Week 38 - Satisfied with Progress

It was another blissfully nice week at home. I made some progress on projects and got out of town twice.

On the getting rid of stuff front, I cleared the heap of crap from my desk then went through the pile on the spare room bed and came up with 4 bags of yarn to donate to Becky for her Stuff for Strays sale. I also took the old grill (the one that had hornets nests that the Windstream guy nuked) to the metal recycling bin at the hardware store. I also took another load of sunflowers and weeds to the burn pile. Gone is good.

I went to my first ERA - Emeriti and Retirees Association - meeting on Tuesday. I had been providing them with data for years and the membership chair, who has zero tech skills, had asked me to help out with data but I'd put him off in the spring because.... cancer. Well, this was the first time I'd showed my face at a meeting and as a new member, I was introduced and given a welcome gift of chocolate. The program was an interesting presentation by the head of the emerging media arts school at UNL and I sat with Anne and a few of her workout friends, who I know a bit. As soon as the meeting was over, the membership chair made a beeline to me and I agreed to help. I'll chalk it up to giving back after working at UNL for almost 27 years.

The other out of town trip was on Saturday, which was my monthly spinning meeting. But before that, I went to Valley to check out the Quasar Bazaar, which is a flea market at the drive-in theatre. I grilled the person at the entrance booth and she said it was not super busy. I was there right around noon and with a 2:30 kick off for Huskers football, some of the few vendors who were there were already packing up. I did talk to a woman who vends at sales all the time and she gave me some tips. So it wasn't a total waste but it wasn't as inspiring as I'd hoped. From there I went to the Restore in Fremont before heading to spinning. I got the missing piece for my wheel from Helga and enjoyed the knitting machine demo and chatting with friends.

I had picked plenty of produce in my garden and made squash casserole and pork chops with one lot. After getting zero green beans this summer, my vines have all of a sudden started producing so I got my first green beans of the season. Then my friend Lorri stopped by on Sunday with a big bag of chard (I'd lamented my poor chard germination so she came to my rescue), a small butternut squash and some delicious cobbler.

Another good week in the books. A bit of this. A bit of that. There was plenty of knitting, of course. I finished 2 pairs of socks and redid the toe on another to make them longer so I could gift them to Janice. I found a few fun things while thrifting and otherwise had a nice mix of productivity and socializing. Works for me.

Week 37 - Downton and Wheel

The week started out with beautiful weather but was in the 90's by the end of the week. This ridiculous heat impacted my to do list big time. But I had lots on my calendar - knitting on Monday night, to which I took a pineapple upside down cake I'd made, a library board meeting Tuesday night, went to Omaha Knit Night on Thursday night and was in Lincoln on Friday.

I didn't have much motivation to start the week but did a few things inside like gave my African violets some love and potted up a begonia I'd had rooting, did some dishes, made tortilla casserole - that kind of thing. But with the heat looming, I went outside on Wednesday and weeded a huge amount, starting at the alley and working along the fence by my veg beds. It was the biggest load yet and I thought I'd have to make two trips to the burn pile but I loaded to the roof and made it in one. By then the heat had arrived so it was a good thing I had more inside stuff to do.

My internet was down on Tuesday morning so I called Windstream and they scheduled an appointment for Thursday. It came back later Tuesday and was still up on Wednesday morning so I cancelled the appointment in the app. Well, something didn't work because I got a text that the tech was on his way. I tried to cancel again to no avail and he was at my door. He said it happens all the time and when I asked about when I could get fiber, he went into my backyard to look at the wires. I told him to be careful near the old grill because there was a hornets nest in it. He then offered to kill them, explaining that they find hornet nests all the time in the boxes on poles. So he got out his spray and killed them then opened the grill and pulled out the nests (there were 2) and threw them in the trash. Now to get rid of the grill, which I only kept because the cats sleep on it in the winter when the metal is warm.

I have followed Omaha Knit Night on Facebook and have been to one event they held - a potluck picnic at Elmwood Park in Omaha for World Wide Knit in Public Day last spring. I enjoyed the group and said I'd make an effort to go to more, which are usually evenings or weekends in a coffee shop somewhere in Omaha, so went to their meet up at the Omaha Conservatory of Music, which has a coffee shop in the lobby, on Thursday night. It was fun and I need to keep making the effort to go more often.

