I hoped to sleep late this morning, since we had nothing important planned. But wouldn't you know, I woke up around 5 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. I dozed a little off and on, but never went fully asleep. So we were up at our usual 7 a.m. hour.
Once I was dressed and we had breakfast, Hubbie and I rode our bicycles a couple of miles. My bike works wonderfully, of course, though my upper legs felt the strain of pedaling up hills. It tells me that those muscles need more exercise. And if the weather continues as it has been today, with moderate heat and low humidity, then they'll get more exercise, because I'll want to ride my bike frequently.
When we got back from our ride, Mother was here. Despite the milder weather, I was hot from riding the bike, so I hit the shower. And since Mother and I had nothing pressing to do this morning, I went to the greeting card shop. I wanted to use a $2 coupon, before it expired at the end of the month. By spending the coupon before August 31, I could also accumulate an extra 300 points.
I decided that I'd like to have a lavender reed diffuser for our bedroom. Lavender is supposed to aid sleep. Hope it works. I purchased the diffuser with a gift card from that store that Mother had given me last Christmas, and which I was saving until I found exactly what I wanted.
The first diffuser I selected was a gift pack that also included a candle and scent for cars. At the counter, when I mentioned that all I wanted was a diffuser, one of the clerks said she thought they had one and went in search of it. I'm glad she found one, because I prefer diffusers over candles.
Interestingly, she said that candles are now banned in schools. I wondered why candles would be used in schools anyway, since they seem dangerous, but then figured it was because the teachers needed a way to deoderize classrooms filled with dirt/sweaty kids. Diffusers are allowed in classrooms.
I stated that I thought diffusers would certainly be safer than candles, and she laughed, saying that one teacher had told her that while grading papers one day, she had gotten too close to the candle on her desk and set a paper afire.
While I was gone, Hubbie went outside to clean the overloaded shed. After lunch, he asked me to inspect what he'd pulled out of the shed and decide what I wanted to keep.
There were only a few items I was interested in saving. One was a chaise lounge cushion that I'd forgotten about. The chaise itself was buried in the garage, but Hubbie dug it out and washed it. These are comfy items for camping trips, so I don't know why we'd forgotten about them. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess.
Another item unearthed was a guardrail intended to keep a baby from rolling off a bed. I need to research this item to make sure it is safe for babies, before I give it to a family member and his wife, who are expecting a baby soon.
Hubbie's main reason for cleaning the shed was to gather all the plant pots that he no longer needs, so he can donate them to the Master Gardeners to be used during the annual spring plant sale. In the meantime, they can be stored in the organization's shed.
Later, Hubbie and I shopped for groceries for ourselves and for Mother. Before we went to the WDCS, we checked around town to see if we could find local honey. But it seems that the beekeeper lost his bees somehow. We were told that there is a beekeeper in a town a few miles away, so we might try to search him out.
We were surprised when we discovered that one of the gift shops that might have carried the honey has since closed. We have no idea when that happened. The shop included a small cafe that we intended to patronize someday. But we never got around to it. In anticipation of trying out the cafe, Hubbie had given Mother and me $5 dessert gift certificates to the eatery last Christmas. Recently, I suggested to Mother that we go check out the cafe. But she has misplaced her certificate. Just as well, I suppose.
At the WDCS, we looked for honey. Checking the labels, we discovered that one came from Asian countries..China, India, Vietnam. We rejected that in favor of one manufactured in one of the towns in our own state. I still hope to find honey manufactured closer to home, since it's said that the more local the honey, the better it is at combating plant and pollen allergies.
Supper tonight was hamburgers/turkey burgers, and an oven potato dish. As another example of Mother's short-term memory problem, before Hubbie and I went shopping, Mother and I discussed the potato dish we'd have for supper...Parmesan potatoes.
But when we returned home, I found that she had sliced potatoes and onions for the oven, instead of halving potatoes for the Parmesan dish. When we left for the store, she was seated at a table searching for the Parmesan potato recipe, but I guess she ran across the other recipe and was off to the races with it. It didn't matter. We are just as fond of the one she prepared as we are of the other one.
Mother went home after supper, and Hubbie and I watched TV, including a 2006 Movie Network feature, "Black Widower." Based on a true story, a charming man, Eddy Amos, kills his mother and three wives, before anyone suspects him.
