Friday May 23

Up at 7 a.m. to get ready for a trip south to attend Great-Grandson's high school graduation tonight. We decided to take the camper and spend a couple of days at a campground about 15 minutes from the high school where the graduation ceremony would take place.

We were on the on the road by 9 a.m. Hubbie drove the truck/camper, while I drove the van, so Mother could be comfortable traveling.

As we approached the stop light at the intersection of the highway, I noticed the camper right hand brake light was not working. I'd forgotten to my cell phone on, so when we turned onto the four lane, I raced up beside him and waved to indicate we needed to pull off to our favorite auto shop, which was close by.

It didn't take long for one of the shop guys to discover the problem...a wire that wasn't making good contact...so we were back on the road by 9:30.

After that, it was an uneventful trip to the campground about an hour and a half away. We arrived around 11 a.m., and Hubbie began set-up in the reserved drive-through space. I wasn't all that happy with the space, which was the last one on the end of the drive-through spaces, located on the campground road, and right across from the now-defunct dump station.

I didn't see how we could entertain family in a no-yard space, and I feared having children there who might run into the road. But I needn't have worried, because once Hubbie had the the camper set up, he tried to let the slide out out. But there wasn't enough room between the slide out and the utility post.

Oh my gosh, was Hubbie frustrated! This meant he had to go all through the process again...getting the camper ready to hook up to the truck, moving the camper about a foot over, and setting it up again.

At this point, since it was close to noon, and Hubbie was pouring sweat, I suggested we have lunch before he began the take-down-set-up process again.

After lunch, a neighboring camper suggested that we look for a more accommodating site, rather than set up where we were. He said any space that was open would be fine to move to. So I made a swing around the campground and found one with a bit more real estate for setting up lawn chairs. There is really no great view anywhere in the campground, but at least this one looked out over a wooded area across the street, instead of an abandoned dump station.

This one was a back-in site, which is not Hubbie's favorite, but he had no trouble backing into it. We were finally set up around 2 p.m.

While he worked on setting up, Mother and I drove around the small campground. There was laughable playground....just a small square of gravel with a child-size basketball goal, a basketball, a metal truck, and a beach ball, along with a porch swing for parents to sit in. The sign near it warns that children should not run in the playground.

This campground is not known for its amenities. For instance, there is no office...it's operated on the honor system. Folks are expected to be honest and deposit campsite fees in a box situated in a building that houses the showers, bathrooms, laundry, and a sort of recreation room.

I found the recreation room to be quite adequate for a family-gathering picnic on Saturday. And it was air-conditioned...a definite plus.

The large sign on the front of the building was humorous, though: one rule states that fishing and swimming are not allowed in the campground. Nowhere at this facility is there a body of water, not even in the ditch, though later a family member saw a worm crawling there, undoubtedly blatantly unafraid of becoming bait.

No one was at the building, of course, to provide me with the campground wi-fi password. I tried calling the campground information phone number, but got no answer. So Hubbie visited that neighboring camper again, and he provided it.

Back at the campsite, Hubbie complained that there seemed to be no water hookup at the site. Every site had an above ground old-fashioned hand-operated pump that didn't work. Hubbie was pretty disgusted, but soon he discovered that there was a faucet under a lid on the ground. Finally, we were in business.

Except the air conditioner proceeded to drip water, which indicated it was freezing up. So we had to turn it off and on periodically to allow it to thaw

It had been a pretty frustrating day for Hubbie so far, so he was ready to crash. Mother was tired, too, just from the trip, so they were both ready for a nap. While they slept, I played on my tablet and read my novel, now that I had the password. The wi-fi signal was pretty weak, though...only two bars on my tablet.. so I couldn't get my e-mail. But I was able to access my social network page.

Hubbie woke up about an hour later. We decided to go see if we could find some fresh strawberries. Mother roused a little, enough for us to tell her we would be gone for a little while. We did not succeed in finding strawberries, though, so we were back at camp within the hour.

Mother was still asleep. In fact, she slept until suppertime, around 5 p.m. Tonight, I heated Dragon Soup, which we had with blueberry muffins.

Later, around 6:15 p.m., Hubbie and I went to a home improvement store parking lot to meet Son, Daughter-in-Law, and Great-Grandsons, so we could all travel to the high school parking lot. Since we were too early to meet with family, we looked around the store for a while.

We were all ready to head to the school by 7:50. We were early enough to get parking spaces fairly close to the football field, where the ceremony took place.

We brought along our stadium seats and three stadium cushions for seating, since sitting on bleachers for more than two hours would be very uncomfortable without them. Hubbie and I used the seats, and Son and Daughter-in-Law used the cushions.

