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Barbara Fritchman Thompson
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Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary

Week of 23 December 2002

Latest Update: Sunday, 27 April 2003 08:39


Monday, 23 December 2002

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Boy, talk about the start of a long week. Each year Bob arranges our journal pages so one calendar year ends and the next one starts on the 31st and 1st respectively. I decided I would just have one long nine day "week" ending on the 31st as my arrangement. 

We had a nice dinner last night with my family. Nothing fancy just little dogs cooked in beer, baked beans, salad, chips, and cheese and crackers. 

Today I have a hair cut appointment at 2 pm. I will work until 1 which gives me plenty of time to get there. After my haircut I need to make a couple of stops on the way home.

We are meeting our friends Paul and Mary for dinner at 6 pm at the nearby Mexican restaurant. Afterwards we are reconvening back here so we can start planning the Messier Marathon for early next March. 

I am almost recovered from my "bug". My appetite has not completely returned but so far, if I eat small portions, nothing seems be bothering my stomach. I still do not feel 100% physically yet either.

Christmas is almost upon us folks. Only a couple of days left.

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Tuesday, 24 December 2002

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Enough is enough. I really did not feel all that well yesterday morning when I got up. I struggled through the morning at work sipping Coke and munching crackers. I stopped for a short visit with Lenore on the way home after my haircut. Around 4:30 or so I actually started feeling better. I ate pretty light at the Mexican restaurant last night but not long after I went to bed, around 10:15 or so, I started feeling bad again.

This morning I decided I would call to see if the doctor's office was even open. I have an 8:50 appointment with one of the doctors (not mine) who is working today. I really do not want to be sick on Christmas day so I thought I better go get this thing checked out.

It is pouring down rain which is to continue most of the day. I had a light day planned anyway. Tonight I will visit Lenore and take her a couple of gifts from myself and my folks for her to open. I guess Bob and I will watch Black Adder's Christmas for our Christmas Eve enjoyment.

Enjoy your Christmas Eve if your plans include celebrating the holiday.  

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Wednesday, 25 December 2002

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MERRY CHRISTMAS. I will be spending the day at my sister Frances and Al's house. We will have a big brunch around 10:00 and then open our stockings followed by a few gifts. Around 1 or 2 we will stop to get a light snack, coffee, etc before continuing with gift opening. We take our time with gifts. Each person opens a gift while everyone watches. 

At some point we will begin dinner preparations for our 5 o'clock dinner. 

This day means a lot to me mainly because of my parents. Our local newspaper editorial page editor, Linda Brinson, wrote her recent Sunday column on this very topic. Obviously every Christmas growing up was not wonderful and if I try hard enough I can conjure up those few Christmas days that did not go as planned.

However almost every Christmas I can remember right up to this year has special memories. Our family has their own way of enjoying the day and expressing what it means to us. Over the years my parents have tried to continue that tradition. As I think back to various traditions that have come and gone I always remember something new each time I reach back into my memory bag of this wonderful day. As we have grown up some things have changed some have not. Christmas is not magic. It cannot make illnesses or money problems go away or change the way people are. But to me it does have magical qualities that make this holiday extra special for me. A lot of what Mrs. Brinson said in her column expresses my thoughts so wonderfully.

I hope wherever you are today you are enjoying your good health, happiness, and love ones. For those of you who do not wish to be a part of what this day brings I hope you also have a wonderful day. This past year has been a rough one for me. I lost several friends and relatives to illnesses and experienced some tough times on the home front. 

Today I will spend the holiday with my family enjoying ourselves and the time we have to spend together. Hopefully I will have been a good enough girl to not get coal in my stocking!

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Thursday, 26 December 2002

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It was a splendid day at my sister's house yesterday. We had a fun day of eating, talking, and opening some gifts. I got a very nice assortment of things including new rugs for my hall bath and a George Foreman grill. We kept everything pretty low key this year but still had a wonderful day. Frances and Al cooked a great meal of Cornish hens, sweet potato casserole, broccoli casserole,  wild rice, and a large assortment of desserts. We will be eating leftovers for our dinner tonight plus I have some treats to take to Lenore. I will take them over for her to enjoy with her dinner this evening.

On the health front. The doctor took x-rays of my upper and lower stomach, a urine sample, and blood. The first two came back with negative information. I return for a follow up visit Friday afternoon. In the meantime he gave me some IBS medication to see if it would help me to eat without getting stomach cramps. It has worked so far. I made sure yesterday I ate small portions all day. I ate a little more for dinner so I left off the desserts to be safe. I am still feeling about 75% right now. 

I plan to work until about 2 pm today to make up some of my lost time. This afternoon I need to put the Christmas stuff under the tree. I also have some pictures of the dogs playing with some Christmas gifts to add to my Christmas page plus a few from yesterday's festivities. 

Well it is getting late and I need to pay some attention to the dogs before heading off to bed to read a bit before turning off the lights.

