Week 4 - Cold while Cold

With my cold in full swing and me without meds, I was at the pharmacy before 8:00 Monday morning waiting for them to unlock the door and was in and out with ClaritinD in hand in 2 minutes. I didn't do much more for the rest of the week.

I took the ClaritinD for the next 3 days and did absolutely nothing for most of that time. I skipped everything - knitting and a lunch in Lincoln on Tuesday - staying inside and crocheting or reading. I had no appetite so wasn't eating much. I didn't get my energy back until Wednesday afternoon. I made a pot of stew, which was delicious and a nice break after eating whatever for days.

I didn't take meds Thursday morning, deciding to see how I'd do without it. I had a mamogram scheduled at 2:00 so could take one at lunch if I was too much of a mess but I was OK. I wore a mask while I was there (I forgot how awful the plastic masks are) and got a clean bill of health so am back to annual mamograms - yay! I got slice of Brooklyn style pizza from the truck in Wahoo for supper to celebrate.

It was brutally cold on Friday - -9 with a windchill of -33 when I got up. Of course I had to volunteer doing the cats at the shelter. I put on mittens and a hat over my nightie and went out to start my car. I let it run for 30 minutes and was OK to drive there. It was toasty warm at the shelter and since the car was parked in the sun, I decided to run to the library to get a book I'd reserved and got an applesauce donut at the bakery to have with my tea. Since I was out anyway......

I woke up to just shy of an inch of snow on Saturday and still super cold. I had  no intention of shoveling but when Tim, who does my snow removal, mentioned that it would turn to ice if I drove over it and that ice wouldn't melt anytime soon, I changed my mind. I bundled up and had the driveway and sidewalk cleared in less than 20 minutes so it wasn't too bad. With that done, I called it a day and spent the rest of it steaming and crocheting waiting for bedtime so I could get warm.

Anne called on messenger first thing Sunday morning because she's in India (11.5 hours ahead) and would be heading to a location without wifi the next day. After hearing all about her trip so far, I started laundry then headed to the shelter for cat duty. I took a shower as soon as I got home and sat down to finish the afghan, which I did. Yay! I had a nice long chat with Carolyn and zoomed with Lia in Germany in between crocheting all afternoon. The last thing I did was lay the afghan out on my bed to find any ends that needed weaving in. I looked frm the front, then the back and still found a few I'd missed when I folded it up. I started this in 2020 and had lots of help from Dottie making hundreds of the centers but all the white was me. I'm super happy that it's done.

So it was a quiet week with the miserable head cold keeping me in at the start of the week and the fridig cold weather keeping me in at the end. It was nice not to have pressure to work while I felt so crappy. Yet another benefit of retirement. Have I mentioned how much I love not working? : )

Week 3 - Fun to Cold

I had no problem with too much free time this week because I was in Lincoln on 3 days this week. Unfortunately I picked up a germ somewhere so had a monster cold by the end of the week.

Monday was Rene's birthday and we were having a kool aid dye day at Anne's to celebrate. I loaded up the car with totes with every color of kool aid and pans and yarn and headed south. Rene picked up Chinese and we got our yarn soaking before eating lunch. We each dyed 2 skeins and it was lots of fun. Rene's skeins were definitely the prettiest. With the yarn drying outside (it was pushing 60 degrees), we had brownies with ice cream and Rene opened some presents. It was a super fun day and ended with Monday Night Knitting.

Tuesday was my friend Cindy's birthday so I started the day with a zoom chat with her then got busy finishing some chores. One of my yarns had turned out drab so with chores done, I got out a pot and overdyed it, which brightened it right up. After reading in the front room in the sun that afternoon, I had a library board meeting and called it a day. I was home Wednesday too and ran Wahoo errands and brought all the amaryllis upstairs, topping them up with good potting soil and getting them in the sun by the slider. Hopefully they'll wake up soon and give me some nice flowers this winter.

