Today is Grandson's birthday. Happy Birthday, Grandson!
We were up at 7:30 this morning, and after breakfast, I did a treadmill session and resistance exercises. Once I was ready for the day, I went online to send a birthday e-card to Grandson, and Valentines e-cards to family members. Hubbie ran errands while I was doing this.
Mother came over mid-morning, and we finished gathering materials for making scrapbook pages next week. Then we cut up veggies for a chef's salad lunch.
After lunch, we wasted the afternoon watching animated features..."A Charlie Brown Valentine," and "The Tales of Despereaux." While we were watching these, our favorite basketball team's game was recording on the DVR. When the features were over, Hubbie and I turned to the game, about an hour and half in progress.
We enjoyed hamburgers/turkey burgers on whole wheat buns, and hash brown potatoes prepared in olive oil for supper, while we watched the game. Mother went home shortly after supper, and Hubbie and I continued watching the game, which, unfortunately our team lost. Boo.
As usual, we spent the rest of the evening watching TV, as well. The first movie we watched was "In Bruges,"a 2008 film starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two Irish hit men, the younger of whom (Colin Farrell) messes up an assassination by accidentally shooting a young boy. The two are sent to historic Bruges in Belgium, where the problem is to be solved. R-rated for language (lots of it), it is billed as a dark comedy. There are some comedic moments, but the plot eventually gets heavy with the younger man's deep guilt at having shot a child.
The second movie, also R-rated for language, is titled, "Lymelife." A 2008 film starring Alec Baldwin, Kieran Culkin, Rory Culkin, Jill Hennesey, and Timothy Hutton, it is a true coming of age drama about a 15-year-old who suffers through the breakdown of relationships, including that of his parents in the 1970s. Where does the title come in? The father of the boy's girlfriend suffers from depression, one of the effects of Lyme disease, caused by a tick bite.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Friday, Feb. 12
We were up around 8 a.m. this morning, and I did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast. I didn't accomplish much after that. I got caught up in watching an Animal Planet show with Hubbie about training unruly dogs, and it was 10:30 before I went upstairs to get ready for the day.
After lunch, Hubbie and I ran errands. There is still snow on the ground, in patchwork patterns on the lawns, and in dollops on the branches of shaded cedar trees, as well as slathered on the tops of shrubs. The temperature is supposed to rise significantly in the next few days, though, so the snow should soon be nothing but a memory.
First, we went to a local college gallery to see a Small Works on Paper exhibit, on tour from our Capitol City art museum. A favorite local artist, who serves with me on our art gallery committee, is featured in the exhibit.
There was a wonderful variety of works in the exhibit, from film, Polaroid, and digital photography, to graphite and pencil, to watercolors, to screen prints. I thoroughly enjoyed the special talents of our state's artists.
From the gallery, I intended to go to the Caring Hands office to leave the 20 Valentine cards that Mother and I made this week, but I forgot to bring them along with me. I even put them on the counter next to my purse so I wouldn't forget them, and then I forgot them anyway! I don't know where my mind goes, sometimes.
So we swung back by the house to pick them up, and then we headed back to the Caring Hands office. The director was excited to get the cards, and asked that we also make "thinking of you" and sympathy cards, when we have time.
Our last stop was at the WDCS for a few grocery items before returning home. Mother was here when we got back. She had cut up and sauteed onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms for making omelets for supper.
We spent part of the afternoon gathering materials for creating scrapbook pages, in anticipation of a scrapbook club meeting next week. This time, we'll do pages on our visit to see the trumpeter swans, and the recent snowstorms.
Later, we enjoyed the omelets for supper, with sauteed potatoes and biscuits. Funny: a few minutes before the boil-in-a-freezer-bag omelets were done cooking, I started to put the pan of biscuits in the oven, but discovered the oven was cold. Mother thought she had turned the oven on in ample time for it to heat to the required temperature, but what she had actually done was set the temperature dial and then switched the other dial to "clean" instead of "bake." So, since we had to wait for the oven to heat and the biscuits to bake, it was a few minutes later than usual before we sat down to eat. It was a blooper kind of day.