We were seated about halfway down the bleachers, which was a good place for taking pictures of the ceremony with my long lens. Unfortunately, though, a family seated behind us talked, talked, talked all through the ceremony, so that we had difficulty hearing the speakers. They couldn't even bring themselves to hush during the prayer.

They were not the only rude folks present. Some others brought along air horns, which they blew vigorously when their graduate received his or her diploma. Then toward the end of the ceremony, folks began rushing the field. This was a very rude crowd. Have manners and decorum completely died?

We waited a few minutes after the ceremony and then went down to the field, too, where we took pictures and visited. Then we headed home. We got back to camp near 10 p.m.

Mother was awake and ready for a snack, after which she was ready to head to bed. I put drops in her eyes, and then she got into her jammies. We were all ready to hit the sack...it was a long day, and we were all tired.

Thursday, May 22

Up at 8 a.m., and did stair stepping, resistance band, and leg weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, and she went to her jigsaw puzzle.

Once I was ready for the day, Hubbie and I shopped for groceries. We also stopped by the Caring Hands office to drop off more sympathy cards (that Hubbie forgot to take there on his errands yesterday). There was no one in the reception area when I arrived. I waited a couple of minutes, and when no one came up front, I whistled and shouted and called them by name...but no one heard me.

So I just left the cards at the reception window. When I see someone from the office again, I'm going to comment that it's not a good idea to leave the reception area unattended...especially since a colorful, patterned handbag was in plain sight and accessible to an unscrupulous person.

By the time we got back home, it was time for lunch. I fixed Ramen noodle soup for Mother, and heated leftover bagel pizzas, and Parmesan potatoes for Hubbie and me.

Mother went back to her puzzle afterward, and Hubbie and I occupied ourselves in various activities preparing for the Memorial Day weekend. My goal is not to have to be in the kitchen all the time, though I will fix a country rib dinner for Memorial Day itself on Monday.

Good news: got a report from the doctor's office on the results of my bone density scan. I tested normal. Guess I won't have to worry about that again for several more years. Even though Mother has osteoporosis, which means I could be at risk, I'm hoping I will never have the problem. But if I do, I'm sure it'll be caught early enough to be dealt with.

Later, for supper, we decided to take advantage of a fast food restaurant's fifty-cent corn dogs offer. Mother wasn't up for going to the restaurant, so Hubbie and I picked them up, along with onion rings. It has been years and years since I had this restaurant's yummy onion rings, and it'll be many more years before I indulge again.

I'm not a fan of hot dogs, so I opted against getting one for myself. Instead, we went to another fast food restaurant to get a grilled chicken sandwich for me.

Shortly after supper, Mother was ready to go home, so Hubbie accompanied her. Then he and I watched episodes of "Bones."

Wednesday, May 21

Up at 8 a.m., and did stair stepping, resistance band, and leg weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house mid morning, and before I went upstairs to get ready for the day, we prepared veggies for making soup.

Mother diced carrots, onions, celery, and banana peppers, which I sauteed in olive oil. Then I added a quart freezer bag of tomatoes, chicken and beef broths, and spices to the veggies, and let the mixture simmer for a long while.

While the soup cooked, Mother and I watched the finale of "Dancing With the Stars." The winner of the competition was the one we felt would win.

Finally, I went upstairs to get dressed. It was lunchtime by the time I came back downstairs. So Mother had her usual Ramen noodle soup, and Hubbie and I settled for PB&J sandwiches.

Afterward, Mother shredded white American cheese for making pimento cheese. She had added pimentos and cream cheese. She tried to blend the mixture, but it was too difficult for her, so I took over. After that, we made a batch of blueberry muffins, and a recipe of macaroni salad.

We relaxed for a while before starting supper preparations. I sauteed onions, bell peppers, and onion, and while the mixture cooled, Mother made individual salads. Then we loaded bagels with provolone cheese, and diced tomatoes, the cooled sauteed veggies, garlic from a jar, and spices...paprika, pepper, no-salt seasoning, oregano, and basil. Topped the pizzas with shredded Monterey Jack cheese.

The pizzas and salads, with a side of cottage cheese, were pretty good. Mother was ready to go home soon after supper, so Hubbie accompanied her.

Then he and I watched episodes of "Bones," on DVDs borrowed from the library. We put a hold on the DVD, and got a call yesterday that it was available. We've been waiting for a couple of weeks for it.

Around 8:30, I went to Mother's house to put drops in her eyes...never an easy task. She says she wants to open her eyes, but her eyes have a mind of their own.

Tuesday, May 20

Up at 7 a.m., and did stair stepping, resistance band, and weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 9 a.m., and we watched an episode of "Dancing With the Stars," before I went upstairs to get ready for the day.

