Week 3 - Brutal Polar Vortex

Four day work weeks are the best but I'm looking forward to being retired when Monday holidays don't mean much. Just one more - Memorial Day - before I'm done with work. 6.5 months to go.

Ben was back from his Thailand trip so I had queries for him to start the week on Tuesday. I begged off going to campus on Wednesday since it'd be too cold for my open toes. My foot was still too swollen for shoes, even sneakers. I had a 4 hour zoom on the F&A project on Thursday morning so made eggs for breakfast since lunch would be late. Nothing else worth a mention on the work front.

At home, one of the neighborhood cats made a path through the snow to get to my back door and that was it for my cats being limited to the deck. I went out and shoveled the deck a bit so they had access to the yard and driveway. They still mostly stayed in because the cold was brutal but had a bit further to roam when they did go out. It was too cold for me to go out so I rescheduled my Friday haircut to next week when it would be warmer. On Friday morning, I found a frozen sparrow under my birdfeeder. Yes, it was that cold. Poor baby. I did brave the cold once mid-week because I was getting really low on food and had no snacks. A quick trip to The Warehouse fixed that. We got more snow at the end of the week but I crammed my foot into a sneaker, bundled up and shoveled my driveway. It took 20 minutes and I survived.

I was having to get creative with the food I had on hand so started the weekend with eggnog pancakes and bacon for supper Friday night. I finished up the eggnog making eggnog bread with dried cranberries and walnuts on Saturday. I also made a loaf of whole wheat while the oven was on. Sadly, I had to dry my sheets in the dryer on Saturday but spent some time in the laundry room while I was down there, neatizing and bringing up my amaryllis bulbs.

Sunday was a big day. It was in the 20's so I was heading to Omaha. My fridge was bare so it was stock up time. After picking up bagels at Bruegger's, I started at Trader Joe's, which was a mob scene. Everyone was out now that it was warmer. I then went to Lori's for a few hours of knitting and drinking tea before heading to Aldi, where I spent $120! That's a lot for me, especially at Aldi, but now my fridge was full. Yay!

Hopefully we won't have such drastically cold weather again this winter but that's probably wishful thinking. If we do, I'll be more able to go out in it. My foot is getting better everyday and I have my last appointment with the doc coming up. After this week, normal winter temps will feel downright balmy. I'll take it.

Week 2 - So Much Snow!

It was a snowy week. Lots of snow. UNL started and ended the week with snow days and we had a 2 hour delay on Tuesday, which is the first I can remember in my nearly 26 years at UNL.

The deal with snow days is that anyone who works from home is supposed to work but I'm here to tell you that I didn't get a single work email on Monday. It snowed all day and the wind was blowing so the drifts were CRAZY and we got a 2 hour delay on Tuesday morning. My snow guys came at noon on Tuesday to plow me out because I had a library board meeting that night.

When I saw the forecast for more snow on Wednesday morning news, I immediately emailed my doctor's office to see if I could move up my Friday morning appointment to get the pins out. They called right away and had a cancellation for 2:00 so I took it. I was having lunch with my cousin at the steakhouse in Wahoo so after chatting and eating yummy burgers, I headed to Lincoln. As the PA said, pulling out the pins was no big deal. It didn't hurt at all. However, the skin under the 2 week old steristrips was nasty so after she cleaned it up, she said she'd call in an antibiotic. I put on a sneaker and walked out the door. It felt good but strange to be walking flat.

From there I completely overdid it, running every single errand I hadn't been able to run for weeks. I hit a couple of thrift shops (found nothing but it felt great to be thrifting), the grocery store, where I only bought produce because my foot was already pretty sore, then the farm store for birdseed and the pharmacy. I got there just after 5:00 and there was no Rx waiting for me. It was too late to call the doctor so off I went without the drugs.

