Today is Granddaughter's birthday. Happy Birthday, Granddaughter!
Wow! Three granddaughters have recently become engaged. Wonder if we're going to have a summer full of weddings this year?
Slept late this morning, until 8 a.m. After breakfast, I went to Mother's house to help her take a shower, and then throw a load of laundry in the washer. I also fixed a package of Ramen noodle soup for her lunch.
Back home, I changed clothes and did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises. Once I was ready for the day, I decided it was time to take down the snow village and get the spring/summer birdhouses, plants, etc., back up there.
To give Mother something to do, I took the evergreen trees and the folded boxes I use with the village over to her house, so she could get them ready for storage. The boxes, which are children's blocks fashioned like bricks, have to be unfolded so they will lay flat in a tote. The branches of the trees have to be squeezed together to make them small enough to fit in a medium-sized plastic tote.
Mother was excited to have this small job to do. I try to find "busy work" like this for her, so she can feel useful. We could have done these things much more quickly on our own, but it was worth the trouble of taking the stuff to her just to see the obvious pleasure it gave her.
At home, after I'd arranged things on the mantel, I started a pot of chicken cooking. The recipe I'm planning for Suncay lunch calls for cooked chicken. While the chicken cooked, we watched a disaster movie on the SyFy channel...the 2006 "Earthstorm," starring Stephen Baldwin. A massive astroid strikes the moon, causing a huge crack. The earth is in imminent danger of being destroyed by storms and ocean waves. Baldwin to the rescue.
Later, Hubbie decided we needed to go to the WDCS for a few things. Since that store was our only stop, it wasn't long before we were back home.
For supper, we had split pea soup, with sandwich choices. Hubbie chose ham and cheese, and I opted for peanut butter and orange marmalade jelly. More TV afterward, including watching our favorite college basketball team, as they played to a very disappointing wide-margin loss on their home court.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Friday, Feb. 17
Up at 6:30 to get ready to go to water aerobics. The pool was pleasant, but only about a dozen of us showed up. Fewer showed up Wednesday, though. Guess the rain kept them at home.
Back home, I downed a cup of hot coffee, and then hurried to get ready for the day, because yesterday we planned an outing to another town to see bald eagles that are residing at a pond.
There was a news story on TV about the eagles, but the reporter was purposely vague about the location of the pond. So I called the town's Chamber of Commerce and got directions.
We left home around 10:30 a.m., so we could arrive at the other town in time to visit our favorite restaurant for lunch. On the exit ramp, we were behind a van sporting large white letters on the back window that declared: "Mean People Suck." We agree with the sentiment, but we think it is also pretty sucky to block one's view through the rear window with large white letters.
We each chose something different for lunch...Mother had fish, macaroni and cheese, and veggies; Hubbie went for the Mexican food; and I stuck with baked chicken, baked potato, and steamed veggies.
From the restaurant, we went to a home improvement store, where Hubbie picked up stuff he needs for starting plants in the sunroom.
Then we went to the pond. Lots of folks were already there, parked along the shoulder. There is a ditch between the road and the pond, and the pond is surrounded by a fence. The eagles...there were four today...were perched on trees way out in the middle of the pond.
I took lots of snapshots, but my telephoto lens was not adequate to the task, really. By the time I cropped the photos on my computer to bring the birds closer, they were soft-focused. Hubbie brought a pair of binoculars, which helped us see the eagles close up. They are quite beautiful.
Today, we saw an eagle pair, and what we think was their offspring. The juvenile eagle does not yet have white feathers on its head. The eagle pair stayed close together on one of the trees. One tried to catch a fish, but missed.
We spent about thirty minutes at the pond, before returning home. At home, Mother was ready to go to her house. It doesn't take much to exhaust her. Even though she was in the van most of the time (she was even able to observe the eagles from her seat), and she only had to walk into the restaurant, she was tired when we got back home.
I spent the rest of the afternoon downloading the eagle photos and uploading a few of them to my social network page.
Later, I heated a bowl of split pea soup for Mother's supper, and Hubbie took it to her. After our big lunch, it was around 7 p.m. before we were ready to eat again.
Turned the TV off at 6 p.m., and Hubbie and I each pursued our own activities...he reading his John Grisham novel, and I playing on the computer, and then reading "Anna Karenina" on my e-reader.
Speaking of e-readers, I think when Mother was playing games on mine one day, she pushed a function that took her out of the game and onto the main window. In attempting to get back to her game, she accidentally pushed a function that charged $200 to my Amazon credit account. The charge was for a voucher to a resort in Montana.
