A Sunny Day...At Last!

Finally, after what seemed like endless days of rain, the sun came out today. It was still a bit nippy, but inviting enough for Mother and I to stroll around the lake at a local college.

We weren't alone in our gladness to be outdoors under a cloudless deep blue sky. Two young mothers chatted happily as they walked briskly, pushing baby strollers. Three laughing boys, about ten years old, splashed and waded in a rivulet of runoff water from the lake. A toddler girl chased the ducks. Someone was taking pictures of a young couple posed near the pink-blossomed limbs of a tree.

Fallen blossoms from the trees lay scattered like light snow on the walking path. Turtles sunned on a log in the lake.

Everything was right in this tiny corner of the world.

Ballroom Dancing

Hubbie and I went to ballroom dancing last night. More folks showed up than had been there when we last went two weeks ago, and we learned the reason is that some of us fell ill in February and March. I, of course, had a heart procedure that prevented me from attending for a few weeks. The husband of another couple got sick with flu that turned into pneumonia, and the wife of a third couple was laid low by allergies that seriously infected her respiratory system. It was obvious by the dark circles under her eyes and the weight she's lost that she still isn't well.

But all of us were ready to enjoy the evening, visiting and dancing. The evening was swing-dance themed, and we were asked to dress in something blue. Blue balloons attached to chairs, and white miniature lights strung from the ceiling, decorated the fellowship hall.

A dance instructor conducted swing dance lessons in the hour before the ballroom session began, but we didn't arrive in time to take part. The lessons will be offered a couple of more times this month, so we'll get a chance to learn. Swing and rock n' roll are pretty much the same, and I know how to dance rock n' roll, but Hubbie needs a lesson, and he's more comfortable learning from a dance instructor.

Besides swing, a ballroom dancing student taught us a couple of line dances. One is called Heavenly Waltz, which we stumbled through several times before catching on. The lady next to me said it's probably called Heavenly Waltz because it'd be a miracle if we learned how to do it.

But we did eventually learn, and we ended the evening with it.

Weather Watching

Last night was another pins-and-needles night of staying tuned to our TV, tracking thunderstorm and tornado warnings. Since our area of the state was in the watch area, we didn't feel comfortable going to bed until meteorologists announced an all-clear. That was after midnight.

Twice the lights went out briefly...just long enough for us to light candles and hunt down the kerosene lamp by flashlight. However, we discovered that the batteries in our boom box were dead, and we didn't have enough fresh ones to replace them, so we had no way of getting radio weather reports.

Drat, we seem to always be unprepared in an emergency! Fortunately, the lights came back on in a few minutes, but we could have been among those in areas that are still without power. Vow: go to the store tomorrow and get batteries....get a backup radio....get a battery operated camp light. Spring storms are far from over. We need to be better prepared.

We were fortunate all the way around, since the storms dissipated before they reached our county. There's a lot of damage and flooding in other parts of the state, but thank God, no one was killed this time.

No problems here, except it has rained so much I think I'm growing moss on my north side.

Doggie Birthday

On Tuesday, our Shih Tzu dog turned 14 years old. We celebrated with cake, candles and party hats. We also prepared her favorite food...boiled chicken.

Birthday parties for Shih Tzu started as a lark when she was one year old, mainly as an excuse for Hubbie to get his favorite dessert...pineapple upside down cake (Shih Tzu doesn't care for the cake, and sniffs disdainfully at it each year).

As the years rolled on, though, friends and family got caught up in the tradition. Grandkids spending their spring break week with us joined in the celebration, making homemade birthday cards for her and happily donning party hats and singing "Happy Birthday."

Last year, Hubbie's aunt from another state planned her visit with us to coincide with Shih Tzu's birthday party. His sisters from another town also came. All of them gamely wore birthday hats and gathered around Shih Tzu for picture-taking.

Each year, Shih Tzu receives at least one letter or birthday card from someone, and this year was no exception. A woman with whom we frequently do business sent her one with the picture of a dog on the front, and a greeting inside that says, "It's your birthday...party like a bad dog."

How does Shih Tzu feel about all this? Basically bored, but tolerant. Her people are silly, but if it's makes them happy she'll wear a Scooby Doo party hat and pose for pictures. Once the celebration is over, though, and she has been rewarded with a lunch of dog food topped with boiled chicken, she's more than ready to find her favorite spot on the carpet, flop down, sigh heavily, and go to sleep.

Ah-h-h, at last, it's over for another year.

