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Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary

Week of 29 July 2000 (Week 31)

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To respond or comment on something I have written email me. I would love to hear from you.  If you have problems reaching me at the first address, I can also be reached at fritchman@triad.rr.com.

You can view the Netwidows Recipe web site for recipes from myself and the other Netwidows and Daynotes Gang.

Saturday, 29 July 2000

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I appreciate all my loyal readers. I was late getting my post up yesterday which resulted in several "where are you" e-mails.  I also got a nice message from Jan Swijsen about Malcolm's latest antics. She seems to think he will be stealing the pennies from the shake cans next. I quite agree with her. He seem to one of the more inventive Border Collies I have seen. It is a challenge to keep him occupied. The pet toy manufacturers make some neat toys that you can hide kibble ( food) in and the dog has to work to get it out. I think that will be my next purchase for Malcolm. 

I am meeting a lady this morning that rescue as little puppy from her local shelter. He is blind in one eye but otherwise a healthy little guy. Through a lady in Virginia that does rescue we found a home for him. I am driving part way this morning to meet her. She will take the little guy on up to Virginia to his new home.

I did not have time yesterday to start reading on the draft copy of the book. I found out last night I cannot do it while sitting in the den. Malcolm just will not let me work on anything while I am sitting on the couch. So, this afternoon I will try to do at least a couple of chapters sitting in my office. If he will settle down for a late afternoon nap, I can read a couple of chapters while I watch the golf tournament.

I hope everyone as a good weekend.

Sunday, 30 July 2000

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Duncan and I delivered the puppy  and got home right about 2:30. Bob went back to take a nap and I watched golf and started reading on the draft copy of the book. I grilled steaks and made pasta salad for dinner. Easy clean up night. 

My friend Laura called me from Florida. She was telling me about a show on ESPN called the Great Outdoor Games. I watched them last night and they were pretty good. Taped last week from Lake Placid, NY, it was log rolling, tree topping, fishing, and retriever competitions. Today they are running it this afternoon. It will be agility, other timber sports, etc. Other than the fishing, I found them rather unique. It is not a competition that you see on television normally and was rather refreshing from all the hyped sports such as baseball or even racing. If you get that channel and have time you might want to give it a try.

Clean house this morning. This afternoon Jenny is coming by with the sketches she made of Malcolm and Duncan. Jenny used to work for me at Rural Hall Library. She is a part time artist while holding down other full time jobs. She has not drawn for some time and was greatly inspired when stopping by to visit them a couple of weeks ago. I cannot wait to see them. I have seen other works she has done and she is quite good with a pencil. I gave her a photo of Duncan and Malcolm laying at the top of the stairs to take along with her.

We are doing dad's birthday dinner tonight at my sisters. She is making homemade lasagna. I am picking up the desserts from a local restaurant. Since my dad does not read my page or any page on the Internet for that matter, I can tell you what I got him. He has a new golf bag and a ball retriever for his second set of clubs he uses when we play. He keeps his other set stored at the course where he plays with his group.

We will tape the second episode of Anne of Green Gables tonight on Masterpiece. I will watch them next week sometime.

Busy day for a Sunday. There is no race this weekend and I can watch golf at Frances's.

Until tomorrow. Have a good one.

Monday, 31 July 2000

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Pictures from the birthday celebration yesterday. We had a nice meal. Dad got a golf bad and ball retriever from me and Frances and six months of hair cuts from my mom. Bob's mom went along too. It was the first time she has been out pf the house other than a doctor's appointment in several months.

             Dad and mom with his new toys.

      Lenore in her carriage.

Jenny stopped by yesterday afternoon and brought her drawing of Duncan and Malcolm. She used a picture     I had of the two of them laying at the top of the stairs. It is done in pen and ink. She captures them both very well from an abstract point of view. Duncan looks soft and cuddly and Malcolm more angular. Jenny likes to only sketch pets that she interacts with and gets a feel for their personalities. She really enjoys coming over and playing with them.

I am taking it today to get it framed. Framing will add some dimension to the flat picture.

Guess that all for today. I hope you enjoyed the pictures. We had a fun day all around.

