Saturday, Nov. 26

Up at 7 a.m., still coughing and with laryngitis. While I was getting ready for the day after breakfast, I heard the familiar sound of vehicles colliding. Seems some misguided person was riding a lawnmower on the highway and was clipped by a car. Fortunately, no one was injured.

Spent the rest of the morning preparing food for family, who were to arrive before lunchtime. Besides the leftovers from Thanksgiving, I fixed a big pan of sweet potatoes in margarine and brown sugar. Hubbie peeled potatoes for mashed potatoes, and later I made a pan of gravy.

Son, Daughter-in-Law, and Grandson and his wife and three children arrived first. Son and Grandson set to work immediately building the other rail onto the ramp, and laying an incline of concrete to the ramp. They guys did a great job on the ramp...it's just beautiful.

Just after lunch, Granddaughter and her boyfriend arrived, and Granddaughter made a baked cranberry ring that was a real hit at lunch.

As we were clearing away lunch, Niece and her three teen children arrived. It was good to see all the family. Around 4 p.m., everyone decided they should head home. By that time it was raining and beginning to cool down.

Hubbie, Mother, Daughter, and I spent the evening watching TV. Mother retired around 6:30. Later, I asked Hubbie to call the husband of my Spanish student to tell him I won't be able to meet her Monday. I just don't think my cough and laryngitis will go away by Monday afternoon. I'll be skipping water aerobics on Monday, too.

I do not like to be stopped from my regular activities, but if I don't give myself a few days to recuperate, I'm afraid I'll get worse and won't be fit to participate in the holiday activities of the next two weekends.

Friday, Nov. 25

Black Friday...folks stormed the stores in the wee hours of the morning today, but we stayed away. Even if I hadn't felt gosh-awful, I wouldn't have gone. No way do I want to stand in line for hours and then get into a crush of people to save a few bucks.

We were up at our regular 7 a.m. hour, and after breakfast, I helped Mother take a shower, since she expected a visit from her physical therapist. Once I was ready for the day, I started a pot of chicken stewing (I felt that chicken noodle soup was just what the doctor ordered for my lingering malady). Mother chopped onion, celery, and carrots for the soup.

The therapist arrived earlier than usual, around 11 a.m. He wasn't feeling up to par either, saying his head was stopped up. Since Mother woke up this morning with her back bothering her, the therapist agreed that today should be a light exercise day. And though the weather was nice enough for Mother to try to walk to her house, with the aid of her walker and the therapist, she just wasn't up to it.

After the chicken noodle soup lunch, Mother headed to her bedroom for a nap, and Daughter spent time painting a plaster Santa/reindeer totem, and Hubbie assembled the living room Christmas tree.

Once he had it assembled, I helped put several strings of light on it, and then Daughter joined us in decorating the tree. It took the three of us two hours to do this.

At 4 p.m., I put leftover lasagna (gotten from the freezer earlier) into the oven to heat for supper.

Mother finally woke up around 5 p.m., just in time for supper. We had the lasagna with canned corn, sliced tomatoes, and yeast rolls.

Afterward, Mother and Daughter watched a movie I'd recorded on DVR called, "Cool Dog." While they watched the movie, Hubbie and I went to the WDCS for a couple items...mainly to look for a new lighted star topper for the living room tree, because our old one decided not to work this year. I was pleased to find one very similar to the old one.

Back home, Mother made the short trip to the living room to see the tree, while Daughter finished watching the movie. After that, Mother was ready to retire again.

Hubbie, Daughter, and I spent the evening watching our favorite college football team play to an expected but disappointing loss. While we were not surprised that they lost, we were surprised by how wide the margin was. It was an early afternoon game that I'd recorded on DVR, so we avoided watching evening news programs, so we wouldn't know who won before we got to see the game.

Thanksgiving Day

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.

I woke up around 6:30 morning, still coughing and still plagued with laryngitis. When Hubbie had not come downstairs by 7 a.m., I went up and woke him up, because I needed to get breakfast underway and then prepare the turkey for the slow cooker oven.

Sis came over early, bringing cornbread dressing with her. Mother went to the kitchen and prepared bread stuffing. Hubbie peeled potatoes to be boiled later. Once I was ready for the day, I fixed deviled eggs, and did various other things related to the big meal.

While meal preparations were underway, we watched Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

Close to time for dinner, I boiled and mashed potatoes, made gravy, heated the veggies I'd fixed yesterday, and sliced the turkey. Sis was in charge of the dressings and setting the table. The table setting included a white tablecloth, overlaid with a brown one, and a centerpiece that Sis provided...a very attractive pumpkin with fall leaves. The centerpiece was one of many that had decorated her place of business, and which she rescued when the manager decided to discard them.

Plates with a brown design, yellow and orange napkins in silver rings, and water and wine stemware completed our table setting.