Knowing, though, that customers might accidentally do this, there came a notice in my email giving me a telephone number to call to cancel the charge, if I wanted to, and I certainly wanted to! The customer rep knew I wasn't pleased about this, and was anxious to take care of the problem immediately.
Turned the TV back on at 7 p.m. Had bowls of split pea soup, with peanut butter and crackers, for supper. Spent the rest of the evening watching a couple of one-hour shows I'd recorded on DVR.
Back home, I downed a cup of hot coffee, and then hurried to get ready for the day, because yesterday we planned an outing to another town to see bald eagles that are residing at a pond.
There was a news story on TV about the eagles, but the reporter was purposely vague about the location of the pond. So I called the town's Chamber of Commerce and got directions.
We left home around 10:30 a.m., so we could arrive at the other town in time to visit our favorite restaurant for lunch. On the exit ramp, we were behind a van sporting large white letters on the back window that declared: "Mean People Suck." We agree with the sentiment, but we think it is also pretty sucky to block one's view through the rear window with large white letters.
We each chose something different for lunch...Mother had fish, macaroni and cheese, and veggies; Hubbie went for the Mexican food; and I stuck with baked chicken, baked potato, and steamed veggies.
From the restaurant, we went to a home improvement store, where Hubbie picked up stuff he needs for starting plants in the sunroom.
Then we went to the pond. Lots of folks were already there, parked along the shoulder. There is a ditch between the road and the pond, and the pond is surrounded by a fence. The eagles...there were four today...were perched on trees way out in the middle of the pond.
I took lots of snapshots, but my telephoto lens was not adequate to the task, really. By the time I cropped the photos on my computer to bring the birds closer, they were soft-focused. Hubbie brought a pair of binoculars, which helped us see the eagles close up. They are quite beautiful.
Today, we saw an eagle pair, and what we think was their offspring. The juvenile eagle does not yet have white feathers on its head. The eagle pair stayed close together on one of the trees. One tried to catch a fish, but missed.
We spent about thirty minutes at the pond, before returning home. At home, Mother was ready to go to her house. It doesn't take much to exhaust her. Even though she was in the van most of the time (she was even able to observe the eagles from her seat), and she only had to walk into the restaurant, she was tired when we got back home.
I spent the rest of the afternoon downloading the eagle photos and uploading a few of them to my social network page.
Later, I heated a bowl of split pea soup for Mother's supper, and Hubbie took it to her. After our big lunch, it was around 7 p.m. before we were ready to eat again.
Turned the TV off at 6 p.m., and Hubbie and I each pursued our own activities...he reading his John Grisham novel, and I playing on the computer, and then reading "Anna Karenina" on my e-reader.
Speaking of e-readers, I think when Mother was playing games on mine one day, she pushed a function that took her out of the game and onto the main window. In attempting to get back to her game, she accidentally pushed a function that charged $200 to my Amazon credit account. The charge was for a voucher to a resort in Montana.
Knowing, though, that customers might accidentally do this, there came a notice in my email giving me a telephone number to call to cancel the charge, if I wanted to, and I certainly wanted to! The customer rep knew I wasn't pleased about this, and was anxious to take care of the problem immediately.
Turned the TV back on at 7 p.m. Had bowls of split pea soup, with peanut butter and crackers, for supper. Spent the rest of the evening watching a couple of one-hour shows I'd recorded on DVR.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Thursday, Feb. 16
Up at 7:30, and after breakfast, I went to Mother's house to help her take a shower, and throw a load of laundry in the washer. Mother is able to put the laundry in the dryer, but she's unable to gather it and carry it to the washer.
Back home, I changed clothes and did a treadmill session and weights exercises. Once I was ready for the day, I spruced the house and got things together for refreshments this afternoon.
After a cold meatloaf sandwich lunch, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house. We worked on scrapbook pages until another member of the club arrived. Our other member didn't show up, so I guess she's still having problems from her hernia surgery.
The three of us worked on our scrapbooks until 2 p.m., when I served refreshments...coffee and dark chocolate wafer straws. Hubbie joined us for the treats.
We continued with our scrapbooks afterward until around 2:45, when the other member decided she should leave to get ahead of the school buses. She continued chatting, though, until 3 p.m., so I don't know if she had to stop every quarter of a mile behind a bus or not.
