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Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary Week of 4 August 2003 Latest Update: Sunday, 10 August 2003 22:52 |
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Monday, 4 August 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Last night I started another Joan Hess, A Conventional
Corpse. All of her books are somewhat funny but some more so than
others. This one needs a warning on the front "caution, do not read
this book in public due to the giggle factor". I started off
snickering on the first page and giggled off and on through the next two
or three chapters I made it through before turning off the light. She has
two series, I am reading the Claire Malloy character set in Farberville,
Arkansas. This time Claire has been dumped on again, to run the local
mystery authors weekend at the local college. Rather than just exhibit and
sell books for her bookstore she now must deal with picking up authors at
airports, handling schedules, and of course solving a murder and dealing
with her recalcitrant teen age daughter.
I left work at 2:00 today so I could do the afternoon visit at the hospital. The doctors are somewhat encouraged by her slight progress and warned Bob we may be in for a long haul. At this point, I told Bob he needs to conserve his visits to the hospital before he wears himself out completely. While I do feel we need to be there to talk to her and give her support, we also need to take care of us. After another cloudy morning the sun finally came out about midday and was still shining when I left the hospital. I decided to mow the lawn while we had a break in the rain and thunderstorms. After dinner I took Malcolm and Duncan out front to play some ball before their usual after dinner walk. Guess that's about it for today.
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Tuesday, 5 August 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Things are pretty much the same with Lenore. Bob went over
for the morning visit but she is not very responsive. I worked until 3 pm
then made a library and grocery store run on the way home.
After dinner I headed off to the gym for the 6:30 spinning class. I told Bob I would do the 8:15 pm visit but with her not really being awake very much we decided it would not be worthwhile for me to go down. The rains and flooding in the area continue. I am very glad we live on high ground and at least do not have to worry about our house getting flooded. In the last five years by this time in the summer my lawn is usually brown as wheat. Instead it is mostly green though I do have some spotty areas that are actually dying from TOO MUCH WATER! Can you believe it? I have not had the yard aerated in several years so part of the problem is standing water. I plan to have the guy down the street do my yard for me this fall but at least I will not have to start over with the seeding and fertilizing like I usually do. I hear thunder off in the distance. Better wrap this up. I don't have a UPS on my system right now and we have already had one power glitch this evening while I was gone.
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Wednesday, 6 August 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Last night about ten o'clock the thunder rolled in and it
rained like hell. I mean, pouring so hard that when I looked out the
bathroom window I could not see across the street. We must have gotten
about five inches in an hour. I mulch washed into the yard on one side of
the house.
I had intended to read a few chapters in my book and turn out the light but with the storm and the end of the book being so close I ended up staying up until after 11 finishing the Joan Hess. I would rate that as one of her better ones in the series. Not much change in Lenore's condition. I have been to the gym for body pump class. Now it is time to give the dog some attention and get started with a new mystery, Lee Harris, April Fool's Day Murder.
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Thursday, 7 August 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
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Now that I am working full time again I needed to pick up just a few extra pants. We do not have to dress up, more of a casual look very much like what I wore at the library. When I left the library four years ago I got rid of a lot of my pants that had seen better days or I could no longer wear since I would be working at home. This afternoon I left work and made a stop at the mall. Not one of my favorite place to go very often. Last year when we visited the Bilbrey's in Baltimore I shopped at their Lane Bryant. They had a big sale going plus an extra discount for getting their credit card. I ended up getting a pair of jeans for something like 8 bucks after the sale. Our Lane Bryant here was not nearly as nice a store so I had not been able to take advantage of the coupons and sales flyers they were sending me in the mail. Since I had several coupons I thought I might well check it out this afternoon. As it turns out, they just opened their new store in a bigger place in the mall with merchandise much more akin to what I saw in Baltimore. I love these new styles with the low riding waist lines because they fit me much better. I bought a pair of their new stretch cotton line and a pair of very lightweight stretch twill to get me through the summer and into the fall/winter. I also wanted to check Sears and see if they had started selling the LandsEnd clothing yet. The sales person said it would be coming in with the fall season clothing but they did have the shoes. I have been eyeing a pair of their slip on full sided clogs in the catalog for a year but did not want to order them and hassle with sending them back if I could not wear them. I ended up getting a pair of those, boy are they comfortable, to wear to work also. We are getting ready to go out to a late dinner because we have WSAL meeting at 8 pm at our friend Steve's house.
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Friday, 8 August 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Whew, Friday at last. It has been a long and tiring week.
By the time I left work and stopped at the bank I did not get home
until almost time to fix dinner. I took the dogs out for a quick play time
just before the rains came...AGAIN.
It poured buckets for about half an hour while we were eating dinner. My lawn is like a rice field in the front. The back, where is slopes moderately is totally washed out. The front left side of the house gutters are not working properly and have a mess under that eave in my natural area. I took the dogs out after dinner to survey the mess and see what I need to do tomorrow. I plan to spend a great deal of the day in the yard after I take care of a few morning errands. I had planned to go to the gym but instead I think I will hit the couch and spend the evening reading. Have a good weekend. [Top] |
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Saturday, 9 August 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| I hit the ground running this morning at 7 am. By 2 pm I
had taken one bath and two showers. First thing after breakfast I gave the
guys their baths. Of course when they get a bath I get a bath. The weather
did not look promising for lawn mowing and such so I came upstairs after I
finished up the dogs and took a shower and put on dry cloths.
Next item on the agenda was Bob's haircut followed by some repair work to the front gutter that has not been keeping the rain from pouring straight down and causing some of my wash problems. Afterwards I started the house cleaning. While I finished up vacuuming Bob took on the task of using bleach to clean the tile floor in the hall bathroom. The grouting around the tiles had turned brown and the tiles themselves needed more than my usual mopping due to the high amount of traffic. When he finished the floor look like it did the day they finished laying the tile. By lunch time the sun had come out. While it was still too muddy to do much in the yard I did decided to go ahead and mow while Bob went to the hospital. It was not very hot, temperatures unseasonably cool at 82 degrees, the humidity must have been 100%. I was soaked to the skin when I finished mowing and sweeping up the debris in the gutter, thus the need for my second shower of the day. I put in a load of towels then took the dogs out for some playtime before coming back to my office to clear off my desk and do some contract work. My friend Nancy, from the library, called yesterday afternoon and wanted to cook dinner for us. She arrived at 5:30 with rolls, pot roast with potatoes and carrots, and salad. Delicious meal and plenty left over for tomorrow night. I had planned to get in another hour or so of work this evening but I am just too tired. Instead, I shall hit the couch with my Lee Harris mystery and play some ball with the dogs.
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| In loving memory of Lenore Thompson. She died peacefully
around 9:50 PM this evening. Bob, Bill, and I made the decision to remove
her breathing tube at 9:45. She was a real fighter and wonderful person.
she touched a lot of lives in many different ways.
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