The second movie we saw was the 2004 Lifetime Movie Network feature, "Try to Remember." Fifteen years after a murder case is supposedly wrapped up, witnesses who testified start dying under suspicious circumstances.
This is a very bad weekend for folks on the east coast, who are experiencing the very dangerous hurricane, Irene. Our prayers go out to them. We dread the extent of the damage that may occur, but we are expecially concerned for the safety of all those millions of people.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Friday, August 26
Up at 6:30 on this mild, low humidity morning, so I could get ready to go to water aerobics. Had to park quite away from the gym again, but it was a really pleasant day for walking the distance. Nearly 30 of us showed up for the session today. Seems about ten folks showed up Wednesday, despite the storms. But they were only there for a few minutes before being asked to leave, due to lightning. So I'm glad I didn't bother to go that day.
Back home, once I was ready for the day, Mother came over and boiled eggs and cut up veggies and fruits for a tuna and egg salad supper. While she was doing that Hubbie and I went to the hydroponic farm to get some tomatoes, because our tomato vines quit producing recently.
Today, the tomato vendor and her daughter were full of stories about a cat they recently acquired...one that had wandered to their house, or been dropped there. It had kittens in the ditch near their house, but a neighbor dog killed them. So the lady and her kids began feeding the mama cat, which soon became pregnant again. This time she found her way into their garage/laundry room, where it had the litter in a laundry basket full of clothes. One of the girls was playing with a half-grown kitten when we arrived.
The lady is allergic to cats, but is glad this one is there, since it is a good hunter that keeps the rodent and snake population down. The only thing is, it also recently caught a squirrel, which it proceeded to feed to its kittens...before the squirrel was quite dead. The lady said it was difficult to watch this process of nature, but she didn't interfere.
At home again, I put together the salads and then heated the leftover chicken noodle soup for lunch. Hubbie needed to eat a little early so he could get on the road to the other town by noon. The appointment at the auto shop was for 1 p.m.
While he was gone, Mother and I just goofed off...I helped her catch up-to-date on emails and social network posts on my laptop computer. I keep her posted on daily happenings in the family, but from time-to-time, she likes to see the interesting jokes/photo forwards from friends and family in emails, and snapshots/videos of family on the social network, as well as read recent blogs from Sis.
It didn't take long for the auto shop to fix the van, because Hubbie was back home around 2:30. The air conditioner is blasting cold air now, like it should. Hubbie is kicking himself for shelling out the bucks to have freon put in it a few days ago, but he chose to ignore my advice that the vehicle needed to be checked by our auto service.
Later, Mother made a recipe of macaroni and cheese, using bits of packaged shredded cheese and remaining slices of various types of sliced cheeses (a way of using the last of foods and avoiding waste). It was good with a choice of tuna salad or egg salad sandwiches for supper.
Mother went home afterward, and Hubbie and I vegged in front of TV. Tonight, we saw the 2007 Lifetime Movie Network feature, "Vacancy," starring Kate Beckinsale, Luke Wilson, and Frank Whaley. A married couple on a trip get off course and end up at an isolated motel. They find video tapes in their room, and upon watching them, find that couples were killed in the very room they occupy. And then they discover they are being filmed by hidden cameras. Unless they escape, they'll become the next victims of a snuff film.
A second LMN movie was "The Unquiet. A skeptic and her ex-husband, who is a documentary filmmaker, along with a crew of people, decide to stay overnight at an abandoned women's prison. The skeptic has been hired by the prison's owner, who wants proof that the prison is not haunted, so he can open it as a tourist attraction. The ex-husband documents paranormal activity. The group come across information about the prison's violent history. Do ghosts now haunt the facility? I found it interesting that all the actors in this film were costumed in various shades of gray...I guess so they would blend in with the gray of the dark, unlighted prison.
Interesting lead story in our local newspaper: an ex-state trooper (in his 60s), who lives in our town, was arrested for growing marijuana in his vegetable garden. It was spotted from the air. The ex-cop is the ex-husband of someone with whom Hubbie and I worked years ago. We'll be interested in getting her reaction when we see her again.
Back home, once I was ready for the day, Mother came over and boiled eggs and cut up veggies and fruits for a tuna and egg salad supper. While she was doing that Hubbie and I went to the hydroponic farm to get some tomatoes, because our tomato vines quit producing recently.
