Up at 8:15 and did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast. Before I got on the treadmill, though, Hubbie decided to run errands...not such a good idea, since Shih Tzu had diarrhea and needed to go out as soon as Hubbie left the driveway. I was dressed in shorts and t-shirt and had time only to throw on a cape before going outside. Br-r-r.
Finally finished my session, though, and got ready for the day. Mother came over, bringing three Italian cream cheese balls with her. And then she made two more here. That should be enough for family get-togethers and for giving as gifts with crackers.
I decided to again search for my address cards. This time, I found them...right where I put them, in the Rolodex. They were in the front, but turned backwards. Once I discovered them, I remembered I'd turned them backwards to keep Hubbie from alphabetically filing them before I finished writing my Christmas cards. I was relieved that I could now send a letter and Christmas card to my friend in another town.
Other than adding rum to the cloth wrapping the chocolate date/candied fruit cake I baked a couple of weeks ago, I didn't do much for the rest of the morning.
After a veggie soup lunch, with crackers and Italian cream cheese ball, Hubbie and I ran errands...to the post office, to the everything's a dollar store, to the WDCS, and to a pharmacy store. At the pharmacy, I bought Christmas-themed paper Christmas sacks at eight for a dollar. I looked for them first at the everything's a dollar store, but there were none there.
At the WDCS, I thought we would never find white taper candles. Even after a store employee sent us to the right aisle, I searched and searched the shelves before finding them. I would have preferred pure white candles, but the vanilla colored ones I found will have to do.
Strange episode at the checkout counter: the older checker seemed frazzled. I commented that I imagined she would be glad when Christmas was over. "Yes," she said, "for more than one reason."
I didn't respond. But presently, she continued. "Christmas is always a bad time for me. Two years ago in September, two of my grandsons died in a house fire. And last year, in October, my husband died."
I expressed my sympathy. "And then," she said, "folks at the funeral said it was cheap of us to bury the boys in the same casket. But those boys were inseparable in life, and we didn't want to separate them in death."
I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing. But I thought to myself that those people had a lot of nerve criticizing a family in mourning for their choices in funeral arrangements.
Thankfully, at this point she had finished ringing up our purchases, and we were able to leave. I seem to be one of those people that other folks feel free to confide in, and if this lady needed to unburden herself, I'm glad I could help. But I left the store a little gloomy.
It was about 3 p.m. before we got back home. Mother had retrieved the leftover lasagna from the freezer and put it in the oven for our supper. While it heated, we sat down to watch the musical, "Scrooge," starring Kelsey Grammer, which helped restore my cheerful spirits.
Mother went home after supper, and after the dishes were cleared and the kitchen cleaned, I made a rum cake for Hubbie. Since the cake is made with a yellow cake mix and vanilla pudding (which also contains yellow dye) I won't be able to eat any of it.
While the cake baked, Hubbie and I watched our favorite college basketball team play to a disappointing loss.
It was a night for basketball games, as we watched another state team also go down in defeat.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
Friday, Dec. 17
Up around 8 a.m. this morning and did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast. Once I was ready for the day, I did this and that before lunch...like putting a sparkly ribbon and a gift card on a bottle of chai mix to use as a hostess gift for an annual "Cup of Cheer" gathering at a friend's house.
Naturally, this simple task didn't go off without a hitch. For one thing, I couldn't find a box of gift tags I'd bought a month or so ago. Mother and I were sure they were in our greeting card making supplies, but if they are, they are buried deep. So I decided to just create one with card stock and a sticker.
Naturally, the sticker wouldn't stick, so I had to dig through my supplies to find glue dots to adhere it. Then I tied it to the bow with gold string. But naturally, the string slipped apart, and I had to tie it again, knotting it and knotting it to secure it.
Then I wrote a Christmas letter to a friend to include in a greeting card. Naturally, I then couldn't find her address. The last I saw it, I'd tucked hers and some other address cards into the Rolodex a couple of days ago, but when I looked they were all gone. I've hunted high and low for them to no avail. So I guess this friend won't get the card and letter. Maybe I'll call her. I think her number is in my cell phone address book.