Mother went home after supper, and Hubbie and I watched TV, as usual. We began with the movie, "You Kill Me," an R-rated comedy-drama starring Ben Kingsley and Dennis Farina. An alcoholic hit man is given the ultimatum to get sober or else by his boss. So he attends Alcoholics Anonymous, and gets a job in a mortuary. He falls in love, and eventually reveals himself and his work (as an assassin) at AA meetings.
After lunch, Hubbie and I ran errands. There is still snow on the ground, in patchwork patterns on the lawns, and in dollops on the branches of shaded cedar trees, as well as slathered on the tops of shrubs. The temperature is supposed to rise significantly in the next few days, though, so the snow should soon be nothing but a memory.
First, we went to a local college gallery to see a Small Works on Paper exhibit, on tour from our Capitol City art museum. A favorite local artist, who serves with me on our art gallery committee, is featured in the exhibit.
There was a wonderful variety of works in the exhibit, from film, Polaroid, and digital photography, to graphite and pencil, to watercolors, to screen prints. I thoroughly enjoyed the special talents of our state's artists.
From the gallery, I intended to go to the Caring Hands office to leave the 20 Valentine cards that Mother and I made this week, but I forgot to bring them along with me. I even put them on the counter next to my purse so I wouldn't forget them, and then I forgot them anyway! I don't know where my mind goes, sometimes.
So we swung back by the house to pick them up, and then we headed back to the Caring Hands office. The director was excited to get the cards, and asked that we also make "thinking of you" and sympathy cards, when we have time.
Our last stop was at the WDCS for a few grocery items before returning home. Mother was here when we got back. She had cut up and sauteed onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms for making omelets for supper.
We spent part of the afternoon gathering materials for creating scrapbook pages, in anticipation of a scrapbook club meeting next week. This time, we'll do pages on our visit to see the trumpeter swans, and the recent snowstorms.
Later, we enjoyed the omelets for supper, with sauteed potatoes and biscuits. Funny: a few minutes before the boil-in-a-freezer-bag omelets were done cooking, I started to put the pan of biscuits in the oven, but discovered the oven was cold. Mother thought she had turned the oven on in ample time for it to heat to the required temperature, but what she had actually done was set the temperature dial and then switched the other dial to "clean" instead of "bake." So, since we had to wait for the oven to heat and the biscuits to bake, it was a few minutes later than usual before we sat down to eat. It was a blooper kind of day.
Mother went home after supper, and Hubbie and I watched TV, as usual. We began with the movie, "You Kill Me," an R-rated comedy-drama starring Ben Kingsley and Dennis Farina. An alcoholic hit man is given the ultimatum to get sober or else by his boss. So he attends Alcoholics Anonymous, and gets a job in a mortuary. He falls in love, and eventually reveals himself and his work (as an assassin) at AA meetings.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Valentine Greeting Cards
We were up early this morning, but I skipped my exercises, so I could get ready to accompany Hubbie to an appointment with his surgeon at 9:30. Everything checked out fine, and Hubbie has been released to resume normal activities. He does have some swelling in the surgery area that the doctor wants to check again in about a month, but he feels the swelling will take care of itself in that time, and if it does, the doctor said to just call and cancel the appointment.
When we got back home, I worked on making Valentine greeting cards until lunch time. After lunch, Mother came over and joined me. By 4 p.m., we had completed our goal of 20 cards. The snapshots above show six of those cards. The top photo is of three that I made, and the bottom photo shows samples of Mother's creations. This was a fun project. The cards, of course, are for Caring Hands Hospice, and I'll deliver them to the office tomorrow.
While we were making cards, Hubbie took the van to an auto repair shop. Yesterday, while we were running errands, Hubbie opened the sliding door on the driver's side to load some groceries, and then the door would not completely close and latch. Nothing he tried worked, so this morning he called the repair shop and was told to go there at 2 p.m. He did, but naturally, the tech who has to work on it (it is thought to be a computer problem) is covered up with other jobs and can't get to our van until Feb. 23. Rats. Listening to the noise caused by that not-quite-closed door will drive us crazy by that time.
Mother went home after we finished making cards, and Hubbie and I later had a supper of leftover tomato soup, with muffins that Mother baked today and brought over this afternoon. Yum.
