I woke up at 4 yesterday, jeez! I was trying to get everything done at work because I will be on vacation next week. I did payroll, even though it usually is done on Monday. I just realized this morning that we will get paid on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. I guess no one will complain about that! I called the woman at Lowe's, who agreed to donate some brackets and a pole for the curtains in room 2. But, I had to bring a letter that day. So I headed out there, got those things and a bunch of cleaning products (laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, etc.). Then I went to RiteAid to buy a box of size 4 diapers. And I went through Wendy's drive-through window.

At 1, we had a staff meeting to talk about our message and how we can best present it, looking at examples of awesome campaigns. I would have been ready to leave after that, except for the insurance war. We had gotten much cheaper (and better) insurance through the non-profit alliance, due to take effect that day. Our old agent had talked to Meredith and said she had a cheaper company that we should look at. She sent the quote that afternoon. Meredith was trying to leave town (as was I) and the situation had to be resolved. The new quote was even lower! I was trying to compare the coverages, but it was really difficult to tell if we were looking at the same thing. What was covered, what were the deductibles, etc. I called Tim (the "new" agent) and he had me send him the proposal. There were several things we were getting from his company that were not in the other quote (from the "old" agent). I also felt that she had years to come up with a cheaper alternative and it seemed very shady that it only happened the day we were set to go with a different company. So, Meredith and I decided to go with the new company, although it is never a good idea to make people mad that have money. I am afraid there will be consequences. Who knew insurance was so competitive? I guess it is a lot of commission money that she is losing.

That was very stressful and we had a lot to do, but I really felt like I needed a dip in the pool. At $4 a pop, a somewhat expensive choice, but one of the best investments I ever made! Meanwhile, I had heard from the people who are keeping Cameron for us (the ones we got him from) that they were going out between 5:30 and 6, so we needed to get there. And we needed to take the crate, which was pretty dirty. So, we rushed home, Ray washed the crate and drove Cameron to Bishop while I packed and dealt with democratic committee stuff, and cut up some cukes and tomatoes to take to Janna's. And had a mojito that my mother made. In our house, my mother is the bartender, and sometimes it is very nice to have. When Ray got back, we jumped in the car with veggies (plus a cantaloupe). We had a lovely dinner with Janna and Ron, Becky and Kent: pasta with veggies, our little salad, and blueberry pound cake that Becky made. Then we showed slides. I went first--I had picked the best ones from our trip and Janna seemed to really like the idea of a trip on the canal boat (if someone else did the driving). Then she showed her slides--on the TV! She had a cable from the camera. She had a lot of wonderful slides, but went through some of them really quickly because there were too many. The fjords! I started falling asleep before 9:30, and never got to see Becky's slides at all! I suspect Ron was too.

working, lunch with Becky, went to the Food Bank--they had car seats! (one per agency). rushed to meet with Jenny at the new Democratic HQ on Baxter Street. Ray met us there, as did Bert & Kay. It is in the same building with Elephant Trunk and will do very nicely. It's always interesting to try to picture what a space will be like with furniture. Rushed to meet the lady who owns the house on Amelia Island where we will be staying. She was painting a house in Normaltown that her daughter owns. She gave us the keys and directions. Very nice and interesting woman.

Cooked up some veggie remains, the two funny little eggplants that are the only ones we grew this year, some squash from the farmers market a couple weeks ago, and some tomatoes. We really need rain; almost everything in the garden is giving up.

Still hot yesterday. Still went to work, and then to the pool. Drove to Lowe's to buy some things. A volunteer came to repair the curtains in one of the rooms, but there weren't enough of the brackets to put the curtains up. I looked at them at Lowe's, but they were too expensive. They told me I could call and talk to someone about getting them donated, so I will do that tomorrow. Met with Kerri and Meredith.

Came home, and the chicken coop is about finished! I need to arrange for chickens. Ray cut up some of the melons from the garden, some peaches and kiwis, and we took that to potluck. There were about 8 of us. Then he and I went to trivia at Your Pie again. It was pretty fun and we did about as well as the last time.

It was 102 in Athens again yesterday, about 5 degrees hotter than the weather forecast had said. It's like it got in the habit of being hot and can't get out of it. Even the water in the pool was hot and I got out because I felt like my face was getting sunburned. The air conditioning runs all the time and can't quite get it down to 78 at supper time. Rain was forecast, but we didn't have any yesterday; maybe today. Even the tomatoes and cucumbers are not producing.