So I decided to call the arts council director at the gallery downtown to let her know that I was bringing a couple of photos to her to give to the lady who asked me to print them for her (they are from the graham cracker cookie Christmas house workshop). Naturally, no one answered at the gallery.
Those were frustrating things, but not nearly as frustrating as Mother discovering this morning that there was a busted water pipe at her house, and water was seeping onto the lawn. Hubbie immediately called a plumber, who arrived right at noon. Since he was here, we got him to look at the upstairs bathroom sinks, which were draining extremely slowly. He fixed both problems, but advised that our faucets are leaking water down the inside of the wall, and we need to get them replaced. Merry Christmas.
After lunch, I decided I needed to chance that the art gallery would be open around 1 p.m., so Hubbie and I drove downtown. Naturally, a few blocks down Main Street, I remembered I needed to pick up two or three free editions of the regional section of our state newspaper, because some of the snapshots from the Christmas house workshop were in it (though, boo, none of our great-grandchildren were featured...however, one photo of Granddaughter and Great-Granddaughter were in our local newspaper).
Once we'd picked up the papers, we proceeded to the gallery and left a copy of the regional section, a copy of the photos featured in the local newspaper, a package of prints from the workshop, and the two photos requested by the lady.
Back home, I helped Mother address some of her Christmas cards (her hands are getting shaky for writing these days), and then we sat down to watch "I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown."
Afterward, we went to the neighbor's "Cup of Cheer" drop-in event. The home where the event was held is relatively small, so it was pretty crowded with women. The ladies, including us, were colorfully dressed in holiday garb. The house was pleasingly decorated, and two long tables were laden with goodies. Drinks included wassail and coffee.
Lots of the ladies from water aerobics were there, so I got to visit with them. The lady I stand next to at aerobics is going on a cruise with her family beginning this coming Sunday. It'll be a 22 day excursion to Antarctica. They chose to go through the Christmas holidays because her son is in the middle of a very nasty divorce, and they want to get away from the turmoil. I'd say they could hardly get farther away than Antarctica!
Back home, Mother went to her house, and later, Hubbie and I went to a home medical service Christmas party at the country club. In the past, this party was held at a hunting lodge, but the lodge has since been sold. We're invited to this party each year because I'm on the advisory board.
The room that the party was held in was okay, but it wasn't as interesting as the lodge. The mantel in the room was decorated with various sizes of Santas. The tree featured purple and lavender decorations (purple seems to be the "in" color this year).
A popular local guitarist entertained before and during dinner. Dinner was buffet style, featuring green salad, fruit salad, and cranberry relish, as well as sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes, gravy, a green bean casserole, a choice of turkey or ham, fresh sliced by a staff member, and hot rolls. For dessert, there was a choice of apple or pumpkin pie.
I opted for the green salad, cranberry relish, sweet potatoes, a dab of mashed potatoes and gravy, a dab of the green bean casserole, and turkey. I chose apple pie, but ate only the apples and not the crust.
After dinner, the advisory board members were presented with gift tins containing jars of dips and packages of pretzels. One jar contains onion blossom horseradish dip, with a very high fat and sodium content, and one jar contains raspberry honey mustard dip, which is very low in fat and moderate in sodium content.
Then the head of the medical services praised the staff for a successful year. He also commented on losing his father this year, and gaining a grandson, born two months ago.
A staff member enlisted other staff members to participate in games. The first one was twelve folks singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas," with new lyrics expressing events that had happened on their jobs. Obviously, Hubbie and I weren't in the know for this one, although listening to the twelve try to sing their assigned parts was funny.
Then the medical services head, plus a board member and two other guys, were seated up front and issued "costumes" of a Santa hat, an elf hat, a scarf and bowler hat (for Frosty), and antlers. Then they were given bells for ringing in if they knew the answers to questions. The questions were simple ones relating to Frosty the Snowman, Santa and his reindeer, the Grinch, etc. I was surprised at how few these guys could answer. Obviously, men are not as "in the know" as women, maybe because we are more connected to children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I knew the answers to all of them but one.
We were back home around 8 p.m., when we relaxed in front of TV.
Naturally, this simple task didn't go off without a hitch. For one thing, I couldn't find a box of gift tags I'd bought a month or so ago. Mother and I were sure they were in our greeting card making supplies, but if they are, they are buried deep. So I decided to just create one with card stock and a sticker.
