buck up and do it. After dropping everything off, I hit Aldi. The icing on the cake? I got a speeding ticket on the way home. I was on a paved road north of Lincoln that's my shortcut to get to the highway when I leave Aldi, came over a hill and there was a cop. Total speed trap since it's farm land with no houses. $124 or STOP class. DAMN! Thursday had to be better, right?

Nope. I got an email first thing and realized I'd completely screwed something up at work. It required lots of work for several people and had me slamming until 2:00. I felt bad for causing so much extra work for others and was pretty upset with myself for a stupid mistake. I had a Ripples zoom at 2:00 and just barely made it. I calmed down over the course of that hour. I made a yummy supper of steak and mashed potatoes then ended the day taking Goodie outside for the first time. I stayed out with her for 30 minutes or so and she did well, not venturing very far from the deck. At least the day ended well.

Friday was some better, with a couple of frustrating computer problems in the morning but I dug in on F&A data in the afternoon so it flew. I took both Goodie and Hazel out after work then had a nice supper before settling in for good Friday TV (I'm watching several things that have new episodes on Fridays.) It was the weekend at last. Good riddance to the work week.

Saturday was out spinning retreat at Camp Fontanelle, which is about 40 miles north of Wahoo. It was a gorgeous day and with all meals included, I was on the road at 7:00 and eating breakfast at 8:00. I did the morning class, which was making a pin from zippers and felted wool. I did not participate in the afternoon fiber blending class so sat outside in the sun knitting socks. I did duck out for a Fremont run for Aldi and a huge free frapuccino from Starbuck's. That meant I could head directly home after supper, which was nice. It was a lovely day and I was home by 7:00.

After a LONG week, I was ready to crash on Sunday. I talked to my sister (Dottie not Ginny!) and Deanne in the morning then made a to do list. I had a lovely day interspersing chores between streaming and knitting, ending with some cooking. I made an apple pie to take to knitting then a small quiche from the leftover dough with broccoli on the side. There may have been some wine with dinner and then it was PBS and knitting all night. 

The weekend went a long way towards offsetting my icky work week. I had the door open on Sunday and the kittens were in and out all day long. I checked on them many, many times but they were always somewhere in the backyard and always came when I called them. They're good girls and continue to bring me joy. Despite my less than stellar week, I can still say life is good! Hopefully next week will be better.