This member enjoys coming to our house for meetings, rather than to the Extension Services office, because it means she doesn't have to cross town. At 82 years old, she doesn't feel comfortable in traffic. Of course, she never has to drive to the office, since she's always welcome to ride with us.
But for the past few months, we have met at our house, because it's difficult for me to manage Mother getting in and out of the van and lugging scrapbook supplies into and out of the conference room. Also, the chairs in the conference room are extremely uncomfortable. Even sitting in the folding chairs today made her back hurt. I guess I need to devise some way for her to craft from the living room rocking chair...like finding a TV or bed tray sort of thing with a completely flat surface.
After our guest left, we started a pot of split pea soup...Mother diced onions and carrots, and cut up ham, and Hubbie diced celery. I washed the peas, added water, the veggies, and seasonings, and set it to simmering.
That's not what we had for supper, though. We had the-week-in-review...lasagna, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans. The soup is for the weekend.
After supper, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house. Then, during our hour without TV, we cleaned and organized the three kitchen drawers that house storage containers and lids, discarding containers with no lids and lids with no containers. Got a plastic grocery bag of discards. How do we manage to accumulate stuff like that?
Back to TV, we watched "The Odyssey," a 1997 two-part mini-series based on the classic Greek epic poem. Right after his son is born, Odysseus is called to serve in the Trojan War. He is gone for fifteen years, during which time, he meets with a cyclops, Cerce, a siren whose song turns men to animals, Hades of the underworld, and Scylla (she has six snake heads).
Back home, I changed clothes and did a treadmill session and weights exercises. Once I was ready for the day, I spruced the house and got things together for refreshments this afternoon.
After a cold meatloaf sandwich lunch, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house. We worked on scrapbook pages until another member of the club arrived. Our other member didn't show up, so I guess she's still having problems from her hernia surgery.
The three of us worked on our scrapbooks until 2 p.m., when I served refreshments...coffee and dark chocolate wafer straws. Hubbie joined us for the treats.
We continued with our scrapbooks afterward until around 2:45, when the other member decided she should leave to get ahead of the school buses. She continued chatting, though, until 3 p.m., so I don't know if she had to stop every quarter of a mile behind a bus or not.
This member enjoys coming to our house for meetings, rather than to the Extension Services office, because it means she doesn't have to cross town. At 82 years old, she doesn't feel comfortable in traffic. Of course, she never has to drive to the office, since she's always welcome to ride with us.
But for the past few months, we have met at our house, because it's difficult for me to manage Mother getting in and out of the van and lugging scrapbook supplies into and out of the conference room. Also, the chairs in the conference room are extremely uncomfortable. Even sitting in the folding chairs today made her back hurt. I guess I need to devise some way for her to craft from the living room rocking chair...like finding a TV or bed tray sort of thing with a completely flat surface.
After our guest left, we started a pot of split pea soup...Mother diced onions and carrots, and cut up ham, and Hubbie diced celery. I washed the peas, added water, the veggies, and seasonings, and set it to simmering.
That's not what we had for supper, though. We had the-week-in-review...lasagna, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans. The soup is for the weekend.
After supper, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house. Then, during our hour without TV, we cleaned and organized the three kitchen drawers that house storage containers and lids, discarding containers with no lids and lids with no containers. Got a plastic grocery bag of discards. How do we manage to accumulate stuff like that?
Back to TV, we watched "The Odyssey," a 1997 two-part mini-series based on the classic Greek epic poem. Right after his son is born, Odysseus is called to serve in the Trojan War. He is gone for fifteen years, during which time, he meets with a cyclops, Cerce, a siren whose song turns men to animals, Hades of the underworld, and Scylla (she has six snake heads).
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Wednesday, Feb. 15
Since I didn't check my calendar Monday (snow day, so I knew that any appointments recorded would be cancelled), I failed to notice Grandson's birthday. Therefore, I failed to wish him a Happy Birthday in my Monday blog. A belated Happy Birthday, Grandson! Hope you had a good one.
Up at 6:30 this morning to get ready to go to water aerobics. But the day was rainy and miserable, and I had a tummy ache (which continued on and off through the day), so I skipped aerobics. Lazed around quite a while, before I finally got into my exercise clothes and a did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights session.
Mother wisely opted to stay home today. After lunch, I watched the first night of the Westminster Dog Show, even though I found out on the morning news which dog won. One of the new entries this year is the Xoloitzcuintli (pronounced show.lo.itz.quint.lee, or show-low for short), in the non-sporting group. It's a large breed of Mexican hairless, dark gray in color. The name is what fascinated me.
