Friday, Dec. 14

It was a busy day, but difficult to enjoy, after the news of the horrendous mass killings at an elementary school in Connecticut. So many children lost, killed by a deranged gunmen. I can't stop thinking about those innocent babies, and I keep wanting to cry. I can only imagine the grief the parents of the victims are going through. Losing a child is a parent's worst nightmare, but to lose one by such a senseless act...how will those parents cope?

We were up around 7 a.m., thanks to one of the cats, who yowls us awake around that time every morning, even if we refuse to get up.

My back feels better, but I decided to give it another day before exercising. So after breakfast, I went ahead and showered and donned a housecoat for kitchen work. While I did this, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house.

We spent the morning making two pots of stewed chicken. Mother diced the veggies, which I added to the chicken, with broth and spices. Both pots will be made into Chinese Chicken Soup, one for Hubbie's family, who will visit Sunday, and one for the ladies at the beauty shop (I put that one in the freezer, and will finish the soup next Tuesday).

After that, Mother made a recipe of chive and onion dip. Since we'd done all we could in the kitchen for this morning, I went upstairs to get ready to go to the hospital cafeteria to have lunch with our friends. We met at the hospital, because one of the friends is a volunteer at the gift shop, and her lunch hour is from noon to 1 p.m.

Mother and I arrived a little early, because I had hoped to find a handicap parking space. No dice. In fact, spaces were at a premium, so I had to park way down at the end of the lot, wrestle Mother's wheelchair out of the back of the van, and wheel her uphill to the cafeteria.

The hospital corridor decorations are nice...a big tree with oversized ornaments, and a big Santa and snowman in the pleasant front porch area that features white rocking chairs.

Had a nice visit with the ladies, with whom we exchanged gifts. Mother and I were given Christmas dish towels, packed in a gift bag, with a pretty ornament on the handles. The ornament is perfect for the white tree.

In exchange, we gave the ladies jars of our homemade candy apple jelly.

For lunch, Mother and I had chicken and dumplings, mashed potatoes, and beans for me, and mixed veggies for Mother. The ladies opted for fried catfish and salad.

This attractive cafeteria offers tasty meals at very reasonable prices. But the layout is sort of strange. Our friend who volunteers at the hospital had to direct us to the napkins, the condiments, the drinks, the plastic ware, and the area for disposing of plates, cups, etc. Nothing was obvious. We decided that it had to be a man who designed the area.

When it was time for our friend to return to work at the gift shop, we accompanied her, so we could stroll through it. This is a very inviting shop, with wide enough aisles to accommodate a wheelchair. Some things were reasonably priced, while others were a bit pricey. I didn't see much that I wanted, but I did buy a pair of cute snowman earrings, which were discounted ten percent.

Our other friend was ready to head home then, but she waited outside until I brought the van around, so I wouldn't have to push Mother way down the parking lot again. This lady, though several years younger than me, has bad knees, so she couldn't help me hoist the wheelchair into the back of the van. And today, I had trouble with it, because I couldn't seem to lift it high enough to get past the lip of the cargo area. The first time I tried, I got the chair in, but it opened partly and wouldn't fit the space. So I had to hoist it back out, close it up again, and heave ho it back into the van. Whew!

Back home, Mother headed to the couch for a nap, and Hubbie and I relaxed for a while, before time to head out at 4:30 to go to an open house at a business downtown, where there was enough food to make a supper on...hot beef brisket on steamed buns, an assortment of dips, with crackers, chips, and veggies, and all sorts of desserts, along with coffee, and hot apple-cinnamon punch. Brought home slices of pumpkin roll, and cookies, to have later.

Mother was ready to go home as soon as we were back from the open house, so I accompanied her.

Around 6:30, Hubbie returned to the business to pick up a table and folding chairs to use on Sunday. When he got back, he popped popcorn, and I made a carmel sauce for it. The popcorn also has pecan and candied cherries in it. Hubbie had quartered the cherries, and broken the nuts this morning, so we didn't have to do that tonight. Made two recipes of the fruited popcorn...one for Hubbie, and one for his daughter, who dearly loves it. It's not my favorite, so I don't eat it, though everyone else thinks its the most wonderful stuff in the world.

Finally, around 8 p.m., we were ready to relax and watch TV for a while.