Saturday, June 25

Up at 8 a.m., and did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast. Mother came over while I was cooling down, and before I got ready for the day, I gathered materials for her to create greeting cards to be entered in the fair next month.

Once I was dressed and ready, I downloaded snapshots I took at the Fairytale Theater rehearsal last night, and chose a few of them to be submitted to the regional newspaper.

After that, I joined Mother at the craft table. Today, I decided to create a few scrapbook pages to be added to some others that feature seasonal photos of our house and property. I had already completed winter pages...snow on tree limbs and on our house, and birds flocking to the bird feeders.

Today, I did spring flower pages....our house with daffodils in the foreground, and as viewed through the limbs of the dogwood tree, as well as lilies and roses growing in flower gardens. Tomorrow, I'll work on summer and fall pages. First, I'll need to pick up photos from the one-hour service at the WDCS.

Mother and I spent the whole afternoon in these activities, while Hubbie worked in the yard. Later, I put leftover spaghetti and sauce into the oven to heat for supper. We had that with salad...lettuce, tomatoes, and green onions from our garden, topped with the leftover wilted lettuce...and cottage cheese, along with slices of sourdough bread.

Mother went home afterward, and Hubbie and I lolled in front of TV for the evening. Tonight, we watched the 1997 Syfy movie, "The Devil's Advocate," starring Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, and Charlize Theron. A young star attorney, who has never lost a case, is lured into a big-city law firm, where he later learns his boss is the devil.

Friday, June 24

Up around 7:30, and did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast. while I was on the treadmill, Hubbie left to take the truck back to the other town and bring back a loaner car. Mother came over while I was cooling down after exercising.

Once I was ready for the day, I worked at my office computer for the rest of the morning, and Mother started a pot of spaghetti sauce simmering for a spaghetti supper.

Hubbie came back home around noon, and after lunch, we ran errands...to the greeting card shop to buy cards for a great-grandson, a great-granddaughter, and a granddaughter, and then to the WDCS to shop for both Mother and ourselves. There, I picked up a zippered pouch for my Kindle e-reader, and snapshots I'd uploaded to the one-hour service this morning.

At the store, we met my Literacy Council student and her husband, who thanked me for working with his wife. I assured him that she is an excellent student, who learns quickly. Hubbie was glad to meet her...it'll help him visualize my tutoring sessions.

Leaving the WDCS, I remembered that I needed to pick up cottage cheese at a grocery store on the other side of town. On the way there, we swung by the farm store for dog food, and then out to the roadside vegetable vendor to pick up two quarts of blackberries. From there, we visited two grocery stores...one for the cottage cheese, and the other to pick up on-sale eggs.

We were back home about 3:30, but I didn't accomplish much the rest of the afternoon. The spaghetti supper, with salad (lettuce, tomatoes, and green onions from our garden), cottage cheese, and slices of sourdough bread, hit the spot.

Mother went home afterward, and around 6:30, I went back to the middle school to snap photos of the Fairytale Theater play rehearsal, because I wasn't pleased with the images I got last night. Somehow, the camera and the flash weren't in sync, so that some photos were out of focus, while others had ghost images. I think I corrected the problem, but I won't know for sure until I download the photos to my computer.

I was back home about 8:30 after rehearsals. The director of the play is really going to have to pull things together if she hopes to have the play ready by the first weekend in July. Right now, it's pretty chaotic...controlling the twelve "princes" and twelve "princesses" is, as the saying goes, like trying to herd cats. The cast is comprised of kids ranging in age from kindergarten to about junior high.

Tonight they rehearsed dance routines...ballroom (awkwardly), which they obviously did not enjoy, and disco (complete with mirror ball), which, (though they were ungainly), they did enjoy.

If the director cannot get the kids to project their voices, then no one beyond the second row of seats will be able to hear them speak.

This evening, Hubbie and I watched a Hallmark Channel movie..."The Wishing Well." A successful woman journalist for a popular national celebrity magazine is forced to visit a small town to report on a legendary wishing well. There, she finds romance, of course, in the person of the town's newspaper editor, who has a charming young daughter.

