Friday, January 16

I got up at 6 a.m. this morning, dressed, ate a cold cereal breakfast, donned my "Nanook of the North" coat, hat, and gloves, and headed out into the 10-degree day to go to a 7:30 a.m. continental breakfast meeting of the home medical services board, held in the community room of one of the banks.



I was up early enough today to see the eastern partly cloudy blue sky become streaked with radiant pink as the sun rose. Very pretty.



The conference room was very cold, even though the thermostat registered 75 degrees. One of the home medical services staff increased it to 80 degrees, but the room remained cold. A bank employee, who also serves on the board, decided the thermostat is not working, and he will need to deal with it.



The meeting lasted a chilly hour, as we sat on cold plastic chairs. At the end of it, one of the board members, a neighbor of ours and retired rehabilitation counselor that we worked with years ago, could not start his truck. So I called Hubbie to bring our truck and jumper cables to give the guy a boost. Why is it that heating systems and vehicles wait until the coldest day of the year to break down?



We got back home around 9 a.m. Hubbie had built a fire in the fireplace, and he heated water to make me a cup of tea, which helped thaw me out. I didn't indulge in the continental breakfast at the meeting, of course, but I did bring pastries home for Hubbie, which he enjoyed with a cup of coffee. The cozy, blazing fireplace, along with the lighted village pieces on the mantel above it was charming. A smattering of snowflakes falling outside added to the charm.


Once I had warmed up, I started a pot of chili cooking, which simmered for a few hours. We didn't eat this for lunch, because we needed to finish the leftover chicken noodle soup, and barbecued chicken on wheat buns. The chili will be better for lunch tomorrow, anyway, after it melds flavors in the fridge overnight.

Mother came over after lunch, but we didn't accomplish much beyond planning the menu for next week, since we were interested in staying close to the fireplace. I did go to the freezer on the back porch to get Talapia fish out for supper. As I was moving items around looking for the fish, a gallon container of frozen 11-bean soup dropped off a shelf, hitting me first on my right leg above the knee, and then as I tried to catch it, thudding onto my shin, causing a swollen bruise that should be very attractive when I go to the pool Monday.

For supper, we had the fish, baked with Parmesan cheese, along with baked sweet potatoes, and black eyed peas.

Mother went home after supper. Later, I lounged in the hot tub for a while. Hubbie opted out, since he is already plagued by winter-dry skin. After that Hubbie and I vegged in front of TV for the evening.