This evening we watched the movie, "In the Valley of Elah," starring Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, Susan Sarandon, and Josh Brolin . This R-rated film tells the story of a spit-and-polish ex-military man who goes on a quest to find the killer of his soldier son, recently returned home from Iraq.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Tuesday, Feb. 9
We slept til around 8:30 this morning, and then right after breakfast, I got dressed and went outside to do photos. It was miserably cold, with a slight wind that cut right through my jeans. My body was warm enough, covered as it was in several layers of clothes and a coat, scarf, and hat. But my exposed fingers in the fingerless gloves got uncomfortably cold within a few minutes. I can see how frostbite occurs very rapidly to exposed flesh in freezing temps. The wind chill factor was eight degrees this morning, and my hands couldn't tolerate it long.
There is still quite a bit of snow on the ground, though some of it melted yesterday into puddles that froze overnight. I walked on the crunchy snow to keep from slipping on the frozen puddles. All I would need is to fall and break something!
The trees were still lovely this morning, with bare branches decorated in snow, but when the temperature rose this afternoon, frozen snow clods began dropping from the trees, and sounded like baseballs being tossed onto the roof of the house.
I got some pleasing shots that were enhanced by sunshine and blue skies (see previous blog). After I came back inside, I loaded the photos into my computer, and then changed into exercise shorts and t-shirt for a session on the treadmill. I finished the session with weights exercises.
By the time I got ready for the day, it was lunch time. We settled for deli turkey sandwiches with cottage cheese, and then Hubbie went to help Mother walk to our house. We didn't have a project planned for this afternoon, but I did decide to clean the veggie drawer in the refrigerator, where some veggies had gone south. Mother cut up the salvageable veggies and sauteed them as a side dish for supper.
I didn't accomplish much else, except making an appointment with my hairdresser for next week, and talking with the arts council director, who called to let me know tonight's visual arts meeting was cancelled, and then calling the lady at whose home the community theater board meets to let her know I probably would not bestir myself into the cold to attend tonight's meeting.
Most meetings and events scheduled for this week, including Second Friday downtown, have been cancelled. So I don't know why the president of the community theater board didn't cancel tonight's meeting. One of the alternate water aerobics leaders even called to say sessions are cancelled for the rest of this week and will resume on Monday.
Later, I uploaded winter pics to the one-hour service, and then read the local evening newspaper and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. Supper tonight was leftover chili mac, with the sauteed veggies, cole slaw, and cottage cheese.
After supper, I walked Mother home, and then Hubbie and I did the usual...watched TV. No movies tonight, just one-hour shows that I'd recorded on DVR.
There is still quite a bit of snow on the ground, though some of it melted yesterday into puddles that froze overnight. I walked on the crunchy snow to keep from slipping on the frozen puddles. All I would need is to fall and break something!
The trees were still lovely this morning, with bare branches decorated in snow, but when the temperature rose this afternoon, frozen snow clods began dropping from the trees, and sounded like baseballs being tossed onto the roof of the house.
I got some pleasing shots that were enhanced by sunshine and blue skies (see previous blog). After I came back inside, I loaded the photos into my computer, and then changed into exercise shorts and t-shirt for a session on the treadmill. I finished the session with weights exercises.
By the time I got ready for the day, it was lunch time. We settled for deli turkey sandwiches with cottage cheese, and then Hubbie went to help Mother walk to our house. We didn't have a project planned for this afternoon, but I did decide to clean the veggie drawer in the refrigerator, where some veggies had gone south. Mother cut up the salvageable veggies and sauteed them as a side dish for supper.
I didn't accomplish much else, except making an appointment with my hairdresser for next week, and talking with the arts council director, who called to let me know tonight's visual arts meeting was cancelled, and then calling the lady at whose home the community theater board meets to let her know I probably would not bestir myself into the cold to attend tonight's meeting.
Most meetings and events scheduled for this week, including Second Friday downtown, have been cancelled. So I don't know why the president of the community theater board didn't cancel tonight's meeting. One of the alternate water aerobics leaders even called to say sessions are cancelled for the rest of this week and will resume on Monday.
