Week 7 - Enjoying Warm Temps

It was 77 degrees on Monday, which broke an old record, so the week started out outside. It ended outside too. I had a good mix this week of being out and about and vegging at home. I like weeks like that.

With the warm temps on Monday, I had scheduled tea in the park with my friend Lorri. With that my only plan, I opened the windows to get some fresh air in the house and then started cleaning, ending with vacuuming. Cleaning is rarely a priority so I have to go with it when the urge hits. I was almost done when I called Lorri and asked if she wanted to come to my deck instead and she said yes. I put towels over the cushions and a tablecloth over the dirty table and put the kettle on. It was lovely outside but the table was in the flight path between my crabapple in the front yard and the maple in the back. We got bombarded with bird poop, which was mostly crabapples. I laughed it off but after getting hit twice, Lorri was clearly skeeved and left shortly thereafter. I changed my shirt and called it fine, heading to knitting at the library after supper.

It was cooler, but still above normal, on Tuesday so I knitted in the morning sun then went out for a personal pan pizza and to exchange a pair of socks I was gifted from the local flower/gift shop. I came home with a pretty bouquet of stock (my favorite florist flower) and carnations. I had a relaxing afternoon of reading and tea in the front room then a short library board meeting that night. Perfect day in my book and a good recharge for the next 2 busy days.

Wednesday was a Lincoln day, starting with an appointment with my radiation oncologist. Not sure why I had to go having just been to the oncologist but whatever. I was in and out quickly then picked Dodie up for another birthday lunch - this time for spring rolls at Pho Factory. I dropped her back on campus then went into the office for a party to celebrate Dana getting a kudo, which is an award by the Board of Regents. From there I headed south, stopping at Anne's to drop off some scones before going to my friend Becky's for tea and scones. She recently retired and it was great to catch up. Becky is who I get my cats from. She's a peach and we chatted for hours. I picked up a spinning wheel from Rene, who had trash picked it for Andrea at my request, then hit Aldi on the way home and called it a day.

My friend Darla's birthday was Wednesday and we ususally do something around our birthdays so Thursday was it - a thrifting day in St. Joe, Missouri. I had mapped out ten thrifts and we were going to eat at The Big Biscuit so I was at Darla's house at 7:45 for an early start. She was driving which meant car knitting time for me. Yay! 

The first thrift store we hit was by far the best. It was called Pivotal Point and supported transitional housing programs. It was the nicest thrift shop I'd ever been in and we happened to hit a half price day. We both found lots of fun stuff and that ruined us for the rest of the day. We had a great lunch at The Big Biscuit. I had chicken and waffles and they were the best chicken fingers I've ever had. We had lots of other thrifts but mostly found nothing. I did score a beautiful aqua colored drinking glass and some other bits and bobs at a sketchy downtown Salvation Army thrift. Our last stop was Southside Flea, which was an odd mix of booths that had everything from crafts to antiques to stuff that looked like someone had cleaned out their shed. I found a bunch of bamboo stakes for gardening and a couple of other things. We were out of stops so headed home from there and got back to Lincoln relatively early. I dropped some cone yarn I'd bought to Anne, who lives near Darla, and then hit the best Lincoln Goodwill and found a couple of skeins for Dottie. It was a fun day all around.

I was home on Friday with zero commitments, giving me one day to recharge before another day out. I had bought a big heart at the first thrift so made a bow and hanger for that and hung it on my front door before doing a load of laundry and hanging it out. That's about all I accomplished that day but did enjoy tea outside.

Saturday was a busy day, which had been rescheduled from the following Tuesday. Since it was Saturday, I invited Andrea to join Lori and I for our plans. The first stop was the Nebraska Humane Society to pick up Pixel's ashes. Lori had warned me that I might have to wait but it took no time at all and I was able to hold it together, mostly. With time to kill, Andrea and I hit the thrift across from the restaurant we'd meet Lori at for lunch when her church retreat was over. We had a lovely lunch and then went next door to Imagiknit so I could use my birthday discount. I had a blue/green combo in mind but couldn't find any so settled on a pink skein of sock yarn. We split up from there and Andrea and I headed to Trader Joe's. The parking lot should have been a clue. The store was packed and the lines from every register were down the aisles. We gave up and went to Aldi instead. It was another nice day.

It was 70 degrees on Sunday (more freaky weather for February) so you guessed it - I did some laundry and hung it out and had tea on my bench in the backyard. It was a lovely end to a lovely week. There was snow in the forecast for the next week so our warm spell was nearing its end. I actually won't mind some actual winter weather. Snow is a lovely thing when you're retired and don't need to leave the house. : )

Week 6 - Goodbye Sweet Pixel

What can be said about a week that starts with putting your cat down on Monday? That was sad but the week got better from there, of course, but it was a tough start.

I woke up at 3:00 am to check on Pixel and she had dragged herself to my favorite chair and was sleeping. But when I woke up in the morning, I found her with her chest and front legs in the tipped over water bowl and sitting in the resulting puddle of water. I don't know how long she was there and felt awful seeing her like that. I cleaned her up and called the vet when they opened, making an appointment for 3:30. I then made arrangements to have her cremated at the Nebraska Humane Society in Omaha. I cried on and off all day.

I tried to give Pixel the best last day ever. She spent the morning mostly on mylap (you can see her wet paws in the first picture) then I took her outside to her favorite sleeping in the sun spot and fed her all kinds of treats. I brought her in  and put her back in her Sponge Bob bed to sleep. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to drive in rush hour while in tears so called my friend Lori, who lives right by NHS. She came to my rescue, driving from Omaha to take me to the vet, where I loved on Pixel until the end. She then dropped me back home and took Pixel's body to drop at NHS. She is a wonderful friend. It was hard but I know it had to be done so I was able to pull myself together and go to Monday Night Knitting.

