Monday, April 8

Up at 6:30 on this balmy day to get ready for water aerobics. Spring! Flowering trees, trees greening, yellow forsythia bushes, azaleas bushes beginning to bloom, tulips in bright array. All the colors made for a pleasant drive to the college.

The pool was nice and warm, too, and twenty-one of us enjoyed it. There were no special stories today, but everyone was in a smiling good mood because of the warm weather. We're all a bit concerned, though, about predictions for stormy weather Wednesday and Thursday. At this time of the year in the south, strong storms and tornadoes come with the change from winter to spring.

Back home, I relaxed with a cup of coffee. Before I was able to go upstairs, the washing machine repairman came to see why the washer was leaking. What he discovered is that there is nothing wrong with the washer. The problem was with the plumbing, which was clogged. So we ended up paying the repairman for his trouble, and then calling a plumber.

Shortly, the plumber arrived and reamed the pipe out, cutting roots. But he said we need to use root killer in it. The frazzling roots in our yard are a plague to our plumbing and Mother's. For now, the pipe is clear, though, and we can resume washing a pile of laundry that has been collecting for two weeks. We did wash essentials at Mother's house, of course, but there's a lot more to do.

Finally, I got ready for the day, and then did this and that, like posting a blog for yesterday, programming the DVR for the week's shows, since I didn't have time yesterday, reading the Sunday newspaper, and checking and responding to e-mails. One e-mail was from my medical clinic, where I could access my records through a patient portal. The message from there was that my recent lab tests results show normal in all areas. Good news for the day.

After lunch, Mother went to her jigsaw puzzle (Hubbie had accompanied her to our house earlier), Hubbie ran errands, and I continued doing catching up on things after a busy weeek.

Later, when I decided to make goulash using leftover ham and beans, I discovered I didn't have any jars of spaghetti sauce, so Hubbie went shopping for that and several other grocery items. When he returned, I set the sauce simmering for a while, then added cooked macaroni to it. Served it with coleslaw and cottage cheese.

Hubbie accompanied Mother home afterward, and then we watched a couple of episodes of a new eight-part series on PBS..."Mr. Selfridge," based on the true story of an American, Harry Gordon Selfridge who, in 1908, has new ideas about building a department store in London. His idea is revolutionary, and changes the way retail stores are managed.

Following this, we watched the final NCAA basketball game between Louisville and Michigan. Louisville took the championship.