Saturday, August 22, 2009

Visit with Sis, Saturday

We slept late again this morning, and I skipped my exercises in favor of getting ready to go to the museum at 10:30 a.m.

A lot of people showed up for the museum program, presented by three family members from a nearby town. The mother, her daughter, and her son, spoke about and demonstrated food preservation techniques, including storing dried foods like beans and oatmeal, canning foods (using a pressure cooker), making jellies and jams, and grinding wheat flour and then storing it in heat sealed packages.

Many tips we were given are ones that Mother, Sis, and I already use, like storing dried goods such as beans, rice, pasta, etc. in the freezer, and putting bay leaves in storage containers holding flour and cornmeal, in order to keep bugs out.

Besides the demonstration, the daughter of the family gave us a history of her family's migration to our state, beginning in the mid-1800s. The mother showed us several quilts that members of the family's church made, to be distributed to those in need...they supplied quilts to victims of Hurricane Katrina, for example. Thousands of quilts are made each year by members of the church nationwide, which are distributed to folks in need around the world.

The family, who are very self-sufficient at growing, storing, and preserving their own food, recommended that each person have a backpack containing 72 hours worth of survival items like water, packets of food, a tent, a flashlight, etc., and that homes have a three-month supply of food in case of a natural disaster like an earthquake.

After the program, the family treated us to big slices of homemade bread, slathered with homemade butter and apple-mint jelly. We didn't get back home until after 12 p.m., when we added noodles to a pot of chicken broth for lunch. With the soup, we had more of Sis's homemade bread.

This afternoon, we watched two musical movies. The first was "Hairspray," which I'd received in the mail today, along with three other DVDs. Hubbie, Mother, and I saw this feature recently as an outdoor movie at the college, but Sis hadn't seen it.

The second feature we watched was "Grease," which I'd recorded on the DVR. Hubbie had never seen this movie, though the rest of us had. I've seen it several times, as has Sis. Both movies feature John Travolta, but in vastly different roles and at different ages. He was very young in "Grease," and quite mature in "Hairspray." In "Grease," he played a cool, black-leather-jacket clad 1950s teen, and in Hairspray, he played a woman.

After a supper of leftovers, Sis went home, and Hubbie and I watched a couple of more movies, including "Charlie Wilson's War," starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. This R-rated movie is about a playboy congressman, who teams up with an anti-communist woman with a talent for raising funds, to pull off a covert operation...based on a true incident.

The other movie we watched was "Don't Say a Word," an R-rated movie starring Michael Douglas. Men steal a jewel, then ten years later break into a psychiatrist's home and kidnap his child. The wife has a broken leg and is incapacitated in her bed. She is spied upon and threatened not to try to phone for help. The psychiatrist is treating a young woman with a secret. It takes a while for the movie to reveal how all these plot elements interconnect.

Visit with Sis Friday

We slept late, and then I got on the treadmill and did weights exercises. Mother and Sis came over as I was getting ready for the day and worked on the jigsaw puzzle. After I dressed, I made a photo get-well card on the computer for a grandson who is ill. Then I selected a handmade card to send to a high school classmate, to let her know I am thinking about her following a recent diagnosis of congestive heart disease. I learned about her problem from another classmate with whom I've been corresponding.

After that, I made a big dish of Jell-o, filling it with fresh fruits, including a couple of bananas that were going to get overripe. Sis doesn't care for Jell-o, however, so she chose to eat watermelon and other fruits for dessert while she was here.

Following a lunch of sandwiches made from sliced cold pork roast, with sliced tomatoes and cottage cheese, and a choice of corn chips or pretzels, Mother, Sis, and I went to a new department store that is having a grand opening sale this weekend. We didn't really expect to find anything, but Sis found two skirts to her liking, Mother found a pair of slacks, and I found a pair of tan Capris. All were reasonably priced, but I found my Capris on the clearance rack, and once we'd used a 15% discount coupon, the Capris cost me just $4.65.

When we got back home, Mother and Sis completed the jigsaw puzzle, and I did this and that, including gathering flowers from the yard to create an arrangement in the pillow vase for the dining room table.

For supper tonight, we had parmesan talapia fish, macaroni and cheese, and peas and carrots. Then we played several games of Duo, with Sis topping out by winning four games, Hubbie winning three, and Mother winning two. Yours truly won zilch, nada, zero. In fact, I won only three hands during the several hours that we played.

After the card games, Sis had a bowl of mixed fresh fruit, while the rest of us had Jell-o for a snack, with a choice of homemade oatmeal, gingersnap or fruited chocolate cookies. Then Mother and Sis went to Mother's house, and Hubbie and I watched a one-hour show on TV before hitting the sack.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Thursday, August 20

I skipped my exercises this morning, thanks to a thunderstorm. I slept until nearly 8:30, so by the time I got ready for the day, it was pretty late. One of the scrapbook club members called to say she didn't want to get out in the weather to attend the meeting. I tried to call another member who attends regularly, but couldn't reach her. I also didn't hear from a new member. So Mother and I were undecided if we should go or not.

