Up at 6 a.m. to get ready for water aerobics. It was a pretty nippy morning, so fleece wear and a jacket felt good. The pool was warm, thankfully, and twenty-two of us enjoyed it.
Back home, the painter hadn't arrived yet, so I had time for my coffee. He arrived around 9:30 and spent the day pulling the wallpaper off the kitchen and painting.
Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house right after the painter arrived, and she went straight to her puzzle, while I got ready for the day.
I didn't accomplish anything for the rest of the morning...with everything in disarray, it's hard to launch into any project.
Since the kitchen was out of commission today, we picked up grilled chicken sandwiches and hamburgers for lunch. The painter joined us for this meal. For dessert, I served portions of the apple cake I made a couple of days ago, topped with whipped topping, and drizzled with caramel sauce.
After lunch, the painter went back to work and kept at it until his quitting time, around 5:30. Mother went back to her puzzle, and Hubbie did this and that, while I responded to a note card sent by a friend in town. She doesn't use computers, so she still sends handwritten letters and notes to her friends.
She wanted to commiserate with me about our home improvement projects and accompanying hurtles. She learned about our problems from another friend, who has been printing and sending her my social network page comments about those problems.
This lady is in her 80s, and absolutely refuses to learn to use a computer, even though her daughter is constantly urging her to do so. It's not because she is incapable, because she's a very smart and alert lady. It's because she doesn't want to become a slave to computers, and she doesn't like the idea of the dying art of letter writing, which she equates with social gentility.
She also strongly objects to e-readers, much preferring a "real book." I think there is a place for both, and I switch back and forth between the two forms, depending on my needs or mood at the moment. I love the feel and smell of print books, and they are much more comforting to curl up with. But e-readers are a lot more convenient sometimes, like in waiting rooms.
I didn't accomplish much else for the afternoon after writing the note to my friend, other than reading today's newspapers.
For supper, Hubbie and I went to a restaurant overlooking the river, since we had a gift card for that establishment. Mother opted out of going. She wasn't hungry after eating her entire grilled chicken on a bun at noon.
If we hadn't had a gift certificate, we probably wouldn't have eaten there. It's pricey, and they don't even serve rolls with the meal, unless you pay extra. That's a real no-no to Hubbie, who eats bread with every meal. A salad is included, but there is an extra charge for sides. However, the menu clearly states that sides are included, so when I asked about it, our waiter said he could bring one if I wanted it, meaning he'd add it to the bill.
"The menu says a side is included, so is it included?" I asked, pointing to the statement above the menu choices that said they were. I didn't want to pay extra for one.
"You can have one for free," he said, "since the menus haven't been changed." So I asked for grilled yellow and zucchini squashes, along with an order of shrimp pasta.
Hubbie ordered pork chops and baked potato, and then shared the squash with me. The entrees were more than we could eat, of course, so we brought home one of Hubbie's pork chops, and half of my pasta. But we ate all of the squash.
Back home, we watched TV for the evening.
expect the painter to return tomorrow morning, and he is to bring vanity/two-sink tops ideas, as well as paint samples to choose from. He advised us that once we had made our choices, it would be six weeks before the vanity would be ready.
In the meantime, he will cover the hole in the floor, so I can resume using the bathroom during the weeks that the vanity is being built.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Tuesday, Oct. 22
Up at 6 a.m., so we could be dressed and ready when the painter came. He was scheduled to arrive at 8 a.m., but it was closer to 8:30 by the time he got here.
He went right to work painting the stairwell and the upstairs bathroom, and spent the whole day at it, except for a break at noon, when he needed to go get the alternator on his car repaired. By the end of his work day (5 p.m.), he had applied two coats of paint to each of the areas.
Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 9 a.m., and we spent the morning in the kitchen preparing fresh green beans, and purple hull peas to be simmered. I washed the green beans, and she and I snapped them. Then she diced onions, carrots, and banana peppers for the peas, and more onions and banana peppers for the green beans. I seasoned the veggies and cooked them in chicken and beef broths.
