What a great day we had today! Eighteen of us gathered for lunch, including Son and Daughter-in-Law, Daughter, two granddaughters, a granddaughter's male friend and his son, a niece, and seven great-grandchildren.
Lunch, of course, was four kinds of soup: chicken noodle, 11-bean, potato, and split pea, and a choice of sandwich makings: ham and cheese (American, baby Swiss, and muenster), chicken salad, and pimento cheese, with a choice of breads: wheat rounds, white, wheat bread, or hoagies, as well as crackers. Dessert choices were chocolate cupcakes, peach cobbler, sweetened sliced strawberries (locally grown and frozen last spring), and ice cream.
This was a birthday gathering, and I was excited to receive a gift card to my favorite hobby store from Son and Daughter-in-Law. I shop at that store every time I'm in a town that has one. It's my favorite store.
I was also delighted with a gift Daughter gave me...a little bear that plays "Wind Beneath my Wings." That happens to be one of my favorite tunes. I set the bear on the fireplace insert, where it seemed to delight the kids, who, every time they passed it, squeezed it's paw to play the tune. Even Mother was enchanted by it, and squeezed the paw whenever she passed by it.
My very thoughtful kids always seem to know exactly the right things to give me.
The gifts I gave paled by comparison...gift baskets containing homemade chai tea, cans of dark chocolate cookie straws, and colorful mugs. I gave a granddaughter a framed photo of Great-Granddaughter that I snapped last summer while at camp. Great-grandchildren with birthdays received their favorite gifts...cash. Each of the ladies present chose tubes of hand cream from a popular intimate apparel shop...using $10 coupons and buying it on sale, I had accumulated quite a few tubes of it.
While family was here, Son also fixed the fluorescent light fixture in my office, after he and Hubbie went to a home improvement store to buy necessary supplies. Hubbie estimates that Son saved us about one hundred dollars by doing this job for us. I consider that another birthday gift. He also helped Hubbie hoist the large, wooden nativity scene into the storeroom closet. Thank you, Son!
Thanks to Granddaughter's friend, too, who helped Hubbie put the large, boxed Christmas tree over the rafters in the garage. We take advantage of strong guys whenever they're available.
After enjoying an afternoon visiting, some of the family headed home. Daughter and Niece stayed a while longer, and joined us for a repeat-of-lunch supper, before leaving around 5:30. Around the same time, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house.
Then we watched our favorite college basketball team play to a nail-biter loss. This was a noon game that I'd recorded on DVR.
Then we watched a Lifetime Movie Network feature called, "Caught in the Act." A Tennessee housewife discovers she has a knack for detective work, when she investigates her own husband's infidelity.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Friday, Jan. 27
Up at 6:30 this morning to get ready to go to water aerobics. It was chilly enough this morning that the sliding door on the van was frozen shut, though there was only moisture on the windows. Hubbie had gone out earlier and cleared the windshield and back window, but failed to wipe the side windows or the side mirrors. So at the end of the driveway, I hopped out and used my gloves to wipe the windows. Didn't discover the mirrors were wet until I was already on the road. Had to totally rely on the rear view mirror inside the van. Everything turned out fine, though.
The water in the pool was still a bit chilly, but okay once I was in it. The talk today was of men's wear and children's wear shops downtown that are closing after many years. Both are owned by the same folks. I have to say that in the 31 years I've lived in this town, I have only visited the men's shop once. I found the prices too high, so I didn't return.
Someone also said that the owner of a shoe shop downtown is looking for a buyer for her building, so she can retire. She owns not only the shoe shop, but the storefront next door that houses the arts council. Worrisome.
Back home, I enjoyed a couple of cups of hot coffee to warm me up, and then I went to Mother's house to help her take a shower. Threw a load of laundry in her washer before I came back to our house.
As usual, it was nearly noon before I was finally ready for the day. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, and we each had a different kind of soup for lunch...Ramen noodle for Mother, 11-bean for Hubbie, and split pea for me.
