A Long Monday

Mondays have gotten really, really full. And this one really ended with a bang.

As usual, we started off with swimming and Panera Bread. Then I made a short trip to Walmart. Allan headed off to sign the lease on his apartment, and to meet with a potential (and potentially lucrative) client. We headed out to play bridge. John had terrible cards, mine were "not too bad". Allan had a great meeting, and the guy is now "The Client".

After supper, we went to a concert at UTC - a faculty chamber music concert. This was a super treat! Seven to eight musicians played three selections - in different configurations. The largest grouping was four musicians. What a great concert this was - and it was FREE! These faculty and student concerts are a great service to the community. And there are usually a long list of varied ones near the end of the school year. We'll just enjoy!

Men's Basketball: UNC has had a very easy time winning over Michigan State to win the 2009 National Championship. Congratulations to the Tarheels.

Today's photo is of Dr. Sin-Hsing Tsai (UTC music faculty), one of the main performers in tonight's concert.

 

A very quiet Sunday

I'm going to take a sabbatical today. Hope everybody had a great Sunday.

Saturday

It was a gorgeous day today - definitely a day for garage sales and lawn mowing (not for US, of course) I was one of the jurors for the contest our photography club sponsors for area high school students. Lots of good photos to look at. Plus they gave us lunch - just sandwiches, but good ones. It's always interesting to see what these teenagers "see" - they're SO creative and uninbited.

Allan went apartment hunting today - with the intent of finding a place this week. And he wound up putting down a deposit on an apartment in the same complex he lived in when he was here before. He'll be getting over twice the size of apartment as he has in NYC, for less than half the price. He's got lots of business appointments set up and contacts to meet over the week. So he's really going to make the move - and is looking to be moved here by the end of May. Of course, it's a major step for him, but his living expenses will be SO much less, even considering that he'll have to have a car.

We went out to a local bistro last night - sort of a birthday party/music event. It was mostly fun, but way, WAY too crowded and noisy for our tastes. We left right after the birthday cake was cut. And we'll probably be "otherwise occupied" if any such invitation comes again. We enjoy the people and would like to get to know them better, but any conversation is impossible in those circumstances. You think we might be getting old???? Nah!

The men's basketball final on Monday will be between Michigan State and North Carolina. It should be a good game.

The photo tonight is of one of my paintings called Reflection.

 

Friday

Things were just rocking along, and then we saw the news from Binghamton, NY. What a terrible tragedy for this small picturesque city in New York. We'll keep all those survivors in our thoughts.

Rain, rain, rain

It's rained off and on today, and then a line of severe storms came through about 11 p.m., and we're under a tornado watch. Spring is such fun. And they're even talking about highs in the low 40s the first of next week, with a possible frost.

I got a lot of errands run this morning - pedicure, Publix Grocery store, cell phone battery check, post office to mail federal and state tax returns, Aldi's (special on eggs), then home. And that was before lunch! Whew!

We had only three of our usual 6-7 for lunch today, so it was pretty quiet. And we got haircuts. John took a huge nap. We went to another free concert at the university this evening. Tonight it was a recital with a visiting flutist. We enjoyed the performance. But we realized that the flute is not our favorite solo instrument - even though we love our CD of James Galway playing Scott Joplin. It's not quite the same. There are performances and senior recitals every night for the next 10 days at UTC. We'll probably make some of them.

Allan's due in tomorrow for another week of networking, finding new clients, etc. This trip he's going to be looking for an apartment, and possibly a car. I don't know that he's come up with a target moving date yet, but it seems to be getting closer.

Today's painting is called Rhododendrons #1.

 

Episode #1

Today was a gorgeous day. Definitely spring - high was in the lower 70s, with lots of sunshine.

John finally found a car to borrow so that he could move the rowing shells from our garage back to the boathouse. The move was basically uneventful, and now he's really champing at the bit to get back on the river. It's supposed to be warm again tomorrow, but unfortunately, very windy. Maybe by Saturday he'll be able to take the boat out.

Three episodes of The Antiques Roadshow were filmed here in Chattanooga last summer. The first of these was premiered on Monday night, with the others to follow on the next two Mondays. We recorded the program and just got it watched last night. I didn't see anybody we knew - either on camera or in the background. But it was still fun, knowing that it was filmed here. It was fun seeing how the whole thing worked, too. Check your local listings for times in your area.

Today's photo is of a watercolor painting, Rhododendron #2.

 

The season winds down

UConn, Oklahoma, Stanford, Louisville - the line-up for the women's basketball Final Four. It's all set for next weekend. Should be some good games. I'm not sure when the men's Final Four is. But college basketball is almost over for the year.

We finally took the car today to the dealer to see if they could find and fix that rattle we've been hearing for months. Turns out it was some tension rods that had come loose near the rear speakers. Fixed, and no charge. You can't beat that - a simple problem, and no cost.

