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Barbara Fritchman Thompson
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Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary

Week of 30 August 2004

Latest Update: Sunday, 05 September 2004 15:46


Monday, 30 August 2004

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Today in the mail we got two copies of the new book  It looks really great. The publishers did a wonderful job with the layout and of course I am very proud of Bob. He puts a lot of work into his books. While the other books have always sold moderately well I am pulling for this one to be Bob's big breakthrough book and we sell lots and lots and lot! 

We did not get much rain from Gaston. As a matter of fact, when we took the dogs out after dinner we only had about a fourth of an inch in our new rain gauge. It started pouring just as we got outside so we made it a quick out then I left for the gym for step class. While at the gym it came a gully washer. Bob said he checked the rain gauge. We got an inch in about thirty minutes or so. 

I hope you had a great Monday to start your week off. 


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Tuesday, 31 August 2004

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Yep, another month has come and gone. Hard to believe. While the humidity is high we are still having fairly cool temperatures for August. Today we had a high of 86 when normally it would have been closer to being 100. 

No gym tonight. They have started a Saturday morning spin class beginning this Saturday. I will more than likely swap my Tuesday evening class for the Saturday morning one unless I know ahead of time I will not be able to make it on Saturday. That gives me another night at home when I need more than the Saturday morning.

This morning I used my "lunch walk time" to walk over to the printing shop that is just around the corner from my old building. I happen to know the couple who run the franchise for this PIP printing place. They were my patrons when I worked at the old Reynolda back in the 80's and early 90's. They bring their dog to work with them so I naturally enjoy stopping in to get things printed and visit. Today they had a little Sheltie along with their collie/lab mix. The little Sheltie belongs to the owners brother who is away in Europe for a year. The little Sheltie came from rescue after being a flunk out as a show dog. 

After getting the copies of the Friends newsletter done I walked across the street to the post office to get stamps for mailing them. On the way home this afternoon I stopped by the library to pick up a set of mailing labels dropped off by our VP who maintains our mailing list. Tonight I shall fold, stamp, and label them for mailing tomorrow. It is only a page long newsletter. I do two a year, one in the spring before the spring book sale and one in the fall for the same reason. 

After the library I did the weekly grocery shopping getting home around 5pm. Still reading the fifth book in the Jane Austin series. 

 

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Wednesday, 1 September 2004

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Not much in the way of news. I went to the gym after dinner for Body Pump class. When I got home Bob told me Lori from CBCR had called. I spent twenty minutes or so talking with her on the phone. She is one who is fostering Misty that I pulled from the local animal shelter. Misty is still recovering from her spay surgery. It became a little infected. Once she heals completely Misty is going to be tried out on sheep to see how she does with herding.

It's getting late and I still have mail to check.

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Thursday, 2 September 2004

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I decided to go ahead a mow the lawn when I got this afternoon. The weather forecast for tomorrow evening was rain then they called it off. Not worth playing a guessing game with Frances lurking just off the coast. She is not scheduled to arrive this far, if she does until the first of next week . However, depending on her size and where she comes in we could start getting rain earlier. 

After I finished up mowing I came in and fixed dinner then did the sweeping up after we walked the dogs. 

I am almost finished with the Jane Austen. If I could stay awake longer than 45 minutes to an hour after I go to bed I could have been done with it by last night. During the hour or so I have in the den to play with the dogs after the evening chores, I have been watching some of the early round coverage of the U.S. Open tennis. 

Glad tomorrow is Friday and the start of a long weekend. I am ready! I had planned to get some work done in my yard but if it rains, that's okay, I have other things I can do.

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Friday, 3 September 2004

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Yes, I finally finished up the Jane Austen and started the third book in the Em Hanson, geologist mysteries by Sarah Andrews. One of the many things I like about Andrews books is her beginning. She always gets right into the story from the first word of the first chapter. No waiting around until page 35 or 50 to for a murder with her.

In this third book, she has gone off to California to solve the murder of an environmental geologist who also happens to be the daughter of a Senator in Washington. Six months previous Em's father died suddenly, just before she lost her job with the oil company she worked for who went bankrupt. Finally down to her last few hundred dollars she has nothing to loose when asked by the Senator to solve a case the local sheriff's department has been unable to crack. 