I had been invited to an Emeriti/Retirees Association board meeting on Thursday afternoon so had scheduled lunch with Dodie beforehand. Of course I thrifted on the way in and found some sock yarn at Goodwill to start the day. Lunch was great and I had time to pick up book club books at the Library Commission and grab a cookie before heading to east campus. No one knew I would be there except Don who had invited me (sheesh!) and other than talking to Don for a few minutes after the meeting, there was no point in me being there. Oh well. I was home in time for a cup of tea in the front room just before the sun went down.

Friday was my last Lincoln day - this time for an appointment with the oncologist. I drove right there via the bypass and was in and out in 15 minutes. I had time to grocery shop before meeting Darla for lunch at the dorms, which is probably where I picked up cold germs. It was a nice lunch and all I did afterwards was grab gas at Sam's and so was home early.

Saturday was the annual Back to Basics at spinning but it was super cold out and I don't spin (yet) so don't have much to share so wasn't feeling it. I also figured there woulnd't be many people out and about with a high of 13 degrees not taking windchill into account so decided not to go. I hunkered down and got a few things done inside. It ended up being a good thing that I skipped.

I had a slightly scratchy throat when I woke up on Saturday morning but didn't think anything of it. Big mistake. I woke up on Sunday morning with a full blown cold, feeling like my head was going to explode. I was supposed to feed cats at the shelter but texted the cat group and someone covered for me. Of course I had no ClaritinD on hand and wasn't up to a 60 mile round trip to get some so took a single, way out of date Claritin and took some also old sudafed over the course of the day. They knocked it down a bit and I did something I rarely do - took a nap and actually slept. And it didn't impact my ability to fall asleep when I went to bed. My plan was to be at Wahoo Pharmacy at 8:00 when they opened to get some drugs.

So, it was a busy week with lots of productivity and fun before I was brought down with the cold. Hopefully it wouldn't last too long and I didn't have a jam packed calendar for the next week so I could rest and get over it. One of the benefits of not working is not having to push through and tough out a cold. If I feel like crap, I can stay home and cozy. Wish me luck for a speedy recovery.

Week 2 - Wide Open Schedule

I had a wide open calendar this week with only doing the cats on Friday and that seemed like a good thing after the previous busy week. But too much choice had its problems too.

With all that free time, I managed some productivity. I cleaned out and organized the food cupboards, fridge and freezer, renewed my license and even spent an afternoon outside working on plants. It was 67 on Wednesday so I took the lantana and geraniums I brought in to overwinter out to the deck and pruned and pulled off dead leaves and such. I then enjoyed tea outside with the cats, including Pixel, who is newly blind so needs to be monitored outside. They were very interested in a squirrel on the power lines.

I needed to do a grocery run and could not seem to decide when to go. I was going to a talk on biophilia at the lake Thursday morning, which was interesting, but it was gloomy and raining plus I had slept like crap so wasn't feeling it. Luckily HyVee announced a one day sale for Friday so that finally decided the day. Then I couldn't seem to decide which direction to head - Fremont, Lincoln or Omaha. I finally decided to go straight after doing the cats and with a quick trip to Fremont. Sheesh! Is this indecision a retirement thing?

I had a quiet weekend after my indecisive week. I took down the Christmas tree and assorted decorations on Saturday and did a few small chores. I spent most of Sunday cooking now that my food was organized and replenished. I started with pancakes for breakfast then made a strata, a casserole for supper with the new "Wahoo burger" I bought at the locker - a mix of ground pork and beef for $2.99/pound because beef has gotten so expensive. It was OK. I made brownies to end the day, which would be for Rene's birthday lunch on Monday.

So clearly having too much unplanned time is not good for me. Lesson learned. Time to schedule some lunches and such so I have things on my calendar to work around. At least I managed to get a few things done besides crafting and streaming. : )

Week 1 - Busy New Year

After a pretty quiet Christmas, I had lots of New Year's plans. None of them would involve staying up until midnight nor booze but that's fine by me.

