Friday, June 19

It's been a busy day, starting with a session of water aerobics. The pool feels wonderful, but it's cold enough to hang meat in the dressing room.

Bad news from the pool: the husband of one of our members had a massive stroke this morning and did not survive. Our leader got a cell phone call just before aerobics began informing her of his passing. The lady whose husband it was has had plenty of problems already. At some time in the past, she had cancer in a leg, requiring removal of muscle that resulted in her needing a brace and cane to walk. Then last year, she was hit by a car on the hospital parking lot after she'd visited a friend. She had multiple injuries, and it took several months of physical therapy for her to get strong enough to return to the pool. The lady is in her early 80s, I think.

After I got home and ready for the day, Hubbie and I shopped for last-minute groceries for the weekend. Then, I baked a lemon cake for tomorrow. In the morning, I'll cook the lemon pudding and let it cool, and then spread it on the cake and make a meringue topping for it. This is one of Hubbie's favorite desserts. I make a couple of them a year, one for Hubbie and one for Mother for her birthday, since it's her favorite, too. I like it as well, but I can't eat it, because both the cake and the pudding have yellow dye, and I'm allergic to yellow dye. So I'll celebrate with a chocolate cupcake and ice cream.

This afternoon, I took Mother to the Women's Center at the hospital for mammograms. Nothing is wrong. It was just routine. We got there early, and the technician took her back within minutes of our arrival. The appointment was for 2 p.m., and we were back home before 2:30.

While we were in the waiting area, though, an elderly man was busy on his cell phone...we thought he was playing games. But when his wife came out and asked what he was doing, he said, "Deleting pictures."

"Pictures of what?" she asked, obviously concerned that he was deleting important ones.

"The inside of my pocket," he said.

After they left, Mother and I burst into laughter. I guess when his phone is on in his pocket, he accidently trips the photo function.

We spent the rest of the afternoon doing tasks related to tomorrow's celebration. For a week-in-review supper, Mother put several items in a cake pan, with foil between the foods, and put it in the oven. Soon, she noticed smoke coming from the oven, and we rushed into the kitchen to inspect. Seems she'd dropped a potholder into the oven, and it was smoldering and getting ready to burst into flames.

She whisked the potholder into the sink and ran water on it. But by this time, the downstairs area was filled with smoke. I quickly closed the door to the hall where the smoke alarm is before it went off, and opened doors and windows until the smoke dissipated. I'm glad we didn't leave the oven unattended...could have been disasterous.

After supper, I set the table for tomorrow, and then cut a few flowers to make a small arrangement in the ceramic pillow vase that Daughter gave me for Christmas (see photo in another blog).

At the eagle's nest, the baby is continuing to exercise his wings and run toward the edge of the nest as if to launch, but he's not quite ready yet. In fact, he's not completely steady on his legs. But I can tell he yearns for the freedom of flight.