Monday, Oct. 3

Long day. Up at 6:30 to get ready for water aerobics. Once again the water was wonderfully warm, and I enjoyed the session.

Learned, though, that an acquaintance of ours, only in her 50s, is dying of cirrhosis of the liver. I had no idea she was an alcoholic. We knew that several years ago, she suffered from anorexia, but we never knew alcohol was a problem for her, too.

A young member returned to the pool today after a long absence. Seems she had been suffering from a particularly virulent intestinal bacteria that caused extreme bloating and horrible pain. She described the pain as, "even my hair, my teeth, and my fingernails hurt." The bacteria was resistant to antibiotics for a long time. But she finally fully recovered after an appropriate antibiotic was found. I asked her how she might have contracted the bacteria, and she said she thought she picked it up during a trip to several countries last summer...probably in China.

Back home, once I was ready for the day, I went downtown to the county library to see if there were any books I wanted from their book sale. I found six. All the books, hardbacks and paperbacks, were priced at twenty-five cents each.

Books I chose included a volume a short stories set in our state, an Oprah Winfry selection by Joyce Carol Oates titled, "We Were the Mulvaneys," a hardback by Luanne Rice titled, "Sandcastles," a suspense by Catherine Coulter called, "TailSpin," and a humor book by Dave Barry called, "The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Dog."

Back home again, we had a lunch of chicken salad sandwiches and fresh grapes, after which I looked over the lesson plan for my student. Today, we worked with sentences in passive and active voices: He washed the car yesterday/The car was washed yesterday; He closed the door last night/The door was closed last night.

We also looked at -er comparative form of adjectives: Dan is 18. He is young. Ed is 15. He is younger, as well as the comparative form of good and bad: That red apple is good. This yellow apple is very good. This yellow apple is better than that red apple. I had a bad headache yesterday. I have a very bad headache today. My headache is worse today than it was yesterday.

The session ended with the student reading two simple stories and then answering questions about them.

At home, Mother (with Hubbie's help) had prepared potato soup for our supper. Our original plan was to have leftover beans and ham, new potatoes, and turnips tonight, but since Hubbie and I were scheduled to attend a juried art show and reception at the gallery later, we thought it prudent to postpone that meal.

As soon as supper was over, Hubbie and I changed into dressy clothes for the art event at 6 p.m. We arrived around 6:30 (fashionably late, I guess, even if not intended), in time to view the art, and be present for the awards ceremony, conducted by the mayor of our city. The art that was judged came from all over the state and a few other states, but the top winner, and the second place winner are known to us...one is a member of the local visual arts committee.

The gallery looked really nice. I wasn't too fond of the paint color chosen when we put it on the walls a few weeks ago, but after seeing the art against it, I've changed my mind.

This was a by-invitation-only wine and cheese event...by invitation only, because that's the only way we could serve wine in a dry county (as a private party). Once we'd indulged in small helpings of the refreshments, and visited all the folks, we left the party and were back home by about 7:30.

We finished the evening by watching tonight's episode of "Dancing with the Stars."