Today, the tomato vendor and her daughter were full of stories about a cat they recently acquired...one that had wandered to their house, or been dropped there. It had kittens in the ditch near their house, but a neighbor dog killed them. So the lady and her kids began feeding the mama cat, which soon became pregnant again. This time she found her way into their garage/laundry room, where it had the litter in a laundry basket full of clothes. One of the girls was playing with a half-grown kitten when we arrived.
The lady is allergic to cats, but is glad this one is there, since it is a good hunter that keeps the rodent and snake population down. The only thing is, it also recently caught a squirrel, which it proceeded to feed to its kittens...before the squirrel was quite dead. The lady said it was difficult to watch this process of nature, but she didn't interfere.
At home again, I put together the salads and then heated the leftover chicken noodle soup for lunch. Hubbie needed to eat a little early so he could get on the road to the other town by noon. The appointment at the auto shop was for 1 p.m.
While he was gone, Mother and I just goofed off...I helped her catch up-to-date on emails and social network posts on my laptop computer. I keep her posted on daily happenings in the family, but from time-to-time, she likes to see the interesting jokes/photo forwards from friends and family in emails, and snapshots/videos of family on the social network, as well as read recent blogs from Sis.
It didn't take long for the auto shop to fix the van, because Hubbie was back home around 2:30. The air conditioner is blasting cold air now, like it should. Hubbie is kicking himself for shelling out the bucks to have freon put in it a few days ago, but he chose to ignore my advice that the vehicle needed to be checked by our auto service.
Later, Mother made a recipe of macaroni and cheese, using bits of packaged shredded cheese and remaining slices of various types of sliced cheeses (a way of using the last of foods and avoiding waste). It was good with a choice of tuna salad or egg salad sandwiches for supper.
Mother went home afterward, and Hubbie and I vegged in front of TV. Tonight, we saw the 2007 Lifetime Movie Network feature, "Vacancy," starring Kate Beckinsale, Luke Wilson, and Frank Whaley. A married couple on a trip get off course and end up at an isolated motel. They find video tapes in their room, and upon watching them, find that couples were killed in the very room they occupy. And then they discover they are being filmed by hidden cameras. Unless they escape, they'll become the next victims of a snuff film.
A second LMN movie was "The Unquiet. A skeptic and her ex-husband, who is a documentary filmmaker, along with a crew of people, decide to stay overnight at an abandoned women's prison. The skeptic has been hired by the prison's owner, who wants proof that the prison is not haunted, so he can open it as a tourist attraction. The ex-husband documents paranormal activity. The group come across information about the prison's violent history. Do ghosts now haunt the facility? I found it interesting that all the actors in this film were costumed in various shades of gray...I guess so they would blend in with the gray of the dark, unlighted prison.
Interesting lead story in our local newspaper: an ex-state trooper (in his 60s), who lives in our town, was arrested for growing marijuana in his vegetable garden. It was spotted from the air. The ex-cop is the ex-husband of someone with whom Hubbie and I worked years ago. We'll be interested in getting her reaction when we see her again.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Thursday, August 25
Slept really late this morning, until after 8 a.m., but did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast. I didn't have a lot planned for my day today, so I just did this and that for the rest of the morning.
After lunch, Hubbie took the van to the dealership where we bought it, which is about an hour away, to have the shop check the air conditioner. Later, he called to say the air conditioner needs some sort of part that has to be ordered. The shop hopes to be able to get the part overnight, but it still means another trip for Hubbie tomorrow.
While he was gone, I watched a couple of episodes of "Shark Week" features that I recorded on DVR from the Discovery Channel. I think these fierce predators are fascinating...and scary. But nature shows are sometimes not Hubbie's favorite.
Hubbie returned home around 2 p.m. A few minutes later, the auto shop called to say the part will arrive in the morning. So Hubbie will go back to the town after lunch, because I need to use the van to go to water aerobics in the morning. I could drive the diesel truck to the college, but I don't like to, because it's so noisy, and because it's hard to maneuver in and out of the parking spaces.
Later, for supper, we had a buffet of leftovers...the last of the lasagna, beef strips with peppers and onions, green beans, and diced baked potatoes sauteed with onions. Mother stayed home today, so she didn't join us.
