Thursday, Sept. 8

On a morning when I could have slept late, I naturally woke up at 6:30. I waited until 7:30, though, when Hubbie was ready to get up. I would have liked to go bike riding this morning after breakfast, but Hubbie had a 10 a.m. Master Gardener meeting, and I don't like riding these country roads by myself. So I settled for a treadmill session and weights exercises.

Once I was ready for the day, I spent a few minutes searching my greeting card collection for a sympathy card, and a birthday card. I have a nice selection of sympathy cards, and soon found one appropriate for one of the water aerobics members and her husband, who recently lost their daughter in a murder-suicide. This awful crime happened in another state, and though we are sure there will be a memorial here, we don't know when it will be. In the meantime, I want this special lady and her husband to know we are thinking about them.

For a birthday card, I chose one I had made using a rubber stamp and colored pencils. It was a blue ribbon winner at the fair. I think our friend from another town, whom we saw at lunch last week, will enjoy it, since she's a crafter, too. I sent a scherenschnitte card to our other friend last month, and she enjoyed it so much that she said she's going to frame it. It was also a blue ribbon winner at the fair.

After that, I made reservations for the two shows we'll see at Branson, making sure we are seated on an aisle, so that Mother will not suffer claustrophobia.

I didn't have time to do much else before lunch. I noticed that Mother had not yet completed the word search puzzle in the newspaper, so I took it to her (she stayed home all day today).

When she had finished it, Hubbie and I took it to the newspaper office on our way to do a couple of other errands...to a grocery store to pick up bananas and 24 more cans of on-sale low-sodium chicken broth, and to a pharmacy store to get bottles of on-sale shampoo and conditioner.

Back home, as Hubbie and I were reading yesterday's and today's local newspapers, I happened to think about that puzzle...I realized that I had not put Mother's name and phone number on it. So off to the newspaper office we went again, where Hubbie rummaged through the entries until he found Mother's. I felt so stupid.

Back home again, we lazed the rest of the afternoon away, until it was time to heat the rest of the country ribs, potatoes, and squash, for supper.

After supper, we did the usual...watched TV, including a rediculous and convoluted SciFi movie called, "Triangle." Several couples go on a yachting trip and get caught in the Bermuda Triangle, where the boat capsizes, and they are eventually picked up by a ghost ship.