Saturday, July 7

Up around 7:30, and did a treadmill and resistance exercises after breakfast. Once I was ready for the day, I did this and that around the house, like a couple of loads of laundry, and planning the menu for next week.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 10 a.m., where she and Hubbie prepared tomatoes for the freezer.

Later, I fixed lunch, and afterward, while Mother napped, I went shopping. I was looking for a pair of khaki crop pants to replace a pair that somehow managed to get stained in the laundry room. Something wet had been thrown on top of them, causing a blue stain, and rust circles. Nothing I tried removed the stains, so I went in search of a new pair. Found a pair that will do, although this late in the season, there wasn't much to choose from.

Back home, we wasted the rest of the afternoon dozing in front of TV, and hoping for rain, which never materialized, even though it was cloudy for a while.

For supper, we had bagel pizzas, served with salad and cottage cheese. Afterward, I accompanied Mother to her house, helped her take a shower, and threw a load of laundry in the washer.

Later, we went to the WDCS to pick up a few things, including a movie..."J. Edgar," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, a biopic about J. Edgar Hoover, controversial director of the FBI until his death in 1972.

Friday, July 6

Up at 6:30 to get ready to go to water aerobics. The pool felt great. Three new women joined the group, so there were seventeen of us for the session. There are now four of us with same name.

Disturbing: three of the regular members commented that the maintenance guy has opened the door to the women's dressing room while they were in there. He was warned against it three times. I've never been in the room when this happened, since I leave the pool early. But these three women are the last to leave.

Each time he has opened the door, he has declared that it was an accident. One time might be an accident (and even then, I have to wonder why he didn't call out "Is anybody in there?" before opening the door), but three times is no accident.

One of the women is personally acquainted with the guy, since he had at one time been employed by her husband. She said the man has a wife and three children, and can ill afford to lose his job. My feeling is that if he valued his job, he wouldn't risk it this way. We're not responsible for him. If he "accidentally" opens that door again, he should be reported!

Back home, after I was ready for the day, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, and then he ran errands. I did this and that around the house, and then fixed lunch.

After lunch, Mother retired to the couch for an afternoon nap, while Hubbie and I went to another town about twenty miles away to pick up the new electronic key for the van. While we waited for the key to be programmed to the van, a woman in the lounge babbled on and on, telling us more than we wanted to know about herself and her family.

We didn't respond to her, but she was not discouraged by our silence. She hadn't been discouraged earlier, either, when another couple waiting for their vehicle ignored her, and the wife even buried her nose in a book as a signal she didn't want to participate in a conversation.

It's not that any of us are insensitive, it's just that we were all strangers who were not interested in the intimate details of each others lives. Some folks just seem to have no sense of what's appropriate.

After we left the auto shop, we stopped at a discount warehouse to browse for a few minutes. I found a card of sticker borders that Mother can use in card making. I also picked up a couple of cute birthday cards for kids...they are Animal Planet creations that feature a panda bear, and a black bear cub, as well as nature word games inside.

Later, we had breakfast for supper...French toast (Hubbie prepared this), with turkey bacon, and scrambled egg substitute. I mixed the remainder of a pint of raspberry syrup with some regular sugar free syrup to top the French toast. This is the kind of meal that Mother really enjoys.

Afterward, I accompanied Mother back to her house, and then Hubbie and I watched TV, as usual.

Thursday, July 5

Up around 7:30, and after breakfast, did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises. Hubbie ran errands while I got ready for the day. Around 10 a.m., I accompanied Mother to our house.

We watched both the Boston Pops and Macy's fireworks shows, which I'd recorded on DVR. It was noon by the time they were over.

We each had a different lunch...Mother had Ramen Noodle soup, with pimento cheese on crackers; Hubbie had a pimento cheese sandwich; and I had a cold roast pork sandwich. Afterward, I urged Mother to take a nap, while I went to the art gallery to introduce my ESL student to the arts council director.

The art gallery has a Friday Painters gathering each week, and I thought my student would like to join the group. The sessions are free, and they give artists an opportunity to get away from home and other obligations for a few hours to indulge their creativity.