After lunch, Mother and I made a batch of chicken salad for tomorrow's gathering. Mother chopped onions, celery, pickles, apples, and grapes for the salad, and I added Craisins and walnuts, salad dressing, and spices. Everything in the salad is chopped large enough that folks can remove what they don't like or want.
Then Hubbie and I went to the WDCS for grocery items for tomorrow. Back home, I made a peach cobbler. Spent the rest of the afternoon putting together token gift baskets for birthday honorees. I'm playing catch-up for those who had birthdays in October, November, and December, and anticipating those with birthdays in February.
At 4 p.m., I started supper. Mother helped by putting canned biscuits in a pan, and cutting up American cheese for Ziplock bag omelets. I sauteed onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms, which I added to egg substitute, along with the cheese and spices.
Following the omelet and biscuit supper, we had helpings of peach cobbler with ice cream. Hubbie accompanied Mother back to her house afterward.
Note: Mother said she had her last meeting with her occupational therapist on Wednesday. I didn't even notice she'd stopped by, but apparently she told Mother that was the last session allowed by Medicare. If Mother requires anything else in the future, we'll need to get a doctor's prescription. Right now, though, we're agreed that Mother is doing fine, as long as she keeps up her exercises.
I turned off the TV for an hour this evening, and we did a few things to spruce the house for company tomorrow. When I turned it back on, we watched a 2010 movie called "Animal Kingdom." This Australian crime drama begins when a 17-year-old boy loses his mother to an overdose, and then moves in with his grandmother and uncles. Immediately, one of the uncles is killed. The boy gets caught between his notorious crime family and renegade cops. The film is inspired by a real-life crime family of Melbourne, Australia. Chilling.
Got an interesting card from one of Hubbie's nieces. It's a photo of her and her husband, with an announcement that they are expecting a baby in June. What's interesting about the card is that within the zero of the enlarged year 2012 is a sonogram of the baby.
The water in the pool was still a bit chilly, but okay once I was in it. The talk today was of men's wear and children's wear shops downtown that are closing after many years. Both are owned by the same folks. I have to say that in the 31 years I've lived in this town, I have only visited the men's shop once. I found the prices too high, so I didn't return.
Someone also said that the owner of a shoe shop downtown is looking for a buyer for her building, so she can retire. She owns not only the shoe shop, but the storefront next door that houses the arts council. Worrisome.
Back home, I enjoyed a couple of cups of hot coffee to warm me up, and then I went to Mother's house to help her take a shower. Threw a load of laundry in her washer before I came back to our house.
As usual, it was nearly noon before I was finally ready for the day. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, and we each had a different kind of soup for lunch...Ramen noodle for Mother, 11-bean for Hubbie, and split pea for me.
After lunch, Mother and I made a batch of chicken salad for tomorrow's gathering. Mother chopped onions, celery, pickles, apples, and grapes for the salad, and I added Craisins and walnuts, salad dressing, and spices. Everything in the salad is chopped large enough that folks can remove what they don't like or want.
Then Hubbie and I went to the WDCS for grocery items for tomorrow. Back home, I made a peach cobbler. Spent the rest of the afternoon putting together token gift baskets for birthday honorees. I'm playing catch-up for those who had birthdays in October, November, and December, and anticipating those with birthdays in February.
At 4 p.m., I started supper. Mother helped by putting canned biscuits in a pan, and cutting up American cheese for Ziplock bag omelets. I sauteed onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms, which I added to egg substitute, along with the cheese and spices.
Following the omelet and biscuit supper, we had helpings of peach cobbler with ice cream. Hubbie accompanied Mother back to her house afterward.
Note: Mother said she had her last meeting with her occupational therapist on Wednesday. I didn't even notice she'd stopped by, but apparently she told Mother that was the last session allowed by Medicare. If Mother requires anything else in the future, we'll need to get a doctor's prescription. Right now, though, we're agreed that Mother is doing fine, as long as she keeps up her exercises.
I turned off the TV for an hour this evening, and we did a few things to spruce the house for company tomorrow. When I turned it back on, we watched a 2010 movie called "Animal Kingdom." This Australian crime drama begins when a 17-year-old boy loses his mother to an overdose, and then moves in with his grandmother and uncles. Immediately, one of the uncles is killed. The boy gets caught between his notorious crime family and renegade cops. The film is inspired by a real-life crime family of Melbourne, Australia. Chilling.
