Email Barbara

Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary

Week of 18 November 2000 (Week 47)

wpoison

To respond or comment on something I have written email me. I would love to hear from you.  If you have problems reaching me at the first address, I can also be reached at fritchman@triad.rr.com.

You can view the Netwidows Recipe web site for recipes from myself and the other Netwidows and Daynotes Gang.

Saturday, 18 November 2000

[Last Week] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Next Week]

It looks like our first snow is not going to be this weekend. Forecasters have now pretty much discounted the possibility. I may have mentioned this earlier during the year but because we live at the foot of the mountains, it is very hard to predict inclement weather.

Many, many times it has been forecast to snow or sleet and we did not get anything. I am talking about an 80% chance, not 20%. Or, the reverse can happen. One night, back before there was a weather channel, the local news was predicting 3 to 5 inches to fall by morning. When we woke up it had snowed about 15 inches instead. So, I have learned to not pay much attention to the predictions and just go on about my business. Now that I do not have to drive to get to work it does not have much impact on what I do unless I have special plans. 

I decided I would tackle the  yard today. The back is covered in leaves, the front is not too bad. It looks like if I get them up today, I may only have to mow one more time. I want to put out some fertilizer and seed but was waiting to get all the leaves up and to get a little more rain to soften the ground. If we get the rain tomorrow it will help.

That's about all I have planned for today.

Sunday, 19 November 2000

[Last Week] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Next Week]

I am cleaning house this morning and meeting my parents at the Festival of Trees this afternoon. We will then go have dinner somewhere nearby. The Festival benefits our local Children's Hospital.  Since I have never been, I will say more about it tomorrow.

Get this. Bobby Labonte the new NASCAR Winston Cup champion is being criticized for being too boring by the media to make a good champion. This  article in the Winston-Salem Journal  is not the first place I have read this critical remark before. In other words, to be a champion for young people to admire, you need to be busted for drugs, murder, or rape, and/or act like an idiot in front of the television cameras and have an eccentric life style.

So, my bandbox this morning is, at least here in the U.S., unless you act like an ass without values, education, and the ability to conduct yourself as a decent everyday person, you aren't qualified to be a big sports hero. Bobby and all the previous Winston Cup stars are for the most part decent, hard working men who drive race cars for a living. Sure, they throw helmets and fists sometimes, wreck people on purpose on the track, say things in front of television camera they should not, and try to get by with illegal car parts. But if this sports needs more controversy than that to draw big audiences and keep them interested in a championship run than we need to reexamine what constitutes a role model. 

The same can be said for golf or tennis. Tiger Woods is flashy and has done a lot for golf but he hasn't exactly acted like a moron on or off the golf course. Pete Sampras has been criticized for the same thing in the tennis world. I hate NASCAR and the way they run Winston Cup, but I will say this much. They keep their teams and drivers clean and respectable. There are always a few bad apples in every bag, but the media and other sports fans should not be critical of winners because they are everyday people.

Monday, 20 November 2000

[Last Week] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Next Week]

It snowed and snowed all afternoon but it did not stick to anything but the grass. It was a beautiful wet snow with big flakes. This week is to be very cold with highs only close to 40, which is pretty cold for this time of the year here. The mountains and some of the areas around us got anywhere from 2 to 7 inches.

This week I start another season of Project Feeder Watch. If you are into bird watching and have a backyard feeder it is very easy to participate. I do a two day tally each week. It can be for an hour or all day, does not matter. Then, just enter your data online or you can request data entry sheets to fill in and mail back. 

The Festival of Trees was very nice. It was inside the Education Building at the fair grounds. Local organizations and businesses decorate artificial trees with a theme. Many of the ornaments were hand made by students and adults. This was my favorite tree. I several others and they did not turn out very well for some reason.

         Marcia I thought of you, with all those ornaments you make, you would have enjoyed seeing them. Several were done by school kids. A business in town purchases the tree and the money goes to the Brenner's Children's Hospital. There was also a gingerbread house contest          

Several local vendors were selling decorations and things to buy for gifts. We left around 3:00 so dad could get back home Even though the snow was not sticking to the ground, visibility was pretty low due to the driving snow and we did not know if the temp would drop making the roads slick later in the afternoon.

The Winston Cup race was rain out yesterday in Atlanta, so they are running it this morning at 10:00. I may watch some of it when I get back from the gym. 

Tuesday, 21 November 2000

[Last Week] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Next Week]

Not much going on here other than it is bitter cold for this time of year for us. Tonight it is to be down to 15 degrees, which is very cold for November. The next rain is forecast for Saturday. Since it is so cold today, high in the low thirties with 15 to 20 mile an hour winds, I think I will wait and put out the seed and fertilizer tomorrow. Maybe it will be a bit warmer.

I am going to the grocery store this morning. I need to pick up stuff for Thanksgiving Day. I am making peach salad for desert and it needs to be made tomorrow. I am hoping to avoid the day before Thanksgiving crowds doing their holiday food shopping by going today. We always have Thanksgiving at our house. For the past several years we have been fixing Cornish Hens rather than turkey. Mom makes the dressing and the green beans. I will get the potatoes for mashing and they are bringing the rolls. 

I have several projects to work on this afternoon. Maybe more tomorrow.

Wednesday, 22 November 2000

[Last Week] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Next Week]

I guess I will wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving week today for those of you who may be going out of town and or too busy to visit diary pages. I know for a lot of you today is "Friday". Other than tomorrow, it will be work as usual around here for us. Bob will work tomorrow, I doubt I will have time with Thanksgiving activities to prepare for. But, Friday and the weekend will be work days as usual for me. 

