Saturday, February 16, 2008

Popsicle Water Aerobics

Last Monday morning, I walked into a frigid dressing room at the college gymnasium where the swimming pool is located. Seems the boiler that heats the building is down for repairs. The pool is still heated (by separate boiler, I suppose), but it sure is shivery peeling down to my swimsuit, rinsing off in the shower, and scurrying, wet, in the arctic wind-tunnel air to the pool upstairs.

Once in the pool, I'm okay, but getting out again is a shock. I lose no time wrapping in my sheet towel, and hurrying downstairs to shimmy into my fleece wear, throw on my coat, hat, and gloves, and scoot to my car. It takes a long time standing under a hot shower at home to thaw out.

The cold gym is discouraging some ladies from attending water aerobics, but twenty or so of us are braving it. We all hope, though, that the boiler problem will soon be solved...before we turn into popsicles.

Friday, February 15, 2008

An Interesting Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day started with an exchange of sweetheart cards at breakfast. We were amused that our fondness for dogs surfaced in the cards we chose....his to me features a picture of Linus, with Snoopy draped across his lap, and mine to him shows a pair of golden retrievers, heads snuggled together.

After that, we both went about our busy day. Hubbie spent the morning at a Master Gardener monthly meeting, and I occupied myself with paperwork and computer business. Mother came over after lunch and we exchanged Valentines with her.

Later, Hubbie and I went to dinner at a local popular restaurant that overlooks the river. Dress is informal for this restaurant, but because it was Valentine's Day, I wore a red shell under a sparkly rust-color jacket as part of my outfit, and Hubbie wore a burgundy dress shirt for the occasion.

The restaurant tables, draped with red tableclothes, were inviting. The lights, turned romantically low, were a trial to Hubbie, however, as he grumbled and scrabbled for his eyeglasses to squint at the menu, deal with cracker wrappers, butter pat containers, sour cream tubes, and finally the tiny credit card receipt.

The meal of Chicken Florentine, baked potatoes, and make-it-yourself salads from the salad bar, along with hot rolls, was great, though. The portions were generous, and we should have had the good sense to eat half and bring half home. But we didn't. So we were too full to sample the dessert choices that included bread pudding with rum sauce, and creme brulee.

Following dinner, we went to a local church, which opened its fellowship hall to ballroom dancing from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Several couples from our ballroom dancing class were there, as well as others that we know, and we had a great time practicing our dance steps.

Members of the church provided a table laden with goodies, as well as cold drinks. There was no charge, except by donation. Members had also gone to the trouble of decorating the hall in clear miniature lights strung across the ceiling, and red hearts suspended everywhere. The lighting was low here, too, but we managed not to crash into other couples on the dance floor. Our dance instructor was on board, too, to help us fine-tune our dance maneuvers.

The church plans to open its fellowship hall each Friday night from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. for ballroom dance enthusiasts, and we plan to take full advantage of it.

It was a good day.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Let's Rumba

Br-r-r, it was cold last night for getting out to go to our ballroom dancing class, but at least there was no threat of wintry weather or tornadoes. And it didn't take long for us to warm up after a fast-paced Rumba lesson.

Hubbie had a bit of trouble negotiating this more-complicated-than-usual step, but by the end of the hour session, he nearly had it nailed. He would start out fine on the left-foot-forward beginning, but have difficulty with the right-foot-back finish, so that I frequently stubbed my left foot toes on his immovable right foot. Finally, though, we caught our stride. We noticed other couples were tripping over each other attempting this step, too, forcing our instructor to hurry around the room helping various ones, including us, get the rhythm of the dance. We practiced again when we got back home, but I can tell that this one will take lots of practice.

A full day yesterday of attending the "Go Red for Women" event with Mother, dance classes with my husband last night, and then Rumba practice after we got home, pretty well tuckered me out. I sometimes have trouble going to sleep after we go to bed at night, but not last night. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, I think.

"Go Red" Luncheon

Yesterday Mother and I attended an American Heart Association "Go Red for Women" luncheon, sponsored locally by one of the banks and other businesses. This is the third year for the event, and I've attended all three now. This one was held at a local college, where the room's tables were beautifully decorated with red heart-shaped Mylar balloons floating from large glass vase centerpieces filled with sparkling stuff (for a better word) and cute little arctic animals, like polar bears, penguins, and baby seals, set on white tableclothes. Napkins at each place setting were folded in the shapes of hearts. Name cards were tucked in napkin folds.