Got an interesting card from one of Hubbie's nieces. It's a photo of her and her husband, with an announcement that they are expecting a baby in June. What's interesting about the card is that within the zero of the enlarged year 2012 is a sonogram of the baby.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Thursday, Jan. 26
Slept late, until around 8:30. After breakfast, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, where she diced carrots, onions, and celery, to be stewed with chicken. Once the chicken was simmering, I did strengthening exercises...stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights.
It was noon before I was showered and ready for the day. After lunch, we continued in the kitchen. Mother diced more onions, carrots and celery for a recipe of potato soup. Hubbie peeled and sliced the potatoes, and I put the soup together.
Then Mother sliced onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms for a steak and peppers supper. She also diced bell peppers and mushrooms for an omelet supper tomorrow night. After that, she was ready to sit and relax. She's complained that she hasn't been productive enough, and feels useless, but I think she was satisfied she'd done plenty today!
When the chicken was done, we wrapped it in plastic wrap, and found gallon jars to put the broth and potato soup in for the fridge.
Around 4 p.m., I put potatoes in the oven to bake (Hubbie had washed them earlier). Later, I braised leftover sirloin steak from the restaurant in beef broth (Mother had sliced the beef earlier), along with bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms.
The beef and potatoes, with a side of leftover Lima beans and butter beans, and hot buttered French bread, made a good supper.
Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house afterward, and then I turned the TV off for an hour, while Hubbie and I made a big batch of chai tea.
We resumed watching TV afterward, including a 2004 movie from the Encore Suspense channel, "The I Inside." A young man awakens from an accident with amnesia. He thinks it's the year 2000, but it's really 2002. He begins jumping back and forth between the years, uncovering more and more of the mystery of his brother's death. His wife, whom he doesn't remember, tells him he killed his brother. He also has a girlfriend that he discovers was his brother's fiance'. Alternate reality movies aren't my favorite.
It was noon before I was showered and ready for the day. After lunch, we continued in the kitchen. Mother diced more onions, carrots and celery for a recipe of potato soup. Hubbie peeled and sliced the potatoes, and I put the soup together.
Then Mother sliced onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms for a steak and peppers supper. She also diced bell peppers and mushrooms for an omelet supper tomorrow night. After that, she was ready to sit and relax. She's complained that she hasn't been productive enough, and feels useless, but I think she was satisfied she'd done plenty today!
When the chicken was done, we wrapped it in plastic wrap, and found gallon jars to put the broth and potato soup in for the fridge.
Around 4 p.m., I put potatoes in the oven to bake (Hubbie had washed them earlier). Later, I braised leftover sirloin steak from the restaurant in beef broth (Mother had sliced the beef earlier), along with bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms.
The beef and potatoes, with a side of leftover Lima beans and butter beans, and hot buttered French bread, made a good supper.
Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house afterward, and then I turned the TV off for an hour, while Hubbie and I made a big batch of chai tea.
We resumed watching TV afterward, including a 2004 movie from the Encore Suspense channel, "The I Inside." A young man awakens from an accident with amnesia. He thinks it's the year 2000, but it's really 2002. He begins jumping back and forth between the years, uncovering more and more of the mystery of his brother's death. His wife, whom he doesn't remember, tells him he killed his brother. He also has a girlfriend that he discovers was his brother's fiance'. Alternate reality movies aren't my favorite.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Wednesday, Jan. 25
Today is Great-Grandson's birthday. Happy Birthday, Great-Grandson!
Up at 6:30 on this rainy morning to get ready to go to water aerobics. It seemed to take me longer to get started today, so I was late arriving at the college parking lot. Had to park quite a bit farther away than usual. Guess that was good for extra exercise, but I'm not fond of walking long distances in soggy weather.
The pool was topped off this morning, meaning that the water was even chillier than it was on Monday. But it was okay once I got used to it.