Naturally, the sticker wouldn't stick, so I had to dig through my supplies to find glue dots to adhere it. Then I tied it to the bow with gold string. But naturally, the string slipped apart, and I had to tie it again, knotting it and knotting it to secure it.
Then I wrote a Christmas letter to a friend to include in a greeting card. Naturally, I then couldn't find her address. The last I saw it, I'd tucked hers and some other address cards into the Rolodex a couple of days ago, but when I looked they were all gone. I've hunted high and low for them to no avail. So I guess this friend won't get the card and letter. Maybe I'll call her. I think her number is in my cell phone address book.
So I decided to call the arts council director at the gallery downtown to let her know that I was bringing a couple of photos to her to give to the lady who asked me to print them for her (they are from the graham cracker cookie Christmas house workshop). Naturally, no one answered at the gallery.
Those were frustrating things, but not nearly as frustrating as Mother discovering this morning that there was a busted water pipe at her house, and water was seeping onto the lawn. Hubbie immediately called a plumber, who arrived right at noon. Since he was here, we got him to look at the upstairs bathroom sinks, which were draining extremely slowly. He fixed both problems, but advised that our faucets are leaking water down the inside of the wall, and we need to get them replaced. Merry Christmas.
After lunch, I decided I needed to chance that the art gallery would be open around 1 p.m., so Hubbie and I drove downtown. Naturally, a few blocks down Main Street, I remembered I needed to pick up two or three free editions of the regional section of our state newspaper, because some of the snapshots from the Christmas house workshop were in it (though, boo, none of our great-grandchildren were featured...however, one photo of Granddaughter and Great-Granddaughter were in our local newspaper).
Once we'd picked up the papers, we proceeded to the gallery and left a copy of the regional section, a copy of the photos featured in the local newspaper, a package of prints from the workshop, and the two photos requested by the lady.
Back home, I helped Mother address some of her Christmas cards (her hands are getting shaky for writing these days), and then we sat down to watch "I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown."
Afterward, we went to the neighbor's "Cup of Cheer" drop-in event. The home where the event was held is relatively small, so it was pretty crowded with women. The ladies, including us, were colorfully dressed in holiday garb. The house was pleasingly decorated, and two long tables were laden with goodies. Drinks included wassail and coffee.
Lots of the ladies from water aerobics were there, so I got to visit with them. The lady I stand next to at aerobics is going on a cruise with her family beginning this coming Sunday. It'll be a 22 day excursion to Antarctica. They chose to go through the Christmas holidays because her son is in the middle of a very nasty divorce, and they want to get away from the turmoil. I'd say they could hardly get farther away than Antarctica!
Back home, Mother went to her house, and later, Hubbie and I went to a home medical service Christmas party at the country club. In the past, this party was held at a hunting lodge, but the lodge has since been sold. We're invited to this party each year because I'm on the advisory board.
The room that the party was held in was okay, but it wasn't as interesting as the lodge. The mantel in the room was decorated with various sizes of Santas. The tree featured purple and lavender decorations (purple seems to be the "in" color this year).
A popular local guitarist entertained before and during dinner. Dinner was buffet style, featuring green salad, fruit salad, and cranberry relish, as well as sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes, gravy, a green bean casserole, a choice of turkey or ham, fresh sliced by a staff member, and hot rolls. For dessert, there was a choice of apple or pumpkin pie.
I opted for the green salad, cranberry relish, sweet potatoes, a dab of mashed potatoes and gravy, a dab of the green bean casserole, and turkey. I chose apple pie, but ate only the apples and not the crust.
After dinner, the advisory board members were presented with gift tins containing jars of dips and packages of pretzels. One jar contains onion blossom horseradish dip, with a very high fat and sodium content, and one jar contains raspberry honey mustard dip, which is very low in fat and moderate in sodium content.
Then the head of the medical services praised the staff for a successful year. He also commented on losing his father this year, and gaining a grandson, born two months ago.
A staff member enlisted other staff members to participate in games. The first one was twelve folks singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas," with new lyrics expressing events that had happened on their jobs. Obviously, Hubbie and I weren't in the know for this one, although listening to the twelve try to sing their assigned parts was funny.