Tuesday, 1 August 2000

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I am taking a week off from the gym this week.  It helps to change the routine periodically and to do a different type of workout. I am going to walk twice a day around the neighborhood with the dogs to replace my regular workout. 

Maybe I will get to play golf this week. It has been a few weeks. 

I have the pictures sorted and will start putting them into the albums. I may work on that some today. I need to review some more chapters on the book too.

I have not cleaned downstairs this week yet, so I will do that this afternoon too.

Not much else going on. Maybe more tomorrow.

Wednesday, 2 August 2000

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Egg on my face. I made a reference to Jan Swijsen in my Saturday morning post and in doing so changed him to a her. Now, in all fairness, Jan, I do not know all the Daynotes Gang  folks even though I read their pages, I still forget who is whom. When I saw the message I did not remember you personally and thought you were the wife of one of Bob's readers. Please forgive me for the mistake. I have hereby made a public apology. Also, realize I do my page at 8am when I am not quite fully awake and often have a puppy causing a fair amount of distraction. I know, excuses, excuses.

I do know that Jan is John in Dutch and should have recognized my error anyway. I am in the process of trying to discover the Fritchman line before it came over the pond. Several of my distant relatives working on this seem to think we came from Holland and may be Dutch German. It is very hard to trace the lines in foreign countries unless you have exact family records of where the ancestors came from. 

We had left over lasagna for dinner last night. Frances made a small lasagna casserole with the remaining meat, cheese and noodles that did not fit in the big lasagna pan. Her lasagna was very good but she makes a big recipe that is enough to feed a small gathering of the clan. I thought the small one she gave us to heat was just as good.

We still have some left. I am on a diet or I should say I have cut down on my portions. Despite exercising and being active I have managed to gain about ten pounds that I am not real happy about. This happens to me periodically. I can usually loose it real easy. I am built like my mom's side of the family and will never be real heavy but tend to gain weight in certain areas.

So, starting Monday night I am eating my dinner on a salad plate. It is a great way to cut down on the amount you serve yourself and I am still getting plenty to eat. I know I am fit and very healthy but I do not like the extra weight, so I need to get it off now. 

More of the same today. I will proof read and work on the photo albums. I did get started on one last night after dinner. At some point I need to go to the store. We may have the leftovers again tonight or save them for tomorrow and have something else. 

Thursday, 3 August 2000

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Quick update this morning. I am off to the dentist for my six month cleaning. If it is not raining when I get out I will head over and pick up dad to go to the golf course. It does not look very promising but it has been like that every morning this week and has not rained until the afternoon.

I walked the dogs yesterday after lunch and we it rained a little on us but not much. I worked on the book most of the day and the photo album some last night after dinner. Then went to bed and read on the Russian novel for a bit. I only have a little over a hundred pages left. I am almost finished with one of the photo albums.

I picked up a little autobiography of an Irish woman and briefly read a few chapters last night before I started on the photos. It seems rather interesting. I will write more about it tomorrow. I should be able to read it in a couple of hours it is so short.

I do need to get to the pet supplies store. We are almost out of treats and food for Malcolm and Duncan.

I will finish proof reading today and get started on a couple of other things waiting in the wings. I have right much work to do over the weekend. I will not work at the library this week but stay home tomorrow and get started on all my projects.

Friday, 4 August 2000

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If you really want a good workout I have a suggestion. Take two dogs that weigh 60 and 50 pounds for a walk on two leashes that pull the entire way around the block. I am doing this twice a day and getting more of a workout than I ever could hope to get at the gym. 

I will however start back next week and get back in my regular routine. But, I will continue to walk the dogs at least once a day around the neighborhood. 

I finished reading the manuscript of the book. Bob is doing final check today and will send off the mistakes we found. Very few were Bob's but instead were the technical editors mess. 

Lenore and I ate the remainder of the lasagna last night. Bob had Chef Boyardee Beefaroni.  He likes Chef Boyardee, I can take it or leave it. I keep several big cans in the cupboard for emergency food. When I need to stretch leftovers or I fix something he is not fond of, I make him a can. He really likes the ravioli. 

Have a good weekend.

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