Before I get to the social stuff, I had an eye doctor appointment before Christmas and my Rx hadn't changed much and my glasses were from summer 2024 so I didn't get new ones. But as I sat with that decision, I felt like I hadn't gotten my money's worth out of a year of premiums so on Tuesday, the 2nd to last day of my coverage, I went across the street to the eye place (yes, it's the next block from my house) and ordered a pair of sunglasses. I told them I wanted cheap frames and nothing fancy so with single vision lenses, they were $26. Score! This will be the first time I've had sunglasses in decades. Nice.

Also, my internet had died and they had scheduled me a week out for a service call. Well, I got a call on New Year's Eve morning saying they could come that day. I had tried to get a new modem last time I had a service call but they said mine was up-to-date, which was so not true. Not only did he give me a new modem but he found that I'd been getting half the speed because of a problem at the pole, which he fixed. So now I'm going lickedy split fast for the new year. Yay!

Now for the fun....

My friend Cindy had requested to come over to hang out and relax over break so I called her on Monday and we decided on lunch on New Year's Eve. I told her I wouldn't clean but of course I did. Nothing crazy but I did the floors (even bought a new spin mop) and the bathroom between streaming, knitting and baking. I put a loaf of anadama bread (yummy bread with molasses and cornmeal - love that grit) in the bread machine and made a big pot of corn chowder. We had a lovely afternoon chatting in the sun. It had been awhile since we'd had a catch up. That was enough fun for New Year's Eve and I was in bed long before midnight.

Pre-covid, I used to host a knitters' tea on New Year's Day and loved it but the pandemic killed that. I've still done tea but for a much smaller group - usually 3 guests max. Well this year, Lori said she wanted to host and I jumped at that. I did bring some cookies I'd made but not having to do all the work made it extra special. Lori's cousin and sister were there plus Andrea and me. Some gifts were exchanged and there were even finger sandwiches. It was wonderful and the perfect way to start 2026.

My last social even of the week was tea at Lorri's (not the same one - 2 R's vs 1) that afternoon. I had one of those mornings where everything went wrong, including knocking a plant off my baker's rack, which resulted in soil everywhere - in my coffee, in everything on the rack, in the keys of my laptop - so I was happy to leave the house to enjoy tea and goodies with a friend. It turned my bad mood right around.

With all my socializing done, it was time to get busy. I started with something fun - rewinding and organizing all my sock yarn leftovers. These had been living in a couple of jars on a bookcase but had exploded out of them to cover the whole top of the bookcase. I now have 2 baskets with nicely caked leftovers 2 layers deep so they might actually get used now.

I did the cats at the animal shelter on Sunday morning, talked to my sister and a friend, tested the yarn I'd gotten in an advent and from my sister for nylon, which is what I want to make socks (mostly sock in the advent and zero sock from my sister) then put it all away. Otherwise it was regular Sunday chores and a nice meal of pork roast, mashed potatoes and butternut squash. Just like that, the first week of 2026 was in the books.

In case you're looking for something to stream, here are a few things I watched over the course of the week:

Nightsleeper (Britbox) - good
Whitstable Pearl (Hoopla) - fine
Run Away (Netflix) - good

Happy 2026!

Just One Word - 2026

Last year's word was Groove, as in find my grove for retirement since 2025 was my first full year of being retired. Well, being diagnosed with breast cancer in January and dealing with surgery, radiation and therapy put a big dent in winter and spring. Then summer was all about travel, so much so that I was thrilled to stay home for the entire fall. And I did get into a groove once the weather cooled down. I was out working in my garden on any day I was in town and it wasn't raining, usually for a couple of hours after lunch. That worked great but once winter set it, I sat down and have struggled to come up with an inside plan for productivity and exercise. 

