Monday, Jan. 13

Woke up around 4:30 this morning, and couldn't go back to sleep until about 5:30. I couldn't seem to turn my mind off, because I was trying to plan meals for this week. It seems to get harder and harder thinking up menu ideas that aren't repetitive.

Four-thirty in the morning is no time to tax my mind, though, so I was drowsy when we got up at 7:30. And besides, I only managed to think of what to serve for lunch and supper today. The rest of the week waited until I was up and around.

I did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast, and then I made tuna salad for lunch. After that, Hubbie put color in my hair in anticipation of a haircut appointment tomorrow.

By the time I was ready for the day, it was time for lunch. Mother, who loves fish of any kind, relished her tuna salad sandwich, but I was less pleased. I'm not  a real fish fan, and I'm especially not fond of canned tuna. I can tolerate the tuna in a pouch, but the canned kind has too much of a fishy taste. Despite my efforts to disguise its taste with onions, dill pickles, boiled egg, sliced almonds, pecans, Craisins, and salad dressing, it still wasn't palatable to me.

After lunch, Mother (Hubbie had accompanied to our house this morning) diced onions, carrots, and celery for stewing chicken. She also sliced mushrooms to be sauteed and put in the freezer. Then she went to her jigsaw puzzle.

I did this and that around the house for the rest of the afternoon, including planning meals for the rest of week, and downloading a John Grisham novel to our e-readers.

I also called our scrapbook club members to remind them of our monthly meeting on Thursday. Due to the holidays and wintry weather, we haven't met in a few months. Whenever I call these two ladies, who are widows, I can expect to be on the phone quite a while, and today was no exception. Talked about 30 minutes with each lady. Well, I say I talked...actually, I listened.

For supper I served the stewed chicken with mashed potatoes (Hubbie had peeled and cut them up, and I boiled them and mashed them), gravy, and English peas. It was a bit healthier food following restaurant meals over the weekend.

Mother chose to stay around and watch TV this evening. I had cut a slice of coconut cream pie for her to take home, but since she stayed here, she just enjoyed it when we had ours.