Friday, Feb. 14

This is Valentine's Day. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone.

Up at 6 a.m. Hubbie and I exchanged Valentines during breakfast, then after breakfast,  I got ready for water aerobics. It was cloudy and pretty cool this morning for the trip to the college. I noticed that in the neighborhood near the college, snow/ice lingers on the lawns of houses facing north, while the yards across the street are clear, except for patches of the white stuff that persists on the north side of trees.

The pool was pleasant today, though a bit cooler than it was on Wednesday. Fourteen of us showed up...fourteen on Feb. 14. We were amused when one of the ladies suggested we should form ourselves into the shape of a heart in the pool. We did not do this.

I noticed when I went up to the pool area that another of those concrete tiles had fallen and smashed to the floor. No one left their swim bags on the bench below those tiles, so I didn't either, even though I still think this is a knee-jerk response to the situation. No tiles fell during the aerobics session.

I talked with the lady who is deathly afraid of falling tiles. We discussed our plans for Valentine's Day. She wasn't sure where she and her husband would want to go to dinner. I suggested that the local steak house serves really good talapia. She's not up for talapia, it seems, ever since she learned what it contains (?). Another good reason for her to be afraid, I guess.

Back home after aerobics, I enjoyed a cup of coffee, and relaxed a while. In the meantime, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, and then he ran a couple of errands. I gave Mother her Valentine, along with a small package of Jelly Belly jelly beans. She gave Hubbie and me a homemade Valentine, which I'll prize because it has her handwriting on it.

Then I showered and dressed to go to the "Red Hot" luncheon. As luck would have it, it started raining just as I was ready to leave the house, so Hubbie drove me to the college where the event was held and dropped me off right at the door, so I wouldn't get wet. Very sweet of him.

As usual at these annual events, it was a sea of red and white decorations, and 300 red-clad women. When I arrived, I was escorted to a table by a man in a tuxedo (several men, called "heart throbs," acted as escorts).

There seemed to be confusion as to which table I was to be seated at, even after I told the ladies who were taking tickets the name of the lady who had reserved our table. They found her name on their list, but thought that at least five ladies had already been seated at the table. Oh, well, the escort should take me to that table anyway and see if it was the correct one.

No, it wasn't...I didn't recognize anyone at that table. But one of the ladies who was supposed to be at our table came and rescued me and led me to the table where she and others were seated. No sooner did we arrive at that table than we were told we were at the wrong table, and we were moved to yet another one. I hadn't been at the event for five minutes, and already I'd been shuttled to three different tables.

They were pretty tables though, covered in white table clothes, with centerpiece vases of carnations, surrounded by cute red and white cupcake boxes. The napkins were red, and the chairs backs were covered, alternately, in red or white.

Each chair held a red tote, containing a photo calendar, an issue of the county's slick magazine (which I already have), a big metal red heart key chain (pretty), a plastic teaspoon/tablespoon wet measure, a pen and notepad, a large plastic heart bag clip, and discount coupons.

In the center of the room, tables were arranged in a t-shape, upon which was a tall vase of red roses. This is where the silent auction items were displayed. I checked out all the items, but even if I'd been of a mind to bid on any of them, I'd forgotten to bring a checkbook or cash. I guess I inadvertently saved myself, because I really didn't need anything I saw in the auction anyway.

Lunch was salad, big fluffy yeast rolls, and a main course of baked peppered chicken breast, with a side of veggie medley...cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots. The meal was served on attractive white square plates. The only beverage was water, but it was served in pretty goblets.

Our servers were teen girls from the two nearby high schools. They were all slim and cute, and clad in fancy short dresses, and high heels. Some shoes and dresses were sparkly. Their youth and good looks provided a contrast to the ladies they were serving, most of whom were old enough to be their grandmothers. But they were very sweet to us, and were eager to please.

The only drawback to the lunch was that no coffee was available. Several ladies asked for it and were disappointed when they learned there was none. If I attend again next year, I'll be tempted to take a pump pot of coffee for our table.

I enjoyed the speaker, a reknown heart specialist, though I was surprised that she didn't address heart issues at all, but rather spoke about things that help keep a heart healthy, like love, passion, and faith. She told an amusing story of a woman who contacted her about intense pain she was experiencing. The doctor reserved a hospital room for her and told her to come right in.

Well, the lady said, she couldn't come right away, because her bowling team was playing in a tournament, and her teammates were depending on her. But she'd come in as soon as the tournament ended. This was an extreme example of passion, and love. Turned out the lady's pain wasn't caused by anything that required hospitalization after all.

Entertainment for the event was a woman who sang two love songs. She is really talented, and we enjoyed her a lot.

The luncheon ended around 1:30, and I called Hubbie to come get me. I first tried his cell phone, but he didn't answer, so I called the landline, and he arrived about ten minutes later.

On the way home, Son called to ask if I'd called him. No, I hadn't. Well, he had a message that I'd called a few minutes ago. Phooey, I must have hit his name instead of Hubbie's on my contact list. Son said he was at the doctor's office, and if I had nothing important to discuss, he needed to hang up. I got the feeling he was a bit irritated with me, but when I contacted Daughter-in-Law, she assured me he wasn't irritated with me...he's just stressed about having to miss work for doctor appointments. Still, I need to be more careful when I'm trying to call someone.

I brought an extra goodie bag home for Mother, as well as three of the boxed cupcakes, since there were extra ones at an unoccupied table. Other ladies at our table did the same thing. Mother loved the goodie bag and cupcake. It was a small compensation for her not feeling up to attending the event. She felt more comfortable staying home and working her jigsaw puzzle.

I didn't accomplish anything for the rest of the afternoon, especially since I stayed in my "Red Hot" outfit...black jeans, black turtleneck shirt, black ankle boots, red jacket, my new heart earrings, two heart pendants on gold chains, and a sparkly bracelet...because we planned to go out for dinner.

Spent the afternoon playing on my tablet and visiting with Mother. We listened and watched the videos of artists who are competing in a contest to find a theme song for our state's tourism council. We chose the one we wanted to vote for, and if I can remember, I'll vote each day until the contest deadline.

Later, we went to the local steak house for supper. We left the house around 4:15, so we could stop by the library and pick up a DVD that was on hold, before we went to the restaurant. Gad, it was windy, which made it bone-chilling cold. I'm so glad it wasn't windy yesterday for the graveside service.

We were at the restaurant by 4:30, and even that early, there were a lot of cars on the parking lot. Fortunately, there was no line inside, and we were seated immediately. Mother ordered baked salmon and baked sweet potato; Hubbie had the steak and shrimp combo; and I opted for mesquite chicken breast and barbecued ribs combo. Salad and rolls came with the meal.

Hubbie and I exchanged foods...shrimp for me, and ribs for Hubbie. There was so much food that none of us could finish it. I especially couldn't eat a lot, since I'd had a big lunch. We brought two take-out boxes of leftovers home with us, which will be our lunch tomorrow.

When we left the restaurant, the foyer was full of folks waiting for tables, and a line of people extended all the way to the sidewalk outside, where they shivered in the wind. This is what comes of having only a few sit-down restaurants in our small town.

Mother was ready to go home as soon as we got back, so Hubbie accompanied her. Then we relaxed in front of TV and watched episodes of  "Friday Night Lights."