Saturday, July 14

Slept late this morning, until nearly 8:30. After breakfast, and once I was ready for the day, we went to the river for a stroll on the paved walk. Mother went with us, and I pushed her in her wheelchair, which provided a bit more exercise for me, since there are some inclines along the way. I also took my camera to get a few snapshots.

Afterward, we stopped by a local elementary school, which was sponsoring an indoor yard sale. It was 11 a.m. by the time we got there, though, so it was well picked over, and we didn't find anything of interest.

Back home, after lunch, we watched a Lifetime Movie Network feature called, "Adopting Terror," about a couple being terrorized by a man claiming to be the father of the baby they were in the process of adopting.

Mother headed to the couch for a nap after that, and Hubbie and I watched a second feature called, "The Canyon." A young couple on their honeymoon agree to let a grizzled older man guide them in a mule ride down a trail of the Grand Canyon. Everything that can go wrong does, in this tense tale of survival.

Later, for supper, I made turkey bacon/tomato/lettuce/Vidalia onion sandwiches, which we had with potato salad. Afterward, I accompanied Mother to her house, and then Hubbie and I continued to watch TV.

I didn't completely waste my time with the TV, though, since I went through a pile of old magazines, read what interested me, and then disposed of them. We've finally wised up and quit subscribing to many magazines, since whatever I want to know, I can find on the Internet. We are now down to two or three periodicals that arrive by snail mail. And the day may be close at hand when, if postal services pass into history, we can no longer receive anything by mail.

One of the magazines...Smithsonian (a periodical I hate to dispose of)...featured a humorous article about purple prose writer, Amanda McKittrick Ros. In her now-famous novel, "Irene Iddlesleigh," Ros, said to be the greatest bad writer who ever lived, wrote such memorable sentences as, "Speak! Irene! Wife! Woman! Do not sit in silence and allow the blood that now boils in my veins to ooze through cavities of unrestrained passion and trickle down to drench me with its crimson hue!"

After reading the article, I immediately went to an online bookstore and ordered it for my e-reader. The book is free. No wonder. It's recommended reading, though, for English and literature teachers. I doubt I'll need it as a teaching tool, but it'll surely be a lark to read.

Friday, July 13

Another Friday the 13th, the third this year, and strangly, the dates occurred thirteen weeks apart, in January, April, and July.

Up at 6:30 this morning to get ready to go to water aerobics. It was a mild, overcast day, pleasant for the walk to the gym. The water was a bit cool, though. Looked like water had been added, which always makes it cooler.

We had a good crowd today...about 19. At least four of them are new, and today, two Spanish ladies were there to lap swim. They didn't stay for aerobics, though. I think they are mother and daughter, and the daughter said she is pregnant.

Back home, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, while I got ready for the day. We didn't accomplish much for the rest of the morning. After lunch, Mother retired to the couch for a nap, while Hubbie and I shopped for groceries, as well as doing other errands.

At home, I started the pan of green beans simmering, and then we relaxed for a while. I was in no hurry to do anything, since the arts council director called this morning and gave Hubbie the message that we would not need to attend the second friday event at the gallery tonight after all, since all the bases are covered.

Seems the director of the community theater play has engaged several youth from a local church to take care of everything. That's fine with us. We only volunteered, because we didn't want to leave the director in the lurch, since she wants to be away to attend her grandson's second birthday party.

Later, I made a batch of macaroni and cheese to go with our supper of a choice of egg salad or tuna salad sandwiches, and sliced tomatoes. Watermelon for dessert.

Afterward, I accompanied Mother back to her house, where she showered on her own, while I waited in the living room. Wednesday night, she asked if I thought she could now do this on her own, and I agreed that she could, though I wanted to be close by in case she needed me.

When she had finished, Hubbie came over and replaced a bad light switch, because when we'd flipped it on Wednesday evening, it had crackled and sparked. We advised Mother to leave the switch off until it could be replaced. There was no danger from it, but she had trouble sleeping last night for worrying about it. Son has decided to come the first weekend in August to replace all the switches and check the breaker box, etc., just to make sure everything is in proper working order.

