Wednesday, Jan. 26

I was up at 7:15, on this spirit-lifting soon-to-be 50-degree sunny morning and did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast. When I was ready for the day, Mother came over, and we went to an independent living center to join other Caring Hands Hospice volunteers and residents of the center in filling neck warmer bags with rice and then stitching the opening closed.

The director of the Caring Hands volunteers found colorfully patterned fabric on sale at the WDCS for a dollar a package, which she sewed into sacks. The warmers are a bit large, and the rice makes them heavy...probably about three to five pounds each, which is hefty for elderly people to lift. I don't think they are very suitable for neck warmers, though they might be nice tucked behind one's back or laying over sore legs or arms.

We worked from 10:30 a.m. until noon, and completed thirteen warmers. There was one sack left, but no rice to fill it, so the director will have to finish that one. She had brought several large sacks of rice, and I had brought one, but it still wasn't enough. I also brought needles, thread and scissors, and when I wasn't filling sacks with rice, I was threading needles for elderly hands. Mother was one of the ladies who stitched the sacks closed. I only sewed one of the sacks, but I filled several.

The director had sewn the sacks all the way around, leaving only a small hole for inserting the rice. She and I had brought funnels, but it was difficult to get the rice to go through them. I finally gave that up and used a solo cup squeezed to make a spout. I think it would have been much easier if one end of the sacks had been left open, to be whip stitched after they were filled.

While we were at the center, the director noted that we will meet there again next Wednesday at 10 a.m. to make Valentine cards. They need a lot of them, so Mother and I will work ahead of time to do several more to add to the ones we have already made.

Back home, Hubbie had heated soup for our lunch. Afterward, he and I went to the WDCS to grocery shop, while Mother began preparations for beef stroganoff for supper.

The stroganoff was good served over noodles, with a choice of canned spinach or French style green beans. Mother went home afterward, and Hubbie and I watched TV, as usual.

A movie we saw was the 2001, R-rated "Bride of the Wind," about the beautiful wife of 19th century German composer, Gustav Mahler, who was herself a gifted composer, but who gave up her own aspirations to promote his career, and the careers of other men who came after him (a painter, an architect, and a novelist). The scenery, sets, and costumes of turn-of-the-century Europe are gorgeous.

Aggravation: following the movie, I discovered the remote control had quit working, despite changing the batteries in it. Then, I discovered the cable box is not working. I know this because the time on it is stuck on 6:58 p.m. Fortunately, the remote that powers the TV on and off still works. Hubbie will go to the cable company office in the morning to get a repairman out here.

Since the cable box is on the blink, we watched a DVD romantic comedy movie..."Bridget Jones, the Edge of Reason," a 2005, R-rated film starring Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant, and Colin Firth. Dumpy, frumpily dressed Bridget thinks she has found love with lawyer Mark Darcy (Firth), but the relationship ends, and then charming and handsome Daniel Cleaver (Grant) enters the scene.