Thursday, June 23

Had another of my nights when I couldn't go to sleep...finally drifted off around 2 a.m. But I got up around 7:30, anyway, and did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast.

Spent my morning alone, since Hubbie had to take the truck to another town to have the transmission checked. It acted up yesterday while he was driving it. Seems a couple of gears aren't working. Hubbie was given another truck to drive home, because parts for the transmission can't be ordered until Monday. We have no idea what the repair expenses will be, but hefty, we're sure.

He brought the loaner truck home so I could take a look at it and drive it. It's very nice, but we're not sure we're in the market for another truck right now. So he'll take it back tomorrow in exchange for a loaner vehicle we can keep until our truck is repaird.

While he was gone, I completed some office tasks...updating my artist-in-education information, which is due to the state office arts council office by July 9, and sending our scrapbook club and member dues to the county council president. Then I wrote a thank you note to Mother's and my friend, who hosted us at her home yesterday.

After Hubbie returned, and we'd had lunch, he ran an errand, and I shopped at a couple of clothing stores, looking for a pair of white slacks. No luck.

Later, we had a supper of leftover stir fry. Mother stayed home today, so she didn't join us. But I did visit with her before I went shopping and delivered an invitation to her from Caring Hands Hospice. We're invited to a breakfast luau next week.

Following supper, I went to the middle school auditorium to do snapshots of Fairytale Theater rehearsals. The play, to be performed during the first two weekends in July, is being produced by the community theater. I'm hoping to get a photo published in the regional newspaper as advertising for the play.

Aggravation: If it's not one thing, it's another...when I left the auditorium, I discovered that the remote function on my van key wouldn't work. I tried the other little key on my keyring, but soon realized that it was for the gas cap.

So I called Hubbie, who came to rescue me. He solved the problem by using the manual key encased in the remote. I'd forgotten that a key can be released from the end of the remote.

Back home, he tried the remote again, and it worked just fine. We don't know what the problem was...maybe the electronics just needed to reset or something.

It was about 8:30 by this time, but we settled in to watch the 2008 Lifetime Movie Network feature, "The Coverup." Supposedly based on a true story, the movie centers on a young repeat drunk driving offender, who, police claimed, mysteriously died after escaping the and falling six stories to his death. A young personal injury lawyer investigates.

Wednesday, June 22

Up around 7 a.m., but skipped my exercises so that I could get ready to meet my cardiologist appointment at 9:30. I arrived at the clinic by 9:15...a good thing, since the receptionist needed all my personal info again to enter in their new computer system. The system has eliminated paper files.

I didn't have to wait long before I was called back. A tech started by doing an ultrasound of my heart, before she ushered me to an exam room. There, a nurse recorded a list of my medications and vitamin supplements, and took my blood pressure...which, she said, couldn't be better.

The doctor then arrived to question me about my well-being...am I experiencing any pain, have I had any swelling or pain in my legs, etc., the answer to which is "no." She asked about my exercise regimen, and wanted to know if I'd like to do a treadmill stress test today. I did not, because it takes a while to do that, and I had an engagement this afternoon. I also wasn't wearing proper walking shoes. So we scheduled it for December, in conjunction with my six-month appointment.

Although I have never experienced chest pains since the first day I went to the emergency room three years ago, the doctor still wants me to carry nitroglycerin tablets with me. The ones I had on hand, though, had expired, so she ordered a new prescription.

I got back home about 11 a.m., and shortly thereafter, my niece from New York called so I could talk with my brother, who was home from the hospital today after having a stent placed in an artery following a mild heart attack.

We all had something different for lunch...Hubbie, leftover picnic food from his birthday; Mother, her usual Ramen noodle soup, with a blueberry muffin; and I, just a blueberry muffin, a glass of milk, and cup of coffee.