The last Downton Abbey movie premiered on Friday and since Dodie and I have gone to all the Downton movies together, I bought tickets on Monday for the first showing on Friday at the theatre near Dodie's house. If you want good seats, you have to pay an extra $3 to get them online before the day of the show. Rip off but oh well. I drove down Friday morning and we were front and center (actually halfway up and center) for the first show and it was wonderful. They wrapped things up nicely. I will miss Downton Abbey for sure.

After dropping Dodie, I hit a few thrifts, of course, and found the score of the century at St. Louise's. It was a Ashford spinning wheel, which retails for ~$900, for $32. The clerk said that it had been in the basement for a long time and they were going to throw it out but she convinced them to price it and see if anyone would buy it, which I happily did. It was missing its flyer but Helga from my spinning group sells Ashford so I could order it from her. I have always said that I'd spin after I retired so now I'm all set to give it a go. Yay! Here's a pic of it in the grungy back of my car, which I won't clean until I'm done with burn pile runs. Sorry.

I had finished a pair of navy blue socks that Helen had requested so I stopped at her house just to drop them off. Yeah, right. I sat down just for a minute and two hours later, Charlie walked in from work. I still had to hit a grocery store but was tired and hungry so had to force myself to stop, which I did. Adulting! I drove right by St. Theresa's when I left HyVee so popped in there (they're only open on Friday evenings and Saturdays and I'm rarely in town then) and scored 2 vintage Pyrex lids. I have many casseroles without lids in my garage and getting back on ebay to sell vintage linens, Corelle and Pyrex is on my short list. 

With all my trips here and there done, it was time for another hanging at home retirement weekend and catching up with friends. Andrea stopped by the check out my new wheel (she's the one who found the Ashford name on it) and I caught up with Carolyn and Dee. Otherwise it was streaming, knitting and chores.

Week 36 - Burn Pile Loads

It was my first full week home and I hope it was the first of many. I had plenty to get done and was still enjoying just being home.

First thing on Monday, which was Labor Day, I made a call I'd been dreading. I called Connie to tell her that I was not going with her on a road trip to Toronto. I had told her it sounded fun but that was mostly because I thought it wouldn't actual happen. As you know, I have no interest in going anywhere anytime soon. She took it well.

With that out of the way (huge relief!), it was time to get busy. The weather was perfect so I spent 3 mornings outside pulling beggar's tick and cutting sunflowers. I made 3 trips to the city's burn pile - gone is good! When I get that done first thing, I come back and shower then can do non-sweaty things in the afternoon. It works great. I did make a nice sunflower bouquet from the ones I cut down. So pretty.

I have been enjoying cooking and have been using produce from my garden, the peaches I bought from the Lions Club (most went into the freezer for future pies) and my friend Lorri stopped after church and shared produce from her garden. I've been trying to use what I have so cobbled together a pasta bake one night (all from the freezer and cupboards), have enjoyed BLT's with my tomatoes and made banana bread because I also have dead bananas.

I did have one fun thing on Saturday. One of my post-retirement goals was to make lunch dates with friends new and old. I had recently found someone on Facebook who used to work in HR and we had clicked but then she left UNL. Jane counts as an old friend because I left HR 22 years ago! We met at Burning Bridges, which is a restaurant in Omaha that specializes in chicken sandwiches, and enjoyed lunch and a LONG chat. We were in there for almost 4 hours and got all caught up and chatted about everything and nothing. It was great.

Also on the friend front, I had a nice zoom with Cindy to catch up before she leaves for her long overdue France trip, which was supposed to happen in fall of 2020. I also zoomed with my friend Lia in Germany, who is the other moderator of the Socks from Stash group on Ravelry (knitting website). We had some admin stuff for the group but also caught up on life in general.

I did chores all week and knitted between being productive. There was plenty of streaming while I knitted but I also started listening to the audio book for book club - another true crime (not my fave) so I listened at 1.5 speed to get it done. Andrea was away so I was feeding her cat ever daily. When I wasn't heading out of town for something else, I ran Wahoo errands while I was on cat feeding runs. Between that and the burn pile runs, I was out and about plenty this week.

So it was a nice week staying home with a good blend of productivity, streaming while knitting and getting chores done. Plus the friend stuff. As far as I'm concerned this was a perfect week in retirement. I hope there are more like this after the hot weeks that are coming up that will be cramping my style. I'm so looking forward to cooler weather. Are you?