Today turned out to be gloomy, rainy, long, and mostly uneventful. I didn't go in to the Gallery because of having to take the car. The logistics just didn't work.

Motley Monday

Today was the usual run-all-day Monday. Nothing spectacular.

Sometimes, I think I ought to take a hiatus from writing the blog. I hate these days when I think I don't have anything interesting to report.

I think I've sold another painting to an on-line friend. That's so exciting. I love knowing that other people enjoy the things I create. This got me thinking about the possibility of an on-line presence to market my pieces. I had a couple of friends who have "shops" on etsy.com. I've looked at the site and their procedures for opening a store. It looks interesting. I know it would be a lot of work though. And I'll have to give it a lot of thought before such an undertaking.

Nothing to say

Things really cooled off today. It was still overcast, though.

About the only things we accomplished today were doing the laundry and watching more basketball.

Somedays, there's just nothing to write about. Sorry about that.

I will post a photo of another of my paintings, a watercolor called Precipitation. The true colors are a bit more muted than show up in the picture.

 

Lazy Saturday

This was another slow Saturday. Of the two bathing suits I got at TJMaxx yesterday, I kept one and took the other back. I did have to sew up some of the cleavage in the one I kept, but it'll work. That was basically "it" for the day.

I finished the latest Dana Stabenow book borrowed from Kate - Whisper to the Blood. We like her Kate Shugak series. I've started another book on the Kindle. Bold Spirit is a true story of Helga Estby's journey on foot across the United States (Spokane to NYC) in 1896. I read the sample and wanted more, so I bought it. More of a review will come later.

I've been feeling a lot better, but still getting the late evening laryngitis.

These are two watercolors, Irish Rooftop and The Widow of Sneem, based on photographs from my trip to Ireland in 1990.

 

 

A busy Friday

This turned out to be a pretty busy Friday. I did finally get back into the pool this morning - albeit the warm pool. I decided not to push my luck by going to the regular class, so I walked in the warm pool for most of the class time. Then I spent a few minutes in the steam room - trying to work some of this stuff out. After coffee, I took the clothes back to TJMaxx, and got a couple more bathing suits to try. One of those will work.

After the studio for a while, we spent most of the afternoon doing some chair time - probably dozing a bit.

The opening reception for Roslynne's solo show took us back to the gallery this evening. Everything looked great, and she had a pretty good crowd. After a bit, we went to Mom's Italian place with John & Sylvia for dinner. We checked back just to catch some clean-up time for the reception, then headed for home and basketball.

For some reason, I'm really tired tonight. I probably won't last too much longer.

Light at the end of the tunnel?

At last, I'm finally starting to feel better. I got some quality chair time this afternoon, without being interrupted by coughing. So after being up for about an hour at 3 a.m. this morning, maybe I'll get in a full night's sleep tonight. Incidentally, I discovered that Bravo network shows episodes of West Wing at 3-4 a.m.ET - so it wasn't a totally wasted hour. I don't think I'll be setting an alarm for it, though.

PBS Program note: The three new episodes of the Antiques Road Show that were filmed in Chattanooga last summer will premiere next Monday, 30 March. Episodes #2 and 3 will be on the following two Monday nights. Check your local listing. Nothing we took warranted filming, but we might show up in one of the crowd shots or backgrounds.

Today's photo is of one of my paintings, a watercolor on paper, Silver Swirl.

 

Congratulations to Senator Sarah!!!

All day rain today. So far we've had 1.5" of rain, and it's supposed to rain tonight and for the rest of the week.

I had hoped to go to the pool this morning, but after another bad night, I went to the doctor this morning. As expected, my nose, ears, and chest were clear. But obviously I have a problem. He gave me prescriptions for a steroid dose pack and some cough syrup with codeine. At least with that I should be able to get some solid sleep. And that should help everything else.

The best news of the day was that Sarah was elected to the Junior Senate at CofC. She's really been antsy waiting for the results. But all turned out well. This could be just the first step.

Almost a regular Tuesday

Things have changed at the Gallery during the week I've been done. Roslynne's show has opened, and looks really good. Of course, everything else has been rearranged because of that. And we have another new artist in with us. Everything looks great!

That plus yesterday pretty much did me in for the day. I'm going to see the doctor tomorrow. This may be allergy on top of the cold, and the allergy season is just getting started. There's no way I want to feel like this for the next month of various allergy seasons. Everybody will appreciate what fun it is for me to have completely lost my voice by the middle of the evening. Stop now! I can hear the laughter all the way over here.

Major women's basketball upset: #9 Michigan State beat #1 Duke.

Here's another one of my paintings - acrylic on canvas - Cape Breton Island coast.

