Up around 7:30, but skipped my exercises so I could get ready to go downtown to the art gallery to help with a painting project. Hubbie went with me, and we worked about five hours painting bookshelves, a large counter, and baseboards. The colors chosen by I don't know who are dark and light clay. I'm not crazy about them, but maybe they are exactly what's needed as background for artwork.
I'm sure that both of us will be sore and stiff tomorrow from bending, squatting. and getting up and down from the floor. Others worked harder than we did, though, since they spent yesterday taking down and storing art, and then priming the walls. Some will continue working tomorrow afternoon in hopes of finishing the project. But I think we have done all we are willing to do.
We were back home around 3 p.m. Mother had sauteed onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms for pizzas on whole wheat thin bagels. Later, I put the pizzas together for the oven. We had them with cottage cheese, and mixed greens and baby spinach salads topped with garden tomatoes and Vidalia onions.
Mother went home afterward. Before she left, she mentioned to Hubbie that the freezer portion of her refrigerator isn't working, so Hubbie went over there to check on it. It looks like we'll be faced with buying a new fridge for her.
Later, Hubbie and I watched the 2008 movie, "The Dark Knight," starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, and other well-knowns. Batman battles mastermind criminal, Joker. We'd heard a lot of positive comments about this four-star movie when it came out, but never got around to watching it until now.
Thunderstorms predicted for overnight.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Friday, August 19
Up at 6 a.m., before the alarm went off, to get ready to go to water aerobics. I actually thought this was our usual hour to rise on water aerobic days, and thought Hubbie just forgot to set the clock. But 30 minutes later, he came downstairs and reminded me that we usually get up at 6:30 on swim days.
Oh well, there was certainly no chance that I'd arrive late for aerobics. The pool was really chilly this morning. We were told that neither it nor the dressing room showers have warm water, because something is apparently wrong with the boiler again. I thought they had fixed that problem! In fact, I'd heard they'd gotten a new boiler. Guess not.
Back home later, Mother came over, and we planned the menu for the weekend and next week. After lunch, Hubbie and I shopped for groceries at the WDCS and a couple of grocery stores.
We also dropped by the post office to have a manila envelope weighed for postage. There were three other pieces of already stamped mail, too, but learned that one, which was a birthday card for Mother's and my friend, needed twenty cents more postage, because it was square. I'm glad we didn't just stick that in our home mailbox. It might have arrived at our friend's house with postage due. That would have been embarrassing.
This was a handmade card, but I'll remember from now on to make all my cards rectangular and not square. Or if I make a square one, I need to remember to put it in a rectangular envelope for mailing.
Later, I started to make a batch of pancakes for supper, using both white and wheat flour, but when I opened the bag of wheat flour, I found it was full of bugs. Yuk! So Hubbie went back to the store to buy a fresh bag. I meant to put the wheat flour in a container with a few bay leaves shortly after we bought it, but failed to do so. As they say, "my bad."
To add to my frustration, when I closed the Tupperware canister that contains the white flour, the lid broke. Phooey. Now I need to see if I can locate a new lid, or start looking for a new set of canisters.
Hubbie did the honors of cooking the pancakes, which were very tasty, thanks in part to some milk that soured before Mother could use it all.
Mother went home after supper, and Hubbie went out to mow the yard, while I played on my laptop.
Later, we watched TV, including a 2008 Syfy movie called, "Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon," starring Shannon Doherty, and Michael Shanks. In the Grand Canyon, a team of researchers from the Smithsonian stumble on an Aztec city guarded by evil spirits.
Oh well, there was certainly no chance that I'd arrive late for aerobics. The pool was really chilly this morning. We were told that neither it nor the dressing room showers have warm water, because something is apparently wrong with the boiler again. I thought they had fixed that problem! In fact, I'd heard they'd gotten a new boiler. Guess not.
Back home later, Mother came over, and we planned the menu for the weekend and next week. After lunch, Hubbie and I shopped for groceries at the WDCS and a couple of grocery stores.
We also dropped by the post office to have a manila envelope weighed for postage. There were three other pieces of already stamped mail, too, but learned that one, which was a birthday card for Mother's and my friend, needed twenty cents more postage, because it was square. I'm glad we didn't just stick that in our home mailbox. It might have arrived at our friend's house with postage due. That would have been embarrassing.
This was a handmade card, but I'll remember from now on to make all my cards rectangular and not square. Or if I make a square one, I need to remember to put it in a rectangular envelope for mailing.