Week 35 - Heading Back Home

I had 2 more days in Rhode Island before I'd fly home Tuesday evening. It's a good thing I was having fun because home was calling to me. Even after a relaxing week at the beach, I was ready to be home. For a LONG time before I travel again. But first the rest of my RI time.

I used to love Dunkin Donuts but they stopped making my favorite donut - lemon filled with chocolate icing. Well Janice found that Market Basket (a Massachusetts grocery chain that has a couple of stores in RI) has them so we started the day Monday getting a donut. Janice had donations to drop off a a thrift store so we ate our donuts in the parking lot after dropping them then went inside. It was a lovely store - clean and well organized. I found a couple of Evesham ramekins so was happy with that. From there we went to yet another Job Lot. I think it was my 4th one on this trip but it was the biggest one so far and had lots of stuff I hadn't seen yet. I bought quite a bit more. : )

With our shopping done, we headed to one of our old haunts for a late lunch - Newport Creamery. It was bogo day for Awful Awfuls, which are super thick milk shakes (called cabinets in RI) so we got one after our sandwiches. Yum! After a quick stop at Dave's Market, where I stocked up on Near East tabbouleh mix that I can no longer find in Nebraska, we went home to veg. Janice and I were always big box game players so we played boggle for awhile. When we got hot, we jumped in her pool and then enjoyed swordfish and corn on the cob cooked by Chris (Janice's husband) on the grill. I had bought a small serving of grapenut pudding (another RI thing that's an egg custard with a grapenut crust) and we were so full we split it 3 ways for dessert. It was another fun day and my last full one in RI.

I started Tuesday packing up all my stuff, which was mostly Job Lot purchases. Lots of them. I got it all into my suitcase and loaded it into the car. We were headed to meet Deanne at Mrs. Basset's, who was our girl scout leader, for a visit. It has become a tradition on my RI trips and was fun, as usual. I said goodbye to Janice and Deanne and I headed to her new house where she had an inspection or something. I got to see it, which was cool, and then we went to a late lunch at Avvio. Delish. We had some time to kill before I needed to be at the airport so we drove to one of my favorite neighborhoods on the water in Warwick - Conimicutt - and then she dropped me at the airport and I was headed home. My flights were nearly empty and on time. I walked into my house at 11:30 and didn't let the cats out so I could shower and go right to bed. It was good to be home.

It was great to wake up at home on Wednesday and after unpacking first thing, I got busy with laundry - mostly sheets and towels from the beach house with a few undies thrown in. It all got hung on the line. I picked some produce in my garden, went to Lorri's to pick up the fundraiser peaches she'd picked up for me and then did some cooking - sausage with peppers from my garden, tabbouleh with my garden tomatoes and pasta for supper. It was a lovely first day home.

Thursday was a Lincoln day because I had scheduled lunch at the Chinese buffet with Layton a month ago. I started at the rummage sale at St. John's in Weston and scored some cool Pyrex mugs in lovely avocado green. Peaches to Anne was stop number one then I enjoyed a long lunch with Layton, catching up on all things UNL. From there I went to Helen's to hang for a bit before hitting Aldi and Russ' to restock on groceries. I was now ready to stay home.

Friday was laundry day and I enjoyed knitting and catching up with YouTube videos. I talked to Lori in the morning and offered to chart a sock pattern that she wanted to make but it had no chart and needed to be converted from toe up to top down. I ended the day with more knitting charts. Rene wanted to make basic cabled socks and after we looked on Ravelry and couldn't find the right thing, I charted that out and emailed it right before bedtime. Helping friends with sock knitting - all good.

Since I retired, weekends have become time to spent at home to avoid all the working people who flood stores on their days off. I got dressed early because Tim was coming to mow before the rain. I had just enough time to pick produce and throw some fertilizer on my containers before it started raining. I spent the afternoon on socks - frogging 2 pairs and then spending 4 hours reclaiming the tangled skein from one of them. I was way behind on my temperature blanket so did minimal chores on Sunday and knitted squares galore. When the internet went down that night, I went to bed early to read and called it a good weekend.

While I had a great time in Rhode Island and it was a totally relaxing time, I am travelled out! I want to stay home for a long time. Like maybe I won't travel until next year. I have lots to do in the yard and have a basement to clear out so they can reblock my east wall this winter. I also want to get into a routine. Gotta work on that. I'm ready.

Here's a pic of my front step, done Janice style. She has a front door she doesn't want anyone to use so puts an enormous plant blocking the step. I never use my front door so centered the huge impatiens on the step instead of having it on the side. Great idea and I like it.

