Up at 7:30, and did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast. Mother came over mid-morning, and we did this a that getting ready for a visit from Daughter and Granddaughter on Saturday.
At noon, we went to the museum for a brown-bag-lunch FilmFest event. Today's features included one about a visit by President Nixon to Mobile, Alabama, where he spent a total of 104 minutes, and met with his political rival, Governor George Wallace. We were struck by the fact that while he was there, he lost a cuff link, which a young girl found. The girl was thrilled, and wrote to Nixon asking if she could keep it. He asked her to return it to him. What a guy.
A year later, Wallace was shot, which resulted in his being confined to a wheelchair. While he was in critical condition in the hospital, Nixon called Wallace's wife. The film features that phone call, which reveals that Nixon, who was supposed to be offering comfort to Mrs. Wallace, was obviously distracted to the point that he couldn't keep the boredom out of his voice. There were two other very short films, as well, but they were not as interesting as the Nixon one.
The sky was dark, and it was obvious that we were in for some wet weather this afternoon, Fortunately, the rain held off until we got home from the museum. While it rained, we whiled the afternoon away watching TV...a feature of several state high school choirs performing patriotic music. We were interested in the feature, because one of the choirs is from a local school, and one is from a school in the community where Sis works.
Then we watched two episodes of, "Life," a nature program about insects and animals. This will be a 13-episode series.
By the time we finished these programs it was suppertime. We had leftover beef hash with fried eggs and toast, and dishes of canned peaches for dessert.
Mother went home after that, and Hubbie and I went to a play reading at the home of the lady who hosts the community theater board meetings. A local retired professor has written a reader's theater play about a period in the history of our town. He hopes to produce the play during our town's sesquicentennial events. He wanted eight of us to read the play aloud, so he could get a feel for its timing.
Hubbie took the role of a Union soldier (from the letters of the soldier), and I read the part of a young woman writing in her diary. We met at 6:30, and didn't finish reading until after 10 p.m. So it was apparent to the author (and to the rest of us) that the play is way too long.
We were both plenty ready to hit the sack when we got back home.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Wednesday, March 24
Another very pretty day. It's looking more and more like Easter, with trees like snowy white Bradford pears, and blossoming pink magnolias, along with bright yellow forsythia bushes, as well as daffodils, and even pretty little periwinkle flowers.
We were up at 6:30, so I could go to water aerobics. Fourteen of us showed up this morning, with each of us complaining of how cool the water was. It was okay once I was used to it, but that first plunge sure was shivery.
One of the members, who has been absent for a while, returned today. Seems she was recovering from an injury to her leg, when one of her heifers kicked her. This lady is in her 70s, but is still raising cattle...alone. I don't know how she does it, since she has difficulty even walking. She's pretty strong otherwise (she was once an Olympic-quality swimmer, and still is our strongest swimmer), and she says she does most of her work with a four-wheeler.
After I got back home and ready for the day, I continued reading the John Grisham book until time to go to the museum for the first of the FilmFest screenings. There were two short films today. One was about an appalacian guitar maker. Son, who plays guitar with a couple of bands, would have enjoyed this film.
The second screening was about an albino African-American blind man, who has been working for 30 years in industries for the blind mattress factory.
The screenings were at noon, and we were encouraged to bring brown bag lunches. We, of course, took ham salad sandwiches, a choice of pretzels or corn chips, and cookies. A few others brought lunches, too, but most did not. Tomorrow, there will be another brown-bag lunch screening at the museum.
Back home, I finished the John Grisham book, while Mother worked puzzles, and Hubbie watched basketball games.
For supper, we had beef hash, using the leftover roast from Sunday, and a choice of Lima beans or butter beans.
Later, Mother and I went to one of the colleges for another session of FilmFest screenings. These were short French films, subtitled, of course. There were some cute ones, including a musical spoofing American corporate greed, and an animated one about a character who is affected by an asteroid and knocked 91 centimeters off center.
More serious ones included a man who tries to commit suicide by jumping in a lake in winter, but lands, in his underwear, on a hunk of ice. A woman happens by who is having marital problems, and instead of hurrying to help the man, she chatters on and on about her husband woes. Finally, she decides to try to save the man by swimming out to him. She wades to within feet of him, and when he sees she's in shallow water, he hops off the ice, but goes completely under, and drowns.