Later, I started to make a batch of pancakes for supper, using both white and wheat flour, but when I opened the bag of wheat flour, I found it was full of bugs. Yuk! So Hubbie went back to the store to buy a fresh bag. I meant to put the wheat flour in a container with a few bay leaves shortly after we bought it, but failed to do so. As they say, "my bad."
To add to my frustration, when I closed the Tupperware canister that contains the white flour, the lid broke. Phooey. Now I need to see if I can locate a new lid, or start looking for a new set of canisters.
Hubbie did the honors of cooking the pancakes, which were very tasty, thanks in part to some milk that soured before Mother could use it all.
Mother went home after supper, and Hubbie went out to mow the yard, while I played on my laptop.
Later, we watched TV, including a 2008 Syfy movie called, "Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon," starring Shannon Doherty, and Michael Shanks. In the Grand Canyon, a team of researchers from the Smithsonian stumble on an Aztec city guarded by evil spirits.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Thursday, August 18
Woke up around 6 a.m. to a thunderstorm, for the second day in a row. Turned on the TV to see if the storm was predicted to persist into the time the ladies were to meet at my house for an outing to another town.
Yes, the rain, and possibly storms were to continue throughout the morning. I got up and readied myself for the trip, anyway, which was no small order. Yesterday, I'd chosen the outfit I thought I would be wearing today, but since it was raining, I changed my mind several times before landing on something I thought would be right for the weather.
Around 8 a.m., one of the ladies called, and I thought for sure she was going to back out of going. But she seemed surprised to hear my voice. "Oh, honey," she said, "I didn't mean to call you. I meant to call the body shop to cancel my appointment."
So maybe that was the reason this lady couldn't drive to my house this morning...her car needed to go to the shop.
No one else called to cancel, and by 9:45, everyone was at my house, except the lady who wanted me to "swing by and pick her up," which I did. We were on our way by 10 a.m. Seems I wasn't the only one who had trouble choosing something to wear this morning...everyone described their tribulations, noting that, like me, lots of discarded clothing now litters their beds and bedroom chairs, waiting for them to get home and hang it up.
We arrived at the other town just before 11 a.m. On the way, the lady I picked up laughed about inadvertently calling me this morning. "Your number is right below the number for my beauty shop," she said.
"Beauty shop?" I asked. "I thought you were trying to call a body shop."
"Yes," she said, "I don't know why anyone would name their beauty shop "The Body Shop."
Despite the rain, or maybe because of it, the drive on the winding highway to the other town was lovely. The trees on the rolling hills were blue-green and smoky with mist. Cattle dotted some hillside pastures. Old farmhouses, some still occupied, some abandoned, and ancient barns, added a bygone look to the scenery.
A few months ago, we were advised that there was a new restaurant in that town that served down home meals. The menu was the same every day...only one choice of plates..but it was supposed to be good. So the first thing we did was look for that restaurant. We found it, but it was closed down. This is the second time we've visited that town and tried to eat at that same location...another restaurant was in the building then, and it was closed down, too, when we visited.
So we stopped at a gas station to ask if there was another restaurant in this small town of around 2600 people. We were directed to a burger place that also serves plate lunches.
The restaurant was quite cool, so I retrieved my sweater from the van for Mother, who was already wearing a three-quarter sleeve blouse over a shirt. This is always what happens...I bring along a sweater for myself in case a restaurant is cool, and I end up giving it to Mother, who gets even colder than I do. I should learn to go prepared with two sweaters or lightweight jackets.
A couple of the ladies, including Mother, ordered the fried catfish plates, one lady ordered grilled chicken and veggies, and another got the hamburger steak with onions and peppers. I ordered a beef open-face sandwich, but the waitress said they didn't have the beef, as it had spoiled. But they did have a roast pork open-face sandwich, which I ordered.
It was awful. Tasted like they'd cooked the pork, mashed potatoes, and gravy with vinegar. Thinking it might just be my taste buds, I let the other ladies sample it. Everyone agreed it was terrible. So when the waitress returned, I voiced my displeasure. She apologized and offered any other meal I wanted. I chose the grilled chicken, which was fine.
By the time we left the restaurant, the sun was blazing, and the humidity was on the rise. We stopped by a warehouse store suggested to us by one of the members, and the main reason for the trip.
