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Barbara
Fritchman Thompson Diary
Week
of 25 August 2008
Latest Update: Sunday, 31 August 2008 12:30 p.m.
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Monday, 25
August 2008
As I mentioned on my page yesterday,
Bob gave me a new MP3 player as an early 25th wedding anniversary gift.
Several weeks ago he asked me if there was something special he could
buy me. Bob and I are not into ostentatious displays of wealth. I wear a
single diamond engagement ring on a single band. The original band and
matching wedding band became too small. I had it stretched several
times but a couple of years ago I had it reset in a single band. I
do not wear earrings, no my ears are not pierced, nor is any other part
of my body. I don't wear necklaces or another other bangles.
In other words I could not think of anything special. I used to wear
necklaces when I was younger. For our first wedding anniversary Bob
bought we a cute little solid gold bear on a chain. I wore it for many
years. I told him since it would be our 25th to get me a silver bullet.
One day on the way to work I remembered a ring I had been eying in a
catalog for a couple of years but never bought it for myself. I
suggested this to Bob. When he tried to order it they were out of stock
except for a few sized none of which were mine. He was pretty
disappointed. I told him I bet other places on the net sold the ring.
He did some shopping around and found one.
He had to go ahead and order it to make sure it would fit. I had him
order my ring size but when it came it was half size too small. The
small company, Crystal Realm, was wonderful about exchanging it for a
bigger size. I am now the proud owner of a poesy ring.
Here is the description of what a poesy ring is from the web site:
In 16th and
17th century England or France, a wedding ring would invariably be
inscribed with a sentiment of love, faith, and hope: a short love poem
or poesy. A sterling silver betrothal ring would
often be replaced with the same poesy ring in gold upon marriage.
The popularity of
these poesy rings is attested to by their frequent mention in
Shakespeare's plays. The tradition is older than Shakespeare's time,
but it was during the Renaissance
(14th-17th Centuries) that the custom reached the height of popularity.
And, this is a picture and description
of my ring. As you can tell we have already started celebrating our a
few weeks early. Why not, at this time 25 years ago we were in the
final planning stages.
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Tuesday, 26 August 2008
The remnants of tropical depression Fay have
finally made their way up to our part of the country. The light rain
started falling off and on yesterday. Today has been pretty much steady
all day bringing a nice soaking 1/2 inch with more on the way.
When we went to Chicago there was a very nice older gentleman traveling
with his two daughters. Their dad was actually older than my dad by
several years. He was in perfect health as far as his age goes but
started getting sick on Thursday morning. By the time we got to Chicago
that evening he was not feeling very well. By Friday afternoon they had
to put him in the hospital with a blockage similar to my moms. The
girls, now retired, of course had to stay with their dad in Chicago
while we left for home. One of the daughters has just moved to Winston
in the last year or so to be with her grown children. The other
daughter lives in their hometown in GA near their dad. Fortunately we
were able to hook up when I got back home. We met for lunch today to
catch up on what they missed from the trip. They did not get to do the
day tours on Friday. It was good to hear their dad was doing much
better.
I took an extra half hour for lunch which I had planned on making up
during lunch the rest of the week. Instead of leaving at my regular
time for the gym I ended up having to stay until almost 6pm to help our
paralegal sort out some problems.
I have finished reading the Inspector Banks. Excellent as usual. I was
surprised at who the murderer was. Tonight I will start the new Janet
Evanovich, Fearless Fourteen.
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Wednesday, 27 August 2008
As I said before, sometimes you have to be
careful for what you wish for. Some of the surrounding counties had as
much as ten inches of rain from yesterday to late this afternoon. Lots
of flooding including in some areas of our county. So far we have a
little over 6 inches. It poured rain most of the night. We were under
tornado watch all day. From the tenth floor of our building the skies
looked really weird all day. We had break from the rain late this
afternoon but while we were walking the dogs after dinner it started up
again.
Silly me forgot to take my book with me to work today. Since I did not
have anything to read I just ate and worked through lunch leaving at
4:30 to go to the gym.
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Thursday, 28 August 2008
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No update.
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Friday, 29 August 2008
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I am so ready for this three day weekend.
Today I lunch I finished up the Janet Evanovich. Typical Stephanie Plum
fair with the usual cast of characters. In this one she did not get her
car blown up nor did she get into a do or die situation. Her "visiting"
characters included two young kids, an adult stalker who was stalking
an aging rock star named Brenda.
I had enough hours in to leave at 4:30. Library and grocery store stops
on the way home. The temperatures are back into the mid 80's with some
humidity. Still a lot more pleasant that it could be for the end of
August.
As you know I like to read books in a series in order. I am the same
way about listening to music. I listen to a CD in its entirety before
moving on to the next one. With my new MP3 player I have it playing
songs in alphabetical order. It's kind of weird for me to go from
listening to a Rolling Stones followed by a Celtic group but I am
getting used to the mix of different songs following one another.
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Saturday, 30 August
2008
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The weekly house cleaning chores are
finished. The dogs have had an early morning playtime. The temperatures
are not bad, mid 80's but it is very humid and hot in the
sunshine. I took this picture this morning. When I took the rugs
out to shake it was enjoying the sunshine and the nectar from my
lantana. I did not realize I also had a picture of either a smaller
butterfly or a moth.
Now out to mow and edge the lawn. We have a kitchen guy coming at 3pm to give us quote on the upgrades we have planned.
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Sunday, 31 August
2008
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This morning the folks, Al, Frances. and I took a little trip over to the Childress Vineyards
just down the road in Lexington, NC. I have wanted to visit the
vineyards since it opened a few years ago. For those of you who are not
NASCAR racing fans, Richard Childress has a multi car, multi million
dollar racing operation. His major driver, Dale Earnhart was killed
several years ago. Childress is a native of Winston, grew up and went
to school here. He started racing back when our local track, Bowmen
Gray, was a stop on the NASCAR circuit.
As with many of the racing big wheels, he gives a lot of money to
charity, the local hospital, etc. Now, with his winery he has once
again given back to the community. How? There is not charge to enter
the grounds of the winery. They offer live music on weekends and
special weeknights. You can take a picnic, eat, listen to music, and
pay not a dime if if you wish. The vineyards stretch for miles and
miles.
We had brunch then walked around. You can see where they process the
grapes to make the wine from inside the restaurant. Of course they
offer tours, sell wine, charge to eat, etc. His wines are not the $38
bottle type, which is typical of the type of wines grown here. As more
and more farmers, especially tobacco farmers are going out of business,
more vineyards are popping up. We are gradually get a name for
ourselves in this part of the country.
It was a nice little half day trip. It's hot as heck this afternoon, very humid. A good day to stay indoors.
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Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002,
2003,
2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
by
Barbara
Fritchman
Thompson. All Rights Reserved.
