Home » Diary Home » Week of 18 December 2006

Photograph of Robert Bruce Thompson Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary

Week of 18 December 2006

Latest Update: Sunday, 24 December 2006 3:50 p.m.


Monday, 18 December 2006

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

I am reading the newest Stephanie Barron, Jane and the Baroque of Frailty. Set in Regency England, Barron introduces the author Jane Austen in her first book in the series by way of a long lost journal discovered in a trunk. Using Austen's real life experiences she intertwines them with Austen the sleuth who goes about solving murders which take place in and around London England and the upper classes. If you like Jane Austen, which I do, and Regency period mysteries, these are excellently written. Barron also writes another series under the name of Francine Matthews. 

In this most recent book, Jane is in London overseeing the publication of her first novel Sense and Sensibility while staying with her brother Henry. After attending a local play in which she watches a Russian Princess gaze longingly at a local politician. The next morning the princess is found dead on the steps of the Lord's residence. Jane and her sister-in-law Eliza become entangled in the murder and a possible political fiasco for her brother and the country.

The weather remains unseasonably warm. After work I had the 9th of my 10 chiropractor visits. 

[Top]


Tuesday, 19 December 2006

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

No update.



[Top]


Wednesday, 20 December 2006

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

I did not post last night for simple reason...not much in the way of news. Tonight was my last chiropractor appointment which will free my nights up again. I came home and picked up Bob to meet Paul and Mary for dinner.

Last night Stephanie and I walked. It was late enough to take the dogs for their last time out then bring them back home before continuing on by ourselves.

I am working on various projects at work. Things are pretty slow with attorney support with a lot of folks out this week and next for the holidays. Drew and I are both out of vacation for the year. Steve will be in and out certain days. With end of the year coming up I have notebooks to set up for next year, etc to work on as well as my destruction project.

All my shopping is done as well as wrapped and under the tree. Just waiting on the big day to arrive.

[Top]


Thursday, 21 December 2006

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


Rain is in the forecast for tonight through Saturday and we really need it. My winter pansies are starting to look a little dry with no measurable rainfall for the entire month so far.

Tonight after work I had the usual stops to make; library, pet and grocery store. I has been drizzling off and on since I left work but not really raining.

We just got back from a quick visit over at Stephanie's. I wanted to take the girls their Christmas presents since they may be busy Saturday and Sunday with other activities. I bought them bubbles and bubble wands at the craft show when Marcia and I went at Thanksgiving. I gave Shane a soft stuffed giraffe with matching socks I found at  Broadway at the Beach. Jasmine is getting a pair of slipper socks with Yorkshire Terriers, which is what their dog Missy is, that I  picked up in the same store. 

I am still reading the Jane Austen mystery. I have been trying to walk at lunch for at least half an hour which has cut down on my reading time. At night I have made it through perhaps three, four chapters at most before falling asleep. I have been way off my two, two and half books per week for most of this month.

[Top]


Friday, 22 December 2006

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



Wet and warm. It does not feel a lot like Christmas. Although we hardly ever have a white Christmas we usually have cool or cold weather. It rained/drizzled most of the day giving us a much needed .59 inches of rain. I walked to the post office at lunch. It was very windy but only drizzling.

Being a slow day at work can be a good thing or a bad thing. Due to the lack of demands upon our department from attorneys left me with several projects to complete. I ended up being a lot more tired by 5pm than if we had been busy. But, I got a lot work done, which is all that matters.

Last night I was determined to finish reading the Jane Austen before I turned off the light. Sure enough, I made it. Today at lunch I started another Hamish Macbeth. Nice light reading for a holiday weekend.


[Top]


Saturday, 23 December 2006

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


Greetings from the warm and sunny south. Morning clouds and fog gave way to  68 degrees with clear blue skies. The dogs let us sleep in until 8.

I spent the morning  doing the weekly cleaning which included mopping the kitchen floor and starting one of many small loads of laundry.

I boxed all the VCR tapes from the book case in the den to take downstairs. The commercial ones I will give to my sister. She may also want some of the ones we taped. We have some pretty good ones. We are keeping a few we do not want to part with but by and large we can now get them on DVD. I have a fairly decent collection of rock music shows I taped over the years including Billy Joel in Russia from the late 80's. I may keep those.

After lunch Bob and I worked on the downstairs. He is still cleaning out cupboards and setting up his chemistry lab. As always happens one project leads to several for me. I need to make room for the surplus canned food we were storing down there we purchase up here in the kitchen. Some of the other stuff I need to make room for on the shelves in the basement once I get those cleaned up.

I flattened boxes to go to the recycle bin, boxed up a pile of junk from Bob's office to throw in Gerald's dump trailer and did a little organizing of my  lawn equipment. That was enough for one day.

While I check mail and rest I have Christmas CD's playing. I forgot to have Bob burn those when he was doing my other collection. He can do that after Christmas. I want to take the small book shelf sized stereo system we moved up here to my office back downstairs now that I can play my music on my computer

Thanks again Brian!


[Top]


Sunday, 24 December 2006

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


Christmas Eve greetings. Dad and I did play golf this morning. A light frost prevented us from teeing of until almost 9 am. It remained cool and partly cloudy until about the 14th hole when I was finally able to shed my sweatshirt.

On the way home I dropped some stuff off at Frances and Al's for mom for tomorrow to lessen their load. Frances asked why I had not posted pictures of my tree. I have not even taken any pictures of my tree this year. I try to limit the amount of time Bob has to spend downloading and putting pictures up on my web site for me. I will take pictures of my tree tonight and of the festivities tomorrow and post some next week.

Bob gave me my Christmas present yesterday afternoon. The weather looked promising for a session under the stars last night. Bob had bought me a copy of Sky and Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas. He wanted me to try it out last night since we never know when we will get out again. It worked very well along with my new green laser I got for my birthday. Our friend Steve followed us out to our new place. When we left our house it was about 58 degrees. Out there under the clear sky the temperatures were already down to the high 40's. We found a couple of objects we needed to finish up one constellation then the conditions went down hill pretty quickly for finding stuff. We packed up and around 9:30 to come home. Still, it was good to get out.

This afternoon's sunshine is to turn to clouds sometime tonight with rain coming in for tomorrow. I am going to grill steaks for dinner.

Have a Happy Christmas wherever you may be tomorrow. I will be leaving around 9 am to go over to Frances and Al's. Bob will come in the afternoon for dinner. I usually stay on after dinner while he comes back home to let the dogs out. Depending on what time I get home I may or may not put up a post for tomorrow.



[Top]


Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 by Barbara Fritchman Thompson. All Rights Reserved.