Wednesday, March 3

We were up at 6:30 this morning, so I could get ready to go to water aerobics. It was a cold morning requiring layers of clothing and a coat and gloves. The pool was a bit cool, but tolerable once I was in it.

Seems some ladies showed up Monday, but the lifeguard warned that the water was so cool that he was sure they wouldn't want to get in it. So they didn't. I figured the water would be cold that day and opted to wait until today.

We will have one more day of aerobics before the school closes for spring break next week. This has been a very unusual winter for water aerobics, with the pool being closed several weeks for winter break, a couple of weeks for snowstorms, and a couple of weeks for repairs to the pool after someone broke in and damaged it (I learned that it was done by the men of one of the on-campus fraternities following a rowdy party).

There were only eleven of us there today, but if the weather moderates, maybe participation will pick up after spring break.

Leaving the pool today, I spotted what appeared to be an Eastern Bluebird on one of the pine trees. It has been a week for seeing wildlife. On Sunday afternoon, as we were coming home from shopping, Mother and I saw several deer grazing in a field. Then yesterday, as Hubbie and I were traveling home from a grocery store, we saw what looked like a Great Blue Heron wading in the water of a swampy area, near where we frequently see a groundhog sitting upright, surveying his territory.

When I got back home, Mother said Sis had called saying she was coming up for a visit. She arrived around the time I was done getting ready for the day. Hubbie went to a local barbecue restaurant to pick up a pound of pulled pork, and then went to a grocery store to pick up buns and slaw mix. In the meantime, Mother had put potatoes in the oven to bake.

We had a good afternoon following lunch. Sis made a batch of hand cream, bath salts, and scrub. The project became a comedy of errors (which Sis will explain in an upcoming blog at her blog site). While she was doing that, I baked a lemon cake for Mother's birthday tomorrow. In the morning, I'll make lemon pudding and merigue for the cake.

About 3 p.m., we indulged in a dessert of low-fat cupcakes, topped with fat-free pudding, light pie cherries, and fat-free whipped topping. Then we visited the rest of the afternoon.

For supper, we had a variety of leftovers...baked meatloaf/rice dish, mashed potatoes with gravy/pork/carrots/onions mixture, Lima beans, cole slaw, and toasted whole wheat mini-bagels spread with low-fat margarine mixed with Parmesan cheese and oregano.

At 6 p.m., Hubbie and I listened to the radio as our favorite college basketball team played to a loss. Phooey. While we listened to the game, Mother and Sis visited in the living room. Sis headed home around 8 p.m., and Mother went to her house. Hubbie and I watched TV the rest of the evening.

Lesson learned: it's easier to peel a banana from the non-stem end, or what I call the bottom (though some strongly argue that the stem end is the bottom since bananas grow upward in bunches on trees). For all my years, I'd been struggling trying to peel bananas by various means...bending the stem back til it breaks (often mashing part of the fruit), jamming my thumbnail into the stem end to break the peel and then pulling it back, or cutting the stem with a knife (Hubbie's preferred method). Then, one day, I watched a monkey on TV effortlessly peel a banana from the non-stem end. I tried it. It was way easier. Duh. Why did it take a monkey to show me what should have been so obvious? Haven't convinced Hubbie of it yet, though. He still prefers the knife method.