The reason I couldn't take Pixel myself on Tuesday morning was that was my birthday trip to Kansas City with Rene. I was up and out early and Rene and I had fun in KC. We started with a yarn shop in Leavenworth, Kansas and they recommended a coffee shop for lunch whose speciality was cheese cake. Yum! That yarn shop owner had told us about a brand new yarn shop nearby so we went there after lunch and I resisted buying yarn but got a stitch a day perpetual calendar. We then hit Penzey's but had to rush because we parked in a 10 minute space out front. I miss the Penzey's in Omaha, which closed during lockdown. We then hit Yarn Social (the only yarn shop in KC proper) then ended at Ikea. I scored a new non-stick (no forever plastics involved) frying pan. We then headed home, stopping at a gas station for snacks on the way home. I was a fun day and I got lots of car knitting in as the icing on the cake.

Wednesday was supposed to be a birthday lunch with my work friends but Sheila, one of the accountants, had died and her funeral was Wednesday morning. I got dressed in my best clothes (rare these days) and joined everyone for the service. I spent the entire time looking up at stained glass windows and the ceiling trying not to cry because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to stop if I started. The church was packed and there was a nice funeral lunch afterwards. Sheila was only 61 and had been fighting cancer for a few years. Gone too soon. I was home early but did nothing that afternoon and finally slept well that night. 

I was back in the car Thursday for the rescheduled birthday lunch at Green Gateau - one of my favorite Lincoln retaurants. I stopped at Petsmart to return all the litter box stuff I'd bought on Sunday and since I'd declined the receipt (stupid!), I only got a store credit. I also went to Sam's for a huge can of tomato paste for Cindy, who would be at lunch. We had a great time and even Lacey was able to come. Odd but I declined getting my fave dessert - Italian lemon cream cake - because I was still working on the cake Lori had sent home with me. Next time. I rushed home because I had a 2:00 Ripples zoom, which always pumps me up. I got pizza from the Johnny Rico's Brooklyn Pizza truck that was in Wahoo that night and had it with a beer. Yum!

I was ready for a day at home on Friday so after I took care of the cats at the shelter (my only time in February), I knitted in the sun all morning and then reclaimed my kitchen. I finished a pair of scrappy socks and it took me 2 hours to weave in all the ends. This leisurely day was just what I needed after such a busy week.

I had asked Andrea if she wanted to hit a garage sale at the Catholic school in David City so I picked her up early on Saturday morning. It was a great sale and I found all kinds of treasures there and when we hit Buresh Meats afterwards. I was home before noon and since it was in the 50's, I puttered outside all afternoon. I redid the pots at my front and side doors for Valentine's, changed the flag and door wreaths and just hung out. It was lovely.

It was even warmer on Sunday so I did one of my favorite chores - doing laundry and hanging it outside. I washed all the cat stuff too to freshen it up post Pixel. I had tea outside on my bench and ended the day in a fresh nightie watching PBS and had fresh sheets when I went to bed.

It was a busy week but that helped me recover from Pixel. It was the right decision but it's still hard so all the activity took my mind off it. The nice weather at the end of the week was lovely too. I'll never take warm weather in the dead of winter for granted because it was a balm for my soul to spend some time outside. Spring is coming and I'm ready for it, even with the mild winter we've had.

Week 5 - Birthday and Pixel

It was a quiet week that found me staying home until the weekend, which was busy with birthday celebrations but ended on a sad note.

With nothing much on my calendar, I had time to get some things done inside but a I also struggled on deciding whether or not to leave the house, even just for errands. As I've discovered, I do better when I have a few things on my daytime calendar to work around. At least I got some stuff done with all the days at home.

As the treasurer of Friend of Wahoo Library, it was time to pull together more than a year's worth of bank statements. I sent a fiscal year support report to Denise, the library director, but was missing one bank statement for the 2025 annual report. I slogged through a lot of paper and found it so did that report and emailed it. Cross that off my list.

I talked to both of my sisters and a few friends between crocheting/knitting and streaming/reading, sprinkling in a few chores over the course of the week. I spent nearly an hour fixing my Bird Buddy and did some cooking. Then came the weekend.

I had won an auction or a Shark vacuum so drove to Fremont with Andrea to pick that up on the way to my birthday lunch in Omaha. Lori, Andrea and I went to lunch at the Inner Rail Food Hall, opting for an Asian dumpling vendor. Yum! We then went back to Lori's for cake and knitting. Lori made me an amazing cake and had all kinds of other goodies. It was a wonderful day and the first of several birthday celebrations to come.

Sunday was birthday dinner at my cousin Helen's. I had errands to run so headed to Lincoln early. My first stop was Petsmart to get a senior litter box, which has one low side for easy entry, and scoopable litter to set up a box upstairs for Pixel. I hit a couple of thrifts and Stuff for green yarn for my crochet project but was still too early for Helen's. I talked to my sister from a parking lot and then hung out at Rene's to kill some time. I had a great time at Helen's with a yummy meal and lemon cake. Celebration #2 was in the books and I was a happy camper. Until I got home.

I came home to find Pixel, my 17.5 year old cat who had gone blind in December, on the rug in the front room. That in itself was odd because she was right next to her preferred spot - the recliner. I picked her up and found that her back legs were no longer working. She'd been fading recently and this was the sign that it was time to put her down. I loved on her, took her to her litter box, then food and settled her in her Sponge Bob cagt bed and went to bed. I'd be calling to make an appointment the next morning as soon as the vet opened.

So it was a sad end to a fun weekend but on the other hand, I wouldn't be worrying that I'd made the wrong decision on putting her down. This was the sign I'd been waiting for. It would be hard on Monday and I'll miss her so much but I knew it was time. Now to get through that.

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!