Our usual leader was not there, so a substitute was at the helm. This lady doesn't follow any set routine, but just makes things up as she goes along. I'm not crazy about this approach.
Back home, as soon as I showered and got ready for the day, I went to Mother's house to help her shower. Threw a load of laundry in the washer afterward. While I was doing this, Hubbie went to a fast food restaurant to get cups of chili for our lunch.
We had lunch a little early, around 11:30, because I had a haircut appointment at noon. Mother was supposed to go with me, but since it was such a wet day, I called the beauty shop and cancelled her appointment.
Just before noon, I went to the shop. The shop is being re-done...the walls have been painted in three complementary colors, and the operator stations are now rolling units that look something like automotive tool units. Large, framed, floor- to-ceiling mirrors adorn the walls. I don't like them...they show too much of me! The ladies laughed when I shielded my eyes and walked sideways to the sinks, so as not to have to see myself.
Back home, Hubbie took the van to the shop, because the brakes were screeching. The problem was the brake shoes, which had to be replaced. Needed new tires all around, too, so the tab was pretty high. Always something.
No sooner had Hubbie come in the door than he discovered he'd forgotten to take the Red Box DVD with him, so he had to turn right around and drive to the grocery store. The grocery store is only a block from the auto shop, and it would have been more convenient to drop the DVD off after he left shop. Oh, well.
While he was at the shop, I grated white American cheese for a recipe of pimento cheese. Since Mother was disappointed that she couldn't come over to our house today to help with preparing food for a family gathering this weekend, I took the cheese, jars of pimentos, and salad dressing to her house, so she could it. Then, I came back home and baked a couple of dozen chocolate cupcakes.
I relaxed after that until time to prepare supper, which was baked potatoes topped with leftover barbecued pork chops, and sides of corn-on-the-cob, and a choice of Lima beans or butter beans, and slices of hot, buttered French bread. I fixed a plate of the food for Hubbie to take to Mother.
After supper, we turned the TV off and spent an hour reading our novels. Then we watched our favorite college basketball team play to a just-by-the-hair-of-their-chinny-chin-chin win. Since the game was not available on our cable channels, we watched it at ESPN3 on my laptop computer.
Up at 6:30 on this rainy morning to get ready to go to water aerobics. It seemed to take me longer to get started today, so I was late arriving at the college parking lot. Had to park quite a bit farther away than usual. Guess that was good for extra exercise, but I'm not fond of walking long distances in soggy weather.
The pool was topped off this morning, meaning that the water was even chillier than it was on Monday. But it was okay once I got used to it.
Our usual leader was not there, so a substitute was at the helm. This lady doesn't follow any set routine, but just makes things up as she goes along. I'm not crazy about this approach.
Back home, as soon as I showered and got ready for the day, I went to Mother's house to help her shower. Threw a load of laundry in the washer afterward. While I was doing this, Hubbie went to a fast food restaurant to get cups of chili for our lunch.
We had lunch a little early, around 11:30, because I had a haircut appointment at noon. Mother was supposed to go with me, but since it was such a wet day, I called the beauty shop and cancelled her appointment.
Just before noon, I went to the shop. The shop is being re-done...the walls have been painted in three complementary colors, and the operator stations are now rolling units that look something like automotive tool units. Large, framed, floor- to-ceiling mirrors adorn the walls. I don't like them...they show too much of me! The ladies laughed when I shielded my eyes and walked sideways to the sinks, so as not to have to see myself.
Back home, Hubbie took the van to the shop, because the brakes were screeching. The problem was the brake shoes, which had to be replaced. Needed new tires all around, too, so the tab was pretty high. Always something.
No sooner had Hubbie come in the door than he discovered he'd forgotten to take the Red Box DVD with him, so he had to turn right around and drive to the grocery store. The grocery store is only a block from the auto shop, and it would have been more convenient to drop the DVD off after he left shop. Oh, well.
While he was at the shop, I grated white American cheese for a recipe of pimento cheese. Since Mother was disappointed that she couldn't come over to our house today to help with preparing food for a family gathering this weekend, I took the cheese, jars of pimentos, and salad dressing to her house, so she could it. Then, I came back home and baked a couple of dozen chocolate cupcakes.
