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Barbara Fritchman Thompson
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Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary

Week of 9 September 2002

Latest Update: Sunday, 27 April 2003 08:39


Monday, 9 September 2002

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Guess What? Yes, I found my car keys. What is worse, they were in a tote bag where I had previously looked. After first moving most of the furniture in our bedroom and vacuuming under it I moved on to my office. I moved the tall bookcase where I store my pocketbook and keys. As I was moving things back into place I took the two photo albums from my recent trip to The Rockies out of a large tote bag sitting beside the book case. As I removed the second one I heard a jingle and low and behold there lay my car keys. I had look down in that but the keys had managed to get caught up under the folder fabric of the bag's corner. Needless to say I was very happy.

I was almost finished cleaning the rest of the house when Bob got back from visiting his mom. We moved her television back into our room to began preparing her room for Bob's PC lab. After lunch I worked on entering my Messier objects in the spread sheet and getting some other paperwork done at my desk. I left about 3:00 for my Lenore visit getting back home around 4:30. During and after dinner Bob and I watched Sampress beat Andre in four sets to win the U. S. Open. I also managed to get about half way through the large stack of magazine and reading material on my desk before time to walk the dogs for last time out.

I did finish reading Untitled by Kaewert last night after going to bed. I will not tell you how it ends just in case you want to read them but she has left me dangling in the wind with the continued story of Alex and Sarah. As I predicted each book gets a little better in the writing and plot development. I will most likely take a break from her series and pick up something else before reading the next book in the series.

It is Body Pump morning at the gym. I have a long list of errands to run this afternoon before and after my hair cut appointment at 2 o'clock. 

 

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Tuesday, 10 September 2002

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Today is our 19th wedding anniversary. We will celebrate in our usual fashion....going about our normal daily routines. Yesterday while I was out running errands I bought my anniversary present the Sony PEG-SL10 at Best Buy. Bob wanted me to get a hands on look at it to make sure I would like the display which I did. 

After I got home I mowed and edged the lawn. While I put out seed and fertilizer on the bare spots Bob installed the link software on my PC and downloaded all my data. I did the evening Lenore visit after dinner getting back home around 7:30. By this time I was pretty tired. I familiarized myself with some of the buttons and features on my new PEG then went in to work on my puzzle until time to walk the dogs. 

After I went to bed I started a new mystery, Murphy's Law, by Rhys Bowen, known for her Evan Evan's series set in a small Welsh town. She has launched a new series introducing Molly Murphy set in the early 1900's of New York. Molly is on the run from her small Irish hometown for murdering the son of the estate where she lived with her father and siblings. The murder of course was accidental occurring while Molly was trying to defend herself when the young man tried to rape her. She flees to England with no money or contacts. While trying to elude the police she ducks into a boarding house. The police follow her into the dwelling and question her about her reasons for being there. Molly pretends she is there visiting someone when another Irish lady pokes her head out of a door and pretends Molly is her sister. Once the police are gone Molly is invited in to share the meager food of the lady and her two young children. As circumstances will be in a fiction book, this lady is looking for someone to take her two children to America to meet their father. The mother has TB and will not be allowed to enter Ellis Island but was going to make the trip to deliver her children. Her husband had sent three tickets. Molly boards the ship using her name and off the sail to America. I will post more of the summary later in the week.

Today is Primary Day. I shall go to the polls and perform my civic duty on the way to SciWorks this afternoon. Bill is supposed to be coming over today to visit his mom. Bob and I were going out for dinner at the little cafe where we like to eat. I am not sure how the evening will shape up. Bill may go with us to dinner or wish to get something on his own. 

Blue skies and cool temperatures are the order for the day. The sub-tropical storm Gustov located just off the coast of NC does not look like it will make it far enough inland to bring us any rain. I will need to water the grass seed sometime today to help it get started growing. I wanted to get those bare spots reseeded before the leaves started to fall.

 

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Wednesday, 11 September 2002

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It is hard to believe it has been a year since the tragedies occurred in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. I tend to stay away from discussions of politics in my journal for various reasons known only to me. Therefore, that is all I am going to say about the events that changed the lives of people living in the United States.

Yesterday turned out to be a very busy day. After I took my shower Bob wanted a hair cut before he took his. While cutting his hair he asked if I could pick up some doughnuts while I was out and about during the day. I told him I might as well go the grocery store this morning. Bob returned from visiting Lenore about the time I returned from the store. He said my parents were over visiting Lenore and wanted me to call them to make arrangements for them to take me out to lunch.

I met them for lunch around noon then drove out to SciWorks until 4:30. I left SciWorks and drove back home to pick up Bob for our Anniversary dinner out at the cafe. Bill ate with his mother at the nursing home. After we got back from dinner we walked the dogs after which I stayed outside to water in the grass seed. Needless to say I was pretty tired by nine o'clock. We walked the dogs early last night so I could go to bed and read for awhile.

This morning I am off to the gym for Spinning class followed by stops at the bank, pet store, and library. This afternoon I have several things to get done including tackling the pile of stuff on my desk. 