Now that the retirement honeymoon period is over, it's time to think about what I should be spending my time on to get the most out of retirement so the word for 2026 is:

Maximize

I love not working and thoroughly enjoy my days, especially the ones at home, but I need to go way beyond what I spend my time on. I need to focus on doing the things that will help me maximize my retirement. For instance, I need to focus on health - losing weight and getting more exercise when I can't get it gardening - so that my body is ready for anything and everything. I need to go through my entire house and purge stuff. Having less clutter will lead to more comfort (so I'm told) and getting my craft space under control will bring joy back to crafting. I need to find a way to make some money on the Corelle and Pyrex that have taken over my garage and basement so I can make my savings last longer until I decided to start Social Security and/or starting using my retirement funds.

So this year needs to be about doing things that will improve my future. Wish me luck.

 

Week 52 - A Merry Christmas

The weather this week was not festive at all. It was 60 on Monday and other than Christmas day being the in the 40's and foggy, it was all freaky warm until winter set in on Sunday. Not a chance of a white Christmas but it was a nice one anyway.

Helen had mentioned doing Christmas on the 23rd because she was working over Christmas. She texted me with an invite on Sunday night and when I didn't respond, she texted again on Monday. The problem was that I didn't want to go and I told her that. I have never been included in their Christmas plans and didn't have presents for any of them. The texts were flying with her trying to convince me that the presents were all about her grandsons and none of the adults got or gave much. I wasn't convinced but she texted me when I was on my way to  Lincoln to say I could just come for dinner at 5:00. I jumped at that. 

With that settled, I had a lovely lunch with Darla at our favorite dive diner, stopped at the grocery store and was home in time to have tea outside. I also fixed the door open light in my car by dabbing the switch with peanut butter to see where it hit the inside of the door and then putting a scrapbooking pop dot right there. That made up for the 1/4" dent and just like that, the door open problem was fixed. My mechanic wanted to take the door off and pound it out. How much money did that save me? If that dot fails, I have more. : )

On Tuesday morning I made little mince pies like the Brits do and Rolo pretzel turtles so I wouldn't be showing up empty handed. Helen loves mincemeat but no one else does so I knew she'd appreciate them. I was on my way planning to arrive at 4:30, which would be after presents, when Helen texted. Her ex and Michael's biopop had been hospitalized and Brenda, Michael's wife, had taken him in so presents didn't happen at 3:00. We had a lovely dinner at 5:00 and then did presents. Helen had bought me a few small things and it ended up being just fine. Her grandsons had tons of presents and I didn't feel awkward at all. I helped with dinner clean up and when Helen walked me out, I told her I didn't know why I'd been so freaked out about being there for presents and thanked her for the invite. I had been lots of fun.

Christmas Eve was quiet and the only thing I had to do was cook for Christmas. I made lasagna after lunch then read outside in the sun in the afternoon, finishing my book - The Day She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell. I made a nice pasta dinner and watched It's a Wonderful Life. Yes, I cried, as always. I also did a Christmas Eve cast on (it's a knitter thing) of a new pair of socks. All good.

First thing Thursday was opening stockings from my sisters and a few presents from a friend. I talked to my sister Ginny in the car on the way to Anne's, getting there just before noon and I put the lasagna right into the oven. We had a nice fire and after a yummy lunch then watched a couple of movies - Train Dreams (meh) and Goodbye June. It was super foggy so a slow drive home but it was a nice Christmas over all.

After doing laundry and hanging it outside (freaky weather still), I happily knitted in the sun on Friday morning. I had to go to the library to pick up the final deposit from the decor sale. They were packing the leftovers up and I got roped into helping. I did some rearranging in the laundry room when I got home. Pixel, who is now blind, has been making it down the stairs to the laundry room but not to the boxes so has been peeing on the floor so I moved the boxes right by the door. I hope that will help. Other than that, she's doing better at getting around the house. She still panics when she's in the middle of a room and howls. It's usually in the wee hours so I'm hoping she'll get more confident as she gets used to getting around.

Saturday was the last warm day so after lunch, I drove to Placek Park where the trail that goes from town to the lake starts. I'd never done that before and it was lovely. It goes along the creek and is the closest thing to woods that we see in Nebraska. I took lots of pictures and thoroughly enjoyed being out the fresh air. Goodie was outside enjoying the air too and wasn't coming in when I called her. I found myself with a flashlight in the neighbor's backyard, where I found her keeping a watch on whatever lives under their deck. With her inside and so no longer worried, I watched Call the Midwife and called it a day.

