Tuesday, Jan. 14

I don't know what's up with me waking up around 4:30 in the morning, and then having trouble going back to sleep. But I did it again this morning.

Later, Hubbie was up before me, around 7:30, but I snoozed until about 8:30 a.m. Skipped my exercises so I could get ready to go for a haircut appointment at 11:30. I certainly didn't need that much time to dress, but I wanted to search again for the beauty shop gift cards I gave to Mother for Christmas. She said yesterday that she'd given them to me to keep track of, though I didn't remember her handing to me.

I didn't find the cards, so when Hubbie accompanied her to our house around 9:30, I asked if she'd checked her purse, as I suggested she do last night. She said she had, but they weren't there. However, they were in a pouch in her bedroom. When she found them, she remembered she'd put them there. Today, I did put the cards in my purse so I can keep track of them.

This morning, I noticed our black cat who was hit by a car and now has a gimpy hip was having difficulty using the litter box. I figured she was constipated and brought it to Hubbie's attention. He called the vet's office, and was told to bring the cat in around noon. He did that while we were at the beauty shop.

Mother and I arrived at the beauty shop around 11:15, and since both of our hairdressers were ready for us, we got our haircuts in short order. The talk today was about the prevalence of flu in the state, and the fact that it's disproportionately hitting young people between 20 and 50. About half of the deaths from the illness have been from that demographic. This is also a group that seems disinclined to get a flu vaccination.

The young hairdressers at the shop expressed that they don't want to put chemicals in their bodies. I'm willing to risk the chemicals in an attempt to avoid this deadly strain of flu. I know the vaccination is not 100% effective, but it is a hedge against it. I feel I have less of a chance of contracting it, or if I do get it, it could be a milder case.

It is said that those of us who lived in the 1940s and '50s have a greater immunity to the H1N1 strain, because we lived through a period when it was also prevalent. I remember getting a terrible case of flu while I was in high school, but have no idea if it was that particular strain. At that time, there was no flu vaccine, and we were unaware of what strain of flu we got.

Flu seems to be the major topic of conversation everywhere. It was a topic that came up when I talked to the scrapbook ladies, too. One of them said she really wished her daughter, son-in-law, and grandson would consider getting the vaccine, but they stubbornly refuse.

My hairdresser, who turned 50 last weekend (Jan. 11), refuses to get vaccinated, saying she has only been sick with flu one time in her life, so she feels she's healthy enough to avoid it or survive it if she gets it. But this strain of flu is hitting the healthy ones like her the hardest.

While I was putting Mother's walker in the van after we'd gotten our haircuts, I accidentally hit the panic button on the key I was holding in my hand. I quickly disengaged it, but when I looked in the windows of the beauty shop, I noticed the ladies were laughing at me.

Back home, I put noodles in the broth from the chicken I cooked yesterday, but since it was already noon, Mother didn't want to wait for the soup and opted instead to have Ramen noodle soup, with a side of tuna salad and crackers.

The soup was ready by the time Hubbie came back from the vet's office. He reported that the vet gave the cat a laxative and wanted to wait to see if it worked before he irrigated her. Hubbie also took our other black cat to the vet, because he is somehow losing all the hair on his underside and up his back legs. The vet said he thinks the cat is pulling his own hair out, though he doesn't know why. He gave the cat some medication to see if it stopped him from doing this.

After lunch, Mother and I worked on making a vegetable soup for supper. Mother sliced zucchini squash and potatoes, and diced carrots, celery, and bell pepper, and then I put the soup together to cook. The recipe calls for yellow squash, too, which I took from the freezer. It had been in there for a long time and needed to be used.

The soup also uses canned diced tomatoes, and two quarts of chicken broth, as well as spices (basil and oregano) and garlic. It also calls for cayenne and tobasco sauce, neither of which I used. Instead, I used a little chili powder, regular pepper, no salt seasoning, and paprika.

Spent the rest of the afternoon stowing things in the upstairs bathroom and doing other nit-picky things.

Later, I served the soup with slices of Sis's homemade bread that I'd stored in the freezer and then heated for supper. It was a very satisfying meal.

Hubbie accompanied Mother home afterward, and then at 7 p.m., he and I went to the college to watch a basketball game. Our team won handily.

I was amused at Niece's 18-month-old baby, who is learning to talk. It's obvious she's a member of a basketball family (her dad being the coach at the college).  She yelled "De-fense, de-fense, de-fense!" And, "Dunk it!"  Or, "Miss it!" Of course, sometimes she was cheering the wrong team, but it was cute anyway.

Back home around 9 p.m., we watched our favorite state college basketball team, as they played to a nail-biter win in overtime, after seventeen ties. I'd recorded the game on DVR.