Another one features a woman who, while riding her bicycle, is hit by a car. In her dying moments, she thinks of the last time she saw her friends, of how curt she was with her Mother the last time she spoke with her on the phone, the last time she felt rain, the last time she made love, etc., and how she might have done things differently if she'd know those were the "last times."
We enjoyed the screenings, except for the fact that since they were shown in the art gallery of the college, we had to sit on metal folding chairs. My back and legs did not enjoy that. Mother was really stiff when she got up to leave.
Refreshments were served...bags of popcorn, cookies, trail mix, and bottled water or sodas. I ate a small cookie, and brought a bag of popcorn Hubbie, who stayed home to bathe Shih Tzu and watch basketball games.
We were up at 6:30, so I could go to water aerobics. Fourteen of us showed up this morning, with each of us complaining of how cool the water was. It was okay once I was used to it, but that first plunge sure was shivery.
One of the members, who has been absent for a while, returned today. Seems she was recovering from an injury to her leg, when one of her heifers kicked her. This lady is in her 70s, but is still raising cattle...alone. I don't know how she does it, since she has difficulty even walking. She's pretty strong otherwise (she was once an Olympic-quality swimmer, and still is our strongest swimmer), and she says she does most of her work with a four-wheeler.
After I got back home and ready for the day, I continued reading the John Grisham book until time to go to the museum for the first of the FilmFest screenings. There were two short films today. One was about an appalacian guitar maker. Son, who plays guitar with a couple of bands, would have enjoyed this film.
The second screening was about an albino African-American blind man, who has been working for 30 years in industries for the blind mattress factory.
The screenings were at noon, and we were encouraged to bring brown bag lunches. We, of course, took ham salad sandwiches, a choice of pretzels or corn chips, and cookies. A few others brought lunches, too, but most did not. Tomorrow, there will be another brown-bag lunch screening at the museum.
Back home, I finished the John Grisham book, while Mother worked puzzles, and Hubbie watched basketball games.
For supper, we had beef hash, using the leftover roast from Sunday, and a choice of Lima beans or butter beans.
Later, Mother and I went to one of the colleges for another session of FilmFest screenings. These were short French films, subtitled, of course. There were some cute ones, including a musical spoofing American corporate greed, and an animated one about a character who is affected by an asteroid and knocked 91 centimeters off center.
More serious ones included a man who tries to commit suicide by jumping in a lake in winter, but lands, in his underwear, on a hunk of ice. A woman happens by who is having marital problems, and instead of hurrying to help the man, she chatters on and on about her husband woes. Finally, she decides to try to save the man by swimming out to him. She wades to within feet of him, and when he sees she's in shallow water, he hops off the ice, but goes completely under, and drowns.
Another one features a woman who, while riding her bicycle, is hit by a car. In her dying moments, she thinks of the last time she saw her friends, of how curt she was with her Mother the last time she spoke with her on the phone, the last time she felt rain, the last time she made love, etc., and how she might have done things differently if she'd know those were the "last times."
We enjoyed the screenings, except for the fact that since they were shown in the art gallery of the college, we had to sit on metal folding chairs. My back and legs did not enjoy that. Mother was really stiff when she got up to leave.
Refreshments were served...bags of popcorn, cookies, trail mix, and bottled water or sodas. I ate a small cookie, and brought a bag of popcorn Hubbie, who stayed home to bathe Shih Tzu and watch basketball games.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Tuesday, March 23
What a gorgeous day! Spring at its best.
Slept late, then did a treadmill session and resistance exercises. While I was doing this, Hubbie went to a Master Gardeners house to dig plants for the upcoming fundraising plant sale. Mother came over and made ham salad to make sandwiches with tomorrow for a brown-bag-lunch FilmFest event at the museum.
Once I was ready for the day, I did this and that around the house until 11 a.m., when I met an appointment to get my hair cut.
Back home, Mother and I cleared away our scrapbooking/greeting card making materials, since we won't have time to work on them the rest of this week. Then we dug out all the leftovers from the past few days for a bottom-of-the-refrigerator lunch.
