Friday, Jan. 4

Sunshine today, but still very cold, with snow clinging to roofs and shaded areas. Secondary roads remain iced over.

Up at 8 a.m. this morning, and did a treadmill session after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 10 a.m., and she went to work on her jigsaw puzzle, while I got ready for the day.

Hubbie's and my project for the morning was to take down the "white" Christmas tree, which involved removing the hooks from the many ornaments, and wrapping the glass and other special ornaments in paper, before carefully packing everything into a plastic tote. At least this is a pre-lit tree, so we didn't have to remove and pack lights.

After a lunch of leftovers, Mother continued with her puzzle, while Hubbie and I ran a couple of errands...first to the art gallery to deliver a box of pumpkin muffins that were in Mother's freezer (the arts council director had asked us to put them in our freezer after a reception at the gallery last fall). The arts council will have a board meeting tomorrow morning, and the director thinks the muffins will be nice as a breakfast treat.

We had hoped to pick up styrofoam quart containers for the 11-bean soup I plan to make for the "Souper Saturday" fundraiser event in February. I'd gotten a letter yesterday from a woman we know at one of the banks, who is spearheading the event, asking what soup I would agree to provide, and suggesting I stop by the gallery to get the containers. But the gallery director said she'd forgotten to get the containers, and promised to have them available next week.

From the gallery, we stopped by the bank, and then the pharmacy/grocery store to pick up a prescription, and a movie. The prescription was not ready yet, though it had been called in last week. The prescription needed a doctor's order, and though the pharmacy had contacted my clinic several times, there still has not been a response. I guess I might have to contact my doctor myself next week to get things moving.

Succeeded in getting a 2012 thriller movie I wanted, though, called "Arbitrage," starring Richard Gere, and Susan Sarandan. A very wealthy financier makes a terrible mistake, and has to seek help in an unlikely place. The definition of arbitrage: the simultaneous buying and selling of the same negotiable financial instruments or commodities in different markets in order to make an immediate profit without risk.

Back home, Mother and I made a double batch of blueberry muffins, and put together a breakfast casserole. For the casserole, I used leftover potatoes au gratin, diced ham, sauteed onions (regular and green) and mushrooms, cubed Tuscan bread, egg substitute, and grated Monterey Jack cheese. We layered the potatoes and veggies, and covered them with part of the eggs, then topped the casserole with the bread, and covered it with the rest of the eggs. Topped the whole thing with the cheese, and put the dish in the oven later.

After that, Mother went back to her puzzle, and Hubbie and I read our novels until time to put the casserole in the oven. The muffins were already out and cooling.

The casserole turned out exceptionally well, and we all really enjoyed it. And of course, the muffins were delicious. Hubbie accompanied Mother home afterward. In the meantime, I turned off the TV, and we continued reading our novels until around 7:30, and then we watched the rented movie.