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Friday, 27 December 2002

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I added a few pictures from the other night when we opened our gifts from the Bilbrey's and some from Christmas day at my sisters. I still have some shots left on the film camera.

PC160096.JPG (127788 bytes)  Poor Duncan, all tuckered out from a hard day of play. He likes to lie in my spot on the sofa with his head on my sofa pillow. 

Today is the best I have felt in well over a week. I don't know if it is from the medication or whatever I had just ran its course. I guess I will find out this afternoon when I go back to the doctor. As I am typing this, about 5:30 Thursday evening, Bob is making arrangements to go over the the nearby soccer field for a short observing session. 

Guess I better run. I need to walk the dogs and make a Lenore visit. Hope you have a great weekend.

 

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Saturday, 28 December 2002

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Thursday night I did manage to bag a couple of Messier objects for my list. The seeing conditions were not all that great but it was nice to get out under the stars for a hour or so. Saturn was glorious as usual.

The doctor determined my stomach ailment was a very bad case of the flu accompanied by an acute case of gastroenteritis. I am feeling back to 100% with both strength and eating. As a matter of fact I am off to the gym this morning before doing the morning Lenore visit.

If you have been a reader of my pages over the years you know that I always do the Thompson Deep Clean at the end of the year. For me it is the only time I really have to devote to each room since in the spring time I am usually busy with yard work and other stuff. Today I will work on the back rooms of the house since they do not have Christmas decorations to take down. 

So, for the next week the house will actually get cleaned in phases as I work my way from the back to the front. The last rooms, will of course, the den and living room after I take down the holiday stuff. 

In the reading report, I am into the third mystery of the series by Leslie Meier after just finishing Murder on the Flying Scotsman by Carola Dunn. Meier's books are funny and light, not quit as well written as Jill Churchill, but well worth reading. As a matter of fact, Meier's writes so wonderfully of her little home town of Tinker's Cove Maine it almost makes you feel like you actually visit the town each time you read one of her books.

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Sunday, 29 December 2002

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Yesterday was a great day. I felt like my old self.. full of energy and able to eat basically anything I wish. Two of life's most important features, mine anyway. I spent the afternoon getting our bedroom deep cleaned and most of my office. I still need to do my desk and filling cabinet top but otherwise things are finished in here.

I am playing golf this morning. Dad will get to try out the two new clubs he got for Christmas. Since it will be mid-afternoon by the time I get I will not try to get too much done in the cleaning department. I may just tackle our bathroom and possibly the hall one. 

As I mentioned earlier I got a George Foreman grill for Christmas. I used it last night to fix our pork chops and they were wonderful. Cooked in about ten minutes with no greasy stove top and very juicy and tender. Tonight for dinner I am going to do a couple of rib eye steaks. Even though I use the outdoor grill all winter I will most likely start using the Foreman for small steaks, chops, burgers,  rather than firing up the big grill.

Not much else going on to write about. 

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Monday, 30 December 2002

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Happy Monday and the start of the last few days of the old year. My how time flies when you are living life! I plan to work until 2 pm both today and tomorrow to make up for the four hours I will lose on New Year's Day.

Golf yesterday had rather a late start due to the frost. When we arrived at the course around 8:15 we were told it would be about 9:30. The temperatures were predicted to get warm fast. However, we had continuous cloud cover from 8:30 to 10:00 which prevented the frost from melting. We finally teed off around 10:15. The course was either frozen or half frozen in some places or mushy and mucky where the sun was shining. But, we had a good time. I played pretty well. 

By the time I got home it was going on 3 pm. I decided it was too late to start any cleaning projects so I washed a small load of table top covers and place mats, checked my mail, played outdoors with the dogs, and then did a load of towels. After dinner I visited Lenore.

I finished reading the Leslie Meier mystery Saturday night and decided to start another Carola Dunn, Damsel in Distress

Not sure what I will get into when I get home today. Most likely drag the Christmas storage boxes back up from the basement and get started taking down decorations. I hope you have a good Monday whatever your plans may be.

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Tuesday, 31 December 2002

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Happy New Year to everyone! All I can say is that I am glad to see 2002 over with and hope that 2003 will be a better year at the Thompson Techno Grotto. However, I am very thankful that Bob and I have each other and our good health, our wonderful dogs, my folks are healthy, Bob's mom is doing okay in the nursing home, and my sister and her husband Al are doing okay. It could be a lot worse for sure.  

Yesterday I got started on taking down the Christmas decorations. By the time I dragged all the boxes up stairs about all I had time to do was get the ornaments off the small tree in the den and the big tree in the living room. Tomorrow I need to stop at the library and grocery store on the way home from work. Then I will spend the afternoon and evening getting the rest of the decorations down and packed up. Getting my village dismantled and packed up will take almost as long as getting all the other decorations put away.

After dinner I will go over to visit Lenore but otherwise we will spend the evening as we usually do, reading. I may try to stay up until midnight and watch the ball drop in New York but I will not make any rash promises.

Have a safe and Happy New Year's Eve and I will see you next year! 

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