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Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary Week of 2 December 2002 Latest Update: Sunday, 27 April 2003 08:39 |
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Monday, 2 December 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| "Twas the first day of December and all through the
house not a creature was stirring not even: Malcolm, Duncan, Kerry, or
Bob."
Yesterday afternoon all the guys in the house were soundly sleeping while I listened to Christmas music and starting my decorating. I picked up my tree after I visited Lenore in the morning. First I had to get all the tables cleared of nick knacks and other stuff before I could even get started on putting things out. I did get the lights on the tree, the kitchen table done, and a start on the living room and dinning room. This year I decided to put the tree on the opposite side of the living room in the corner where the book cases are located. Bob was on the phone with Brian when I brought the tree in the house. After he hung up he asked me if I was ready to have him help me bring the tree in. While he was asking me this question he was looking directly into the living room and did not see the tree already standing there! One of the many things I love about decorating for Christmas is seeing all the ornaments and decorations once a year. Pulling out my ornaments is much the same as seeing an old friend again. We had pancakes and bacon for dinner. Back to work this morning. When I get off I need to take the car out to Tim's garage. The valves are starting to tick really back again. I hope he can check it out while I wait or leave and have us go back for it later. If he can't I will have to drive the white truck to work on Tuesday and leave Bob without a car. [Top] |
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Tuesday, 3 December 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| I turned 48 yesterday. I didn't really do anything
special. My sister is out of town all week so we postponed the usual
family birthday celebration until next Saturday to be held at her
house.
My poor Trooper is not doing too well. It has started burning oil with engine wear. I used to be able to go four to six months before getting the oil changed. Now, it is running a quart low every couple of months which is causing the valves to start ticking like crazy. It is nine years old and only has 73950 miles on it. This coming weekend we are going to switch cars and make mine the astro-truck and I will drive the white one again. It actually is a better deal anyway other than the fact it doesn't have AC. The radio and CD player on mine has started acting up and the white one has the new tires. If we give the blue one a good rest over the winter I can start driving it again next summer when I need the AC. I got home from getting the oil changed about 1:30. I fixed a snack for lunch, went outside to play with the dogs a little, and then came in to work on decorating my tree. I am about half way finished with the tree and the house decorations. When I get off at noon today I am having lunch with an old friend who worked with Bob back when we first met. We have seen Pat on and off over the years but not recently. We happened to run into each other my first day on the job at Womble. It was very nice to run into to her again. It will be fun to get caught up on our lives from the last few years. Well, it's 9:15 Monday evening. We need to walk the dogs so I can go to bed and read a few chapters before turning off the lights. [Top] |
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Wednesday, 4 December 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| There are just not enough hours in the day for me since I
started back to working those four structured hours a day. Yesterday by
the time I got home after a nice lunch with Pat and a stop at the
grocery store it was going on 3:00. As soon as I changed cloths I
cranked up the lawn vacuum and spent the next hour and half getting the
leaves up.
I came back inside and fixed dinner. After dinner while Bob washed up the non-dishwasher stuff I very quickly sat down at my PC to do a quick mail check and read journal pages. After we walked the dogs I took headed out to visit Lenore first making a stop at the library to pick up reserves books that came in for us. When I went over to visit Lenore I took her small artificial Christmas tree that she has had for years for her room It fits very nicely on a small table standing about three feet high. I also took over a small table top decoration for her TV. Back home from the visit I watched The Practice from Sunday night. Then another quick mail check, write this post, and walk the dogs before getting to bed to read a couple of chapters in my Jill Churchill. Well, the weather liars are predicting a big winter event starting this afternoon into tonight. We will see if we actually get anything. Winter weather is very hard to predict here because of the mountains. Very often the cold does not get here or the precipitation or both making a great big fizzle in their winter storm prediction. Tune in tomorrow to see if we actually got anything.
