Saturday Shopping and a Phone Call

We got up late this morning...around 8:30 a.m. I hopped on the treadmill right after breakfast for 30 minutes of treading, followed by a five-minute cool-down and some strength exercises with an elastic band.

About 10:30, Mother came over, and we made a week's menu, and began planning meals for a trip to Branson at the end of the month.

Mother commented that she needed a fall jacket and some other clothing items for the trip, so after lunch, we went shopping. She found a quilted black jacket at one of the stores that has a sale every weekend, and denim jeans, three knit long-sleeve shirts, and a couple of packages of crew socks at the other store that has a sale every weekend. She was able to apply a $10 discount at this store, since she had the required $50 in purchases.

After we got back home, I made a batch of bran muffins to have with corn chowder for supper.

I recorded our favorite college team's football game on the DVR, and Hubbie and I sat down to watch as the opposing team romped over our team. Because our team is young and inexperienced, we expected to lose, but not by such a wide margin, and not from so many embarrassing turnovers.

I was pleased to get a phone call from a niece who lives up north. We chatted for a long time, and agreed that she needs to make a trip south for a visit. She has never been in this part of the U.S., though her dad (my brother) and mom have come south a few times, and we visited up north a few years ago. This niece has never met her many southern cousins, and is curious about them, naturally.

A Long Day

I've been having trouble the past few days accessing my website to keep my blogs updated. Not much happened Wednesday, though. I went to water aerobics, as usual. After I got back home, Mother came over, and we made greeting cards...she made several for upcoming family birthdays, and I made a baby congrats one for the nurses at Cardiac Rehab, who recently had a baby boy. Otherwise, it was a pretty slow day around here.

Yesterday, I drove the ladies of our scrapbook club to a town 45 minutes south of us to shop for scrapbook supplies and have lunch at a favorite buffet restaurant.

Two of the ladies were to meet Mother and me at my house around 9:30 a.m., and we were to pick up the fourth lady at her house as we went out of town. Well, at 9:20 a.m., one of the ladies called to say the second lady, who was to meet her at her house, had not arrived yet. I said I'd call lady number two to see what was holding her up, but I couldn't reach her either at her home or at her cell phone. So I tried to call the third lady to let her know we'd be late getting to her house. But I couldn't reach her at the number I had. So I promptly called lady number one, who didn't answer. However, she and the second lady drove into our driveway about ten minutes later, and we were off to pick up lady number three.

Seems that the second lady had already left her house when I tried to call, and the battery on her cell phone was dead. I had been given the wrong phone number for lady number three, so that's why I couldn't reach her. And of course, the first lady, along with lady number two were already on their way to my house when I tried to call.

We finally got it all together, though, and were on the road around 10 a.m. When we got to the other town, we visited a scrapbook store, and then a discount store that carries inexpensive scrapbook supplies. By that time, it was noon, so we stopped at the restaurant. After lunch, we visited another discount store that carries scrapbook supplies, and then went across town to another scrapbook store.

By 3 p.m., we were all tired and ready to head home, bags of treasures in hand. We got back to town around 4 p.m., excited about planning another trip soon...maybe for a fall foliage tour in October.

Before supper, Hubbie and I went to a downtown bookstore, which was hosting a book signing for a friend from water aerobics. Amazon has recently published her thriller/mystery book, titled "The Lady Lobcouser." Months ago, I did a portrait shot of her to use in promotional materials. As pay, I asked for a copy of her book when it was published. But she sold so many at her first book signing at Hastings book and video store, that she had only a few left for the bookstore signing, so I agreed she should keep my edition until a new order of books comes in.

Several folks that I know have read the book and tell me it is a real page-turner, so I'm anxious to get my copy. I'm so happy for this friend, who has been writing all her life, and now, at the age of 71, has finally realized her lifelong dream of having a book published. Now that the door has opened, we hope she can get more of the several books she has written published.

Later, after supper, Hubbie and I ran to the WDCS for grocery items. By the time we got home from that trip, I was totally pooped. It had been a long day of running around, and I was ready to kick back, watch TV for a while, and then hit the sack.

Cardiac Rehab and "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

For the first time since early last spring, it was cool enough for me to wear a denim jacket when I went to Cardiac Rehab this morning. The session was pretty routine, except that one of the patients kept complaining that he had pain in the left side of his neck and chest. The staff kept a close watch on him, but decided that he was in no real danger, since his heart monitor indicated nothing amiss, and his pain subsided in a few minutes. The registered nurse said that concern arises when a patient has pain with exertion that goes away during rest, rather than pain that comes and goes during exertion or during rest.

I spent the rest of the morning after Cardiac Rehab doing household chores before putting together a chef's salad lunch for Hubbie and myself.

Mother came over after lunch, and since we didn't have a project planned, we watched a 1999 adaptation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that I'd recorded on a VCR tape a long time ago. Michelle Pfeiffer, Kevin Kline, Stanley Tucci, Rupert Everett, Calista Flockhart, and others star in this William Shakespeare tale set in turn-of-the-century Italy.

Shakespeare is a joy to hear when rendered by professional actors. Folks who say they can't understand Shakespeare should take time to sit down with one of the several DVDs featuring top actors in Shakespeare tales. The comedies are especially entertaining, but any of The Bard's works are great. The special effects, the beautiful early-1900s costumes, and the fairy costumes, as well as the sets of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" make it worth seeing.