The Captain is making good progress on his chicken coop, putting the door on yesterday. I said, "lucky chickens" when I saw it. He is working on it in the garage, so at least he is not in the sun, but it is pretty warm in there. He comes in and drinks lots of fluids. Yesterday, he mixed up something called switchel that I never heard of: water with vinegar and sweetener--when you are sweating a lot and water doesn't quite quench your thirst. He says the women used to bring it to the farmers when they were haying in New England.

We had AC men in yesterday at the Shelter--the third time in a week. They are trying to adjust one of the units because it is dripping on the floor. They changed two of the filters for me, too. Also had to have the plumbers come unplug a toilet again. Worked a little more on my inquiry letter and wrote a lot of checks. Talked to M. about the board meeting the night before; they have come up with a plan; now for the follow through. We have a new family with three adorable small children.

Lunch with Janna, who is back from almost three weeks in the Netherlands and Scandinavia. She loved it and wants to live in Europe, except for her children and friends and life here.

Working on the volunteer roster for the Democratic HQ to open next week.

Made a lovely shrimp and pasta dinner from Rachel Ray very quickly, including fresh basil and cherry tomatoes from the garden.

Meredith emailed me yesterday morning. She wasn't coming in until afternoon, getting ready for a meeting. Did a lot of Monday morning stuff, but eventually worked on grant research and starting to write an inquiry letter. I was getting ready to head out when she arrived. We talked a bit before I headed out, feeling good about my work. Picked Ray up and we headed home to get my Mom. The Captain is almost done with the chicken coop. Now it's up to me to figure out what chickens to get. But not until we get back from the beach!

We dropped Ray off at the Red Cross to donate platelets and went to the mall--Macy's and Belk. Tried on lots of shoes and bought a bathing suit on sale. There were several that I liked better, but on sale they were 80 and 90 dollars. That's not going to happen! This one was 40. I feel like I should save it, but don't know for what.

Gerald called from New Mexico. He and Brooke were both talking and laughing about setting up the tent and cooking in White Sands the night before. Now they are in Flagstaff at a hostel, heading to the Grand Canyon today. They'll be here on August 8th and leave again on the 9th.

Got home about 6:30 and sprang into action. Had supper on the table by 7 and it was good. Something gave me diarrhea, though. I am afraid it might be the blueberry pie, because I don't think it was the fish or the rice.

I fell asleep about 8:30 on the couch, even dozing during Jeopardy. Maybe it was the glass of white wine. There was thunder and lightning off and on al night, but only a little rain this morning. It's not surprising to wake up at 3:30 if you fall asleep that early, but not a very good system.

Ray and I went to the Forum at the Fellowship yesterday. Rabbi Gerson was talking about the possibility of peace in the Middle East. It was very interesting. I have met the rabbi and heard him speak before. I would have said I respected him. But he definitely has blinders on regarding Israel. He said several times that the information he was presenting was factual, but he clearly has strong opinions on the issue (not surprisingly). He said any nation has the right to defend its borders...and that the Israeli government is willing to negotiate (and give up settlements), as soon as the other side stops attacking them and recognizes their right to exist. It was interesting and a little intense.

During the service, I sang Simple Gifts with four other women, one playing a guitar. I wanted to sing something familiar, so we wouldn't have to stress about it, or practice very much. The congregation applauded when we finished! I did not expect that. All I was going for was no obvious mistakes...

Thomas, our pianist, played for the last time during this service. He is moving to NY, where his partner will be going to graduate school. He is a great knitter as well as a wonderful musician, with a cute smile. He played, "think of me, think of me fondly, when you're far away," (or whatever that is) during the offertory and I got teary. I will miss him. I am sure a new one has been hired and maybe I will like him or her even better. I hope Thomas loves NY and is successful there.

After making salad nicoise for lunch (with a little help), I suddenly felt somewhat sick and went upstairs to lie down. Instead, I ended up working on lining up the volunteer schedule for the Democratic HQ, starting August 2. Quite a few people had expressed interest, but when they were all assigned to two-person two-hour shifts, there were a lot of blanks on my schedule. Hopefully, I will hear from more people this week.

