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Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary Week of 1 April 2002 Latest Update: Friday, 10 May 2002 12:07 |
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Monday, 1 April 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
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Wow, April already. Where do the months go? It is a very typical spring day after the weekend of rain. The red bud trees are blooming, the grass is really green, and the birds are singing outside my window. I more or less took the day off yesterday after getting the house cleaned and my truck cleaned out of CBCR merchandise. I did some work at the computer off and on during the day. Last night I worked on my new Doggin' the Web column for this month. I need to finish it up this afternoon either before or after I mow the lawn to publish tomorrow. This morning I am off to the gym for Body Pump class then run a couple of errands. The dogs need food and I need to stop at the library and the bank. I hope your week gets off to a good one. [Top] |
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Tuesday, 2 April 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| It is another gorgeous spring day today with bright
sunshine and clear blue skies. Bob and I are heading out this morning for
a quick trip to Barnes & Nobel so he can pick up a copy of Turbo Tax.
I want to look for a couple of books while we are there.
This afternoon I will go out to SciWorks for a few hours. Bob is fixing dinner for tonight. He wanted egg salad, which he likes to make, so he can make that for his and Lenore's dinner. I will have a ham sandwich or something. If you are interested you can take a look at the new web sites on Doggin' the Web for this month. I added a link to the Royal Observatory Greenwich to my links page with the other astronomy sites. I made a few minor changes to some of the other pages in Research Solutions. Guess that is about all for now.
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Wednesday, 3 April 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Bob and I returned back from out errands about 10:30. I did
a quick e-mail check and grabbed a light lunch before heading off to
SciWorks. I ended up staying about three and half hours typing and filing
cards. I got back home about 3:30.
It was a really beautiful day with the temperatures by late afternoon in the mid-seventies. I let the dogs out on the deck while I filled the bird feeders and let them have some fresh and air sunshine. Bob fixed his egg salad for dinner and I had a ham/Swiss sandwich. After we walked the dogs I watched two tapes from last night. First Once and Again, my weekly show then a movie we taped on A & E, Tea With Mussolini. Among other stars were Judi Dench and her husband Michael. I guess this was one of the last things he did right before he died. It was really sort of a funny movie about several exocentric British ladies living in Florence who refuse to leave when WWII breaks out in Europe and Mussolini declares British citizens in Italy as enemy aliens. The movie was supposed to be a semi-biography of director Franco Zeffirelli's life. Dad and I were supposed to play golf this morning but the weather is a bit unpredictable. We are supposed to get storms this afternoon but the exact time for them to move in is not clear. Rather than get caught in the rain on the back nine, we decided to wait until tomorrow to play when the forecast is for sunny weather. We had a slight cold front coming through today but the weather will be nice for golf tomorrow. I am off to the gym and grocery store this morning then work at home today. Tonight Bob and I will go to the library and dinner out at the little cafe. [Top] |
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Thursday, 4 April 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Not really anything very much in the way of excitement to
talk about. We did not get the predicted storms by noon, or by 1 or by
afternoon, period. As of this writing at 6:30 we have still not had any
storms but the cold front has started to move through.
When Bob and I left for dinner and the library at 3:45 is was 80 degrees. From the time we got back home from dinner around 5:30 and walking the dogs at 6:15 the temperature has dropped at least twenty degrees. Golf today. It is to be sunny but not nearly as warm as yesterday. Tonight we have Astronomy League meeting here at the house at 7:30.
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Friday, 5 April 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| We only had three people show up for the meeting last
night. We did decided we would go up to Bullington tonight for an
observing session. It is supposed to be cold but clear. After taking care
of some club business we discussed various things about astronomy,
computers, etc before everyone left about 9:30.
I was back home yesterday afternoon by 1 from playing golf and having lunch with dad. I worked at the computer all afternoon. Bob's brother Bill showed up later in the afternoon. Around 4 I popped a frozen lasagna in the oven for dinner and fixed garlic bread to go along with it. He left not long after the meeting broke up. I sat up to watch ER then went to bed. I am working at home today. This afternoon I need to mow the lawn AGAIN. With it growing so fast and being so sappy I want to try to mow it every five days or so to keep it from getting so high it clogs the mower deck. Thankfully, this spring growth period only lasts a few weeks.
