Monday, October 26

After not having attended since Wednesday, October 7, I finally returned to water aerobics this morning. I was greeted with lots of questions about where I had been and what I had been up to. Of course, most of the ladies knew I was scheduled to be away during the week we vacationed in Branson, but they didn't know what kept me away last week.

It felt good to be in the pool again, and the water temperature was pleasant enough, once I got used to it. The morning was cool enough to wear a fleece outfit, with a fleece hoodie over it.

The story from the pool today is that the home of one of the ladies is infested with mold. She discovered it spreading around one of her central heat/air vents, and then as she explored her house, she found it hiding in closets, under beds, etc. It had invaded to such a point that she had to throw away many stored things, like clothing and crafting supplies. She herself has been complaining of allergy symptoms, but didn't know the source until the mold was discovered.

Her heat/air unit repairman said the mold came in through the vents while the air conditioner was in use. The unusual amount of rain our state has experienced this year is the culprit. He said that the mold will abate when the house is heated. In the meantime, she and her family have been busy scrubbing everything.

Her story has made me take a look around our house to make sure mold isn't taking up residence here.

After I got back home and ready for the day, Mother, Hubbie, and I went to the greeting card shop to get birthday cards for two great-grandchildren who are celebrating this week. Great-Granddaughter will be five years old, and Great-Grandson will be two. They grow up fast.

We also went to the cable company office to ask that our cable guy come by the house to hook the DVD/VCR to the TV. He didn't make it today, but maybe he'll have time to drop by tomorrow.

By this time, it was 11:30 a.m., so we came back home for a lunch of leftover chicken noodle soup, after which Hubbie and I went to the WDCS for groceries. We shopped for both ourselves and Mother, since she didn't feel up to going to that store today.

Back home, Mother and I experimented with rubber stamping, and quickly discovered that we aren't very good at it. Mother couldn't get control of it at all, and I wasn't much better. It's obvious to me that this is a craft that takes a lot of practice. But since we have a basket full of Christmas themed rubber stamps, on loan to us from one of our scrapbook club members, I plan to try again tomorrow. I'd like to use the stamps to make some cards for Caring Hands Hospice.

Meanwhile, I returned to my old method of typing Christmas greetings on my computer, and then using my light board and gel pens to trace the greetings onto insert sheets for the screen door Christmas cards we made.

Supper tonight was leftover beef roast, with accompaniments. Funny: Mother had heated leftover gravy in a small saucepan, and had placed the lid on the pan and turned the stove to very low to keep it hot. But when she tried to remove the lid at suppertime, she couldn't pry it off. I tried and also couldn't budge it.

Hubbie suggested I run cold water over the pan, which I did. No dice. So Hubbie did battle with it. The lid won.

Finally, Mother said maybe heating the gravy to boiling might do the trick. So once I heard the gravy bubbling, I tried again...it took some muscle power, but finally, with a loud suction sound, it popped off.

After supper, Hubbie and I did the usual...watched TV. The first movie we saw was, yet again, a serial killer R-rated film called "Hangman," starring Lou Diamond Phillips. The murderer challenges police to solve Internet hangman games in order to spare the lives of pleading victims, who are hanged if the game isn't solved in time. The 2001 film is rated "R" for violence, language, sex, and partial nudity.

We followed the movie with an episode of "Dancing With the Stars."