 

The end of our season

We are now officially through with in-person basketball for this season. Unless, of course, somebody should step up and give us tickets to the Women's Final Four in St. Louis on 5 & 7 April. I think we could probably handle that. But, failing that, we'll wash and fold our Mocs and Vols t-shirts and put them on the shelf until next season.

The game tonight was a good one. Purdue outplayed UNC 85-70, and moves on to the Sweet Sixteen. And there they get to play Rutgers - never an easy game. Unfortunately, all four of our favorite teams lost in their first tournament games.

I did almost a full Monday schedule today. I decided to skip swimming, although I didn't miss coffee. I'll try to get back in the pool on Wednesday. We went to bridge, then straight to meet Margaret for dinner and the ballgame. It definitely made for a long day.

A glorious Sunday!

I'm tired of feeling sorry for myself, and I'm sure everybody else is, too. Jean says I've been a whiner. Sorry about that. I'll try to do better.

It was another glorious day today. The temperature got up to 72.

We went to a free Chattanooga Symphony Chamber music concert at UTC this afternoon, and met John & Sylvia there. The concert was delightful! It was brief - they played only two selections. A Mozart quintet for piano, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and horn was first. The second was a Schumann quintet for piano, two violins, viola, and cello. The pianist is an artist in residence at UTC; the others are all first chair musicians with the symphony. What a wonderful hour it was! We hadn't seen J&S for a while, so it was fun to visit with them, too.

The rest of the day was basketball on TV. Such is March! The Lady Vols play tonight, but I'm going to bed early.

Early night tonight

I'll bet you're almost as tired of hearing about this cold as I am of having it. But, wait! I don't think that's possible. Thought things were getting better, but then....

Just a couple of hours sleep last night, due to coughing. We did the two basketball games today - Women's First Round, NCAA Tournament. UNC just barely beat Univ of Central Florida, and Purdue won over Charlotte. UCF probably played the most intense active game - but to no avail.

We enjoyed seeing Margaret, and went to dinner at La Altena after the games. Then she headed home. And I feel like warmed over you-know-what.

I'll close and post early with two of my paintings from the show - Blue Faces #1 and #2 (apologizing for the photo quality).

 

 

Out of the house

Basketball report: So far, our teams are 0 for 3 - the Vols lost to Oklahoma State this morning. The Lady Vols play Ball State Sunday night. The only good news was that Western Kentucky won their game (that's where Andy goes to school).

We went to the symphony tonight - a great concert. The orchestra played Brahms' Symphony No.4. The second selection was Dvorak's Concerto for cello and orchestra. Zuill Bailey was the soloist. He was a definite WOW! And, he's matinee-idol gorgeous! Quite a combination. I did some coughing, but think I kept it muffled pretty well. I just didn't want to disturb other listeners or the musicians. This was my first time out of the house since Monday. I did pretty good.

Here's one of the publicity photos of Zuill Bailey.

 

Everybody loses (almost)

This thing just isn't getting any better. I didn't sleep much last night. I'm about to wear this chair out.

All the support from Jimmie Fallon couldn't help the Mocs. UConn was just too powerful to overcome. UConn 103, UTC 47. That's what the expect from a #1 seed against a #16 seed.

In the Women's NIT, the Lady Mocs played the University of Kentucky in Lexington. The final score, in overtime, was UTC 76, UK 81. We listened on the computer. The commentator all but had a coronary complaining about the officiating. He's "our" announcer, so that wasn't too unexpected. But in the post-game interview, the coach said that the scheduled official didn't show up, and the referee in question was a last-minute substitute. Coach had the option of doing the game with only two officials, but he chose to accept this fill-in. He said that he guessed he made the wrong decision. We'd have to agree.

So now our personal interest in this season is over, except for the Lady Vols who play this weekend.

And, DAMN, I wish I'd get over this cold!

Special edition

As you might have noticed, the official March Madness (NCAA Basketball Tournament) starts tonight.

By virtue of winning the Southern Conference Tournament, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) Mocs are in the NCAA. They are a #16 seed, and play this afternoon against a #1 seed, the University of Connecticut.

Jimmie Fallon (Late Night with Jimmie Fallon on NBC) decided to feature one of the underdogs in the tournament, and he picked UTC. Here are links to the pieces on his shows this week.

Monday,
Tuesday, and
Wednesday nights' clips.

"Call of Silence"

Are there any others (besides Sue and Jean) who are NCIS junkies? Currently, the USA network is showing multiple episodes of NCIS daily. We were lucky enough tonight to catch one of the very best. It's titled "Call of Silence", and it is a tour-de-force for Charles Durning, playing a Marine who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on Iwo Jima. If you ever get the chance, put this one on your must-see list.

Other than that, today was pretty much another day of convalescence. I hope I feel well enough to go to the Thursday lunch. We'll see how things go tomorrow.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Did you remember to wear green today? I must confess that I didn't. Shame on me!