Mother also sliced bell peppers, mushrooms, and banana peppers to be used in making Swiss steak later for supper. Then she began working a new jigsaw puzzle, while I gathered materials and made a couple of birthday cards.
Hubbie spent his day outdoors re-potting plants to be brought into the sunroom, since predictions are for possible frost this week.
Around 3 p.m., I trimmed the beef, while Mother sliced onions. I seasoned the beef and dredged it in flour, then browned it, then added onions, bell pepper, and banana peppers, and two quart packages of tomatoes from last year's garden. I'd taken the tomatoes out of the freezer earlier in the day, so I was surprised that they were still frozen when I put them in the pan. Didn't take long for them to thaw, though.
The Swiss steak was very tasty, as were the green beans and purple hull peas. I added to the meal leftover Parmesan potatoes that I'd heated in the oven. It was a very satisfying supper.
Afterward, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, and then we watched TV for the evening.
Tomorrow the painter is to return to paint the kitchen. He's also to bring cabinet ideas for the upstairs bathroom. While the cabinets are being built, I guess we need to shop for a new toilet and vinyl flooring.
After everything is in place, I'll be shopping for new curtains and wall hangings. I'm thinking I'll aim for green decor this time.
He went right to work painting the stairwell and the upstairs bathroom, and spent the whole day at it, except for a break at noon, when he needed to go get the alternator on his car repaired. By the end of his work day (5 p.m.), he had applied two coats of paint to each of the areas.
Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 9 a.m., and we spent the morning in the kitchen preparing fresh green beans, and purple hull peas to be simmered. I washed the green beans, and she and I snapped them. Then she diced onions, carrots, and banana peppers for the peas, and more onions and banana peppers for the green beans. I seasoned the veggies and cooked them in chicken and beef broths.
Mother also sliced bell peppers, mushrooms, and banana peppers to be used in making Swiss steak later for supper. Then she began working a new jigsaw puzzle, while I gathered materials and made a couple of birthday cards.
Hubbie spent his day outdoors re-potting plants to be brought into the sunroom, since predictions are for possible frost this week.
Around 3 p.m., I trimmed the beef, while Mother sliced onions. I seasoned the beef and dredged it in flour, then browned it, then added onions, bell pepper, and banana peppers, and two quart packages of tomatoes from last year's garden. I'd taken the tomatoes out of the freezer earlier in the day, so I was surprised that they were still frozen when I put them in the pan. Didn't take long for them to thaw, though.
The Swiss steak was very tasty, as were the green beans and purple hull peas. I added to the meal leftover Parmesan potatoes that I'd heated in the oven. It was a very satisfying supper.
Afterward, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, and then we watched TV for the evening.
Tomorrow the painter is to return to paint the kitchen. He's also to bring cabinet ideas for the upstairs bathroom. While the cabinets are being built, I guess we need to shop for a new toilet and vinyl flooring.
After everything is in place, I'll be shopping for new curtains and wall hangings. I'm thinking I'll aim for green decor this time.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Monday, Oct. 21
Up at 6 a.m. to get ready for water aerobics. It was cool this morning, but not intolerable. The sun glowed deep pink in cotton ball clouds, and by the time I arrived at the college, it cast a rosy glow on the chapel steeple, and the tops of autumn-tone trees.
The pool was pleasantly warm today, and twenty-two of us enjoyed the aerobics workout. While we exercised, a woman who is a neighbor of ours asked if I'd heard all the commotion around 6 p.m. last night. No, I didn't hear anything.
She said there were lots of police cars on the road behind her house (which is just beyond that wooded area next to our property). Someone had run through a pasture fence, but she thought no one was hurt. She wasn't sure what the problem was. But we think it might be the following, according to a story in our local newspaper tonight:
A man was involved in an accident, and then invaded a home, beat a woman, and abducted her, leaving her minor child in the home.
