Saturday, December 14, 2013

Saturday, Dec. 14

Got up around 7 a.m. this morning, but skipped my exercises again, so I could get ready to go downtown to the art gallery to conduct a kids' workshop on making Christmas houses, using milk cartons, graham crackers, icing, and various candies.

Hubbie and I arrived at the gallery around 9:30, and we, along with the art council director set things up for the kids, who began arriving about twenty minutes later.

A dozen kids attended, and as usual, enthusiastically threw themselves into creating gingerbread houses. Kids are so uninhibited that they naturally know there is no right or wrong way to craft, so they come up with some delightful creations.

We agreed to do only the morning session, since there were other things we wanted to do during the afternoon. I knew that once the director and her helper saw how the houses are created, they would be able to handle the afternoon session without us.

Most of the kids were done with their houses by 11 a.m., so we headed out before 11:30 to go to a Christmas craft fair at the sheriff's boys ranch. All we wanted from the fair was the wonderful, large, fluffy cinnamon rolls. We bought a half dozen of them and then came home for lunch...potato soup for Mother, and chili for Hubbie and me.

Mother had stayed home this morning, but Hubbie brought her over as soon as we returned from the gallery, so she could join us for lunch.

After lunch, she went to her jigsaw puzzle, and Hubbie and I went Christmas shopping and to a basketball game. I warned Mother that we would be gone all afternoon, and until around 6 p.m. She was okay with it, though I'm edgy about leaving her so long.

However, as luck would have it, Niece and Great-Nephew arrived shortly after we left, and they spent the entire afternoon with Mother. If I had made sure Mother had her cell phone with her, I could have touched base mid-afternoon, and then I would have learned that Niece was here, and I could have relaxed. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Anyway, Hubbie and I went to the greeting card shop first, where I used a $5 discount on $10 spent to buy several packages of Jelly Belly candy to use as a Twelve Days of Christmas gift for Mother. Then we went to a department store, where I used a $10 off $25 to buy a fleece jacket for Mother for Christmas. The jacket has a blue and beige pattern, so she can wear several colors of the mock turtleneck shirts with it that I bought for her. A gift box came with the jacket, which is something different. I don't remember the store offering free gift boxes before. But it's sure handy.

I also applied gift cards I've had for quite a while toward the purchase of a pair of brown low-top boots, like the black ones I bought last year. I wanted a pair last year when they were on sale, but they had none in my size. Today, the boots were discounted, and there was only one pair in my size, so I snapped them up.

From there, we went to the home improvement store, where I bought two door mats for Mother's porch...one is large for the top of the ramp, and the other is a small one for in front of the door. They are in the dirt brown colors that Mother favors. These will be part of her Christmas gifts.

Went to the dollar store after that to buy a soft Teddy bear for one of the cats that takes every opportunity to snatch one of my bears from a basket in our bedroom. I'm hoping that if the cat has her own bear, she'll leave mine alone, But that's probably just wishful thinking.

Our last stop was a farm store, and then we headed back to town to see if we could find cups of coffee at a fast food restaurant. The one we stopped at had no decaf, so we decided to go to a coffee shop. It was closed. Tried a coffee/sandwich shop. Nope, it was closed.

Gave up then, and went on to the college to find a parking place before the basketball game started. Lucked out and found one near the gym, despite the fact that high school playoff games were in full swing.

The game we were there to attend was the college basketball game. We were there in time to see the second half of a high school girls' game, though.

The mens' game started at 4 p.m. Before it began, Niece, Great-Niece, and Niece's father-in-law and wife arrived. Today, Hubbie and I used the stadium seats that Hubbie bought recently. They are quite comfortable.

The game lasted longer than we hoped, since it ran into overtime. Unfortunately, our team lost by one point in the last seconds of the game. I was glad there was not a second overtime, because I would have insisted on leaving to come and check on Mother, since it was now 6:30 p.m.

At home, I learned that Niece had tried to get Mother to let her fix supper for her, but Mother insisted she wasn't hungry and wanted to wait for me to return. So Niece and Great-Nephew left to go on to the capital city for supper...a thing that Great-Nephew wanted to do.

Niece and I  both felt guilty...me because I thought I'd left Mother too long and didn't get back in time to see to her supper at her usual meal time, and Niece because she felt she hadn't insisted strenuously enough about getting supper for her.

I'm just so glad Niece was here to entertain Mother for the afternoon, though.

Anyway, we had potato soup and sandwiches for supper, and then Mother was ready to go home. Hubbie accompanied her, and then he and I watched TV for the evening.