It's a large store that carries a variety of things from tools to toys. We were interested in the scrapbook supplies, which were mainly what Mother and I bought. The other ladies also found "dust catcher" items to use for secret pal gifts, as well as paperback novels for themselves, gift bags, and silk flowers for the graves of their loved ones. I found two small books of quotes about cats and gardens that I managed to buy without Mother seeing them. I'll add these to her "twelve days of Christmas" stash.
When we were done shopping, we prevailed upon one of the store employees to take a picture of us around a seated figure of a bewhiskered "old timer" that looked like a gold prospector or something.
We arrived back in our town mid-afternoon. Mother went home, and Hubbie and I relaxed for the rest of the afternoon until supper time. I wasn't very hungry, but I joined Hubbie in bowls of potato soup, with bran muffins.
Later, we watched a couple of Lifetime Movie Network features, one of which I had seen already, but Hubbie didn't remember it. It was called, "Legacy of Fear," about a woman who, as a child, witnessed her mother's murder. Now, as a detective, she is obsessed with finding the murderer. Surprise ending.
The second movie was called, "Imaginary Playmate," about a child whose mother has died, and whose father has remarried. The family moves to a country home, where the girl develops an imaginary friend, who turns out to be not so imaginary.
Yes, the rain, and possibly storms were to continue throughout the morning. I got up and readied myself for the trip, anyway, which was no small order. Yesterday, I'd chosen the outfit I thought I would be wearing today, but since it was raining, I changed my mind several times before landing on something I thought would be right for the weather.
Around 8 a.m., one of the ladies called, and I thought for sure she was going to back out of going. But she seemed surprised to hear my voice. "Oh, honey," she said, "I didn't mean to call you. I meant to call the body shop to cancel my appointment."
So maybe that was the reason this lady couldn't drive to my house this morning...her car needed to go to the shop.
No one else called to cancel, and by 9:45, everyone was at my house, except the lady who wanted me to "swing by and pick her up," which I did. We were on our way by 10 a.m. Seems I wasn't the only one who had trouble choosing something to wear this morning...everyone described their tribulations, noting that, like me, lots of discarded clothing now litters their beds and bedroom chairs, waiting for them to get home and hang it up.
We arrived at the other town just before 11 a.m. On the way, the lady I picked up laughed about inadvertently calling me this morning. "Your number is right below the number for my beauty shop," she said.
"Beauty shop?" I asked. "I thought you were trying to call a body shop."
"Yes," she said, "I don't know why anyone would name their beauty shop "The Body Shop."
Despite the rain, or maybe because of it, the drive on the winding highway to the other town was lovely. The trees on the rolling hills were blue-green and smoky with mist. Cattle dotted some hillside pastures. Old farmhouses, some still occupied, some abandoned, and ancient barns, added a bygone look to the scenery.
A few months ago, we were advised that there was a new restaurant in that town that served down home meals. The menu was the same every day...only one choice of plates..but it was supposed to be good. So the first thing we did was look for that restaurant. We found it, but it was closed down. This is the second time we've visited that town and tried to eat at that same location...another restaurant was in the building then, and it was closed down, too, when we visited.
So we stopped at a gas station to ask if there was another restaurant in this small town of around 2600 people. We were directed to a burger place that also serves plate lunches.
The restaurant was quite cool, so I retrieved my sweater from the van for Mother, who was already wearing a three-quarter sleeve blouse over a shirt. This is always what happens...I bring along a sweater for myself in case a restaurant is cool, and I end up giving it to Mother, who gets even colder than I do. I should learn to go prepared with two sweaters or lightweight jackets.
A couple of the ladies, including Mother, ordered the fried catfish plates, one lady ordered grilled chicken and veggies, and another got the hamburger steak with onions and peppers. I ordered a beef open-face sandwich, but the waitress said they didn't have the beef, as it had spoiled. But they did have a roast pork open-face sandwich, which I ordered.
It was awful. Tasted like they'd cooked the pork, mashed potatoes, and gravy with vinegar. Thinking it might just be my taste buds, I let the other ladies sample it. Everyone agreed it was terrible. So when the waitress returned, I voiced my displeasure. She apologized and offered any other meal I wanted. I chose the grilled chicken, which was fine.
By the time we left the restaurant, the sun was blazing, and the humidity was on the rise. We stopped by a warehouse store suggested to us by one of the members, and the main reason for the trip.