Week 34 - Relaxing Beach Week

The week started out with absolutely gorgeous weather and we had guests scheduled for every day. It was going to be a great week. Unless Hurricane Erin caused problems.

John was going out to lunch with his friend Nancy on Monday so I called Janice and she came over for lunch and the afternoon. Janice was my best friend from 7th grade through college so it was fun catching up and we laughed for hours. When John got back and asked what was so funny, we couldn't even say. After Janice left, we had yummy burgers for supper and enjoy this beautiful sunset. Beach living. Gotta love it.

Deanne was coming on Tuesday but wanted to go out for lunch. She and I went to The Coast Guard House, which is right on the water in Narragansett and is a Rhode Island institution. I had a lobster roll and we split the most delicious pea salad. We then shopped in Wakefield before she dropped me back at the cottage because she had a zoom at 4:00. Kathy, who used to own the cottage and was how we found it in 2020, was coming for supper. While Dee and I were out, John had gone to the fish store for fresh swordfish (caught that morning) and the farm stand for sweet corn. It was all delicious and the conversation flowed. It was another lovely day.

Wednesday was Cornelia day. We became friends when we lived in adjacent dorm rooms on our junior year abroad in France. It's been more than 40 years. How are we that old? Anyway, we met her at Aunt Carrie's for clamcakes and chowder and then she came back to the cottage for a chatty afternoon until she had to leave for a hair appointment. For a change, I cooked dinner - sausage and peppers with zucchini. The veg came from my garden and had survived being packed in my suitcase just fine. Some of the peppers were spicy (they weren't supposed to be) but it was still good. It was raining so we watched Rogue Agent, which was worth the watch, and went to bed early. 

Hurricane Erin was off the coast and starting to affect our weather by Thursday. The tide was incredibly high and it was cloudy and windy all day. With the high temp only 68, it was pretty chilly. John's aunt and uncle were coming for drinks and nibbles that afternoon and luckily the sun was coming out by then. We had a nice time chatting and ate so many snacks with our drinks that after they left, we skipped supper and had an early night after watching a few episodes of Leanne on Netflix.

It had been cool all week and still was but Friday was our beach day. Carolyn and Matt were coming but with Erin offshore, the waves were huge and swimming wasn't allowed at the state beach. They got to the cottage at noon but John and I aren't ones to sit on the beach so we stayed at the cottage for lunch and said we'd walk down and meet them later. They were planning to leave the beach at 4:30 so we walked down for 3:00. It was too windy for an umbrella so it was a good thing we weren't there long. The waves were crazy big and roared onto shore. I went down to stand in the waves (that was allowed) and they were so strong that just one wave pulled the sand out from under my feet. Sheesh! We drove back to the cottage and John made his marinated chicken, which is always yummy. We watched more Leanne after they left then I took my last outside shower of the year and sat out on the deck listening to the waves crashing from the beach, which is about a quarter mile from the cottage. The stars were bright and I enjoyed sitting there for quite awhile. Another beach week was over. In a flash.

Check out time on Saturday is 10:00 so we got up and got busy packing clothes, linens and food. The car was loaded and we drove out at 10:15. We went to the big Job Lot (a RI store that's like Big Lots used to be but better) in East Greenwich and didn't even get through it all before we had to head to Carolyn's. Our friend Bob was coming and we were going to have a lunch of leftovers from the cottage, which we had plenty of. It was another fun catch up and then John dropped me at Janice's, where I'd be staying for a few days before flying home.

I normally stay with Carolyn or Deanne when I'm in RI but Carolyn was starting school that Tuesday and Deanne is living with her mother while her new house is being built so Janice came to my rescue. Janice and I grew up together so I knew it would be fun. I settled into her spare room and her husband made burgers on the grill. Just like that, Saturday was done.

Janice lives right by the water and they have a BIG (43 foot) boat so we were going out on the boat on Sunday. Janice's brother and daughter-in-law came too and it was fabulous. Despite having grown up in RI, I'd only been out on the bay a few times. It's so cool to see things from the water - a totally different perspective. We went to a Potter Cover off Prudence Island and dropped anchor. We spent the afternoon enjoying sandwiches, snacks and just being on the water. We got back at 6:00 and when they mentioned going to "the club" for supper, I was thrilled to hear they meant The Firemen's Club in East Greenwich. It's legendary and you have to be a member, which her husband and brother are. It's prime real estate overlooking Greenwich Cove and I was thrilled to go there. The food was good and it was a perfect end to a wonderful day and week.

