Saturday, Dec. 7

Today is Pearl Harbor Day. Seventy-two years ago today, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked a U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which led the United States into World War II. A month later, I took my first breath. We would have flown the flag on the well house, except that the yard is solid ice.

The road out front is solid ice, too, so very little traffic traveled on it today, and what did crawled along at a snail's pace. Since it's the weekend, most folks are wisely staying home. But if this winter stuff doesn't go away soon, folks will either begin braving it, or risk cabin fever. We in the south don't take well to being confined for long.

I slept late this morning, until around 8 a.m. After breakfast, I hopped into my exercise clothes and did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises. It felt good to exercise again after almost two weeks away from it. I was afraid I'd be forced to do an abbreviated session, but I got through the whole routine just fine.

My cough seems to be subsiding, too, and there's no more nose blowing. I'm almost recovered, I think.

While I exercised, Hubbie went over to Mother's house, and discovering how slick the ground and the ramp are, he advised against Mother trying to walk over here.

When he returned, he put color in my hair, in anticipation of a haircut appointment early next week. I hope there is a thaw before then, or I'll have to change my appointment. The weathermen are predicting more frozen stuff tonight, but mainly for counties east of us, so maybe we'll dodge it this time.

Once I was ready for the day, I prepared a Ramen noodle soup lunch for Mother, which Hubbie took to her. When he returned, we had chicken salad sandwiches, and then we each occupied ourselves in our own activities.

My goal was to get several Christmas gifts ready, including a gift pack for the upcoming water aerobics Christmas party. This year, I'm giving two jars of my homemade jelly in the little wooden crate I bought at the recent Holiday Open House, plus a little birdhouse ornament. The gift will be part of the Dirty Santa game.

Did this and that around the house after that until around 3 p.m., when Hubbie and I sat down to watch our favorite college basketball team, as they played to a win.

After that, I heated potato soup and blueberry muffins for supper. Hubbie took servings to Mother, along with a slice of pound cake that I bought at the Friends of the Library fundraiser recently.

Hubbie watched a football game afterward, while I read a short book (only a few pages over 100), by the humorist, Dave Barry, called "The Shepherd, The Angel, and Walter, the Christmas Miracle Dog."

Later, we watched TV, including the 2012 movie, "Hitchcock," starring Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren. The film centers on the relationship between Hitchcock and his wife, Alma, and their collaboration on Hitchcock's most famous movie, "Psycho."

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Niece from New York called today. She was a little down, since this is the first Christmas season following the death of her dad (my brother). I did my best to comfort her and assure her that it would not dishonor her father to go ahead and bake cookies and decorate a tree. I reminded her that her dad loved Christmas, and she should celebrate in remembrance of him.

Friday, Dec. 6

It began sleeting last night about an hour after we returned from the basketball game, and was still sleeting when I got up this morning around 8:30.

Hubbie had been up since 7:30, but I guess he thought I needed that extra hour of rest. After breakfast, he accompanied Mother to our house. I was surprised she wanted to come over, since it was so cold outside. But the walkway was not slick, so she didn't want to stay home.

Once I was dressed, I grabbed my camera and took several shots of the wintry day through the windows. I was in no mood to go out in it, since I'm still nursing a persistent cough.

Spent the rest of the morning watching "The Sound of Music," starring Carrie Underwood. It was a passable performance, though not up to the standard of the Julie Andrews version. Still, we enjoyed it. I'm a nut for musicals, anyway.

After lunch, Mother went to her jigsaw puzzle, and Hubbie and I finished decorating for Christmas. I think it's all accomplished, at last.

Relaxed after that with the newspapers and my laptop until time to prepare supper.  I decided that blueberry muffins would be good with the potato soup we made yesterday, so Mother helped make a couple dozen of them. She mixed the ingredients as I read them to her, and then she painstakingly spooned the batter into the muffin tins. This procedure took quite a while, but I finally got the muffins into the oven close to 5 p.m., and we were ready to sit down to supper by 5:30.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house afterward, and then we wasted the evening watching TV, including a Lifetime Movie Network feature called, "Ring of Fire," a new version of the Johnny Cash/June Carter Cash story.