Tomorrow, we are looking forward to a visit from Daughter, two granddaughters, and several great-grandchildren, who will join us for lunch, and then will make Christmas houses. This will also be our first time to see the newest addition to the family, a baby boy. Can't wait to get my hands on him.














Friday, Dec. 13

Today is Friday the 13th. Superstitious folks are leery of this date, but to me it's just another day.

I thought about attending water aerobics this morning, but when 6 a.m. rolled around, I dreaded too much getting out in the cold, icy morning, so I snuggled back into the blankets until around 8 a.m.

I opted out of exercising, too, since I needed to get ready to go to an 11 a.m. Christmas gathering of the water aerobics group. I dressed in a green sweater with a reindeer necklace for the festive occasion. The necklace is one I made of miniature clothespins several years ago, but every time I wear it, I get lots of comments on it. Today was no exception, and one lady even took a picture of it.

I arrived at the Italian restaurant shortly before eleven, and several ladies were already there. Eighteen of us showed up. Our leader said only nine attended the aerobics session this morning. Guess others were as lazy as I was.

Before I sat down to order my lunch, I bought a gift card to give to Mother as a Twelve Days of Christmas gift.

Today I ordered veggie pasta and fruit. With the garlic bread and marinara sauce, I was only able to eat half my meal. I brought the rest home.

Part of the talk today was about a couple of ladies who were injured in the ice storm. One fell and broke her ankle, and while at the hospital, she suffered kidney failure and nearly died. Her ankle could not be set until doctors got her kidneys under control. But now she is doing okay.

Another lady fell and broke her kneecap some weeks ago, and then, just as it was healed, she fell recently and broke it again. She's now in a cast.

When we finished lunch, we  played the Dirty Santa game. There were lots of nice things, but I ended up with a little candy dish, to be added to a tote of similar items I've received over the years that I don't need and will never use.

I had drawn the number 13 for the Dirty Santa game, so when it came my turn, I could have stolen someone elses gift, but I decided not to...I didn't want to feel guilty again, after stealing the birds at the Master Gardener party. So I just grabbed the first gift bag I saw on the table...thus the candy dish.

Back home, Hubbie had seen to Mother's and his own lunch. We didn't do much this afternoon but try to straighten a few things up for company. I'm afraid it's going to look messier than usual this weekend, though.

Later, for supper, I heated the leftover veggie pasta for Mother, and Hubbie and I had bowls of chili. Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, and then he and I went downtown to the art gallery to attend a reception for several artists that are featured in the gallery right now.

We left the reception around 6:30, and went to a church meeting hall, where members of the congregation were presenting the play, "Little Women." It was well done, and even Hubbie enjoyed it. The cast borrowed their Civil War era clothing from the local community theater. I was amused when one of the characters came onstage wearing the same dress I wore to the Civil War ball last spring.

This is the second performance sponsored by this church that we have attended. Last year, we saw "It's a Wonderful Life." The church has presented a play each year for the past ten years, but these are the only two we've attended. The performance was entirely free. I anticipated that folks would pass the collection plate during intermission, but they did not. I guess the plays are the church's gift to the community.

Back home, we watched a TV show, and then headed to bed.







Thursday, December 12, 2013

Thursday, Dec. 12

Up around 7:30, so I could make a fruit salad for the Master Gardener Christmas party at 11:30. I really should have made it last night to let the flavors meld. And I really should have checked my mandarin orange supply, because when I found some in the storeroom, I saw that they were out of date, and looked discolored. So Hubbie made a run to the nearest grocery store to buy a few cans of them.

Once the salad was made and in the fridge, I put together a couple of gifts...one with wine jelly, a tub of cream cheese, and a sleeve of snack crackers to give to the ladies at the beauty shop...and a "First Day of Christmas" gift for Mother (a pint jar of homemade peach jam).

After that, I went upstairs to shower and dress for the party. Meanwhile, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, and then he got ready.

Before we left, I fixed Mother a lunch of Ramen noodle soup, with crackers and pimento cheese.

We arrived at the party venue...the fellowship hall of a downtown church...around 11:20. A couple of folks were already there attempting to clear away ice from in front of the entrance. They mentioned that they had poured hot water on the ice, which immediately froze and made the entrance even more slick. I thought everyone knew that on a frigid day hot water freezes faster than cold water. Anyway, they resorted to Plan B and threw a rug over the ice.

About 30 people attended the party, far fewer than usual. There was enough food to feed an army, and when we'd eaten and then filled plates to bring home, the remainder of the catered turkey and dressing was donated to the local family violence prevention center.

