Monday, Feb. 28

Hard to believe that February is gone already! Where did it go?

Slept on and off last night (kept checking the TV to see if there were tornado warnings in our area), but got up around 7:30 and did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast.

Mother came over mid-morning and set up a jigsaw puzzle. I encouraged her to do this, since this is her birthday week.

Once I was ready for the day, I spent time at my office computer, where I learned that family who live a couple of hours south of us were unnerved by a 4.7 magnitude earthquake that rattled their houses around 11 p.m. last night.

Later news reports (it was the lead story in our local newspaper) stated that the quake was felt by some folks in our town, too, but we didn't feel anything. We did hear what we thought was the rumble of distant thunder at that hour. We now suspect it was the rumble of the quake, since there was no other thunder to follow, and the newspaper article reported that others heard the same one-time rumble.

In fact, it was felt in many towns of our state, and even in surrounding states. Sis lives practically at the epicenter of the recent swarm of quakes that have occurred since last fall, and she's getting more and more edgy about them. The U.S.G.S. notes that there was an unexplained earthquake swarm in the 1980s, too, and think that it might just be a cyclic thing and not an indication of "the big one." It's hard to convince folks whose pictures are being knocked off the walls and whose dishes are flying out of cabinets, that these increasingly stronger quakes might not be a forerunner to something larger.

None of us accomplished anything of note today. While I was on the computer, Hubbie ran a couple of errands...to the pharmacy and to get a haircut.

For lunch, we each had something different...Mother finished the potato soup, Hubbie had a bowl of 11-bean soup (we put the rest of it in the freezer), and for my lunch, I cooked a handful of macaroni to add to a small amount of leftover homemade tomato soup. Each of us had a canned pear half topped with cottage cheese for dessert.

Just after lunch, I got a call from someone at the local elementary school, passing the message on to me that my student would not be attending her session tonight, because she has a 6 p.m. appointment...I figure she probably has a parent/teacher meeting. Anyway, I agreed that we could meet tomorrow night.

Just as with the morning, we did nothing of consequence after lunch. For supper, we had leftover lasagna from the freezer, with French style green beans and more cottage cheese, this time with tomatoes, and the remainder of the coleslaw from Saturday.

Mother went home afterward, and Hubbie and I continued wasting time by watching TV. Tonight we saw the 2002, PG-13 movie, "The Ring," starring Naomi Watts, and Martin Henderson. A reporter views a mysterious video that is linked to the deaths of those who watch it. Anyone who watches the video receives a phone call telling them they will die in seven days. Now the reporter views it and stuff begins happening. Her life is in danger as she tries to solve the mystery.