Later, I uploaded winter pics to the one-hour service, and then read the local evening newspaper and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. Supper tonight was leftover chili mac, with the sauteed veggies, cole slaw, and cottage cheese.
After supper, I walked Mother home, and then Hubbie and I did the usual...watched TV. No movies tonight, just one-hour shows that I'd recorded on DVR.
Tuesday, Feb. 9 Snow Photos
Went outdoors first thing this morning and took these snapshots around the yard. The bright sunshine helped make for a pleasing shot of the garage and back porch. The neighbor's snowman, alas, is tilting backwards...perhaps the snow was not stacked correctly to evenly balance the sculpture. I manipulated the bottom photo of snowy branches, making it very contrasty, to create sort of a modern art look.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Monday, Feb. 8
Wow! We awoke at 7 a.m. to another snowfall. It was coming down in big, wet flakes, and covering the ground quickly. I decided to skip my exercises after breakfast and go outside to snap more photos, instead. Glad I did, because while the snow was pretty first thing this morning, it began getting soggy before noon. It continued to snow, but it seemed to just puddle in the yard.
Before I went outdoors, though, I called my dental surgeon's office in the Capital City to reschedule tomorrow afternoon's appointment, since I was pretty sure weather conditions wouldn't be conducive to travel. I got a new appointment for Feb. 25.
One of the first things I noticed when I went outdoors was that our neighbor was building a tall snowman again...even taller than the one he built last week. I'll go out tomorrow morning and take a picture of the finished product.
I spent 30 minutes or so trudging around the yard, before my fingers started freezing up. On Saturday, when I took Mother to the WDCS, I found a pair of fingerless gloves for about $3, which I thought would be great for taking pictures on cold days. And they were, because they freed my fingers to operate the camera functions, but it doesn't take long for my hands to get really cold in snowy or icy weather.
So I came in and uploaded the snapshots, thawed out a little, and then went back outdoors for more shots. The way I dress to go outdoors, I look like Nanook of the North, or that little whiney kid in "A Christmas Story," with coat, gloves, hat, and a long scarf that I wind around my face. Hubbie laughs at me every time he sees me this way.
It snowed pretty much most of the day, though I didn't measure it to see how deep it got. It isn't as deep as it was last week, though, because it is so wet. Last week's snow was fluffy, while this one is a bit sloppy.
But it is predicted to continue snowing throughout the night, and the temperature will drop, so the snow will probably accumulate by morning. Then as the temp rises, the snow should melt. Don't know if conditions will be good enough for water aerobics to resume on Wednesday, though.
Hubbie helped Mother come over about mid-morning. She finished the craft she was working on, and worked puzzle books, while Hubbie watched TV.
After a lunch of leftovers, I shot pictures of birds and squirrels from the sun room window (see previous blog).
Mother added tomatoes, juice, and beans to the leftover chili to make chili-mac for supper. She used whole wheat rotini for the pasta. We had this with cole slaw and cottage cheese.
While the rotini was cooking, we all scoured the house for my eyeglasses. I simply could not remember where I'd put them. By suppertime, we still had not found them. After supper, though, Hubbie went out to the sun room to close one of the blinds (that I'd raised to shoot pictures of the birds) and found them laying on the hot tub.
This is only one of four pairs I use. They are my old bifocals, that I wear for reading and close work around the house. I carry the newest pair in my purse. Then I have two cheap pairs (bought at discount stores) that I wear when working at my office and laptop computers.
Keeping up with all these pairs of glasses is an adventure. The other day, I comically started to put on a pair of computer glasses before I discovered that I was already wearing my oldest bifocals. Maybe that's the best way to keep up with them...wear them all at once.
A couple of days ago, I misplaced the eyeglasses I use at my office computer. So I went in search of them, locating them on the bedroom nightstand. But instead of picking up my glasses, I grabbed the TV remote control and walked back to my computer. "What am I doing with this?" I wondered aloud, as I marched back to the bedroom.
I walked Mother home after supper, and then Hubbie and I watched TV, starting with the movie, "The Last Outlaw," starring Mickey Rourke. It's a 1993 R-rated (for language and violence) film about a gritty band of outlaws. The band's leader decides to put a badly wounded member out of his misery, but his second in command has other ideas. He shoots the leader and takes over the band. The leader, thought to be dead, is not, and he allies himself with the law to hunt down and kill his gang members one by one. Guy movie, but the scenery is nice.
