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Saturday, March 29, 2014

Dreary, rainy days

Rainy-dayCan't complain too much because at least it's not snow but this weekend so far has been very dreary. It rained yesterday, today and is also supposed to rain tomorrow. Temps are in the mid 40ies F (=7C). Basicall crappy, wet and cold. Oh well. Like I said at least it's not snow and it is above freezing so I will take it. 

I was off on Tuesday so had to work today, Saturday. Tuesday was a pretty good day for me. Was able to take care of a bunch of stuff at Home. Two loads of laundry, vacuuming and some general straightening up around the house. Then at night I cuddled up in bed with the cats and a book. Good day.

Today started out kind of annoying at work but all in all worked out ok in the end. Got some stuff done that I needed to get done in preparation for my Europe trip. Can't believe it's only a week and a half now until I leave. Time flies. I still have a lot to get done before I leave. Need to try and arrange the spring break schedules for our school deliveries so everyone can receive milk for when they get back. Always a bit of a juggling game. 

After work we decided to go to the movies and saw Jason Bateman's "Bad Words". It was pretty funny in a quirky funky way. :) Now we are at Two Steps hanging out for a bit. Not sure what we will do yet tomorrow but one of the main things will be to catch up with the last three "How I Met Your Mother" episodes we haven't seen yet. The series finale airs on Monday so I want to make sure we are caught up and can watch it live on Monday. Other than that I am guessing we will just sleep in and then will do lunch somewhere. We had originally talked about going somewhere or doing something more elaborate but with the rain it's not really fun to drive long distances. 

My mom left the first rehab place on Tuesday and was able to spend a night at home. Then on Wednesday she went to the new rehab place where she will be spending the next four weeks. From what everyone has told me it's a really nice place and has more of a wellness hotel type feel to it.

Mail Update: Received a letter/owe a reply to: Celia/MA, Laura/Spain and Tiffany/OK.

Posted by Hanna at 07:30 PM in Austria , Television, Weather | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, March 23, 2014

David Garrett, the Muppets and more

20140322_194455_resized_2And another weekend almost gone. This was the second weekend in a row where we had Saturday and Sunday off which was very nice. Still ended up flying by so fast regardless though. Oh well I guess. :)

Yesterday, Saturday, we had an actual spring day. The afternoon was warm, sunny and truly felt like the perfect spring day. We went for a 5 mile walk along a river and had a nice time being outside. Today it's only a few degrees above freezing again and tonight the low is supposed to be 16F and with the wind chill feel like 0F (=-17C) What is going on with this weather? Is winter ever going to go away? We might get snow again next week too. Ugh. I am just so over this. 

After our walk yesterday we hung out for a bit before seeing David Garrett at the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford. It was great to see him live again. I think this was the 5th time I have seen him live now. We had fourth row center tickets which was great. 

Today we slept in late, then had a diner breakfast at Elmer's and watched the new Muppets movie. Lots of fun. Went grocery shopping, ran a few errands and are now hanging out at Two Steps for a bit. Planning on catching up on some recorded TV shows later hopefully.

That's about all the news from me. Wishing for more real spring weather. I am hoping to maybe take Tuesday off as I am working next week Saturday again. If I can take Tuesday off then I can maybe put up my spring decorations around the house and make it feel like spring inside if nothing else. Also need to vacuum and take care of some other odds and ends stuff around the house so crossing my fingers for a day off Tuesday to take care of all of that. 

Mail Update: Received a letter/owe a reply to: Celia/MA, Laura/Spain and Tiffany/OK.

Posted by Hanna at 05:13 PM in Outdoors, Performances | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Happy 1st Day of Spring

2014-03-20 07.43.49_resized_1First day of spring. I am not sure it truly feels like spring but hey it has to get nicer soon right? The forecast has some 32F (0C) days which just doesn't feel very spring like. But there are also some 40F and 50F (4C - 10C) days which is a bit more spring like. One day it will be nice once and for all I hope. :)

Thank you to Esther for sending me such a lovely card and brightening my day. You are such a sweetheart. I received it a few days ago and meant to post about it. Finally getting around to it. I figured today would be a good day with it being the start of spring and all. :)

Not too much else has been going on really. Work's been steadily busy. It's always busier when I have a new person on my staff. He has been doing well and catching on just fine but it still takes time answering questions, showing procedures and that sort of thing. Oh well. It will all fall into place sooner or later.

I have to get into gear soon. Three weeks from today I will arrive in Austria which means that my preparation time is starting to dwindle and I still have quite a bit I need to get done both at work and at home before I leave. At work I need to set up everything for spring break for all the schools. And at home I need to do some thing around the house. I want to put up my spring deco before I leave but it just hasn't felt like spring to me. Well, I'll get that done over the next few weeks. We also still need to deal with that broken pipe and the jammed basement door. Now that the snow is starting to melt we might be able to tackle the door in another week or so. At least our basement is dry again for the most part so that's something.

My mom is staying at her current rehab place until early next week. Then on Tuesday (25th) she gets to go home for a day/night before she leaves for a different rehab place on Wednesday. The transition is basically from a more hospital type environment to a more true rehab type facility it seems like.

Well, happy spring to everyone. Hope you're all having a beautiful day. :)

Mail Update: Letters went out on Monday to: Jessica/DE and Charles/TN. Received a letter/owe a reply to: Celia/MA, Laura/Spain and Tiffany/OK.