Ray and I made couscous and took it to the Kenney Ridge potluck at Karen's house. She lives in the old farmhouse and it is so nice to see it fixed up and lived in. Her son-in-law is a contractor and lives next door in Molly and Gwenny's old house and he did a great job. It was pleasant to share food with some of our neighbors, although I would have hoped more would come. They didn't have enough for a quorum at the quarterly business meeting. Manita made a delicious blueberry dessert, but Ray said it wasn't as good as my mother's blueberry pie.

When we got home, we spent a little time making a list of things to take when we go to the beach. It was good to get a start on thinking about that.

We watched Calendar Girls with my Mom. It was very fun; more like a documentary, but really interesting and well done.

Well, how did that happen? I seem to be a delegate to the Democratic state convention in Athens in 3 weeks. Hmm. Ray volunteered to help with the caucus, where the good democrats of Athens gather to choose delegates. I went along for the ride and enjoyed chatting with Shelby and others. Came time for the actual event and they said, we don't have any women running. (the democrats require a gender-balanced group of delegates). Someone (Madelyn) pointed at me and I said, I'll do it. I quickly filled out a sheet of paper--and then I was told, "it costs $50." Well, too late now, it's for a good cause and it will be interesting, I hope. I wonder why none of the "old-timers" wanted to do it...Another woman also agreed and the election proceeded. I and two men (including David J.) are the delegates. The other woman and one more man are alternates.

After that, we went along to pilates, where we had a substitute teacher, who we have had before. She is quite good and we like her pretty well, but she is not Amanda! After that, home for lunch. Captain and Vanessa had been to the farmers' market, so we had fresh corn on the cob, tomatoes from the garden, bread from the farmers' market. Mmmm, yum. the taste of summer. Then, since it was way too hot out to do anything more constructive, we played cards. We also ran out to get some roofing material for the chicken coop from David S., our neighbor, and some watermelons from Karen F.

On Thursday I went to work as usual. One of the things I did was go to Target and buy diapers and wipes and laundry detergent. I went to see Robyn, my counselor, at 3. I felt pretty good after our session. She sometimes says supportive things and shares her opinion in a way that some counselors do not. When I said that other people don't think I should get upset about my father's driving, she said, "they don't? and if someone gets hurt, they're not going to say you should have done something?" She also has said more than once, "it's your house." (so I shouldn't feel bad about my "demands" for my parents). Ray took the bus and I picked him up and we went home and made an omelet with green beans from the freezer. Then we went to the Democratic Committee meeting where they talked about many things, including the democratic headquarters, which I said I would coordinate. It was good to be part of something; I like having a place to go and not just watching TV and falling asleep.

Yesterday morning, I had gotten permission to go in a little later so I could do some work in the yard. As it turned out, I spent a lot of time trying to get the knot out of the piece of string keeping the fence closed, so I didn't spend too much time weeding the strawberries, but I made a start on it. When I got to work before 9, it turned out both Shawn and McKenzy had emailed Meredith to say they weren't going to be in at 8. So she had to rush in. I apologized. What bad luck! I have been there at 8 every morning for a long time. I spent some time researching grants and I went to Normal Hardware and bought air conditioning filters and several other items that we needed. A plumber came to unplug the sink and put a vacuum breaker on the mop sink.

After work, we went for a swim, came home and made grilled chicken, and then went to the Fellowship for a movie about low-wage workers at the university. Ray had been asked to do the sound. There were about 10 people there, half of whom were connect to the film.

Zoe (the old dog) seemed unwell last night when I took her out. So when the dogs were whining and yipping at 4 this morning, I went down to let her out. She was not the one making the noise. It was Cameron. I put him on the leash and we went out, but he didn't even go off the porch. There was a smell that might have been a wild animal. Zoe went to investigate and I called her back--she apparently didn't encounter anything. I put Cameron back in the crate, but he did not want to go and started whining again. Sigh. No more sleep for me after that. I read in Molli's room until it started to get light.

They finished the floors yesterday morning and they were dry by noon. It looks great and he charged less than I thought, so that's really good. Meredith and Jaron helped me move the furniture out before 9. Then she went to work at home. I finished converting the QuickBooks file. Clay went to the Food Bank with me.

Ray and I swam for a little until thunder got us out of the pool.

The Captain is working on a small chicken coop.

Ray and I went to potluck--there were only 6 of us; he was the only male.Five of us rehearsed "Simple Gifts" to sing on Sunday, with Deb H. on the guitar.