Just after 2 p.m., Mother and I went to our friend's house to visit with her and our other friend from a town about an hour and half east of us. Our friend had set a lovely table for serving coffee and dessert...bright yellow place mats, with floral coasters, upon which rested floral China mugs, white dessert plates and bowls, paper napkins with a floral and butterfly design, and a small votive candle in a glass holder surrounded with artificial daisies. So bright and pretty.

She served caramel frozen yogurt, topped with sliced strawberries, chocolate/raspberry sticks, and spice cookies, with coffee and mocha creamer.

We had a wonderful visit...it was so much fun, that I lost track of time, and was shocked when 5 p.m. rolled around. We talked about our children and grandchildren, of course, about the tornado that Son and his family survived in April, and about our community activities.

At the request of one of our friends, I brought along a copy of the book my water aerobics friend wrote that features a snapshot of the author that I took, as well as our county's slick magazine with a photo spread of my shots.

I also brought my new Kindle. Both women protested that they saw no purpose in the device. But when I accessed a word scramble game on it, and let each of them try it, they became absorbed in it. One of the ladies said she was afraid she'd become addicted to it. Before we left, our hostess requeste that I provide a scrambled word for her to work on later. I think I might call her tomorrow and provide another word, just for fun.

They each also read a page or two of one of the books I downloaded, and played with the functions on the unit. It was obvious they were intrigued by the device.

Back home, Mother and I prepared a stir fry supper. Mother had cut up the veggies before we went to our friend's house. I decided on stir fry, in order to use up some fresh veggies in the fridge...zucchini and yellow squash, mushrooms, carrots, onions, and celery. It was very good served over rice.

Mother went home afterward, taking with her three blueberry muffins to put in the freezer as fair entries. Later, we watched a Syfy movie..."100 Feet." A woman comes home from prison under house arrest after serving time for killing her abusive cop husband. But her husband's ghost seeks revenge. She can't leave the house, because she's wearing an ankle bracelet that forbids her getting more than 100 yards from her house.

The second feature we watched was the Lifetime Movie Network film, "Circle of Friends." A woman returns to her hometown to dedicate a scholarship in her late husband's name. She reconnects with old friends, and later starts thinking her dead husband's death may somehow be tied to the mysterious deaths of several former classmates. But in a search for the truth, she puts herself in danger.

Funny: at one point this evening, I caught myself with the TV remote control in one hand, the e-reader in the other, and the laptop computer on my lap! A bluetooth cell phone would have completed my ensemble, I guess.

Annoyance: yesterday, at the WDCS, we bought a bag of sugar...so when did they package sugar in four-pound bags instead of five? Same price, but a pound less sugar. Ten pound bags are still available, but I expect to see that change to, say, eight pound bags the next time I shop for it.

Aggravation: whatever happened to decency? At the WDCS last Sunday, while Hubbie paid for our purchases, I glanced behind me. At the next register, a 300-pound checker dropped his pen and bent over to pick it up...treating me to fully a foot of his crack! Gad! someone needs to advise him to wear longer shirts.

At the Summer Celebration Monday night, one woman attended in a strapless dress that exposed way too much of her deeply tanned and leathery breasts.

Then yesterday, again at the WDCS, a guy right behind us in the checkout line wore an unbuttoned shirt that exposed his very unattractive hairy chest.

Frequently, we see a young couple at the WDCS whose arms, legs, necks, and much of their faces are covered in tatoos. Yuk! The couple has two young children. Wonder when they'll start getting tats? And I wonder what the couple will look like in their senior years?

Tuesday, June 21

Summer solstice occurred a little after noon today. Happy summer!

We were up around 8 a.m. this morning. I usually take my thyroid med as soon as I get up, so I can wait thirty minutes or so before having breakfast. This morning, I came downstairs and lolled around for thirty minutes until Hubbie asked if I was ready for my orange juice. I slapped my forehead. "You forgot to take your medicine, didn't you," he grinned, as I hurried upstairs.