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Thursday, 5 December 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
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After a bite of lunch the dogs and I headed out for some snow play. You can see more pictures on the here if you are interested. At this point you can still see some of the grass. About two hours later everything was covered. I spent the afternoon decorating my Christmas tree and listening to Christmas music on CD. Talk about getting in the Christmas spirit. Snow falling, decorating the tree, cold...man am I ready this year for Christmas. I fixed homemade pizza for dinner and then worked a little more on decorations. Afterwards we spent the evening reading. The snow changed to sleet and freezing rain over night. This morning the ground is covered in snow and the trees are covered in ice. Kerry is having a really hard time outside. With his bad back legs he cannot even walk in the deep stuff. I can take him off the side of the porch were the ground is still clear from the eaves. I did not even attempt to go into work today. I am hoping by tomorrow the main streets will be cleared enough for me to get in. I found out today that I can work extra hours to make up when I lose a day. I can also work more than 20 hours as long as I work less than 30 a week. Starting next week I may stay longer on a couple of days to make some extra money. One of the real big advantages to not working for the county comes into play today. Had I still been with them I would have been out in this mess trying to make it to work. Well, I have a lot of things I want to get done today so I best get started. I am sure we will have more pictures to post tomorrow. [Top] |
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Friday, 6 December 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| I finished decorating the tree and putting up my
Department 56 snow village before lunch. Then I hauled all the empty
boxes back down to the basement to be put away. After lunch, while Bob
took his shower, I very quickly shoveled the front walk.
We then did the truck swap moving my personal stuff into the white truck and switching positions in the garage. I like parking in the far side of the garage for various reasons. After I finished getting things organized in the white truck I tackled the downstairs area. I put away Christmas boxes, stripped the sofa bed and put it back, and did a general tidying up and started the sheets washing. As you can see from these pictures we had a small amount of ice on the trees this morning. Fortunately we did not lose power but over 1 million homes in North Carolina did. It had warmed up a bit when I shoveled the drive, making it slushy on the bottom and easy to shovel.
There are a couple of new pictures of the guys out playing in the snow. It was really hard for them since their paws kept crashing through the crunchy snow. Kerry got stuck a couple of times and I had to carry him over to the walkway or street so he could walk. It is still very cold and icy this morning. I am going to try to go into work around 10 am or so. By then between traffic and sunshine the roads should be at least semi-cleared of most of the ice. I finished reading Jill Churchill's Groom With a View. Very funny, as usual. Jane has volunteered to direct the wedding of a wealthy acquaintance, Livvy Thatcher. The wedding will be held at the family's hunting lodge that was previously used as a monastery. Upon arriving at the lodge Jane runs into her usual cast of eccentric characters and of course a body or two.
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Saturday, 7 December 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Although the sun came out yesterday the temperatures did
not warm up enough to melt the ice from the trees. Sometime during the
night on Thursday they plowed our street. I left yesterday morning for
work around 9:15. The neighborhood streets still remained covered in a
thin coating of snow and ice from the plowing but I did not have any
problems with the Trooper in 4 wheel drive. The main roads were clear
all the way to downtown.
I worked six hours yesterday leaving at 3:45. On the way home I made a quick stop at the nursing home to visit Lenore. What little snow that melted yesterday would refreeze after the sun went down. We spent the evening reading. Thursday evening I had started the third book in the Carola Dunn mystery series starring Daisy Dalrymple, Requiem for a Mezzo. Daisy and her boyfriend Chief Inspector Alex Fletcher, while attending a performance of Verdi's Requiem, witness the lead soprano dropping dead on stage shortly after the second portion of the performance. Daisy and Alex must determine who among the performance's participants murders diva Bettina Abernathy. It just so happens Mr. and Mrs. Abernathy are her next door neighbors along with Bettina's sister Muriel who also sings in the choir. Another very funny mystery by Dunn. I finished reading it last night and started the last of the golf mysteries by Charlotte and Aaron Elkins after I went to bed. It is off to the gym this morning for aerobics followed by Lenore's morning visit. This afternoon I have a few decorating things to finish up. Tonight, my parents and sister are taking me out to dinner followed by cake and ice cream at her house for my belated birthday celebration.
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[Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Good day to everyone. The snow is still hanging around on
the ground. Yesterday's temperatures did not really warm up enough to do
much melting. But, the roads are mostly clear and dry. I did not have
any problem coming home last night around 9:30 from my sister's house.
We had a nice dinner at Cities with my sister and her husband Al and my folks. France, Al, and I ate pasta. Mine had a nice, light primavera sauce along with zucchini, asparagus, red peppers, and grated parmesan cheese. Frances and Al had chicken primavera. Mom and Dad split their beef tips dinner. We did not have dessert since we were having ice cream and cake bake at Frances and Al's house.
Busy day ahead!. This morning I need to tidy the house and vacuum. Later this afternoon I want to shovel the drive so we can get the cars in and out. It is supposed to warm up considerably this afternoon which should make the shoveling job pretty easy.
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