Mid-afternoon, I mixed a meatloaf for the oven, and Hubbie peeled potatoes for mashed potatoes.
An arts council visual arts committee meeting was scheduled for 5 p.m., but I still wasn't up to leaving the house. Tried to call the director, but couldn't reach her.
Supper was ready at 5 p.m., and Hubbie took a helping of it to Mother. At 6 p.m., we turned the TV off, and I organized scrapbook materials for our meeting tomorrow afternoon, while Hubbie started his new John Grisham novel.
Back to TV, we watched the news, Wheel of Fortune, and a one-hour show from the DVR, while our favorite college basketball team's game recorded. Our team played to another disappointing loss in a road game. While they have won all of their home games, they have yet to win one on the road.
Up at 6:30 this morning to get ready to go to water aerobics. But the day was rainy and miserable, and I had a tummy ache (which continued on and off through the day), so I skipped aerobics. Lazed around quite a while, before I finally got into my exercise clothes and a did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights session.
Mother wisely opted to stay home today. After lunch, I watched the first night of the Westminster Dog Show, even though I found out on the morning news which dog won. One of the new entries this year is the Xoloitzcuintli (pronounced show.lo.itz.quint.lee, or show-low for short), in the non-sporting group. It's a large breed of Mexican hairless, dark gray in color. The name is what fascinated me.
Mid-afternoon, I mixed a meatloaf for the oven, and Hubbie peeled potatoes for mashed potatoes.
An arts council visual arts committee meeting was scheduled for 5 p.m., but I still wasn't up to leaving the house. Tried to call the director, but couldn't reach her.
Supper was ready at 5 p.m., and Hubbie took a helping of it to Mother. At 6 p.m., we turned the TV off, and I organized scrapbook materials for our meeting tomorrow afternoon, while Hubbie started his new John Grisham novel.
Back to TV, we watched the news, Wheel of Fortune, and a one-hour show from the DVR, while our favorite college basketball team's game recorded. Our team played to another disappointing loss in a road game. While they have won all of their home games, they have yet to win one on the road.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Tuesday, Feb. 14
Happy Valentine's Day!
Slept late this morning, until around 8 a.m. After breakfast, and an exchange of Valentine's cards, I went to Mother's house to help her take a shower, then throw a load of laundry in the washer.
Back home, I changed clothes and did a treadmill session and resistance exercises. By the time I was ready for the day, it was already near noon.
After lunch, I went through some of my audiobooks on cassette to find those that I rate as "PG," or "PG-13," to donate to the Literacy Council. The last Council newsletter included a request for the books, which help students learn English. I found thirty-one audiobooks suited to the cause. I'll probably find more later. I was glad to find this source to donate the books to, as I continue purging my house.
After that, I called the other two members of the scrapbook club to remind them of our meeting on Thursday, which will be at my house, so Mother won't have to struggle in and out of the van. One of the ladies, who had suffered from shingles, is now feeling much better, and was excited to hear we will meet at my house. The other member is still recuperating from hernia surgery. She won't know if she can come until after an appointment with her doctor tomorrow.
I visited with Mother for a few minutes this afternoon. She was pleased to have received a Valentine note from her young friend in another town.
Then Hubbie and I ran a few errands...to the Literacy Council office to drop off the audiobooks; and to the WDCS for a few items, including a movie from Red Box. But since they only had one of the selections I wanted, we went to the pharmacy store to get the other one. From there, we went to the newspaper office to leave the word search puzzle contest.
As I waited in the van, the son of the newspaper owners, and his wife, came out of the building. The husband started walking one way, and the wife went the other. I guess they had two vehicles there. The husband indicated that his wife should follow him. The wife pointed in the other direction. The husband waved his arm in insistence that she follow him. The wife sighed, dropped her shoulders, and capitulated. As she passed by the front of the van, she caught my eye. We both smiled in understanding that we'd each frequently experienced "Me Tarzan, You Jane" moments with our husbands.
Nice: the newspaper office is at the end of Main Street. On that street, too, is an antique shop with a window display of a full-sized Wizard of Oz Tin Man, complete with a big red heart on it's chest ("If I only had a heart")...very appropriate for Valentine's Day.
Funny: professionally done sign along the roadside: "Vote NO on March 13."
Back home, I went to Mother's house again to give her a small box of Valentine's candy, and ask if she wanted a baked potato for supper, since Hubbie was going to fix steaks and potatoes for our supper. She did.