I think it will be good for my student to take advantage of it, because it will give her another opportunity to interact with English-speaking people, as well as giving her time away from home, and a place to paint.

After our meeting with the director, the student asked if I had time to follow her to a yogurt shop, where she was to meet her husband, and her mother and father-in-law. I agreed.

Hubbie and I have often passed by this shop, and commented that we needed to try the yogurt there, but just never got around to it. Today, I opted for chocolate yogurt, but vowed to try others later.

I was saddened to see how much her mother-in-law (whom Hubbie and I have known for many years) has declined since I saw her last. I knew she had been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, but it was so much more evident today. Her son had to feed her and wipe her face. If he did not wipe her face fast enough, she lifted the hem of her dress to do it.

As soon as the mother-in-law had finished her treat, her husband and son escorted her to their car, so they could take her home. My student and I stayed behind. The student had brought along a shoe box of photos. Many were of herself and her family, when she was a young woman, and some were of homes her construction company had built, and that she'd lived in, before she sold them.

One home was in the beautiful mountains of Venezuela, where she had a cattle farm. She'd constructed (or had someone to construct) concrete furniture in this house...even the sofa and chairs were concrete, with plush cushions on top. For me, concrete cannot be cushioned enough. I teased her, asking if her bed was also concrete. She laughed and said no. She added that this house was very easy to take care of, since all she had to do to clean it was remove the cushions and hose the area down. Not my idea of a comfortable living space, though.

I asked her if Venezuela was as hot as it is here. She said that on her recent visit, the temperature in town was 120 degrees. Needless to say, everyone stayed indoors under air conditioning.

Around 4 p.m., I returned home, and prepared a supper of leftovers from last night...burgers and hot dogs. Afterward, I accompanied Mother to her house and helped her take a shower, then threw a load of laundry in the washer.

Back home, Hubbie and I watched the 2011 movie, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." A super intelligent chimpanzee is raised for eight years in a man's home, and then, after it attacks a neighbor, is taken to an abusive santuary. The angry chimp leads an ape revolution against their captors in order to gain freedom. Pretty good movie.

Wednesday, July 4

What a firecracker of a hot day...102 degrees in our neck of the woods! Happy Independence Day, just the same.

Up around 7:30 this morning, but skipped my exercises. Decided to relax and goof off on this holiday.

Hubbie hung the flag on the well house, and then we had breakfast. Afterward, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, where she joined us in idleness.

This morning, we watched the musical comedy movie, "1776," which is about three hours long. So it was lunch time before it ended. This 1972 film is just as delightful today as it was in the 70s. It's a very palatable way to review this most important period of American history, in which the Continental Congress grapples with the issue of whether or not to declare Independence from England.

After lunch, we watched the 1949 musical comedy, "On The Town," starring Frank Sinatra, and Gene Kelley. Three sailors on twenty-four hour leave, tour New York and meet three girls. Cute movie, with lots of music and dancing. The most familiar tune in the show was "New York, New York (What a Wonderful Town)."

Later, for supper: a choice of cheese burgers, turkey burgers with cheese, or hot dogs, along with my version of baked beans, corn-on-the-cob, and sliced tomatoes from the garden.

Following supper, I encouraged Mother to head to the couch for a nap, so she'd feel refreshed for an outing later. She woke up around 6 p.m., and at 7 p.m., we watched "A Capital Fourth," on the PBS channel. Good show for getting us in the mood for our local fireworks display. Coincidentally, the show featured a tribute to Gene Kelley that included a clip from "On The Town."

Around 8:30 p.m., we went to the river. Drought conditions exist in all counties of the state, causing a ban on private fireworks, but the city had permission to conduct its annual display over the river, where there was little danger of setting off a wildfire.

Even though the risk was low from the fireworks display, emergency vehicles were on hand...fire trucks, a rescue unit, a tow truck, police presence (who continually patrolled the area, and then controlled traffic at the end of the event).

The fireworks were great, but had to compete a little with a spectacular orange moon that rose as the display was going on.

Since I didn't make a dessert for the holiday, we stopped by a fast food restaurant on the way to the river for their soft serve frosty treats, which we enjoyed while we waited for the fireworks to begin.