So it was around 9 a.m. before we had breakfast, but I hopped on the treadmill and did resistance exercises afterward. Mother came over while I was getting ready for the day. As soon as I was back downstairs, I tried to call our beauty shop to make an appointment for Mother and myself for next week. But the number kept being busy, so I gave up.

Instead, I planned tonight's supper, which necessitated shopping after lunch for the ingredients. Hubbie and I ran several errands before going to the WDCS,to the beauty shop to make appointments, and to the bank.

While waiting at the drive-up window, we saw a guy we know in the lane beside us. Through our windows, we asked about his wife.

"She broke her foot," he said.

"Omigosh!" I exclaimed, how in the world did she do that?"

"She shopped 'til she dropped," he joked. "She was wearing a pair of flip-flops, and when she stepped off the curb at (the store that has a sale every weekend), her flip-flop caught on something and down she went."

So many broken bones lately and so many ways to break them...a great-grandson breaks his leg in a shopping cart accident, a great-nephew breaks his leg while roughhousing in a swimming pool, a Master Gardener lady gets her foot caught in her bedsheets, and breaks a foot when she falls, a neighbor breaks his ankle in an accident between his motorcycle and a deer, and now a friend breaks her foot in a flip-flop accident.

From the bank, we went to the newspaper office to drop off this week's word search puzzle contest, and to sign up for a year's subscription, using the gift certificate we won at the silent auction last night. Then it was on to the WDCS, where we shopped for both ourselves and Mother.

Back home, I got a call from our friend who lives in a town about an hour and half east of us. She's visiting our other friend for a few days, and we made a date to enjoy a mid-afternoon snack and a chat tomorrow.

Small world: at the WDCS, I ran into the lady who recently got her second novel published, and she commented that she'd just come from a Red Hat luncheon, where she was the guest speaker. She talked about her new book, of course. Then, when I talked to my friend on the phone this afternoon, she said she and our other friend had gone to a Red Hat luncheon. She was surprised that I knew who the speaker was, until I told her I'd just seen her at the WDCS.

For supper tonight, we had braised pork chops, oven fried potatoes, and wilted lettuce...a recipe that uses vinegar, lemon juice, a little oil and sugar, turkey bacon bits, and radishes.

Before Mother wilted the beautiful lettuce from the garden, I snapped a photo of her holding a big pan of it, and uploaded it to my social network page.

While Mother was preparing supper (she insisted she needed no help with this), I registered my new Kindle e-reader, connected to WiFi, and ordered a free Jane Austen short story from an online bookseller. The e-reader is pretty amazing...as soon as I ordered the story, it arrived on the unit almost instantaneously.

After supper, Mother went home, and I baked a double batch of blueberry muffins, in order to use a couple of cups of the berries that were in danger of going south. As soon as the muffins were out of the oven, Hubbie drooled over them, so I gave him one. I do want to save three of the best looking ones to enter in the fair, and keep a few to take on our next camping trip, but after that, he can eat his fill.

Later, we watched the 2011 Lifetime Movie Network feature, "Final Sale." A young woman is years away from the top of a list to receive a kidney, and she will die in a couple of months without one. Her husband, an LAPD detective, decides to buy one illegally. Except the very young Hispanic girl donor dies during surgery, and is disposed of in a dumpster. Now the recipient becomes determined to stop illegal transplants, even while feeling torn about her own.

Monday, June 20

Up around 7:30, and did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast. Once I was ready for the day, I spent time preparing a lesson plan for a tutoring session with my student this afternoon.

In the meantime, Hubbie called the highway department about the dead deer that has been bloating in the ditch at the west corner of our yard since last Friday. But no one came today to remove it, and it's getting very odoriferous.

Mother stayed home this morning. She had several personal tasks to complete. Hubbie spent time in the yard.

At noon, Mother came over, and we had leftover barbecue, potato salad, and baked beans for lunch. Mother went back to her house afterward. At 2:15, I went down to the college library to meet my student.

We worked on the differences among: "I want to, I need to, I like to", with sentences such as "I want to buy a jacket," "I need to buy bread," and "I like to go shopping." We also worked on: "I like," and "I don't like," with questions such as, "Do you like apples or oranges?"