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Note one: yesterday, we were unable to find our black cat with the injured hip. By nighttime, we were convinced she had slipped out as Hubbie went out or came in the sunroom door. But later today, she came wandering out from under the hot tub. We don't know why she holed up there for so many hours.

We don't know where she's holed up tonight, because once again we can't locate her. But we do know she's in the house somewhere, since we didn't let out into the sunroom after we found her today.

Note two: despite predictions for ice that would cause widespread power outages, there was only sleet here, and though the groud is as white as though there had been a snowfall, the power stayed on.

Some parts of the state did experience power outages, though, and the town where Hubbie's sister lives is one of them. Folks there really didn't need another weather-related disaster, after a recent tornado that demolished several buildings in the small town.

Thursday, Dec. 5

Up around 7:30. Skipped my exercises, as I've done the past week, because of this illness. But I'm getting antsy to start back again. Got showered and dressed, then had breakfast.

Stayed glued to the TV all morning watching reports of an impending ice storm headed our way. It's expected to hit tomorrow, so we spent a good part of today getting ready for it.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 9:30, and then he ran errands to get gas for the generator, kerosene for the large heater, and propane for the camper. He also picked up a few grocery items, and kitty litter for melting ice in the walking paths from Mother's house.

We made sure there are batteries in the boom box radio, and enough water drawn for a few days. We made pump pots of coffee, and potato soup (Mother helped with this). We also charged all the electronic devices in case the power goes out tomorrow.

With the potato soup, and the leftovers from the past couple of days, we won't have to cook for several meals. And if we do have a power outage beyond the pre-prepared foods, we can cook in the camper, where there is a gas stove. We can also stay out there, if we need to.

I think we are ready, though I pray we don't have an outage.

We were supposed to go to a tree lighting event at noon, sponsored by Caring Hands Hospice, but since we were busy getting ready for tomorrow, we skipped it. This event includes an opportunity to purchase an ornament in honor of a loved one who has passed away. I will want to get one of the ornaments in remembrance of my brother, who died a few months ago.

Got a call from the art gallery director this morning saying that the Christmas House workshop, scheduled for Saturday, has been cancelled. We worked it out to re-schedule it for Dec. 14. I agreed to do the morning session of the workshop, and the the young women helpers can do the afternoon session, because there is a basketball game scheduled that afternoon, and I know Hubbie will want to go.

Two of my granddaughters and several of my great-grandchildren were scheduled to come to the workshop this Saturday, but when I advised them of the cancellation, they decided that instead of coming up on Dec. 14, a better time would be Sunday, Dec. 15.

Once Mother had finished dicing veggies for the soup, she started another puzzle...a Christmas themed one, and I did this and that around the house, including clearing spaces to put up more Christmas decorations.

Later, for supper, we had leftover beans and ham, fried potatoes, and cabbage. Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house afterward, and then he and I went to the college for a basketball game.

I really would have rather not gotten out on this cold, rainy night, but I could tell Hubbie wanted to go, so I bundled up really well and went with him.

Niece was there, with the toddler baby, so we sat with her and visited. Fortunately, our team pulled out a much needed win, since they are six and two right now. During halftime, an announcement was made that tomorrow night's game has been postponed until the end of January. Yay, because there is no way I would consider going over there tomorrow night.

Back home, we enjoyed hot drinks, watched TV for a while, and headed to bed.

Wednesday, Dec. 4

Slept late, until after 8 a.m. Hubbie had gotten up about an hour earlier. He checked on me just after I got up, and found me already in the bathroom showering.

After breakfast, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, and then he ran errands. Today, I wanted to decorate the large Christmas tree, but I needed his help with it, so I just did this and that until he returned, which was around noon.

Following lunch, we started the decorating project. Ran into a problem with the lights right away, which required that Hubbie go to a home improvement store. When he returned, we finally got busy. We worked all afternoon stringing lights and garland, and putting hundreds of ornaments on the tree...ornaments we've collected over 33 years of marriage.