 

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Thursday, 12 September 2002

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I am off this morning playing golf with my dad. This afternoon I have Friends of the Library meeting. 

Yesterday was not as hectic. I spent most of the day at the computer working on various things including reading through the PDF version of my new Sony PEG manual. Most of the applications for calendar, address lists, to-do, etc are like the Palm. I was basically familiarizing myself with the various buttons and menus which are different.

After making the afternoon visit to Lenore I came home and fixed an early dinner. I just wanted a salad and Bob wanted a salad and ham/cheese sandwich. We watched a Black Adder movie  Black Adder V Back and Forth that I bought him for Christmas last year but we had never taken the time to watch. 

We spent the remainder of the evening reading. Molly Murphy finally makes it America where she is detained on Ellis Island for several days before finally being freed to deliver the children to their father. 

 

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Friday, 13 September 2002

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I sat up last night and finished the Murphy's Law mystery by Rhys Bowen. Once Molly Murphy makes it to New York she has an uncanny way of turning up every time there is a dead body lying around. Molly meets a very young, handsome police captain who is investigating the murder of a man which occurred on Ellis Island the night Molly arrived. Unfortunately for Molly she becomes a prime suspect but eventually convinces the police captain she is innocent. As Molly desperately searches for clues to clear her name she visits some of the dangerous sections of New York. Homeless and penniless, Molly needs to find a place to stay and a job but instead continues to walk the streets of New York tracking down leads. The final outcome of Molly's detecting almost gets her killed.

Rhys brings the same sense of humor and innocence to her characters in this new series starring Molly Murphy as she does to her Evan Evan's series. I was not sure I was going to like it at first but very quickly changed my mind as I got into the book. The second book in this series, The Death of Riley, is due out in November. 

Looks like we have another tropical storm in the neighborhood, this one located in the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida coast. The projected path brings it directly over us so perhaps we will get a good drenching rain this weekend.

I am off this morning for my annual physical. This afternoon I will go out to SciWorks to see if we can wrap up this reorganization project so I can get back to working on the library project. 

Have a good weekend.

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Saturday, 14 September 2002

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Last night for dinner I fixed steak sandwiches and fries. Just as we sat down to eat Malcolm decided he did not like whatever it was in his stomach and barfed all over the floor. I quickly jumped up to get him outside and left him out there while I came back in to help Bob clean up the mess. By the time we got everything cleaned up and the dogs in and settled if course our dinner was cold. Aren't we glad they invented microwaves! 

My physical went fine yesterday. Doctor gave me a clean bill of health from his examination. Of course the lab work and other test results will not be back until next week.

I started a new mystery Jill Churchill's latest The House of Seven Mabels. This time Jane Jeffrey and her long time neighbor and partner in sleuthing Shelley get involved in the restoration of an old Victorian house. Bitsy Burnside contacts Jane and Shelley to help with the interior decorating. As will all of Churchill's books this mystery has a lot of humor, no violence, and eccentric characters. If you enjoy light reading in the mystery genre you will like her novels.   

The rain from tropical storm Hannah is supposed to reach us starting today. I have a to-do list of small jobs I want to get done today. I plan spend the entire day working on those.

Oh, I finished my covered bridge puzzle last night after dinner. I will leave it up for a few days and then take it down so I can work on Frances's wedding album. We finally got back the pictures from the wedding. I ordered mine loose so I could put them in an album along with the pictures we took for the rehearsal dinner and post wedding events back at her house.

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Sunday, 15 September 2002

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Rainy days. So far we have had an inch of rain from tropical storm Hannah with more on the way today. I had a very productive day getting all those little projects finished by mid-afternoon. Last night for dinner I fixed one of our favorite dinners Tom Syroid's special pasta dish with bacon and peas which he very kindly gave me his recipe for after I read about it on his page.

 After dinner we spent the evening reading and playing with the dogs. I finished up The House of Seven Mables and started another mystery by an author I have not read before, J.S. Borthwick. The Bridled Groom, set in Maine, finds English teacher Sarah Deane and her soon to be husband Dr. Alex Mckinzie trying to plan their wedding reception at her Aunt Juia's nearby horse farm. Borthwick presents an interesting cast of characters in Julia's hired hands and nearby neighbors. Aunt Julia, in her 70's, remains steadfast in keeping her farm from being sold out to a mining company trying to come in and buy all the surround farms. As tensions heat up over the mining dispute someone is trying to force Julia into selling her precious farm.

Borthwick gets a little bogged down in non-essential details at times but manages to keep the plot moving enough to keep me interested. One farm is owned by two wacky retired librarians. I have read a lot of books with librarian characters portrayed in a wide variety of stereotypical and not so stereotypical personalities. Borthwick has come up with two that  are rather different,  Tilly has gone a bit bonkers while Jane seems to be the level headed of the two. 

Today of course is house cleaning/laundry day. The Winston Cup race in Loudon, NH looks doubtful for today because rain. 

 

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