It's a large store that carries a variety of things from tools to toys. We were interested in the scrapbook supplies, which were mainly what Mother and I bought. The other ladies also found "dust catcher" items to use for secret pal gifts, as well as paperback novels for themselves, gift bags, and silk flowers for the graves of their loved ones. I found two small books of quotes about cats and gardens that I managed to buy without Mother seeing them. I'll add these to her "twelve days of Christmas" stash.
When we were done shopping, we prevailed upon one of the store employees to take a picture of us around a seated figure of a bewhiskered "old timer" that looked like a gold prospector or something.
We arrived back in our town mid-afternoon. Mother went home, and Hubbie and I relaxed for the rest of the afternoon until supper time. I wasn't very hungry, but I joined Hubbie in bowls of potato soup, with bran muffins.
Later, we watched a couple of Lifetime Movie Network features, one of which I had seen already, but Hubbie didn't remember it. It was called, "Legacy of Fear," about a woman who, as a child, witnessed her mother's murder. Now, as a detective, she is obsessed with finding the murderer. Surprise ending.
The second movie was called, "Imaginary Playmate," about a child whose mother has died, and whose father has remarried. The family moves to a country home, where the girl develops an imaginary friend, who turns out to be not so imaginary.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Wednesday, August 17
Woke up at 6 a.m. to a thunderstorm, so I turned on the TV to see if it was predicted to leave our county by the time I needed to go to water aerobics. It appeared that it wasn't leaving until around 9 a.m. So we stayed abed until around 7 a.m. By that time, the storm seemed to have eased, so we got up and had breakfast. Soon after, it began thundering again, though, so I gave up on the idea of going to the pool.
My problem, sometimes, is that I have trouble changing course when things don't work out the way I planned. So I debated with myself for a while before deciding to get on the treadmill. Decided I needed to do an exercise session today, since I'll miss it tomorrow, when I take the ladies of our scrapbook club on an outing to another town for lunch and shopping.
It was 11 a.m., before I finally got ready for the day, and then I didn't accomplish much after lunch. Mother usually stays home on Thursdays, but since we are going on an outing tomorrow, she decided to stay home today.
She wanted to do a few household chores to get ready for the weekend, but the first thing she discovered was that her little vacuum cleaner wasn't working right. Hubbie checked it out and found that a belt was broken. So he went to the WDCS to get a new one, but couldn't find one the right size. He decided to buy a new lightweight vacuum...one he thinks will be much easier for Mother to handle. He still plans to fix the old one, as soon as he finds the right size belt.
As for me, I finished a report of our scrapbook club's community project. It's not due for a few weeks, but since I submitted all my other reports late, I thought I'd get ahead of the game with this one.
For supper, I decided to pick up a rotisserie chicken at the WDCS to have with the rest of the potato salad, corn-on-the-cob, and sliced tomatoes. Mother came over around 4 p.m., and at 4:30, Hubbie and I went after the chicken.
At the deli, there were only three chickens ready, and a customer ahead of me picked up two of those. The other one was not a flavor we prefer. So I asked when the next batch of chickens would be ready. I was told there wouldn't be any more today, since they were cleaning the oven. Maybe there would be some in the display case up front.
We hurried up front, and luckily found two chickens in the flavor we like.
Mother went back home right after supper, and Hubbie went out to the yard for a while. Meanwhile, I got a call from one of the scrapbook club members, who asked if it would be out of my way to pick her up in the morning for our trip. Well, it is, but I could hardly refuse this older woman who has had so many troubles in her life.
I'm not sure why she feels threatened by the idea of driving to my house. I know she drives to church and to the senior citizens center. It's amusing, too, that this lady who rarely joins us at scrapbook club meetings, rarely misses an opportunity to join us when we plan an outing...particularly one that includes shopping.
In the local news: Several days ago in our newspaper, there was a report of an employee (the director of information services) of the college where I go to water aerobics being attacked in one of the buildings, while he was working at night. He said someone sneaked up behind him while he was in a closet and strangled him until he fell unconscious. He also said that his girlfriend and her mother had been receiving threatening letters.
Tonight there was a large photo at the top of the front page of the newspaper showing the police leading this guy away in handcuffs for terroristic threatening. The story reported that he had confessed that the attack was false. He had strangled himself, and he had written the letters to his girlfriend and her mother in a scheme to get out of marrying his girlfriend.
This story will no doubt be the topic of conversation at water aerobics Friday morning.