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Saturday, 6 April 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| We had a very good observing session last night at
Bullington. I bagged half a dozen or so Messier objects for my Astronomy
League projects. The forecast had been for it to be cold but it really wasn't
with very little wind. In addition to me and Bob, Bonnie, Paul, and his
wife Mary also came up. As long as we viewed objects high up in the sky
the transparency was not too bad. Down low toward the horizon things were
a little murky to be able to see very much. This included the comet Ikeya
Zhang. It was down so low we could really not get a good look at it last
night.
We finally left around 10:45 to return back home. By the time we got home, walked the dogs and gave them some attention it was after midnight before I got to bed. I am going with Frances today to run some errands for the wedding. We are driving down to pick up her dress after she gets her last fitting. I need to see how it buttons and zips since I am the one that has to help get her dressed. Then we are checking out the route from the chapel to the restaurant where the reception is to be held. I am making a post card for her to have printed with the directions. I will be gone most of the day with this activity. I started reading the newest Susan Connant, The Wicked Flea : A Dog Lovers Mystery. I have only read a few of her many books in this series all the ones I have read I have enjoyed. This novel picks up from her last one, Creature Discomforts, where Holly Winter is now recovering from her concussion from her fall and her heartbreak over loosing her vet/boyfriend. Holly is now back in her fictional town of Newton, MA with her beloved companions and show dogs Alaskan Malamutes Rowdy and Kimi. In this book, amateur sleuth Holly must solve the murder of one of the women who brings her highly misbehaved golden retriever to the nearby dog park. Other storylines include her rather unsuccessful attempt at therapy to cure her insomnia from her recent traumas and getting along with her father's new bride. I like Connant books in general although I do not read that many dog mysteries. However, she gets bogged down a little too much in American Kennel Club talk and the ethics of dog behavior at times which I don't care for. But, behind this rather preachy attitude is a pretty good plot and a good sense of humor in her characters. And of course it does help that she mentions Border Collies periodically in her story lines. I hope everyone has a good weekend. It has turned rather chilly here after the spring-like weather of the past week. The past two days we have had highs in the 50's with an expected low tonight down in the 20's.
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[Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Yep, I am a sucker for anything with a Border Collie on it.
That is what Bob said yesterday when I came home with yet another t-shirt
with my beloved breed's picture on the front.
After we left the florist yesterday morning, Frances drove on down toward Burlington for her appointment to pick up her dress. We actually got to Burlington a little early before it was time to get some lunch so we stopped at one of the huge outlet places that I have actually wanted to go in myself. JR's is advertised as the largest outlet shopping places under one roof for bargains and prices on cigarettes, etc. You see the billboards when traveling all over NC. So, we took some time to go through this one since it was right next door to the Bob Evan's where we were having lunch. It is just one long building with all kinds of junk along with some pretty nice looking stuff for gardens. They have cloths, luggage, perfume, and more. I found the books and spent some time browsing around in that section before I found one I bought for Bob. A Harry Turtledove first edition for $3. Then I found the pet stuff and the breed clothing. Shirts, hats and tote bags. I actually have the hat they were selling. I found a neat shirt in a pretty cream color that I ended up buying. I have one similar to this one that is starting to get pretty ratty so I will replace it with my new one. After a nice lunch we drove over to the dress shop. Frances tried on her dress one last time with me helping to get her into it so I will know what to do on the day of the wedding. We left Burlington around 1:30 or so to head back to Winston. Back in town we parked the car and walked over to the chapel. She is getting married in a very popular chapel that is located on one side of Baptist Hospital. I guess they have a wedding there just about every weekend. There was one getting set up for that afternoon while we were there. It is very easy to get to from the parking deck across the street. We then left the parking deck to drive over to the restaurant downtown to see what the route would be and where to tell people to park. By the time we did all this and got back to mom's it was 3:00. We dropped off mom and went back to Frances's so I could get my car and come on home. I played with the dogs and checked my mail before fixing homemade pizza for dinner. Last night I finished reading the dog mystery and started on a new one by Dorothy Simpson. Bob is reading these ahead of me. I am reading the very first one which I will tell you more about tomorrow after I have read a little more. With the time change and being up late the night before and up early yesterday we walked the dogs around 9 and went on to bed. I read for awhile before turning off the light. Today is house cleaning day and race watching this afternoon. If they get to run it. It is in Texas where they are having some pretty severe weather and rain so it may be a wash out. I have a stack of stuff on my table to read while I watch the race and the crossword puzzle to work. [Top] |