It snowed overnight and was still snowing and blowing Sunday morning. I was booked to volunteer at the animal shelter so verified that someone would be there to let me in before I headed out. The wind chill was brutal but I did the cats, chatted with the woman who runs the shelter, booked a couple more volunteer times and drove through BK on the way back home. I was done for the day so just puttered the afternoon away with reading, knitting and streaming. It was lovely to be toasty inside while it was storming outside. We didn't get much snow but what we got was blowing all afternoon.

Another lovely Christmas in the books. I hope you all had a nice Christmas too and a happy new year in 2026.

Week 51 - Ready for Christmas

It was another full week. For a retiree that is. How did I get all these things done when I was working 40 hours/week?

I took Goodie and Rose to the vet on Monday for their annual shots and other than that, got nothing done. Even knitting was cancelled. I did laundry on Tuesday and it was warm enough to hand outside again. Freaky weather for December in Nebraska but not all bad. I ran Wahoo errands and when I went to the Senior Center thrift, I found a pair of my handknitted socks priced at $.99! I knew who had donated them and promptly bought them because $.99 was crazy. I fear there were more donated and can only hope whoever bought them appreciates them. No more socks for that friend! I went home to make cookies before an eye doctor appointment at 4:00.

The cookies were for the Emeriti/Retirees Association Christmas get together Wednesday morning. I had considered skipping it but am glad I didn't. It was fun with a holiday trivia contest while consuming a season's worth of cookies and candy. It was held in a bank right next to Aldi so I popped in for a few things then Anne and I went to Hamnet. I'd read the book and was looking forward to the movie. It was good. I dropped a trunk full of yarn at the Stuff Creative Reuse store and headed home. I was slamming to finish Christmas socks for my cousin and with the 3 hour Survivor finale, I had them done by the end of the night. Yay!

I was back in Lincoln on Thursday for lunch with my work friends. I dropped my cousin's socks off before heading to campus. Dana couldn't come but Lana, Cindy and I had a nice lunch at Pho Factory. I had an entire list of places to hit in hopes that I could be done with shopping until after Christmas. First stop was Sam's for gas and yeast since mine was old and taking forever to rise. I got Starbuck's for the road and headed to Seward. I'd dropped bunches of clothes at the consignment store in October so went to pick up my money, which was only $17 so big time not worth the effort. I did hit the Etc Shop, which is one of my all time favorite thrifts before driving towards home. I went a bit out of my way to go to Buresh Meats in David City. You never know what you'll find there but I didn't get anything special this time. I got back to Wahoo in time to get my new favorite pizza from the food truck that comes to town occasionally. Delish!

I was happy to have a day at home on Friday. I volunteered at the animal shelter in the morning then showered and had lunch before a free afternoon. I called my friend Sharyn for a catch up and Andrea came late on her way back into town for her annual Christmas help. My sister doesn't wrap my stocking stuffers and uses yarn as packing material so Andrea opens the box, removes the yarn and then closes it back up so I wait for Christmas morning to open it. There was lots of nice yarn in this year's box but most of it wasn't suitable for socks. Still best packing material ever.

I was back at the shelter scooping cat boxes on Saturday morning after chatting with Carolyn first thing. My fave YouTubers were doing a zoom so I sat down when I got home with lunch and knitting to enjoyed that. It lasted until almost tea time so I made a cup and went to the front room to read in the sun. I went to bed early too so it was a nice, relaxing day. Sunday was another one. I cast on socks to celebrate the solstice and spent most of the day knitting on those and my monthly challenge socks.

Just a few more days until Christmas and it was looking good that I wouldn't need to hit any stores. I was ready for more relaxing days in the run up to Christmas, happy to stay home while everyone else is doing manic, last minute shopping.