Hurricane Frances is now churning closed to the east coast of Florida. It will most likely come on shore as a category 3 or 4. Depending on the track once it gets inland, we may or may not have a soggy Labor Day weekend. BTW, the usual practice of the Hurricane Center is to retire names of storms that do considerable amounts of damage. It just so happens that our friends second child , Andrew, was born the same year said hurricane of the same name destroyed the east coast of Florida. Now is looks like my sister will get that honor as well.

Speaking of storms. We had an insurance adjuster over to look at our roof today. The house next door, empty again, had a new roof put on after the renters moved out. The guy came over and told Bob it looked like we also had damage from a hail storm that struck back in May or June. Bob called our insurance to have them come out and take a look. Back in 1989, two years after we bought the house, we had the roof replaced after, what the weather folks called a "wind shear" came through and sheared off most of our roof. We called it a mini-tornado. 

Guess we will be investigating roofing companies once we hear back from the insurance company. 

 

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Saturday, 4 September 2004

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Good afternoon. As usual, it has been a busy day around here. I woke up at 7 but turned over to snooze for a few more minutes. The next time I woke up it 8:05. I probably could have slept longer but I wanted to make that 9am spinning class. I sat up until 11:30 last night reading Mother Nature. It was so good I did not want to put it down. Andrews also has a habit a lot of other authors use, teasers at the end of a chapter, which then force you to read the next chapter. Finally I decided I better turn off the light. Although, I should have just kept reading. The last time I looked at the clock before I finally fell asleep it was well after 12:30.

I quickly read the paper, dressed, and headed out. No, I did not eat breakfast. I decided eating something twenty minutes before my spin class was not a good idea. The class was full in that all the bikes available were occupied. That is a good thing since I was the one who suggested trying the class again. They used to have a Saturday morning spin class but gradually lost attendance. They switched it to a cardio class, which did well for awhile, then it lost attendance. No doubt, the same thing will happen to this class over time.

Back home, I let the dogs out back for a rousing game of kick ball for about 15 minutes before we came upstairs. I make a quick pass with the vacuum and dust rag and cleaned the bathrooms before fixing an early lunch. After lunch I brushed the dogs. Just as I finished them up our friend Paul stopped by to pick something up and to visit for a few minutes.

After he left it was outside to hose off the mower. I will have Bob change the blade tomorrow from mulching back to catching for the fall and spring. Next, I dug up an old crepe myrtle bush from out by the street. It never seems to bloom and always gets the powered mildew from the humid weather. I also dug up several hunks of lariope for transplanting in the back. I watered it down then came inside to get cleaned up.

After my shower I put in the dark clothes to wash and the whites to dry for Bob. That's about it for me for the day. Between tennis, golf, and my book, I have plenty of things to keep me busy the remainder of the day.

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Sunday, 5 September 2004

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Another beautiful day in the Piedmont Triad. As my sister said today when we were leaving mom and dad's after lunch, "It is hard to imagine we are having such wonderful weather and twelve hours from here there is a major hurricane." Dad and I played golf this morning. The sun was in and out with a sporadic breeze of ten mph's or so. The temperatures were in the high 70's. With the sun out and no breeze it got a little warm but was otherwise very pleasant. 

We got home around 10:45. While mom and Frances fixed lunch I mowed dad's lawn for him. He helped Frances with hers yesterday. It is too much for him to mow two in one day or play golf and mow.  I can do  it in about 45 minutes where it takes him over an hour because I can walk faster.

When I got home I gave the dogs some playtime then fired up the gas trimmer to cut the forsythia hedge along the bottom part of the drive. The hedge is in the neighbor's yard but grows out over our driveway. With hand shears it would take half an hour or more but only takes about 10 with the gas trimmer. I swept up the trimmings and leaves from the drive then came in to take a shower. Afterwards it was time to cool off, read the paper, and watch some tennis.

I just took the dogs for a quick afternoon walk while Bob put the towels in the dryer. As I did yesterday, I  shall spend the remainder of the day watching tennis and golf and reading. Last night I finished up the Sarah Andrews. Today I will start the second book in the bloodhound series.

 

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