At home, Hubbie washed the potatoes, and I put them in the oven at 4 p.m. Then, I made individual salads. When the potatoes were done, I took one to Mother, along with some sour cream. This is all she planned to have for supper.
Hubbie put the steaks on the grill (I'd marinated them overnight). The steaks and potatoes, along with salads, ready-to-eat shrimp with sauce, and glasses of red wine, were delicious for supper.
Movie time after that: "Anonymous," and "Breaking Dawn, Part 1." Oddly, Hubbie is a fan of the Twilight series. One of our cats, however, is not. During a werewolf-gathering scene, she arched her back as she stared at the snarling animals on the screen.
"Anonymous," puts forth the theory that Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford, wrote the Shakespean plays.
Slept late this morning, until around 8 a.m. After breakfast, and an exchange of Valentine's cards, I went to Mother's house to help her take a shower, then throw a load of laundry in the washer.
Back home, I changed clothes and did a treadmill session and resistance exercises. By the time I was ready for the day, it was already near noon.
After lunch, I went through some of my audiobooks on cassette to find those that I rate as "PG," or "PG-13," to donate to the Literacy Council. The last Council newsletter included a request for the books, which help students learn English. I found thirty-one audiobooks suited to the cause. I'll probably find more later. I was glad to find this source to donate the books to, as I continue purging my house.
After that, I called the other two members of the scrapbook club to remind them of our meeting on Thursday, which will be at my house, so Mother won't have to struggle in and out of the van. One of the ladies, who had suffered from shingles, is now feeling much better, and was excited to hear we will meet at my house. The other member is still recuperating from hernia surgery. She won't know if she can come until after an appointment with her doctor tomorrow.
I visited with Mother for a few minutes this afternoon. She was pleased to have received a Valentine note from her young friend in another town.
Then Hubbie and I ran a few errands...to the Literacy Council office to drop off the audiobooks; and to the WDCS for a few items, including a movie from Red Box. But since they only had one of the selections I wanted, we went to the pharmacy store to get the other one. From there, we went to the newspaper office to leave the word search puzzle contest.
As I waited in the van, the son of the newspaper owners, and his wife, came out of the building. The husband started walking one way, and the wife went the other. I guess they had two vehicles there. The husband indicated that his wife should follow him. The wife pointed in the other direction. The husband waved his arm in insistence that she follow him. The wife sighed, dropped her shoulders, and capitulated. As she passed by the front of the van, she caught my eye. We both smiled in understanding that we'd each frequently experienced "Me Tarzan, You Jane" moments with our husbands.
Nice: the newspaper office is at the end of Main Street. On that street, too, is an antique shop with a window display of a full-sized Wizard of Oz Tin Man, complete with a big red heart on it's chest ("If I only had a heart")...very appropriate for Valentine's Day.
Funny: professionally done sign along the roadside: "Vote NO on March 13."
Back home, I went to Mother's house again to give her a small box of Valentine's candy, and ask if she wanted a baked potato for supper, since Hubbie was going to fix steaks and potatoes for our supper. She did.
At home, Hubbie washed the potatoes, and I put them in the oven at 4 p.m. Then, I made individual salads. When the potatoes were done, I took one to Mother, along with some sour cream. This is all she planned to have for supper.
Hubbie put the steaks on the grill (I'd marinated them overnight). The steaks and potatoes, along with salads, ready-to-eat shrimp with sauce, and glasses of red wine, were delicious for supper.
Movie time after that: "Anonymous," and "Breaking Dawn, Part 1." Oddly, Hubbie is a fan of the Twilight series. One of our cats, however, is not. During a werewolf-gathering scene, she arched her back as she stared at the snarling animals on the screen.
"Anonymous," puts forth the theory that Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford, wrote the Shakespean plays.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Monday, Feb. 13
Woke up to the 6:30 alarm this morning, and turned on the TV to check weather predictions, and reports of school closings. Absolutely nothing was happening outside, but the local school district and the community college both posted closings. So I turned the TV off, and we snoozed until around 8 a.m.
It was nearly noon before it started spitting snow, which increased as the day went along. I meant to do a treadmill session, but Hubbie said Mother asked me to go to her house. I figured she wanted to take a shower, but she actually wanted to give me a Valentine and a bowl of strawberries for Hubbie's and my Valentine dinner tomorrow night.
By now, it was snowing big fat flakes that were accumulating on the trees and ground. I grabbed my camera and took pictures through the windows...wasn't in the mood to go tramping around outside today.