Afterward, we toured the yard, where I snapped photos of flowers, and Hubbie took a picture of me on my new bike, because Daughter asked me to post a snapshot of it to my social network page.
Then we spent the evening as usual...watching TV. Tonight's movie was a strange and disturbing period drama titled, "The White Ribbon." This subtitled film was in black and white. The story takes place in a small village in Germany, in which the children are suppressed and ritually punished, and where, just before the outbreak of World War I, mysterious things happen. A doctor's horse is tripped by a thin wire stretched across the road, and the doctor is severely injured. A woman falls through a mill floor and dies. A barn burns in the middle of the night. A young boy is strung upside down and then severely beaten. A mentally challenged boy is waylaid and blinded.
The story is narrated by the now-elderly school teacher, who discovers the culprits of the crimes. But when the village minister is advised, he chooses to attribute the crimes to the doctor, who, along with his daughter, housekeeper, and her mentally challenged son, have since mysteriously disappeared. The doctor had his own secrets...having an illicit affair with his housekeeper, whom he despised and found physically repulsive, and whom he emotionally abused, even as he also sexually abused his fourteen-year-old daughter.
After lunch, Hubbie took the van to the dealership where we bought it, which is about an hour away, to have the shop check the air conditioner. Later, he called to say the air conditioner needs some sort of part that has to be ordered. The shop hopes to be able to get the part overnight, but it still means another trip for Hubbie tomorrow.
While he was gone, I watched a couple of episodes of "Shark Week" features that I recorded on DVR from the Discovery Channel. I think these fierce predators are fascinating...and scary. But nature shows are sometimes not Hubbie's favorite.
Hubbie returned home around 2 p.m. A few minutes later, the auto shop called to say the part will arrive in the morning. So Hubbie will go back to the town after lunch, because I need to use the van to go to water aerobics in the morning. I could drive the diesel truck to the college, but I don't like to, because it's so noisy, and because it's hard to maneuver in and out of the parking spaces.
Later, for supper, we had a buffet of leftovers...the last of the lasagna, beef strips with peppers and onions, green beans, and diced baked potatoes sauteed with onions. Mother stayed home today, so she didn't join us.
Afterward, we toured the yard, where I snapped photos of flowers, and Hubbie took a picture of me on my new bike, because Daughter asked me to post a snapshot of it to my social network page.
Then we spent the evening as usual...watching TV. Tonight's movie was a strange and disturbing period drama titled, "The White Ribbon." This subtitled film was in black and white. The story takes place in a small village in Germany, in which the children are suppressed and ritually punished, and where, just before the outbreak of World War I, mysterious things happen. A doctor's horse is tripped by a thin wire stretched across the road, and the doctor is severely injured. A woman falls through a mill floor and dies. A barn burns in the middle of the night. A young boy is strung upside down and then severely beaten. A mentally challenged boy is waylaid and blinded.
The story is narrated by the now-elderly school teacher, who discovers the culprits of the crimes. But when the village minister is advised, he chooses to attribute the crimes to the doctor, who, along with his daughter, housekeeper, and her mentally challenged son, have since mysteriously disappeared. The doctor had his own secrets...having an illicit affair with his housekeeper, whom he despised and found physically repulsive, and whom he emotionally abused, even as he also sexually abused his fourteen-year-old daughter.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Wednesday, August 24
Woke up at 4:30 a.m. to a severe thunderstorm that eventually caused a brief power outage. We went back to sleep, and didn't wake again until around 7:30, when another thunderstorm was in progress. Because of the power outage, the alarm clock didn't go off at 6:30, the time when I would have ordinarily gotten up to get ready to go to water aerobics. It was just as well, since storms kept rolling through all morning, and I don't do water aerobics or treadmill sessions in thunderstorms.
So I went ahead and got ready for the day and then buzzed Mother to let her know I was up and around. She and Sis came over, and Mother started a pot of chicken stewing for noodle soup.
In the meantime, I put on a new pair of black slacks, and Sis pinned up a hem on one leg. Now I need to work on stitching the hems (not my favorite task). I rarely buy a pair of slacks that aren't several inches too long for my barely 5 foot 3 inch height.
Later, I finished preparing the pot of chicken noodle soup, which we had for lunch with toasted thin bagels topped with melted slices of cheese, and fresh fruit for dessert (peaches, grapes, and cherries).