At home, Hubbie and I watched a Hallmark Movie Channel 2002 feature called, "Recipe for Murder." The goddaughter of a medical examiner dies in an auto accident, attributed to the woman falling asleep at the wheel. But the medical examiner suspects murder.

Thursday, July 12

Slept until nearly 8 a.m. this morning, then did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house while I was getting ready for the day.

It was pretty much a lazy day for us, although after lunch, we prepared food for the weekend. Mother chopped veggies for tuna salad and potato salad. Hubbie peeled hard boiled eggs for egg salad, and washed and snapped green beans to be cooked Saturday.
I put the salads together.

I wanted to get a head start on these preparations, because tomorrow evening around 5:30, Hubbie and I will help man the art gallery for the monthly second Friday event. Tomorrow, we are hosting a group from the community theater, who will perform a scene from their upcoming production of "Beauty and the Beast." Hubbie's and my contribution will be to make space in the gallery by storing folding tables, and then arranging chairs, as well as helping to clean up the gallery afterward. I will also shoot some photos for the newspaper.

When we'd finished kitchen duties, Mother retired to the couch for a nap, and Hubbie and I goofed off watching TV and reading. I finished the novel, "Anna Karenina," by Leo Tolstoy, which is about 800 pages long. I first read this book in college, and vowed to read it again someday. Now I have.

Later, for supper, we had leftovers...a choice of mashed potatoes or rice, with fried green tomatoes and white sauce, and sauteed sqaush. Mother and Hubbie had cornbread, but I skipped the bread.

I accompanied Mother home afterward, and then grabbed my camera to take a few snapshots in the yard. There's not much camera fodder right now, since the drought has dried everything up.

Back indoors, we turned the TV off (not much entertainment fodder right now, either) and read for a while. Around 8:30, we watched a Lifetime Movie Network feature called, "The Bling Ring," based on the true story of a group of Hollywood teenagers who for several months brazenly burgled the homes of several celebrities, before getting caught.

Wednesday, July 11

Up at 6:30 to get ready to go to water aerobics. Pleasant morning, since the temp was moderate. The pool felt wonderful, as usual. Nineteen of us showed up. One member, who hasn't been there in a long time, arrived with huge black and blue bruises on her face and chest. She tripped on somethng a week or so ago and fell straight forward. It's a wonder she didn't break her face and a limb or two.

Back home, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, where I helped her get things ready for slicing zucchini and yellow squash, along with bell pepper and onion, and a few green tomatoes, all to be cooked for supper later.

While she did this, I got ready for the day. It was around 11:30 by this time, so I heated leftover chicken noodle soup for our lunch, and then encouraged Mother to go to the couch for a nap.

While she rested, Hubbie and I went to a town about fifteen miles away to pick up cantaloupes and watermelon from our favorite farmer. Then we stopped by our favorite computer store to see if they carried cell phone cases. I found a nice sturdy one for five dollars. The store has a lot of stuff on clearance, as they change over to strictly a computer sales and repair shop.

Then we went to a farmer's market here in town, where we picked up green beans to go along with the last of the crop from our garden, as well as a box of locally grown peaches.

Mother was awake when we got back, so we relaxed with a cup of coffee, and then later we finished supper tasks. Mother salted the green tomatoes, and Hubbie peeled potatoes to be boiled. I started the pan of squash cooking. Mother prepared a box of cornbread mix, and coated the tomatoes with egg and a cornmeal mixture. I mashed the potatoes, fried the tomatoes, put the cornbread in the oven, and heated leftover white gravy. It was a yummy supper. We're all fond of veggie suppers.

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

Turned the TV off for a change tonight, and occupied ourselves with reading for a while. Later, we watched the 2012 LMN movie, "Deadly Hope." A female obstetrician is in love with her married physican partner at a fertility clinic. The partner is murdered. Later, the obstetrician meets another man at a charity event, and this man is murdered, too. It now becomes apparent, that she is the real target.