Needless to say, my foot was super sore when I woke up on Thursday morning. I went right back into the boot and when the doctor's office called to say they had now called in the Rx, I was dreading putting a shoe on to go out. My friend Lorri offered to pick the meds up and after originally saying no, I called her back and accepted. I had a couple of things I had to do before the big chill that would come overnight so needed to save walking for that. That afternoon, I loaded up my birdseed buckets on the deck, emptied the trash and changed the litter boxes. That was plenty on my sore foot. I read the PA's report on the patient portal and saw that I was supposed to transition out of the boot. Go figure.

It was snowing when I woke up on Friday and it was due to snow and blow all day so UNL called another snow day. I had plenty to do with it being Foundation reports day and I made some banana bread at lunch. With my boot on, I shoveled a path to the birdfeeders and after work I took my first barefoot shower in more than a month. Lovely!

It was still snowing on Saturday morning and there were 4 foot drifts on my deck. The high temp was due to be -1 and the windchill was about -30. My snow guys came and did my driveway, sidewalk and path to my front door in less than 10 minutes - 1 on the ATV, 1 with the snowblower and 1 shoveling. I gave them a loaf of banana bread and was thrilled not to have to deal with any of it. I had soaked beans first thing in the morning so made Boston baked beans with Aldi wieners (they sell them for Octoberfest every year and I stock up) and cornbread. It was all about having the oven on for hours. On Sunday, I finally made the turkey thighs over stuffing that I had planned to make the weekend between my trip and my surgery as my Thanksgiving replacement but hadn't gotten to. I roasted some of the squash from my garden this summer but it was so tasteless that it went right into the compost along with the pot full that wasn't worth steaming. Oh well.

Besides all the cooking, I chatted with my sister and several friends and was so over knitting that I pulled out a crocheted afghan I'd started during lockdown and started working on that. Yes, crocheting. That's how much knitting I've done while streaming in the weeks since my surgery. And with the bitter cold temps in the forecast for the next week, there would be yet more inside time coming up. Winter in Nebraska. Just 2 months until spring. : )

Week 1 - Happy New Year

I've heard that how you start you year is how it will go. Well I started with a day off, making an apple pie and having tea in the sun with friends. I'll take it!

Tuesday was back to work and reality. I'd worked so little in the past 6 weeks that I was at a loss for what to do. I started with monthly reports, which took care of Tuesday, but then had one of the accountants who was in the office send me a pic of the to do list on my desk. Nothing. Before my trip and the week between my trip and surgery I'd been slamming on data for the F&A proposal so with that mostly done, it was time to get back to my normal work. With my new boss out, I was left with documenting the F&A databases. And with so many people extending break, I wasn't getting user emails either. It was a slow work week.

With frigid weather in the forecast for next week, I was keenly aware of trying to take advantage of the final warmer days. I was making a pot of sausage/potato soup and had some chard from the freezer but went out to my garden and was able to pick fresh chard from my veg beds. Fabulous! The soup was delicious too and totally hit the spot. Then on the weekend, I did a load of sheets and hung them on the line. It was sunny when I put them out but clouds set in, as forecast, so they weren't dry at the end of the day. I draped them all over the house, hoping that they'd still have the wonderful dried outside smell. It would be the last time for that in a long time.

Not much else was going on at home either. Sitting at my desk for work was uncomfortable so I spent evenings sitting with my foot up and icing. I did run errands in town on Thursday and picked up a burger and chips from a local restaurant, which I'd been wanting all week, on Friday. Delish! I had some fun kool aid dyeing sock blanks on the weekend and chatted with friends, plus knitting and streaming, of course. Story of my life.

So it's a good thing the week started with fun because the rest of the week was pretty mundane. And with the frigid weather coming, I don't think there will be much beyond more knitting and streaming. Happy 2024!

2024 - Just One Word

I struggled with the word for 2024 because it'll be a big year for me with lots of changes. I'm retiring in August - yay!