It was around 11:30 by the time I was dressed, so I fixed our lunch...for Mother, leftover catfish and sweet potato from her meal at the restaurant Saturday night, and the rest of the meal from the Japanese restaurant for Hubbie and me.

Afterward, Mother went to her jigsaw puzzle, Hubbie worked in the yard, and I did a few chores, like washing a couple of loads of laundry, and then spent a couple of hours making sympathy cards for Caring Hands. Made a total of nine more yesterday and today. I won't have time to make any more until next week.

Later, Mother and I  made a pork chop dish for the oven. She sliced apples and onions and layered them in a baking dish, and I browned the chops to add to it. Mother brushed the chops with a honey and mustard mixture. When the chops were cooked, I made a batch of instant rice, and microwaved a dish of English peas to add to the meal.

Mother was ready to go home shortly after supper, so Hubbie accompanied her. Then he and I watched TV for the evening. Around 8:30, I went to Mother's house to put drops in her eyes. 

Monday, May 19

Up at 8 a.m., and did stair stepping, resistance band, and leg weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house mid-morning, and she went to her jigsaw puzzle. Once I was ready for the day, I made a few sympathy cards for Caring Hands.

For lunch, I fixed scrambled egg substitute, with Vidalia onion, microwave bacon, cheese, and spices. Served the meal with toast and choice of homemade strawberry, apple, or pineapple jellies.

Afterward, Mother went back to her puzzle, and Hubbie and I ran errands...to the bank, to the post office to mail coupons to Granddaughter, to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, to the Caring Hands Hospice office to deliver the cards, and to the WDCS for a few grocery items.

At the Caring Hands office, the volunteer coordinator asked that I continue making sympathy cards, since those are the ones most needed. Today, I provided a dozen cards, but that's not nearly enough. So when we got back home, I spent the afternoon making more. Finished about six of them. I'll do more as time permits.

While I was making cards, the central heating and air repairman came to check and see if there was a gas leak at the unit. For weeks I have, from time to time, when the heater was on, smelled an odor in the stairwell and at the top of the stairs that I thought must be gas.

But as usual, Hubbie was not able to smell it, so he attributed it to my overly sensitive nose. Today, though, I insisted he call the repairman. He arrived shortly, since he was in the neighborhood. Hubbie escorted him upstairs, and then he started to go outdoors to work in the yard. But within a few seconds, the repairman called downstairs, "I found it!"

I gave Hubbie a smug "I-told-you-so" look.

This is the second time that Hubbie did not believe me when I said I smelled gas. The first time was in the spare bedroom. The odor persisted for weeks before he agreed to get the propane guy in to check it. That time, repairs had to be made not only in the bedroom but in the line leading to the tank out in the yard.

It only took a few minutes for the repairman to fix the problem, which could have been done a lot sooner, if Hubbie had just listened to me.

Later, I put dishes of leftovers from the Japanese restaurant in the oven for supper. It was a good meal again. Afterward, I made a strawberry cake using fresh sugared strawberries in an angel food cake mix. Since it was so heavy with fruit, it fell in the middle after it was baked, but it's tasty just the same.

After the cake was baked, Mother was ready to go home, so I accompanied her. It was a nice evening...mildly warm, with a little breeze that carried the sweet scent of honeysuckle.

At home, Hubbie and I watched TV for the evening, including a 2010 movie called, "Legendary." After being bullied, a brainy high school boy decides to join the wrestling team, following in the footsteps of his older brother, who was a college wrestling legend. The brother was estranged from the family following the death of the father. But the younger brother finds a way to smooth the path for his return to the family.

Around 9 p.m., I went back to Mother's house to put drops in her eyes...or at least in the tiny slits of her eyes, since she had them so firmly clamped shut.

Sunday, May 18

Up around 8 a.m. Skipped my exercises, as usual on Sunday. Went ahead and got ready for the day, since we planned to have lunch at the Japanese restaurant today. Again, it was difficult to choose something to wear that was not too wintry looking, but still warm enough for this chilly day. I settled on khaki slacks, red knit shirt with three-quarter length sleeves, topped with a cotton plaid three-quarter length sleeves blouse, and a denim jacket.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house mid-morning, and she began the job of clipping coupons for Granddaughter. She didn't quite finish before it was time to leave for the restaurant just after 11  a.m.I didn't accomplish anything before lunchtime other than reading newspapers.

We arrived at the restaurant at 11:30, ahead of the after-church crowd. Five people...three men and two small boys...were already seated at the hibachi grill table that we were escorted to. This is not my favorite table, since there is a post on one corner, and Hubbie and I were seated at that corner. I had to lean around the post to talk to him.