I wonder if this is the flu. In any case, I managed to do absolutely nothing today. It was a shame to waste the gorgeous weather we had - bright sunshine and 70*. I plan to do more of the same tomorrow, to see if I can get this licked.

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday to me! For my present, I have given myself a horrible cold. I started feeling bad this morning, and it's gotten worse all day. I'm calling it a day and going to bed early.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SARAH!!

Basketball has reached the end of the regular season, and is ready to start the NCAA tournaments. Chattanooga is so excited to have their Mocs in the game, even as a #16 seed. They're to play the #1 seed, University of Connecticut. Tennessee is a #9 seed and will play a #8 seed.

The women's brackets will be announced tomorrow. The Lady Vols will probably have their lowest seed ever, and the Lady Mocs will be playing in the WNIT.

That was about the extent of the excitement today. We did get a total of 2" of rain since Friday, which was great. And then the sun finally game out this afternoon.

These are two of my pencil drawings that were in my show.

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALISON!

The rain that started last night continued literally all day long - and it's still raining. I haven't checked the gauge yet - I'm waiting until the whole system has moved out. But I'm sure it's well over one inch.

I braved the rain this morning to do something very unusual for me. Are you sitting down??? I went shopping. I went to four stores, including a new (to me) yarn/fabric shop. I only bought two things - a turtle neck and a light-weight flowered blazer. Amazing - on so many fronts. I didn't buy yarn and I did buy clothes. It'll probably be years before that happens again.

Family news: Happy Birthday, Alison!!!! Congratulations, Amanda, on the new job!

I received a great surprise in the mail. It was an early birthday present from a childhood friend in Houston. I had sent her an invitation to my show, and she had it framed for me for my birthday. It's just wonderful - on so many different levels!

This is a photo of a pair of paintings from the show.

 

Finally Friday and an Anniversary

For retired folks, this has been a busy week. We still feel like we're catching up from the tournament weekend. And we don't even care that it's Friday the 13th. The cleaning crew came this morning, so we have a nice fresh house.

John says he has gotten the new computer working almost to his satisfaction. He got a printer and got that hooked up. And he's been able to open all the files he transferred from the old one. He says he's almost as pleased with his Mary's-birthday present as I am with mine.

And I am pleased with my Kindle. I blew my first purchase, and got a book that I'd already read. I got over-confident, and bought it without checking out the sample first. My bad! I won't do that again. Now I'm reading a book about three young women of different faiths (Christian, Jewish, Muslim) who get together to write a book for their children. I'll write more about it when I finish it. One old book that I'd love to have is 84 Charing Cross Road, but it's not available for the Kindle.

We're getting some much-needed slow, solid rain. It started about suppertime, and is predicted to rain all night and all day tomorrow. It makes for a gloomy day, but we do need the rain. We've not overcome our drought of the last few years, so we still need every drop.

Today is the 16th anniversary of The Blizzard of '93 - the biggest snowfall ever recorded in Chattanooga. We remember it all too well. Click here for the Wikipedia article about it. I never consider our winter over until we get past this date. This is a typical photo from Google.

 

March Miscellany

Sleeping late - what a treat! John snuck out to go to the Y, and I slept until after 8 a.m. And we got haircuts today, and that always makes us feel better.

The flowering trees are so gorgeous after those days in the 80s. Bradford pears, other fruit trees; the redbuds and pink magnolias are just starting; forsythia, etc. But the high today was only 49, and it was a gloomy day.

Except for our usual crazy lunch, John spent most of the day working on the new computer. I think he's gotten almost everything working to his satisfaction. Even the new slide scanner is working. He's still learning about how Vista works, and needs to figure out how to open a few of the transferred programs...but it's coming along. I'll go give it a try when he says it's okay.

We went to the local Ornithological Society meeting tonight. One of our friends was giving the program, and we went to support him and see his photos. Before that, we ate at Blue Orleans - John's favorite. Always great food, even if John never finds out. He loves their crawfish etouffe, and never orders anything else. He does get to try other things, though. Since the portions are so big, I only ate about half of my shrimp pasta, and he gets to have that for lunch tomorrow.

Today's photo is of one of my watercolors that was in the recent exhibit.

 

Miscellany

After swimming and painting this morning, I got a little bit of a nap today, and that was nice.

I forgot to mention yesterday that John has been working trying to get his new computer set up. It's been a long slow process for him, and frustrating at times. Now he's trying to back up stuff on the old one. He got off the things we want to save and transfer, but wants to save everything else before we get it wiped clean - just in case he missed something we really didn't want to lose. Oh, well - it will get done eventually. And he is making progress.

We talked to Ann & Al tonight. They got back from their trip to India last week, and are finally getting their body clocks reset. They said that everything you've ever heard or read about India, good or bad, is true. It's an amazing country, and they had a wonderful, but exhausting, trip. And are glad to be home. We're glad, too.