Tuesday, July 10

Slept late, until around 8 a.m. Did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast.

Once I was ready for the day, I did this and that around the house until 11:30 a.m., at which time Hubbie and I went to the hospital conference room for a community education program, "Decreasing Your Cancer Risks."

Lunch was included. Today, it was chicken and rice (wouldn't you know that we had chicken and rice for supper Sunday and Monday), along with green beans (ditto Sunday and Monday), and a green salad (sliced tomatoes Sunday and Monday).

It was an interesting talk, though much of the information was already familiar to us. The doctor who spoke began his talk by saying the best way to avoid cancer is to not get it in the first place. To that end, we should not smoke, or drink alcohol to excess, and we should use sunscreen, watch our diets, exercise, get screening exams, and be conscious of what our bodies are telling us.

Even if we practice all those precautions, though, lightning can strike. He himself admits he does not practice all he preaches, since he is considerably overweight. His weight had nothing to do with it, but he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer a couple of years ago.

Like the rest of us, instead of seeing a doctor right away when he noticed symptoms...hoarseness, for instance...he explained them away. When he finally did see a doctor, he had stage four cancer (and as he quoted from some actor: "There ain't no stage 5"). His cancer required lots of surgeries and aggressive radioactive iodine treatment, but he is fine now.

He added that many, many people are on medication for thyroid disease (I'm one), but the incidence of thyroid cancer in those being treated is only one in 10,000.

I was a little puzzled when he said women should be aware of family history regarding breast cancer, and then promptly stated that the majority of women who develop breast cancer have no family history for the disease.

Following the program, we ran several errands...to the newspaper office to drop off the weekly word search puzzle contest; to a grocery store to buy on-sale fresh cherries; to a health store to pick up buy-one-get-one-half price fish oil gels; to a pet store to see if we could find a bird waterer (we couldn't); and to a dollar store to buy birthday cards for kids.

At the pet store parking lot, as a young woman exited the passenger side of a truck, we saw more of her than we wanted to, when half of her ample butt was exposed before she could jerk her low-rider jeans up over it.

Back home, we were disappointed to see that we'd gotten none of the rain from the clouds that produced a shower at the hospital. Phooey. Mother (who opted to stay home today) said there'd been a frightening crash of thunder, though, that startled her and terrified her cat into madly scrambling for a hiding place.

Later, for supper, I fixed a pot of chicken noodle soup, using the broth from Sunday's boiled chicken dinner. I took a helping of it to Mother, along with a small bag of cherries, and then sat with her while she ate.

The cloudy day lowered the temperature into the 70s, so the soup, with crackers and pimento cheese, hit the spot.

Afterward, we watched a 2010 Encore suspense channel movie, "Dear Mr. Gacy." This true story is based on the relationship between an 18-year-old college student, Jason Moss, and the serial killer, John Wayne Gacy. Moss is determined to interview death-row inmate Gacy for a term paper. He gets more than he bargained for. Disturbing movie.

Monday, July 9

Up at 6:30 this morning to get ready to go to water aerobics. Overcast skies made for a pleasant walk to the gym (though I wish the clouds had signaled rain...none for us today, however).

Seventeen of us attended the session. The talk today was about a Sunday afternoon lightning strike to the Airgas, Inc. company in town that caused a fire and heavily damaged the business. It was the lead story in our local newspaper tonight.

Along with that story, was one about a storm in a nearby town that produced two inches of rain, blew down trees and power lines, and scattered canoeists, tube floaters and kayakers on a popular river, also on Sunday afternoon.

So, although we would have liked to have rain to break drought conditions in our area, we certainly don't want fire and wind damage.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house shortly after I returned from water aerobics. We didn't accomplish much for the rest of the morning. We had chicken sandwiches for lunch, after which Mother headed to the couch for a nap, and I reveiwed an ESL lesson for a tutoring session this afternoon.

Met my student at 2:30, as usual. She was very excited to tell me that a studio space has been set up at her house, so she can paint in her spare time. Today, she came to class with residue of paint on her fingers, and a big smile on her face. She's anxious to join the group of Friday Painters next week at the art gallery.