The second movie we watched was, "Liberty Stands Still," starring Wesley Snipes, Linda Fionrentino, and Oliver Platt. It's a 2002 R-rated film in which Snipes' character is out for revenge for the murder of his daughter. Deciding that a gun manufacturer must be held accountable, because his daughter was killed by one of the manufacturer's guns, the sniper forces the wife of the CEO to chain herself to a hot dog cart that contains a bomb. The sniper's demand is to hold a debate of the Second Amendment...the right to keep and bear arms. Shades of the movie, "Phone Booth."
Before I went outdoors, though, I called my dental surgeon's office in the Capital City to reschedule tomorrow afternoon's appointment, since I was pretty sure weather conditions wouldn't be conducive to travel. I got a new appointment for Feb. 25.
One of the first things I noticed when I went outdoors was that our neighbor was building a tall snowman again...even taller than the one he built last week. I'll go out tomorrow morning and take a picture of the finished product.
I spent 30 minutes or so trudging around the yard, before my fingers started freezing up. On Saturday, when I took Mother to the WDCS, I found a pair of fingerless gloves for about $3, which I thought would be great for taking pictures on cold days. And they were, because they freed my fingers to operate the camera functions, but it doesn't take long for my hands to get really cold in snowy or icy weather.
So I came in and uploaded the snapshots, thawed out a little, and then went back outdoors for more shots. The way I dress to go outdoors, I look like Nanook of the North, or that little whiney kid in "A Christmas Story," with coat, gloves, hat, and a long scarf that I wind around my face. Hubbie laughs at me every time he sees me this way.
It snowed pretty much most of the day, though I didn't measure it to see how deep it got. It isn't as deep as it was last week, though, because it is so wet. Last week's snow was fluffy, while this one is a bit sloppy.
But it is predicted to continue snowing throughout the night, and the temperature will drop, so the snow will probably accumulate by morning. Then as the temp rises, the snow should melt. Don't know if conditions will be good enough for water aerobics to resume on Wednesday, though.
Hubbie helped Mother come over about mid-morning. She finished the craft she was working on, and worked puzzle books, while Hubbie watched TV.
After a lunch of leftovers, I shot pictures of birds and squirrels from the sun room window (see previous blog).
Mother added tomatoes, juice, and beans to the leftover chili to make chili-mac for supper. She used whole wheat rotini for the pasta. We had this with cole slaw and cottage cheese.
While the rotini was cooking, we all scoured the house for my eyeglasses. I simply could not remember where I'd put them. By suppertime, we still had not found them. After supper, though, Hubbie went out to the sun room to close one of the blinds (that I'd raised to shoot pictures of the birds) and found them laying on the hot tub.
This is only one of four pairs I use. They are my old bifocals, that I wear for reading and close work around the house. I carry the newest pair in my purse. Then I have two cheap pairs (bought at discount stores) that I wear when working at my office and laptop computers.
Keeping up with all these pairs of glasses is an adventure. The other day, I comically started to put on a pair of computer glasses before I discovered that I was already wearing my oldest bifocals. Maybe that's the best way to keep up with them...wear them all at once.
A couple of days ago, I misplaced the eyeglasses I use at my office computer. So I went in search of them, locating them on the bedroom nightstand. But instead of picking up my glasses, I grabbed the TV remote control and walked back to my computer. "What am I doing with this?" I wondered aloud, as I marched back to the bedroom.
I walked Mother home after supper, and then Hubbie and I watched TV, starting with the movie, "The Last Outlaw," starring Mickey Rourke. It's a 1993 R-rated (for language and violence) film about a gritty band of outlaws. The band's leader decides to put a badly wounded member out of his misery, but his second in command has other ideas. He shoots the leader and takes over the band. The leader, thought to be dead, is not, and he allies himself with the law to hunt down and kill his gang members one by one. Guy movie, but the scenery is nice.