Another RI beach week was in the books and I had just one more day before I'd fly home on Tuesday. I was having lots of fun with Janice and got to check a few new things off my list. Still, home was calling to me. I'd be staying home for a long time once I got home. 

Week 33 - Rhode Island Bound

Any week that includes getting on a plane for vacation automatically becomes busy but this wasn't too bad. I had lots of free time in the four days until I left.

I spent Monday doing some cleaning in my nightie, including putting the laundry room back to normal after the contractors had moved things when they had to replumb my shower. There was strange gunk in my sinks down there - a layer or what felt like rusted metal. It took time to chip off and then left rust stains on the enamel. Anyway, when I was done with chores, the nightie went into the hamper, I took a shower and got dressed. I made a strawberry rhubarb pie to take to knitting, which was the icing on the productive day I'd had.

I did laundry and hung it out on Tuesday and then spent some time neatizing the house, including organizing my knitting, between episodes of The Studio on Apple TV. I made egg roll in a bowl for supper then went to my library board meeting. Not quite as productive as Monday but not a total slug day. I was in pretty good shape for my trip too with clean clothes to pack and the house chores done.

With that in mind and a clear calendar on Wednesday, I decided it was time to tackle a one day project, which was my bedroom. Clothes were off the list but I went through the bottom of my closet and cleared all the surfaces. Then I started cleaning. It was the perfect project and looked great when I was done. I also finally was able to set up Venmo on my credit union account having given up on my Wahoo State Bank account, where I'd failed to get it to work three times. Pixel, who was looking much better, got her last dose of antibiotics. It was a good day.

I was heading to Lincoln on Thursday for lunch with Dana and Cindy so recycled my glass on the way into town then dropped some travel presents off to Darla before picking them up. We had a lovely middle eastern lunch at Fattoush, which Dana recommended. The big boss - Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance, Mike Zeleny - was leaving UNL and I'd be missing his party so grabbed a few minutes with him between his meetings to say goodbye. And since I was on the third floor, I talked to Ben then went upstairs to chat with Erica and Layton. It had been a long time since I'd spent so much time in the office but it was great to catch up with people.

Friday was all about getting ready - watering plants (inside and out), setting up many litter boxes, cleaning out the fridge, doing a final load of laundry and packing. I even knitted the final squares on my temperature blanket to catch up from my last trip, knowing I'd be twelve days behind again before I got back from RI. I had plenty of time to get this all done though so it wasn't stressful. I had to be up at 4:30 for my early flight so went to bed early and called myself prepared.

I got a decent amount of sleep before my alarm went off and was on the road by 5:15. My flights were completely uneventful. John picked me up and we went straight to The Crow's Nest for my favorite fried clams. Delish! We went to Trader Joe's for supplies then headed to the cottage, which is where it got interesting. It was strange to see that Vivian's camper had been removed and there was a nice, new deck on the cottage but the door for the outside shower was gone. Changes.

Our neighbors came over to greet us and helped us unload but when we looked for the key in the lockbox, it was not there. John called and texted the owner but didn't get an immediate response so he got creative. The kitchen window that opens onto the deck wasn't locked so John unscrewed the screen and climbed in the window. Yay! We unpacked the groceries, made beds and settled in. But when it came time for dinner, we had nothing to eat despite buying tons of food at TJ's. I made us fried egg sandwiches and we called it good.  When it was time for bed, I evaluated who could see me if I showered outside and decided it was only one house across the pond and they'd need binoculars so I used my phone for light and took a nudie shower outside. All good. 

Sunday was a low key day with no visitors coming. I took my breakfast out to the deck and then spent the entire morning there knitting, thoroughly enjoying my happy place. We headed out for Stop & Shop to fill in the gaps in the food we'd bought at TJ's. Lots of meat was procured and we had saugies (a RI hotdog) for supper. With the fridge stocked, we were ready for a week of visiting with friends and relaxing. We had a gorgeous sunset to end the evening (the pic at the start of this post. 

Week 32 - Lincoln and Omaha

It was another nice week that started with time inside and ended with all things social.

I spent the first three days of the week puttering inside, finally catching up on online things and doing more cooking. I was feeling guilty about so much streaming while knitting so switched it up to reading and knitting a couple of charity hats. Same chair and same sitting but somehow better. In my mind at least. Here are the hats.