Note: according to a website, the first July 4th celebration happened in Philadelphia in 1777, with the firing of guns, cannons, bonfires, and fireworks, exactly a year after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Tuesday, July 3

Up around 7:30 this morning, but skipped my exercises, so I could get ready to meet an appointment with my cardiologist at 11 a.m. I probably would have had time to exercise, but I was waiting for the nurse at the clinic to return my call to let me know if I needed to skip breakfast and liquids this morning. When I hadn't gotten a call by 9:30, Hubbie and I went ahead with our usual breakfast.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 10 a.m., and she prepared tomatoes for the freezer. The tomatoes are stressed by the heat, and a bunch of them were blistering, splitting, and softening on the vine, so they needed to be preserved before we lost them.

I left for my appointment just after 10:30, and didn't have to wait long before I was taken back. The nurse decided it was time to hook me up to a machine that indicates if a patient is dehydrated or has too much fluid, and takes a blood pressure reading, as it does an electrocardiogram.

This required the nurse to apply connector pads everywhere on my upper body, and hook leads to them. Unfortunately, the machine didn't work, so the nurse called in another nurse, and they used their hands to press against the pads, hoping to get a reading. No dice. So they unhooked everything, and ripped off the sticky pads. I'm allegic to the adhesive on these pads, so I now have red marks on my neck and torso.

The nurse took my BP the old way, and said it couldn't be better. That was happy news. After the nurse was done with me, she called in the cardiologist, who said my electrocardiogram was good. So I won't need a stress test until January.

I was back home by noon, breathing a sigh of relief that the worst part of my day was over. I'm not fond of doctor appointments.

I fixed a lunch for us, and afterward encouraged Mother to take a nap, while Hubbie and I ran errands...to the post office, to the newspaper office to drop off this week's word search puzzle contest, to the farmer's market (no one there), and to a town about fifteen miles away to pick up cantaloupes, a watermelon, and peaches.

Mother was awake, but remained on the couch to rest a while longer.

Later, I sauteed mushrooms, bell pepper, and onion for a supper of scrambled eggs, with biscuits and gravy. I chose this meal, one, so we could finish the biscuits we made late last week and, two, because my mind's a blank about what meals to fix this week. I'm playing it by ear day-by-day.

After supper, I accompanied Mother to her house, helped her take a shower, and then threw a load of laundry in the washer.

At home, Hubbie and I wasted time in front of TV.

Monday, July 2

Today is Great-Grandson's birthday. Happy Birthday, Great-Grandson!

Up at 6:30 this morning, to get ready to go to water aerobics. While I was walking to the gym, a lady caught up to me to introduce herself and tell me this was her first day to attend aerobics.

She was very chatty, telling me she had been one in a group of people downsized from their jobs at the end of May. She had worked there for 33 years, just two years short of retirement, which means she is now not eligible for retirement pay. There ought to be a law against companies shafting folks out of their retirement.

The lady is only 58 years old, but there are limited employment opportunities for folks her age. So, in looking for other things to do, she decided getting healthier is a good place to start.

There was a fair-sized group at the pool today. Our leader wore a royal blue swimsuit, with a visor hat covered in American flags and red and blue feathers, in honor of the upcoming July 4 holiday.

Back home later, once I was ready for the day, I talked with Daughter for quite a while on the phone. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house while Daughter and I chatted.

I didn't accomplish much after that except fix lunch for us. Shortly after lunch, I persuaded Mother to go to the couch for a nap.

At 2:30, I went to the college library to meet my ESL student. I was surprised when she was fifteen minutes late, but then was amused when she said she had been talking with her daughter on the phone and lost track of time.

While I waited for her, I browsed a rack of discarded library books that included one titled, "A Long Fatal Love Chase," by Louisa May Alcott. The novel was written around the same time as "Little Women," in 1868, but because, in those Victorian times, it was considered too sensational for publication, it lay untouched for more than a century before being published in 1995. It's only 171 pages long, so it'll be a quick read.

The student's and my conversation, of course, centered around how hot and dry it has been. She commented about the number of homes that have burned, including one next door to her brother and sister-in-law's home.