Daughter arrived around 11 a.m., and the feast was ready by noon. There's something about the annual Thanksgiving meal that inspires us all to stuff ourselves, though I did manage to limit myself to just one (large) serving of everything.

Sis spent the afternoon with us, and left around 5 p.m., taking helpings of the feast with her. We're hoping that family visiting Saturday will reduce the bounty considerably.

After dinner, we watched the Thanksgiving Day parade recorded from another channel, followed by a Christmas movie from the Lifetime Channel.

It was a busy day, and we were all ready to relax, doze, or in the case of Mother, retire to bed early.

Wednesday, Nov. 23

We wondered what was going on last night, when five police cars, an emergency rescue vehicle, and an ambulance raced by, lights flashing. Today, we learned that there had been an exchange of gunfire between a policeman and a man from a nearby community that resulted in the man being wounded. The man had fled his community and ended up at an intersection of our town that required police and emergency personnel to travel what is known as the cutoff road just down the highway from our house.

Blah! Sneezing and blowing turned to chills and fever last night. Got up around 7 a.m. just the same, and though my fever was gone, I was still sneezing and blowing. Added to that I am now coughing and have laryngitis.

After breakfast, I helped Mother shower and dress, after which I put a ham in the oven to bake and started a pan of eggs boiling.

Once I was ready for the day, I seasoned a dish of squash for the oven. When the ham had baked sufficiently, I cut a few slices of it for our lunch, which we had with yeast rolls from a local restaurant (I'd ordered the rolls last week, and Hubbie picked them up this morning). We also sampled slices of pumpkin pie.

This morning, I set the DVR for Mother to watch the finale of "Dancing with the Stars," because she was in bed last night when the show aired.

Following lunch, we watched a Hallmark Christmas movie. Just as the movie ended, around 2 p.m., Mother's therapist arrived. After her regular exercise routine, he had hoped to help her walk to her house, but it was just too cold to get out, so he's hoping Friday will be better.

Later this afternoon, Sis painted eight or nine glass ornaments for the arts council (keeping one for herself). While she did that, I ironed table clothes for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, and then I relaxed for a while, before time to prepare supper.

Supper tonight was beef hash and fried eggs (eggs fresh from Sis's chickens), with toast, jelly, and coffee. This evening, we watched "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," on DVD. If this beloved show was scheduled on TV this season, I missed it. Also on the DVD is "The Mayflower Voyage," which is a bit more serious historical perspective of the first Thanksgiving, with Charlie Brown and the gang as pilgrims.

Around 8 p.m., we again sampled slices of pumpkin pie, while we watched one-hour shows. Soon after, Mother went to bed, and Sis went to Mother's house. Hubbie and I continued watching TV until bedtime.

Tuesday, Nov. 22

Up around 7 a.m., but skipped my exercises so I could get ready for the day and start right away making pies.

I began with a mincemeat pie, then did a cherry one. While those baked, Mother prepared pumpkin filling. It took most of the day to bake the six pies.

For lunch, I heated leftover gravy with beef and veggies, to be served over bread, with a side of individual cups of applesauce. Mother opted for Ramen noodle soup, as usual.

After lunch, Mother cut up the boiled potatoes, as well as an onion for making beef hash.

Sis spent her morning baking cornbread, cooking onions and celery, boiling chicken, etc., for making dressing. She also cut up several stalks of celery for the freezer that Hubbie had found on sale at one of the grocery stores. She did all these things at Mother's house.

She came to our house after lunch and kept track of the pies in the oven, while Hubbie and I ran a couple of errands related to Thanksgiving.

Back home, I started the beef hash cooking, and then found a frame and mat for a photo gift. I'd ordered the photo I wanted yesterday, which Hubbie picked up on his round of errands. But today, I discovered that the photo was unusable because there was a bend across the middle. So I had to order another photo, which I picked up today, and then framed when I got back home.

Later, we had the hash with a choice of butter beans or Lima beans. Mother, who had been up all day, was ready to go to bed around 6:30. Sis went to Mother's house as soon as Mother was abed, and Hubbie and I spent the evening watching TV, including the final episode of "Dancing with the Stars." Yay! The contestant I was rooting for won!

Monday, Nov. 21

Up at 6:30 to get ready to go to water aerobics. This morning, Mother took care of her own needs and made her way to the den.

Around 6 a.m., I heard thunder and wondered if storms would roll in to prevent me from going to the pool. But by 7:30, all was well, so I headed to the college. The water was wonderfully warm, and I very much enjoyed swimming and water aerobics.

I was sad to learn from one of the members, though, that a fourteen-year-old youngster in a community about fifteen miles away was accidentally shot to death on a deer hunting excursion. This evening's newspaper reported that the boy and two friends, aged fourteen and sixteen, were hunting together. While the boy and one of his friends were descending from a deer stand, the friend's rifle discharged, shooting the boy in the back of the head. What an awful thing to happen at any time of the year, but particularly around holiday time. My heart goes out to the family.