While the police were checking on that accident (the man and a passenger had fled the scene), a second accident took place near our neighbor's house, involving an SUV that ran through a pasture fence.
A naked and bleeding woman got out of the car and ran to another car to tell folks she had been taken by force, and she needed to get home to her baby. I guess these folks obliged and took her home. In the meantime, the SUV fled the scene.
Soon after, officers answered a panic alarm at a private residence, and discovered that the woman who lives there was the victim in the SUV incident. She told the officers that she had been attacked and abducted, but she was able to cause the SUV to wreck so she could escape.
The woman was able to identify her abductor, and he was arrested.
Back home after aerobics, I was surprised to see that the man who was to paint the stairwell and upstairs bathroom had not yet arrived. Hubbie said he had called earlier and said that he was having car problems, so he'd be late arriving.
I enjoyed a couple of cups of coffee, but postponed getting ready for the day until Hubbie could return from the grocery store. I didn't want to be in the bathroom when he came. Mother was here by that time, but I didn't want her trying to answer the door.
The worker still had not arrived by the time Hubbie got back home, though. I went ahead and showered and dressed, and then we had lunch.
After lunch, the guy called to say he wouldn't be coming today, since he needed to do whatever was necessary to get his car fixed. He promised to be here tomorrow.
So I set the TV for Mother to watch an episode of "The Paradise," while Hubbie and I ran errands.
First, we went to the college art gallery to see an interesting exhibit called "Failures." It was a nice afternoon for an outing, and I wanted to go see the exhibit before the weather turned considerably colder for the rest of the week.
At one end of the gallery was a display of fabric yo-yos. these are rounds of colorful fabric that are sewn and then pulled to make a gather. The yo-yos can be sewn together to make decorations on garments.
There were a variety of colors and sizes of these mounted on the wall, along with unfinished sewing projects. A shelf was installed below, with a stack of fabric rounds and needles and thread for folks to try their hand at making yo-yos. The idea is that there are lots of these made, but none is made into a useful item (therefore, a failure).
Another exhibit is a suggestion box mounted on the wall. There are sheets of paper for folks to write on and drop in the box. The only thing is, when you drop the paper in the box, it is shredded and dropped on the floor to join a pile of shredded paper. Hubbie and I laughed out loud at this exhibit. The failure is obvious here.
Another exhibit is entitled "obstacle." Here an object that resembles an obstacle over which foot racers or horses jump, except this one is about nine feet high...hardly something that can be jumped over.
One exhibit is a quilt made of sections of denim jeans with holes in them sewn together and backed with flannel that has been cut in the same places as the denim pieces. A quilt, the purpose of which is warmth, fails its purpose in this design.
There was also a series of 8x10 tin type negative photos in the display (but no accompanying positive images). I really enjoyed looking at these.
An interesting "failure" exhibit was a video playing on a wall that featured a young man trying to take flight with cardboard "wings" strapped to his arms. He never takes off, of course.
From the gallery, we went to a roadside veggie stand, where I bought purple hull peas and green beans. Then we went to our insurance company to pick up two tickets to the annual meeting and dinner next Monday.
Our last stop was a grocery store to pick up fat-free topping and the free item for the week, which is a bottle of fruit water. The only flavor available was lemon lime. I'm sure someone in the family will want it.
Back home, I noticed the TV was blaring. Before we left, I showed Mother how to turn down the sound on the remote after she'd watched the movie, because I knew it would be really loud after the DVR shut off. But she chose not to try it, fearing she would "mess up the TV." Drat. I thought she could handle this very simple thing, but I guess not.
Around 3:30, Mother and I started preparations for supper....Parmesan potatoes, and turkey cheeseburgers. She does very well if I'm standing right over her, but she can't handle much without close supervision.
After supper, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, and then we watched a variety of one-hour shows recorded on DVR.
