Friday, Jan. 31

Another month has flown by. It has not been the most pleasant month weather-wise, though there were a few balmy days. New Year's, birthdays, an anniversary, and other celebrations brought bright spots to the month. But I am not sorry to see the January go, though I don't particularly look forward to February, particularly since wintry weather is forecast for the very first week.

We were up at 8 a.m. this morning, and I did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house mid-morning, and she went to her jigsaw puzzle, while I got ready for the day. 

Did this and that for the rest of the morning, and then for lunch, we each had something different....Ramen noodle soup for Mother, of course; 11-bean soup for Hubbie; and the remainder of the stir fry and some rice for me.

Afterward, Mother returned to her puzzle, while Hubbie and I ran errands...to the library; to the bank; to the greeting card shop, where I used a $2 coupon to buy a package of Jelly Belly's to give to Mother for Valentine's Day; to the pharmacy store to use two $2 coupons printed from an online site to buy personal products;to another bank to pick up tickets to an upcoming play ("Sleepy Hollow") by a children's theater in the capital city; to a tire store to pick up two old ones that we got for free to put on Sis's old truck, so we could have the two new ones removed before the truck is sold; to the auto repair shop to deliver the old tires; to WDCS for a few grocery items; and finally to a Mexican restaurant to buy a small container of cheese dip to go with a meal tomorrow night.

It was obvious today that folks are heeding predictions for wintry weather next week, because there were crowds everywhere we went, even at the library, where I suppose folks were laying in a stock of entertainment...DVD movies, audiobooks, and print books.

We traded "The Tudors" series for four other DVDs to enjoy during bad-weather days. The young woman behind the desk was visibly frazzled from having to wait on a long line of patrons. We are personally acquainted with the woman, whose bridal shower and wedding I attended several months ago. She and I were also on the community theater board together. She's a quiet, unassuming individual, and while working at a library seems suited to her personality, dealing with a crowd is not.

We were not surprised to see wall-to-wall people at the WDCS, where folks were no doubt buying milk and bread in case they are confined during the snow/ice, or whatever is coming. They might also have been stocking goodies for Super Bowl Sunday.

Back home, I relaxed until time to prepare supper. Mother helped by seasoning leftover mashed potatoes for making potato pancakes. I made a recipe of white gravy, and baked a can of biscuits. Not a very healthy meal, but it was filling.

Mother stayed around for a while to watch TV. Around 8 p.m., she was ready to go home, so Hubbie accompanied her. Then we continued watching TV, including the Lifetime feature, "Lizzie Borden Took an Ax."

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Note: we were shocked to learn from last night's local newspaper that there was a fire at our dentist's office. Firefighters managed to put it out fairly quickly, but there must have been some damage, because tonight's paper had an announcement that the clinic will be closed for a time until repairs can be made. Glad that both Hubbie and I have recently had our six-month exams.