Saturday, Feb. 12

What a delightful day...sunshine, temp in the upper 40s, snow just about melted away.

I was up around 7:30, and did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast. Once I was ready for the day, Hubbie and I ran errands. Felt good to get out after three days confined to home and premises.

We stopped by a grocery store for cottage cheese, then went to a pharmacy, and on to a friend's house to deliver a product that Hubbie sells, and finally to the WDCS, where we shopped for Mother and for us. The store was crowded and the lines at the checkouts were long, so it took quite a while to finish the task.

Since it was after noon by the time we got done with our errands, we decided to stop by a fast food restaurant and pick up cups of chili to bring home for lunch.

Mother came over around 1:30 and joined us in going to a local church fellowship hall for the 90th birthday of one of the ladies we know from water aerobics. Hubbie dropped us off at the church and then went to fill the van with gas, and stop back by the WDCS for a pound of deli turkey, which we'd forgotten to get this morning.

Lots of people showed up for the birthday party. This lady is a very active and vigorous person, who kept right up with us in water aerobics. She's also an active member of the choir at her church, and regularly goes to the senior citizens center. She drives her own car, too.

The fellowship hall was nicely decorated with white table clothes on which lay big red paper hearts. Refreshments included sheet cakes (there were several) decorated with violet flowers on white icing, a punch of white grape juice and ginger ale, and regular and decaf coffees.

One table featured lots of framed photos of the lady over the years, plus a recent large color photo of her with the many members of her family.

The honoree asked that there be no gifts, but several brought them anyway. Most of us honored her request and brought only greeting cards.

I brought along a cookbook compiled by one of the water aerobics ladies. I'd bought the cookbook at the museum several weeks ago, and I wanted her to autograph it. I figured she'd be at the party today, and she was. She seemed pleased that I'd thought to bring it for her to sign. She, too, is probably approaching 90.

Several water aerobics members were there today, so I was able to catch up on their lives, and learn about others that weren't present at the party. From all that we're hearing, it's becoming a more dismal prospect that the college will repair and reopen the pool. Not good, because we're all feeling the effects of not being in the water.

Mother was visibly cheered by getting out today and being among people. In about an hour, Hubbie returned to pick us up. He said the WDCS was even more crowded this afternoon than it was this morning.

Back home, Hubbie and I watched our favorite college basketball team play to a much-needed win. I'd recorded the game on DVR. While we watched the game, Mother prepared Parmesan potatoes for the oven.

Later, she fixed hamburgers/turkey burgers, while I put together salads, and sliced sweet onions for the burgers. Since Hubbie and I had had a late lunch, and all of us had indulged in the cake and punch, we waited until around 6 p.m. to have supper.

Afterward, Mother went home, and Hubbie and I settled in front of TV.