I am off to the gym this morning and to the library. Then, back home to make peach salad for tomorrow. I may put out my seed and fertilizer today if it is not too cold. It is supposed to do something this weekend, rain, snow, or ice, but the weather forecasters are not sure yet.

So, I guess that will about wrap it up for now. 

Thursday, 23 November 2000

[Last Week] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Next Week]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! To all who live in the United States. Actually, there may be some Americans who reside in foreign countries and still maintain this holiday tradition. So, happy holidays to you too.

Yesterday I had one of THOSE days;

where everything you touch you drop or knock over. Things just don't seem to want to go right and it seems like you are always bumping into things. That was my day yesterday. I went to the gym and the library in the morning. After lunch I went down to get out the spreader and do the lawn. I crushed the knuckle on my ring finger making a nice ugly bruise covering most of my finger. Later that afternoon we took the dogs out for their afternoon constitutional. I hooked Duncan up to the leash instead of Malcolm. Malcolm took off across the street to see the dog who lives in the fence. I had unleashed Duncan and they were not both across the street visiting a dog that lives in the fenced in backyard. The man that lives there was out and they had also run over to see him. By the time we got across the street they had run behind the house next door.

I turned to tell Duncan to go home because if he does, Malcolm will follow. As I turned to look back in the direction I thought they were going, one them must have blindsided me and the next thing I knew, I was down on the cement driveway of the neighbors. 

I must have twisted my ankle when they hit my leg causing it to buckle and make me fall. And, I had on high top tennis shoes, which I wear for that very reason. I have bad ankles, the right one being prone to sprains real bad. But, that is another story. My other knee slammed into the concrete and as Bob turned around to see what had happened I am laying on the driveway. It knocked the wind out me and my ankle hurt, so I laid there for a few minutes and then Bob and the neighbor helped me up. I hobbled back to the house and got the foot up with ice and put ointment on the skinned knee. Fortunately I was wearing a fairly heavy set of sweat pants and my jacket, which prevented any serious injuries when I hit the pavement.

  Bob picked up take out Chinese for dinner and I sat with ice on the ankle for a couple of hours. The dogs always know when one of us is not well, as you can see. It felt much better but stiff later that evening. I took one of those 800mg Motrin's that Bob had left from the dentist when I had a tooth pulled. That helped the pain and prevented any major swelling. This morning it is stiff but not very swollen, so I am none the worse for wear. It will mean taking it easy for a couple of days and I will miss my gym workout tomorrow. I will put an ace on it and be fine. 

I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving day. I am very grateful for everything I have; my health, my family, and a good life. Yesterday is a good example: every day may not always go as planned, but things can be a whole lot worse. Make the best of it and just keep on going. 

Friday, 24 November 2000

[Last Week] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Next Week]

First of all I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful messages I received about my ankle injury. The TLC from the dogs, plus the ice and Motrin must have done the trick. Keri posted a message on her page recommending that I take an extra Vitamin E and Calcium. I take those everyday anyway and even though I did not take any extra, I also wonder if that too played a part in my injury being less severe. 

Duncan injured another paw pad last night. He has prone to those since he was a pup. He goes roaring off after things and catches them on things. I put some antibiotic cream on it and wrapped it with vet wrap and tape. It will heal up in a couple of days. 

We had great day yesterday. I called my parents around 11:00 and told them to come on over for a snack lunch. They only live across town and were originally not going to come until after lunch. They loaded up the car with their food to bring and arrived shortly before noon. After bringing in the food and getting things organized we ate lunch and spent the next couple of hours just sitting around and visiting. 

Malcolm behaved very well. Although we spent a good deal of the day trying to keep him from thieving things from the kitchen like dish towels, pot holders, and coffee maker parts, he was pretty good overall. He is fast as lightening and at one point even managed to steal a napkin ring from a bottom shelf in the cupboard while I was looking for something on the top shelf. The top to the coffee maker basket must have been knocked off on the floor while I was in the process of making another pot. Dad and I must have spent a good five minutes looking for it before I  went to find Bob to see if he placed it somewhere after he washed out the pot from the first batch. As I came back through the den who do you think had that lid between his paws chewing on the hinge? You guessed it!! As soon as it hit the floor he must have grabbed it and took off with it before we even knew what happened.

About 2:30 we went in to the kitchen and got the meal underway. Once the hens were cooking, the dressing was mixed and the potatoes boiling, we again had some down time. It all went smoothly and we sat down to eat right about 4:30, as we had planned. After we had eaten and cleared away the food, Bob came in and loaded the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen. Mom and I then set out the deserts. She decided to bring a lemon meringue pie and had made some pecan tarts. 

Even though my ankle and knee feel much better I will not go to the gym today or tomorrow to give it plenty of time to heal. Bob and I have some damage control left in the kitchen. We did not wash up the big stuff that would not fit in the dishwasher but rinsed it real well instead to wash up this morning. He needs to run the dishwasher and I have a few things left to put away. I will work on the book some today and do some odds and end things around the house. I never go anywhere near the stores the day after Thanksgiving. I will do my shopping starting next week, what little I have left to do. 

We are having the beef stroganoff that I was supposed to make Wednesday night. We had very little leftover from yesterday and I will use those over the weekend.

[Last Week] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Next Week]