Back home, I helped Mother take a shower, and then I got ready for the day myself. Sis arrived before lunchtime, and after lunch, around 2 p.m., Mother's physical therapist arrived.

At 2:15, I went down to the college library to meet my student. Today, the student brought her Mother along. Her Mother is visiting from Venezuela. Unfortunately, on the first night that her Mother arrived, she slipped in a motel bathtub and broke her arm. So of course, she was wearing a cast today.

Her mother is a very attractive 76-year-old woman, who speaks just a little English...enough for us to communicate somewhat.

An hour into our session, a librarian came into the study room to advise me the space was reserved for 4 p.m., and we would need to move to another room. We did, but at 4 p.m., I noticed a woman sitting outside the room intently gazing at me through the window. I asked if I could help her. She said she had the room reserved for 4 p.m.

Drat. This necessitated my going to the office to straighten things out. Seems somehow, though I'd reserved space for every Monday from 2:30 to 4:30, and I have been keeping those appointments since last May, someone did not record that information on their calendar. So they apologized and promptly got on the calendar for the rest of this year. I'll make sure we're on the calendar (If I have to post the info myself!) for next year, beginning in January.

Despite all the glitches, we covered a lot of ground today, including conversation using the words "asked," and "answered," "alone," and "together," "with" and "without," as well as how to express money amounts, such as $2.25 as two dollars and twenty-five cents, or two dollars and a quarter, or the more usual two-twenty-five.

She also learned the clothing fastening words of zipper, buttons, shoelaces, etc. Once again, she was briefly puzzled by the word "tie," which she has previously associated with an article of men's clothing. Today, the word was used in the context of tying shoelaces.

Back home after the session, Sis had heated leftovers from yesterday's beef roast meal, which was made better by the fact that Hubbie had cut the tough beef into tiny pieces that were easier to chew.

After supper, Hubbie peeled potatoes to be boiled and refrigerated for a beef hash supper tomorrow night. Once the potatoes were cooked, Hubbie, Sis, and I got ready to go to the nearby college to see a very entertaining and abbreviate interpretation of "A Christmas Carol." Before we left, I started a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie playing for Mother to watch while we were gone.

The play, a performance of the Children's Theater of our state repertory theater starred only two actors...a young man who played Scrooge, and a young woman who played all the other parts. The set and the costume changes were very clever. There was a lot of comedy in this interpretation, while still keeping to the basic story line.

The play was only about an hour long...just long enough to keep children involved. In fact, the troupe performed for 1500 school children this afternoon, and they must have loved it. I know we did.

We were back home a little after 8 p.m., in time for the movie Mother was watching to be close to the end. We treated ourselves to cups of homemade chai tea, with cookies Mother made before she got sick.

It began raining as we left the theater, and was stormy a little while later. But we enjoyed another Hallmark Channel movie before time to call it a day.

Sunday, Nov. 20

Up around 7 a.m., but skipped my exercises again, s I could put a beef roast with veggies into the slow cooker right after breakfast. The first thing I discovered was that I needed more carrots, onions, and potatoes, so Hubbie went to the nearest grocery store to get some.

Once the roast was cooking, I did the usual Sunday chores, as well as uploading snapshots from yesterday to my social network page.

Lunch was good, except the roast was tough. I've tried every cut of meat, but rarely find tender beef. That might be because I avoid the marbled cuts.

After lunch, Mother opted to nap while Hubbie and I went to one of the colleges to act as ushers for the community theater production of "The Curious Savage," (announced in our local newspaper as "The Christmas Savage").

This 1950 play revolves around an elderly widow, whose husband left her ten million dollars. Her three stepchildren, wanting to get their hands on the money, have her committed to a "sanatorium," until she comes to her senses and tells them where the fortune in bonds is hidden. A cast of nutty but lovable people inhabit the sanatorium, and the elderly woman becomes attached to them.

This comedy might have been palatable performed by more professional actors, but as it was, it came off as amateurish as a high school play. The set was substandard, too, with blue paper stapled to flats, and paper curtains.

This is the first production by the new group of folks now in charge of the theater (I rolled off the board a couple of months ago). The cast included the director of the play (a local preacher), his wife, and a couple of his kids. One character was completely miscast...a seventh-grade girl, who played a 25-year-old man.

Attendance at the play has been dismal, with under fifteen people showing up for each of this weekend's three performances. Today, there were a dozen of us. They plan to have three more performances next weekend. I don't expect them to be any better attended, unfortunately. I'm afraid they'll be lucky if a total of hundred people attend all six performances.

Back home, Mother was ready to get up and have supper. She chose Ramen noodle soup. Hubbie and I opted for cereal and toast.

For TV tonight, we watched a Hallmark Channel movie, "A Christmas Wedding Tail." Not an award winner, but it was another family-fare feature suited to Mother.