Wed., Nov. 27

Woke up this morning with a cough and sore throat. I didn't feel all that bad, so I was excited that family would be here Thursday and Friday to help us celebrate Thanksgiving.

I skipped my exercises, though, since I know it's not good to force my body when I'm unwell. It wasn't long before I started getting chills, which weren't helped by the fact that Hubbie discovered our central heat wasn't working.

He immediately set up space heaters, and called the heat/air repairman. I bundled up in an undershirt, turtleneck shirt, and two sweaters, and then huddled in front of one of the heaters.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, and once I gathered ingredients, she put together two dishes of bread dressing, which I ultimately allowed to over bake, when I nodded off to sleep. I'd set the timer, but I misjudged how much time was needed, so I should have been watching the oven more closely. Mother also peeled the eggs I'd boiled yesterday, so we could make deviled eggs Thanksgiving morning.

In the meantime, I put a ham in the oven to bake, and then posted messages to family letting them know I was sick. They seemed unfazed and were willing to come up anyway.

The repairman arrived pretty quickly, and discovered that one of the heater baffles was clogged with soot, necessitating replacement. He went back to the shop for one and returned soon. He said the soot could have been caused by letting the propane tank get too low. Even though Hubbie ordered the tank be filled when he saw it was down to 20%, the repairman said that since the tank is old, it could have accumulated water in the bottom, giving a false reading.

Anyway, we soon had heat again, for which I was grateful. The repairman said he would be on call all weekend, even through Thanksgiving Day. I'm thankful that there are folks like him who are willing to give up their holidays to be available for emergencies. And since today was the coldest yet this season, I felt that getting the heater fixed was an emergency.

Since I didn't feel up to much this afternoon, we whiled away the time watching Christmas movies I'd recorded on DVR.

When the ham had cooked and cooled, I sliced it and put it in the fridge. Later, we sampled it with baked sweet potatoes and helpings of cranberry sauce. We were tempted by the pies, but we decided not to cut them until tomorrow.

After supper, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, and then we wasted more time watching TV.