Thursday, August 16

Up at 7:30 this morning, but skipped my exercises after breakfast, so I could finish preparations for a scrapbook club meeting this afternoon.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 9 a.m., and once I was ready for the day, I fixed a platter of fruit, gathered pretty plates, glasses, and cups, and did other things related to making things nice for later.

Then Mother and I began working on greeting cards. Mother working on kid birthday cards, and I made two adult birthday cards, each of which feature a cupcake and the greeting "Carpe Cupcake," meaning "seize the cupcake, as a word-play on the saying "carpe diem," which popularly translates as "seize the day."

After lunch, we continued card-making. Around 12:30, one of the members called to say she would not be able to come, since she was babysitting with a grandson, and weather reports showed storms north and west of us, which she feared would move to our county before time for the meeting to end. This lady won't leave her house, if there is even a hint of rain or the threat of it. As it turned out, not a drop fell all afternoon.

But a few minutes after 1 p.m., both the other member of the club, and the new Extension Homemakers agent, arrived. The agent is a very young woman, in her early 20s. Once we'd introduced ourselves, discussed our club business, and our club's community project (making greeting cards for Caring Hands Hospice), I quizzed the agent about her background (she worked as a dietician at our local hospital before becoming an EH agent). She is naturally interested in emphasizing diet and exercise for EH members.

She was interested in seeing examples of cards we'd made, as well as looking at family scrapbooks. She seemed very interested in these projects. By the time we'd talked and purused the crafts, it was nearly 2 p.m., so I served refreshments of the fruit and brownies, which were obviously enjoyed by everyone. Even the health-conscious agent indulged in a brownie, as did we all, because who can resist chocolate?

Then we all began work on our individual card-making projects. The agent had never made greeting cards before, so I gathered materials for her to make one for her father, who celebrated a birthday a couple of days ago, but whom she will see this weekend. She used a buff card on which she placed a wood-print piece of scrap paper topped with a buff tag. She used individual-letter rubber stamps for a "Happy Birthday" greeting, and then finished by using brown leaf stickers here and there. It turned out nice, and she seemed pleased with her effort.

The meeting usually ends at 3 p.m., but since we were enjoying ourselves, we worked until 3:30. The agent is now interested in attending our meetings whenever she can, so I will add her to my list of those to call each month. She agrees that this would be a way for her to step away from her job for a couple of hours and relax with a craft. And it would still be considered a part of her job, since she is required to visit clubs and desiminate information.

Today, for instance, she told us about a 12-week exercise program that will emphasize strength training with weights. The other club member is interested in participating, though I will not be able to, since the sessions are on Mondays and Wednesdays. Mondays are busy for me, since I have water aerobics in the morning, and then an ESL session in the afternoon.

Also, today, we discussed a possible trip to another town to visit a pioneer village in the fall. This would be considered an educational trip. I agreed to research this, and when I did, I found that there is an open house scheduled for Dec. 8. I e-mailed the contact person to see if there would be another in the fall.

Later, after the ladies had left, Hubbie and I went to a popular chicken fast-food restaurant and picked up two combo chicken dinners, using two complimentary free-meal tickets we'd won at the county fair. Tonight was a good time to use them, since I didn't have a meal planned.

We had a choice of combo meals, and so naturally I chose the largest one, each box of which had four pieces of chicken, a biscuit, and a choice of sides (I chose mashed potatoes and gravy, and coleslaw), and large drinks. I chose Sprite, and Hubbie chose Dr. Pepper.

There was more than enough chicken for the three of us, with three pieces left over for lunch tomorrow. I heated leftover macaroni and cheese to go with the meal.

As soon as we'd eaten, I accompanied Mother to her house, since the day was darkening as though rain was in the offing. Nothing happened, though, drat it.

Spent the rest of the evening watching TV, including a movie called, "The Debt," a 2010 film about three agents who, in 1965, go into East Berlin to capture a Nazi criminal. Thirty years later, will we learn that they succeeded? What secrets will be revealed? Stars Helen Mirren.

Followed this with a 1997 movie called, "The Devil's Own," starring Harrison Ford, and Brad Pitt. A police officer discovers that his houseguest is an IRA terrorist who escaped British troops in Belfast and somehow ended up in New York City.

************************************************************************************
Note: Hubbie took the van to the shop yesterday, because the tire that needed air a few days ago began leaking again. Mechanics discovered a piece of metal had penetrated the tire near the rim, effectively destroying the tire.

Fortunately, road hazard insurance still covered the six-month old tire, so there was no charge for a new one. All we had to pay was labor plus six months wear, which amounted to about $30. Of course, I can remember when the price of tires was about that much!