Later, Hubbie and I watched a DVD I picked up for $3 quite a while ago called, "Lions for Lambs." It's a 2007 movie starring Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, and Meryl Streep. A professor (Redford) tries to inspire a student to do better; a senator (Cruise) pitches a new Middle East war strategy to a journalist (Streep); and two of the professor's former students are trapped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan. These Americans will change each other's lives. I remembered seeing this movie before, but Hubbie did not.
Funny: email today included the minutes of the last Master Gardeners meeting, which I read. Later, the secretary sent another email saying, "I'm not sure what MINUTERS are." I'm surprised I hadn't noticed she'd spelled "minutes" incorrectly in the heading. Provided a good laugh, though.
My problem, sometimes, is that I have trouble changing course when things don't work out the way I planned. So I debated with myself for a while before deciding to get on the treadmill. Decided I needed to do an exercise session today, since I'll miss it tomorrow, when I take the ladies of our scrapbook club on an outing to another town for lunch and shopping.
It was 11 a.m., before I finally got ready for the day, and then I didn't accomplish much after lunch. Mother usually stays home on Thursdays, but since we are going on an outing tomorrow, she decided to stay home today.
She wanted to do a few household chores to get ready for the weekend, but the first thing she discovered was that her little vacuum cleaner wasn't working right. Hubbie checked it out and found that a belt was broken. So he went to the WDCS to get a new one, but couldn't find one the right size. He decided to buy a new lightweight vacuum...one he thinks will be much easier for Mother to handle. He still plans to fix the old one, as soon as he finds the right size belt.
As for me, I finished a report of our scrapbook club's community project. It's not due for a few weeks, but since I submitted all my other reports late, I thought I'd get ahead of the game with this one.
For supper, I decided to pick up a rotisserie chicken at the WDCS to have with the rest of the potato salad, corn-on-the-cob, and sliced tomatoes. Mother came over around 4 p.m., and at 4:30, Hubbie and I went after the chicken.
At the deli, there were only three chickens ready, and a customer ahead of me picked up two of those. The other one was not a flavor we prefer. So I asked when the next batch of chickens would be ready. I was told there wouldn't be any more today, since they were cleaning the oven. Maybe there would be some in the display case up front.
We hurried up front, and luckily found two chickens in the flavor we like.
Mother went back home right after supper, and Hubbie went out to the yard for a while. Meanwhile, I got a call from one of the scrapbook club members, who asked if it would be out of my way to pick her up in the morning for our trip. Well, it is, but I could hardly refuse this older woman who has had so many troubles in her life.
I'm not sure why she feels threatened by the idea of driving to my house. I know she drives to church and to the senior citizens center. It's amusing, too, that this lady who rarely joins us at scrapbook club meetings, rarely misses an opportunity to join us when we plan an outing...particularly one that includes shopping.
In the local news: Several days ago in our newspaper, there was a report of an employee (the director of information services) of the college where I go to water aerobics being attacked in one of the buildings, while he was working at night. He said someone sneaked up behind him while he was in a closet and strangled him until he fell unconscious. He also said that his girlfriend and her mother had been receiving threatening letters.
Tonight there was a large photo at the top of the front page of the newspaper showing the police leading this guy away in handcuffs for terroristic threatening. The story reported that he had confessed that the attack was false. He had strangled himself, and he had written the letters to his girlfriend and her mother in a scheme to get out of marrying his girlfriend.
This story will no doubt be the topic of conversation at water aerobics Friday morning.
Later, Hubbie and I watched a DVD I picked up for $3 quite a while ago called, "Lions for Lambs." It's a 2007 movie starring Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, and Meryl Streep. A professor (Redford) tries to inspire a student to do better; a senator (Cruise) pitches a new Middle East war strategy to a journalist (Streep); and two of the professor's former students are trapped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan. These Americans will change each other's lives. I remembered seeing this movie before, but Hubbie did not.
Funny: email today included the minutes of the last Master Gardeners meeting, which I read. Later, the secretary sent another email saying, "I'm not sure what MINUTERS are." I'm surprised I hadn't noticed she'd spelled "minutes" incorrectly in the heading. Provided a good laugh, though.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Tuesday, August 16
Up around 7:30 on this perfect-weather day, and did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast. Once I was ready for the day, Mother came over, and the three of us prepared peaches and tomatoes for the freezer. After that, Mother chopped veggies and I added them, along with a chopped boiled egg, spices, mustard, and salad dressing to leftover mashed potatoes from last nignt's supper for a potato salad for tonight's supper.