I thought about Less as the word for the year but I could hear Paul from Ripples saying that I need to focus on positive things not less of the negative things. I was thinking Less because I need less stuff in my life (time for a big purge and now that I can donate things to Becky to sell at her Stuff for Strays garage sales, I'm more motivated to go through things) and I'll be working less but that didn't seem like a good enough word. After thinking about switching it to More (more culling things, more organizing what's left, more exercise, etc. - thinking of the positive things), I decided on this:

Reset

My entire life will be getting a huge reset when I stop working. With the limited energy that comes with aging, I will no longer be spending most of it on my job. I plan to focus on what brings me joy and have started a to do list for post retirement. So reset it is. Happy 2024.

Week 52 - My Boring Break

Having moved up Christmas due to weather, the week starting with Christmas Day was uneventful. There was lots of streaming and knitting with my foot up and iced but there were a few bright spots.

After opening my stocking boxes from my sisters on Christmas morning, I had leftover lasagna for lunch and watched Die Hard while, you guessed it, knitting and streaming. I finished my advent socks (you knit a stripe each day in December) but couldn't wear them yet. I had no Christmas dinner plans but did pull a yummy dinner together thanks to Aldi stuff in my freezer. I had creamed scallops and shrimp over pasta and a yummy tart along with Winking Owl wine. Not bad for freezer diving.

Over the course of the week, I did attempt to do a few chores in between all the streaming. I did manage to go through the cupboards to see what I needed, prompted by not finding a can of tomato paste last week when I made the lasagna. Otherwise, the high points were going to Lorri's for tea on Thursday and chatting with friends. This included Lori, who invited herself over for tea on New Year's Day, which upped the chore list but I had plenty of days to do a few here and there. The floors were the absolute priority as well as clearing some surfaces.

But the best thing that happened was when I went to Lincoln on Friday to get my stitches out. That meant the bandages were also gone. Yay! I left with steristrips over the incisions, a brace to keep my big toe in place and a gauzy cover so people wouldn't see the beads on the tips of 2 toes. Icky, trust me. From there I met Darla at Cook's Cafe for the best sausages and breakfast in town. The company was great too. With full bellies, we went to Aldi (more walking than I'd done in ages) and then I headed home. It had felt good to be out in public and it's always great to see Darla but it was time to put my foot up. Having tired of streaming, I started listening to our book club book - Dear Mrs. Bird. That felt different and nice.

I only left the house again on Sunday because I needed to buy long men's socks to cover the beads without touching them. I also picked up a few things at The Warehouse. That was it for New Year's Eve celebration for me. I had zero interest in staying up until midnight so went to bed early to read in my toasty bed, heated up with my electric mattress pad.

So, not much to report. Streaming, knitting and icing with a bit of socializing towards the end of the week. But stitch removal still wins. I hope you all had a more interesting Christmas and New Year's.

Week 51 - Sitting and Knitting

I took my last pain pill on Monday morning and lived to tell when it wore off. With no pain meds on board, I was able to drive myself to knitting at the library and stayed the whole 2 hours, enjoying seeing people and being social. Progress!

The rest of the week was uneventful. I did start to do a few things in the house - a load of laundry, changing my sheets, making dinner one night.... that kind of thing. While it felt good to be doing more, it also had me taking a pain pill in the wee hours twice that week. I'd call that a worthy bargain. I was still spending most of my waking hours sitting and knitting while searching for something to stream on my many, many streaming services. Slow Horse on AppleTV was great and with 3 seasons, took a few days to watch. Got any streaming recommendations for me?

By the weekend, the weather forecast for Christmas Day was a blizzard so I called Anne on Saturday night to suggest we move our Christmas dinner to Sunday. She was doing breakfast with her family so said she'd call me when she was done with that and I'd head down. I got up Sunday morning and had the sauce on the stove before I sat down for CBS Sunday Morning. I put the lasagna together when my fave show was done and was ready when Anne called. She had a fire going and the oven pre-heated when I walked in the door. We had my lasagna and Anne provided the salad, bread and dessert. We tried to watch Maestro but gave up after an hour, switching to Big Eyes and then Willy Wonka when we were done with that. It was a lovely early Christmas celebration and I was home shortly after dark. It was raining lightly but would turn to snow overnight. I was more than ready for a quiet Christmas watching the snow fall.

