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Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary

Week of 25 November 2000 (Week 48)

wpoison

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, 25 November 2000

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We spent a quiet day yesterday not doing much of anything. I worked some in the morning and messed around doing small things in the afternoon, but for the most part just took the day off.

Today, I am charged and ready to get moving. I have several projects I want to get done. The cabinets where the pots and pans are stored are upside down and need straightened. The cupboard where I store the plastic containers is a mess and every time I open the door I get attacked by something falling out. I may also drag out the Christmas decoration boxes and haul them to the living room. 

I have a long list of errands to run next week. I need to go get my tree and do some shopping. I usually have most of my shopping done by Thanksgiving, but some years, like this one, I don't get into the holiday spirit until after Thanksgiving. Now, I think I am finally into the spirit of things and ready to get started. I already know what I am buying so it is just a matter of heading out to the stores and doing the shopping. At least I can shop during the weekdays when the stores are not so crowded.

I keep my Christmas card list in Excel. I all have to do is print it out and address cards. I usually do Lenore's for her too since it is hard for her to write and address envelopes.

It is cold and raining today. I am glad I don't have to go out anywhere. We were supposed to get some freezing stuff but it did not get as cold as they thought it would.

For dinner tonight we are having left over dressing and green beans. I am fixing Bob pork chops and Lenore and I will share the leftover Cornish hen. I am saving the leftover mashed potatoes to make shepherd's pie with for tomorrow night. That will finish up the Thanksgiving leftovers.

Sunday, 26 November 2000

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Welcome another new Netwidow, Shelley Bowman. Glad to have you with us Shelley. Speaking of Netwidows, I have a message from Keri that the group has been up and running for a year as of the first of next month. I did not start my journal until the first of this year, but I believe when I came on board there was only two or three members. We have now grown to eight.

Yesterday I got the decorations out of the closet and up from the basement. I also decided to do things in reverse order this year. I usually put up and decorate the tree and then do the tables and other areas of the house. The big tree goes in the living room. This year, I am going to do as much decorating before I do the tree as I can and get that out of the way. Some things, like the mantle and the small tabletop artificial tree have to wait until I actually start using ornaments. I use branches from the bottom of the tree on my mantle and the small tree goes in the den for us to enjoy with all teddy bears, those miniature ornaments and border collies.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon putting up my Christmas Village. A number of years ago my sister bought me some of the Department 56 houses  I only have five buildings which is about all I have room to display right now. But, I have bridges, benches, people, gazebo's etc to put out too, which takes several hours. Plus, I am craft challenged and can't seem to make the buffalo snow look as good as it does in the store displays. 

I need to get started on cleaning the house so I can do some decorating stuff done this afternoon. It is still cool and raining here this morning but is supposed to be warm again by tomorrow and sunny. My seed and fertilizer had a real good soaking.

Monday, 27 November 2000

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It is going to be a busy week. I have lots of things I want to get done and some things I need to get done. So we will see. I am off to the gym this morning and I have to take Lenore to the doctor at 1pm, so today is pretty much taken care of. 

I have a full day of errands to run which included getting started on some shopping. I have to go to the pet supply store tomorrow to get food for the guys. I occasionally like to visit the Pet Smart across town when I need to look for a few things that are harder to find. They have a wider variety of inventory than the Pet Supplies Plus right here at the house and I can pick up their food while I am there. I have several other stops to make in the same vicinity of the pet store. 

I am not sure if we are playing golf this week. We have not played for several weeks due to the weather. I know dad has a meeting Thursday, so if we play it will be Tuesday or Wednesday. 

I managed to get a few more decorations up yesterday. That is another errand this week, get the tree. Bob was even good spirited enough to wear his reindeer antlers all day.

Duncan has torn a paw pad again. He injured it Thanksgiving day so I put some vet wrap on it. I took the bandage off Saturday and he tore it again yesterday. He goes ripping across the yard to chase squirrels. This time I wrapped it with tape and vet wrap and then covered it with a sock top. I cut the stretchy part from an old sock and slid it over the bandage and then tape the top and bottom. It keeps the vet wrap secure and dry. You have to be very careful when using vet wrap and not get it so tight it cuts off the circulation. Therefore, if not secured well it will slip and tape does not stick to fur very well. 

Guess that's all for now.

