Wednesday, December 9

We were up early this morning, so I could go to water aerobics on this winter-blustery day. A coat, hat, scarf, and gloves felt good today, though I was still shivery when I got to the dressing room at the gym. Thank goodness the water in the pool was pleasantly warm.



Only eleven of us showed up for this next to the last day of water aerobics until January 18, and that number dwindled to just six before the session was over. I wonder how many will show up Friday?



When I got home, Hubbie and Mother were gone to her 9 a.m. ophthalmologist appointment. All is well with her eye, so she'll be ready for the second surgery Dec. 29.



Once I was ready for the day, and Hubbie and Mother had returned, Mother and I put together a gift basket for the "Water Babes" Christmas party Friday. I filled a red and green basket that I'd gotten at a yard sale with excelsior on top of wadded up plastic grocery bags. On this bed I nestled a cup (that I'd gotten at the everything's a dollar store) containing four apple cider packets, a jar of cherry jelly (ordered from the Amish store at Branson), and a loaf of bread (that Mother baked from a frozen loaf). I added a silk poinsettia flower for interest, and an embossed gift card that I made, and then put the basket in a red and green Christmas patterned plastic cookie tray bag (from the everything's a dollar store), and tied it with green ribbon. The basket meets the required exchange-gifts-under-ten-dollars agreed upon by the water aerobics members.



Then we tied raffia bows to several other jars of the cherry jelly, adding little Christmas tree ornaments to each bow. These will be our token exchange gifts for Hubbie's family when we visit at daughter's house in another town on December 21.



After lunch, Hubbie and I ran errands...first to the art gallery, where I picked up a pair of Swarovski crystal Christmas tree earrings in a gold color to match a necklace given to me by Hubbie's daughters. The woman who makes these earrings is conducting a jewelry making workshop on Friday night during the Second Friday events downtown, but Hubbie and I will be attending a home medical services Christmas party at that time, so I can't do the jewelry workshop.



Then we went to the Post Office to return a CD I'd ordered by mistake. I actually meant to order the DVD, so I was surprised when the movie music CD arrived instead. I don't know how I managed to do that.



From the PO, we went to the WDCS for several items before returning home. By this time, it was around 4 p.m. The day had flown by.



Supper tonight was baked sweet potatoes, canned white beans, boiled cabbage, and corn on the cob, with slices of yeast bread (Mother baked an extra loaf for us...yay!).



After that Mother went home, and Hubbie and I watched a movie I'd recorded from the Lifetime Network..."The 12 Men of Christmas," a romantic comedy, of course.

Sad news today: at water aerobics, I learned that one of the ladies lost her sister to cancer two or three days ago. And then this afternoon, I got an email telling me that a friend I used to work with in our capital city fell in her bathtub, cracked her head and broke her neck. She isn't paralyzed so far, but to prevent that, she is in a neck brace and must not move her head at all. If she does, and her vertebrae separate, she'll need surgery to add a halo device to her head, if she does not become paralyzed. This widowed lady, who never had children and has few close relatives, is approaching 80 years old. She has already had a massive heart attack and other ailments. Now this. She'll have a miserable holiday season. My heart goes out to her.