Leafless, small white trees, adorned with clear miniature lights and heart decorations stood around the walls. An arch, covered in greenery and intertwined with clear and red miniature lights served as the focal point. Inside the arch, a dress form modeled a white, full-length, full-skirted, strapless gown. And two dress forms on each side of the arch featured full-length red gowns.

The event included a goodie bag, a silent auction, chances on a diamond bracelet valued at $800, lunch, a visit and talk by our state's first lady, a fashion show, a testimonial by a heart attack survivor, a promotional talk by a fitness instructor, and a roomful of ladies dressed in red.

The light lunch included deli sliced turkey on a croissant, a small dollop of potato salad, a generous serving of fresh fruits, and cheesecake or brownies for dessert, with coffee or iced tea.

I bought a chance on the bracelet, but didn't win, and I didn't see anything among the silent auction items that I wanted, so I came home empty-handed, but full-hearted in memories of a nice couple of hours spent in the company of my Mother and other women of our acquaintance.

International Night

Last Saturday evening, a local college hosted a Community International Night event, now in it's tenth year. The two colleges in our town alternate in hosting it. This year, it was at the community college.

International Night is a time for folks of various nationalities to come together in a spirit of tolerance and comraderie. The event is a free potluck dinner that features entertainment by local school children and foreign students attending the colleges.

It's fun to sample the variety of ethnic potluck dishes....Chinese, Mexican, Bosnian, Indian, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and others. Our contribution was the chili left over from our gathering at my son's house earlier in the day. We had just enough time after returning home to re-heat it, put it in a Crockpot, and whisk it, with a fresh bag of Fritos and shredded cheese down to the college. It was a hit among the youngsters attending, who wouldn't dream of sampling anything they aren't familiar with.

The event included a parade of flags of all nations, followed by entertainment. A petite Japanese girl wowed the crowd with a song sung in a soft, sweet voice. She sang in her native tongue, so we couldn't understand the words, but her voice was so lovely that it didn't matter.

A choir of schoolchildren warmed our hearts with a couple of songs, including one called "Zum Gali Gali." I looked that one up on the Internet, and found that an exact translation is hard to come by. One site says a best guess is that it means "To Galilee", a refrain sung by Zionist pioneers in Palistine before it was Israel.

A group of older elementary school girls, in colorful flouncy skirts, performed a Mexican dance.

One of the college students led us in a routine, spoken in Bosnian. She asked us all to stand up, follow her motions and repeat the words after her...in Bosnian. It was hilarious to hear us attempt that language. Of course, we thought she was making a serious statement, until she translated for us: (huge motion with the arms, representing something round): Big Watermelon;(hands clasped together, and slashing motion downward) Cut in Half; (hands clasped together, and slashing slideways) Cut in Quarters; (hands reaching out) Some for You; (hands toward yourself) Some for Me. Repeat "Some for You;" "Some for Me;" (stomp the ground) Don't Touch My Watermelon; (kicking motion), Or I Kick You.

After that, students of various nationalities led us in the routine in their own native languages, and we all struggled, in comical gibberish, to repeat the words in Spanish, French, Japanese, etc.

It was, as usual, a fun and interesting event that, hopefully, helped promote tolerance for the many nationalities who live and work in our community.

Family Gathering

Last Saturday, my family (those who weren't down with flu or strep throat) gathered at my son and daughter-in-law's new home, an hour and a half away, for a housewarming and February birthdays celebration. There were about 30 of us, including several girlfriends and boyfriends that grandkids brought along. There were also five babies that we passed around for hugging and smooching. It was a great day for whipping out digital cameras.

I provided the main course of pots of chili, and deli meats and cheeses for sandwiches. Mother made chocolate and white cupcakes. Sis brought a delicious peach cobbler. Daughters-in-law provided everything else, like crackers, Fritos for Frito chili pie, bread and rolls for sandwiches, ice cream, and drinks.

Son and daughter-in-law's home has nice big rooms where our gang could spread out. Picture windows look out over several acres of land, where deer frequently visit. There is also space for a large veggie garden. Son's family love watching the deer right now, but they'll probably fall out of love with them when they start feeding in the veggie garden this summer.

Thankfully, Saturday was mild enough for the kids to go outdoors and jump on the trampoline, while we adults cuddled any baby we could get our hands on.

