Saturday, April 23

Up around 7:30 and did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast. Once I was ready for the day, Mother came over and we began preparations for Easter Sunday dinner.

Mother had already boiled eggs to be deviled tomorrow. The first thing I did was bake an angel food cake from a box mix. It didn't quite work right...we both thought it was done, so I took it out of the oven. Then I decided it hadn't baked enough, so I put it back into the oven, but I'd already run a knife around the edge to loosen it, so it dropped a little. Then when I tried to turn it upside down on a bottle, the whole thing dropped to the table. There was nothing to do then but slide it onto a cake plate. The pitiful thing is edible, but it's certainly not light and fluffy like it should be.

While the cake was baking, I made a large batch of carrot salad...everybody likes this, so I wanted to make enough for more than one meal. After lunch, I put the ham in the oven.

While it baked, we sat down to watch the 2003, PG musical movie, "The Music Man," starring Matthew Broderick and Kristin Chenoweth. This version of the popular musical meets with mixed reviews, but I like this one. The Harold Hill character in the original 1962 version, played by Robert Preston, seems to come on pretty strong...I'd think that conservative Iowans would be turned off by him. Seems like folks might be more easily hoodwinked by the softer, more charming, approach of Broderick's characterization.

Of course, we got so involved in the movie that I let the ham bake a little longer than I planned, so it had a somewhat blackened crust on the outside...trimmed away, though, the meat is fine. I sliced it for the refrigerator.

Potatoes au gratin is about the only dish remaining to mess up tomorrow. Maybe we'll manage to get those right. I'm going to blame it all on the weather.

For supper, we sampled the ham, which we had with baked potatoes, and the leftover black eyed peas. While we were cleaning up afterward, Daughter and Great-grandson arrived. We were expecting them early in the morning, but were glad to see them this evening.

Great-grandson was interested in going to a movie. His preference was "Scream 4," but neither Daughter nor I were up for paying eight bucks a head to see that one. The animated feature, "Rango," was playing in the old theater downtown for $2 per person admission, so Daughter decided that we should see that one.

The three of us went (Mother and Hubbie opted out). The movie is certainly nothing to write home about...worth just about what we paid for it. There were one or two laugh-out-loud places in it, but otherwise nothing. It, of course, has a moral...don't claim to be a hero if you've done nothing to deserve the title. Naturally, though, once his fabrication is revealed, he gets the opportunity to redeem himself.

The movie is rated PG, because it contains some objectionable elements for children like smoking and drinking, potty humor, adult sexual humor, and mild expletives. Children would also not be able to appreciate references to other movies, like the "High Noon," gunfight scene, or an obvious Clint Eastwood character. The animation is great, but the characters are certainly not cuddly or lovable.

Back home, we enjoyed bowls of ice cream, after which we didn't dawdle long before we were ready for bed.