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Photograph of Robert Bruce Thompson Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary

Week of 13 March 2006

Latest Update: Sunday, 19 March 2006 2:20 p.m.


Monday, 13 March 2006

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Last Wednesday I had a call back from my mammogram report. They found something suspicious and wanted to have me come back in for another look. I told them it would have to be this week since I was holding down the fort by myself the rest of the week.

I made the appointment for 2 o'clock this afternoon. She told me I would be there about an hour so I told Steve I would take the whole day leaving at 1:15 to give me plenty of time to get there. Since I knew I would be out there by at least 3:30 I had made plans to run some errands. Instead, I decided it would be a good time to order three scoops of mulch and have it waiting on me when I got home.

After a second mammogram and sonogram on the area on question the radiologist and doctor could not find anything of significance to worry about. I am to go back in six month for another mammogram.

By 3:45  or so I was home, changed, and shoveling mulch. I had them drop it toward the top of the driveway since I was spreading in the front beds. I had just enough room to pull the Trooper into the driveway. By 4:45 I had all but a couple of wheel barrel loads moved into piles where I wanted it spread which also allowed me to be able to move the car into the garage.

After fixing a quick dinner I shoveled up the remaining small pile of mulch and swept the driveway clean. By 6:45 I had  spread mulch in all  the beds but the small one that runs by Bob's office and our bedroom side of the house. By then I was getting tired plus it was getting too dark to see what I was doing.

The temperatures were once again up into the low 80's this afternoon. The wind is blowing 10 to 15 mph with 20 mph gusts. Tonight's low is to be 59 with tomorrow's high only 60. A 20 degree drop. That means thunderstorms in the forecast for tonight. The severe weather out west is coming our way but very often does not make it over the mountains. We will hopefully get some rain out of the front.

I am still reading Dig, the Morgue Momma mystery. This time she is investigating the murder of an old college friend who taught a course at the nearby college in the anthropological investigation of the 50's. 60's and 70's by studying layers of garbage at landfills. The author, who does not revel if they are male or female, is very funny especially  her truism about being a librarian. I highly recommend this series. So far there are only two in the series. I hope there are more coming out.


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Tuesday, 14 March 2006

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I opted out of finishing up spreading the mulch in that one bed. Between working straight through without a lunch break to make up some of my time from yesterday and the 40 mph wind gusts I just did not feel up to doing yard work. As I predicted, the front that came through from the mid west had lost its punch by the time it got to us. We barely got enough rain to wet the pavement.  At this moment we are in a high fire danger alert because of the dry conditions, low humidity, and high winds.

Last night i finished up the Morgue Momma. I may start a new author I picked up at the library, Dana Stabenow.  Bob had finished reading the first two books in her Liam Campbell, Alaskan State Trooper series and has started one of the books in her Kate Shugak, ex DA from Alaska. I am not sure if we have the first book in that second series in from the library yet. Bob is not as anal as I am about reading them in order.

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Wednesday, 15 March 2006

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No update.



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Thursday, 16 March 2006

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This week has not been too bad in terms of being so hectic or busy like it was last week. Work remains steady as we continue to grind it out with just the two us.  Yesterday I made a quick library and grocery store stop on the way home. Then Bob and I left for dinner and the FAS meeting. It has been many months since we last attended a meeting. I promised my friend Bonnie we would attend last night for the telescope clinic. There were a lot of new faces in the room which I guess means we are continuing to get new members. In addition to the adults we have two or three young adults. I was able to spend some time catching up with Bonnie while we stood outside helping folks and looking at telescopes. Bob and I left around 9. At least we had a clear night with moderate temperatures. Fortunately the wind had died down from the 40 mph gust that afternoon.

Tonight I finally made it to the gym and a spin class.

I am reading the first book in the Dana Stabenow, Liam Campbell series Fire and Ice. So far I am very impressed with her characters, plot development, and writing. From the opening chapter she gets things moving pretty quickly keeping a fast pace of action. The minute Liam lands in Newenham, Alaska a murder happens in front of his eyes with events continuing to keep him so busy he still has not had time to put on his uniform or find a place to stay two days later. And, worst yet, one of the suspects is a reunion with a former love interest he also sees as soon as he steps off the plane. Good reading!

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Friday, 17 March 2006

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Happy Friday. Not much in the way of news. Bob and I ate at a new restaurant tonight. It is located in a little shopping center about five miles out past our neighborhood. We used to eat there when it was a standard diner type place. It went out of business a couple of years ago.

It has reopened as a buffet owned by a man from Russia. He offers a salad bar, a lot of fresh vegetables, and a wide assortment of meats and pasta. The food was excellent and reasonably priced. I hope he gets enough traffic to make a go of it. He is open for lunch and dinner.

I sat up last night to watch the Duke/Southern basketball game of round one of the NCAA tournament. The previous game, UNC Wilmington vs. George Washington went into overtime thus making the Duke game start late. It was not over until midnight. I will watch some of the games tonight while I read but will not stay up late again.

Hope you have a great weekend. I have, as usual, a lot of things planned to get done.



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Saturday, 18 March 2006

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It was up at 7:30 to get my very busy day started. After reading the paper and eating a bowl of cereal I caught up on some ironing. Around 9 I left the house to stop at Wal-Mart on the way over to my folks house. We drove out to one of the nicer more expensive garden shops about 15 minutes west of Winston. Dad wanted to get some bushes for that little bed where I dug the other up last weekend.

After looking around he decided on the Gumpo, a miniature version in the azalea family, two white and one pink. They only grow to about 2 feet by 2 feet, great for a small space. Mom saw another azalea, the robe, which has nice variegated leaves and a red flower. I also bought one for my little bed in the front yard.

We stopped at McAllister's Deli on the way home for a very nice lunch. Back at dad's I mowed his lawn then planted the bushes. That put me back home around 3:00. Bob came down to meet me as I pulled into the garage to have me assist him in reloading white truck of the astronomy gear.

That done I quickly went out front to finish spreading the three piles of mulch in the small bed and planted my new bush. After a quick shower, mail check, etc I need to devote some time to the dogs in the form of hall ball.

Last night I finished up the Dana Stabanow and started another Hamish Macbeth.



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Sunday, 19 March 2006

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We went up to Bullington last night to get in a couple of hours of observing. Bob wanted to field test one of the chapters for the new astronomy book. It was fairly decent night early on but transparency got worse later on in the evening. The moon was due to come up around 10:30 which makes locating deep sky objects almost impossible. We have a successful evening before packing up around 10:30. By the time we got home, played balls with the dogs and gave them another time out it was close to midnight by the time we got to bed.

This morning I have cleaned the house of another weeks worth of dog hair, dirt, and dust. The remainder of the day will be spent working here on the Friends newsletter, another chapter for the book, and paying some bills.

I will bounce back and forth between working and going out to to take breaks on the couch while watching: NASCAR from Atlanta which is currently under rain delay, golf from Florida, or some of the NCAA basketball games and off course reading.





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