Weekly Update

Withlacoochee river.

Thank you so much everyone, for your get well wishes. 💝 I'm feeling all well now, and had a very good week.

Just after Christmas, my blender started making strange noises. It has an 8 year warranty, so I contacted the company. The customer rep was very helpful, and after listening to the noise she said the problem was the seal in the jar. They sent me a new jar and the blender now works perfectly.

My road trip buddy and I took a short trip to a couple of small towns. We have a habit of looking up small towns on a map and just driving there.  This time, we went to Masaryktown and Nobleton.  Masaryktown is named after the first president of Czechoslovakia, Thomas Masaryk and there had been a  large Czech community.  We were expecting historical buildings, Czech restaurants etc, but there was nothing but several Czech street names. 

We stopped at a thrift store run by a Romanian lady. She said many years ago she and her husband  ran a Romanian restaurant in that building. We had a nice chat with her about Romania and Romanian food. I also bought a crochet book for $1. 

$1 thrift store find.

Then we drove to Nobleton. It is much smaller than Masaryktown. We stopped at a Circle K gas station to ask for directions. According to the owner, that store is the only store within 10 miles. And that Circle K store sells the most beer in the state. 😮

Circle K with the most beer sales.

We also saw several horse farms and a small winery. Though smaller, I liked Nobleton more. It has more country charm. We stopped to see Withlacoochee river. It was a cool morning, and too early for any tourists, so we had a very quiet and relaxing time watching birds near the river.

Withlacoochee river.

On our way back, we stopped at a Walgreens to use the restroom. They were having an after Christmas sale, and I bought two heated travel mugs for $5. They are ideal for my day trips. 

I had meetings on Thursday and Friday. Classes start tomorrow. I'm chairing two new committees this semester. I have a very nice group of colleagues in our small department, so I know it is going to be easy. I had published syllabi and other class material on the course management system by Thursday, so I had a relaxing weekend. After seeing A Death in the Small Hours by Charles Finch on Wisps of Words book pile, I downloaded the e-book. I'm on chapter 23 now, and am really enjoying the story. It's mystery novel set in England during the Victorian era. I plan to read all the books in this series. There are 12 books in the Charles Lenox series and this is the 6th one. 

After neglecting the yard for a couple of weeks, finally I had time to weed a flower bed and water the plants. I have three garden hoses in three sides of the house, and I find it very convenient. 

Though I love staying home, I'm also excited to go back to work and meet new students. 

I packed lunch and snacks, and filled water bottles for tomorrow. A loaf of bread is cooling in the kitchen, and as soon as it cools down enough to be covered, I should go to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a long day at work.

Hmmm... may be I'll read one more chapter and then go to bed. 📚

Have a wonderful week everyone. 🌻🌻🌻

This week I'm grateful for:
1) caring friends.
2) companies that provide  long warranties on their products,  and good customer service.
3) after Christmas discounts.
4) being able to live close to work.
5) supportive colleagues.
6) nice weather to work in the garden.
7) multiple garden hoses. 😊

XX
Nil