Because I've been feeling crappy, I was sorely tempted this year to skip putting up this enormous tree, since there is already an average-size "white" one in the living room. Two is probably overkill for a home without children, but this is Mother's favorite tree, which reminds her of trees of the past, when I was young....eclectic decorations and multi-colored lights.

The white tree is Hubbie's favorite, maybe because of its calm, monochromatic theme of mostly white decorations, white lights, and pearl garlands. It is the one he can see from his seat at the dining room table.

The trees really are very pretty, and we enjoy sitting in the living room and looking at them. Family will enjoy them, too, when they visit through the holidays. So I guess it was all worth it.

This season has not gotten off to a good start, though, what with me being sick all through the Thanksgiving holiday and into the first week of December. Already, I've had to opt out of several events that I would have liked to attend, and now, with the predicted wintry weather Friday, I learned from a water aerobics member that our Christmas party has been postponed until a week from tomorrow.

She also said there will be no water aerobics sessions this Friday or next Monday. As it happens, I'm not ready to get back in the pool yet, anyway, so now I won't have to feel bad about not going.

The problem, though, is that Hubbie's Master Gardener Christmas party is scheduled for a week from tomorrow, the same day as the re-scheduled water aerobics party. Mother really likes going to the water aerobics party, and Hubbie assures us he won't mind if we choose that one over the Master Gardener one, so that's what we might do.

The wintry weather could also change plans for the Kids' Christmas House Workshop, scheduled for Saturday at the art gallery. Even if the workshop goes on, Daughter, two grandddaughters, and several great-grandchildren might opt out of coming.

It's a case of wait and see.

Later, I cooked a fresh batch of spaghetti to go with the sauce from a couple of days ago, and we had this for supper. After supper, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, and then we watched sappy Christmas movies from the Lifetime Channel.

Tuesday, Dec. 3

Today is Granddaughter's birthday. Happy Birthday, Granddaughter!

Slept late this very foggy morning, until around 8 a.m. Skipped my exercises after breakfast, of course, because I'm still coughing. A little sneezing and blowing going on, but not as much. I feel a lot better than I have for the past few days.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 9 a.m., and as soon as I was dressed and ready, we put a pot of beans on to simmer. Mother diced onions, carrots, and banana peppers, as well as the remaining ham from Thanksgiving, and then I added cans of beef and chicken broth, no-salt seasoning, pepper, paprika, and garlic.

After that, we began work on the "white" Christmas tree in the living room. The first thing we needed to do was put a string on lights on the top portion of the tree, since only the lights on bottom of this pre-lit tree work.

As soon as we got the string on the tree, Hubbie plugged them in. Half of the lights didn't work, even though Hubbie had tried all the strands yesterday, and they worked.

So, we put another strand on the tree. Now there were the two strands of lights we put on it, plus the "pre-lit" ones already on the tree. There's an absolute mass of lights on that upper portion, but ornaments disguise them. If those pre-lit ones on the bottom quit, I'm going to scream.

After lunch, we spent a couple of hours putting ornaments on the tree. When we were done, Hubbie ran a couple of errands. Mother dozed, while I caught up on reading newspapers, made a haircut appointment, talked (very briefly) with one of the scrapbook club members, and played on my e-tablet.

Later, Hubbie peeled potatoes and sliced them in the food processor, and grated a head of cabbage. Mother diced an onion, and then I fried the potatoes and onions, along with seasonings, in a little olive oil, and cooked the cabbage in a little olive oil and chicken broth, plus seasonings.

Mother mixed a batch of cornbread, which I put in the oven, along with a pan of biscuits, and we had supper at our usual 5 p.m. hour. Ordinarily, I would have attended a meeting of the college Friends of the Library executive board tonight, but I e-mailed the president of the board yesterday to explain why I could not attend.

After supper, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, and then he and I watched TV, including our favorite college basketball team, as they mopped the floor with their opponents.