So it was a very quiet week with a very quiet Christmas Eve dinner. My foot was definitely less painful and I was able to do a bit more to take care of myself. I was icing behind my knee since my toes were under an inch of bandage and so not accessible (hence the scarf tied around my knee holding the ice against the back of my knee in the pic), I had finished several pairs of socks and get this - started a crocheted afghan! That's how desperate I am for something different. Just one more week and I'd be getting my stitches out then 2 more weeks and the rods would come out too. I can do it!

Week 50 - Hammer Toe Surgery

When I was in London, I was answering Teams messages about rearranging my schedule for the 3 days before surgery. They needed to schedule interviews for my replacement (yay!) for Monday so had to reschedule one of my trainings. My 3 days were now jam packed and would be crazy but I'd live.

I started the week with a mammogram at the clinic first thing then a mad rush to campus for the first interview. We then took Ben, who had gotten a promotion and so was no longer our boss, to lunch. We went to Honest Abe's for burgers, which I split with Cindy. I felt like I'd eaten a side of beef and didn't eat again until Tuesday morning. We interviewed the second candidate that afternoon and I bolted home to get to knitting by 6:00. One day down, 2 to go.

Tuesday was crazy too. They had rescheduled my Monday training to Tuesday morning, which meant I trained from 10:00-12:00 and 1:30-4:00. During the first training, my doctor's office kept calling. Apparently they got called on their lame pre-surgery physical and the surgeon was demanding an EKG and blood draw. The minute my training was done, I ran to the clinic for both, gobbled lunch and was training again to an overfull class (I'd let in everyone on the wait list) at 1:30. When that was over, I ran to my eye doctor appointment, ate dinner and then went to a library board meeting at 7:00. Sheesh!

By comparison, Wednesday was a cake walk. I started at NebOrtho at 8:00 to meet the surgeon, dropped Darla's Christmas present on the way to campus and went right to the church where we were having our office Christmas party because I was on the set up crew. We had a lovely party and after cleaning up, I went to the office for an afternoon free to get some work done. I hit Super Saver for my final pre-surgery grocery run, did some last minute chores and set an alarm for 4:00 since I had to be at the surgery center at 5:30. I'd made it through 3 super hectic days and was ready for surgery and recovery.

I drove myself in and Anne came after her workout. The morning was a blurr (anesthesia will do that) and I was discharge before noon. Anne drove me home in my car and Rene followed in her car to drive her home. They set me up with a few things I'd forgotten (refilling the birdseed buckets) and food. The next days were a blur as I was taking pain meds around the clock and doing nothing but streaming and knitting with my foot elevated. When the nerve block wore off Friday morning, the pain level shot up but I lived. Better living through chemistry.

I have the best friends. Andrea came by the afternoon of my surgery and Lorri the next day, doing little things to make my life easier. 

The boot they had sent me home in was absolutely useless. I wasn't supposed to do any weight bearing on my toes but they didn't give me a slanted boot that would force my weight to my heel. Even using my cane, I every step was a chore. I emailed to ask if I could get a different boot, which they said was fine so I ordered a boot and a cast cover from Amazon. When they were delivered on Sunday evening, I took my first shower since Thursday morning, put on a fresh nightie and took the first non-wobbly steps in the new boot. Much better! I'd also been waiting longer between pain meds and was fine with that. I also ate 3 meals on Sunday for the first time since getting sick in Estonia. I was down 20 pounds! Losing weight is always good but not like this.

So, I had finally wised up and taken the rest of the year off so was facing weeks of sitting, knitting and streaming. I wonder how much weight I'll gain back? Only time will tell. And for those wondering why I scheduled surgery right before Christmas, it's the ever so broken American health care system. I'd met my maximum out of pocket on my health insurance so this surgery was 100% free. And it will be nice to be able to wear regular shoes again and hopefully not suffer from the ridiculous toe cramps I've been having. Wish me luck.