Thursday, March 27

Up at 7 a.m., so Hubbie could get ready to go to a Master Gardener training session at 8:30. He left home around 8:15, and I did stair stepping exercises after breakfast. I skipped the resistance bands and weights exercises, since we'd done barbell exercises at water aerobics yesterday, and my muscles needed rest today.

As soon as I got dressed, I checked on Mother, and accompanied her to our house. She went to her jigsaw puzzle, and I went upstairs to my office to continue sorting books and culling those to be donated to the college library book sale. Inside one very old book, I found a sales receipt from an Illinois grocery store, dated 1953. I was amused by the back of the receipt which reads:

                                                  THANK YOU

WE TAKE PLEASURE IN THANKING YOU FOR YOUR PATRONAGE.

WE BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU BOUGHT OF US TODAY WILL GIVE YOU ENTIRE SATISFACTION.

IF THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG ABOUT THIS TRANSACTION, WE STAND IN READINESS AT ANY AND ALL TIMES TO CHEERFULLY RECTIFY SAME.

WE SPECIALIZE IN FRESH DRESSED POULTRY.

WE WANT YOUR TRADE SOLELY UPON THE MERITS OF OUR GOODS.

                                      WE DELIVER

                                     A.M. AND P.M.

The receipt indicates that patrons of the store were allowed to buy on credit, because this day's purchase of $3.89 was added to an amount carried forward of $15.41.

I stopped sorting books in time to put lunch on the table...the usual for Mother, and the remainder of the split pea soup for Hubbie and me. I wasn't sure if Hubbie would return for lunch, since I knew that various MG members had provided food for the training. But shortly after noon, he did come home.

After lunch, he returned to the training, scheduled to continue until 4 p.m. Mother and I went to the kitchen and put together lasagna. I gathered all the ingredients and implements, and then coached her, while she layered the ingredients into the baking dish. I put the dish in the fridge to be baked later.

Mother went back to her puzzle after that. She was having difficulty completing the border to it, since it was all black. So before I returned to my book sorting chore, I helped her get the border finished.

The puzzle she is working on is a photo of the Kremlin in Russia. She has been able to complete those colorful buildings, and all that remains of the puzzle is the black sky background. I don't know if she'll be able to complete that alone. I might have to help her some more with it.

Back upstairs, I sorted books for another two hours. I managed to cull a couple of stacks of books from two shelves, including all the James Michener novels. I've read some of them, but they are so ponderously large that I don't think I'll read the others, unless I decide to download them to my e-reader.

Even after eliminating stacks and stacks of books from the shelves, many still remain. But now the shelves are freshly washed, and I've perused the books on them, so I know which ones are beckoning me.

Many of the books I've kept are classics that I've read in the past and may or may not re-read in the future. But they are like old friends, and I like seeing them there.

At 3:30, I put the lasagna in the oven, and then Mother and I prepared individual salads, and she prepared garlic French bread for the oven. Hubbie returned shortly after 4 p.m., and we had supper at our usual 5 p.m. hour.

Mother was ready to go home shortly afterward, and Hubbie accompanied her. Then he watched NCAA basketball games on TV, while I read my novel and played on my e-tablet.

I thought about attending a jazz concert at the college where I attend water aerobics, but since it was such a dreary, rainy night, and I knew Hubbie would rather stay home and watch basketball games, I decided against it.