After lunch, Hubbie and I ran errands...to the art gallery to drop off the Shakespeare workshop CD of snapshots; to the newspaper office to leave the word search puzzle contest; to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, which we learned had somehow never been called in to them from the automated phone service; to the WDCS for groceries; and to the gas station.
Then, since the WDCS didn't have sugar free instant chocolate pudding, we swung back by a grocery store that did have it. After that, we came back home.
At the WDCS, I saw a rack of women's long-sleeve white shirts for $4 each, so I picked one up. At home, Mother tried it on and decided she liked it, so I gave it to her.
I spent the rest of the afternoon washing a couple of loads of laundry, and e-mailing low-fat recipes to Granddaughter, who is on a program of exercise and diet.
For supper, we had the potato salad, with cold meatloaf sandwiches. Mother went home afterward, and Hubbie and I lazed in front of TV. Tonight, we watched the movie, "Inhale." A couple's daughter needs a lung transplant immediately. She is not at the top of the donor list. So the wealthy father sets out to find a match in Juarez, Mexico, where things go from bad to worse.
After lunch, Hubbie and I ran errands...to the art gallery to drop off the Shakespeare workshop CD of snapshots; to the newspaper office to leave the word search puzzle contest; to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, which we learned had somehow never been called in to them from the automated phone service; to the WDCS for groceries; and to the gas station.
Then, since the WDCS didn't have sugar free instant chocolate pudding, we swung back by a grocery store that did have it. After that, we came back home.
At the WDCS, I saw a rack of women's long-sleeve white shirts for $4 each, so I picked one up. At home, Mother tried it on and decided she liked it, so I gave it to her.
I spent the rest of the afternoon washing a couple of loads of laundry, and e-mailing low-fat recipes to Granddaughter, who is on a program of exercise and diet.
For supper, we had the potato salad, with cold meatloaf sandwiches. Mother went home afterward, and Hubbie and I lazed in front of TV. Tonight, we watched the movie, "Inhale." A couple's daughter needs a lung transplant immediately. She is not at the top of the donor list. So the wealthy father sets out to find a match in Juarez, Mexico, where things go from bad to worse.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Monday, August 15
Congratulations to all the kids in the family who experienced "firsts" today...first day of kindergarten, first day of first grade, first day of high school, first day of the last year of high school!
We were up at 6 a.m. this morning, so I could get ready to go to water aerobics. Thanks to students on compus for basketball and soccer games, parking was at a premium. I imagine parking will be at a premium from now on through the school year, so I'll get a little more exercise hiking down to the gym, and then uphill to my van afterward. The pool was chilly this morning, but felt fine once I was in it for a few minutes. About 25 of us showed up this morning, more than any day previously.
It was a pleasantly cool morning for walking to and from the pool, and continued to be pleasant throughout the day.
Back home, Mother came over around 11 a.m. After I finished stowing our card-making supplies, we spent the rest of the morning visiting, while I caught her up-to-date on family news, and the news of our friend in Springfield.
After lunch, I went shopping at our local greeting card shop, where I didn't find anything I wanted. From there, I went to the store that has a sale every weekend to look for a pair of dressy black slacks. I found a pair I like and used a
$10 coupon and a gift card to buy them.
Back home, Mother had put together a meatloaf, which we had for supper with mashed potatoes, green beans, and sliced tomaotes. She also made rice pudding from the rice leftover from last night's supper.
Mother went home right after supper, taking a helping of the rice pudding with her for a snack later. We were all too full to eat the dessert after our meal.
The garden tomato vines, as well as the squash vines, have now quit producing. We didn't get many squash this year...enough yellow squash for a couple of meals, and a couple of patty pan squash. But we got lots of tomatoes. We'll really miss those.
Looks like we'll get several butternut squash. They aren't ready to harvest yet, since they are a fall vegetable. It'll be September, maybe october, before we can enjoy those.
We were up at 6 a.m. this morning, so I could get ready to go to water aerobics. Thanks to students on compus for basketball and soccer games, parking was at a premium. I imagine parking will be at a premium from now on through the school year, so I'll get a little more exercise hiking down to the gym, and then uphill to my van afterward. The pool was chilly this morning, but felt fine once I was in it for a few minutes. About 25 of us showed up this morning, more than any day previously.