Then the medical services head, plus a board member and two other guys, were seated up front and issued "costumes" of a Santa hat, an elf hat, a scarf and bowler hat (for Frosty), and antlers. Then they were given bells for ringing in if they knew the answers to questions. The questions were simple ones relating to Frosty the Snowman, Santa and his reindeer, the Grinch, etc. I was surprised at how few these guys could answer. Obviously, men are not as "in the know" as women, maybe because we are more connected to children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I knew the answers to all of them but one.
We were back home around 8 p.m., when we relaxed in front of TV.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Thursday, Dec. 16
Up around 7:30 and did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast. Once I was ready for the day, Mother came over, and we planned next week's menu...or at least the few days before Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after Christmas, when meals are already planned.
After I'd prepared a grocery list, Hubbie went shopping. I stayed home to do a couple of loads of laundry and other household chores. Hubbie returned around noon, and we had a veggie soup lunch. Mother went home, since we had no projects planned for today.
Following lunch, I went Christmas shopping...to the store that has a sale every weekend, and to the other store that has a sale every weekend, as well as to a sports store, to the WDCS and to a grocery store. At the store that has a sale every weekend, I bought a winter scarf for Hubbie's granddaughter. I used a $10 coupon for that, so the scarf only cost 43 cents. At the other stores, I bought gifts for Hubbie. I think I've finally finished my Christmas shopping now.
Later, for supper, Hubbie and I had leftover lasagna, after which I went to the college library to meet my Literacy Council student. She was about five minutes late, but we still managed a good session.
We reviewed material covered last Tuesday, and then did a lesson on asking and answering questions, like "Are you a student?" and "Are you a doctor?" with answers of "Yes, I am," and "No, I'm not." The object of the lesson was to use proper intonations.
Again, we practiced hearing the difference in the "a" sound as in man or sand, and the "e" sound in men or send. We spent quite a bit of time on this, since it's so difficult for her to hear the subtle differences. But by the end of the session, I could see the light dawning in her face.
We also touched on the numbers 21 to 30. The numbers three, thirteen, and thirty are difficult for her to get her tongue around, so she'll need to practice these at home.
I decided we should take a break for Christmas and New Year's, so we will not meet again until January 3. She seemed relieved to hear this. As a young mother, I'm sure she has lots to do for the holidays. Before they left, I gave her daughter a Christmas wrapped nutcracker tree ornament as a reward for being so helpful in translating for me.
Back home, we spent the evening watching TV, as usual.
After I'd prepared a grocery list, Hubbie went shopping. I stayed home to do a couple of loads of laundry and other household chores. Hubbie returned around noon, and we had a veggie soup lunch. Mother went home, since we had no projects planned for today.
Following lunch, I went Christmas shopping...to the store that has a sale every weekend, and to the other store that has a sale every weekend, as well as to a sports store, to the WDCS and to a grocery store. At the store that has a sale every weekend, I bought a winter scarf for Hubbie's granddaughter. I used a $10 coupon for that, so the scarf only cost 43 cents. At the other stores, I bought gifts for Hubbie. I think I've finally finished my Christmas shopping now.
Later, for supper, Hubbie and I had leftover lasagna, after which I went to the college library to meet my Literacy Council student. She was about five minutes late, but we still managed a good session.
We reviewed material covered last Tuesday, and then did a lesson on asking and answering questions, like "Are you a student?" and "Are you a doctor?" with answers of "Yes, I am," and "No, I'm not." The object of the lesson was to use proper intonations.
Again, we practiced hearing the difference in the "a" sound as in man or sand, and the "e" sound in men or send. We spent quite a bit of time on this, since it's so difficult for her to hear the subtle differences. But by the end of the session, I could see the light dawning in her face.
We also touched on the numbers 21 to 30. The numbers three, thirteen, and thirty are difficult for her to get her tongue around, so she'll need to practice these at home.
I decided we should take a break for Christmas and New Year's, so we will not meet again until January 3. She seemed relieved to hear this. As a young mother, I'm sure she has lots to do for the holidays. Before they left, I gave her daughter a Christmas wrapped nutcracker tree ornament as a reward for being so helpful in translating for me.
