Friday, Feb. 24

Up at 6:30 this morning to get ready to go to water aerobics. Wow! The weather sure did change from yesterday...temp in the 80s yesterday, temp in the 50s today, with a bone chilling wind. Wore a coat over a hoodie over a fleece outfit today, plus a knit toboggan and gloves for the walk to the pool.

About 15 of us showed up this morning. The water was comfortable, and I really enjoyed it. Our regular leader was back, after having a flare-up of fibromyalgia. I was interested to learn that her massage therapist is the daughter of a woman who worked in the same office as Hubbie and I did before we retired (in fact, this woman is now also retired).

Funny: after Wednesday water aerobics, as another member and I were walking out of the gym, a tall, slender, handsome, African-American young man (looked like he could be a basketball player) opened the door for us. We complimented him on the cute hat he was wearing.

It was white knit with ear flaps...a Peruvian style hat (some have long braids in place of ear flaps) that is popular with young people right now. This one, though had black pom-poms on the flaps, and on the back of the hat. On the front were large black eyes, like a panda bear. The young man thanked us for the compliment, commenting that his grandmother had made the hat for him. He was obviously proud to wear it.

Back home afterward, once I was ready for the day, Hubbie, Sis, and I went to the hydroponic farm to buy tomatoes. This was Sis's first time to see the farm, and it will also be her last, because we learned that the store part of the operation is closed. The owners have opted to concentrate strictly on selling commercially. In fact, the young woman said they are having trouble producing enough to satisfy their current contracts.

However, she did have a number of tomatoes she was willing to sell to us...these are culls from the uniformly-sized ones required by commercial buyers. Sis and I bought all of them.

From there, we stopped by a grocery store to pick up a head of lettuce and a package of turkey bacon. At home, we fixed bacon/tomato/lettuce/sweet-onion sandwiches, with a side of leftover fried potatoes, for lunch.

Soon after lunch, Sis left to go back to her town about an hour or so away. On the way out of the house she commented, "Thanks for the food, fun, and fellowship, and for winning all the Skip-bo games."

Hubbie suggested she might need to practice playing the game before she visits again. "You might also want to use more wisdom in your drawing next time," I laughed about a game that's 99% chance.

Later, Hubbie and I ran a couple of errands...to the bank to buy a couple of tickets to the Red Hot Luncheon in March; and to a store that used to have a sale every weekend to look for something for Mother and me to wear to the Red Hot event. No luck.

Bought a pair of black undies, though, to wear under my swimsuit. The new suit I've worn only a few weeks is already getting a thin place in the back. It'll soon give me what we at the pool call "Liberty Bell" exposure. The chemicals in the pool just eat swimsuits up.

Also bought a sports bra for Mother. It has a zipper in front, which should be easier for her to handle than hooks in the back. The bra should also be more comfortable than a regular one. She really doesn't need to wear a bra most of the time, but for those times when she thinks she needs support, I hope this garment will work.

From there, we went to the other store that has a sale every weekend. Found a red cotton-type pull-over sweater with scoop neck and three-quarter length sleeves that might work if the weather doesn't get too hot (it'll be pretty cool in the building, anyway, and a sweater will probably feel good). The sweater was on the clearance rack for $5, so even if I can't wear it in March, it'll work for the fall.

Also on the clearance rack, I found a cotton shirt with three-quarter length sleeves in a petite size that Mother can wear. It's in pink and blue spring colors that probably won't work for the luncheon, but it'll be handy for some summer events. It only cost $6. I'll add this to Mother's birthday bag.

Our last stop was the everything's a dollar store to pick up a gift bag. Hubbie bought a couple of boxes of zinnia seeds there, too.

At home, I mixed a batch of whole wheat pancake batter, and Hubbie did the honors of cooking the pancakes for our supper. We ate all but three of the them, and Mother took those home with her.

Hubbie accompanied her to her house right after supper. I turned the TV off at 6 p.m., and Hubbie and I spent the next hour cleaning two kitchen drawers. These were the kitchen implement drawers. Lots of interesting things in those drawers. We've no idea what some of them are used for, though. These mystery things are in a box for family to look though.

Back to TV, we watched a movie called, "Silent Predators," starring Harry Hamlin. Twenty years previous, a truck carrying genetically bred rattlesnakes crashes, and the snakes escape. Now they are wreaking havoc on a small California town.