She said home fires are very rare in Venezuela, and we deduced that it's because homes in that country are constructed mainly of bricks and adobe, whereas here, many homes are built of wood.

The ESL lesson today included short answer sentences: "Is Ann in class?" "No, she isn't." "Will you help me?" "Yes, I will."

The lesson also included vocabulary about church services: "Mike and Fran go to church on Sundays." "They pray together." "They listen to the minister in the church."

And a vocabulary lesson on expressions of sympathy: "I lost all my money." "That's a shame." "She broke her leg." "What a pity." Shame and pity were both new words for her.

We practiced conversation skills with an exchange about going fixing, and I asked her if she likes to fish. She said yes, and wondered if I do. I told her I like to trout fish. She looked that word up and found that it's close to the Spanish word "la trucha." She likes to fish for both trout and bass, though she has only been fishing here one time.

The lesson ended with listening comprehension: I read a paragraph and she paraphrased it back to me. Then she read a story from her reader and answered the questions related to it. The questions included a section that instructed her to drop the -d and add -ing, in words such as "like" and "bike." She looked very puzzled, so I demonstrated what "drop the -d" meant by slashing through that letter, and then adding -ing to the word. She immediately understood.

Back home, Mother awakened when I came in the door. Hubbie had put leftover veggies in the oven for supper, which we had with slices of cold pork roast, cornbread, and biscuits, left from a meal earlier this week.

Afterward, I accompanied Mother to her house, and then played on my laptop, caught up on reading newspapers, and watched TV. Hubbie worked in the yard for a while, before joining me for TV.

Sunday, July 1

Another month gone, this one a scorcher. I don't think anyone regrets seeing June end. But I fear July will be worse.

We were up around 7:30 this morning, had a breakfast of breads and fruits again, and then packed up to come home.

Son and family came to our campsite to visit for a while. I took several snapshots of the kids, and Hubbie took one of us as a group.

Funny: I squatted down beside Mother for the group shot, but in a minute, Daughter-in-Law declared, "Mom! There's a daddy-long-legs crawling on you!"

"Well, get it off!" I exclaimed, standing up.

She hesitated, because the critter was on my backside, and she didn't want to swat me there, but I insisted. She swatted and missed. "It's still there," she said.

"Well, get it off!" I exclaimed again.

"It's somewhere I don't want to swat!" she said, meaning it had crawled to my crotch.

"Get it off!" I demanded. Finally, Son picked it off me.

We were all tired and ready to head home. The heat was positively sapping this weekend, and I imagine the three little ones strained their mother and grandparents to the limit. I'm glad to be past that stage of life. I just don't think I'd have the energy for it anymore.

We were soon on the road, and back home before lunch. We had time to get the camper unloaded before the heat of the day set in. I accompanied Mother to her house as soon as we arrived, and took a plate of lunch to her later. She then spent the afternoon napping.

I spent my time catching up on chores, while Hubbie watered the gardens and did other yard things.

For supper, I heated leftover potatoes, carrots and onions, and green beans, as well as gravy, and served cold pork roast and tomatoes on the side. I fixed a plate of the food for Mother and took it to her.

After Hubbie and I finished supper, I returned to Mother's house and helped her take a shower, then threw a load of laundry in the washer.

Hubbie and I spent the rest of the evening watching TV.

Saturday, June 30

Up around 7:30, and had a breakfast of banana/pineapple, and peach breads, and blueberry muffins, along with fresh fruits...cantaloupe, oranges, and peaches...and coffee.

Soon afterward, Hubbie took a bunch of tomatoes from the garden to his daughter and son-in-law, who are staying at their lake house over the July fourth holiday. Unfortunately, he didn't get to see his daughter, because she was already out on the lake with her husband. He did see his granddaughter and her boyfriend, however.

While Mother got ready for the day, I heard singing going on at another campsite. I stepped outside and heard (but could not see) a group of Hispanics clapping and singing rousing camp songs (at least, I think they were camp songs..they were singing in Spanish).

Hubbie returned around 10 a.m., and once Son and family were ready, we went on a tour of the area. We started at the visitor's center, which has several displays interesting not only to adults, but also to children. At the end of the tour, the kids were given little colorful sunglasses as gifts from the center.

