Wednesday, June 6

Up at 6:30, so I could get ready to go to water aerobics. The water was cool today, but tolerable. Twelve of us showed up, including two new members. One of the women and I recognized each other, but neither of us remembered the other's name.

Turns out, she and I served on the community theater board for several years, before she moved to California to care for her ailing mother and father, both of whom died during the five years she was there. She moved back to our state, because it is less expensive to live here. She joined water aerobics, because she now has fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis.

One of the first things she said to me was, "How come you're getting younger?' Made my day, even if she might have been being kind. She herself is 47 years old, but because of her physical problems, I guess she feels older, though I can't tell that she's aged any. One thing that is very different about her is a large ornate- design tatoo on her left arm.

Back home, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, where, with my help, she chopped onions and bell peppers, sliced yellow squash, and snapped green beans to use for supper later. She kept forgetting what needed chopping, what needed slicing, and whether I wanted beans left whole or snapped, so I finally listed the instructions on a piece of paper to help keep her focused, and then stood by while she worked. I could do these tasks myself, but I want her to feel useful and engaged.

After she finished the task, she worked on her jigsaw puzzle, while I got ready for the day. Later, I fixed a lunch of a hot dog and cottage cheese for Mother, a pork roast sandwich for myself, and hot pork roast (with gravy) for Hubbie. Then Hubbie and I shopped for groceries at the WDCS, while Mother went back to her puzzle.

At home, Hubbie worked in the yard, and I relaxed until time to prepare supper. Supper tonight was sauteed squash, green beans, and creamed onions over homemade garlic/parsley noodles, along with homemade biscuits. The squash was from the farmer's market, the beans and onions were from our garden, the noodles were purchased at Branson several months ago, and for the biscuits, I used sour milk from Mother's fridge. It was a very good meal, and we all really enjoyed it.

I accompanied Mother home afterward, and then I joined Hubbie in the yard, where we discovered a garter snake wound around one of the tomato plants. I hurried into the house to grab my camera and snap a shot.

Later, Hubbie and I watched TV, including a 2010 LMN movie: "Confined." A couple moves to a quiet neighborhood, where the wife begins to suspect the next door neighbor man of nafarious deeds. She snoops, breaks and enters, and calls the police (who naturally find nothing amiss). While snooping in the neighbor's basement, she finds someone confined. Stuff happens after that, and her life is endangered.