I relaxed after that until time to prepare supper, which was baked potatoes topped with leftover barbecued pork chops, and sides of corn-on-the-cob, and a choice of Lima beans or butter beans, and slices of hot, buttered French bread. I fixed a plate of the food for Hubbie to take to Mother.
After supper, we turned the TV off and spent an hour reading our novels. Then we watched our favorite college basketball team play to a just-by-the-hair-of-their-chinny-chin-chin win. Since the game was not available on our cable channels, we watched it at ESPN3 on my laptop computer.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Tuesday, Jan. 24
Today is Hubbie's and my 31st wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary to us!
Up around 7:30 on this sunny, but still chilly morning, and did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast. Then, once I was ready for the day, I did this and that around the house, while Hubbie ran a couple of errands. When he got back, he had a bouquet of gorgeous red roses for me. We'd exchanged cards earlier.
After a lunch of leftovers, I visited Mother for a while. Didn't do much else for the afternoon, except complete the word search puzzle contest. Around 3 p.m., Hubbie and I ran errands...to the Literacy Council office to pick up level three instruction books; to the everything's a dollar store; to the WDCS; to the newspaper office to submit the word search puzzle; and to a grocery store to pick up a Red Box movie ("Water for Elephants").
It was around 4:30 by the time we got back home. I changed clothes for going out to dinner with Hubbie. We went to a newly built steak house, where we both ordered sirloin steaks, baked potatoes, and salad. My steak was fine, except for being a bit salty, but Hubbie's was somewhat tough. Neither of us was able to finish our food. So we brought portions of steak home, where I'll slice it thin and prepare it with onions and peppers for a meal later this week.
Back home, after we'd watched the evening news and "Wheel of Fortune," which I'd recorded on DVR, and after Hubbie finished a 30-minute phone conversation with his sister, I started the movie we'd rented.
I read "Water for Elephants" on my e-reader, and was anxious to see how the movie squared with the book. The movie started where the book ended, and a lot that's in the book isn't in the movie. As usual, the book is better, but the movie is okay, and Hubbie enjoyed it a lot.
Up around 7:30 on this sunny, but still chilly morning, and did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast. Then, once I was ready for the day, I did this and that around the house, while Hubbie ran a couple of errands. When he got back, he had a bouquet of gorgeous red roses for me. We'd exchanged cards earlier.
After a lunch of leftovers, I visited Mother for a while. Didn't do much else for the afternoon, except complete the word search puzzle contest. Around 3 p.m., Hubbie and I ran errands...to the Literacy Council office to pick up level three instruction books; to the everything's a dollar store; to the WDCS; to the newspaper office to submit the word search puzzle; and to a grocery store to pick up a Red Box movie ("Water for Elephants").
It was around 4:30 by the time we got back home. I changed clothes for going out to dinner with Hubbie. We went to a newly built steak house, where we both ordered sirloin steaks, baked potatoes, and salad. My steak was fine, except for being a bit salty, but Hubbie's was somewhat tough. Neither of us was able to finish our food. So we brought portions of steak home, where I'll slice it thin and prepare it with onions and peppers for a meal later this week.
Back home, after we'd watched the evening news and "Wheel of Fortune," which I'd recorded on DVR, and after Hubbie finished a 30-minute phone conversation with his sister, I started the movie we'd rented.
I read "Water for Elephants" on my e-reader, and was anxious to see how the movie squared with the book. The movie started where the book ended, and a lot that's in the book isn't in the movie. As usual, the book is better, but the movie is okay, and Hubbie enjoyed it a lot.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Monday, Jan. 23
Twisters cut a path of destruction through some parts of our state, mainly to the south, and thousands were without power, but we were lucky to receive nothing more than a lot of rain. Over two inches was in our rain gauge this morning.
We were up at 6:30 on this sunny, but crisp Monday morning, so I could get ready to go to water aerobics. The water was a bit on the cool side today, but tolerable, once I got used to it.
