Thursday, Feb. 24

I was startled awake a little after midnight by bright lightening flashes and booming thunder. The storm passed pretty quickly, but it was fierce while it lasted. When I talked to Mother this morning, she said her cat was beside herself during the storm. I don't know how our cats felt about it, since they are confined to the downstairs rooms during the night (a baby gate keeps them from roaming the upstairs rooms).

Got up around 7:30, and did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast. It was a very dark and dismal day, with threats of thunderstorms, so I didn't accomplish much for the morning. Hubbie went to the post office to return the house shoes I bought for Mother. They were too small and too narrow. I ordered an exchange to a bigger size. He also went to one of the stores that has a sale every weekend and bought a pair of khaki slacks, using a $10 off a $25 purchase coupon. Mother stayed home today.

After lunch, Hubbie and I went to the college to observe and snap images of the Tibetan monks working on the sand painting. While we were there, I bought a beautiful necklace, with brown ceramic squares on which are the symbols of The Knot of Eternity, which represent the interdependent nature of all existence.

From the college, we went to a pharmacy and to a grocery store, and then headed home just as there came a downpour. Much of the state was under a tornado watch this afternoon, but we were under a thunderstorm watch only, thank goodness. The day stayed very dark and very threatening looking, but we basically dodged the bullet this time. The worst that happened is that it rained so much that ours and our neighbor's yards look like lakes. Wish I could say the same for parts of the state south of us, where there was wind damage and power outages.

For supper tonight, I made my version of fajitas, using everything I could put my hands on...small portions of black beans and green chilies that I'd put in the freezer, fresh mushrooms and onions that I sauteed, a dab of leftover sauteed potatoes from last night's supper, some leftover Cajun turkey, the last of a jar of salsa, and shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Spooned all of this onto individual flour tortillas,wrapped them in foil, and heated them in the oven. At the table, we topped these with dollops of sour cream, and added a garden salad on the side, and glasses of wine. I made eight fajitas, but we only ate one apiece, so there are enough left for two more meals over the weekend.

Spent the evening watching TV, of course, including the 2010 PG movie, "Extraordinary Measures," starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser. This movie is based on the true experience of John (Fraser) and Aileen Crowley, who find a researcher (Ford), with the possible cure for the rare genetic disorder of their two children. Good movie.