Other than uploading a few of the pics to my social network page, I didn't accomplish much the rest of the day. There's something about a day like this that seems to just bring me to a complete halt. If I can't keep to my regular schedule, then I don't seem able to devise an alternate plan.
At one point this afternoon, though, I did decide to make a batch of decaf chai tea. So Hubbie and I dragged out the blender, bowls, measuring equipment, and ingredients, but then discovered we didn't have enough instant tea to do it. Thoroughly thwarted, we put everything away and went back to doing nothing but watching TV.
Later, for supper, we had leftover lasagna, with salad, cottage cheese, and green beans. Afterward, I turned the TV off for an hour, and we took everything out of the freezer side of the refrigerator/freezer, discarded outdated or freezer burned food, and inventoried the rest, making special note of items that need to be used soon. I see a veggie supper in our future, and maybe a fajita dinner.
Then, we read our novels for a half an hour, before returning to TV, including a 2010 movie called, "Small Town Murder Songs." An aging police officer in Toronto finds religion, but has trouble leaving his past behind. A young woman is murdered in his small town, and his past is called into question. This was originally a film festival movie that questions whether we can truly change and hold our demons in check.
We followed that with an episode of "Downton Abbey." The mansion no longer houses recovering WWI military. Now, it's back to the lives of the family and staff, who are having problems adjusting after the war. As one character said, "Everyone is relieved that the war is over...and disappointed."
The master of the house, for reasons unknown to him or the kitchen maid, suddenly locks lips with her. The young man of the house, whose war injuries supposedly paralyzed him, suddenly gets up and walks. He had given up hope of marrying, but now he has proposed to his love.
The maid who got pregnant by the son of a wealthy family, who subsequently died in the war, has the baby and pleads with the family to recognize it as his. They don't, since there is no proof.
The elderly matron of the household resists the coming changes in clothing and hairstyles...short dresses and bobbed hair. This manipulative woman seeks to interfere with the marriage plans of the young man and his intended, since she thinks there is someone else of a higher social status who is more suited to him.
The daughter of the family elopes with the chauffeur, but a couple of the women of the family find her and convince her to return home.
A man, with the encouragement of a woman who manages the kitchen staff and maids, loses all his money when he buys kitchen staples on the black market, hoping to make a fortune selling it to kitchens that have been long without them due to the war. But it is discovered that the flour, meal, sugar, etc. has been laced with sawdust.
It was nearly noon before it started spitting snow, which increased as the day went along. I meant to do a treadmill session, but Hubbie said Mother asked me to go to her house. I figured she wanted to take a shower, but she actually wanted to give me a Valentine and a bowl of strawberries for Hubbie's and my Valentine dinner tomorrow night.
By now, it was snowing big fat flakes that were accumulating on the trees and ground. I grabbed my camera and took pictures through the windows...wasn't in the mood to go tramping around outside today.
Other than uploading a few of the pics to my social network page, I didn't accomplish much the rest of the day. There's something about a day like this that seems to just bring me to a complete halt. If I can't keep to my regular schedule, then I don't seem able to devise an alternate plan.
At one point this afternoon, though, I did decide to make a batch of decaf chai tea. So Hubbie and I dragged out the blender, bowls, measuring equipment, and ingredients, but then discovered we didn't have enough instant tea to do it. Thoroughly thwarted, we put everything away and went back to doing nothing but watching TV.
Later, for supper, we had leftover lasagna, with salad, cottage cheese, and green beans. Afterward, I turned the TV off for an hour, and we took everything out of the freezer side of the refrigerator/freezer, discarded outdated or freezer burned food, and inventoried the rest, making special note of items that need to be used soon. I see a veggie supper in our future, and maybe a fajita dinner.
Then, we read our novels for a half an hour, before returning to TV, including a 2010 movie called, "Small Town Murder Songs." An aging police officer in Toronto finds religion, but has trouble leaving his past behind. A young woman is murdered in his small town, and his past is called into question. This was originally a film festival movie that questions whether we can truly change and hold our demons in check.
We followed that with an episode of "Downton Abbey." The mansion no longer houses recovering WWI military. Now, it's back to the lives of the family and staff, who are having problems adjusting after the war. As one character said, "Everyone is relieved that the war is over...and disappointed."
The master of the house, for reasons unknown to him or the kitchen maid, suddenly locks lips with her. The young man of the house, whose war injuries supposedly paralyzed him, suddenly gets up and walks. He had given up hope of marrying, but now he has proposed to his love.