Story from the pool: a couple of months ago, I was told that the young woman who was a custodial at the college had reported that her husband, stationed in Iraq, had been involved in an accident, when the military truck he was riding in was hit by an IED (improvised explosive device). The truck rolled twelve times, she said, and her husband had suffered a broken back. He had been flown back to the States and was in an Atlanta hospital. The young woman, who said she had seven children, also said she could not afford to go to Atlanta to visit her husband.
Today, then, I was told that the woman had mentioned to some of the ladies that she wouldn't be able to afford Christmas gifts for her children this year. So at least three of the ladies gave her money...a total of $88. Turns out none of what the young woman said was true. She had successfully scammed the ladies. She has since been fired from her job, of course.
All this happened sometime during the weeks I was unable to attend aerobics for a variety of reasons. Good thing, I guess, because if I'd heard this young woman's sob story, I probably would have given her some money, too.
Twenty-one of us attended aerobics today, the most in a long time. I was very glad to get back to it, and hope nothing more crops up to keep me from going.
Back home, as soon as I was ready for the day, I went to Mother's house to help her take a shower. She was already in the bathroom getting dressed. I guess that since it was 11 a.m., she thought I'd changed my mind about helping her this morning. I explained to her again that on water aerobics days, I will be a little later getting to her house. But she'll probably forget this again by Wednesday.
After Mother was showered and dressed, I gathered her laundry and put it in the washer. Then I fixed a package of Ramen noodle soup for her lunch.
At home, after lunch, I reviewed the lessons for my Literacy Council student, who I was due to meet at 2:30 p.m.
While I was doing this, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, and then he took a load of area rugs to the laundromat to wash (at my request...I don't like washing area rugs in my home machine).
Since Hubbie and I would be away for a while this afternoon, I started the movie, "Mona Lisa Smile," playing. I'd saved the movie on DVR, because I thought Mother might enjoy seeing it.
It was good to see my student after so many weeks away from lessons. She was equally glad to see me.
Today, the lesson was about making lists and planning events, borrowing and giving back, ways of expressing time (half past ten/ten-thirty; a quarter to five/four forty-five).
The student also learned how to use "leave/left": "I leave my house at 8 o'clock every morning. Then I go to work." "I left my house at 8 o'clock yesterday. Then I went to work."
The lesson included time clauses with "when." "When it's cold, Ann wears a coat." "When Bob was sick, he went to the doctor."
The student learned to use "but" to combine parallel sentences: "She has a headache. I don't have a headache: "She has a headache, but I don't." "She isn't tired. Bob is tired: "She isn't tired, but Bob is."
We also used the question, "What happened?": "What happened?" " A truck hit Dan's car." "What happened?" "Dan went to the hospital."
We finished the lesson with reading a couple of simple stories, with the student answering questions about what she'd read.
We are nearly finished with this book of lessons, so I have requested the next level from the Literacy Council. The next session with the student will include a review evaluation.
Back home, per my request, Hubbie had put a dish of leftover lasagna in the oven to heat. I'd sliced, buttered, and wrapped French bread for the oven, as well. We had the lasagna and bread with bowls of pre-packaged salad topped with grape tomatoes, baby corn, and Chinese beets.
Hubbie accompanied Mother home afterward, and then after Hubbie and I had watched the evening news, I turned off the TV, and we spent an hour reading. We decided last week that we'd try this schedule for a while.
Later, back to TV, we watched another installment of "Downton Abbey," from the public channel. We followed that one with a movie from the Lifetime Channel, "Still, Small Voices." A woman with an brain aneurysm refuses surgery until she resolves visions she's having about a little girl who died in a fire years ago.
We were up at 6:30 on this sunny, but crisp Monday morning, so I could get ready to go to water aerobics. The water was a bit on the cool side today, but tolerable, once I got used to it.
Story from the pool: a couple of months ago, I was told that the young woman who was a custodial at the college had reported that her husband, stationed in Iraq, had been involved in an accident, when the military truck he was riding in was hit by an IED (improvised explosive device). The truck rolled twelve times, she said, and her husband had suffered a broken back. He had been flown back to the States and was in an Atlanta hospital. The young woman, who said she had seven children, also said she could not afford to go to Atlanta to visit her husband.
