Friday and Saturday...Muggy and Oppressive

The air yesterday and today was hot, muggy and oppressive. I had to force myself to do a treadmill session yesterday morning, because I felt so weighted down. I feel sure that atmospheric changes caused by approaching Hurricane Ike were having an effect on me, as they were on Shih Tzu, who whined and darted here and there most of the day. Even though we do not live in the immediate landfall area of the hurricane, the storm is predicted to spawn flooding rain and maybe even tornadoes in our state over the next couple of days.

We spent the day yesterday doing household chores, particularly the week's laundry, in case there is a power outage. And Hubbie made sure that both the van and truck are filled with fuel, in case prices go up after the storm.

After supper last night, Hubbie and I went downtown for a "Second Friday" event, sponsored by the downtown association. Our first stop was the art gallery to deliver a tray of cheese and crackers for the artist reception. We visited with several people we know and then moved on to tour the downtown district, where musicians and other entertainers were performing in the pocket park, in front of the courthouse, and at other places along the street.

Many of the businesses were open, so we stopped in at an antique store, where I found two small wooden turkeys that I can use in an autumn display on my mantle. From there, we stopped at a popular restaurant, where one of the musicians was performing. We really enjoy this musician, but our real reason for stopping was to see a photography exhibit by someone we know. However, the restaurant was so packed that we couldn't get to the exhibit. Later, we learned that the restaurant had run out of food before the downtown event was scheduled to end at 9 p.m.

At 7 p.m., we dropped by the dance studio, where folks were invited to participate in ballroom dancing. There were only a handful of us there, but Hubbie and I enjoyed dancing for an hour to waltzes, rumbas, and foxtrots.

After that, we stopped back by the gallery to pick up our tray, since the reception was scheduled to end at 8 p.m. We were back home before 8:30, and settled in to watch a one-hour show on TV, plus the 10 p.m. news, before hitting the sack.

For some reason, we had trouble falling asleep though...maybe due to the weather...and we didn't get up until 7:30 this morning. After breakfast, we, including Mother, went downtown for an annual city-wide yard sale.

Folks were set up all along Main Street, in business and church parking lots, or in their own front yards. We didn't find a lot that we wanted, but I did buy three sandwich bags of elements that we can use in scrapbooking and greeting card making, plus a long-sleeve cotton shirt in fall colors, a book titled "The Loop," by Nicholas Evans, author of "The Horse Whisperer," a basket, three picture frames, and a decorative hummingbird plate. Mother bought three small frames to use for making pressed flower pictures, and some plastic loops to use in making crocheted potholders.

Otherwise, we kept a close watch on TV reports of the inland advance of Hurricane Ike, which, as expected, threatened our state with winds, heavy rain, and even tornado warnings during the afternoon and evening.