After lunch, Hubbie went out to work in the yard, Mother worked puzzles, and I read a John Grisham book..."Ford County," a series of short stories. The book was loaned to me by one of the members of water aerobics before Christmas. Hubbie started reading it right away, but then tucked it in a drawer during the holidays, and forgot about it. I just remembered it yesterday. Now, I'm determined to get it read in the next couple of days.
The lady to whom the book belongs said it is one of Grisham's worst. Certainly, it is a departure from his previous popular works, but I think the book's straitlaced 80-year-old owner just can't appreciate some of the story situations and low-life characters....death row, a bunch of guys on a mission to donate blood who get drunk and sidetracked in a strip joint that includes lap dancing, and a failure of a lawyer who is also a failure of a husband and father. So far, those are the only stories I've read.
Still, the lady wants the book back, so she can pass on to a friend of hers who collects Grisham novels. So I'll read it as quickly as possible and get it back to her, with my apologies for being so delinquent.
Supper tonight was corn chowder and bran muffins. Mother went home after that, and Hubbie and I watched an episode of "Dancing with the Stars," that I recorded on DVR last night. We followed this with an episode of NCIS, followed by a women's college tournament basketball game, featuring a team from our state. Unfortunately, they lost.
Slept late, then did a treadmill session and resistance exercises. While I was doing this, Hubbie went to a Master Gardeners house to dig plants for the upcoming fundraising plant sale. Mother came over and made ham salad to make sandwiches with tomorrow for a brown-bag-lunch FilmFest event at the museum.
Once I was ready for the day, I did this and that around the house until 11 a.m., when I met an appointment to get my hair cut.
Back home, Mother and I cleared away our scrapbooking/greeting card making materials, since we won't have time to work on them the rest of this week. Then we dug out all the leftovers from the past few days for a bottom-of-the-refrigerator lunch.
After lunch, Hubbie went out to work in the yard, Mother worked puzzles, and I read a John Grisham book..."Ford County," a series of short stories. The book was loaned to me by one of the members of water aerobics before Christmas. Hubbie started reading it right away, but then tucked it in a drawer during the holidays, and forgot about it. I just remembered it yesterday. Now, I'm determined to get it read in the next couple of days.
The lady to whom the book belongs said it is one of Grisham's worst. Certainly, it is a departure from his previous popular works, but I think the book's straitlaced 80-year-old owner just can't appreciate some of the story situations and low-life characters....death row, a bunch of guys on a mission to donate blood who get drunk and sidetracked in a strip joint that includes lap dancing, and a failure of a lawyer who is also a failure of a husband and father. So far, those are the only stories I've read.
Still, the lady wants the book back, so she can pass on to a friend of hers who collects Grisham novels. So I'll read it as quickly as possible and get it back to her, with my apologies for being so delinquent.
Supper tonight was corn chowder and bran muffins. Mother went home after that, and Hubbie and I watched an episode of "Dancing with the Stars," that I recorded on DVR last night. We followed this with an episode of NCIS, followed by a women's college tournament basketball game, featuring a team from our state. Unfortunately, they lost.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Monday, March 22
Up at 6:30 this morning to get ready for water aerobics. I think I'm adjusting a little to the time change, so it wasn't as hard to roll out of bed.
It was a rather cool morning, requiring a coat. The pool was a bit chilly, too. We understand that the college is keeping the temp down, because there is a swim meet there this week while the kids are on spring break.
Back home, Mother came over to put color in my hair. After that, she relaxed with her puzzle books while I got ready for the day. Later, I worked on scrapbook pages until lunchtime.
After lunch, Hubbie and I ran a couple of errands...first to a friend's house to pick up a bag of combination wheat and white flour. While Mother and I were visiting with her and another friend last week, she mentioned that she tried the flour and didn't like it. I agreed to take it off her hands, since we like making pancakes with this combination. But she forgot to give it to me before we left her house. So we played phone tag for a few days before she finally reached me this afternoon, just before we left to run errands.
From Friends's house, we went to the post office to mail the screen door birthday card to another of my friends. Then we stopped by a little shop that sells Jelly Belly jelly beans. I bought a half pound of these to give to Mother for Easter. She loves these, as well as butterscotch candies and lemon drops. I'll get some of each of those to add to her Easter basket, too.
I continued with my scrapbooking when we got back home. The project absorbed me most of the rest of the afternoon.
