Wednesday, April 25

Up at 6:30 to get ready to go to water aerobics. Nice, sunny morning. About 20 of us showed up today. The water was chilly, but nice once I got used to it. We learned today that the pool will be closed from April 13 until June 4 for the college break before summer term.

Back home, before I got ready for the day, I gathered ingredients for a meatloaf. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, where she worked on the meatloaf while I got ready for the day, and Hubbie ran errands.

For lunch, I sauteed onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, and leftover potatoes, to which I added eggs and shredded cheese. Hubbie had picked up local strawberries, and after lunch, Mother and I prepared and sweetened two quarts of them.

After that, Mother relaxed for the rest of the afternoon, and I did this and that, including locating a hoop for a Civil War dress. A Civil War ball is planned for May in conjunction with sesquicentennial events. Though I have a hoop (someone gave it to me years ago), I do not have a dress. So I contacted a member of the community theater board to see if I can borrow something suitable from the organization's costume department. She said yes, so now I need to meet her one afternoon and go through the costumes to see what might work for me.

I was undecided about whether I wanted to attend the ball, but since the husband of my ESL student is in charge of the festivities that weekend, it would please her for Hubbie and me to go. Of course, I'm wondering how I'm going to manage that big hoop while riding in the van, and sitting down at the restaurant. I might wear a pair of crop pants under the dress and then put the hoop on when I get there. As for sitting down at the restaurant, the seating is benches at long tables, so I can fling the hoop over the back, I guess. Folks on either side of me might have to sit on my dress, though! How did ladies back then manage such unwieldy dresses?

The meatloaf for supper was very good, served with mashed potatoes and green beans. Angel food cake with strawberries and whipped topping for dessert was yummy, too. Afterward, I accompanied Mother to her house, where I helped her take a shower, and then throw a load of laundry in the washer.

Note: something very strange has happened around here. One of our cats, the tortoise shell one, has gone missing. We have no idea what has happened to her. Hubbie has searched the house high and low, including under the hot tub, but there is no sign of her. This cat has always been skittish and ran the other way whenever any of us left the house. She seemed to have no interest in going outside. And yet she must have, because there doesn't seem to be any other explanation, though Hubbie has searched in vain for her outdoors, as well. She has just vanished. She has only one good eye, and she suffers from a breathing problem like asthma, so if she went out, I'm afraid she will not survive long.