Friday, Feb. 8

Up at 6:30 this morning to get ready for water aerobics. A cool morning, with a light wind, made for a chilly walk to the gym, but the water in the pool was warm, thank goodness. Fifteen of us, including our leader, showed up today. Several of us had hoped the leader would allow a few minutes for the substitute to lead us in water noodle exercises. But she didn't. "I'm going to let (name) take a break today, and we'll just do our usual routine," she said.

When a couple of the ladies mentioned last week that they hoped the regular leader would make time for the water noodle exercises, I commented that I wasn't sure she would, because she's pretty territorial about being the "teacher." She's a lady who has never been married, and who spent her working life as a teacher, so she clings to her volunteer activities.

Also, I think the regular leader is reluctant to allow the substitute to take over part of the session because the substitute has regularly spent her time in constant chatter with a couple of other ladies in the pool during regular sessions, which the leader finds disruptive and disrespectful. I think she's just plain old ticked with her. A better idea would be one that a member made on Wednesday...if some of us want to do the water noodle exercises, we should do them before regular aerobics begin, and that way the leader's routine would not be usurped.

Back home, I was plenty ready to warm up with cups of coffee. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 10 a.m., and while we relaxed for a few minutes, Hubbie asked what my plans were for the day.

"I don't know yet, since I don't know when the guy is coming to....." and I glanced up at the ceiling. "The ceiling has been patched. When did that happen?"

"I wondered when you were going to notice," Hubbie laughed. "He came about 8:30 this morning. He'll be back as soon as he can to finish the job," he said.

"It looks good," I said, "but did he see the messy sunroom?"

"He didn't pay any attention to it," Hubbie said. But I was not convinced, and insisted that something had to be done to straighten that room up a little. So Hubbie got busy with the task, while I got ready for the day.

Back downstairs, I decided that if I was going to insist that Hubbie do some cleaning, then I should do the same. So after lunch, I grabbed the paper towels and a bottle of window cleaner and cleaned every glass thing in the kitchen and den. Dusted everything in sight, too. And then I headed upstairs to thoroughly clean the master bedroom. Hubbie soon joined me to strip the bed and wash the sheets, and vacuum the carpet. Hope to tear the upstairs bathroom apart tomorrow.

Later, I helped Mother fix a recipe of salmon loaf to be put in the oven later, and Hubbie washed sweet potatoes to be baked. Relaxed for a while after that, until time to start supper cooking.

After supper, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, and then he and I watched TV, including a DVD we borrowed from the library, "Remember the Titans," a year 2000 movie based on the true story of a black coach, Herman Boone (played by Denzel Washington), and the struggles among his black and white high school players in the 1970s, on their way to a championship. An appropriate movie for black history month.