Week 12 - Getting Stuff Done

It was the last full week before my trip so I had lots to get done but I didn't have many free days so had to keep focused. But first it was time to book a trip for next year.

Anne and I have been trying to get together for a trip with some Canadian knitting friends since covid killed our May 2020 Baltic knitting cruise. We had our eye on an April 2027 knitting tour in Denmark by the Irish Tourist Board. Presale, which we'd signed up for, was on Monday and Janice and I decided they would probably be sending the email when they opened at 9:00 am. Well that's 4:00 am our time so alarms were set. When I still hadn't gotten the email by 4:30, I called Dublin only to find out they were sending it at 2:00 pm their time, which was a much more reasonable time for their American travelers. I went back to bed and got the trip booked later. Yay! 

With that done, I spent the morning knitting in the sun and did some laundry. That afternoon, I went through a huge tote of my mom's pictures from trips she took. I went through hundreds (maybe thousands?) of pictures and only kept the ones with her, her sister (my Aunt Dot) or my dad, finding what might be the last picture of my parents together (sorry for the bad glare but I will make copies for my sisters). 98% of the pics went into the trash. Cross that off my list. Knitting didn't happen again between people being sick or busy.

Tuesday was a Helen and Debbie day and of course I ran some errands on the way to her house and on the way home. Helen made a full corned beef and cabbage lunch and we sat at the kitchen table crocheting and chatting all afternoon. I had scored some yarn at Goodwill in the morning and then hit another Goodwill on the way home. Besides yarn, one of the things I always look for is 100% cotton knit nighties and dresses, which are rare these days. Well, They had 6 or 7 Land's End nighties that looked brand new for $9 each. I picked one short sleeved and 2 long and since it was senior citizen discount day, they were only $7.20 each. Score! I then stopped at HyVee for a few groceries and picked up their fried chicken meal for supper at home. It was a super fun day.

I was home Wednesday so made a to do list and started crossing things off. I also wound all the sock yarn that Anne had found for me at an estate sale and got out my bleach and tested it all. All but one had nylon, which makes them sock yarn in my knitting world. Yay! I finished my challenge socks, cleared out the tea cupboard over the store (I'd ordered a huge box of my fave Tetley's British Blend that would arrive shortly) and made a cup of tea. It was 80 degrees so I didn't last long outside. I ended the day talking to my friend Cornelia. It was another good day.

Thursday started at 9:00 with a talk at the lake so I picked up Lorri and enjoyed the talk on NRD education programs. I had just enough time afterwards to pack a lunch and head to Lincoln for the Emeriti/Retirees Association lunch, which was a panel from Backyard Farmer (a local program on PBS about gardening), which was great. Afterwards, I had a meeting with Don and Al about taking over the membership committee duties. That was long but I was home in time for tea, which I had inside because it was now 83 degrees. In the middle of March!

Friday was supposed to be another busy day. I had an appointment with the cancer doc and had scheduled lunch afterwards with Dodie. She was sick so had cancelled and then when I got to the cancer center, they told me I had the date wrong and it was in mid-April. I was pissed and blame the awful outlook calendar app on my phone. To make my 3rd trip to Lincoln in a week worth something I went to Trader Joe's for lavendar dryer bags and spent $47. I then went to HyVee for their $.99 sale, where I picked up a slice of pizza for lunch. I picked up a pain au raisin at my fave bakery - Le Quartier - and headed home. I did stop at the post prom garage sale but bought nothing. It was now 88 degrees so I spent the afternoon inside with the house shut up. I refuse to put the AC on when a few days ago we had a blizzard. Sheesh!

Saturday was spinning in Fremont and Andrea was not going. I hit the Restore before the meeting and found $7 worth of goodies (love that store) and after the meeting I went to an antique store I'd heard about. I bought nothing. It was 99 degrees! I went home to my nicely cool house and did movie night, watching Eleanor the Great (good) and the Peaky Blinders movie (disappointing) and went to bed.

The heat broke overnight and with my trip just 5 days away, I made a pre-trip list and got busy. I was in the middle of things when the contractor who will be doing my basement while I'm gone came by with the guy who would be doing the dirt work. He had his 3 year old with him and he needed to use the bathroom. When he came out I asked him if he'd washed his hands because he clearly hadn't and he said, "It's ok. I didn't touch my penis." What a hoot! His dad just rolled his eyes and off they went. I had been making piles of things to pack and tried on all my long sleeved knit shirts to decide what to pack. PBS filled the rest of the night and like that, the week was over.

So it was a busy week with a good mix of social stuff and productivity. The weather was absolutely ridiculous but I made it through without resorting to AC so I'll call that a win. I would be leaving Thursday and had made enough of a dent in my pre-trip list that I wouldn't be stressed next week. Another win. Just 5 days until I'm heading to Belgium and The Netherlands on a river cruise. Can't wait.