Everyone brought side dishes, too, so there was a great variety of food, including desserts. We brought home turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, and several varieties of salad, as well as rolls and three kinds of dessert.

Following the meal, the members held a Dirty Santa gift exchange. Hubbie got a wall clock that features a winter scene with birds. I think he was hoping someone would steal it from him, so he could steal another person's gift of two wooden birds.

But no one stole the clock. The lady seated next to me stole the birds. At the end of the game, there was one gift remaining, and the MG president urged me to participate in the game. I protested, since I'm not a member of the group. But she insisted.

Here was my chance to get those birds. I stalled and hesitated, and felt guilty, but finally I stole the birds. So the lady I stole the birds from had to get another gift, and she stole one from someone else. That lady, then, came and got the birds. I protested, since I knew that I was the third person to get them, and the rule was that the third person gets to keep the gift.

However, the president said that I was only the second person. But someone else pointed out to her that the birds had been selected by one lady, then were stolen by the lady seated next to me, so when I got them, I was the third person, and should be able to keep them. The president agreed.

But I feel guilty on two counts...the fact that by rights I should not have participated in the game at all, and that I stole the silly birds from someone who obviously really wanted them. Maybe I should offer them back to her, even though she got a nice gift...a pack of educational playing cards from our local museum that feature facts about the occupancy of our town by the Confederacy during the Civil War, and a gift certificate to the museum gift shop.

After the party, we ran a couple of errands....to the newspaper office to leave this week's word search puzzle contest, and to the greeting card shop to find out what kind of discount I had on a card I received in the mail. Customers were not supposed to scratch off the the card to reveal the discount...it was supposed to be done by a store clerk. Since the offer expired December 15, I thought I'd better go ahead and do it.

I was pleasantly surprised to find I had gotten a 40% discount. So I browsed the stores jigsaw puzzles, and found a Christmas-themed one for Mother. Besides that, I bought this year's children's book in a series I've been buying each year for several years. So the clerk applied the 40% off coupon to the puzzle (it had to be applied to a single item), and then I used an about-to-expire $2 coupon on the book. I'm so glad I decided to stop by and use those coupons today. I love bargains.

We came back home after that. Mother was busy working her jigsaw puzzle, so Hubbie and I relaxed with the newspapers, and watching TV, until it was time for me to prepare supper for Mother. I heated cornbread dressing, turkey, sweet potatoes, and part of a roll for her, and then put a container of salads on the table for her to choose from.

Hubbie and I weren't hungry at 5 p.m, but later, around 7 p.m., Hubbie had a ham sandwich, and I opted for a bowl of chili.

Mother stayed here to watch a Christmas show from the Family Channel, and then Hubbie accompanied her to her house. We continued watching TV, including our favorite college basketball team, as they played to a win.











Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Wednesday, Dec. 11

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

Up this morning around 8 a.m., after lying awake until around 2:30 a.m. After breakfast, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, where she made a batch of pimento cheese, while I did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises.

After that, I went upstairs and typed instructions for making wine jelly. Since the lady who wants the instructions has never made jelly before, I listed every single thing she'll need for the process, and then gave detailed instructions for making the jelly.

Then I got ready for the day. By now, it was noon, so we sampled the pimento cheese in sandwiches. After lunch, Mother diced veggies for making chili, and I started a pot of it simmering.

Today, I used a chub of 85/15 ground turkey in the chili, since there was no other choice at the WDCS yesterday. In fact, there were lots of empty shelves in the meat counters. And for the first time that I can remember, the deli was completely closed down. I suppose the icy weather kept delivery trucks from running.

Mother went to her jigsaw puzzle after the chili was on the stove. Hubbie occupied himself with this and that, and I goofed off reading several back issues of newspapers, and playing on my tablet.

The chili was good at suppertime. I had just enough time to finish my meal before I had to go downtown to attend a visual arts committee meeting.

If I had known how much ice was piled up along the sidewalk curb, I probably wouldn't have gone to the meeting. I had to park a quite a way from the gallery, and since I didn't want to risk sliding on the icy curb, I walked down the street until I found a place less piled with it, and carefully accessed the sidewalk.

Much of the meeting dealt with an upcoming juried art show, which I'm only barely interested in. But one agenda item involved viewing an artist's work to decide if we wanted to agree to a gallery show. We did agree, though her collage work does nothing for me. I try not to cast my vote based on personal preferences, though.

The meeting ended around 6:30, when I had even more difficulty getting over that ice pile. Someone had parked in the space where I'd crossed to the sidewalk earlier, so I tried gaining access to the street from in front of the gallery.