 

Monday, Dec. 2

Slept better last night, and got up around 7:30. Dense fog this morningStill coughing a little, but not as much, so maybe I'm on the road to recovery. I skipped my exercises, of course, and just went ahead and showered and dressed.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 9:30. She's a little under the weather, with a scratchy throat. But so far she seem okay. Maybe this malady will skip her.

The first thing I did this morning was call the scrapbook club members to cancel our meeting, scheduled for tomorrow.

We also decided not to try to go to the Christmas parade tonight, so it wasn't necessary to take a vehicle downtown and leave it in parking space near the parade route.

As it happened, the truck needed attention, anyway, since it wouldn't start when Hubbie tried it last night. This morning, he had to call our road service to come and jump the battery. A guy arrived around 10 a.m. Once the truck was running, Hubbie took it to our favorite auto shop. Naturally, the truck needed a new (and very expensive) battery. Guess we can't complain, since the old battery had been in there since 2008.

When Hubbie returned, we began working on putting the Christmas village on the mantel. This is always a chore, and it wasn't helped by several big power strips and piles of cords, making it difficult to maneuver the boxes I use to make levels and the houses into place.

Finally, Hubbie decided to go in search of something different to plug the houses into and returned with one long power strip, which made the job a little easier.

While he was gone, I fluffed the branches on the two artificial trees in the living room, and learned that only the lights on the lower half of the pre-lit tree we bought last year work. The lights were only guaranteed for one year, and I guess they weren't about to go one moment beyond that.  So we'll have to add strings to the upper portion. Maybe pre-lit trees aren't such a great thing, after all.

At least the village is up now, so tomorrow we'll begin on decorating the trees.

Around 3 p.m., I put a pan of spaghetti sauce on to simmer, and then relaxed with a stack of newspapers.

Later, I cooked the spaghetti, and we enjoyed this meal that wasn't Thanksgiving fare. After supper, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, then we watched TV, as usual.

I noticed that Hubbie is getting hoarse now. Phooey.

Sunday, Dec. 1

December 1...Christmas right around the corner. The first two weeks of the month are loaded with events, but it looks like I might have to miss some of them, thanks to this lingering malady. Today, for instance, there was a tour of historic homes scheduled. The weather was nice for the tour, and I usually enjoy seeing the old homes decorated for Christmas. But I just wasn't up to it today.

I'll also miss water aerobics all week, but I do hope I'll feel well enough to attend the Christmas party on Friday. There's a charity bingo Tuesday night, benefiting the Literacy Council; a tree lighting on Thursday at noon, sponsored by Caring Hands Hospice; two evening basketball games at the college; and the graham cracker cookie Christmas house workshop on Saturday. Some of my great-grandchildren are hoping to attend that, so I hope I'll be well. And I hope that predictions for possible wintry weather do not come to pass to cancel the event.

I'm still coughing today, and my diaphragm is really sore from all that coughing. But I think I might not be coughing as much. Family has urged me to see my doctor, though I think there is little that can be done, since antibiotics are not prescribed for colds or viruses, and this is one or the other, or a combination of both, I think. But if I'm still hacking in the morning, I'll consider seeing a doctor.

Slept late this morning (when I could sleep, with the coughing). Sis accompanied Mother to our house around 9 a.m., and we spent the morning watching animated Christmas shows on DVD.

Lunch was Thanksgiving dinner one more time, after which I bagged up a lot of the leftovers for Sis to take home. Hubbie and I are not crazy about leftover turkey, but Sis will find creative ways to use it.

After lunch, Mother and Sis finished a jigsaw puzzle they started yesterday, and then mid-afternoon, Sis headed home.

Mother was ready to go home too, so Hubbie accompanied here. Then we wasted the rest of the afternoon and evening watching TV. Doing laundry and sending e-mail messages to friends. One was to thank my former Literacy Council student for a Thanksgiving message she left on my land line, and the other was to one of the water aerobics ladies to tell her I will not be attending sessions this week. Whenever anyone is missing from aerobics for a while, we all start worrying, so I thought I'd better let someone know why I'll be absent.