The second movie we watched was, "Liberty Stands Still," starring Wesley Snipes, Linda Fionrentino, and Oliver Platt. It's a 2002 R-rated film in which Snipes' character is out for revenge for the murder of his daughter. Deciding that a gun manufacturer must be held accountable, because his daughter was killed by one of the manufacturer's guns, the sniper forces the wife of the CEO to chain herself to a hot dog cart that contains a bomb. The sniper's demand is to hold a debate of the Second Amendment...the right to keep and bear arms. Shades of the movie, "Phone Booth."
More Feb. 8 Snow Photos
The birds and the squirrels are busy in our yard today, as these photos show...a squirrel robbing a bird feeder; American goldfinches and a house finch clustered at another feeder, and a cardinal perched on a snowy branch, waiting his turn at a feeder.
Feb. 8 Snow Photos
The wet, heavy snow was falling even as I took these shots of our house, a neighbor building a taller snowman than last time, and a yucca plant weighted down with the white stuff.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Sunday, February 7
Today is Son's birthday. Happy Birthday, Son!
And Happy Super Bowl Sunday to the rest of us.
We were up around 8 a.m. this morning, and I did a treadmill session after breakfast. I usually skip Sundays, but since I might have to miss exercising Tuesday to meet a dental appointment in Capital City, I decided to go ahead and do a session today. Of course, if weather predictions for two to four inches of snow tomorrow pan out, we might not be able to go to Capital City anyway.
Once I was ready for the day, I did the usual Sunday things of programming the DVR for the week's shows, and reading the Sunday newspaper. Mother came over around 9 a.m. and prepared eye of round steak to simmer in liquid and for a while to tenderize it for a beef strips with onions and bell peppers. The beef dish was delicious with baked potatoes and salad.
There was a program on rural electriification in the 1940s at the museum this afternoon that Hubbie was interested in attending, so I asked Mother if she was interested in going with us.
"Would you rather go to the museum, or eat a bug?" I joked.
"Eat a bug," she said.
"Okay," I laughed, "I think there is a bug caught in the sticky trap in the downstairs bathroom, and a spider in a trap upstairs. Which would you prefer?"
"The bug," she said. "It's crunchier. The spider has too many wiggly legs."
She went home right after lunch, minus the bug. Just before 2 p.m., we went to the program, which featured a speaker from an electric cooperative. He showed us a video of the history of getting electricity to the very rural areas of our state in the 1940s.
It's hard to comprehend how difficult it was for the workers of the electric company to manually dig holes for the creosote-coated power poles. Many of those poles, now 70 years old, still stand, though about 30,000 of them broke in last year's horrible ice storm.
Several older people told stories about their childhood experiences of when electricity first came to their parents' or grandparents' homes. One man said that when electricity came to his grandparent's home, a single 40 watt bulb was suspended on a cord from the ceiling of their living room, and each evening the family would gather in that room and just sit and stare at that wonderous bulb.
Rural women led very harsh lives...so much so, that when electricity afforded them the opportunity to buy electric ranges to cook on, refrigerators to preserve their food, and washing machines (all appliances that the electric cooperative helped them purchase on payment plans) the women literally wept for joy and relief that their work was eased.
The speaker provided literature to audience members, and the opportunity to sign up for a free one-year subscription to the company's popular magazine. I signed up, because in looking at an issue, I noticed interesting articles, recipes, contributor photos, and a crossword puzzle.
The speaker also gave everyone yellow plastic cups that, when filled with a cold liquid, turn green. The cups advertise that the electric cooperative is environmentally responsible.
The program ended around 3 p.m. At home, we watched some of the Super Bowl pre-game programs. One segment was particularly interesting, because it featured a couple of high school football players, one of whom (a Caucasian boy) was killed in an auto accident, and one (an African-American from a school near our town), who stopped one yard short of a touchdown to honor the fallen football player's memory. The fallen player lived in a town several hours away.
At 5 p.m., we joined the rest of the nation as the New Orleans Saints took on the Indianapolis Colts. We rooted for the Saints, and YAY, they won!!!
We enjoyed the halftime concert by "The Who," famed for their song "Pinball Wizard." When my kids were young, and I was working as a single mother, my youngest son failed to alert me when a photographer was due to visit his school. So I went to work early one morning, as usual, before the kids caught the bus to school, not realizing that this was photo day, and that Son would choose to wear a bright yellow t-shirt, with a "Pinball Wizard" logo emblazened on the front.