Hubbie fixed us a lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches, after which we decided we'd go ahead to the Extension Office to see if anyone would show up for the meeting. Just after 1 p.m., the other regular member drove up, so the three of us spent two hours on our projects. Mother and I finished the scrapbook pages we'd started this week, and the other lady made greeting cards for her church.

Sis e-mailed this morning to let us know she'd be coming to visit for a couple of days. She wasn't here when we got back from the scrapbook meeting at 3 p.m., but she had arrived by the time Hubbie and I came back from running errands. Today's errands included taking my wristwatch to a jeweler's to have the battery replaced, and to the WDCS for a few groceries.

By this time, it was 4:30 p.m., and Mother had put leftover pork roast, mashed potatoes, and carrots and onions in the oven for supper. Sis brought a couple of loaves of homemade bread, and we enjoyed slices of one of them with our meal just after 5 p.m.

Later, Mother and Sis worked on a jigsaw puzzle, and Hubbie and I watched a movie, "Love Story: Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story." This unrated 1978 movie stars Blythe Danner and Edward Hermann. Lou marries Eleanor despite his domineering mother. The marriage only lasts a few years before Lou succumbs to amyotropic lateral sclerosis (now known as Lou Gehrig's Disease).

The second movie we watched was, "In the Time of Butterflies," rated PG-13. It's a true story of sisters who become revolutionaries and leaders in a plot to assasinate the cruel Dominican Republic dictator and predator of women, Trujillo, who ruled from 1930 to 1961.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Shih Tzu Better

This morning, it was obvious that Shih Tzu was feeling better. She wasn't limping like she was yesterday, and she drank a lot of water after she'd been outside. She has a water tumor on her shoulder that drained today. Mid-morning, we fixed a pot of chicken with broth to see if she would resume eating. We were heartened when she ate a big plateful of the chicken at lunch.



The vet prescribed an antibiotic for Shih Tzu, and advised us to bathe her and treat the tumor area with Neosporin to prevent possible infection. So after she'd eaten more chicken (with antibiotic pill), Hubbie bathed her and put the medicine on her. She definitely seems much more energetic tonight.



Otherwise this morning, I did a treadmill session and resistance exercises, after having slept late...until nearly 8 a.m. Fortunately, I was able to fall asleep relatively soon after going to bed last night, so I felt more refreshed this morning.



Mother came over around 10:30. I had just begun the pot of chicken, when the phone rang. So Mother chopped veggies and finished getting the chicken started while I talked to one of the scrapbook club members about a club business matter. After that, I called the rest of the members to remind them of our meeting tomorrow afternoon. We all agreed to meet if a predicted thunderstorm does not materialize. The ladies, older women, do not like to travel in inclement weather.



When I'd finished my phone calls, I fixed a lunch of bacon, lettuce, tomato, and Vidalia onion sandwiches, with a choice of chips or low-fat cottage cheese, and mixed fresh fruits for dessert (peaches, pears, apple, blueberries, two varieties of grapes, and cherries), served with walnuts and semi -sweet dark chocolate chips, and fat-free whipped topping.



After lunch, Mother and I planned a couple of more scrapbook pages for tomorrow's meeting. Then Mother put a pork roast in the slow cooker for supper, and Hubbie peeled potatoes to boil later. The roast, cooked with carrots and onions, was delicious with mashed potatoes (it's my job to mash potatoes), gravy, and individual cups of applesauce.

Later, we watched a movie called, "Harm's Way," starring Kathleen Quinlan. A woman and her daughter run away from an abusive relationship and seek haven with a woman at her farm. The farm woman expects her boarders to adhere to strict rules, including no smoking and drinking. Of course, the woman seeking protection smokes. Strange things happen at the farm, as the woman snoops around where she is warned not to. The movie has lots of twists and turns, including a surprise ending.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Tuesday, August 18

Another sleepless night...this time because Shih Tzu is not well, and I worried about her. It was after 2 a.m. before I could drift off.

Yesterday and today, Shih Tzu has eaten very little, and except for a healthy session at the water dish this morning, she hasn't taken in much fluid, either. We dread taking her to the vet, because we don't want to hear his recommendation for our beloved fifteen-and-a-half-year-old pet. We're hoping he can maybe prescribe a pain medication for her arthritis, and an appetite stimulant. My stomach has been tied in knots all day from stressing out about her.

Despite a lack of sleep, we were up by 7 a.m., so Hubbie could get ready to go to his doctor for an annual exam. While he was gone, I gathered scrapbooking stuff for Mother and I to work on later, and then I did a session on the treadmill, including weights exercises.

Mother came over after I was ready for the day, and we planned several scrapbook pages to take with us to our monthly scrapbook meeting Thursday. This month, we'll work on pages featuring Hubbie in the garden, great-grandson at the grape festival, another great-grandson playing his saxophone, and the fourteen-month-old great-grandson who came with family for a visit here on Sunday.

After lunch, Hubbie and I went to the WDCS, so I could pick up wallet-size photos that I need to complete scrapbook pages (I'd uploaded the photos to one-hour service this morning). We picked up a few other items at the store while we were there, and then came back home.

