Wednesday, March 21

Woke up with the alarm at 6:30 this morning, intending to go to water aerobics. But before we sat down to breakfast, it began to rain heavily. Wasn't anxious to walk from the college parking lot to the gym in a downpour.

As happened last Friday, the rain slacked, and I thought I could go on to aerobics. But soon, it began pouring again. At 7:30, I wimped out and opted to stay home.

Since it was such a nasty day, I decided to make a pot of chicken noodle soup for lunch. I also sent white American cheese, a cheese grater, and a jar of pimentos to Mother, so she could make pimento cheese to go with the soup. I knew she'd be bored and need some sort of task to occupy her. She, of course, wisely stayed home today. I sent soup to her for her lunch.

Sis had planned to come up this morning, but torrential rains in her neck of the woods caused flooding on some roads. So she chose to wait until later in the day to make the trip.

After lunch, I finally got around to doing the task I'd been dreading for days...hem my slacks. It takes me forever to do this sewing task...I measure and pin, measure and pin several times before I'm satisfied that I can trim off excess material without butchering the garment. As the saying goes, "measure twice, cut once."

It doesn't help that one of my legs might be shorter than the other. I say this because with a pair of slacks I hemmed a few months ago, as well as with this pair, the leg lengths did not match, even though the hems were measured the same.

By the time I ripped out the old hem, measured, measured, measured, cut, turned up and pressed about a quarter inch, pinned up the hem, tried the pants on again, and finally hemmed them, it was time to think about supper.

It was a pretty simple supper tonight. I peeled and boiled potatoes to be mashed, made a batch of cornbread, heated leftover sauteed cabbage, and made gravy from roast beef drippings.

Later, we watched the 2000 movie, "Vatel," starring Uma Thurman and Gerard Depardieu. In 1671, a penniless prince with gout wants to catch the attention of King Louis XIV in order to borrow money and save his province. He orders a weekend of extravagant pleasures for the king. Vatel (Depardieu) is counted on to provide sumptuous food and entertainment. Things get sticky though, when Vatel catches the eye of the same woman fancied by the king. Elaborate costumes and scenery. Based on a true story.

Sis arrived safely around 7:30 on this rainy night. I think we'll all be mildewed before this monsoon ends.