Today would have been Bev's 65th birthday.  Our friendship goes back more than 6 decades, and I will always miss her.

We still haven't seen Alex; he spent last night in Scottsdale, and has yet to make an appearance here.  So this morning I was able to get the guest house ready for the upcoming arrival of Garry and his friends - at least the second bedroom and bathroom.  The master bedroom will have to wait until Alex vacates!

Tomorrow I am one of the hostesses at Busy Bees, so this afternoon I made a trip to the grocery store to pick up an assortment of fruit: strawberries, melons, and grapes.  After that was done I went over to Walgreen's for my flu shot.  

Never did get to mowing today; instead I've been listening to my book for upcoming book club next week.  It's hard to tell with an audio book (IF there's a way to see how close to the end I am, I sure can't figure it out) but I'm pretty sure I'm nearing the end of the story. 

Wanda and I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday's show!  

Our seats were excellent (10th row, dead center) and the production was well done.  Wanda (who has been to many shows at Gammage over the years due to a friend with season tickets) declared it the best show she's seen there.  

While waiting to go in we bumped into Patti, Carol, Vicki and Carol; I knew they would also be there, but since the theater holds 3000 people I didn't expect to actually see them.  Wanda and I had planned to eat in Tempe afterward, but "her" restaurant didn't open until 5:00, so we ended up at an Italian place in her neighborhood.

Then I watched the lunar eclipse last night, and was surprised at how long it stayed total.  Ancient peoples must have wondered if the moon was ever going to reappear again... I know I did!  

This morning, once the grass dried, I mowed the front yards.  It was way overdue, and the clippings easily filled both trash cans to the brim.  In a stroke of luck, the trash pick-up didn't happen until after I was all done so the cans are empty and can be filled again.  Maybe I'll mow the backyard tomorrow?

That all depends on whether I'm sore or not.  Today was leg day at the gym.  Jim started me off with light weights, but I could still be feeling the effects tomorrow.

Still waiting to hear from Alex, who should have arrived by now.  He texted me yesterday to let me know that I was off "Airport Pickup Duty" today, though he didn't mention who would be picking him up instead.

I haven't been terribly energetic this past week, but hopefully I have finally rounded that bend.  There hasn't been that much "news" to post (not that that really ever is...) and some days I haven't even bothered to add pix to spice up my blog entries.  

On Friday, with the green light from the chiropractor, Jim started me out on some of the machines, working my upper body.  We had to make a few adjustments (because of weakness in my left shoulder and wrist) but with time the muscles should get stronger.  There was the chance that after my 30-minute workout (and as always I had warmed up beforehand with 20 minutes on the treadmill) I would be a little sore on Saturday, but the good news is that didn't happen.    

So I didn't really have much excuse for not getting more stuff done yesterday.  However I did pull out some fabric and half a dozen quilting books to take to Busy Bees on Wednesday.  This morning, however, I managed to make quite a bit of progress mucking my quilting area.  It's a lot more organized (wonder if Tom will notice?) and may make it easier to get back to quilting.  It's a start anyway, Colleen. 

In a bit I'm off with Wanda to see WICKED in Tempe.  She's never seen it (I saw it twice, in LA) so she's very excited.  I love the show and the music, so I'm pretty excited also.

When I originally bought the tickets many months ago, the plan was for Alex to go with me.  Would you believe that he arrives tomorrow afternoon for a week in Phoenix?  (Then he's back to solid touring for a couple of months.)  Unfortunate timing for him, but lucky break for Wanda.

And speaking of unfortunate timing - the one weekend Alex is going to be around is also the weekend that Garry and friends (from Canada) will be stopping by on their tour of the US.  Could be a little crowded back at the guest house...

While I've been under the weather recently
I've done a fair amount of reading.

Memoir by Harry Bernstein
about growing up Jewish in England around WWI

Novel by Stephanie Kegan about a woman who suspects 

her adored brilliant recluse brother may be the Cal Bomber.

The lives of three women intersect when one finds a letter to her from her husband "to be opened after his death" while he's still alive.

Currently reading one of my birthday books from Lisa.

When severe writer's block hits, Janet Berlo turns away from her academic pursuits and immerses herself in quilting.  I can certainly relate to this passage on page 102:

I had a pretty easy fast on Yom Kippur Wednesday - 

still not much of an appetite.  

Thursday I had an excellent session at the chiropractor.  He didn't need to do much of an adjustment because almost everything was still in alignment!  I not only don't need to go back for another tune-up for a while...he has now cleared me for "whatever" workouts at the gym, with the (sensible) proviso that I start out slowly.  That, of course, is Jim's method, so that shouldn't be a problem when we meet later this morning.

Then this afternoon I'm meeting Mary at the movies 

to see A Walk In The Woods.

I still don't have much of an appetite today.  In fact I went to the store mid-morning to get steaks for the pre-fast dinner, and even not having had breakfast I still was not tempted by anything not on my short list.  And unfortunately when I did eat a little something for lunch it didn't stay with me long.  Maybe I should have picked up this at the store when I was there...

I did make it to the gym today. After I warmed up on the treadmill for 20 minutes Jim put me through some leg exercises, and I left there feeling like I'd had quite a workout. Of course the fact that I was sick all weekend and hadn't eaten much probably didn't help my stamina.  But at least I seem to be done with the intestinal bug that laid me low this weekend.

Rachelle called this evening, and raved about the wedding pillow I sent.  She is aware of how much work went into it, and is most appreciative of my efforts.  

Tom arrived home tonight.  He had a great time at the Denver shows, and everyone was enthralled with his fire obsidian.