Because it was such a dark and rainy morning, Mother felt gloomy. So I suggested we watch the feel-good movie musical, "Mama Mia." This seemed to be exactly what she wanted to do. We've seen this movie several times, most recently a few weeks ago at the arts council outdoor movie event. But we never tire of watching it.
While we watched the movie, Hubbie ran errands, including to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, to deliver the word search puzzle contest to the newspaper, and to pick up groceries at the WDCS.
Hubbie returned home just as the movie was ending. By this time, the sun began shining, which also helped lift Mother's spirits.
Around this time, too, Sis decided she needed to head out on her two hour trip home. Mother went to her house after Sis left, and Hubbie and I spent the rest of the day and evening vegging.
Tonight we watched the 2007 Lifetime Movie Network remake of "Sybil," starring Jessica Lange and Tammy Blanchard. This movie is based on a true story of a woman, Shirley Ardell Mason, who developed sixteen distinct personalities after suffering an abusive childhood.
The second feature we watched was the 2009 movie, "2012," in which sun flares cause a global cataclysm. The world as we know it ends. It's up to a handful of survivors to bravely carry on.
So I went ahead and got ready for the day and then buzzed Mother to let her know I was up and around. She and Sis came over, and Mother started a pot of chicken stewing for noodle soup.
In the meantime, I put on a new pair of black slacks, and Sis pinned up a hem on one leg. Now I need to work on stitching the hems (not my favorite task). I rarely buy a pair of slacks that aren't several inches too long for my barely 5 foot 3 inch height.
Later, I finished preparing the pot of chicken noodle soup, which we had for lunch with toasted thin bagels topped with melted slices of cheese, and fresh fruit for dessert (peaches, grapes, and cherries).
Because it was such a dark and rainy morning, Mother felt gloomy. So I suggested we watch the feel-good movie musical, "Mama Mia." This seemed to be exactly what she wanted to do. We've seen this movie several times, most recently a few weeks ago at the arts council outdoor movie event. But we never tire of watching it.
While we watched the movie, Hubbie ran errands, including to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, to deliver the word search puzzle contest to the newspaper, and to pick up groceries at the WDCS.
Hubbie returned home just as the movie was ending. By this time, the sun began shining, which also helped lift Mother's spirits.
Around this time, too, Sis decided she needed to head out on her two hour trip home. Mother went to her house after Sis left, and Hubbie and I spent the rest of the day and evening vegging.
Tonight we watched the 2007 Lifetime Movie Network remake of "Sybil," starring Jessica Lange and Tammy Blanchard. This movie is based on a true story of a woman, Shirley Ardell Mason, who developed sixteen distinct personalities after suffering an abusive childhood.
The second feature we watched was the 2009 movie, "2012," in which sun flares cause a global cataclysm. The world as we know it ends. It's up to a handful of survivors to bravely carry on.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Tuesday, August 23
Up at 6:30, but skipped my exercises in order to get ready to go to another town to shop and have lunch with Hubbie's sisters and nieces.
Along the route to the other town there are many fields of soy beans and rice. Today, crop dusters skimmed the fields, spraying the crops. One of them, flying dangerously low, seemed destined to plow right into our van before it rose up over the power lines at the last second. Crop dusting, to me, seems like a death-defying job.
We arrived twenty minutes before the bicycle shop was open, so we drove around awhile, until the store opened. It didn't take long to choose a bicycle for me, but the appropriate size for me was not on the showroom floor. But we were assured that one could be assembled in the next day or so. We hastened to let the employee know that we lived in a town about two hours away, and it wasn't easy to make a trip over there every couple of days. So the employee agreed to assemble the bike today by around 4 p.m.
Since there was plenty of time before lunch, we stopped by a hobby store, where I bought card stock, glues, stickers, and a punch.
I spent quite a while browsing the store, and one thing I noticed was that the Christmas trees and decorations are already on display. It's too soon to think about Christmas.
So I thought about Christmas. We need a new nativity set (one of the cats broke two of them last year), so I browsed the available ones. There were a lot of very nice ones, but all were a bit pricey. So we decided to wait until they go on sale.