I've done pretty well today with my plan of spending most of the day in the La-Z-Boy. The followup to that is to sleep late in the morning.

Another book recommendation: China Road, by Rob Gifford (NPR correspondent) is a story of his personal journey across China, from Shanghai to the Kazahkstan border. He's lived there for years, and wanted to take one last trip. He was able to go at his own pace, basically where he wanted, and talk to regular people. It's a very readable book, with lots of history and current status. Check it out.

No basketball today (for us)

It was nice to get up this morning and not wear gold and blue (the UTC colors, of course) and to start to think about doing things other than basketball. At least for a couple of weeks, until we have one set of the women's first and second rounds of the NCAA.

Sarah and her friends slept hard for a while and left about 8 this morning to go back to Charleston. Only the young can do that kind of thing. But they did get home safely. If they're lucky, their profs won't penalize them too much for cutting classes on Monday. It was for a good cause.

I didn't get time to get on the computer today until nearly 9 this evening. Most unusual for me. I had hoped to get to bed early tonight, but am just now wriing the blog and watching Nightline. What a terrible tragedy that was today in Alabama - I'm just hearing that news.

Our 81* today tied a record. What a lovely day it was! But it'll be back to more normal temps tomorrow.

Day 5

We're home and the main basketball season is finally over. And our Mocs won the conference championship. So they'll be going to the NCAA tournament. It was a very exciting game.

Sarah and her two friends got here about noon. They were excited to get the chance go the ballgames. Unfortunately, Charleston lost both their games, and the girls were in tears at the end of the men's game. But they were so glad they were here to support their friends, and both gals and guys (players)knew they were there during the games.

The Charleston ladies lost to Western Carolina Univ. in three overtimes. Wow! Just a heartbreaker for C of C.

The Mocs had a 20-point run at the beginning of the second half that pretty much put CofC away.

Charleston played terrific games yesterday, and I think they just played their best games a day early. And they gave everything they had today. But that's the way it goes.

The girls are going to sleep for a while, then leave about 5a.m. to head back to Charleston - so they don't miss too many classes.

And we get to rest for the remainder of the week - and find out what's been going on in the rest of the world while we've been submerged. It was 82!! here today, and is predicted to be about that again tomorrow (which would set a record).

Day 4

We saw four full games today!

Our Lady Mocs lost today in the women's semifinal game. It did make our Sarah happy, though, since they lost to the College of Charleston. In the other game, Western Carolina beat Samford for the other spot in the finals tomorrow.

The men's semis were interesting. The men Mocs won their semifinal game against Samford, so they'll be in the finals. The College of Charleston won their men's game, too, and they beat Davidson with the fabled Stephen Curry. It was exciting, and they really deserved to win. So C of C will be playing in both final games tomorrow.

As we were driving home, Sarah called and they're all going to be coming over in the morning to go to the games. We weren't surprised - we were sure they'd decide to come.

We're about shot after these four days. I've probably gone up and down more steps in the last four days than I have in as many years. My knees are really talking back to me. The good part is that I'm getting some exercise AND that I've been doing it without huffing and puffing as I go up every time. I guess that's the real benefit of having shed 60 pounds.

Two more games to go!

Day 3

We wound up watching 5 full games today. There were two women's games in the morning; the rest were men's games. The Chattanoga Mocs (men) had a tough time beating Elon in the last game we watched tonight. They were up by more than 15 points twice, but wound up winning by only one point. Much too exciting! Tomorrow the women's semis will be in the afternoon, starting at noon, with the men's games starting at 6. So just four games for us tomorrow. But at least we can sleep a bit later.

It was fun during the men's game. We were sitting right behind the Lady Mocs gals, in their street clothes, cheering the guys on. They're really nice folks and very friendly. Also a team graduate brought her about-six-month old precious baby with her, and sat with the assistant coaches. It was great to see her, too.

Don't forget to reset your clocks tonight - Spring forward one hour!

Day 2

We only saw four basketball games today. Our butts gave out before games #5 & 6. So we came home and are watching another game on TV. It is definitely March Madness around here.

Our Lady Mocs won handily this morning. The only other game today we really cared about was the College of Charleston men (Sarah helps tutor a couple of the guys). We had to call her with a report as soon as the game was over. Fortunately, they won. We did get home in time to see the Lady Vols win in the SEC quarterfinals over Florida.

There are six games again tomorrow. And we need to stay through #5 - that's when our men Mocs play. The day is divided up into three sessions (2 games each) and the arena is cleared between sessions. We don't want to have to find another parking place, so we just stay. Tomorrow, I'm going to pack a cooler with sandwiches and some fruit. Also probably take a pillow for maybe a short nap during game #4, and John can take a walk through the campus. There are women's games in #1 & 2. The Davidson men play in game #3. Those are the ones we particularly want to see. Fortunately, that's the last long day in the tournament. The semifinals (men & women) are on Sunday, with the finals on Monday.

