Thursday, Feb. 23

Wow! What a gloriously sunny, warm day, with the temperature reaching near 80 degrees.

We were up around 7:30 this morning, and after breakfast, I went to Mother's house to help her take a shower. But Sis was already in the process of helping her. I joined them in the bathroom, though, to show Sis our routine.

Back home, I changed clothes and did a treadmill session and resistance exercises. Mother and Sis came over while I was getting ready for the day and started a recipe of pork chops with onions and apples. Sis peeled apples, and Mother sliced them and onions. I browned the meat, and Sis basted them with a honey/mustard mixture. We put the prepared dish in the fridge until later.

Sis mentioned that she wanted to visit a garden nursery she'd learned about online. So after lunch, we went to a town about 20 miles away to look for it. It was about seven miles outside of town, and it had all the things Sis wanted, except for cherry trees.

Hubbie chose a couple of plants for our garden, too, and then we returned home, where Hubbie and Sis unloaded them. Then we went to another a package store in another town to purchase our favorite kinds of wine. We enjoy shopping in this large, well-lighted, well-kept store. Unfortunately, they didn't have the type of red table wine that we wanted in a large bottle. So we were told that if we bought two of the small bottles, we would be given a fifteen percent discount on our total purchase. We took advantage of this bargain.

On the way home, we briefly visited a nearby state park, where I'd hoped there might be some early wildflowers or jonquils in bloom. But there wasn't. The park looked pretty winter-bleak today. The only color in the area was a small area of green wheat.

Back home, I put the pork chops in the oven, along with a large dish of mixed veggies from the freezer. We relaxed while the food cooked, and then near 5 p.m., I fixed a pan of instant rice. The meal was very good.

After supper, we played three games of Skip-bo. This was supposed to be Sis's night to win, but instead I won two games, and Mother won one. I asked Sis if she wanted to continue playing until she won, and she said, "No, there's not enough time...I have to go back to work Saturday."

So we quit playing and enjoyed dessert...Mother opted for chocolate pudding with fat-free topping, and the rest of us had ice cream topped with the remainder of the blackberry cobbler.

Mother and Sis went back to Mother's house afterward, and Hubbie and I watched our favorite college basketball team as they played to another very disappointing loss. We don't like the poor showing of our team, lately, but we're devoted enough to see them through to the end. Real fans can't be fair-weather friends. This is a young team, and they'll do better next year.