By the time I finished shopping at this store, it was time to go to an Italian restaurant to have lunch with Hubbie's family. Until we saw her in a little tiara that declared her a "Birthday Girl," we had forgotten that today is Great-Niece's eighteenth birthday. We didn't come prepared with a card, but I happened to have a couple of discount cards from an intimate apparel shop...one for a free item, and another for $10 off another item. So I gave these to her, and she seemed to appreciate them.
For lunch, Hubbie and I had soup, salad, and bread sticks. Others chose pasta dishes, but since we knew we'd be having leftover lasagna for supper, soup was a better choice for us.
After a very nice visit with Hubbie's family, we continued our shopping...at one of the stores that has a sale every weekend, where I found nothing I wanted, and at club warehouse, where we picked up grocery items for ourselves, Mother, and Sis.
From there, we went to the mall, but just as we were inside the door of a bookstore, the employee from the bicycle shop called to say my bike was ready. So we took one turn around the bookstore, where I found nothing I wanted, and then headed to the bicycle shop.
The bicycle I chose is a pink 7-speed with wide tires and a wide seat. The only choice of colors were pink or black, and I didn't want black. Before we paid for the bike, I tried sitting on it. It was obvious the seat needed to be lowered, so the employee cut off a portion of the pipe the seat is mounted on, but it still wasn't low enough, so he cut another hunk off it. Now it's low enough that I can put my feet flat on the ground. Like a little kid, I'm now anxious to try out my new bike.
What's wrong with this picture: leaving the bicycle shop, we passed a hospital campus, across from which is a large cemetery. Perched on and standing beside the low concrete wall that surrounds the cemetery, a sizable group of hospital personnel were taking a cigarette break.
Around 3:30, we headed home. It was sunny when we started, but soon became overcast, which was a good thing, since the air conditioner in the van is still not operating efficiently. It barely cools, which is okay when the sun isn't shining right through the windshield, like it would have been today as we headed westward to our town.
About fifteen minutes from home, a thunderstorm, complete with a lightning show, cropped up. It was still raining when we arrived in our driveway, but didn't last too long afterward.
Mother and Sis had prepared our supper of lasagna, French style green beans, salad, cottage cheese, and buttered bread made from hamburger buns. Following supper, Mother and Sis continued working on a jigsaw puzzle that they began yesterday, and which they finished tonight.
Later, we watched a 2006 Lifetime Movie Network feature called, "Past Tense." A widow's young daughter has dreams that she's being murdered. The mother investigates and comes to the conclusion that her daughter was murdered in past life. They work together to find the psycho killer. Surprise ending.
Along the route to the other town there are many fields of soy beans and rice. Today, crop dusters skimmed the fields, spraying the crops. One of them, flying dangerously low, seemed destined to plow right into our van before it rose up over the power lines at the last second. Crop dusting, to me, seems like a death-defying job.
We arrived twenty minutes before the bicycle shop was open, so we drove around awhile, until the store opened. It didn't take long to choose a bicycle for me, but the appropriate size for me was not on the showroom floor. But we were assured that one could be assembled in the next day or so. We hastened to let the employee know that we lived in a town about two hours away, and it wasn't easy to make a trip over there every couple of days. So the employee agreed to assemble the bike today by around 4 p.m.
Since there was plenty of time before lunch, we stopped by a hobby store, where I bought card stock, glues, stickers, and a punch.
I spent quite a while browsing the store, and one thing I noticed was that the Christmas trees and decorations are already on display. It's too soon to think about Christmas.
So I thought about Christmas. We need a new nativity set (one of the cats broke two of them last year), so I browsed the available ones. There were a lot of very nice ones, but all were a bit pricey. So we decided to wait until they go on sale.
By the time I finished shopping at this store, it was time to go to an Italian restaurant to have lunch with Hubbie's family. Until we saw her in a little tiara that declared her a "Birthday Girl," we had forgotten that today is Great-Niece's eighteenth birthday. We didn't come prepared with a card, but I happened to have a couple of discount cards from an intimate apparel shop...one for a free item, and another for $10 off another item. So I gave these to her, and she seemed to appreciate them.
For lunch, Hubbie and I had soup, salad, and bread sticks. Others chose pasta dishes, but since we knew we'd be having leftover lasagna for supper, soup was a better choice for us.