Back home, we spent the evening watching TV, as usual.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Wednesday, Dec. 15
Slept late and got up around 8 a.m, then did a treadmill session and resistance exercises. Once I was ready for the day, Hubbie and I delivered gift baskets...first to an Extension Homemaker friend who delivered a jar of her homemade jelly to us a few days ago.
This lady works at a bookstore, which is across the street from a cafe' that Mother and I want to try. So Hubbie popped over to the cafe' to buy a gift certificate to use as a 12-days-of-Christmas gift for Mother. So far, she has received a musical Christmas card, an Andy Williams Christmas music CD, a large can of her favorite hairspray from a beauty supplies store, and a jar of lemon curd.
From there, we delivered a basket to the hairdressers. Here, we met a couple of our friends. They had purchased two tall, skinny, wooden Christmas trees with lights to use as a gift for their son and daughter-in-law. But the trees wouldn't fit in their car, so we offered to put them in our van and take them to their house.
I know...it seems odd that the beauty shop would be selling crafts, but they frequently let folks sell things out of their shop. A couple of weeks ago, I bought a big bag of peanut brittle there to use as a Christmas gift for Hubbie.
While we were at the beauty shop, I bought a gift certificate for a haircut for Mother...another 12-days-of-Christmas gift.
Before we delivered the wooden trees, we stopped by the Caring Hands office to drop off the third gift basket.
Then we returned home for a lunch of leftovers. Right after lunch, we struck out again, this time in search of inexpensive gifts for six great-grandchildren, who will be visiting with other family the day after Christmas. We usually just send money gifts to families, but when kids are going to be here, we feel we need to provide token gifts for them as well as the adults, since we know they'll be bringing gifts for us.
We managed to find $5 board and card games for the younger kids, and I'll search tomorrow for an inexpensive scarf for the teen girl.
After stopping by a couple of grocery stores, we returned home. Mother had prepared a pot of beans with ham, along with an oven potato dish, and turnip greens for supper, so I mixed up cornbread batter for the oven.
The meal was really good and very satisfying. Mother went home afterward, and I spent time uploading photos to a one-hour service, writing letters to include in Christmas cards, and filling out Christmas cards.
While I wrote Christmas cards, Hubbie and I watched our favorite college basketball team play to a win.
This lady works at a bookstore, which is across the street from a cafe' that Mother and I want to try. So Hubbie popped over to the cafe' to buy a gift certificate to use as a 12-days-of-Christmas gift for Mother. So far, she has received a musical Christmas card, an Andy Williams Christmas music CD, a large can of her favorite hairspray from a beauty supplies store, and a jar of lemon curd.
From there, we delivered a basket to the hairdressers. Here, we met a couple of our friends. They had purchased two tall, skinny, wooden Christmas trees with lights to use as a gift for their son and daughter-in-law. But the trees wouldn't fit in their car, so we offered to put them in our van and take them to their house.
I know...it seems odd that the beauty shop would be selling crafts, but they frequently let folks sell things out of their shop. A couple of weeks ago, I bought a big bag of peanut brittle there to use as a Christmas gift for Hubbie.
While we were at the beauty shop, I bought a gift certificate for a haircut for Mother...another 12-days-of-Christmas gift.
Before we delivered the wooden trees, we stopped by the Caring Hands office to drop off the third gift basket.
Then we returned home for a lunch of leftovers. Right after lunch, we struck out again, this time in search of inexpensive gifts for six great-grandchildren, who will be visiting with other family the day after Christmas. We usually just send money gifts to families, but when kids are going to be here, we feel we need to provide token gifts for them as well as the adults, since we know they'll be bringing gifts for us.
We managed to find $5 board and card games for the younger kids, and I'll search tomorrow for an inexpensive scarf for the teen girl.
After stopping by a couple of grocery stores, we returned home. Mother had prepared a pot of beans with ham, along with an oven potato dish, and turnip greens for supper, so I mixed up cornbread batter for the oven.
The meal was really good and very satisfying. Mother went home afterward, and I spent time uploading photos to a one-hour service, writing letters to include in Christmas cards, and filling out Christmas cards.
