Monday, October 5

We were up early, of course, so I could go to water aerobics. Br-r-r, the water was chilly this morning, and continued to feel chilly throughout aerobics. The day itself has been chilly, too, so the main topic of conversation at the pool was the need for us ladies to store our summer clothes and dig out our winter ones.

The first lady to bring up the subject was one I met in the parking lot and walked with to the gym. Once I was in the pool, and swimming in the deep end, three more ladies, one by one, mentioned to me the need to exchange seasonal clothing. During the aerobics session, another one said the same thing.

Finally, in the dressing room, another lady, shivering while getting dressed, said, "I think it's time to store my summer clothes and get out my winter ones." I laughed, and by her expression, I could see she wondered what she'd said that was so funny. "I'm not laughing at you," I explained. "It's just that you're the sixth person to say you need to switch your summer clothes for your winter ones."

Funny: the other day, while we were doing our aerobics routine, the lady standing beside me got confused and out of step. "I'm like a fish out of water," she said. We laughed and pointed out to her that she was like a fish IN water...just an uncoordinated one.

Today, we talked about how young we feel inside, but how old we look on the outside. The fish-out-of-water lady, who is in her early 70s and a bit on the heavy side, said last Sunday she was satisfied with the way she looked in her dressy outfit until she saw herself in the glass door of her church. "We've got to get rid of that door," she said.

If only getting rid of a glass door could make us younger and thinner!

Hubbie was running errands when I got home from aerobics. Voice mail on our home phone included one from the school where we participated in the fall festival silent auction. Our items were ready to be picked up. So once I was ready for the day, and Hubbie got back, we went to the school.

The items we won bids on included a couple of $50 savings bonds, four certificates for Roto-Rooter services, a padded travel case of games, a scented reed diffuser, a Branson entertainer DVD, a large can of hair spray, and a gallon of carpet cleaner. Hubbie got the travel case of games for $6. It includes chess, checkers, poker cards, dominoes, backgammon, and cribbage. I got the reed diffuser half price, and the DVD for a dollar. The hair spray and the carpet cleaner were a couple of bucks each, too.

Each year, school staff like to see us coming, since they know we'll buy stuff, and they thanked us profusely today. It's a fun way to help the school, while grabbing a few bargains. Since all of the items are donated, the money made is clear profit to the school.

While we were out, we went in search of the house where an elderly couple live. Tomorrow, I'm to interview the gentleman who lives there, on behalf of Caring Hands Hospice. The gentleman will celebrate his 100th birthday on Oct. 10. I wanted to know where the house is before I go there tomorrow, so I won't have to spend time searching for it.

Back home, after a lunch of cold chicken sandwiches and fresh fruit, I spent the afternoon doing this and that, including making sure my tape recorder and camera are ready for the interview tomorrow. Inspired by my conversations with the ladies at the pool, I also dug turtleneck shirts and a couple of sweaters out of winter storage.

Supper tonight was lasagna, served with salad and cottage cheese. We used a different kind of lasagna noodles this time, which were very good. They are a name brand no boil kind that came out tender after baked, rather than tough and chewy, like a house brand we'd been using in the past.

Later, we watched TV, of course, starting with a Masterpiece Theater mystery from the public channel, followed by this week's episode of "Dancing With the Stars."