Week 7 - Fighting a Cold

It was a pretty uneventful week unless you count starting it with a cold. That impacted my week a bit.

I woke up Monday having dreamed of reconciling all night but dream reconciling so I was counting the embroidery motifs on a pair of inside out men's golf pants. Where does this stuff come from? The reconciling was because the week started with another 4 hours F&A zoom and some of my data wasn't reconciling. I had to keep muting and turning my camera off for coughing and nose blowing. I skipped knitting so as not to share my germs.

I woke up feeling even worse on Tuesday so took some sick time in the morning and then did Foundation reports in the afternoon. After making sure there would be a quorum, I skipped the library board meeting. Taking it easy helped because I woke up feeling quite a bit better on Wednesday morning.

I had crammed in the social events for Wednesday - lunch at Red Fox with Erica, the new Director of Accounting and a valentine's dinner with Anne and Rene in the dorms after work. Lunch, which was my first with Erica, was fun and it was good to catch up with Anne and Rene but the "valentine's dinner" was uninspired, the only special food being a few desserts.

I worked from home Thursday and the day went quickly between helping Cindy prep for a meeting, a Ripples zoom (professional development) at 2:00 and an IDM problem at the end of the day. I ran errands in town after work and was done for the day. 

I was working on campus on Friday and, as usual, had jammed in the social events. I started at Cook's Cafe at 7:00 a.m. for Darla's belated birthday breakfast (not too belated - her birthday was Sunday). At lunch, I was excited for a much postponed trip to the Chinese buffet with Layton. Alas, it was not as good as I remembered but lunch with Layton is always good. I took it for granted the first 20 years of Friday lunches before Covid. I thrifted a bit after work but found nothing. Time for the weekend!

The only thing on my calendar for the weekend was spinning in Fremont on Saturday. It was Back to Basics with the public invited so I baked some brownies to take. I made an effort to sit at different tables to chat with members, a few of whom I hadn't seen in awhile. We did a quick Goodwill and Aldi run before heading back home. It was a fun day.

Sunday was chores because there are always chores, right? The highlight of the day was it being warm enough to hang my sheets on the line. Not much else to say so here's a pic of my cute kittens. Enjoy.

Week 6 - Final Birthday Celebrations

It was another week that started with a 4 hour zoom and it ended with another zoom that went past 5:00. I did grab some sunshine during a late lunch between them and Nan brought cherry pie and ice cream to knitting for, you guessed it, more birthday treats. Heidi's chickens had started laying again so I got a dozen of good eggs for the first time in a long time. I started Tuesday morning with boiled eggs and bread and butter soldiers. Yum.

I did two days in a row on campus - Wednesday and Thursday after Layton rescheduled our Friday lunch. On Wednesday, Brook bought me a mocha for my birthday (it just keeps giving!) and then Cindy, Lana and I went out for lunch at Lila Mae's Southern Kitchen. Cindy billed it as for both our birthdays since we had never gone out for hers in January. The shrimp and grits were wonderful. I met Darla after work for thrifting and Dollar Tree. She gave me a cute teapot for my birthday. This was the end of the week of birthday stuff. Promise.

My work week was full of data problems and working late, including on Friday (!), trying to figure it all out. I finished another pair of socks from the previous year and started up on the final pair I had hopes of finishing by the 15th. Otherwise, the highlight of the rest of the work week was when the scab finally fell off my foot on Friday morning. It had been uncomfortable for 4+ weeks and now there'd be hope for wearing some normal shoes. Yay! The white chicken chili I'd put in the crockpot made for a delicious end to the work week.

It was the monthly sale at the Estate Dispersal Store. Heidi was coming along but didn't want to be out all day so we got an early start on Saturday. I picked Heidi and Andrea up at 7:30 and we were at the Restore at 8:00. We had fun and found a few treasures but I'd gotten the time wrong for when EDS opened so we went to Goodwill and Aldi then back there. I only bought a baking rack (I haven't found anything there in a while) and we were home before noon. I picked up BK after dropping them off and had the whole afternoon free. I had hoped to sew but it was cloudy and cold so not warm enough for the craft room. I spent the afternoon knitting and streaming. Shocking, I know.

I woke up with a dry throat in the wee hours on Sunday and by morning, it was clear I had a cold. It was a low energy day for sure. I talked to Ginny, Carolyn and Deanne and followed the sun, reading in the front room in the afternoon and even sitting in my desk chair by the bar when that was the only direct sun in the house. This is only my 2nd cold since the pandemic but only 2 months past the last one. I hope this isn't a trend.