While vegging on the couch yesterday, recovering, I had a great view of my design wall.  And that's when I noticed something wasn't quite right.  Sure enough, one of the very last blocks I put together the other day has a mistake in it.  

I see ripping in my future. 

Ruth: at least I discovered it before I sewed it into the quilt, 

and just in the nick of time since it's the next in line!

Never did leave the house yesterday because symptoms continued throughout the day.  I didn't feel much like sewing, or even reading, so basically I watched TV.  I did catch a couple of good shows on PBS, one on Jim Henson's life, and the other called Fixed: Science/Fiction of Human Enhancement.  I taped it while I watched, thinking it's a documentary I might want to watch it again.  And I probably will.

Fixed: Science/Fiction of Human Enhancement

The question this morning is whether I am "fixed" today.  I'm scheduled to meet with Jim at the gym at 12:30, and would hate to have to cancel.  I'll know more once I eat something this morning.

This morning I pulled more dandelions from the bumper crop out front, but what a difference 24 hours makes.  Those pesky weeds are no longer jumping out of the ground like they did yesterday because the mud has already reverted back to dirt.

I am better today than yesterday, though still experiencing "symptoms".  Since the library is closed today and tomorrow I can't run that errand.  I do, however, need to hit Target for a frame for Bev's picture so I can get that into the mail for Ann; I'd like her to have it by Bev's birthday on the 29th.  But until I'm sure that I'm in better working order I'm not about to leave the house. 

Guess I'll go a little more mucking until I run out of steam.  

It turned out to be a very good thing I didn't head up to Flagstaff this morning.  Out of the blue I became intensely "indisposed" and dared not stray far from the bathroom.  So much for a quick trip to the library to pickup some waiting books - it was more prudent to stay home today!

Before all that fun started I did a little weeding out front.  Alex never did get around to mowing it while he was home, and irrigation makes pulling weeds so easy.  Of course I didn't want to overdo things with my back so unfortunately there are still plenty left out there.

I've also mucked out a few drawers and cabinets.  While I threw out a lot of stuff (so now those few drawers and cabinets look much better) unfortunately there remain many, many more drawers and cabinets that need the same thing done to them.  Where's that magic wand?

Much of my afternoon, however, was spent vegging out on the couch in front of the TV.  Maybe I'll feel more energetic tomorrow?

I did manage to sneak in a good "nap" last night before getting up and dealing with irrigation.  We seemed to get our full complement of water despite the fact that the center ditch leaked some (just like last time.)  So that's something (else) for Tom to deal with when he returns.

He said he's really been enjoying the rock show in Denver (plus the cooler weather!), and his fire obsidian has impressed everyone who's seen it.  But he's about rocked out, and it hasn't helped that his back is still bothering him.  He was planning to start heading home today, with possible stops along the way. He could be home on Monday.

This weekend is Pickin' In The Pines in Flagstaff, which I had originally planned to attend.  

I'd even lined up a place to stay, with Mary.  But I'm just not feeling very energetic and so have decided to pass.  No doubt it will be better than ever (this is the 10th anniversary) but I'm not feeling terribly motivated about making the drive, plus it's also not as much fun to go and sit alone.  (Mary would have joined me except she had family commitments.)

And of course there's as always still plenty for me to do here....

More exercises at the gym today with Jim.  Everything we did today is something I can do at home, so will try to practice as many as I can remember.  

I'm also supposed to be doing planks every day but <whine> they're harrrrrrrrrrrrrrd!

1. Start by getting into a press up position.
2. Bend your elbows and rest your weight ono your forearms and not on your hands.
3. Your body should form a straight line from shoulders to ankles.
4. Engage your core by sucking your belly button into your spine.
5. Hold this position for the prescribed time.

It's quiet here now that Linda and Rick picked up Elmo.  They brought me a bag of goodies as a thank you, and it included two boxes of Ghiradelli chocolates from their side trip to San Francisco.  So I guess I can always drown my sorrows in chocolate!

Now I'm off to stretch out and do some reading.  I've got my alarm set for 10:45 to let irrigation go "just in case" I fall asleep before then.

It was a busy day, in and out and running errands. Each time I came home (didn't want to leave Elmo for very long) I got a wonderful doggy greeting.  Maybe it was because we headed out into the yard each time... and then he got a treat when we came back in?  

I picked up rotary blades on the way home from the chiropractor, and later popped in at Walgreens to make a copy of an old picture of Bev to send to Ann, which were the most important of my errands.

Wanda needed me to come over and help her with the computer (I know - the thought of me helping someone on the computer is pretty mind-boggling!) While there I got to see all of her recent projects - of course they're wonderful - and as an added bonus she even sent me home with some chocolate chip cookies she whipped up when she found out I was coming over.

In today's mail was another quilting book from Lisa.  I gave her a call to thank her, but the reception was so poor (apparently that's an issue at their house) that we didn't talk as long as we might have.

  

I saw Alex briefly last night before he headed to Scottsdale to help a friend celebrate a birthday.  We are leaving for the airport at 7:30 this morning, so I have been asked to call him - at 7:15 - to make sure he is up.

I set my alarm for 6:30 "just in case", but (no surprise) woke up well before that... a little before 5:00.  That gives me plenty of time to drink my "coffee", play on the computer, walk Elmo - and maybe even get a little sewing done!

Last night Tami and I finally got to chat on the phone.  When she didn't call over the weekend (as we'd planned) I figured something came up.  Which it did.  Except that I was thinking more about fun stuff.  Instead, she landed in the hospital with a kidney stone. 

Happily she's feeling better now!