My apologies to those of you who don't care about basketball, but that's all that's going on around here this weekend.

Day 1

The Southern Conference Tournament started today with the first three women's games (here in Chattanooga this year). We were there for all three. Tomorrow and Saturday will be VERY long - 6 games each day, starting at 9 a.m. with the last one starting at 9:30 p.m. One game today was pretty lopsided, but the other two were close. The men's and women's tournaments are being played here on the same weekend - that's why there are so many games.

John's computer was delivered shortly before we left for the ballgames today. He's thrilled that it's come, but he won't be able to start setting it up until Sunday or Monday.

I finally finished the library books I was reading, so I could start learning my Kindle. I started reading one of the samples I had downloaded. I took it with me to the ball games (as well as some socks to knit), and got some reading before and between games. I'm really liking it.

Allan will be heading back to NYC in the morning. He's gotten lots of contacts on this trip, and he's feeling really good about moving back.

Does anybody else's life revolve totally around college basketball during March?

Tournament Time

FedEx tried to deliver John's new computer this morning while he was out running errands. He was so disappointed. Now he won't leave the house tomorrow until it's delivered - except to go to the basketball games, but then Allan will be here.

We start our basketball marathon tomorrow. The Southern Conference Basketball Tournament starts tomorrow afternoon - with men's and women's games being played over the same five days. The early women's games are tomorrow. Then on Friday and Saturday, the first game is at 9 a.m., and the last game is scheduled to start at 9:30 p.m. Makes for two LONG days! The semifinals start at noon on Sunday; the finals at 3 p.m. on Monday. We're not going to try to see all of them, but probably many of them. The biggest crowds, of course, will be for the men's and women's UTC games. Other than those, the biggest draw is a game where Davidson is playing, because of their star, Stephen Curry. He is amazing, and the Davidson men will probably win the tournament with his play.

Election day in Chattanooga

Today got off to a good start with a pedicure. That always makes a gal feel good - at least her feet.

They're nearly finished with the awnings on the front of the gallery. I'll try to remember to take my camera tomorrow to get some photos.

We had a fun evening tonight. M.K. invited us to one of her 8-person dinners. Great company, great food, and great music. Just a lovely night out.

It was election day in Chattanooga - for mayor and members of the city council. We voted early, so just checked out the results when we got home this evening. The incumbent mayor was reelected. There will be some new councilmembers, some returned incumbents, and some run-offs. Unfortunately, only 20% of those elegible voted. Why on earth don't people get the message that their vote in local elections are the ones that affect them the most. As the King said, "It's a puzzlement!"

I'll repeat a photo tonight - another closeup from the stained glass in our hotel in Chihuahua.

 

Unusual Monday

Not the usual Monday. No swimming and a short trip to Walmart. We decided that it would be better for all concerned if we didn't go to bridge today. So it was another day of recuperation (we hope).

All winter I've been wanting to make some beef/barley/mushroom soup, but I couldn't find any barley. How odd! I finally found some last week at Greenlife Grocery. They had it in bulk. I finally got that made yesterday, and we had it for supper tonight. It was SO good - especially when we have colds, and with this very cold weather.

It was very simple: cut up chunks of beef, onions, garlic, barley, mushrooms, and lots of beef broth. I used some dried mushrooms (don't remember what kind) and some fresh sliced baby portabellas. Yum!

Some of you have already seen this photo - I sent it out today to my daily photo list. But it's one I really like.

 

From the pestilential palace...

Considering that I pretty much accomplished my plan of staying in the chair all day, we did a lot today, too. We didn't get any snow out of this storm - but it surely has been windy all day.

I started supper cooking (more about that later). Then John and Allan went to the Gallery with me to help take down my show. The end of Eccentric & Eclectic. I'm still pretty proud of my first solo show. I left a few things there to hang in my regular space. And we even found places to put all the stuff I brought home.

I started some beef/barley/mushroom soup. I've been hungry for that for a while, and I just found some barley. Since we all have colds, it'll be even better tomorrow.

I did the laundry, and we helped the Lady Vols to a win over Vanderbilt. And Allan got some new clients. Busy, busy, busy!

As to our dinner tonight, a couple of months ago, Kate sent a recipe for pernil. It's a Puerto Rican style of cooking pork shoulder. I've had a pork shoulder in the freezer, but just couldn't find a good time to fix it. The meat is coated with a puree of adobo (mixture of onion, garlic, oregano, Ancho chili power, cumin, etc., and cooked all day in a very slow oven. The coating cooks into an incredible savory crust, and the pork is so moist and flavorful. Google "pernil" to find several recipes - and give it a try.