It was a pleasantly cool morning for walking to and from the pool, and continued to be pleasant throughout the day.
Back home, Mother came over around 11 a.m. After I finished stowing our card-making supplies, we spent the rest of the morning visiting, while I caught her up-to-date on family news, and the news of our friend in Springfield.
After lunch, I went shopping at our local greeting card shop, where I didn't find anything I wanted. From there, I went to the store that has a sale every weekend to look for a pair of dressy black slacks. I found a pair I like and used a
$10 coupon and a gift card to buy them.
Back home, Mother had put together a meatloaf, which we had for supper with mashed potatoes, green beans, and sliced tomaotes. She also made rice pudding from the rice leftover from last night's supper.
Mother went home right after supper, taking a helping of the rice pudding with her for a snack later. We were all too full to eat the dessert after our meal.
The garden tomato vines, as well as the squash vines, have now quit producing. We didn't get many squash this year...enough yellow squash for a couple of meals, and a couple of patty pan squash. But we got lots of tomatoes. We'll really miss those.
Looks like we'll get several butternut squash. They aren't ready to harvest yet, since they are a fall vegetable. It'll be September, maybe october, before we can enjoy those.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Sunday, August 14
Up around 8:30 on this perfectly beautiful, lower-temp-lower-humidity morning. Skipped my exercises. It was a pretty typical Sunday morning, reading the newspaper, programming the DVR, washing a couple of loads of clothes, etc.
Mother came over mid-morning, and we planned the menu for this week. Later she braised pork chops for our lunch, which we had with minute rice, leftover squash and English peas, and sliced tomatoes. I accompanied her home afterward.
Hubbie and I went grocery shopping at a couple of grocery stores and the WDCS after lunch. We couldn't help laughing at a young man at one of the grocery stores whose pants were so big and baggy that he had to hold them up as he walked. Hubbie wondered what folks would think if he started wearing his pants like that. "They'd think you'd escaped from the nursing home," I said.
Back home, I uploaded photos to my social network page, and burned the ones I took at the Shakespeare workshop Friday to a CD to be given to the arts council director.
Then Hubbie and I wasted the remainder of the afternoon and evening watching disaster movies I'd recorded on DVR from the SyFy Channel. One was about a volcano that threatens mankind, the other was about someone who has visions about disasters in the future that threaten mankind.
This afternoon, I received an email from my friend in Springfield. Lots of medical problems in her family. Her husband is suffering complications from prostate surgery, and he developed congestive heart failure in March. He now has breathing problems that require an inhaler. Her brother has rectal cancer and is taking chemo every day in an attempt to shrink the tumor for surgery. Her husband's brother had a heart attack and has so many other health problems he can't have surgery despite two blocked arteries...one 90% and one 70%. These folks are all in their mid to late 80s. Fortunately, my friend is still in reasonably good health. She needs to be to cope with all that. I can't imagine how stressed she must feel right now. Makes our own problems seem insignificant.
Mother came over mid-morning, and we planned the menu for this week. Later she braised pork chops for our lunch, which we had with minute rice, leftover squash and English peas, and sliced tomatoes. I accompanied her home afterward.
Hubbie and I went grocery shopping at a couple of grocery stores and the WDCS after lunch. We couldn't help laughing at a young man at one of the grocery stores whose pants were so big and baggy that he had to hold them up as he walked. Hubbie wondered what folks would think if he started wearing his pants like that. "They'd think you'd escaped from the nursing home," I said.
Back home, I uploaded photos to my social network page, and burned the ones I took at the Shakespeare workshop Friday to a CD to be given to the arts council director.
Then Hubbie and I wasted the remainder of the afternoon and evening watching disaster movies I'd recorded on DVR from the SyFy Channel. One was about a volcano that threatens mankind, the other was about someone who has visions about disasters in the future that threaten mankind.
This afternoon, I received an email from my friend in Springfield. Lots of medical problems in her family. Her husband is suffering complications from prostate surgery, and he developed congestive heart failure in March. He now has breathing problems that require an inhaler. Her brother has rectal cancer and is taking chemo every day in an attempt to shrink the tumor for surgery. Her husband's brother had a heart attack and has so many other health problems he can't have surgery despite two blocked arteries...one 90% and one 70%. These folks are all in their mid to late 80s. Fortunately, my friend is still in reasonably good health. She needs to be to cope with all that. I can't imagine how stressed she must feel right now. Makes our own problems seem insignificant.
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