Another committee member managed to hold onto a light pole and step over the ice. I'm much shorter than she is, though, so I couldn't stretch that far without slipping. So I prevailed upon her to lend me a supportive arm, since she was on firm footing. She did, and I stepped safely onto the street.

I was back home before 7 p.m., and Hubbie and I finished the evening watching TV.





 

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Tuesday, Dec. 10

Up around 8 a.m. on this cold morning. Did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast.

Hubbie checked on Mother around 9 a.m. In a few minutes he rushed back inside and grabbed a broom.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Your mother insisted on coming over today," he said, "so I need to sweep the water off the porch."

"Where is she?" I asked.

"Outside waiting for me," he said. In a minute, he helped her in the door."

"What are you doing here?" I asked.  "I thought you'd want to stay home, since it's still frozen outside."

"Well, he insisted that I come over," she said, indicating Hubbie.

I think it's more likely that Mother did the insisting. She probably had a case of cabin fever and just wanted to trade "cabins" for a while. She also wanted company.

She went to her jigsaw puzzle, while I went upstairs to get ready for the day. Hubbie decided he had cabin fever, too, and wanted to go run errands.

 He had a 10 a.m. dental appointment this morning, but since he's got a mild cold, he decided to call his hygienist to see if she wanted him to meet his appointment, or postpone it. She preferred he postpone it to next Tuesday.

Just the same, he wanted to get out and run around. But when I didn't hear the van leave, I looked out the window to see him, shovel in hand, trying to chip the ice from around the tires. Seems the vehicle had frozen to driveway and wouldn't move. But the shovel and some kitty litter, he finally freed it.

By this time, though, he was frustrated and tired, so he came inside to rest and have a cup of hot coffee. The errands could wait.

Later, I fixed a lunch of scrambled eggs with cheese and leftover fried potatoes, and served with toast and jelly.

Then we waited for the pest control guy to come. He was scheduled to be here between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. But around 1:30 p.m., he called to say the weather prevented him from keeping his appointments, and he will re-schedule in a week or so.

So Hubbie and I decided to run some errands, now that the van was free, and Hubbie was rested. We went to the bank, the post office, the Extension Office (to drop off Christmas stockings...our scrapbook club donation...which are to be filled and given to underprivileged children), and to a grocery pharmacy to pick up prescription, and several dozen cans of icing for the children's Christmas house workshop this weekend.

By now it was 2:45, and time for my haircut appointment. Hubbie dropped me off and then ran another errand. I was sort of surprised to see a long rug rolled out from the front door. It was to cover an icy patch, but when anyone walked in the door, we were greeted with, "I guess you noticed we rolled out the rug for you!"

My hairdresser was delighted to see I brought along a bucket of fruited popcorn...her favorite. I mentioned that I would have also brought a jar of wine jelly, but I wasn't sure how it would be received.

Some folks get offended at even the hint of alcohol. But my hairdresser and the others were enthusiastic about the jelly and assured me they wanted some. One even wants the recipe. So I'll deliver some to them in the next day or so.

From the beauty shop, we went to a dollar store, and then to the WDCS to satisfy a fairly long list of items. It was 4:30 by the time we were finished.

Came back home and unloaded and put away everything. Mother was ready to go home, so Hubbie accompanied her. Then we went to a business downtown for a reception. The folks here did a splendid job with the food. And we were hungry after running around town all afternoon.

Refreshments included delicious hot brisket, with slider buns for making sandwiches, served with salad, dips and chips, crackers and cheese, and a variety of desserts.

When we had eaten, we brought home a plate of the goodies for Mother's supper. She really enjoyed it. I sat with her while she ate.

For the secretary/receptionist of the business, I took a gift of jars of wine jelly and crab apple jelly, neither of which this lady had ever eaten. So she is anxious to try them. I also put a tub of cream cheese in with the gift, though I figured there would be plenty of crackers left from today's reception that she can take home.

We were back home around 6 p.m. Later, we watched the first episode of the "Bonnie and Clyde" mini-series. Unfortunately, I seem to have recorded the first episode twice, but didn't get episode two. I'll have to record that one when it repeats on Dec. 21.

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Note one: we were a bit perturbed when we arrived at the WDCS and waited on some folks to load their purchases into a truck and then vacate the space near the store. They'd bought a lot, so it took quite a while for them to finish loading. But that's not what aggravated us. It was that the young man decided to light up and then stand there leaning on the hood of the truck while he smoked. We drove around and came back a few minutes later, and he was still there, draped over his hood, puffing away. We finally gave up and parked a half a world away, and picked our way over the ice to the store.