I was really aggravated with myself, when, after I'd taken several pictures of the kids at the visitor's center, I discovered there was no memory card in the camera. The one I regulary use was at home in the card reader. I have a spare card, but it was in my camera bag, which was back at camp. Phooey. Thankfully, Daughter-in-Law had her camera with her, and so she got several nice shots.

From there, we went to an overlook to view the lake, the dam, and the river below. Thanks to near drought conditions, the river is quite low.

Next, we visited the campground near the river. This is a beautiful area. The river is very cold, suited to trout, and lots of fishermen were wading out into the water, hoping for a catch. On the way out of the park, we noticed a woman walking with her young son. The boy had a nice stringer of pan-size trout, and I rolled down my window and complimented him on his catches.

Years ago, Hubbie and I camped in this area frequently to trout fish. Since we were there last, a viewing pier has been built, so we all walked out on it to enjoy the view of the river.

Lastly, we went to the fish hatchery. Mother, Hubbie, and I opted to skip touring the big tanks outdoors, since it was so infernally hot out there. Instead we went into the air conditioned visitor's center, where there used to be large fish in aquariums. The aquariums are empty now. But, we were allowed into the back room, where there are tanks of thousands of fingerling trout.

Another family was ready to enter the back room when we came out. A little girl of about seven years old refused to go into the room...she appeared to be terrified of it. Admittedly, it was very brightly lighted, as well as loud from the huge pipes pumping water into the tanks to keep them at the proper temperature.

But apparently, she is afraid of her own shadow, because her grandmother proceeded to lecture her about how much she was going to miss out on in life, if she didn't quit cowering away from every little thing. She was not persuaded, though, and hung back, clinging to a wall, until the family came out of the room.

Back at camp, after lunch (each family at their own campsite), Mother opted to take a nap. She prefers to be alone while napping, so Hubbie and I toured the area, while Son and family went to the lake.

We stopped at several shops around the square in town, but only bought a couple of items, including a cup with my initial on it to use in the camper. At one store, we met a woman and her daughter that we know. The woman lives in our town, but the daughter got married about a year ago, and she and her husband now live in the town where some of my family live. I think they decided, as we and Son and family did, to meet halfway in this little town.

We also visited an art gallery, the owner of which was in our town recently for the Summer Celebration, where she created a painting while the party was going on. This small gallery is very cluttered with the works of various artists. We wondered, though, about some clay sculptures of nude devil images...what is the artist trying to convey?

We stepped out of the gallery in time to hear the courthouse carillons playing "Raindrops are Falling on My Head." Maybe it's the town's way of doing a rain dance. Hope it works, because it's brittle dry right now.

Before returning to camp, we toured a fishing resort on the river. It's a lovely place, where there is a nice restaurant we'd like to try next time we're in the area.

We returned to camp around 3 p.m. to find that the breaker switch had shut the power down, and there was no air conditioning. I don't know how long it had been off, or why Mother didn't call us...we left a cell phone with her. The camper was quite uncomfortable and took a while to cool back down. It was just another example of why I hate to leave Mother alone, even for a short time.

Later, we had a cold supper of pork roast sandwiches, and garden tomatoes with cottage cheese. Then Mother and I sat outdoors for about an hour, before Hubbie and I got into our swimsuits and headed to the lake.

Tonight, Son and family joined us. We really enjoyed watching the kids frolic. The baby was especially cute, as she displayed pure joy at being in the cool water.

I felt sorry for one lady in the lake, who was crimson with sunburn. She's very fair skinned, and I imagine she's blistered and suffering today.

Strange: we were in the lake for about an hour when, as if getting a signal from somewhere, everyone, including us, swam or waded to the bank, gathered our things, and trooped up the flights of steps to our vehicles. It was 9 p.m., but a posted sign said the area closed at 10 p.m. I don't know what caused this phenomenon.

At camp, Mother was ready to play Skipbo, so we played two games, and again Hubbie and I each won one. We were ready for bed after that.