John's definitely on the mend. I'm still fighting the symptoms, so I'm going to skip swimming in the morning.

Not tonight...

Sorry, folks. This cold has put me out of commission. I hope tomorrow will be better.

Arrivals

1. Allan arrived about noon. He'll be here for a week, beating the bushes for clients. He's out this evening with some possibilities, and his week is pretty much booked up. We're supposed to be going out to dinner with him two nights. The more the better!

2. My Kindle arrived in the mail this afternoon. I had just checked the shipping progress site on Amazon, and it said it was still in Atlanta. Oh, well. I don't care - it's finally HERE! It measures 5 x 8 x 1/3" and is very light. I've ordered a case to keep it protected when I'm toting it around. Mostly, I've been reading the manual, and enjoying the possibilities. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't have 84 Charing Cross Road, which was going to be my first purchase. I did order a sample of Jon Meacham's new book about Andrew Jackson, and I'm coming up with several other possibilities.

3. John's cold arrived in my throat and nose. DAMN! I was really hoping I'd manage to miss this one, but it was not to be. I've started on Zi-Cam and coricidin to try to keep it as light as possible. Hope springs eternal.

Definitely an eventful day.

Catch-up Thursday

Thursday is my catch-up (or do-nothing) day. I got the newspaper read and some computer stuff done. Then it was off to the regular Thursday lunch. John's still miserable, so he skipped today (he really IS sick). But he was saving himself for Jesse.

Jesse was heading back to his posting in Norfolk. He reports back in on Tuesday. But he's going to go to Charleston for a couple of days. And he's spending tonight with Matt & Amanda tonight. We met him at a Waffle House for breakfast (Jesse), lunch (John), and second lunch(me) - but mainly just to get in some extra hugs. I just had a small bowl of soup for supper to atone for the extra meal.

My Kindle still hasn't come. Amazon said 2 March, and I guess they're going to keep to that. Even though they sent an e-mail last weekend that it had been mailed, and it's been in Atlanta since Tuesday. John's new computer is scheduled for delivery on 6 March. We're both pretty impatient to get our new toys.

The Lady Vols lost to LSU tonight. They were really awful in the first half, but managed to come back to a tie near the end of the game. LSU held on to win by a couple of points.

Area high temperatures today were near 70 - and snow is predicted for Sunday. I keep reminding myself that the Great Blizzard of 1993 was on 13 March. I don't consider it spring until after that. We won't be going to Charleston for the SoCon Tournament this year (it's here in Chattanooga), but this is what we saw last year at this time.

 

Re-installation

The Sears people (including a complaint/possible-damage assessor) came this afternoon, and finally got the machine properly installed - at least I think so. I've done one load, and it seemed to fine. If it continues to work right, I'm okay with it.

The complaint guy had called this morning and talked to John. He said that the installer said that he had told me that the faucet was leaking. What a bunch of shit! Like I would've done three loads of wash knowing that a faucet was leaking. That really did tick me off. I must admit I was ready to have them take it back to the store. But I calmed down, and it does seem to be working okay now. We'll see. And that'll probably be the last thing I buy from Sears.

Later I got the automated satisfaction survey call. If anybody checks those things, they'll get a really bad review. One of the questions was if I would recommend Sears to a friend. That got the strongest possible NO, of course.

Poor John has come with with one of those fast-arriving spring colds. He's alternately stopped up and runny-nosed, and feels miserable. I still had some of the roast chicken that I got at Walmart on Monday, so I made some chicken noodle soup for supper. Thaqt's always good comfort food. He went to bed about 8 tonight. I'm going to sleep in the other room and keep my fingers crossed that I won't get it.

This is the closeup of the forsythia.

 

Harbingers of Spring

John took our tax material to the CPA this morning - so that's one chore out of the way.

Allan is coming back on Friday. He's making some really good contacts, and I won't be surprised if he gets to move back here this year. He's been invited to dinner two nights already (and we're invited, too), and people are definitely getting referrals for him.

Sears has called (an automated call) to let us know the time they will be coming (12:45 - 2:45) tomorrow. We shall see.

We worked at the library book sale again this afternoon. Today is the last day, and it is "bag day". Folks can pay $3.50 for a big paper grocery bag, and then can get as many books as will fit in the bag. Lots of book-sale regulars come on the last day, just to pick up lots of things. And, lots of folks told us that they read the books, and then donate them back to the book sale for the next time. Love that recycling! The books that don't find homes during the sale get taken to the regular paper recycling. I hate that, but the library doesn't have room to store all of those books. Poor homeless babes!

Forsythia is always so pretty when it blooms in the early spring.

 

Do NOT buy from Sears!

Our power went out this morning while we were getting dressed to go to the Y, so we left early. At least it was on when we got back home. John went to bridge this afternoon, and I stayed home to wait for the washer delivery. That was scheduled between 2:15 and 4:15.

