President's Day

Hubbie hung the flag today in honor of President's Day, but brought it back in again mid-afternoon when the wind blew it down.

We were up at 6:30 this morning. I was undecided when we went to bed last night whether I wanted to venture forth to water aerobics this morning or not, since the weather was predicted to be very cold...in the 20s...with a brisk wind.

Also, Hubbie was scheduled to take the van to another town (to the dealer from whom we purchased it) to see if he could get the sliding door fixed. His appointment was at 9:30. That meant I would have to drive the diesel truck to water aerobics. I hate taking that big, honking pickup truck to the college, because it's so noisy, and hard to park.

But I decided to go, anyway. The parking lot at the college had plenty of open spaces, so I didn't have to squeeze the truck in between two vehicles. And I dressed in several layers, plus hat and gloves, so the walk to the pool was okay.

Thirteen of us showed up today, though our leader wasn't one of them. However, there were three other alternates in attendance, and one of them led the session. The water was pleasant, and I was glad to be swimming again. It's hard getting up early and facing the cold weather, but I'm always glad when I do, because I love the pool so much.

The story today was about a young man...son of the manager of one of our grocery stores...who was killed in an explosion at his work in another state. He was only 31 years old, and left a young family behind.

This incident reminded one of the ladies of her childhood, when her older sister, then three years old, somehow toppled into a wash pot of boiling water. In those days, her mother boiled the bedsheets in a big pot in the yard. The child survived, but has been forever scarred and handicapped. What a horrific thing to happen! I can only imagine the agony the family must have gone through.

This lady has been away from the pool for several weeks...since December, really...because she fell ill with a flu that was finally determined to be HINI. She caught the flu from a niece, when she visited her in another state.

Hubbie was not yet home when I got back from the pool. Mother came over and put color in my hair in anticipation of getting a haircut Wednesday. Mother has opted out of having her hair cut. She says her hair is so thin that she can't afford to have any of it cut off. Instead, she plans to let it grow to a length that she can pull back into a bun, or something.

Hubbie arrived just as I finished getting ready for the day. I was happy to hear that the auto dealership's shop was able to fix the sliding door on the van (some sort of computer thing needed to be reset). And while he was there, a FAX arrived, recalling our van year model to replace a faulty windshild wiper mechanism. Fortunately, the shop had the necessary part on hand and could fix the problem right away, instead of our having to take the van back later.

The three of us put together a pot of sort-of New England vegetable stew. I browned eye of round steak in olive oil, garlic, and seasonings (salt free mixed seasoning, pepper, and paprika) while Hubbie peeled and quartered potatoes, and Mother cut up other veggies...celery, onions, carrots, and cabbage. I added cans of both low-sodium beef and chicken broths to the meat, and then put the veggies in, with more seasonings and garlic, and simmered the stew for several hours. It was delicious, served with a choice of hot rolls brought home from the restaurant yesterday, or cornbread.


We didn't accomplish much during the afternoon. I spent some time making phone calls. First, I called the secretary who retired recently from the office where Hubbie and I worked before we retired. I had promised to treat her to lunch in January, but that month and part of this one was awful weather-wise, so I waited until today to call. I was pleased that she said she is free to have lunch with us tomorrow at a local restaurant.

Then I called the two other ladies of the scrapbook club to remind them of our upcoming Thursday meeting. Of course, I spent quite a bit of time chatting with each of them.

Later, I noticed our local newspaper featured two large, color, photos of the gutted and charred rooms of the motel that was ablaze yesterday as we came home from the restaurant. Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire. I saw the damage to the motel as I traveled to the college this morning.

After supper, it was business as usual...Mother went home, and Hubbie and I planted ourselves in front of the TV. Movie fare tonight was "Changling," a 2008 R-rated (for violence) film starring Angelina Jolie. The story is about a 1920s true incident of child abduction and police corruption in Los Angeles. It's unbelievable what happens as the life of the mother of a missing nine-year-old boy degenerates at the hands of corrupt police, when she rightly insists that an abandoned boy they bring to her is not her son.