Stayed up late watching TV. Still hot and humid.

busy day at work yesterday, but somehow good. Moved food and dishes out of the kitchen before the cleaning crew arrived at 9. The consultant converting our QuickBooks data to GiftWorks apparently knows nothing about QuickBooks and actually needed an excel file exported from QB. then she said could I change the format? Well of course there is only one way to export the data from QB, but then I can manually delete and change info in Excel. Got through the M's yesterday.

Sigh. He's gone. Back to the routine. At work, other people were having a bad day and it spilled over onto me. A new family moved in to replace one who moved into her own place. Another one is moving out this week. They didn't get the floors finished Friday and will have to come back Wednesday. Hopefully, we can keep from walking on them this time.

Ray and I went to the pool. I got there earlier than he did. We talked to some people we knew. I got out and read. He played with Lily.

Gerald was here in the morning and they left about noon. I called him, but the battery was almost dead and he said he would call me later. They had reservations in a hostel in New Orleans last night.

My Mom bought some fish and cooked it for supper--it was tasty.

The chickens were in the garden all day and we tried to shoo them into the tractor before dark. It was not easy. Ray came and helped us and seems to have the touch. My Dad plans to get them in the crate this morning and take them back to their owner. It's too stressful to have to chase them and they have done a lot of work in the garden.

Saturday, Ray slept late. Gerald and I worked on his itinerary some. He and his girlfriend Brooke are taking a road trip, ending up in California and coming back here in mid-August. He has a lot of ideas about places to stop, but not any actual reservations or schedule yet. He didn't even really know how long it would take to drive from here to New Orleans, where they plan to stay tonight. Rand McNally has a good website for planning a trip, so I had fun with that.

After Ray got up and had breakfast, the three of us went to the farmers' market. It was late and there was no corn. We bought bread, but nothing else. Gerald bought flowers and we drove to Oconee Hills Cemetary to see Eve's grave. Then we walked around downtown a little. Fortunately, it was not quite as hot as it has been, although very humid. We came home and had lunch and Gerald took a nap.

Brooke came to get him and take him to dinner at her house, with her mother and grandmother and a couple good friends, Caitlin B. and Mallory. Then she took him downtown where he spent time with some of the people he had been close to in high school: Maggie and Rob, others from Grease, Anthony, ending up at Katie O's house to sleep. He only slept a couple hours and called here at 7. Ray went to pick him up. Then he want back to bed for a while.

Sunday

Ray and I picked blueberries at Sky and Basil's. They were very generous. Miles and Paul were there, too, and baby Maya. Sky held the baby while Paul picked.

I made pancakes. Ray zipped off to the Fellowship; he was a greeter. I helped the Captain move the chickens. This is not as easy as it sounds. We have three chickens that we are borrowing from Nancy H. They live in a wire run called a chicken tractor. Their crate is inside the run. I got inside the tractor to try to get them into the crate. One got out as I was getting in. Captain and Vanessa were chasing it, trying to keep it from flying into the woods. It took me longer than you would think to get the other two into the crate and shut the door. Then I got out of the tractor and helped with the third one. Eventually, we herded it into the garden and shut the gates. Then we moved the crate with the two chickens and the tractor into the garden. We left the door to the tractor open and retired to the porch. The white hen seemed perfectly happy in the garden, catching bugs and staying away from the tractor for about an hour. I was in my dirty jeans, which were now very dirty and didn't want to take my shower until she was safely in the tractor. After a long time, the white hen ventured cautiously into the tractor. I threw a handful of feed on the ground in the tractor. She went further in and I shut the door. Of course, I had to open it again to reach in and open the door to the crate and let the other two out, to roam around in the tractor with their friend. All's well that ends well.

Then I showered and we had lunch. Gerald was studying his guidebooks. It amuses me that he has books in French about Louisiana and the West, but why not? We have books in English about France. He took another nap and we all rested some. I vacuumed. Captain and Vanessa took the recyclables. When Gerald got up, he started packing his things. About 7, Brooke came over and they started talking about the trip. They made a reservation for a hostel in New Orleans for tonight. Ray brought our tent in and they helped him set it up, so they will have it if they need it. There was a lot more I wanted to give them and show them, but they had a party to go to. They will be back today to get more stuff, but I will be at work. He also has my parents' cell phone (which they rarely use). Hopefully, we will hear about their adventures.

We ate supper very late and went to bed.