While I wrote Christmas cards, Hubbie and I watched our favorite college basketball team play to a win.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Tuesday, Dec. 14
Had another of those restless nights. Woke up around 2:30 a.m., and tossed and turned until around 4:30. Finally drifted off, and then wasn't ready to get up this morning, so slept until around 8:30.
By the time I did a treadmill session and weights exercises, got ready for the day, made a couple of phone calls, sent another couple of photos of the graham cracker cookie Christmas house workshop to the regional newspaper, answered e-mails, and created a photo Christmas card with my card-making program, it was noon.
For lunch, we had steaming bowls of the veggie soup I made yesterday...so good and warming on this frigid day. Afterward, I put together three food gift packages, before discovering I didn't have enough cellophane gift bags. So Hubbie and I went to the everything's a dollar store to get some more.
While we were out, we stopped by a grocery store for a few items. Wish I'd remembered to pick up a package of dried pinto beans for a beans and ham dinner tomorrow night, but I didn't, so Hubbie had to go back to the store after supper to get them.
In the meantime, Mother put together a lasagna for supper.
When Hubbie and I got back home, I finished the gift packs, and then Mother and I went to a retirement reception at the Extension Services office at 3 p.m. As our gift, we took a Christmas- scented reed diffuser that I bought with a coupon at the greeting card store a month or so ago.
The reception was from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., but there were only a handful of people there when we arrived. I think it was bad timing to schedule the reception on one of the busiest weeks in December.
But we enjoyed visiting with the ones who did come. The reception table was beautifully set, and included a gorgeous sheet cake. Besides the cake, there were chicken salad finger sandwiches, hot and cold spinach dips, veggies and dip, and slices of pumpkin roll, among other things. I brought a couple of slices of pumpkin roll home for Hubbie.
The punch, made of pineapple juice, orange juice, and ginger ale, and flavored with vanilla and almond extract, was very tasty.
Hubbie put the lasagna in the oven around 4:30. Around 4:45, I went to an art gallery visual arts committee meeting. On the way, I saw a beautiful sunset of blue-black clouds scattered on a glowing salmon colored sky.
Only three of us showed up. So we spent most of the meeting hour exchanging family stories. The arts council director said she'd attended a niece's wedding over the weekend in Toledo, Ohio, where the temp was 12 degrees, and there was six inches of snow on the ground.
She said that the reception after the wedding was unusual in that a glass blower was present to demonstrate her art by creating a set of glasses on the spot for the bride. The bride had taken a glass blowing class with the artist earlier, so this was the artist's gift to her.
Back home around 6 p.m., we had the lasagna, with French style green beans, and slices of yeast bread. Then I went to a community theater board meeting at 7 p.m. Only four of us were present for this meeting, so we covered the agenda items in a hurry and adjourned before 8 p.m.
After being out in the cold several times today, the hot tub felt wonderful. We spent the rest of the evening as usual, watching TV.
By the time I did a treadmill session and weights exercises, got ready for the day, made a couple of phone calls, sent another couple of photos of the graham cracker cookie Christmas house workshop to the regional newspaper, answered e-mails, and created a photo Christmas card with my card-making program, it was noon.
For lunch, we had steaming bowls of the veggie soup I made yesterday...so good and warming on this frigid day. Afterward, I put together three food gift packages, before discovering I didn't have enough cellophane gift bags. So Hubbie and I went to the everything's a dollar store to get some more.
While we were out, we stopped by a grocery store for a few items. Wish I'd remembered to pick up a package of dried pinto beans for a beans and ham dinner tomorrow night, but I didn't, so Hubbie had to go back to the store after supper to get them.
In the meantime, Mother put together a lasagna for supper.
When Hubbie and I got back home, I finished the gift packs, and then Mother and I went to a retirement reception at the Extension Services office at 3 p.m. As our gift, we took a Christmas- scented reed diffuser that I bought with a coupon at the greeting card store a month or so ago.
The reception was from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., but there were only a handful of people there when we arrived. I think it was bad timing to schedule the reception on one of the busiest weeks in December.
But we enjoyed visiting with the ones who did come. The reception table was beautifully set, and included a gorgeous sheet cake. Besides the cake, there were chicken salad finger sandwiches, hot and cold spinach dips, veggies and dip, and slices of pumpkin roll, among other things. I brought a couple of slices of pumpkin roll home for Hubbie.