After a very nice visit with Hubbie's family, we continued our shopping...at one of the stores that has a sale every weekend, where I found nothing I wanted, and at club warehouse, where we picked up grocery items for ourselves, Mother, and Sis.
From there, we went to the mall, but just as we were inside the door of a bookstore, the employee from the bicycle shop called to say my bike was ready. So we took one turn around the bookstore, where I found nothing I wanted, and then headed to the bicycle shop.
The bicycle I chose is a pink 7-speed with wide tires and a wide seat. The only choice of colors were pink or black, and I didn't want black. Before we paid for the bike, I tried sitting on it. It was obvious the seat needed to be lowered, so the employee cut off a portion of the pipe the seat is mounted on, but it still wasn't low enough, so he cut another hunk off it. Now it's low enough that I can put my feet flat on the ground. Like a little kid, I'm now anxious to try out my new bike.
What's wrong with this picture: leaving the bicycle shop, we passed a hospital campus, across from which is a large cemetery. Perched on and standing beside the low concrete wall that surrounds the cemetery, a sizable group of hospital personnel were taking a cigarette break.
Around 3:30, we headed home. It was sunny when we started, but soon became overcast, which was a good thing, since the air conditioner in the van is still not operating efficiently. It barely cools, which is okay when the sun isn't shining right through the windshield, like it would have been today as we headed westward to our town.
About fifteen minutes from home, a thunderstorm, complete with a lightning show, cropped up. It was still raining when we arrived in our driveway, but didn't last too long afterward.
Mother and Sis had prepared our supper of lasagna, French style green beans, salad, cottage cheese, and buttered bread made from hamburger buns. Following supper, Mother and Sis continued working on a jigsaw puzzle that they began yesterday, and which they finished tonight.
Later, we watched a 2006 Lifetime Movie Network feature called, "Past Tense." A widow's young daughter has dreams that she's being murdered. The mother investigates and comes to the conclusion that her daughter was murdered in past life. They work together to find the psycho killer. Surprise ending.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Monday, August 22
Up at 6:30 this morning in order to get ready to go to water aerobics. It was very foggy this morning, and as I was leaving the house, I noticed how the fog had misted dozens of spider webs laying atop ground cover around the well house. It was so interesting that I ran back inside to grab my camera and take a few shots.
The fog was so thick that the hill atop which the college is located was completely obscured, but the road approaching the college faces east, so the sunshine slanting through the trees and fog created a celestial look.
The usual parking lots across from the gym were full, so I had to turn around and go back down to the parking lots near the science building, which are more distant to the gym. By the time I got to the pool, it was already nearly 7:45, so I only had about fifteen minutes to swim in the deep end before aerobics began. The pool was really chilly, too. Nevertheless, twenty-nine of us showed up, including a couple of new folks.
Back home afterwards, once I was ready for the day, I briefly reviewed the lesson plan for meeting my student this afternoon. Mother and Sis came over while I was doing this, and we later had a sandwich lunch, and then finished a movie we began watching yesterday evening.
I met my student at the usual 2:30 hour. Today's lesson included the past tense of irregular verbs: rings/rang, gives/gave, drinks/drank, swims/swam, etc. It also included negative statements in the past tense: sat/didn't sit, ran/didn't run, etc.
The student learned future time expressions: going today/will go tomorrow, visit today/will visit next week; and use of "be" plus going to, as in: I'm going to buy a coat tomorrow; she's going to buy a dress next week, etc.
The student also learned new words, such as: hockey/hooky; posh/push; knock/nook, ban/bang; pin/ping; clan/clang, etc.
In the middle of our session, there came a loud thunderstorm, with pouring rain. It lasted until the end of our session. I didn't expect a storm, so I didn't have an umbrella with me. I had to make a run for it to my van, despite the rain, because I needed to be home by 4:45, when Hubbie had an appointment with the auto shop to have freon added (the air conditioner in the van hadn't been cooling properly).
Mother and Sis had prepared a supper of steak strips sauteed in onions and peppers, baked potatoes, and salad. It was about 5:30 before Hubbie was back with the van, and we could sit down to supper.
Afterward, we played several games of Skipbo, and then Mother and Sis went to Mother's house, and Hubbie and I watched TV for a short while before heading to bed.
The fog was so thick that the hill atop which the college is located was completely obscured, but the road approaching the college faces east, so the sunshine slanting through the trees and fog created a celestial look.