My new friend Ana, who had been staying in Wahoo to go through family stuff and get some intensive PT, was going back to NYC so I said goodbye to her before knitting on Monday. She had been living in a hotel so I'd invited her over for many a meal over the summer and also worked on puzzles with her at the library. I'd miss her but she's planning to move back to Nebraska after she sells her apartment so I'll see her again.

A talk at the lake on Thursday morning was the start of my busy days. It was on specialty crops in Nebraska and was very interesting. From there I went to The Warehouse, the library and then dealt with the driveway weeds. I'd attempted to take them to the city burn pile earlier in the week only to find it closed because they were burning. So when I saw that Lorri had her trailer piled with weeds to take to her brother's farm, I asked if I could add mine. They'd been sitting on the alley for a couple of days and it had rained so they were a mess. She said I could so I loaded them back into the car and offloaded those. After that, I called it a day and relaxed all afternoon.

Friday was my Lincoln day and I had a full agenda. I started at the Nebraska Library Commission, dropping off the book club books they'd discussed while I was in Europe. From there I went to Knit Paper Scissors to pick up the August yarn that I'd ordered, which was a good thing because it sold out. Then it was on to the cancer center for what I hoped would be my last appointments for awhile. I was meeting with my oncologist and the radiation oncologist. I'm happy to say I am done for awhile with my next appointment scheduled for Halloween. I feel like I have my life back again. To celebrate, I met Dodie at Starbuck's and we chatted over yummy coffee. It was great catch up and from there I went to the newly opened Stuff Creative Reuse store and totally scored some yarn. They had a couple of cubbies with "special" yarn that was $10/skein. I scored another skein by the same dyer I'd just picked up and had paid $38 for. SCORE! I got another expensive skein and then all the others were only $1 each. I scored some labeled sock yarn and some remnants. After a grocery run, I headed back home. It was another lovely day.

My plan Saturday was to go to the Thrifty Artists Garage Sale, which I'd tried to get a vendor table at but failed. I'd sold there pre-Covid and wanted to have a table to sell yarn so was going to check it out and run Omaha errands. There had been storms overnight but I'd slept through them and only had a small branch of my silver maple down, which happens all the time so I gave it zero thought. Anyway, when I went to the ATM to get cash for the sale, they didn't have power then the next town towards Omaha didn't have any power either. I pulled over to check that the sale was still on and it was but they said they'd had cancellations of the food truck and several vendors because of the storm. Hmm.... I drove to Omaha and found an ATM to pay a $4 fee to get cash because that's what I'd need to buy anything.

I started by hitting all my fave carb places (Bagel Bin, Winchell's Donuts and the Rotella bread factory) then went to the sale. It was lame with nothing much at all that interested me. I spent $2.25 cents and called it a bust. I did talk to one of the people who runs the sale and suggested they not bury the call for vendors like that had this time, which is why I missed it. Also, a friend from my spinning group was selling so I offered to mind her booth while she went and got lunch so that was helpful.

One thing on my Omaha list was to go to the new Ollie's, which I'd been to in my sister's town and enjoyed. I thought it was on 72nd Street in the heart of Omaha but when I got to where I thought it was, it wasn't there so I googled. It was way up in north Omaha so miles further up 72nd. I stopped at a couple of thrifts on my way there but they were mob scenes. I guess I've become completely accustomed to weekday shopping when the stores are empty. Go retirement! I did make it to Ollie's and found a few things to buy but then made a beeline home for a cup of tea and the enormous apple fritter I'd bought at Winchell's. Note to self - never shop on weekends if it can be avoided. Duh!

I started laundry Sunday morning and then headed to Ashland. The "swim ladies" (Anne, Rene, Amanda and I so named by Amanda's husband) were getting together for lunch at BW's. We enjoyed lunch (I got a fried egg sandwich with tots - talk about an old school menu option!) and talked for so long that Amanda's son left, came back with a change of clothes and left again. Lots of chatting and catching up. I didn't go back to Amanda's because there were big storm clouds so I headed back and drove through torrential rain for a bit.

I'd call that another nice week. It was a good mix of relaxation, productivity and social events and it wasn't ridiculously hot. Still hotter than I like but that's summer in Nebraska. I'd be heading to Rhode Island for my annual beach week and it looks like it'll be much cooler when I get back. Can't wait for fall weather!