Yesterday Gerald got up about 7, in time to have breakfast with us before we headed off to work. He is excited about his trip out West and studying guidebooks...I taught him everything he knows! (not really, just kidding)

At work, we moved all the furniture out of the living areas and halls so we were ready when the man came to strip and wax the floors. It was kind of a trip not being able to go out of my office. About 11:15, I left to take lunch from Five Star Day to Nuci's Space. I had lots of good-smelling food in the car for a few minutes, but didn't actually taste it! Chrismon, a friend of Sushanth's from a few years ago, helped me carry it in. Then I went on to Walmart to pick up some clothes for one of our residents who is starting a job this week--yahoo! While I was there, I got some other things for the Shelter. It is a huge place and I got a little overwhelmed after a while. Lots of people there. When I got back, I had to go in the back door and walk in a certain spot to get to my office. When I left, it was not dry yet. I felt sorry for the staff who would have to move everything back--the families would start arriving about 4 and I don't know if they would be able to get to their rooms. As well as the dinner volunteers needing to get in the kitchen.

I went home and got Gerald and my Dad and met Ray at the swimming pool. My Mom decided not to come, because the chlorine makes her cough. The first jump in the pool is always wonderful. Ray was playing with Lily and her friends--their Moms love him. We didn't stay long because people were coming to the house. Teresa Carson came early so she could visit with Gerald but not have to talk to a lot of people. Her daughter, Eve, went to the prom with Gerald. It was nice to see her. It just breaks my heart over and over to think of Eve's death. It would be so hard to care about anything and keep living. Her son is heading off to China. He graduated from Davidson and is going to teach in China. Be safe, Andrew.

OC and Manita came with Sally Lunn (bread) and blueberry dessert. Gloria and Kasey came with salad and danish and Gerald was happy to see them. They will be around tomorrow too. Liz and Mike Conroy and Laura came by. We haven't seen them much. Mike was the last one to leave. Ray was showing him the Vicar of Dibley. Becky and Kent and Deb and John came too. There was plenty of food and we had fun. My Dad was tired and went in the other room a little after people started arriving.

We have borrowed 3 chickens and they are doing a good job on the grasshoppers.

Our French exchange student, Gerald, is here for a few days. He is so upbeat and fun to have around, we are really enjoying having him, even though we drove to Atlanta to pick him up last night. He talked all the way home.

We also voted yesterday in the primary election and I am recruiting volunteers to staff a HQ for the democrats.

My parents put in their application for Lanier Gardens and were told the wait would be about 2 years.

We are having the floors stripped and waxed at the Shelter, so spent some of yesterday moving books out of the way. This morning we'll be moving furniture.

I have been talking to some people about changing our property and liability insurances and it looks like we will save a few thousand dollars by going with a non-profit insurance company that I found through the Alliance of Non-Profits. That makes me happy.

Last night at 7, we met Deb and John at Your Pie to eat some good pizza and play trivia. The restaurant is in a strip mall and the front is all glass. At that time of day, the sun was streaming in and it was pretty hot. I am sure the air conditioning was running full blast, but so was the wood fire to cook the pizzas. They are ten inches, white or whole wheat, and you choose what you want, like you would with a sub sandwich or some Mexican burrito places. So that was pretty fun and tasty. They put your pizza in the oven and call you when it's ready. I even got a Coke to go with, although John & Deb were having beer.

Apparently the trivia is usually out on the porch in back, but we decided it was too hot--as well as three or four other teams, one with seven people. At first, it was hard to hear the questions over the announcement system, but people quieted down and we got used to it. There are four questions in each round. They told us the four categories up front. We had to assign point values to each question when we answered it: 3, 6, 9 or 12--you can only use each amount one time. Then there was a bonus question for each round. I think there were three rounds. We didn't leave until almost 10. We ended up about 9 points behind the team of 7, who seemed quite familiar with the game and the restaurant. The thing we didn't know until the end is we were also competing against teams at the downtown location--who won first, second and third places. The big team at our location came in fourth and got some amount of gift certificates. We were 6th or more. We did well on some questions (they didn't know who wrote the James Bond books--a young team), but not on others. And we didn't at first understand the point system very well. For the last bonus question, you got five points each for knowing who performed the original version of four songs made famous by a different band. We only got one of those. The very first question: in Monopoly, what is the third property in the group with Pennsylvania and North Carolina?

This is my father and me moving the chickens. It was pretty funny to watch the two of us trying to round up three chickens, put them in the crate, move the chicken tractor, and let them out again. When it was done, I realized I had been crawling on my hands and knees--in chicken shit! (They are actually posted in reverse order, so you should look at them from bottom to top.)

Worked on financial records from 2009, to get ready for the audit. Had someone come to look at the kitchen and give an estimate for professional cleaning. The floors will be stripped and waxed Friday. Another person gave us an estimate for replacing our security system. All necessary things, but we are spending a lot of money without taking much in.

I enjoyed meeting Becky for lunch. Ray and I went swimming. I was still not very into cooking, so Ray cooked spaghetti and heated up some leftover jarred sauce. I cut up some cucumbers and cherry tomatoes and poured dressing on. We also ate a little melon from the garden, which was good, and interesting--it looked like a cantaloupe on the outside, with an orange center and lots of edible green around it.

And I made blackberry upside down cake, which was awesome. I haven't been doing much baking because of the heat, but there was a great thunderstorm about dinner time that lowered the temperature for a bit, so I decided to use the oven.

It was quite rainy all day yesterday, thundering and pouring at times, just incredibly humid at others. Not good for swimming at the pool for sure.

Ray caught the bus and I was at work early. I had a lovely lunch at a new restaurant with Julie M., who is the director of Community Connection. She asked me questions and listened to me and I had a great time. I told her that I enjoy starting up new organizations more than maintaining them and she said she did too. They "incubate" several young and small non-profits and she asked if I might be willing to be a mentor for one of them. I said probably, let me know more.

Meredith had a phone conversation with a consultant from GiftWorks, a programmer who is going to convert our data. She put her on speaker phone and I sat in. Unfortunately, they don't convert QuickBooks files. They have to be exported into Excel, which is not really a problem, but I can convert the donations or the donor information, but so far I have not been able to find a file that has the donations and the donors' first and last names in two separate fields. Today I will ask a couple people to see if I can find a way to do that.

I couldn't seem to get interested in cooking, maybe because there is nothing from the garden that "needs" to be eaten right now. So we went out to dinner. We had pizza and salads and sangria. One of the things we were celebrating was my Dad's good health. He went to the doctor (partly at my request) for a checkup and they said he was amazingly healthy. He hasn't even had indigestion in several weeks.

We found Ratatouille just starting on TV and enjoyed watching it, until I fell asleep about 9.

The dogs (I think Cameron) have been whining for almost an hour. I went down and let them out a while ago. I think he just wants to play. I shut him in his crate, because he has been finding things to chew on when he is not.

Captain watered the garden, so I couldn't do any weeding there.

Went to the service at UUFA and sang along with Herb & Myrna. Not many people are coming this summer, lots of lay-led services. The new minister starts in August.

Played cards all afternoon. Too hot to go outside.

It was predicted to rain yesterday, but it didn't. It was a little cooler, only in the low 90s. I pulled a few weeds in the morning, before heading to pilates, which was great. Then the farmers' market, which is always fun, but expensive. A few things at Kroger (the grocery store) and home for lunch. Fresh corn on the cob. We did a taste test. We bought four ears at the farmers' market--wormy organic small ears for 50 cents each. We bought four ears at Kroger, only 25 cents each--big and full and yellow. We cooked them all and the farmers' market ears were much tastier. Mom and I didn't even finish our Kroger ears. They tasted like cardboard or nothing. If we hadn't had the others, they might have been edible. Of course, another time, the ones at Kroger could be fresher, but I am going to buy more next week at the Farmers' Market.

Vacuumed the house.

Had an early supper and went to the movies with Becky and Kent at Beechwood. We were there about 15 minutes early and they were late. I bought the tickets. "Four for Toy Story" I said. "Seven fifteen?" "Yes" "Four adults?" "What age is the senior discount?" I asked. "Fifty-five" he said. "Cool." I said. "Four seniors." Well that was exciting. Full price for a 3-D movies was $12. It saved us $2.50 each. We enjoyed it. And yes, I cried when his Mom looked around the room.

Afterwards, we wanted to get ice cream. No more TCBY, no more Baskin-Robbins. We drove downtown to Yoguri, where I have been a couple times. It was good, but expensive. Hopefully, it was better for me. So it was almost 11 when we went to bed.

Hot, but weather due to change today: rain and we need it.

Went to a meeting yesterday morning and hobnobbed with our State Representative, Keith Heard. Went to the grocery store to stock up for the Shelter. Had another vendor come and look at the gross floors to give us an estimate for cleaning and waxing. Followed up on a request from our insurance agent for more paperwork for dental.

Went to the pool. It felt good when I jumped in, but got less comfortable after a while. The Captain and Vanessa went to a bridge party, so Ray and I had dinner alone. We talked some about our goals and plans for the future--and then watched TV. Maybe when he retires, in about 10 years, we will try to sell this house and move around some, getting rid of all our stuff and renting a place here and there, visiting family, working in the parks...what do you think?

Cameron (the dog) is still lame. He is fine for about 5 minutes, then starts limping. He doesn't seem to be in pain; my father can't find any sign of injury, he doesn't flinch when you handle his foot or leg. It's like he suddenly remembers he's supposed to walk on three legs...and then he will suddenly forget again. I expect if we take him to the vet, they will want to x-ray it and I will be reluctant to spend money on a dog's mysterious injury.

Got to work before 8, I like it when it's quiet and I'm the only one there. Went to the post office and the bank. We got a $1000 donation! from someone whose child was a friend of our daughter in preschool. I had a really nice, albeit expensive, lunch with Becky. Left about 3, met Ray at the pool. It was 102 here. Even in the pool, people were wearing hats, and it was less crowded than usual. I found my hat, which I had left there. Interesting story. I went to look in the lost and found, but it was locked. I asked one of the lifeguards and she came and unlocked it for me. I was looking around; told her I left my hat. She said there are some over there. I said no, mine was a blue straw hat. Oh, she said, I think that one is in our office." I would not normally have asked her, if I didn't find it in there and so I wouldn't have known, if the room hadn't been locked. I don't know if they were afraid it would get taken or damaged in the lost and found--or if they wanted to keep it for themselves! But I was glad to have it back.

At home, I spent about an hour putting travel information in folders. I decided that "later", when I am going to do everything, has arrived, and it's time I buckled down, rather than just telling myself I am too busy.

I didn't have to do any cooking; my parents had made gazpacho and we still had leftovers. Falling asleep by 9, but still woke up about 4...

Wednesday

Went to Food Bank, need to go to grocery store too. Went swimming; very hot here. Back to weather too humid to open windows. Fell asleep early last night, but woke up at 2 and read again. Trying to figure out how to make my blog work again.

Tuesday

Payroll, staff meeting, several hours with Maureen, on the phone to QuickBooks support. End result: we both understand the issues. Now I have to create about 50 new accounts and re-assign the expenses from 2009 and 2010.

Went to counseling; I usually feel this way: nothing much to say and what's the point...Came home and made supper. My Mom was at the doctor; they gave her prednisone and antibiotics; she has been having some shortness of breath.

I fell asleep watching TV about 9:30; haven't done that in a while. Then I woke up before 2; eventually got up and read an entire book before morning (in Molli's room).

Monday

A day off in summer and it's pretty pleasant here. i had to put on my bathrobe and slippers because I was cold.

It was very pleasant yesterday morning and I wanted to work outside, but after pancakes, we had to go to the Fellowship because we said we would help with the children. Amelia came too. Fortunately or unfortunately, there were no children. 0. We enjoyed the service and then went to Janna's, where we got some food she had in her fridge that she didn't want to leave while she was going away. Then to EarthFare for a few last-minute groceries. Most of the rest of the day was cooking and preparing food, which we had a ton of. Amelia made humus, guacamole, and pasta salad. I had the quiches I made Saturday morning and the blackberry mousse. Vaanessa made peach crisp while we were at church. Deb and John brought a big casserole of chicken and rice and some beer. Gloria brought fruit salad (with cool whip dip), key lime pie (from the grocery store), chex mix, and margaritas (for herself and her children). Becky brought blueberry pound cake, lots of corn, and drinks. When everyone had left, we still had a ton of food. Oh, we grilled burgers and hot dogs and Amelia grilled portobella mushrooms and some other veggies. Somebody brought a green bean dish too. It was all delicious. Kevin and his friend Adam (who was very pleasant and polite) went off in the woods, playing frisbee golf. Becky and Kent and Deb and John went to watch fireworks, but since we saw good ones the night before at the ball game, we didn't go. We did some cleaning up, watched some fireworks on TV, and went to bed.

Sunday

Still having trouble with my blog. Maybe there is a maximum number of posts and I have reached it?

I have to say I am pretty happy this morning. Amelia is here, which is certainly a factor, although she is not very happy. She is working on a film, that she thought she would be finished with by now, and needs to be in NY working on it instead of here. She is doing some work via cell phone and computer.
They will start shooting July 11 and everything, needless to say, has to be ready by then. It is not paying her very much, but she doesn't have any other work yet.

We were expecting her before 4 and she kept us updated during the day. They didn't leave as early as they wanted from Myrtle Beach (10:15) and the traffic slowed them down a lot. Gloria had to be at work in Gwinnett County by 4:30 (they got there at 5), so they went directly there.
I made quiches early in the morning while it was still cool enough to have the windows open. Cameron's limp was worse, so I called Dr. Cown, who was wonderful, asking lots of questions. He said don't let him exercise it too much, don't give him any pain relievers, and call if it gets worse. He things it might be the knee or hip, maybe a pulled ligament...I picked a few berries, can't wait to get out there again this morning. My Mom and I went to the farmers' market, which is always fun, and I picked up a few things at Kroger, too. Thinking about what to serve today. Becky & Kent and Deb & John are coming, along with Kevin and Gloria. Amelia wants corn on the cob, so we need to get some after church.



After lunch, Ray and my mom picked some more blackberries and I made a lovely blackberry mousse that we haven't eaten yet. I can't serve it tonight, because there are only 8 of them, so maybe we'll have it at lunch. The Captain and I talked about building a chicken coop for about 4 hens. He peeled some tomatoes (we have a ton of them) and I started making salsa.

Amelia got there about 6; we changed our clothes and drove to Gwinnett to watch a baseball game. Maybe not my favorite thing in the world, but the weather was perfect and it was followed by some really good fireworks. We ate hot dogs and Coke and fries and ice cream.

We came home about midnight and opened all the windows. It was so cool and pleasant, I didn't even want to sleep. At 5:30, I woke up and pulled the quilt over me. Then at 7:15, the sun shone blindingly in and woke me again. I want the cool weather to last forever. It makes me smile and breathe.

Saturday

The temperature was actually bearable yesterday. i wouldn't say it was nice or pleasant, because it was humid, but it would have been okay for outside work. I picked a few berries in the evening.

I had lunch with Janna and Becky after opening a savings account for the Shelter at a new bank. We are funny. We talk about our children and our health and our trips and our parents--like stereotypical old ladies.

In the morning, a man named Tim came from Atlanta to talk to me about our insurance. He may be able to save us money and pointed out a couple kinds of coverage that we don't have, like sexual misconduct.

Sad thing, Maureen had left a voice mail for me on Thursday that I never got, waiting for her until after 3, while she was waiting for me to call her. It never occurred to me that I had missed her call; it rarely happens that no one is answering the phone, but all three of us were fighting with the broken dresser and no one else was in the building.

One of our residents, who has been here over a year, finally got a job. She was very excited and stopped at an apartment complex near the job on her way home, promising them she would move in September 1.

The Captain and I talked some more about getting guinea hens or chickens; the grasshoppers have destroyed a lot of things in the garden and we think they would be the solution. You have to raise guinea hens from babies, but they appear to be the best at eating bugs. I think we will start with a few chickens and maybe add some guinea hens. First to build a coop.
I was really enjoying my book and not feeling tired, but I turned out my light after 12 like a good girl. I still had trouble sleeping and woke up several times. It's ironic, when it is a little cooler out, the air conditioning doesn't run and it feels hot and stuffy. But if it's humid, we don't usually open the windows.

Having trouble getting the website to let me post. I ended up posting a blank entry and now I'm editing it.

Yesterday and the day before a little cooler (high 90 yesterday), but very overcast and humid.

Working on the bookkeeping and other ordinary things. One of the dressers in one of the family rooms is broken, so we (Jaron and Clay) carried it over to Habitat to be repaired. Meredith wanted to know why we didn't just get a new one. And we had to dump out all the things that were in it...so the resident may be upset, although she was upset about the broken dresser too. Meredith said we should have waited until she could take her things out herself. Sigh.

Ray and I went to the pool and swam and now my shoulders are a little sore. The Captain and Vanessa cooked up some tomatoes and made blackberry jelly. The berries are about to peter out, but the tomatoes are coming in abundantly. The squash and cucumbers are over and no beans at the moment. Lots of good herbs.