Tuesday, Jan. 28

Up around 8 a.m., and did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house mid-morning, and she sorted beans for 11-bean soup, which we'll cook tomorrow after the beans have soaked overnight.

Once I was ready for the day, I gathered laundry. We've been so busy lately that the laundry had piled up. Caught up on it today, though.

It was a day for doing this and that...nothing earth-shaking, but little things I've neglected that needed attention.

I decided it was time to take the winter village off the mantel, so Hubbie took care of that task. Now, I'll need to gather the regular decorations and finish getting the house back to normal after Christmas. I thought I was the only one who has dragged my feet in getting things in order again, but everyone I've talked with so far has remarked on being slow putting their households back together after the holidays. Maybe it's the weather.

Lunch today was the usual Ramen noodle soup for Mother, to which I added a couple of pieces of cold fried chicken, cheese, and crackers with Italian cream cheese. Hubbie and I had leftover veggie soup. Hubbie had a ham and cheese sandwich with his, and I had crackers and Italian cream cheese.

Afterward, Mother went to her jigsaw puzzle, Hubbie ran errands, and I continued doing this and that, including returning a phone call to an Extension Homemaker friend, who wanted me to help her identify ladies in a photo taken years ago.

She commented that she never forgot my advice to her, after her first daughter was born, to date and ID photos, because after a while, when more children came along, she'd have trouble knowing which baby was which in photos. She didn't believe me, but she went ahead and heeded the advice anyway. Sure enough, when she compares photos of her daughters now, she said she would not be able to tell them apart without the written IDs. No matter how much we think we couldn't possibly forget that unique and precious face, the fact is, newborns look an awfully lot alike, so it's best to name and date photos.

Printed a couple of $2 coupons for products I regularly use. To do that, I was required of course to sign up at the site, creating a password that used "at least one upper case letter, one lower case letter, a number, and one of  a choice of several symbols." Finally managed that and got my coupons.

Later, I fixed breakfast-for-supper. Sauteed salad veggies...onions, bell pepper, and mushrooms...and scrambled them with egg substitute and cheese. I tried to toast leftover hamburger buns, but somehow managed to burn them. So we had regular toast and jelly with the eggs. Also served a side of canned pears topped with cottage cheese. Cups of hot coffee rounded out the meal.

Mother stayed around long enough afterward to watch an episode of "Castle," and then Hubbie accompanied her home. Then Hubbie and I watched our favorite basketball team, as they played to an unfortunate loss. It was a good game, though, with the score even-up several times before our team fell short at the end.

Finished the evening watching the President's State of the Union address.