Friday, June 29

Up at 6:30 to get ready for a trip to a lake area about an hour away. Started the day right by dumping a new bottle of hair spray all over the upstairs bathroom counter top. Sticky mess to clean up.

We were on the road around 9:30 a.m., and after an uneventful trip, we arrived at the campground around 10:30. We had reserved our campsite a couple of weeks ago. To make reservations, we had to contact a national registry somewhere in New York state. The fellow Hubbie talked to seemed new to his job, and it was a struggle to guide him to the campground we were interested in. Finally, a site was assigned to us. But since the guy who assigned it couldn't visualize it, he didn't know how inadequate the space was.

Hubbie managed to back the camper into the site, but then he couldn't pull the truck out in front of it, because there was a boulder and a tree directly across from the site that forced the truck and camper to remain in a jackknife position.

So he pulled the camper out and parked alongside the road, while we took the van to the registration office to try and get a better site. Luckily, we were assigned to a newer section of the campground. If it had been any other year but this extremely dry hot one, there might not have been any sites available this close to July 4.

Back at the camper, another rig had pulled up behind ours, and a guy was apparently complaining by cell phone to the registration office about our blocking his way. Hubbie hurried to apologize and get our rig out of the way.

I guess the guy was angry enough that he wasn't willing to forget our transgression, so while I waited in the van, he took his sweet time getting his rig into his campsite. He was alone, so he'd back up a little, slowly stroll back to the site to check things out, then slowly stroll back to his truck. He did this several times, to make sure I was sufficiently punished.

I wasn't sure where the new section of the campground was, so of course, I went the wrong way first, winding my way through another section, and ending up back at the registration area. I swung back around and then spotted the correct section.

By the time I found our site, Hubbie had already set up the camper. He didn't need my help backing into the site, since it was very spacious, with no obstructions. There was even an extra pad for parking the van.

It was good that we weren't able to back into the original space, because we later learned it had electricity only...no water hookup...even though the reservation guy assured us that it did.

As soon as we set up, we contacted Son and Daughter-in-Law to tell them that the lady at the registration office said they could switch their reserved campsite from one in the section where we were originally assigned to one in our newly assigned section.

Son and family arrived around 3 p.m. Besides Son and Daughter-in-Law, there was Grandson and his friend, Granddaughter-in-Law, and three great-grandchildren. As soon as they were set up, we went to their campsite to see the new camper. It's very nice, and I know they will enjoy it for many years.

The steps to the camper are too high for Mother to navigate, though, so we sat outside and visited for a while, until Mother, who never does so, actually sweated. We took her right back to the camper and gave her a glass of ice water to help her cool down.

Since it was such an extremely hot day (around 106 degrees...so hot that the air conditioners in the campers barely lowered the temp) Son and family were ready to go for a swim. We napped while they were gone, then had a supper of cold sandwiches for supper.

Later, we all enjoyed watermelon and cataloupe that we'd brought along, while Grandson and his friend, and Son, described how they had jumped off the bluffs into the lake. Apparently, this is a popular place, about two stories above a very deep part of the lake, according to Son.

We visited until around 8 p.m., and then Hubbie and I went to the lake for a swim. We thought that Son and family planned to join us, but they didn't. We learned later that the kids fell asleep before they could get swimsuits on them.

At the swimming area, folks have to park above and walk down three flights of steps to the beach, then wade sand to the lake. The water was quite cool when we got in, but was wonderfully pleasant as soon as we were used to it. Hubbie seemed more sensitive to than I was. Of course, I'm used to the cool water in the swimming pool.

We swam until around 9 p.m., and then hiked the three flights of steps back up to the parking lot. This was when Hubbie discovered that he'd forgotten to take the van electronic key out of his pocket before going into the lake. So naturally it didn't work.

He tried and tried to get the emergency key out of it, but was having no luck. He stried again to use it electronically. This time, the lights on the car beside us came on. Whoa! Did our key do that?

Well, no, the guy who owned the car had used his key. But since his headlights were on, Hubbie was able to see how to get the emergency key out. He was now able to unlock the van door. Fortunatly, the electronic key still started the van, too.

Back at camp, we played a couple of games of Skipbo, with Hubbie and I each winning one. After that, we were ready for bed.