The maid who got pregnant by the son of a wealthy family, who subsequently died in the war, has the baby and pleads with the family to recognize it as his. They don't, since there is no proof.
The elderly matron of the household resists the coming changes in clothing and hairstyles...short dresses and bobbed hair. This manipulative woman seeks to interfere with the marriage plans of the young man and his intended, since she thinks there is someone else of a higher social status who is more suited to him.
The daughter of the family elopes with the chauffeur, but a couple of the women of the family find her and convince her to return home.
A man, with the encouragement of a woman who manages the kitchen staff and maids, loses all his money when he buys kitchen staples on the black market, hoping to make a fortune selling it to kitchens that have been long without them due to the war. But it is discovered that the flour, meal, sugar, etc. has been laced with sawdust.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Sunday, Feb. 12
Up around 8 a.m. on this sunshiny, but sharply cold, morning. To look at the bright day, it's hard to believe predictions for wintry weather tomorrow. Not knowing just when frozen precipitation will arrive makes it difficult to know how to plan for Monday. Right now, I'm thinking I won't go to water aerobics (if indeed there is a session...sessions are cancelled if the school district declares a snow day).
But if the temperature rises enough to melt the snow or ice by mid-afternoon, I might still be able to meet my student...unless the college closes for the day, too. Because this college serves non-traditional students, who live in rural areas, and even in other counties, it closes for wintry weather.
The college where I swim does not close, since most students live on campus, but the pool does close.
Skipped my exercises today, as I usually do on Sundays. Mother came over at 10 a.m. and put together a lasagna for the oven, after Hubbie and I had gathered all the ingredients, dishes, etc., for her. Afterward, she clipped coupons for Granddaughter.
The lasagna, served with a salad, was very good. Hubbie accompanied Mother back to her house afterward, and I got ready to go to a program at the museum...changing hairstyles over the years.
A couple of retired hairdressers, and a current hairdresser (all of whom I know) presented the program. The hairdressers talked about the different tools they used, or use, to achieve the various "dos," like spit curls, finger waves, flips, beehives, pageboys, pixies, etc.
At one point, audience participants were asked to show photos they'd brought and explain the hairstyles shown. I took along a snapshot of the Afro I wore in the 1970s. As with other styles over the years, this was a bad choice for me...completely unsuited to my face.
It was one of the few times in my life that I got a permanent. The other times were just as disastrous. When I was about ten years old, Mother gave me my first "perm." It was a Toni brand home permanent that turned into a giant frizz.
In high school, I got a beauty shop permanent. What I was aiming for was a hairdo called a "duck tail," which was sort of pixie cut all over, but then swept up in the very back into what looked like the upturn of a duck tail. One of the girls in my class, a red head, had that hairstyle, and I loved it. But she had a bit of natural curl in her hair, and I did not. Mine was board straight. So I ended up with what one of the boys in my class said looked like a football helmet.
Later, after I'd married for the first time, I decided "blonds have more fun," and got my hair bleached. I wore it long, with the top pulled back into a teased bouffant. Teasing hair was really bad, especially if it was bleached, because it stretched and broke it.
So what I did next was a real disaster...I got a home permanent. My hair melted, and I had to go to a beauty shop to get it cropped.
After that, I let my natural color grow back in, but, not having learned my lesson, I got the "'fro." One of the guys at work said it looked like I'd stuck my finger in a light socket. Afros grew out awkwardly. It seemed like forever before my hair was back to normal.
I've tried all sorts of ways to get my hair to curl, but none worked. Hot rollers got stuck in my hair, and because my hair is so straight, it simply would not stay wound around a curling iron...it just popped out like the quills on a porcupine.
When I was very young, Mother used a curling iron to create long curls in my hair. In those days, there was no such thing as an electric curing iron. She used one that had to be heated on the stove. It's a wonder she didn't burn my hair completely off.
One of the easiest hairstyles I wore was a pony tail in high school. When I got it cut and permed, it was never that easy to care for again.
I've finally learned my lesson...just wear it short and straight. It's the only thing it wants to do, anyway.
One of the older hairdressers (a lady who attends water aerobics) told of an incident at her shop many years ago. At that time, women who were having permanents or getting their hair colored, had these things done in private rooms in the shop. It seems that ladies of that day wanted people to believe that their curls and color were completely natural.
While one woman was under the hair dryer after getting a permanent, her husband came into the shop wanting to see her about something. The hairdresser sent her to the private room. He came back saying he didn't find her. Seems the husband had never seen her any other way than perfectly coiffed and with her makeup on. The woman was very upset that the hairdresser had let her husband see her that way.