We had leftover beef roast and trimmings for supper. Mother went home after that, and Hubbie and I watched the movie, "Little Children," a 2006, R-rated film starring Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, Greg Elelman, and Sadie Goldstein. An unhappy suburban wife starts an affair with a stay-at-home husband. Besides a steamy relationship between these two (that includes explicit sex scenes), the story also pivots on a pedophile in the neighborhood, and a vigilante determined to make his life miserable. The movie has a three-star rating, and Kate Winslet was nominated for an Academy Award for her role.
It was a rather cool morning, requiring a coat. The pool was a bit chilly, too. We understand that the college is keeping the temp down, because there is a swim meet there this week while the kids are on spring break.
Back home, Mother came over to put color in my hair. After that, she relaxed with her puzzle books while I got ready for the day. Later, I worked on scrapbook pages until lunchtime.
After lunch, Hubbie and I ran a couple of errands...first to a friend's house to pick up a bag of combination wheat and white flour. While Mother and I were visiting with her and another friend last week, she mentioned that she tried the flour and didn't like it. I agreed to take it off her hands, since we like making pancakes with this combination. But she forgot to give it to me before we left her house. So we played phone tag for a few days before she finally reached me this afternoon, just before we left to run errands.
From Friends's house, we went to the post office to mail the screen door birthday card to another of my friends. Then we stopped by a little shop that sells Jelly Belly jelly beans. I bought a half pound of these to give to Mother for Easter. She loves these, as well as butterscotch candies and lemon drops. I'll get some of each of those to add to her Easter basket, too.
I continued with my scrapbooking when we got back home. The project absorbed me most of the rest of the afternoon.
We had leftover beef roast and trimmings for supper. Mother went home after that, and Hubbie and I watched the movie, "Little Children," a 2006, R-rated film starring Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, Greg Elelman, and Sadie Goldstein. An unhappy suburban wife starts an affair with a stay-at-home husband. Besides a steamy relationship between these two (that includes explicit sex scenes), the story also pivots on a pedophile in the neighborhood, and a vigilante determined to make his life miserable. The movie has a three-star rating, and Kate Winslet was nominated for an Academy Award for her role.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Sunday, March 21
Slept really late this morning. Woke up at 6:30, but Hubbie was sound asleep, so I lay awake until 7:30, when I fell asleep again. Didn't wake back up until nearly 9 a.m. The yard was puddled after two and a half inches of rain fell last night. Thankfully, we didn't get any snow, though a northwest county of the state, where Hubbie's daughter lives, got eleven inches of the white stuff.
Skipped my exercises this morning, and just went on and got ready for the day. Mother came over and put a beef roast with onions and carrots into the slow cooker. For the rest of the morning, we visited, read the newspaper, did laundry, programmed the DVR, planned the week's menu, etc.
The beef roast was yummy, served with mashed potatoes and gravy. Mother went home after lunch, and Hubbie and I ran errands...to the WDCS for groceries for the week, to a grocery store for eggs at four dozen for $5, and to a gas station to fill the van.
Back home, I wrote a letter to my friend to enclose in her screen door birthday card. I'll mail the card tomorrow, hoping it arrives in time for her birthday Tuesday.
For supper, Hubbie and I had the rest of the tomato soup, with bean sandwiches on hamburger buns, again. Later, we watched the movie, "Taken," a 2008, PG-13 movie starring Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, and Maggie Grace. A man's career as a spy forces him to become estranged from his daughter. In her teen years, he tries to establish a relationship. On a trip to Paris, the daughter is kidnapped by slavers, and the father uses all his spy skills to find her. There's quite a bit of violence in the movie, so it surprises me that it's not more restricted than PG-13.
Then we watched a state university's women's basketball team in tournament play...the first time in their history that the college's women have reached this level...and they won! Looking forward to seeing them play again Tuesday.
Skipped my exercises this morning, and just went on and got ready for the day. Mother came over and put a beef roast with onions and carrots into the slow cooker. For the rest of the morning, we visited, read the newspaper, did laundry, programmed the DVR, planned the week's menu, etc.
The beef roast was yummy, served with mashed potatoes and gravy. Mother went home after lunch, and Hubbie and I ran errands...to the WDCS for groceries for the week, to a grocery store for eggs at four dozen for $5, and to a gas station to fill the van.