Note two: outside the store, we met one of the water aerobics members who has not come to the pool in a very long time. She invited me to her annual "Cup of Cheer" get together at her house on Dec. 19. She also asked that I tell all the others at water aerobics about the party.

Since I'm not sure I'll be attending this week, I sent a message to the water aerobics leader, who can make an announcement at the pool tomorrow or Friday.





















Monday, December 9, 2013

Monday, Dec. 9

Up around 8 a.m. on this still-frozen morning. Did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast.

Once I was ready for the day, I did this and that around the house, including several loads of laundry, and putting away summer clothes and getting out the winter ones. I'm late getting to that project, but the current weather inspired me to the task. Up until now, the weather has been warm one day and cool the next, so that I needed both kinds of clothing.

But now that Christmas is fast approaching, it was necessary to unearth my holiday sweaters and matching turtleneck shirts. Once I dug those out, I was on a roll to dig everything else out.

After that, I made lists...groceries needed over the next several days, menus, gift lists, and chores lists. There's a lot to do and not much time to do it before Christmas. Several days of illness, followed by several days of wintry weather, has not helped.

Speaking of illness, Mother now has a full-blown cold, and Hubbie is beginning to sniffle and cough. There are several events coming up this week, but I don't know if they'll feel like going or not.

One event...the luncheon/educational talk at the hospital scheduled for tomorrow at noon has been cancelled, but so far the other events of the week are still on, as far as I know.

At lunchtime, I heated soup for Mother, and Hubbie took it over to her house. He and I had a soup lunch too, and afterward we made a batch of fruited popcorn. I plan to take this to the beauty shop tomorrow afternoon, when I go for a haircut.

Relaxed with the newspapers after that until time to fix supper. Tonight, we had a variety of leftovers, which I heated in the oven. Hubbie and I carried the meal to Mother's house, and joined her for supper.

After supper, we played several games of Skipbo. Each of us won a game. At 8:30, we returned home and watched TV until bedtime.

Not a very exciting day, and we are beginning to feel the effects of being too long confined to the house. In fact, if I hadn't protested, Hubbie would have hopped in the van and run around town today, but I felt that one more day was needed to make road conditions better.

Today, traffic is flowing pretty near normally. Lots of vehicles on the road, plus the snow plow making another run up and down it today, should have beaten the ice back sufficiently to make travel safe by tomorrow.

Of course, there is a small threat of more sleet, and maybe snow flurries, tonight, but hopefully it won't be enough to add ice to the road.















Sunday, December 8, 2013

Sunday, Dec. 8

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

Slept late this morning. Skipped my exercises after breakfast, and just went ahead and got ready for the day.

Did this and that for the morning, and then close to lunchtime, I heated leftovers, and made a pan of cornbread. Hubbie took the cornbread to Mother's house and put it in the oven. When the leftovers were hot, we took them the Mother's and had lunch with her.

After lunch, we spent the afternoon playing Skipbo with Mother. Around 2 p.m., we put a pan of brownies in the oven to snack on around 3 p.m.

Around 4:30 p.m., we returned home. Later, close to 7 p.m., we heated Ramen noodle soup for Mother, and Hubbie took a bowl of it to her for her supper. Hubbie and I had bowls of potato soup, with blueberry muffins.

Because it continues to be icy, and because Mother has the sniffles, she won't be venturing out to come to our house tomorrow. In fact, I'm not sure what she'll feel up to doing this week. We'll just have to take it day-by-day.

Wintry weather and illnesses are sure putting a crimp in our Christmas festivities. Today, for instance, the "Festival of Lessons and Carols" was scheduled for this afternoon, but was cancelled. One-by-one, events are being cancelled or postponed.

Prediction for tomorrow is freezing fog, which can add to road problems. Schools, colleges, and some businesses will be closed. Fortunately, we have nowhere to go tomorrow, so we'll hunker down as we've done the last few days.

Today, a snow plow cleared the highway in front of our house, but in so doing, it flung ice to the left and right, piling it up on driveway entrances, including ours. Even if we are able to get out on Tuesday, Hubbie will first have to knock down that barrier to the highway.

And I certainly hope we are able to get out Tuesday, because that day is loaded with appointments...a morning visit to the dentist for Hubbie, a luncheon program at the hospital at noon, a visit from the pest control guy sometime between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., a haircut appointment for me at 3 p.m., and a Christmas reception that we are obliged to attend between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

This evening, Hubbie and I wasted the evening as usual, watching TV, including a couple of Hallmark Christmas movies.