The usual parking lots across from the gym were full, so I had to turn around and go back down to the parking lots near the science building, which are more distant to the gym. By the time I got to the pool, it was already nearly 7:45, so I only had about fifteen minutes to swim in the deep end before aerobics began. The pool was really chilly, too. Nevertheless, twenty-nine of us showed up, including a couple of new folks.
Back home afterwards, once I was ready for the day, I briefly reviewed the lesson plan for meeting my student this afternoon. Mother and Sis came over while I was doing this, and we later had a sandwich lunch, and then finished a movie we began watching yesterday evening.
I met my student at the usual 2:30 hour. Today's lesson included the past tense of irregular verbs: rings/rang, gives/gave, drinks/drank, swims/swam, etc. It also included negative statements in the past tense: sat/didn't sit, ran/didn't run, etc.
The student learned future time expressions: going today/will go tomorrow, visit today/will visit next week; and use of "be" plus going to, as in: I'm going to buy a coat tomorrow; she's going to buy a dress next week, etc.
The student also learned new words, such as: hockey/hooky; posh/push; knock/nook, ban/bang; pin/ping; clan/clang, etc.
In the middle of our session, there came a loud thunderstorm, with pouring rain. It lasted until the end of our session. I didn't expect a storm, so I didn't have an umbrella with me. I had to make a run for it to my van, despite the rain, because I needed to be home by 4:45, when Hubbie had an appointment with the auto shop to have freon added (the air conditioner in the van hadn't been cooling properly).
Mother and Sis had prepared a supper of steak strips sauteed in onions and peppers, baked potatoes, and salad. It was about 5:30 before Hubbie was back with the van, and we could sit down to supper.
Afterward, we played several games of Skipbo, and then Mother and Sis went to Mother's house, and Hubbie and I watched TV for a short while before heading to bed.
Sunday, August 21
Up around 7:30 this morning, and did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast. After that, we spruced the house a little in anticipation of Sis visiting, and the possibility that Hubbie's daughter and great-grandsons might drop by on their way home.
But they never did come...guess they ran short of time. Sis arrived later in the afternoon, closer to suppertime. In the meantime, we spent our Sunday as usual, reading the newspaper, washing clothes, etc.
Around 4 p.m., Mother put together a lasagna, which was ready around 5:30, after Sis arrived. We had this with salad, cottage cheese, and Italian garlic bread. Afterward, we watched TV, including a Lifetime Movie Network feature called, "The Secret." In this sometimes uncomfortable movie, a happily married couple has a rebellious teenage daughter, who is critically injured in an auto accident in which her mother is killed. Except that when the daughter regains consciousness, she is actually the wife in the daughter's body. How can the husband and daughter-wife reconcile this dilemma? Surprise ending.
Later, we went to an outdoor movie, sponsored by the arts council, and held behind the fine arts building at the college where I go to water aerobics. The movie we saw was the 2010 "Secretariat," about the first horse in twenty five years to win the Triple Crown, which he won in 1973 by a record-breaking 31 lengths. Hubbie, Sis, and I had seen this movie before, but Mother had not, and she thoroughly enjoyed it.
But they never did come...guess they ran short of time. Sis arrived later in the afternoon, closer to suppertime. In the meantime, we spent our Sunday as usual, reading the newspaper, washing clothes, etc.
Around 4 p.m., Mother put together a lasagna, which was ready around 5:30, after Sis arrived. We had this with salad, cottage cheese, and Italian garlic bread. Afterward, we watched TV, including a Lifetime Movie Network feature called, "The Secret." In this sometimes uncomfortable movie, a happily married couple has a rebellious teenage daughter, who is critically injured in an auto accident in which her mother is killed. Except that when the daughter regains consciousness, she is actually the wife in the daughter's body. How can the husband and daughter-wife reconcile this dilemma? Surprise ending.
Later, we went to an outdoor movie, sponsored by the arts council, and held behind the fine arts building at the college where I go to water aerobics. The movie we saw was the 2010 "Secretariat," about the first horse in twenty five years to win the Triple Crown, which he won in 1973 by a record-breaking 31 lengths. Hubbie, Sis, and I had seen this movie before, but Mother had not, and she thoroughly enjoyed it.
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