Tuesday, 28 November 2000

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I am off this morning to do some shopping and other miscellaneous chores while I am out and about. I will see how much I can accomplish by early afternoon and return home. That is about all I can take for one day anyway and I like to get back home by then. The traffic gets even worse once the kids get out of school.

As you will read on Bob's page, my birthday is Saturday. I am as hard to buy for as he is and really do not expect a lot of gifts. With my birthday so close to Christmas I have a hard enough time coming up with gift ideas for both events for Bob and my family too.

I always get two dinners out. Bob and I will go out on my birthday to one of the little restaurants he is willing to frequent. This year my family is taking me out to the Village Tavern, a real nice steak, pasta, and chicken type place on Sunday night.

Maybe while I am out today I will get some ideas. Of course, Bob will not go shopping, so I have to find things that can be ordered via computer or telephone. 

Guess that's all for now.

Wednesday, 29 November 2000

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Here's a picture I took of Bob wearing his Winter Solstice antlers.

I had a very successful day yesterday. I managed to get most of my major shopping out of the way in a very short period of time. I still have a few odds and ends to pick up but nothing significant.

Since I was on the other side of town, I called my folks about 11:30 to see if they were home. I stopped in for a quick visit with them and had lunch too. Mom heated me a bowl of homemade vegetable soup that was delicious. I then hit the road to head back across town and made a couple of stops along the way. I got back home at almost 2:00, when I said I would.

I worked in the afternoon and then fixed creamed chip beef on noodles for dinner.

Off to the gym this morning followed by library and groceries. I had hoped to mow this afternoon but it is looking a bit cloudy and they are calling for a few sprinkles.

My ankle is pretty much healed from the fall last week. The swelling was down by Monday and it now sports those lovely green and yellow colors from the bruising. The skinned knees are about healed over, though the left one that bore the brunt of the fall is still a bit sore if it gets bumped just right. All the walking I did yesterday, particularly by the time I got to the mall, made my ankle a bit achy, so it is still not completely healed. 

I bought a new cookie sheet yesterday and plan to use it either today or tomorrow. I bought a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough from one of the neighborhood kids doing a school fund raiser. I want to try it out and see if it is any good. I usually make my cookies from scratch when I do any baking but with the premixed dough I can make small batches whenever I want to without all the hassle of mixing it up.

Thursday, 30 November 2000

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Yesterday turned out to be a bit of a bummer. I went to the gym, the library and the store. On the way to the store I past the lot where the Christmas Trees are usually sold and noticed they were setting them up. I came home, ate lunch, and did a quick mow over the yard to mulch the leaves. I could not catch it because there was still too much seed and fertilizer laying on the ground.

Anyway, I intended, after I took my shower, to drive back up and get a tree. Shortly after  took  my shower the mail arrived and in the mail was the returned package of a book we had sent to our author friend Caroline Llewelyn, with a return to sender notice. We have since learned that two weeks after we visited her in Princeton, NJ she chose to take her own life due to depressing personal circumstances. Bob will have more information on his diary page if you wish to read it.

So, this morning I am taking the blue truck out to Tim's to get the oil changed. After I drop Bob off at home I will go up and pick out my Christmas tree. I will go ahead and bring it in the house to get in water. I will not start decorating it until maybe Friday or Saturday.

I am working on Christmas cards and I need to do Lenore's too. I may work on those this afternoon. Early dinner tonight so I can go to spin class at the gym.

Friday, 1 December 2000

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The tree is in the stand in the living room.   Decorating to begin tomorrow.

If you need a good laugh for today, be sure and check out Malcolm's latest escapades from this morning.

I spent most of yesterday getting my Cyber Hound News for December ready to go up this morning.  This month I decided to do fun sites I find when I am doing other research. Keri, I hope you don't mind if I included the site you posted earlier this week from the Naval Observatory. It fit right in with my page theme for this month. You will also noticed I added a picture in the corner of the page. I am thinking of renaming my page but so far have not been able to come up with anything. I need something professional sounding but more reflective of what the column is; an annotated list of sites I discover and wish for others to learn about. Malcolm is not a hound and it is really not a newsletter but more of a column. I am open to suggestions.

It is off to the basement this morning. I always sweep and clean the basement twice a year, spring and fall. This year with yard activities still going on, I am late doing it. Now that the leaves are through falling and will not blow back in and I am pretty much finished with my yard toys for the season, I think I will tackle that job this morning. Since I did spinning class last night I can skip gym this morning and do the basement instead. 

Have a good weekend everybody. 

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