Thursday, March 1

February gone. First day of March, already.

Up around 7 a.m., so I could get ready to meet a doctor appointment at 9 a.m. A fasting lab was part of the visit today, so I could have nothing to eat or drink after midnight last night.

My tummy began rumbling as I was driving to the clinic, so I was glad I didn't have to wait long to see the doctor.

I was absorbed in my novel, "Anna Karenina," on my e-reader when the doctor came into the exam room. She asked what I was reading, and noting that it is a literary classic, mentioned that she had just finished reading "Pride and Prejudice." We then launched into a discussion of books.

That led to her mentioning that her twelve-year-old daughter has an e-reader that does not have access to the Internet, but she can order books on it. Recently, she ordered a couple of books without letting her mother know, which was a no-no. It wasn't the cost of the books...about $9 apiece (which is really more than I want to pay for e-books), it was that her mother wants to approve books before she orders them.

Then we talked about the Harlem Gospel Choir, which she, her husband, and two children attended. She commented that thanks to her busy schedule, her family rarely has an opportunity to attend events together. So he insisted that they were all to enthusiastically participate...which they most certainly did. They were seated a couple of rows ahead of us in the middle section, where they clapped in time to the music, raised their arms to heaven, and moved rhythmically.

It was around 10 a.m. by the time I left the doctor's office. Back home, I fixed myself a breakfast of orange juice, cheese omelet, made with egg substitute, a couple of pieces of wheat toast with homemade strawberry jelly, and a couple of cups coffee.

After that, I went to Mother's house to see if she wanted to take a shower. She suggested I help her do that later this afternoon. This morning, she wanted to come over to my house to help work in the kitchen.

We started by making friendship cakes...got two of them done before lunch. Meanwhile, Hubbie went out to work in the yard. He came in before lunch complaining that he'd injured his right arm while trying to move a ladder.

It obviously pained him to move it, so I suggested he make a doctor appointment. He did, for 2:30 this afternoon.

I wasn't hungry at lunchtime, but I prepared Ramen noodle soup for Mother, and a bacon/lettuce/tomato sandwich for Hubbie. Since I was preparing bacon for Hubbie's lunch, I fixed enough to add to the baked beans.

Later, I drove Hubbie to his appointment. The doctor diagnosed Hubbie's problem as an injury to his supranator muscle. The doctor seemed excited by this, declaring it such a rare injury, that he was compelled to fetch his Gray's Anatomy medical volume. Upon his return, he showed us pictures, and described the afflicted muscle. Enjoying himself immensely, he continued to describe all the muscles of the arm and how they worked, finally commenting that muscles are such marvelous things that only the Creator could have designed them. They simply could not have happened by chance, he said. We agree.

His prescription for a cure, though? None. Hubbie will just have to allow the muscle to heal on its own, taking pain relievers, if needed.

Back home, I put the third friendship cake in the oven, and then fixed a large batch of baked beans. Hubbie peeled a big pan of potatoes to be boiled for potato salad. I'll make the salad tomorrow.

Finally, I heated the leftover spaghetti and sauce, and slices of French bread for supper, which we had with tossed salad, and cottage cheese. Afterward, I accompanied Mother to her house, and helped her take a shower. I threw a load of laundry in the washer before I came back home.

At home, I turned off the TV, and Hubbie and I read our novels for an hour. Back to TV, we watched another Alfred Hitchcock dark comedy movie, "The Trouble with Harry," a 1955 film starring John Forsythe and Shirley MacLaine. A man is found dead in a small New England town, and almost everyone thinks they had something to do with it.