Bill and Cathy McArthur Spring/Summer/Fall 2009: 23

   Monday, October 12, Alex, Phil and family left around 10:00 AM. Bill worked on getting the downstairs bathroom ready to paint. He picked up some supplies at Ace Hardware. We worked at cleaning the house. Bill did the cutting in part of the bathroom painting with a brush after lunch. Bill made his quinoa, sweet onion, dates, and walnuts meal while Cathy cooked chicken. We caught up on some T.V. shows on DVR during and after dinner.

   Tuesday morning, Cathy went to the gym. Bill did a "medley" workout consisting of four 10Ks on the bike alternated with three 5Ks of running. He was pretty happy with his running times (8:45 min/mi, 8:44 min/mi, 8:46 min/mi):

There was a pesky NW wind blowing the whole time Bill was out, but the bike legs were decent (12.8 mph, 13.5 mph, 13.4 mph, 13.6 mph). The total miles of biking was 27.8 and total elapsed time for the workout was 4 hours. Cathy took a walk after getting back from the gym. Bill stretched and elevated his legs after his workout. After lunch, Bill used a roller to finish painting the downstairs bathroom. It looked good enough to leave it at one coat of paint. On the way out to dinner, we stopped at Wal-Mart to buy an outside fixture for our front steps. Then we drove to the Bonefish Grill in Northfield to meet with our friends Tom and Jean Reilly. It was Jean's birthday, so Tom treated the whole group to the meal. We enjoyed the food as usual. Bill tried a Shrimp Pad Thai special and liked it.

   Wednesday morning, Cathy went to the gym. Bill worked on some core strengthening exercises. Bill stripped the tape and plastic out of the downstairs bathroom and restored the room to usability. After lunch, Bill started with some spackling on the upstairs bathroom. Also, he installed the new porch light outside at the top of our steps. Cathy made pasta for dinner.

   Thursday, a nor'easter was due in the afternoon. In the morning, we had light rain and some NE wind to start with. Cathy went to the gym. Bill decided to try to squeeze in a workout before the worst weather came in. He went out for a 13.3 mile bike ride at 13.1 mph. It was chilly with a light rain during the bike ride. Bill wore a long sleeve shirt and gloves for the biking. Then, Bill put on a shell top, green fluorescent vest, and a hat and kept on the gloves for a 8 mile run:

He was happy enough with the 9:08 min/mi average pace in the increasingly harder and colder rain. It was windier, colder, and the rain was harder when Bill went out for his second bike leg. Bill cut the ride short at 9.6 miles at 12.5 mph because he was too cold to continue. He came into the house and took a very long, very hot shower. He stretched as he soaked in the warmth. After the shower, Bill made and drank a cappuccino. Cathy made a good fruit lunch for Bill and then went out with her friend Beth to the Blue Pig for lunch. Bill ate lunch and worked on crossword puzzles as he gathered strength. Then he worked on preparing the upstairs bathroom for painting. He taped and draped with plastic sheeting. Our neighbor Tom came over to report on the cruise that he and his wife had just completed. We went out to dinner at Panico's. Bill ate most of two rich desserts after his pasta meal as he continued to recover from the morning's activities. We watched two episodes of "House" that Bill had downloaded from iTunes. The NE wind howled as we went to bed.

   Friday was another rainy, windy day. Cathy went to the gym. Bill did a couple of crossword puzzles and then got to work on painting the upstairs bathroom by brush. We drove over to Joe and Maria Link's house at 1:00 PM for a pizza lunch and conversation. We talked during much of the afternoon and hoped to get together in Florida this winter. When we got home, Bill got to work on painting the upstairs bathroom with roller. Cathy went shopping. We had tortellini for dinner.

   Saturday, we were up early for a trip to Cathy's 50th high school reunion at Notre Dame de Namur Academy in Villanova. We were meeting friends Jack and Sue Beatty and Jim and Chris Devine, Cathy's classmates and spouses. The temperature was forecast to be in the upper 30s and low 40s on the Main Line for the weekend. The probability of precipitation was 100%. We left in the rain at a bit after 8:00 AM. In spite of the rain and wind, we made good time on our way to Wayne, PA. We drove by Cathy's childhood house on Donna Lane on our way to the Courtyard Hotel. We arrived at about the same time as the Beattys and Devines. We checked in to our suites and the women headed off to Notre Dame for a luncheon.The guys went to Starbucks for a light lunch. On their way back to the hotel, they stopped at a State Store for wine and a bar for beer to go. Jack's room had a flat screen TV, so we settled in there to watch college football games. The women called around 4:30 PM and the guys drove to Notre Dame to accompany them to a cocktail party at Winnie Bueno's house. Bill enjoyed seeing a lot of people that he had gone to parties, dances, and bars with 50 or so years ago. We left the party at about 7:00 PM and drove to the Paddock Bar/Restaurant near the hotel. The owners also own Carney's in Cape May. We had slow service, but good food. We got back to the hotel after 10:00 PM and everyone headed off to our rooms.

   Sunday, Bill got up around 6:00 AM and went to the lobby to buy a bottle of water and a newspaper. Back at the room, Bill put on a pot of coffee and we read the paper and watched the news until it was time to meet our friends for breakfast at 8:30 PM. We ate at a buffet in the lobby. It was similar to a high end free breakfast at a Hampton Inn, but this meal cost $10.99 per person. We enjoyed the food and conversation. Bill and Cathy wanted to get back to Cape May County for a free flu clinic, so they left at about 10:00 AM. It was another rainy ride. They stopped at a WaWa for a rest stop and some snacks and then drove to Shellbay Avenue to get in the the long line of cars leading to the flu clinic. After a half hour of so, the traffic started dispersing slowly as the clinic had run our of vaccine. We wasted over an hour. We drove to ACME for shopping and to check to see if they had flu shots. The ACME pharmacy was out of vaccine as well. We headed home, where Bill put the upstairs bathroom back in order after the painting. Later in the afternoon, Bill made a cappuccino and completed the Sunday Times puzzle as the wind and gloom continued outside. We had quiche for dinner. We watched Bill Maher's last show until February.

        Bill and Cathy