Thursday, July 15

Up around 7 a.m. and did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast. Mother came over (on her own) while I was exercising, so when I had finished, we fixed a double batch of tomato soup for supper. We really love this soup, which is very easy to make. Everything goes into the food processor, and then it is simmered until the veggies and spices blend.



After that, I got ready for the day. As I was dressing, Hubbie came upstairs to tell me my cardiologist's office had called. The nurse told Hubbie that test results from a couple of weeks ago show that I have a good heart, as far as they could tell...the rest is up to Hubbie to decide.

We didn't do much else before lunch. For lunch, I fixed sandwiches, using whole wheat hamburger buns from the freezer, heated in the oven until they thawed, and then toasted. I piled them with sauteed Vidalia onions, sliced tomatoes from the garden, and Monterey Jack cheese. Then I put them in the microwave to melt the cheese, and added mustard and salad dressing. We had these with cottage cheese spooned over cherry and grape tomatoes.



Around 12:45, one of the scrapbook club members came by to ride with us to a meeting at the Extension Office. The other member arrived at the office a few minutes after 1 p.m. For a couple of hours, we all engaged in various projects...scrapbooking or card making.



Mother and I focused on card making. I used one of the new rubber stamps to make a Thanksgiving design. The stamp features a big turkey, pumpkin, leaves, and tall grasses. It took me several tries to get what I wanted. I found that with a complicated design like that, I needed to apply several layers of the washable markers, in various fall colors to get a strong result. I used colored pencils to fill in the design. Then I double matted the design and glued it to a buff colored card. I'll enter the card in the fair, and then give it to Caring Hands Hospice.



Then I prepared elements for a colorful card that Mother completed for Caring Hands. The card has a dotted background paper, to which is added a couple of large lady bugs (stamped and colored with pencils), and "Just Saying Hello" as the greeting.



Mother completed several cards for Caring Hands, using photos of flowers that I took around our yard. These make very pretty "Thinking of You," greeting cards.



The meeting ended at 3 p.m., and we were back home before 3:30. At 4:30, Hubbie and I changed clothes to go to the Chamber of Commerce, where photos for a promotional brochure were to be taken. The brochure is an effort to get folks out to vote on the issue of building a sports complex/community center in the city. The complex would include a theater, a swimming pool, and a therapy pool.



Only folks within the city can vote on the proposal, but many of us in the county are in favor of the idea and want to promote it, because we can all benefit from such a facility. The reasoning behind only having the city vote on it is that a county-wide vote would doom the proposal, because folks in nearby communities would decide they wouldn't benefit from the facility.



Similar facilities in other communities, though, are highly trafficked, not only in their cities- proper, but out in their counties and beyond, since sports tournaments can be held in them, as well as conventions. Such a complex could bring in millions of dollars for the county.



At 5 p.m., a group of us from community theater were gathered, and bunched together, while the photographer climbed up on a tall wooden counter and shot downward on us. Various theater members donned costume pieces for the shot, but Hubbie and I did not. The photographer urged the participants to display theater faces. Hubbie and I did not. We just smiled.

We were home by 5:30, when Hubbie did the honors of making grilled cheese sandwiches for our supper, which we had with the yummy tomato soup.

I accompanied Mother home afterward, and then Hubbie and I watched TV, including a movie titled, "Contract Killers," a 2008 R-rated film. A beautiful young CIA assassin tries to get out of the business, but then her husband is killed and she sets out to find and kill his killer. Actors in this film unknown to me, except for Nick Mancuso.

Just as the movie started, we got a brief thunderstorm that caused a brown-out. Knocked out the TV and the laptop, but there was no damage. We did get more rain, though. Maybe the rain will drop the temp a little...it was certainly hot and humid today. In some parts of the state, the temp rose to near 100 degrees, with heat indices about 114. It was one of those days when I felt like I needed to cut my way through air with a machete just to breathe, and take a shower every time I came back indoors.

Another thunderstorm cropped up about an hour after the first, but didn't affect the power this time.