We also noted the difference in "This is my watch. It is here." And, "That is my watch. It is there." She learned the meanings of open and close, and bring, have, and come, as well as do and don't.

In the word list, she had trouble pronouncing refrigerator. But once I broke it down for her, and she practiced it a few times, she got it.

At 4:30, I came back home and changed clothes to go to our arts council's Summer Celebration. It began at 6:30, but we wanted to arrive at six to get a good table and avoid the crowd.

The crowd was much thinner this year than last, however, because (I think) of the rather steep ticket price. As usual, the food selection included many items with yellow cheese, which I couldn't eat...cheese dip, stuffed mushrooms with yellow cheese, ham roll-ups with yellow cheese, etc. I ate three or four tortilla chips with salsa, fresh veggies and dressing, roast pork on a bun, and a couple of chocolate desserts. Our ticket price included two drinks...either beer or wine. We chose wine.

A live band, with Elvis-like singer, performed, and Hubbie and I took a couple of turns around the floor. The event included both a live and silent auction. We came home with a Kindle e-reader, a subscription to our local newspaper, and tickets to a symphony concert.

We were back home around 9 p.m., and watched a couple of one-hour TV shows, and then headed to bed.

Sunday, June 19

Today is Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to all the dads in the family!

Had trouble going to sleep last night, so I wasn't ready to get up at 6:30 this morning. But I did, so we could prepare to go to a town 45 minutes away for the program Hubbie's daughter was to present.

The first thing I did was give Hubbie a Father's Day card I'd chosen from my greeting card stash. He read it appreciatively, and commented that he guessed the sentiment would work for any special occasion. I agreed. "Because," he said, "this one says Happy Anniversary." Rats! I apologized profusely, castigating myself for my stupidity, and then we had a good laugh about it.

We were ready to get on the road to the other town around 8:30. The program was to begin about 9:45. Daughter was not up when we left, but Mother had come over. Later I learned she let Daughter sleep until around 10 a.m., since Shih Tzu didn't need anything.

We arrived at the church around 9:30. Hubbie's daughter, who was dressed in a black skirt, topped with a cotton African-print jacket, and accessorized with one of the handmade necklaces she purchased in Uganda, was busy setting up her power point presentation.

She remarked on my animal print blouse, complemented with a multiple-strand necklace featuring ivory-looking elephants, and an African continent pendant necklace. I reminded her that she had given me the elephant necklace as a birthday present years ago (probably 20 years ago). She vaguely remembered it, and joked that she'd like for me to bequeath the necklace to her in my will, since she's now so intensely interested in the African mission experience. I said I would, but I wasn't planning to leave anytime soon.

Hubbie's daughter did a wonderful job of presenting the slide show. We noticed that the program for the service revolved around the presentation...hymns like "Tell me the Story of Jesus," "Now in This Moment," "This is My Father's World," "This is My Song," and "Go Now Forth into the World," as well as the Call to Worship, the Response and the Prayer for Peace all related to the mission trip.

I thought the church had done a great job of planning the music and service to complement her program. Later, when I mentioned this to her, she said she was the one who actually planned it, to take the burden off the churches at which she spoke.

The service ended around 11:30, and while Daughter, her husband, and Hubbie's grandson stayed behind to pack up her things, Hubbie and I headed back to our town, so we could go to the WDCS to pick up a couple of rotisserie chickens and a loaf of sourdough bread for lunch.

At home, Mother and Daughter had baked potatoes, cooked corn-on-the-cob, and cut up salad veggies. Hubbie's family arrived a few minutes after we got back with the chicken and bread, and we sat down to lunch right away.

After lunch, Hubbie's daughter brought her laptop in and presented the slide show program to Mother and my daughter. She also brought in a plastic tote of the handmade jewelry from Uganda. As soon as she noticed which necklace and bracelet that my daughter was taken with, she gave them to her.

