Movie Night with Glenda at Chestnut Square, Bastrop, TX

Wednesday, January 6, the low was 40 degrees. It is overcast so the high only gets to 52 today. After breakfast I walk, stretch, and do my strength routine. I get on-line for email and researched neuromas on the Net. My toe is killing me and it's a lot like a neuroma I used to have on the other foot. Nothing I saw on the Web gave me any encouragement about it going away any time soon. hen we pack up three loads of laundry just in case the pipes freeze and the RV Park loses water during The Big Freeze the next few days.

We have lunch at Gracie's. Both of us enjoy the meatloaf special. The best part was the small sample of Spice Cake that comes with it for dessert. It reminded me of my Mom's--a blast from the past! We tried to ride through Chestnut Square movie complex to see what the run time is for Avatar and The Blind Side but there are no total length of times posted outside. It was a bad idea all the way around as they have the main drag dug up for some kind of pipe they are putting underground. So we had to detour around on the side streets which are very narrow in Bastrop. I felt bad for those people living along there.

On the way home we get a paper. Back at the ranch, as we say in Texas, we get the two-way radios out to fill up the fresh water tank (well, 2/3 full anyway plus 2 minutes after medium yellow light came on.) We're as ready as we can be for The Big Freeze. I call Glenda and we agree the front is not supposed to get here until the wee hours of the morning so we're all on for the movie tonight in Bastrop.

Bob and I read the paper and work the puzzles. I finished reading Sugar Cookie Murder. It has 50 recipes that I read through. I have to remember to tell our friend Blair about this author, Joanne Fluke, who rights about an amateur sleuth who lives in Lake Eden, Minnesota! The stories are fluff but Blair would like the descriptions of the town, the Minnesotans and the Up North food! Anyway I found a Christmas Date Cake recipe in there. I have leftover dates from Holly's cookie bake. So tomorrow I may try to bake it in the propane oven thus helping to keep the RV warm. As Glenda's friend would say "I can kill two stones!" Oops, I need baking soda and don't have any. So I called Glenda. She has two pounds. I never knew it came in that large of a size. She says she'll bring me 2 teaspoons to the movie. How nice of her to share.

Bob and I have Cajun Chili and Chicken Broccoli Soup respectively. I washed up the dishes since we'll be on water rationing until Saturday. It is not supposed to get above freezing for 40 hours! It has not been this cold here since 1996. Bob says it's because our furnace is not working. We'll see how The Titanic holds up.

We have an email from our RVing friends Tom and Nan-Marie who we met in Bluffton, IA, this summer. They will be in Kerrville, TX, from Feb. 10th through the 14th. I sure hope we can get together while they are here. It's 6:14 p.m. and 52 degrees with 82% humidity. We leave at 6:30 for Chestnut Square, Bastrop's entertainment complex on Hwy 95. Bob bought his ticket for the Avatar showing at 7:00 ($6.00 with the Senior Discount!) We watched bowling (they have 16 lanes here) for ten minutes. There is 'all you care to bowl Mon. thru Thurs. from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. for $7.00!) Bob goes into his theater.

I hit the restroom and then walk down to check out The 13th Strike Sports Bar & Grill. Lots of pool tables and big screen TVs; not much atmosphere. I wait for Glenda while watching the bowlers. A young kid around 19 shoots a 200 game. He gives the older lady watching next to me a long-stemmed rose from a pile of them he has on his table. Nothing for me and no eye contact. Hmmm.

Glenda arrives at 7:15 to report she was stuck behind a wreck on 95. She didn't have her address book in her purse for some reason and my cell number is not in her phone. But she made it in plenty of time. We both get the Senior Discount for The Blind Side at 7:30. We have a quick tour of the complex. Glenda says she has bowled and played black-light miniature golf here with her teacher friends.

There are only four people besides us in our theater. Bob says later there are 25 or so in his. Glenda fills me in on the 20/20 special she saw on the real family that this movie is based on. Sandra Bullock is outstanding as the mother. Tim McGraw turns in a surprisingly good performance as well. Glenda and I both enjoy the movie. We're out by 9:20. Bob is in the lobby and has only been out of his movie for 5 minutes-good timing. Avatar was visually stunning but had a thin plot according to him.

We walk to Glenda's car. She finds my 2 tsps. of baking soda in a little Tupperware container in the bottom of her purse. She thought it fell out on the floor. It was sure nice of her to remember it so I can bake tomorrow and help keep the RV warm.

Bob and I get home by 10:00. Bob gets the water turned off outside and the hoses drained. He also wraps up the stand-pipe with foam. I forgot he was going to do that and I was just putting my shoes back on to go out and see what happened to him when he came in. It is still 45 degrees right now. We get in bed and read until we pass out.