Imagine my shock when he later brought home the package of photos for me to peruse, and there was my son in an ugly yellow "Pinball Wizard" t-shirt. I bought some of the photos anyway, but I sure had to think about it. Son, who shall go nameless, but whose birthday is today, knows who he is.
After the game, we watched a couple of one-hour shows and then hit the sack.
And Happy Super Bowl Sunday to the rest of us.
We were up around 8 a.m. this morning, and I did a treadmill session after breakfast. I usually skip Sundays, but since I might have to miss exercising Tuesday to meet a dental appointment in Capital City, I decided to go ahead and do a session today. Of course, if weather predictions for two to four inches of snow tomorrow pan out, we might not be able to go to Capital City anyway.
Once I was ready for the day, I did the usual Sunday things of programming the DVR for the week's shows, and reading the Sunday newspaper. Mother came over around 9 a.m. and prepared eye of round steak to simmer in liquid and for a while to tenderize it for a beef strips with onions and bell peppers. The beef dish was delicious with baked potatoes and salad.
There was a program on rural electriification in the 1940s at the museum this afternoon that Hubbie was interested in attending, so I asked Mother if she was interested in going with us.
"Would you rather go to the museum, or eat a bug?" I joked.
"Eat a bug," she said.
"Okay," I laughed, "I think there is a bug caught in the sticky trap in the downstairs bathroom, and a spider in a trap upstairs. Which would you prefer?"
"The bug," she said. "It's crunchier. The spider has too many wiggly legs."
She went home right after lunch, minus the bug. Just before 2 p.m., we went to the program, which featured a speaker from an electric cooperative. He showed us a video of the history of getting electricity to the very rural areas of our state in the 1940s.
It's hard to comprehend how difficult it was for the workers of the electric company to manually dig holes for the creosote-coated power poles. Many of those poles, now 70 years old, still stand, though about 30,000 of them broke in last year's horrible ice storm.
Several older people told stories about their childhood experiences of when electricity first came to their parents' or grandparents' homes. One man said that when electricity came to his grandparent's home, a single 40 watt bulb was suspended on a cord from the ceiling of their living room, and each evening the family would gather in that room and just sit and stare at that wonderous bulb.
Rural women led very harsh lives...so much so, that when electricity afforded them the opportunity to buy electric ranges to cook on, refrigerators to preserve their food, and washing machines (all appliances that the electric cooperative helped them purchase on payment plans) the women literally wept for joy and relief that their work was eased.
The speaker provided literature to audience members, and the opportunity to sign up for a free one-year subscription to the company's popular magazine. I signed up, because in looking at an issue, I noticed interesting articles, recipes, contributor photos, and a crossword puzzle.
The speaker also gave everyone yellow plastic cups that, when filled with a cold liquid, turn green. The cups advertise that the electric cooperative is environmentally responsible.
The program ended around 3 p.m. At home, we watched some of the Super Bowl pre-game programs. One segment was particularly interesting, because it featured a couple of high school football players, one of whom (a Caucasian boy) was killed in an auto accident, and one (an African-American from a school near our town), who stopped one yard short of a touchdown to honor the fallen football player's memory. The fallen player lived in a town several hours away.
At 5 p.m., we joined the rest of the nation as the New Orleans Saints took on the Indianapolis Colts. We rooted for the Saints, and YAY, they won!!!
We enjoyed the halftime concert by "The Who," famed for their song "Pinball Wizard." When my kids were young, and I was working as a single mother, my youngest son failed to alert me when a photographer was due to visit his school. So I went to work early one morning, as usual, before the kids caught the bus to school, not realizing that this was photo day, and that Son would choose to wear a bright yellow t-shirt, with a "Pinball Wizard" logo emblazened on the front.
Imagine my shock when he later brought home the package of photos for me to peruse, and there was my son in an ugly yellow "Pinball Wizard" t-shirt. I bought some of the photos anyway, but I sure had to think about it. Son, who shall go nameless, but whose birthday is today, knows who he is.
After the game, we watched a couple of one-hour shows and then hit the sack.
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