Hubbie isn't up for Shakespeare, no matter how well it is done, so he spent most of the afternoon working in the yard. This morning, he helped the Master Gardeners clean up one of the public gardens that they are responsible for.

Damage Around Town

I went back to water aerobics this morning, after a two-week hiatus for various reasons (Labor Day holiday, Mother's colonoscopy, and my own infection). The water felt great, and it was good to talk with the ladies. The topic of conversation this morning, of course, was Hurricane Ike, and the damage he'd done around our town. One lady said that a huge and ancient tree had uprooted at our historic cemetery, so after lunch Hubbie and I went to see that and other damage in the downtown area.

The photos above are a few of the ones I shot. The top photo shows a large tree uprooted on the front lawn of one of the historic homes. The owners of this home are lucky, because several houses in the district took direct hits from large trees.

The second photo shows a man working to cut up a tree that landed on the roof of a home. The man used a chain saw to cut the tree into logs, which were attached to heavy ropes. As a log was cut away, another man, holding onto the other end of the rope, safely lowered it to the roof top. It seems to me it would take a lot of courage to do this kind of work and I told the men so. The one using the chain saw said he got into the business because both his father and uncle had done it before him. The other young man said, "You have to either be brave or stupid to do this."

In the third photo, an enormous tree fell across both a house and this car, driving a large hatchet-like branch through the car's windshield. By the time I took this photo, much of the tree had already been cut up.

In the fourth photo, a very old tree uprooted near two 1800s head stones in our historic cemetery.

The fifth photo shows that even in the face of disaster, there can be humor. The same tree that uprooted near the head stones toppled, as if in an act of defiance, across the fire chief's parking space, totally crushing the left rear end of one of the department's pickup trucks, while leaving the "Parking for Fire Chief Only" sign intact.

Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike made himself felt at our house during the night. Around 3 a.m., we were awakened by a loud cracking noise, almost like a shotgun being fired, followed by a whooshing sound and a loud thud. Hubbie jumped up and looked out the sliding glass doors of our bedroom to see a large limb laying in the driveway close to the garage. A short time later, we heard another cra-a-a-ck, whoosh, and thud. When Hubbie looked, he saw another large limb in the driveway near the first one.

The wind continued for some time, but we heard no other loud noises, although the electricity did go out around 5 a.m. and was not on by the time we got up around 7:30. Actually, Hubbie got up before I did and was already in the yard surveying the damage. I dressed and went out to join him. There in the driveway lay the two large limbs, one very close to the back end of the van. Hubbie said he was glad the limb didn't hit the van, but when I looked, I saw there was a dent in the hatch.

Nestled in one of the limbs were two parts of the outdoor nightlight, which had been smashed as that limb crashed to the ground. At the back of the house, another large limb lay up against the sun room. Smaller limbs and a shower of leaves and gumballs littered the yard. Thankfully, though, neither our house nor Mother's was damaged.

Hubbie suggested we take a drive up and down the highway to see if anyone else had damage. But in the approximate five mile stretch that we drove, nothing seemed amiss, though the power was out in the whole area.

It's amazing how much we depend on electricity in our lives. Ours was off until about 11:30 a.m., and we were at odds to know what to do with ourselves. Starting lunch or doing anything that required water was out of the question, because we have an electric kitchen stove, and our water comes from a well (which depends on an electric pump).

Since we didn't know when we'd have power again, we wondered if we should load the most perishable food in the refrigerator into the camper fridge (which runs on both electricity and propane). But we decided to wait a while and see if the electricity came back on soon.

In the meantime, Hubbie opted to go outside and use the chain saw to cut up and dispose of the fallen limbs. Even though it was a bit dark in the den, Mother and I decided to go ahead and clear the mantle and put up fall decorations, which was on my list of things to do today.

Hubbie came inside shortly after the power was restored. "I'm sure glad the lights came back on, so I can turn them off," he said as he went from room to room switching off nightlights, closet lights, and other room lights that had been automatically switched to the on position when we entered the rooms during the power outage. Hubbie is a determined light turner-offer, sometimes turning them off as soon as Mother or I leave a room, even though we plan to be back six seconds later. Once, he went so far as to switch off the light in our very dark storeroom while claustrophobic Mother was still in there. He quickly turned it back on when she yelped.

We didn't have time to prepare the steak strips sauteed with bell pepper and onions and baked potatoes we'd planned to have for lunch, so Mother and I set out the makings for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, along with slices of watermelon (the last of the season) for dessert. When Hubbie came to the table, he said, "Oh! I see you cooked lunch."

Hubbie's son and my daughter called today. Son said the power is still out where he lives, a few hours east of us. My daughter said she and three of my great-grandchildren had to rush to the tornado shelter when the warning siren went off. She said she saw a small tornado dip out of the clouds but recede again before it touched down.

We feel extremely fortunate that our troubles with Hurricane Ike are so minor. Our hearts go out to those in Texas and other states who are suffering in the wake of the storm's destruction. We were without power for a week after a winter storm several years ago, and that was uncomfortable enough to deal with, so I cannot imagine what it must be like for folks who are now refugees, or who must return to demolished homes and property.