The pool was pleasantly warm today, and twenty-two of us enjoyed the aerobics workout. While we exercised, a woman who is a neighbor of ours asked if I'd heard all the commotion around 6 p.m. last night. No, I didn't hear anything.
She said there were lots of police cars on the road behind her house (which is just beyond that wooded area next to our property). Someone had run through a pasture fence, but she thought no one was hurt. She wasn't sure what the problem was. But we think it might be the following, according to a story in our local newspaper tonight:
A man was involved in an accident, and then invaded a home, beat a woman, and abducted her, leaving her minor child in the home.
While the police were checking on that accident (the man and a passenger had fled the scene), a second accident took place near our neighbor's house, involving an SUV that ran through a pasture fence.
A naked and bleeding woman got out of the car and ran to another car to tell folks she had been taken by force, and she needed to get home to her baby. I guess these folks obliged and took her home. In the meantime, the SUV fled the scene.
Soon after, officers answered a panic alarm at a private residence, and discovered that the woman who lives there was the victim in the SUV incident. She told the officers that she had been attacked and abducted, but she was able to cause the SUV to wreck so she could escape.
The woman was able to identify her abductor, and he was arrested.
Back home after aerobics, I was surprised to see that the man who was to paint the stairwell and upstairs bathroom had not yet arrived. Hubbie said he had called earlier and said that he was having car problems, so he'd be late arriving.
I enjoyed a couple of cups of coffee, but postponed getting ready for the day until Hubbie could return from the grocery store. I didn't want to be in the bathroom when he came. Mother was here by that time, but I didn't want her trying to answer the door.
The worker still had not arrived by the time Hubbie got back home, though. I went ahead and showered and dressed, and then we had lunch.
After lunch, the guy called to say he wouldn't be coming today, since he needed to do whatever was necessary to get his car fixed. He promised to be here tomorrow.
So I set the TV for Mother to watch an episode of "The Paradise," while Hubbie and I ran errands.
First, we went to the college art gallery to see an interesting exhibit called "Failures." It was a nice afternoon for an outing, and I wanted to go see the exhibit before the weather turned considerably colder for the rest of the week.
At one end of the gallery was a display of fabric yo-yos. these are rounds of colorful fabric that are sewn and then pulled to make a gather. The yo-yos can be sewn together to make decorations on garments.
There were a variety of colors and sizes of these mounted on the wall, along with unfinished sewing projects. A shelf was installed below, with a stack of fabric rounds and needles and thread for folks to try their hand at making yo-yos. The idea is that there are lots of these made, but none is made into a useful item (therefore, a failure).
Another exhibit is a suggestion box mounted on the wall. There are sheets of paper for folks to write on and drop in the box. The only thing is, when you drop the paper in the box, it is shredded and dropped on the floor to join a pile of shredded paper. Hubbie and I laughed out loud at this exhibit. The failure is obvious here.
Another exhibit is entitled "obstacle." Here an object that resembles an obstacle over which foot racers or horses jump, except this one is about nine feet high...hardly something that can be jumped over.
One exhibit is a quilt made of sections of denim jeans with holes in them sewn together and backed with flannel that has been cut in the same places as the denim pieces. A quilt, the purpose of which is warmth, fails its purpose in this design.
There was also a series of 8x10 tin type negative photos in the display (but no accompanying positive images). I really enjoyed looking at these.
An interesting "failure" exhibit was a video playing on a wall that featured a young man trying to take flight with cardboard "wings" strapped to his arms. He never takes off, of course.
From the gallery, we went to a roadside veggie stand, where I bought purple hull peas and green beans. Then we went to our insurance company to pick up two tickets to the annual meeting and dinner next Monday.
Our last stop was a grocery store to pick up fat-free topping and the free item for the week, which is a bottle of fruit water. The only flavor available was lemon lime. I'm sure someone in the family will want it.