We were no sooner in the door than a thunderstorm cropped up with lots of lightening and thunder and an inch of rain. At one point, we were all startled by a loud crack. Later, we saw energy utility trucks across the road. Apparently, a transformer had blown on the utility pole there.

A thunderstorm was my cue to read my novel until suppertime. For supper, we had stuffed banana peppers (stuffed with leftover meatloaf from the freezer), baked potatoes, and canned green beans.

Update: the kittens are growing by leaps and bounds of course. They've made themselves right at home in the sunroom, exploring, rolling and tumbling, and wrestling with each other, and swarming Mama Cat when she comes in to feed them. They're scampering around pretty good, though they are still a little wobbly on their legs. But that doesn't stop them from climbing on things.

We bought kitten chow for them while we were at the WDCS yesterday, and put some out for them last night. They chowed right down on it, just like they'd been eating solid food since birth. Hubbie put a pan of litter out for them, too, but so far they don't know quite what to do with it beyond sniffing it, and occasionally trying to nibble at it.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Monday, August 17

I'm mystified by the fact that sometimes I CANNOT go to sleep at night. Last night was one of those nights. It was nearly 3 a.m. before I finally drifted off. Hubbie asked this morning if I had something on my mind. No. It's just that my mind gets caught in a continuous loop, reviewing the day, planning the next day, etc., and just won't shut down.



I slept til after 8 a.m., but was still sluggish all day. I got on the treadmill, anyway, because I'd missed four days of exercising...to go to see the butterfly film at the Master Gardeners meeting Thursday, to go pick up the camper in another town Friday, to go to the Caring Hands Hospice yard sale Saturday, and to get ready for company Sunday. Of course, I usually skip Sunday exercises, anyway, but not Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.



I didn't do much for the rest of the morning after getting ready for the day. After lunch, Hubbie and I ran errands...to the bank and the pharmacy, and then to a book/music/video store to look for a cryptogram book to give to Mother for Christmas (yes, I'm already looking for stuff for Christmas). I didn't find the puzzle book, but I did find a book on CD for $3. New books on CD cost $25 to $30 and up.



From there, we went to the WDCS to pick up snapshots, and a couple of beauty products, including nail polish that I used a $1 coupon on. I also bought a set of nice cozy cotton jersey knit bed sheets in twin size for Mother for Christmas.



Mother came over after we got back home, and we planned this week's menu. For supper, we had a variety of leftovers...sliced cold fried chicken, a dab of mashed potatoes with gravy for Mother, and fajitas for Hubbie and me, plus leftover corn, and sliced tomatoes, as well as biscuits with honey, and/or biscuits with gravy.

Later, Hubbie and I watched a movie..."Oxygen: Dying to Escape," from the Lifetime Movie Network. The plot revolves around a couple of men who kidnap a woman and then bury her alive and demand a million dollars ransom from her husband.


Funny: yesterday, Granddaughter related a story about her sister and her sister's pre-kindergarten daughter (my great-granddaughter):



Great-granddaughter was very irritable and fussy one day. Nothing Granddaughter did for the child satisfied her, and she continued to whine and whine, frustrating Granddaughter.



At her wits end, Granddaughter finally pleaded, "What do you NEED?!!"



In answer, Great-granddaughter flung her head back in abject misery. "I NEEDS A NAP!!!" she wailed.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Visit From Family

We were up by 7 a.m. this morning, so we could do last-minute tasks before family came. Daughter-in-Law, Granddaughter, and two great-grandsons arrived around 10:30 a.m. We had a good visit both before and after lunch, and I took lots of snapshots of both great-grandsons, though I only posted the ones of the baby (see previous post).

We all enjoyed the chicken, seasoned with spices other than salt, dusted with flour, and lightly fried in a dab of olive oil plus cooking spray. The chicken was served with no salt added potatoes mashed with skim milk, and white gravy from a package (the only sinful part of the meal), no salt added whole kernel corn, and low sodium, low fat biscuits. For dessert, we had peach/pear/apple cobbler with a choice of regular or fat free ice cream.

After lunch, thirteen-year-old great-grandson, who has grown and gotten even more handsome since I saw him several months ago, entertained us playing his saxophone. And then we went outdoors for group snapshots before family left for home around 3 p.m. It was just such a nice day.

I spent the rest of the afternoon uploading photos to the one-hour service, and to blogger, as well as reading the Sunday newspaper, and washing a couple of loads of clothes.

Mother came over about 5:30, and we all had cold, sliced, fried chicken breast sandwiches, and cantaloupe, for supper. After that, Mother went home, and Hubbie and I watched TV for a while, before we went to an outdoor movie at 8:30.

Tonight we saw, "Clue," a spoof on the board game, where Colonel Mustard, Mrs. Peacock, and others try to solve murders (who killed who, with what weapon). This 1985 PG movie is a comedy, of course, starring Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, and Michael McKean.

Great-Grandson is Busy at Grandma's House















Fourteen-month-old Great-Grandson found plenty to do before napping after lunch. In the top photo, the kittens flock to him in the sunroom. The second and third photos show him exploring the pots and pans cabinet. In the fourth photo, he finds the cardboard toy box more entertaining than the toys that were in it. And finally, he snoozes in his mom's lap.