Back home, I wrote a letter to my friend to enclose in her screen door birthday card. I'll mail the card tomorrow, hoping it arrives in time for her birthday Tuesday.
For supper, Hubbie and I had the rest of the tomato soup, with bean sandwiches on hamburger buns, again. Later, we watched the movie, "Taken," a 2008, PG-13 movie starring Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, and Maggie Grace. A man's career as a spy forces him to become estranged from his daughter. In her teen years, he tries to establish a relationship. On a trip to Paris, the daughter is kidnapped by slavers, and the father uses all his spy skills to find her. There's quite a bit of violence in the movie, so it surprises me that it's not more restricted than PG-13.
Then we watched a state university's women's basketball team in tournament play...the first time in their history that the college's women have reached this level...and they won! Looking forward to seeing them play again Tuesday.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
First Day of Spring
It's the first day of spring, and even though it started out partly sunny and mild, later in the afternoon it got a bit windy-cool. There are winter weather advisories for the western part of the state, but we are expecting only rain and colder temps in our town.
Slept late this morning, until around 8 a.m., then did a treadmill session after breakfast. Mother came over later and made greeting cards. Once I was ready for the day, I continued working on the scrapbook pages I'd begun at our meeting last Thursday. Our new great-grandson is the subject of the pages, of course.
For lunch, I put noodles in the broth left from our boiled chicken dinner earlier this week. Daughter and Granddaughter will appreciate that we had chicken noodle soup without chicken again...and we did it on purpose this time.
After lunch, I went on a photo safari around our yard to take pictures of flowers in bloom. Took lots of shots of the daffodills (see previous blog). Besides daffodils and jonquils, the hyacinth, hellebores and forget-me-nots are also blooming.
Continued scrapbooking after that until time to prepare supper. Supper was easy tonight, since we had leftover lasagna. Served this with salad, using one of the tomatoes and some of the lettuce I bought at the hydroponic farm, along with canned whole kernel corn, and mini wheat bagels toasted with margarine blended with herbs and Parmesan cheese.
Mother went home after supper, and Hubbie and I settled in to watch TV, as usual. We saw the movie, "Shadowheart," a 2009, PG-13, western starring Justin Ament, Daniel Baldwin, and Courtney Gains. After a teenage boy sees his father killed, he leaves town. As a man, after he serves in the Civil War, he returns to his hometown to find the girl he left behind, and deal with the bad guy land baron who killed his father.
Slept late this morning, until around 8 a.m., then did a treadmill session after breakfast. Mother came over later and made greeting cards. Once I was ready for the day, I continued working on the scrapbook pages I'd begun at our meeting last Thursday. Our new great-grandson is the subject of the pages, of course.
For lunch, I put noodles in the broth left from our boiled chicken dinner earlier this week. Daughter and Granddaughter will appreciate that we had chicken noodle soup without chicken again...and we did it on purpose this time.
After lunch, I went on a photo safari around our yard to take pictures of flowers in bloom. Took lots of shots of the daffodills (see previous blog). Besides daffodils and jonquils, the hyacinth, hellebores and forget-me-nots are also blooming.
Continued scrapbooking after that until time to prepare supper. Supper was easy tonight, since we had leftover lasagna. Served this with salad, using one of the tomatoes and some of the lettuce I bought at the hydroponic farm, along with canned whole kernel corn, and mini wheat bagels toasted with margarine blended with herbs and Parmesan cheese.
Mother went home after supper, and Hubbie and I settled in to watch TV, as usual. We saw the movie, "Shadowheart," a 2009, PG-13, western starring Justin Ament, Daniel Baldwin, and Courtney Gains. After a teenage boy sees his father killed, he leaves town. As a man, after he serves in the Civil War, he returns to his hometown to find the girl he left behind, and deal with the bad guy land baron who killed his father.
Daffodills
We love the different color combinations of the cultivated daffodills growing in our yard right now. Hope a predicted cold snap tonight and tomorrow doesn't kill them. The jonquils, a variety of daffodills that grows wild, as well as in cultivated gardens, are pretty hardy and seem to survive even in snow, so maybe the daffodills will, too.
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