So my birthday was over for another year. I celebrated plenty, right? Here's to another year of fun. By next next birthday, I'll be retired. : )

Week 5 - My Birthday Week

My birthday was Thursday but I celebrated for days. As it should be.

The work week started with a 4 hour zoom on the F&A project and included 2 afternoons of training and a mess with monthly reports but ended with a water main break that meant I got to work from home on Friday instead of driving in. On the sole day I did go in (Wednesday, when everyone goes in), I maximized my birthday celebrations.

Cindy bought me a mocha at Starbuck's then I had lunch at Tico's with Anne and Rene. I had gloppy nachos, of course. After work was supper at Helen's for stroganoff and delicious chocolate cake from scratch. I left with a quarter of the cake so had more to enjoy. On my actual birthday, Thursday, Lorri and I had burgers for lunch at Chip's in Wahoo. It being the 1st of the month, I happily knitted on my new monthly challenge socks. It was a nice birthday, so far, but there was more to come.

Saturday was my birthday Omaha run with Andrea and Lori. We met at Vidlak's for my fave chicken fried steak breakfast. With full bellies, we headed to Imagiknit for some birthday discount yarn shopping. Between that and the yarn presents, I had a big pile of yarn, including a fun advent that came in a globe that I can reuse for scraps. Nice. I picked up donuts at Winchell's on the way to Lori's for tea and knitting. After hitting Walmart on the way home, I called it a lovely day and kept on knitting. Sunday was more knitting between chores because even birthdays don't stop laundry. I finished my first challenge sock and pulled out some old socks projects to finish before the 15th - the deadline for WIPs in my Socks from Stash group on Ravelry.

Great week, right? I have such wonderful friends and they made my birthday special. But it wasn't over yet. I had one more celebration to come so had that to look forward to. Yay!

Week 4 - Having Some Fun

This week was all about having fun around work. And I had lots of fun.

After working the morning at home Tuesday morning, I left for Lincoln to have lunch with my cousin. I wanted to eat at her house instead of a restaurant and had suggested grilled cheese and tomato soup, which she made. Delish and it's always fun to hang with Helen. From there I went to the foot doctor for the last time. Done with that! Now for the swelling to go down. I had arranged to stop at Rene's to pick something up and when she offered to make tea, I said yes and put in 2 hours of vacation time. We then called Anne and she came over, which saved me a trip to her house later. We had a lovely afternoon. It was a taste of what retirement will be. I hope.

Wednesday was a campus day, which I made the most of. Lana, Cindy and I went to Olive Garden for soup, salad and breadsticks lunch, which was delish. After working all afternoon, I left a bit early to meet Dodie at Costco. I needed a couple of things but the attraction was pizza and ice cream dinner, which is a bit of a tradition for us. We would have stayed longer but a 2 year old was pitching a fit at the next table so we got outa Dodge.

I worked from home the rest of the week and got a long overdue haircut Thursday morning. I put a pot roast on and had book club that night. I did have a snafu on my meds. With my meds still stuck in the mail, I had to have my doctor call in a 7 day prescription for 2 of my meds. Of course my new insurance denied to cover them because they'd just filled the ones stuck in the mail. They wanted $22 for 14 pills of old school meds - nothing new and fancy. Highway robbery but what choice did I have?

Friday was uneventful and it was time for the weekend. I had no plans outside of the house and my big plan was to go through the upstairs freezer and defrost the downstairs freezer. I got the upstairs freezer done but when the sun finally came out after lunch on Saturday after 10 days of gloom, I couldn't face being downstairs in the dark so instead I repotted some plants in the sun in my front room. It was lovely. 

I neatized Sunday morning in case Lorri stopped after church (she didn't) so the house was a bit cleaner than usual. The plan was still defrosting and I had borrowed a single burner from Rene so I could boil water for the basement freezer defrost and not have to go up and down the stairs. With the sun shining, I still couldn't face the basement so boiled the water upstairs and went up and down the stairs for a couple of hours. The freezer was done and that felt great. Meanwhile, I sat in the sun in the front room and read while drinking tea. I'd call that a nice Sunday afternoon. I finished the day finishing a pair of socks from early 2023 and watching PBS.

So all in all, it was a good week. Work was uneventful, I was done with the foot doc and I was productive at home. Add the fun, which I'll continue to include everywhere I can. Life is good!

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!