The student was also enthusiastic about a classic American movie she saw over the weekend: "Gone With the Wind." She also saw it's sequel, "Scarlett," but didn't like it as much.

Today, the student learned vocabulary related to flying: "Mike and Fran are going to fly to King City. Their flight leaves at 9:30 a.m." And time: "There are 60 seconds in a minute," etc.

She learned the structure focus of "It's + time + (for) + infinitive, as in: "It's time to eat." And, "It's time for Fran to run." She also learned the structure focus of It + takes + time expressions +infinitive, as in: "It takes me 30 minutes to get to work," and "It takes me one hour to bake a cake."

In structure focus, she also learned about tag questions with "be." "It's a nice day, isn't it?" "Carla wasn't going camping, was she?"

During our session, her husband dropped by to tell her that the car she was driving was safe...it had smoked while she was driving, and she was concerned. He checked it and said the problem is in the air conditioner.

While he was there, he surprised me with a gift of a cantaloupe. Very nice of him.

Back home, Hubbie had heated leftover rice and green beans from last night, and I heated the gravy, sliced cold chicken, and cut up tomatoes from the garden, to go with our supper.

Afterward, I accompanied Mother to her 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, including a 2007 Encore Channel shoot 'em up western called, "Deadly Shooter." A Civil War hero saves a prostitute from a brutal beating by a gang of bandits, killing one of them. In retribution, the gang smashes his shooting hand, beat him to a pulp, and leave him to die, tied to a fence. The prostitute saves him, but she can't stop our hero from going in search of the gang.

Sunday, July 8

Slept late, until after 8 a.m. I was sleeping so soundly that Hubbie had to wake me up. Skipped my exercises after breakfast, since it was so late. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 10 a.m., where she prepared onions, carrots, and celery to add to chicken and broth. Simmered the chicken until noon.

Spent a leisurly rest of the morning until lunchtime. Just as I was ready to serve lunch, Hubbie accidentally dropped a bird waterer/bird bath, breaking the gallon plastic bottle, and spilling the contents all over the kitchen, as well as on part of the den carpet. Somehow, Hubbie had not gotten the bottle properly attached to the base, and when he tried to carry it by the hanger, it fell right off.

A gallon of water creates an ocean when it comes to mopping it up. But finally, the task was complete, and we sat down to lunch. The boiled chicken, served with rice and gravy, and green beans, was tasty.

Mother headed to the couch for a nap afterward, and Hubbie and I ran errands...to look for a new bird waterer, which we didn't find; and to a pharmacy store to pick up on-sale decaf coffee, and to rent a couple of movies. Of the two I wanted, this Red Box had only one..."The Artist."

Our last stop was at a grocery store/pharmacy to pick up prescriptions for Mother and me, and blocks of Monterey Jack, and low-fat cheddar cheese. In checking the Red Box at this store, I found that it didn't have my first choice for a movie, either, so I rented, "Albert Nobbs."

Back home, Mother woke up around 3 p.m., and we watched "The Artist." This is a really good romantic comedy/drama movie about a male silent film star unwilling to make the adjustment to "talkies," and a woman he meets who is willing to work in the new medium. The male star fails at the box office, as the female's career skyrockets. The movie is in the style of black and white silent films, which is enchanting. The Jack Russell terrier dog is a real scene stealer.

After the movie was over, and we'd watched the news, we decided to have PB&J sandwiches for supper, and then watch the second film, "Albert Nobbs." In this one, Glenn Close plays a woman posing as a man in order to get a job as a butler in a posh turn-of-the-century Dublin hotel.

When the movie was over, around 8 p.m., I accompanied Mother back to her house. Hubbie and I spent the remainder of the evening watching one-hour shows.

Bummer...though it clouded up today, the wind blew, and it thundered, not a drop of rain fell at our house. But the temp did drop to a more comfortable level. Maybe we'll be among the those getting the "60% chance" of rain tomorrow.