Making Greeting Cards

Since there was nothing special going on today, Mother and I decided to make greeting cards. We used scrap papers left over from scrapbooking pages, embellished with rubber stamping, buttons, stickers and foam letters. The photos above are of some we made today and at other times.

We've decided that we'll try to make one or two cards after every scrapbooking session, because when we've sent handmade birthday and thank you cards to folks lately, they've commented on how much they like them. I've received a couple of them from friends during my recuperation from last month's cardiac episode and I really treasure them.

New Cell Phones

It was way past time for new cell phones. Hubbie's was six years old. Mine, though only about a year old, was the pits.

I'm no expert with new electronic devices, but Hubbie is hopeless, so it fell to me to study the manual, set up the address books and speed dials in both phones, and then sit down with him to show him how to use the functions.

Entering numbers in the address books was no small order, since most family and friends have two or three numbers (home, cell, work), and often each member of the family has a cell phone. It took a couple of hours to complete the task, by which time my eyes were floating in numbers. I'll probably dream numbers tonight.

Thank goodness...555...it's...123...done now...4567.

Dreary Day

I'm so wishing warm, sunny weather would arrive. But today has been dreary, rainy, storm-threatening...not really cold, but just cool enough to make me shivery. It wasn't the most pleasant day for road trips, but Hubbie and I made two short ones anyway.

The first was a 30-minute one this morning to the dealership where we bought our van a few months ago, to have a sensor light checked out. The light came on and stayed on, so that we couldn't tell if something was wrong or not. Turned out nothing was wrong with the van...just the sensor light. The mechanic did something to it to make it shut off, but said he'll need to order a new one, and we'll need to make the trip back at our convenience to have it replaced.

The second trip was shorter, only about 15 minutes, to the store where we (frequently, of late) get our computer repaired. This time, though, we were in the market for new cell phones. Our old ones were hopelessly out of date. Got two...Hubbie's is traditional black, mine is a delightful great-grandmotherly pink.

This evening, we made a third trip, only a couple of miles this time, to a local college that was celebrating an anniversary with a community picnic. Hubbie and I picked up hamburgers and hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans and cookies, served on plastic flying disks, and brought them home, where Mother stayed to prepare a heart-healthy turkey burger, baked potato, and corn-on-the-cob for me.

Due to the weather, the picnic was being held indoors, where tables were brightly decorated with red and white plaid tablecloths, and containers of red tulips. A local, popular musician was performing. An inflatable bouncy castle for kids, we noticed, was set up on the auditorium stage. Speakers were scheduled that we might have liked to hear. Folks we know were milling about. But since I'm trying to carefully monitor my salt intake, I didn't feel comfortable eating the college's picnic fare this time, so we didn't stay.

Now, it's thundering, so it's time to shut the computer off.

Film Festival, Sunday

We spent all afternoon and evening at the film festival yesterday, starting with a film that traces 150 years of interaction between the petroleum industry and alternative fuels, takes a look at renewable alternative fuels such as bio-diesel and ethanol, and comments on the global impact of these fuels.

The film, currently showing at http://www.mofilms.org/, features testimonies from activists Darryl Hannah and Willie Nelson, as well as humor from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central, and animated character Homer Simpson of "The Simpsons."

However intriguing alternative fuels may be, it doesn't appear that they will be readily (and inexpensively) available at filling stations in the near future. Even so, the film is interesting.

Following this film, we saw a documentary in progress about an early to mid-1900s rural photographer who went virtually unnoticed during his lifetime, but has since gained fame for his Great Depression and WWII era portraits of unsophisticated people in a small community.

We ended the festival with several independent film offerings that didn't strike a positive chord with us. But that's the way with film festivals...you immerse yourself and come away enlightened sometimes, delighted sometimes, and disappointed sometimes.

I look forward to next year's festival.

Film Festival, Saturday Afternoon and Evening

Some film fest activities are free, some cost a few bucks. Yesterday afternoon, we opted for the free programs...movies and film clips about the 1940s entertainer from our state who influenced creators of rock n' roll and other types of music. It was fun watching these faded and scratchy black and white films and hearing familiar old tunes performed by this great artist.

Last evening, for a nominal fee, we saw an English subtitled film about a family in crisis and how each member copes with and solves his or her problems afterward. The film is absorbing because of its simplicity, and because it's easy to relate to. It doesn't use known actors or background music or high tech stuff. It just tells the story of a family from another country who suffer loss and then struggle to find their footing again.