Today, then, I was told that the woman had mentioned to some of the ladies that she wouldn't be able to afford Christmas gifts for her children this year. So at least three of the ladies gave her money...a total of $88. Turns out none of what the young woman said was true. She had successfully scammed the ladies. She has since been fired from her job, of course.
All this happened sometime during the weeks I was unable to attend aerobics for a variety of reasons. Good thing, I guess, because if I'd heard this young woman's sob story, I probably would have given her some money, too.
Twenty-one of us attended aerobics today, the most in a long time. I was very glad to get back to it, and hope nothing more crops up to keep me from going.
Back home, as soon as I was ready for the day, I went to Mother's house to help her take a shower. She was already in the bathroom getting dressed. I guess that since it was 11 a.m., she thought I'd changed my mind about helping her this morning. I explained to her again that on water aerobics days, I will be a little later getting to her house. But she'll probably forget this again by Wednesday.
After Mother was showered and dressed, I gathered her laundry and put it in the washer. Then I fixed a package of Ramen noodle soup for her lunch.
At home, after lunch, I reviewed the lessons for my Literacy Council student, who I was due to meet at 2:30 p.m.
While I was doing this, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, and then he took a load of area rugs to the laundromat to wash (at my request...I don't like washing area rugs in my home machine).
Since Hubbie and I would be away for a while this afternoon, I started the movie, "Mona Lisa Smile," playing. I'd saved the movie on DVR, because I thought Mother might enjoy seeing it.
It was good to see my student after so many weeks away from lessons. She was equally glad to see me.
Today, the lesson was about making lists and planning events, borrowing and giving back, ways of expressing time (half past ten/ten-thirty; a quarter to five/four forty-five).
The student also learned how to use "leave/left": "I leave my house at 8 o'clock every morning. Then I go to work." "I left my house at 8 o'clock yesterday. Then I went to work."
The lesson included time clauses with "when." "When it's cold, Ann wears a coat." "When Bob was sick, he went to the doctor."
The student learned to use "but" to combine parallel sentences: "She has a headache. I don't have a headache: "She has a headache, but I don't." "She isn't tired. Bob is tired: "She isn't tired, but Bob is."
We also used the question, "What happened?": "What happened?" " A truck hit Dan's car." "What happened?" "Dan went to the hospital."
We finished the lesson with reading a couple of simple stories, with the student answering questions about what she'd read.
We are nearly finished with this book of lessons, so I have requested the next level from the Literacy Council. The next session with the student will include a review evaluation.
Back home, per my request, Hubbie had put a dish of leftover lasagna in the oven to heat. I'd sliced, buttered, and wrapped French bread for the oven, as well. We had the lasagna and bread with bowls of pre-packaged salad topped with grape tomatoes, baby corn, and Chinese beets.
Hubbie accompanied Mother home afterward, and then after Hubbie and I had watched the evening news, I turned off the TV, and we spent an hour reading. We decided last week that we'd try this schedule for a while.
Later, back to TV, we watched another installment of "Downton Abbey," from the public channel. We followed that one with a movie from the Lifetime Channel, "Still, Small Voices." A woman with an brain aneurysm refuses surgery until she resolves visions she's having about a little girl who died in a fire years ago.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Sunday, Jan. 22
Tossed and turned until nearly 2 a.m. this morning, then slept until 8:30. Hubbie helped Mother come over to our house after breakfast.
Skipped my exercises and got busy in the kitchen instead. Started two pots of 11-bean soup simmering, then made a batch of Chinese beets. While I was doing that, Hubbie scrubbed sweet potatoes for baking, and Mother put together a recipe of barbecue pork chops.
The pork chop recipe is easy and delicious: place four to six pork chops (we prefer butterfly) in a baking dish. Mix a couple of cups of barbecue sauce with diced carrots, onions, and celery. Pour over pork chops, cover, and bake at 350 degrees for an hour and a half.
Once the potatoes and pork chops were in the oven, Hubbie put color in my hair, in anticipation of a hair cut appointment Wednesday.