It's always fun to watch the hibachi grill cooks, who entertain while preparing the food...lots of clanking of utensils, spinning and tossing of eggs, flaming onion towers, and joking with the customers.  I was amused when our cook addressed Mother and me as "mom" or "mommy." I suppose he was adhering to the Japanese tradition of revering elders.

As usual, we were served enough food to feed three more people, so we brought home enough for supper tomorrow night. Meals are pricey at this restaurant, but pretty economical if there's enough for two meals.

Back home afterward, we relaxed for a while, and then headed out again...this time to the museum to attend a Master Gardener sponsored program. The featured speaker was the head gardener/herbalist from the folk center in another town.

She is a very knowledgeable and entertaining speaker. Sis would have enjoyed her. She spoke about composting, preparing soil, and battling unwanted plants, particularly very stubborn, very invasive, bermuda grass. She commented that a colleague of hers once joked that if you can't kill bermuda grass, you can get rid of it by eventually dying yourself and leaving it behind.

She focused her talk today on growing a kitchen garden that includes various herbs and salad veggies. She tends one that is located near the kitchen of the folk center restaurant.

News from the museum: three women were recently injured from fall. One, a museum volunteer and my former psycology professor, broke her elbow in a fall while visiting a museum in the northwest part of the state.

Two of the injured attended the program today. One had fallen when she tripped because her rubber-soled shoes didn't slide when she took a step, and she pitched forward, hitting face first on the hood of her car. She got a pretty good nose bleed, and a cut across her nose. The other lady, also wearing rubber-soled shoes, pitched forward face down on a sidewalk. She has a massive black eye, and lacerations on her left wrist that required 21 stitiches.

Older people are at high risk of sustaining serious injuries from falls. Mother has fallen many times, and suffered a broken rib once. I'm certainly not immune to falling and breaking something, so I need to be careful myself.

As soon as we returned from the outing, Mother was ready to go home, so I accompanied her. It was a pretty big day for her, so she was tired.

Hubbie and I watched TV for the afternoon and evening.

Saturday, May 17

Up at 7 a.m., and intended to do an exercise session, but shortly after breakfast, Hubbie's daughter called to say she would like to come by for a visit today. So I went ahead and showered and dressed, so I could spruce the house before she came after lunch.

Also, I wanted to wash strawberries, so Mother could cap and slice them. The strawberries needed to come to room temperature after being in the refrigerator overnight, so we could make jam from them in the automatic jelly maker.

Before I started on any other project, I made a trip to the greeting card store to pick up a puzzle for Mother. A store employee called yesterday to let me know that a new order of jigsaw puzzles had arrived, and I wanted to see what they had before they got picked over.

Mother received a gift card to the store for her birthday, with which I had purchased one puzzle for her a few weeks ago, but there was enough money left on the card to get another one. I found a puzzle I knew she would enjoy that cost almost exactly the amount left on the card.

There were a couple of other puzzles I thought she might like, too, so I bought those to put away for Christmas gifts.

No one knows what to wear in this kind of weather. I wore a fleece hoodie to the card shop, but while I was there, I noticed that one woman was wearing a winter coat, while a younger woman was wearing shorts and a tee-shirt. I'm beyond ready for the weather to moderate. I fear, though, that we will probably skip spring altogether, and just leap right into summer.

Back home, we had our usual lunch of Ramen noodle soup for Mother, and deli turkey sandwiches for Hubbie and me.

After lunch, I gathered all the supplies and equipment necessary for making four half pints of strawberry jam in the automatic jelly maker. Mother crushed the amount of strawberries needed, and measured the sugar and pectin. I scalded the jars, and set up the automatic jelly maker.

But, drat it, the jelly maker didn't work. It indicated that it was working, and the paddle went round and round in it. But it didn't heat. Guess the element is dead. So I'll be packing the frazzling thing up and sending it back...with my opinion of it. Because this is the second unit I've received that has been defective.

All I could do after the failure was try to cook the fruit on the stove top. I added an extra minute or so to the time, and then we ladled the jam into jars and I processed it in a water bath, as usual. Won't know until tomorrow if it worked or not. But whatever happens, we'll eat it anyway.

I was pretty frustrated afterward, but I went back to my card making and managed to complete five more.

Hubbie's daughter arrived around 3 p.m. She visited until 8 p.m. For supper, at 5 p.m., we went to a local steak house. Daughter and Mother ordered fried catfish and baked potatoes, Hubbie chose hamburger steak and baked potato, and I opted for baked tilapia, with sweet potato fries.

Mother was ready to go home as soon as we got back from the restaurant, so I accompanied her. Then, after Daughter left, Hubbie and I watched TV for a while.