Shortly afterward, she and her family headed back to the town about 45 minutes away to deliver Grandson to church camp, scheduled to be held all this week.

My daughter stayed around for another hour so we could chat. Before she left, Hubbie found an old ice chest in the garage, which I packed with containers of potato salad, baked beans, and chicken. I also gave her slices of the sourdough bread, chocolate cupcakes and a small bottle of her favorite wine (not to be enjoyed with the bread and cupcakes, I presume).

After Daughter left, Mother went to her house, and Hubbie and I settled in to watch a 2009 movie..."The Open Road," starring Justin Timberlake, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, and Jeff Bridges. The estranged adult son of a baseball legend prevails upon his father to return with him to the hospital, where his Mother is to undergo heart surgery. They, along with a female friend of the young man, embark on a road trip, on which the father and son explore their relationship.

Then we watched the movie, "2010: Moby Dick," starring Barry Bostwick, from the Syfy channel. As the title implies, it's a modern adaptation of the classic novel, about the captain of a high-tech submarine who becomes obsessed with destroying an enormous prehistoric whale that maimed him.

Saturday, June 18

We were up around 7:30, but had to delay my exercises because a thunderstorm cropped up. This one produced some rain, though probably not enough for the thirsty gardens.

As soon as the storm passed, and we'd had breakfast, I hopped on the treadmill, and then did resistance exercises.

We expected Daughter to come sometime today to spend the night and then be here tomorrow, when Hubbie and I are scheduled to go to another town about 45 minutes away to the church where his daughter will present a slide show program about her mission trip to Uganda.

But it was a bit dicey as to whether or not Daughter would be able to come, because her car was giving her trouble. But she called later in the morning and said she'd be here around noon. She did indeed get here at noon, in time to join us in having turkey bacon, tomato, and lettuce sandwiches.

After lunch, Daughter joined Mother in working on a jigsaw puzzle, while I uploaded photos of Hubbie and his family (taken yesterday) to his social network page. Then I snapped a picture of him with his new (decorated) mop, which I then uploaded to my social network page.

After that, I did this and that until time to prepare supper...which was round two of yesterday's meal of barbecue, potato salad, baked beans, and coleslaw.

Following supper, we all got ready to go to a local college to attend a community theater production of "The Foreigner." We all thoroughly enjoyed this very professionally done play that kept us laughing from opening scene to the end.

The play was done in the colleges small and intimate three-quarter round theater, where the seating is on unobstructed view levels. Because we were so close to the performance floor, we had no trouble hearing the actors.

The set was wonderful...built to look like a fishing lodge in rural Georgia. It was constructed by the director's husband. The director is a member of the community theater board.

The play is absolutely hilarious. A shy-guy, who supposedly can't speak English, stays at the lodge for a couple of days, where he overhears private conversations, and builds a relationship with a "slow" boy, who "teaches" him to speak English and read Shakespeare in only two days.

A greedy preacher, and a county inspector, try to get the lodge condemned, so they can use it as a meeting place for the Ku Klux Klan. The preacher hopes to marry a wealthy heiress (whom he has already impregnated), so he can get his hands on her inheritance. The stumbling block is the woman's slow brother, who must show some intelligence in order to get his share of the inheritance. The preacher hopes to get him declared incompetent, so that his future wife will get the whole enchilada.

Scenes between the slow boy and the shy-guy are gems, with the boy (who by the way was played by a girl) carefully pronouncing words for the shy-guy, making two syllables out of one-syllable words..like "fo-rk."

A scene where the shy-guy is trapped into telling a story in his "native tongue" kept us in stitches. We don't know if the pretend language was scripted, or if he made it up as he went along, but it was sure hilarious. Listening to the story and watching his actions made the four of us believe he was relating the story of "Little Red Riding Hood." But the woman who owns the lodge declares that the story is about a tractor.

It was nearly 10 p.m., before we got home from the play. After a choice of lemon cake or chocolate cupcakes and ice cream, Mother went home, and the rest of us headed to bed.