Thursday, Sept. 15

Slept late this morning, until 8 a.m. After breakfast, Hubbie and I rode our bicycles. It was a very cool morning, so I was glad that I wore a fleece outfit and a fleece hoodie. The wind was tolerable when it was at our backs and the road went downhill, but on the return trip, it was a force of resistance riding uphill.

We wore our helmets, of course, but at one point a large dry leaf flew edgewise across my nose, causing me to yelp. The stem of the leaf narrowly missed my eye. I had never thought of needing goggles for bike riding, but now I'll be searching for some.

Back home, once I was ready for the day, I spent the morning reading my novel, "The Help." Mother came over after lunch, and around 12:30, the other scrapbook club member arrived, and we went to the Extension Services office conference room.

The other member seemed not to mind having to ride in the truck, but it was no small order for me to heft the heavy rolling tote, the tote with all the scissors and other supplies, and a couple of large totes of rubber stamps and punches out of the truck and into the building, and then hoist them back into the truck after the meeting.

Hubbie had put all the totes into the truck before we left this afternoon, and then he hauled them all back into the house afterward, thank goodness.

Today, Mother and I worked on scrapbook pages of the recent wedding of Grandson...well, actually I did most of the work. Mother is getting less and less capable of handling scissors, etc. I think I'm going to have to begin preparing everything so that all she has to do is glue things onto pages.

She got frustrated when she was trying to use a template on a photo and her pencil slipped as she was drawing around it, making a big mark across the photo. I assured her it was no big deal...I'll just order another print.

I managed to complete three pages, but I still have several more to do, as well as journaling for each page. I think I was the only one who actually worked today. The other two ladies spent their time walking down the memory lane of when they worked as aides at an elementary school many years ago.

I'll need to work on scrapbook pages on my own if I hope to complete the wedding pages in a timely manner, because I will soon need to work on pages of a new great-grandchild, who is due to be born any day now.

I won't be able to work on scrapbook pages at our meeting next month, because we have agreed to make greeting cards for Caring Hands Hospice in October. And we don't usually meet in November and December, due to the holidays. January and February are iffy months, and we will meet only if weather permits. Can't wait that many months to work on wedding and baby scrapbook pages.

Back home, I spent the rest of the afternoon reading my novel. Around 5 p.m., Hubbie and I went to the body shop to pick up the van. The shop replaced the back bumper and the hatch door with new ones. And then they washed and spiffed the vehicle. Looks great on the outside and smells nice on the inside.

Earlier, I'd put leftovers from the beef pot roast in the oven, and when we got back from the shop, we had those with a side of coleslaw for supper. Mother had gone home when we returned from the scrapbook meeting, so she didn't join us for supper.

After that, it was TV time again. Tonight, we watched the 1999 movie, "For Love of the Game," starring Kevin Costner. An aging baseball player for the Detroit Tigers learns his boss is selling the business, and his girlfriend tells him she is taking a job in London.. The plot takes place as Billy Chapel (Costner) is pitching the last game of his career against the New York Yankees. He takes us back through his life leading up to this day. We're fond of sports-themed movies, and this was a pretty good one, though it had as much to do with his romance with Jane (Kelly Preston) as it did with baseball.