Posted by Hanna at 02:24 PM in Family, Weather | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Nice Day before it turns cold AGAIN

20140315_125646_resized_1First true spring like day this year, even though it was really windy which made it seem a tad colder than it really was. All in all a nice sunny, mild day though so we decided to head for a walk. Went to Meriden/Cheshire to the Quinnipiac trail which has recently been extended as well. It's a pretty gorge trail along a stream/pond. I was surprised how much snow and ice was still on the trail though. We managed to get 4 miles of walking in anyway but it was definitely a workout, kind of like walking on sand. 

After our walk we headed to Oxford to eat at 121 Restaurant. Had a yummy late lunch. Stopped in at Two Steps on our way home to hang out for a bit longer. Going to head home in a bit to watch "Up in the Air" and some TV shows. 

Tomorrow's plan is to take the train to Bronxville, NY to see "The Grand Budapest Hotel" at the movie theater there. Not playing anywhere around here at the moment so we figured why not make a day out of it. There is a restaurant right near the train station we have been meaning to try for ages too. So all that should work out well.

Of course that means delaying dealing with the broken pipe yet again. But a few more days won't hurt and by then everything should be fully dry in the basement again. At least we have hot water in the kitchen so I can wash my hair there plus we can carry water into the bathroom if needed. That's how I took an improvised shower today. For any friends who are Outlander fans, I can definitely tell you that I wouldn't do well in the 18th century. :)

It's nice to have a whole weekend off for a change. Had a busy week training a new part-time employee which went fine but still makes me extra busy of course. 

Only a little over three weeks until I leave for Austria. So much to do still before then. My dad will try to find out more info on the rehab process for my mom when he goes to see her next on Monday. As of right now she is staying until the 25th of this month but that could change plus she also has another month pre approved from the insurance company at a different rehab place. So we will see where she is when I get there. Just have to play it by ear right now. 

Mail Update: Received a letter/owe a reply to: Jessica/DE, Charles/TN, Laura/Spain and Tiffany/OK. 

Posted by Hanna at 06:43 PM in Austria , Weather | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, March 09, 2014

Where did my hour go aka Daylight Savings Time

Daylight-savings-spring-forward-1

I really hate Daylight Savings Time. I know it's just one hour but I am feeling totally out of sorts and kind of like someone stole an hour from me. Bleh. 

The weather still does not feel very spring like. This week we had more temps in the teens F (-10-15C) Just too cold for March. Yesterday we had around 9C (45F) but we were stuck at work so that didn't really do me any good. Today it's sunny but cooler and blustery. And tomorrow we are going to have snow turning into rain with more stuff on the way for mid week. I am honestly ready for spring. Enough is enough. Everyone in Europe seems to have been blessed with a mild winter and early spring too. It's lovely to see everyone's pictures of flowers and nature but really just makes me more depressed. Lol.

Our pipe situation is ongoing. On top of that our washing machine also overflowed and we ended up with even more water in the basement. And now our basement door somehow got stuck/wedged and can't be opened. So tired of all of this. Anyway we bought some material that can be molded around the pipe and is supposed to harden and fix the issue. Now just need to find the time to actually deal with this. Worked 6 days this week and really just needed a day to relax today. So we decided to leave this alone today, slept in and drove to South Norwalk for a late lunch. Going grocery shopping on the way home, then watching "Pitch Perfect" and catching up on some TV shows. 

Mail Update: Received a letter/owe a reply to: Jessica/DE, Charles/TN, Laura/Spain and Tiffany/OK. 

Posted by Hanna at 04:27 PM in Food and Drink, Weather | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, March 02, 2014

Burst Pipe = No Sunday Fun

Burst_pipeWhy do things always break in the winter at the worst possible times? Last year our water heater broke and leaked all over the basement during a blizzard. This year I am waking up to water spraying all over the basement from a broken/burst pipe during an arctic cold spell. To be fair today is actually one of the "warmer" days with temps hovering right around freezing but that's just one day as tomorrow night the low is supposed to be -2F (= -18C) again with the highs just below freezing for the next few days at least. No fun at all. 

My plan for today was to sleep in, get up, take a leisurely shower and then head out for lunch somewhere. Instead I got to go up and scoop water out of our basement as half of the basement had standing water in it. No shower either because the broken pipe in question was a hot water pipe which means we now have no hot water in the bathroom. Not my idea of a great start to my Sunday. Plus I also had to get the cats out of the basement who had already started to put wet paw prints all over the house. Had to move their litter box upstairs too. 

Gonna stop at work and wash my hair there before we head out to lunch at the YardHouse in Yonkers. Later we are going to come back, watch some shows from our TiVo and then the Oscars. Always enjoy watching those. Gonna have some wine, relax and try not worry about hot water, a wet basement and whatever else. 

On top of all that one of our good friends was let go on Friday as his position at work was eliminated. Not really happy with that either, as it means more work for me as I try to figure out how to cover some of his work. So yeah, like I said, just going to have some wine and relax later, no thinking about anything else. :)

My mom is back at rehab and doing well. Her speech issues are going to take time. Improvements can be seen but unfortunately it's one of those things that needs time so it's gonna be a little bit longer before things are back to the way they were. For right now I am just happy that she is doing as well as she is and I'll get to see her again in just a little over a month which makes me happy too. 

Mail Update: Letters went out on Wednesday to: Charles/TN, Jessica/DE, Carmen/Malta, Celia/MA and Nina/WA. Received a letter/owe a reply to: Laura/Spain and Tiffany/OK. 

Posted by Hanna at 12:03 PM in Austria , Food and Drink, Home Improvement, Weather, Work Stories | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack