I tend to be pretty optimistic when i wake up each morning...and a little down when the day comes to an end and it hasn't lived up to its potential. I try to work on being grateful for the little things (and not so little, like being alive and employed and warm). So here's to another new day!

My new boss, Meredith, did not come in yesterday, and Kerri came in but left again, sick as well. I am quite worried that i will get it. I actually stayed out of Meredith's office, hoping to escape her nasty virus. Here's hoping that getting enough sleep and healthy eating will protect me. My parents are heading out of town Thursday. If I was going to get sick, I would rather they not get it, so maybe it could be after they leave... A toilet overflowed this weekend, so one of the first things I did was call a plumber. He came while I was out and worked for a while, but said he would be back later. Late in the day, I called to find out whether that meant later today or another day. He got caught up in some plumbing emergency somewhere else and will be back today I hope. That means she and her children have to go to the staff bathroom.

Meanwhile, I had forgotten that I agreed to speak to a UGA class about homelessness, one on housing policy. I got a little carried away, telling this room of 50 bored students how they should not buy the latest fads and that would solve the problem of poverty and homelessness. Nobody seemed moved. Then I went to lunch at the Georgia Center. The professor was buying. The menu said, "Ask about our sustainable entree." So I did. It was prime rib, which seemed an odd choice to be sustainable, but I ordered it. It was fine, with mashed potatoes and broccoli, not the best prime rib I ever ate, but good and relatively inexpensive (although I wasn't paying) at $8.95. The broccoli was so lightly cooked I couldn't eat it. sad. I had water to drink, no rolls and no dessert. yay me. I was talking later to my parents and trying to decide what was the best prime rib I ever ate. I came up with the Dog Team--sniff. I miss that restaurant. Maybe things just don't taste as good to me now as they did then.

I went back to the shelter and stayed until almost 5. One of our residents had a bad weekend, getting in an accident and totaling her car, getting a ticket and quitting one of her two jobs. It looks like the last reimbursement request I submitted last year for one of our grants was never processed. I am thinking maybe Alison was supposed to sign it and send it in and never did. So that's $3760 we lost...I emailed them about it, but think it is too late. And my locking file cabinet, where I keep personnel files, checks and even cash sometimes, has given up the ghost. It pretty much doesn't open and close any more. I sent Taylor to look for one at the Habitat store--I guess he didn't find one. I'll have to get it open at least long enough to move everything to a new one.

I picked Ray up and came home. He insisted on making supper. I was a little at a loss as to what to do with myself, but it was very nice and delicious. We finished our card game (started in the basement during the tornado) and I won--it was a very high scoring game, with everyone getting more than 200 points. We set up the card table in front of the wood stove and it is very pleasant. We were finished in time to watch our favorite show. It was a rerun but we laughed a lot. It was almost funnier the second time. I did not fall asleep until I went to bed, just after 10.