The punch, made of pineapple juice, orange juice, and ginger ale, and flavored with vanilla and almond extract, was very tasty.
Hubbie put the lasagna in the oven around 4:30. Around 4:45, I went to an art gallery visual arts committee meeting. On the way, I saw a beautiful sunset of blue-black clouds scattered on a glowing salmon colored sky.
Only three of us showed up. So we spent most of the meeting hour exchanging family stories. The arts council director said she'd attended a niece's wedding over the weekend in Toledo, Ohio, where the temp was 12 degrees, and there was six inches of snow on the ground.
She said that the reception after the wedding was unusual in that a glass blower was present to demonstrate her art by creating a set of glasses on the spot for the bride. The bride had taken a glass blowing class with the artist earlier, so this was the artist's gift to her.
Back home around 6 p.m., we had the lasagna, with French style green beans, and slices of yeast bread. Then I went to a community theater board meeting at 7 p.m. Only four of us were present for this meeting, so we covered the agenda items in a hurry and adjourned before 8 p.m.
After being out in the cold several times today, the hot tub felt wonderful. We spent the rest of the evening as usual, watching TV.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Monday, Dec. 13
Up around 7:30 and did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast. Once I was ready for the day, I spent time at my office computer writing captions for photos I snapped at the graham cracker cookie Christmas house workshop. And then I e-mailed them to the photo editor of our regional edition of the state newspaper.
Mother came over mid-morning and baked the pumpkins we'd used in the outdoor decoration during October and November. These are not really pie pumpkins, but we've found that they're good when baked, pureed, and packaged for the freezer.
After lunch, Hubbie and I spent an hour or so running errands...to the bank, to the newspaper office to pick up a couple of editions of our local newspaper which features a photo of Granddaughter and Great-Granddaughter at the cookie Christmas house workshop, to the greeting card shop to buy a retirement card, to the store that has a sale every weekend to search for a sparkly blouse to wear with a new jacket Friday night (no luck), to the other store that has a sale every weekend (no luck there, either), and finally to the WDCS to shop for both Mother and ourselves.
Back home, I made a big pot of vegetable soup...Mother helped chop veggies for it. Supper tonight was hamburgers/turkey burgers, with sauteed potatoes.
Afterward, I headed to the college library to meet my student. The library was really chilly tonight. According to one of the librarians, a thermostat is on the blink at the front of library, but the back of the building, among the stacks downstairs, was warmer, so she directed there.
A student occupied the table there, but she said she was nearly done working, and we should go ahead with our lessons. I explained that my student is trying to learn English, and she joked that she's trying to learn to write it.
Tonight we worked on plurals, as in "This is a child. These are children." The student has a problem pronouncing housewives, just as she's had trouble pronouncing "driver." We worked on those two words tonight. She did well with other plurals.
We also began learning the subtle differences in sounds, such as the "a" in man, compared with the "e" in men. This lesson is very difficult for her, because she says the words sound the same to her. So we will be spending more time with this, until she trains her ear to hear the difference.
When I walked in the door at home, Hubbie announced that we are expecting a twenty-fourth great-grandchild. His granddaughter is expecting a baby next July.
We spent the evening watching TV, as usual. And since it was such a frigid night, we hopped in the hot tub for the first time this season.
Mother came over mid-morning and baked the pumpkins we'd used in the outdoor decoration during October and November. These are not really pie pumpkins, but we've found that they're good when baked, pureed, and packaged for the freezer.
After lunch, Hubbie and I spent an hour or so running errands...to the bank, to the newspaper office to pick up a couple of editions of our local newspaper which features a photo of Granddaughter and Great-Granddaughter at the cookie Christmas house workshop, to the greeting card shop to buy a retirement card, to the store that has a sale every weekend to search for a sparkly blouse to wear with a new jacket Friday night (no luck), to the other store that has a sale every weekend (no luck there, either), and finally to the WDCS to shop for both Mother and ourselves.
Back home, I made a big pot of vegetable soup...Mother helped chop veggies for it. Supper tonight was hamburgers/turkey burgers, with sauteed potatoes.