The installers got here early - at 2. And things seemed to go downhill from there. The service guy who came last week had put several towels into the non-draining front-loader to soak up the water, and just left them there. The service guy didn't mention it to me, and the installer found them when he opened the machine. There was also standing water inside.

The installers took the old machine out, and I swept the vinyl that would be under the machine. They brought the new machine in, hooked it up, ran some water, I signed the paper, and they left. I was happily washing when John got home. The third load had just finished, when John discovered there was water on the floor in the utility room. Damn! It turns out it was leaking around the filling hose. He turned the water off, as I was calling trying to get hold of somebody to come fix the problem.

It was nearly 5 p.m. I called the store, and couldn't seem to get past the menu to a person. I finally called the number on the card of the saleswoman I had dealt with on Saturday. She said she'd have somebody call me. Another woman called, and I explained all this to her. She said to turn off the water (which we had done), and that they'd have somebody come on Friday. FRIDAY?!?!? I told her that was absolutely NOT acceptable, and that the latest I would accept would be tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 8 a.m., and expressed concern about possible damage to the floor. We went round and round for a while, and then she transferred me to Christopher in the service and claim department. (Unfortunately, no real service seems to be available at Sears.) We went through the story again, and I expressed our concern that there was water on the floor in the utility room, getting under the vinyl that was laid on that section. After going round and round, I finally agreed on his compromise that someone would come on Wednesday to re-install the washer and that somebody would be coming to check for any damage.

About 6:30 p.m., John got on the phone, trying to get somebody high enough up the food chain to register our complaints. He was on the phone for another hour, getting shunted from place to place (including India), and even getting hung up on once. He finally got somebody go agree to send him paperwork for registering a complaint. Then he checked the washer again, and found out it was not level - although that's something else that the installer is supposed to check for.

Needless to say, we are NOT happy customers. Jimmie Mac, you were right - we should've bought from HHGregg. And believe me, wherever we buy the next time, it won't be from Sears. Sears seemed to understand that there was a problem, but didn't really seem to care.

What started out seemingly pretty good, really turned to shit as the day went on.

Lazy Sunday

The young people left at midmorning to head to the Aquarium. John and Margaret left at noon to go to the ballgame (Lady Vols 86, Mississippi State 62).

I didn't even have the laundry to do today. (Poor me!) But I did get to finish the paper, do some reading and some knitting, and watch some of the NCIS marathon. (My guilty secret!)

Sears called (or their recording) and gave me a 2-hour window for the delivery and installation of the new washer. I'll be here. And will, no doubt, inaugurate it right away.

I'm not sure what this little ground-hugging flower is called (strawflower?), but it's always one of the first things to bloom, saying that spring is not too far away.

 

Too early for spring

Today pretty much went as planned - except for the Lady Mocs losing to Western Carolina. They had no pzazz at all in the first half, and were down by 12 at the half. They played like they meant it in the second half, and got to within 2 points, but were never ahead, and lost by 4. Just one of those days.

The rest of the day went pretty much as expected. I went over to Sears and bought the machine we had looked at yesterday. Sorry, Jimmy Mac, I appreciate your comments. I just didn't want to do any more shopping. And I've almost always had Kenmore appliances, and have always been satisfied with them. In any case, it's to be delivered on Monday, and I'll get it "christened".

Jesse and his current ladyfriend got here first, shortly followed by Margaret, and then Matt & Amanda. We went to eat at Longhorn ("cow" is always a winner with those two men), and had good meals.

They finished out the evening playing Rook.

We're supposed to get some snow overnight, but sunshine tomorrow and much colder temperatures. But spring is trying to happen here. Here's the first of several bright spots in our yard this afternoon

 

The first phase

This afternoon, we looked at Sears, Lowe's, and HHGregg. The best deal, we think, is to get a Kenmore 600 from Sears. It looks just like one of the Whirlpool machines at HHGregg (guess the Kenmores are made by Whirlpool). With the coupon we have from the service call and a rebate on the delivery/installation/removal of old machine, the price is better at Sears. I'll call the saleslady in the morning - she helped us and gets a commission, so I'll give her the sale.

John's gotten our income tax stuff ready for the CPA. It took him only about an hour and very little grumbling (thank heavens). He's got a call in to find out when to get it to her.

The best part of our shopping trip was that we ended up at the big mall across town, with the plan that we'd have an early dinner in an area we don't usually frequent. So we ate at the Bonefish Grill. John had what he always gets there - the steamed mussels appetizer. It's a HUGE bowl of mussels, and he smiles the whole time he's eating. I got the special of crusty grilled cod. It was superbly cooked and quite good. If you have a Bonefish Grill in your area, check it out.

It's still winter, with snow flurries predicted for tomorrow night. But it won't be long before we'll be having spring with all these wonderful flowering trees (and allergies).