I have to wonder what sort of marriage doesn't allow for the partners to see each other at their worst, as well as at their best.
Back home, Hubbie napped, while I played on my laptop. The sun still shone. It simply didn't look like there could be any threat of snow or ice. But predictions persist, though now it's possible the nasty stuff won't arrive in our part of the state until late tomorrow morning, or even in the afternoon. So I might still be able to go to water aerobics. Meeting my student tomorrow afternoon is still in question, though.
But if the temperature rises enough to melt the snow or ice by mid-afternoon, I might still be able to meet my student...unless the college closes for the day, too. Because this college serves non-traditional students, who live in rural areas, and even in other counties, it closes for wintry weather.
The college where I swim does not close, since most students live on campus, but the pool does close.
Skipped my exercises today, as I usually do on Sundays. Mother came over at 10 a.m. and put together a lasagna for the oven, after Hubbie and I had gathered all the ingredients, dishes, etc., for her. Afterward, she clipped coupons for Granddaughter.
The lasagna, served with a salad, was very good. Hubbie accompanied Mother back to her house afterward, and I got ready to go to a program at the museum...changing hairstyles over the years.
A couple of retired hairdressers, and a current hairdresser (all of whom I know) presented the program. The hairdressers talked about the different tools they used, or use, to achieve the various "dos," like spit curls, finger waves, flips, beehives, pageboys, pixies, etc.
At one point, audience participants were asked to show photos they'd brought and explain the hairstyles shown. I took along a snapshot of the Afro I wore in the 1970s. As with other styles over the years, this was a bad choice for me...completely unsuited to my face.
It was one of the few times in my life that I got a permanent. The other times were just as disastrous. When I was about ten years old, Mother gave me my first "perm." It was a Toni brand home permanent that turned into a giant frizz.
In high school, I got a beauty shop permanent. What I was aiming for was a hairdo called a "duck tail," which was sort of pixie cut all over, but then swept up in the very back into what looked like the upturn of a duck tail. One of the girls in my class, a red head, had that hairstyle, and I loved it. But she had a bit of natural curl in her hair, and I did not. Mine was board straight. So I ended up with what one of the boys in my class said looked like a football helmet.
Later, after I'd married for the first time, I decided "blonds have more fun," and got my hair bleached. I wore it long, with the top pulled back into a teased bouffant. Teasing hair was really bad, especially if it was bleached, because it stretched and broke it.
So what I did next was a real disaster...I got a home permanent. My hair melted, and I had to go to a beauty shop to get it cropped.
After that, I let my natural color grow back in, but, not having learned my lesson, I got the "'fro." One of the guys at work said it looked like I'd stuck my finger in a light socket. Afros grew out awkwardly. It seemed like forever before my hair was back to normal.
I've tried all sorts of ways to get my hair to curl, but none worked. Hot rollers got stuck in my hair, and because my hair is so straight, it simply would not stay wound around a curling iron...it just popped out like the quills on a porcupine.
When I was very young, Mother used a curling iron to create long curls in my hair. In those days, there was no such thing as an electric curing iron. She used one that had to be heated on the stove. It's a wonder she didn't burn my hair completely off.
One of the easiest hairstyles I wore was a pony tail in high school. When I got it cut and permed, it was never that easy to care for again.
I've finally learned my lesson...just wear it short and straight. It's the only thing it wants to do, anyway.
One of the older hairdressers (a lady who attends water aerobics) told of an incident at her shop many years ago. At that time, women who were having permanents or getting their hair colored, had these things done in private rooms in the shop. It seems that ladies of that day wanted people to believe that their curls and color were completely natural.
While one woman was under the hair dryer after getting a permanent, her husband came into the shop wanting to see her about something. The hairdresser sent her to the private room. He came back saying he didn't find her. Seems the husband had never seen her any other way than perfectly coiffed and with her makeup on. The woman was very upset that the hairdresser had let her husband see her that way.
I have to wonder what sort of marriage doesn't allow for the partners to see each other at their worst, as well as at their best.
Back home, Hubbie napped, while I played on my laptop. The sun still shone. It simply didn't look like there could be any threat of snow or ice. But predictions persist, though now it's possible the nasty stuff won't arrive in our part of the state until late tomorrow morning, or even in the afternoon. So I might still be able to go to water aerobics. Meeting my student tomorrow afternoon is still in question, though.
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