Today started really well, and I have high hopes for the rest of the day, despite the rain that is coming our way. The weather forecasters are uncertain whether the showers will slide in this afternoon, or this evening, but we can expect rain for several days.
Gentle Dragon, our exercise guru, is off to visit one of her daughters for a long weekend. We had a sub today who has a slightly different style. I think it disturbs her that we aren’t shouting back encouragement, so she does it for herself. She paces the exercise differently. There’s rarely a break in movement, while GD has us keep stepping between songs. There’s nothing wrong with the way the sub handled the class, nothing at all. But she isn’t Gentle Dragon.
The ladies and gentlemen in my class have become very fond of GD, but it took us a while to develop that relationship. Our sub seems to feel that she can come in and have instant relationship, and it just hasn’t worked that way. Class was full today, but I think that might have been because we were all meeting for breakfast after class, to celebrate the March birthdays. *G* (Yeah….we exercise and then we eat!)
I was up at five this morning, doing a little housework and getting ready for exercise. Elegante Mother is a little under the weather, so we let her skip exercise this morning and sleep in. She’s had a little tummy upset, which in turn has kept her from sleeping well. I think she’ll be fine tomorrow, and we’ll just pretend it isn’t raining.
I’m going to steal some time to sew today, and pay some bills. The house is clean, so there aren’t any chores calling to me. It seems like the perfect day to vege out!
Dear Husband has volunteered his talents to one of my nephews, who is working on finishing a basement fireplace. If it weren’t raining, I might have told my nephew he’d have to wait, because I have a long list of outside chores that require Dear Husband’s help. As it is, I’ll have to hope that we get a dry weekend before boating season starts, that isn’t taken up with boat preparation.
The forsythia is GORGEOUS!. We’ve left it in the arching “fountain” style, and the gold just glows against the gloomy skies. I have my youngest sister, Nan, and her husband to thank for planting it. I’d purchased it, and had delayed getting it into the ground. One visit, they simply picked up the forsythia and a shovel, and had it planted in 15 minutes! Thank you, Nan, for saving the shrub and giving me years of spring enjoyment!
So, my day is filled with average, run of the mill things, but I’m really enjoying it. I hope you all have a good weekend!

One of my favorite nieces and her son will be joining us for dinner tonight. On the way to grocery shopping today, Elegante Mother suggested that the next time my niece came to visit we should plan a different meal. It seems that we’ve done the same meal for them for the last several visits! I hadn’t realized. I’ll have to ask her what she has a taste for next time.
Tonight we’ll be having medium rare flank steak with broiled steak seasoning, lemon pepper and garlic salt, huge baking potatoes (and I’ll put out sour cream, butter, bacon bits and shredded cheddar cheese for those who want them), steamed cauliflower with browned bread crumbs and sliced green onions, roasted asparagus with Kosher salt and minced dry onion, Caesar salad, strawberries, and maybe chocolate cupcakes.
We rarely eat this way at home. Normally, I offer a much more trimmed down meal, with fewer condiments, and simpler veggies, but we seem to go all out for my niece and her boys. We’ll be hosting Easter in a couple of weeks. The preparation for tonight’s meal is similar to what we do for Easter, Of course, those who come to have Easter dinner with us will bring dishes to pass. Dear Husband and I will do all the cooking tonight. He cooks the flank steak and makes the Caesar salad. I clean the romaine, cook the cauliflower, roast the asparagus, clean and slice the strawberries, make the cupcakes, and clean the kitchen.
Hopefully, a good time will be had by all, and I’ll go back to lighter meals for the end of the week.

We’ve had several record-breaking warm days. I stalled on getting our spring cleanup started, and now I regret it. This afternoon our temps are going to drop from the 80s to the 40s as a cold front moves south over the Chicago area. It’s bringing showers that will come and go throughout the rest of the week. I can expect the ground to remain boggy.
On the other hand….. the squill and crocus are blooming, and some of the daffodils have opened. I’ve seen robins, and gold finches and house finches. The chives are easily six inches tall, and there are tulip leaves, day lilies, oregano, feverfew and one more plant that I can’t identify turning green in the herb garden. The honeysuckle along the lot lines and tree lines is leafing out. I think I may need to uncover the rose bushes before Easter.
We are all ready for a gradual warming that will lead to spring. None of us are completely happy about the yo-yo temperatures. We’d feel better if we could acclimate gradually, rather than being thrown into Summer with no preparation. Our climate is surely odd these days.

We started our day in a very light rain. I thought perhaps that Elegante Mother would refuse to go to exercise, but she went, without complaint. I like almost all of the music this session, which makes exercise easier. But, today we discovered that our exercise guru is capable of extending the songs digitally, and we’re working a little harder than we were a few weeks ago.
Our guru, “Gentle Dragon,” has been focusing on hip exercises the past couple of months, and I must need these exercises, because my hips have been aching. It’s not bad enough to do anything about it; I can control it with regular doses of Ibuprofen.I know that in the long run, this is good for me, so I try to make it to class. I thought I was going to miss on Friday, but the dentist rescheduled my appointment, so I’ll get to exercise.
I was sitting in the “green room,” the room off the kitchen that holds the plants and the casual dining table, having toast, and there was a flash of light. I wondered if it had something to do with my eye problem, but about 15 seconds later there was one LARGE boom of thunder! Just one. It seems that most of the daytime thunderstorms went north of us.
We had about an hour of lovely sunlight before the clouds closed in again. We’re supposed to have thunderstorms tonight.
The two retention ponds immediately to the east of us have been very poorly designed. They were fine when there were no houses, but the contractor who owned the land, clear cut it, dredged out more lake area and then connected those lakes to these two retention ponds, and covered it with houses and apartments. I think it’s all supposed to drain out the southern most pond. BUT….they underestimated the amount of flow.
A year later, they came back and increased the size of the lake. I still don’t think they have estimated the flow correctly, because we have been in drought since the houses were built.
I’m taking bets. I think by Friday those two lakes will become one, and our road will be under water. If it happens….I’ll have pictures!
Happy Spring, all! Enjoy the warmer weather!

At 6:28 this morning, you could see you hand in front of your face. By 6:48 the sky was light. Unfortunately, Dear Husband was off to work at 5:30. Poor man. He must feel like a mushroom!
Bird song. Chit Chat. Bur-DEE Bur-DEE Bur-DEE! The birds are so ready for Spring that they are talking it in! We’ve missed their chatter during the winter, but now they’re making such a racket that you can’t miss them.
Elegante Mother’s Empty Nester sewing circle from church is meeting here this afternoon. EM bought a sinfully rich chocolate dessert and will offer Earl Grey in porcelain cups to go with it. I’ve been up since 5:00 putting the house to rights, putting quilts away, doing a few loads of laundry, getting the table organized for the crafters and faxing off tax information.
I think I’ve developed Conjunctivitis. I have a doctor’s visit later this morning to confirm my guess and get some treatment. As I recall, no shared towels, lots of hand washing, and maybe, eye drops. I wonder where this came from??
Crocus are in bloom, and daffodils, oriental poppies, day lilies, chrysanthemum, iris and chives all show growth. Dear Husband and I moved the plants I wintered over in the garage to the edges of the sidewalk Sunday afternoon. You should see the growth on the Seedum ‘Autumn Joy’!! And, of course, the mint is showing new growth!
We saw our first robin yesterday, March 19th. One of the ladies at exercise reported that she had seen TEN on her lawn, a couple of weeks ago when there was a particularly bad cold snap. Robins eat worms. How do the survive when the soil is frozen and the worms are hibernating?
Okay, it’s time to get cleaned up to visit the doc. I hope you all have a great day!