Tuesday, March 20

Today is the first day of spring. Yay!

I think I'm finally adjusting to the time change. Had no problem going to sleep last night, and I probably would have snoozed til morning had it not been for being startled awake by a couple of cats caterwauling. I don't know why there was a fight, since all our cats have been neutered or spayed. Maybe a stray male wandered in, and our resident male declared his turf. Took a while to get back to sleep, though.

We were up around 7:30, and after breakfast, I went to Mother's house to help her take a shower, throw a load of laundry in the washer, and fix Ramen noodle soup for her lunch.

Back home, I debated what sort of exercise I wanted to do (well, I really didn't want to do any exercises, but I had to choose something). Since it was such a nice morning, with a pleasant breeze, I decided to put on my ankle weights and walk several times around our two-acre yard. Worked up a sweat, so it must have been effective.

Hubbie spent the morning working in the yard, but after lunch, he cleaned up and changed clothes to accompany me on a grocery shopping trip. Wanted to get supplies in before storms arrived, which are predicted to plague us for the next few days.

Home again, I accompanied Mother to our house, where she worked on her jigsaw puzzle, while I made a large batch of rice pudding, and Hubbie went back out to work in the yard.

Relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. While I was playing on my laptop, a brief thunderstorm cropped up. I was caught unawares, so when there was a loud clap of thunder, I issued an expletive and nearly jumped out of my skin. It poured rain, effectively ending Hubbie's session in the yard.

Later, we had a supper of leftover chicken, rice and gravy, and California mix veggies. Afterward, I accompanied Mother back to her house.

TV tonight included anxiously watching weather reports, since tornado warnings popped up in counties bordering ours.

Well, I still didn't get around to hemming my white slacks. I should have hemmed them Monday. I had all afternoon to do them, since my ESL student cancelled our session, because she had an appointment. Instead, Mother and I chose to watch a British theater performance of the musical, "Phantom of the Opera." Hopefully, I'll get around to hemming those slacks tomorrow, barring threatening weather.

I hope the weather is such that I can go to water aerobics in the morning. Swimming is my favorite form of exercise...fun, instead of a dreaded chore. I enjoy the socialization, too. There is always interesting gossip during the sessions. On Monday, besides the stories about the red oak beetles, the broken glass door, and the good news that our only male member is mending from heart surgery, we also learned that the husband of a former aerobics member, absorbed in what he was doing on his computer, received a very painful wasp sting to his nose when he plucked a facial tissue from a box and applied it to his face without looking at it first.

Maybe the rain today will help wash away the pollen. Yesterday morning, though, a layer of the yellow stuff covered the windshield on the van. So the first thing I did was run the wipers. Unfortunately, Hubbie, who had walked me to the van, was standing near the driver side door and POOF! got a face full of it.

Folks allergic to pollen will be grateful for the rain, but the same rain that washes away the pollen will also help promote the growth of grass and mold, causing allergic reactions in other folks. Can't win for losing.