Afterward, I headed to the college library to meet my student. The library was really chilly tonight. According to one of the librarians, a thermostat is on the blink at the front of library, but the back of the building, among the stacks downstairs, was warmer, so she directed there.
A student occupied the table there, but she said she was nearly done working, and we should go ahead with our lessons. I explained that my student is trying to learn English, and she joked that she's trying to learn to write it.
Tonight we worked on plurals, as in "This is a child. These are children." The student has a problem pronouncing housewives, just as she's had trouble pronouncing "driver." We worked on those two words tonight. She did well with other plurals.
We also began learning the subtle differences in sounds, such as the "a" in man, compared with the "e" in men. This lesson is very difficult for her, because she says the words sound the same to her. So we will be spending more time with this, until she trains her ear to hear the difference.
When I walked in the door at home, Hubbie announced that we are expecting a twenty-fourth great-grandchild. His granddaughter is expecting a baby next July.
We spent the evening watching TV, as usual. And since it was such a frigid night, we hopped in the hot tub for the first time this season.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sunday, Dec. 12
Up at 6 a.m. on this windy/frigid morning to wake Daughter, so she could be ready to leave for the hour and a half trip home. She needed to be back in her hometown early enough to drop the kids off and then go to a job at 10 a.m. But she slept another 45 minutes before rolling out of bed.
She and the kids had a cold cereal/toast and jelly/orange juice breakfast, and then gathered their belongings and hit the road by around 8 a.m. It was spitting snow when they left, but the sun came out later.
After they left, I did a treadmill session and weights exercises, and then uploaded photos from yesterday to a social network. Hubbie helped Mother come over in the meantime. We didn't accomplish much before lunch.
Today is the first day of the Twelve Days of Christmas for Mother. This morning, I gave her a musical Christmas card, with Andy Williams singing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas." She was both delighted and fascinated with it and played it several times.
We didn't plan a meal for today when we made out our menu earlier in the week, because we thought we'd be going to a town about 45 minutes away to have supper at our favorite restaurant, and then tour the Christmas lights and drive-through nativity. But it is so bitterly cold that we abandoned that idea.
So I decided we would just have baked sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese (Mother's favorite dish), and corn-on-the-cob, with slices of yeast bread...a dreadfully carbo-loaded meal. But it tasted good and was filling.
After lunch, we spent the afternoon watching Christmas shows...both of the "Frosty the Snowman" features, and the animated feature "The Flight Before Christmas." Then we watched "A Christmas Story," on DVD, followed by "Holiday on Ice," recorded on DVR. Mid-afternoon, we enjoyed cups of chai tea with cinnamon rolls.
Hubbie accompanied Mother home after our movie fest. Spent the evening playing on my laptop, reviewing lesson plans for meeting with my student tomorrow night, and watching more TV.
She and the kids had a cold cereal/toast and jelly/orange juice breakfast, and then gathered their belongings and hit the road by around 8 a.m. It was spitting snow when they left, but the sun came out later.
After they left, I did a treadmill session and weights exercises, and then uploaded photos from yesterday to a social network. Hubbie helped Mother come over in the meantime. We didn't accomplish much before lunch.
Today is the first day of the Twelve Days of Christmas for Mother. This morning, I gave her a musical Christmas card, with Andy Williams singing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas." She was both delighted and fascinated with it and played it several times.
We didn't plan a meal for today when we made out our menu earlier in the week, because we thought we'd be going to a town about 45 minutes away to have supper at our favorite restaurant, and then tour the Christmas lights and drive-through nativity. But it is so bitterly cold that we abandoned that idea.
So I decided we would just have baked sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese (Mother's favorite dish), and corn-on-the-cob, with slices of yeast bread...a dreadfully carbo-loaded meal. But it tasted good and was filling.
After lunch, we spent the afternoon watching Christmas shows...both of the "Frosty the Snowman" features, and the animated feature "The Flight Before Christmas." Then we watched "A Christmas Story," on DVD, followed by "Holiday on Ice," recorded on DVR. Mid-afternoon, we enjoyed cups of chai tea with cinnamon rolls.
Hubbie accompanied Mother home after our movie fest. Spent the evening playing on my laptop, reviewing lesson plans for meeting with my student tomorrow night, and watching more TV.
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