It was a good day for celebrating my son's, daughter-in-law's, and grandson's birthdays, as well as a couple of others who also have February birthdays.

Around 3 p.m., we headed home, happy and well-fed.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

To Go or Not to Go

One of the things about extremes in weather is not knowing if we should try to go ahead with whatever is scheduled for the day or not. On wintry days, after freezing rain or snowfall, are the roads passable, or icy, on the way to where we want to go? If we hear no reports on TV or radio that an event has been cancelled, and we can't reach anyone who can tell us, does it mean it's on go, or does it mean somebody just didn't get the message out that it has been cancelled?

For instance, not knowing if our ballroom dancing class last Tuesday evening had been cancelled or not meant we felt obliged to go to the studio to find out.


The Friday before that, I wasn't sure if our water aerobics class would meet following a winter storm that hit our area on Thursday. We have been told that if schools are in session, then so is water aerobics. Since school was in session, I guessed that so was water aerobics, but I opted to stay in my warm bed instead of venturing out, not knowing what the road conditions were up the hill to the college. Others felt the same, obviously, because only three people showed up for aerobics that day. As it turned out, the roads were clear, but how were we to know that?

The Thursday evening of the winter storm, Mother and I were scheduled to go to Weight Watchers for our monthly weigh-in. We had last weighed at the beginning of December and weren't due to weigh in again until the end of January. So, of course, we were waiting until the last possible day...January 31...to hit the scale, giving us several weeks to shed our two or three pound holiday-goodies gain. We are well under our goal weight, but we don't want to show a gain on our record just the same.


I could find no information about whether or not the Weight Watchers meeting was cancelled, but because Mother's porch, and our driveway, were icy, we decided not to go. It wasn't worth the risk of injury to her should she slip and fall.

As lifetime members of Weight Watchers, we don't pay to attend weekly meetings, unless we miss a month. Last Thursday evening, fee in hand, we attended a meeting. That's when we learned the previous Thursday's meeting had been cancelled, and we didn't have to pay. Hooray!

And I even lost a half pound.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Trip to the Capital City

Since a tornado watch was in effect, we had to think twice about making a trip to our capital city last Tuesday. On Monday, I couldn't decide if I should cancel my dental appointment there or not. To cancel, though, would mean I couldn't get another appointment for several weeks.

Also, my 85-year-old mother didn't want to make the trip, and I was edgy about leaving her and our elderly dog at home alone. Finally, though, at Mother's urging, we decided to just go ahead with our plans and hope for the best. If the weather kicked up early in the day, we'd head straight back home.

So Tuesday morning (Super Tuesday), the three of us went first to our polling place to vote. Then we dropped Mother off at home and headed out. We got to the big city around 10 a.m., in time to shop before lunch. My appointment was at 2 p.m. Of course, I called Mother before that to check on her, and she said everything was fine. So far, there were no storms.

We were able to get on the road ahead of heavy afternoon traffic, and arrived home at 4:30 p.m. Around 5 p.m., the sky darkened and looked ominous. There was lightening in the distance, and there was wind, but nothing more.

During the next couple of hours, while watching the TV storm tracker, we learned that several communities had been hit by tornadoes but, because it was dark by this time, damage reports were sketchy.

In the meantime, we'd heard nothing from our ballroom dancing instructor to know if classes were cancelled that night, and after trying without success to reach her, we trekked downtown at 7 p.m. to see. Sure enough classes were, thankfully, called off.

So we spent the rest of the evening watching storm reports, and didn't retire until we saw that the violent front had exited the state.

Tornadoes

In my February 2 blog, I mentioned predictions were for a warm-up into the 70s, with thunderstorms on Tuesday. Those thunderstorms turned tornado-violent across several southern states, including ours. Scores of people died, and homes and businesses were decimated. Every day since, our local newspaper has carried photos of the tornado-ravaged areas, survivor stories, and stories about folks coming together to help with disaster relief, clean-up, and rebuilding efforts.

Our town was spared from the storm, which seemed to separate, scoot around us, and then gather strength as it raged on to continue killing and destroying.

My husband and I have both survived killer tornadoes, so we have a healthy respect for them. Like most other folks here in the south, we stay glued to the TV, tracking the storms. We don't have a tornado shelter, so the safest place for us (we hope) is a pantry that is in the direct center of our two-story house. A tornado shelter would certainly be safer, and we've discussed having one installed. Now would be a good time to get serious about that idea, since March is the true start of tornado season!