Wednesday, Jan. 29

Up at 6 a.m. on this frigid morning to get ready to go to water aerobics. Hubbie drove me to the gym around 7:15, so I wouldn't have to walk from the parking lot a distance away.

Pastures, white with frost, and dotted with cattle, were a stark contrast to the bright sun that cast a red glow on winter-bare trees. The temperature in our part of the state was only ten degrees, but thankfully, there was no wind.

The water in the pool was exceptionally cool today. When I arrived, five women were already in the water. They warned me that the water was cold, but since they were in there, I decided to brave it, too. Yowee! It was icy! But I inched my way into deep water, anyway.

Eleven of us attended, but several left before they even tried the water. Our leader opted to shorten the session, but keep us moving so we wouldn't freeze. I left early, since I'd asked Hubbe to come back for me about 8:45. My watch and the clock at home are obviously not synchronized, though, because I had to wait in the cold for a few minutes before he got there. Could have hiked to the parking lot in that amount of time. Let that be a lesson to me.

Back home, I lingered over cups of hot coffee in an attempt to thaw out a little, then went upstairs to stand in a hot shower for a while.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house mid-morning. Before I went upstairs, I gathered onions, banana peppers, and ham, which she diced and cubed, so that when I came back down, I could put together two recipes of eleven-bean soup. I added spices and Rotel, and simmered the soup for an hour or so. When it cooled, I put it in styrofoam cups, and Hubbie stored them in the freezer. We'll deliver them to the art gallery on Saturday for the Souper Saturday fundraiser.

Later, after lunch, Mother went to her jigsaw puzzle, and Hubbie and I fetched decorations from their assorted hiding places, where they were stowed for the holidays. That is, we fetched what we could find.

One tote of stuff went missing for quite a while. It was one that Hubbie stashed away. He hunted everywhere for it...in the shed, in our bedroom, in the store room, in the spare bedroom. He just couldn't find it.

So I went in search of it, and located it the spare bedroom, under a couple of other totes. He declared that he was going to attach a list to the top of the tote next time so he could find it. I said that if he failed to note where he put the tote, a list on the lid wouldn't help him find it, especially if it was buried beneath other totes. He insisted that a list would help him find it. I argued that a list would only tell him what was in the tote, not where he put the tote in the first place.

Once we'd located everything, I decorated the mantel, the top of the China cabinet, and other surfaces. The den and dining room are back in order again. The holidays are truly over now.

Later, Mother julienned veggies for a stir fry supper. I decided on this meal in order to use up some veggies in the fridge...mushrooms, celery, carrots, sugar snap peas, yellow squash, bell peppers, and onions. To this mix, I added a partial package of stir fry veggies from the freezer. Served the veggies over rice, of course. It was pretty good, and Mother even asked for a second helping.

Mother stayed around for a little while to watch TV. After one show, she was ready to go home, so Hubbie accompanied her. Then we finished the evening watching "The Tudors."