Twenty-five minutes later, I was finally ready to shower and dress. Back downstairs, I boiled corn-on-the-cob, and at 12:30, were ready to sit down to lunch. The pork chops were very tasty, served with the sweet potatoes, corn, and beets.
Once the kitchen was cleaned up, I decided it would be nice to make a short trip to see hundreds of snow geese feeding in a rice field about fourteen miles away. Mother rode along. I wasn't sure the geese would be there, but wanted to go see, anyway. Naturally, I chose the most dismal of days to do this...dense fog and a misting rain.
But the geese were there, and I got several snapshots of them lifting off, and in flight overhead. The photos are soft-focused, thanks to the fog, but they are still interesting.
Back in town, we stopped by a pharmacy store for an on-sale item, then went to a grocery store/pharmacy to pick up a prescription for Mother.
Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house when we got back. I went upstairs to post the a few of the snow geese snapshots to my social network page. I also scanned a couple of photos of my older son as a baby and as a child, and posted those to my page, as well.
Spent the evening watching TV, of course. The early evening hours were a bit dicey because of thunderstorm and tornado watches and warnings. Thankfully, the storms moved passed us quickly. We got a lot of rain, and the power went off a couple of times, but came back on right away.
Some counties received hail, and winds downed power poles and trees in the southern part of the state, but as far as I know nothing much happened in our county. Daylight will reveal any damage, if there was any.
Once we knew the storm was gone, we watched a movie from the Lifetime Channel that I'd recorded on DVR..."Drew Peterson: Untouchable." The 2012 movie stars Rob Lowe as the Chicago cop, who has been indicted and is being held in detention awaiting trial for killing his third wife, after his fourth wife disappeared.
Skipped my exercises and got busy in the kitchen instead. Started two pots of 11-bean soup simmering, then made a batch of Chinese beets. While I was doing that, Hubbie scrubbed sweet potatoes for baking, and Mother put together a recipe of barbecue pork chops.
The pork chop recipe is easy and delicious: place four to six pork chops (we prefer butterfly) in a baking dish. Mix a couple of cups of barbecue sauce with diced carrots, onions, and celery. Pour over pork chops, cover, and bake at 350 degrees for an hour and a half.
Once the potatoes and pork chops were in the oven, Hubbie put color in my hair, in anticipation of a hair cut appointment Wednesday.
Twenty-five minutes later, I was finally ready to shower and dress. Back downstairs, I boiled corn-on-the-cob, and at 12:30, were ready to sit down to lunch. The pork chops were very tasty, served with the sweet potatoes, corn, and beets.
Once the kitchen was cleaned up, I decided it would be nice to make a short trip to see hundreds of snow geese feeding in a rice field about fourteen miles away. Mother rode along. I wasn't sure the geese would be there, but wanted to go see, anyway. Naturally, I chose the most dismal of days to do this...dense fog and a misting rain.
But the geese were there, and I got several snapshots of them lifting off, and in flight overhead. The photos are soft-focused, thanks to the fog, but they are still interesting.
Back in town, we stopped by a pharmacy store for an on-sale item, then went to a grocery store/pharmacy to pick up a prescription for Mother.
Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house when we got back. I went upstairs to post the a few of the snow geese snapshots to my social network page. I also scanned a couple of photos of my older son as a baby and as a child, and posted those to my page, as well.
Spent the evening watching TV, of course. The early evening hours were a bit dicey because of thunderstorm and tornado watches and warnings. Thankfully, the storms moved passed us quickly. We got a lot of rain, and the power went off a couple of times, but came back on right away.
Some counties received hail, and winds downed power poles and trees in the southern part of the state, but as far as I know nothing much happened in our county. Daylight will reveal any damage, if there was any.
Once we knew the storm was gone, we watched a movie from the Lifetime Channel that I'd recorded on DVR..."Drew Peterson: Untouchable." The 2012 movie stars Rob Lowe as the Chicago cop, who has been indicted and is being held in detention awaiting trial for killing his third wife, after his fourth wife disappeared.
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