Back home, I noticed the TV was blaring. Before we left, I showed Mother how to turn down the sound on the remote after she'd watched the movie, because I knew it would be really loud after the DVR shut off. But she chose not to try it, fearing she would "mess up the TV." Drat. I thought she could handle this very simple thing, but I guess not.
Around 3:30, Mother and I started preparations for supper....Parmesan potatoes, and turkey cheeseburgers. She does very well if I'm standing right over her, but she can't handle much without close supervision.
After supper, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, and then we watched a variety of one-hour shows recorded on DVR.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Sunday, Oct. 20
We were up around 7:30 to get ready to go to another town to shop for shelving for a storage shed. We were dressed and ready around 9 a.m. I accompanied Mother to our house to wait until it was time to leave.
We left home around 10:15. We had traveled for about 30 minutes when Hubbie realized he'd forgotten to bring along gift cards that he meant to use in purchasing the shelving. But we didn't to turn around, so we arrived at the other town just before 11:30.
I had alerted Daughter that we planned to be in the town, so she, along with a great-granddaughter and and great-grandson, met us at a favorite restaurant.
We enjoyed lunch and visiting, and afterward, we went to a home improvement store to choose shelving. It didn't take long to find what we wanted. While Hubbie paid for them and then took them to the van, the rest of us browsed the holiday section of the store, where Daughter spied inexpensive cardboard glasses, something like 3-D glasses, that when worn make Christmas lights appear to be shaped like stars, Santas, or snowmen. Since they were only $1.98, I bought a pair to use as a novelty as Christmastime.
After a fun visit, we were ready to head home around 1:30. Got back mid-afternoon, and watched a movie a TV called "Touchback." This PG-13 film was about a high school football player who was no longer able to play after a severe fracture to his leg.
His life becomes so frustrating as an adult that he attempt suicide. But instead of succeeding, he is transported back in time to relive his football career. This time, he has to make the choice during the state championship game to not play, to play, but take no chances, or to make the same play he did as a teen. Of course, after a sort of "It's a Wonderful Life" experience, he decides to make the same play he did in high school, with the same result. Except this time, he knows he wants to live and go back to his family.
After the movie, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, and then Hubbie and I watched a couple of episodes of a new continuing series from PBS channel, called "The Paradise." The series revolves around the lives and loves of the people who work at and shop in a Victorian-era department store in England.
We left home around 10:15. We had traveled for about 30 minutes when Hubbie realized he'd forgotten to bring along gift cards that he meant to use in purchasing the shelving. But we didn't to turn around, so we arrived at the other town just before 11:30.
I had alerted Daughter that we planned to be in the town, so she, along with a great-granddaughter and and great-grandson, met us at a favorite restaurant.
We enjoyed lunch and visiting, and afterward, we went to a home improvement store to choose shelving. It didn't take long to find what we wanted. While Hubbie paid for them and then took them to the van, the rest of us browsed the holiday section of the store, where Daughter spied inexpensive cardboard glasses, something like 3-D glasses, that when worn make Christmas lights appear to be shaped like stars, Santas, or snowmen. Since they were only $1.98, I bought a pair to use as a novelty as Christmastime.
After a fun visit, we were ready to head home around 1:30. Got back mid-afternoon, and watched a movie a TV called "Touchback." This PG-13 film was about a high school football player who was no longer able to play after a severe fracture to his leg.
His life becomes so frustrating as an adult that he attempt suicide. But instead of succeeding, he is transported back in time to relive his football career. This time, he has to make the choice during the state championship game to not play, to play, but take no chances, or to make the same play he did as a teen. Of course, after a sort of "It's a Wonderful Life" experience, he decides to make the same play he did in high school, with the same result. Except this time, he knows he wants to live and go back to his family.
After the movie, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, and then Hubbie and I watched a couple of episodes of a new continuing series from PBS channel, called "The Paradise." The series revolves around the lives and loves of the people who work at and shop in a Victorian-era department store in England.
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