Work went pretty well yesterday, but I was definitely ready to leave by 3, even though I had lunch with Ray. It was almost cool and I wanted to be home; I have so much to do. Payroll yesterday and some other bookkeeping and routine work. Met with Meredith and talked some. Played two games of racquetball and won one--and swam for about 15 minutes. I felt really strong. Went by Mary's Tack and Feed to get the other kind of chicken feed, for growth, not laying. The chickens were fine; we let them into the tractor while I added some of the new food. After a while, they seemed ready to go back into the coop, huddling in the middle together instead of eating grasshoppers. Fed the dogs, too, and made dinner for us. Watched TV and read too late. Slept badly.

Chickens in the coop

What a busy weekend! Yesterday morning, I spent about an hour pulling weeds from the what used to be the garden. It was still hot and sweaty work, but better--in the 70s. We went to the service at UUFA. Later in the afternoon, we drove to Thomas Orchards for peaches and then to Washington, GA, to buy chickens! It's about an hour each way. They are three-month-old Blue Orpingtons. It was interesting meeting the woman who raises them, originally from Rhode Island. The other thing she does is rent space to RV's. It's hard to imagine why anyone would pay to park their RV in her yard in Washington, but there were two when we were there. It's not particularly scenic there, although it is rural, but there is water and electricity at every parking place. Go figure. She and a helper/relative? herded the chickens into their enclosure, by tapping two sticks together behind them, and shooing them toward it. That way she could catch them, from behind with two hands. They are bigger than I expected and prettier. We had borrowed a cage from Nancy H. and driven the truck. Then we put a piece of plastic over the cage, so there wouldn't be too much wind. They huddled together in one corner and I could check on them from my seat, if I unbuckled my seat belt and knelt on it. Ray talked about how they are dinosaurs.

When we got home, there wasn't much time. We put them in the coop and they seemed fine. I had put in food and water before we left. We had to change and head out to a dinner invitation; we were about 15 minutes late. Ray's friend John and his wife Barbara invited us to dinner with two visiting Turkish scientists and the daughter of one, Akanai. It was quite fun, but we were kind of tired and might have rather stayed home with the chickens!

Philosophical observation: the more fun you have on the weekend, the less you want to go to work Monday morning: we got to bed too late.

I didn't go to bed until midnight and now I am really sore--legs, neck, back, hips...but I woke up smiling.

Yesterday we went to the farmers' market--not much to get, but some pork chops, a sweet potato, and bread from Luna. Then we went to Democratic HQ and got some work done. Then we went to Kroger and bought a couple things. Then we went home. After a couple hours, Ray went and cut up a big tree that had fallen down--he had been there last year and there was still some left. I joined  him and helped wrestle the logs to the truck. Then home for the second shower of the day and we managed to watch most of Phenomenon, a movie with John Travolta we hadn't seen before.

We were a little late to Groovy Nights, a benefit for Project Safe. I was supposed to be trying on outfits, doing my hair and makeup. Most things I couldn't get into and I wanted to be comfortable for dancing, so I just went in my jeans and a t-shirt, but I found the white lipstick to wear. There were many interesting outfits, including a lot of storm troopers and other characters from Star Wars. Janna and Ron and John O. were there with us. Janna was especially critiquing the clothes and music, because some were from the 60s or even the 80s, instead of the 70s. And, of course, we didn't really dress like that. There was a girl in roller skates (50s?) and short shorts with a sequined halter top. She won the costume competition. We danced to Abba and other music, but there was no Elton John, no Moody Blues, no Rolling Stones, no Led Zeppelin...Great silent auction items, but the restaurant meals went for a lot. Somehow, we ended up with a package including 6 ballroom dance lessons. Interesting. I'm looking forward to it.

I emailed the QuickBooks file to the auditor yesterday morning, with a couple spreadsheets as well, and copied Maureen. She responded Hurray Patty. Now the fun begins. First is waiting to hear back when Pat will be able to start working on it. I worked on a spreadsheet to show Meredith how much we get from each grant for each activity and in the process had to call to check on something that didn't match up. Ray and I went to lunch downtown. I worked on a workers' compensation report that I have to send in within a week or two. And I left at 3, went by the bank, and headed to Ramsey.

Ray was already jogging, and I spent 13 minutes on the stationary bicycle. At four, we played racquetball for the first time in a while. I won. Of course, I had not just run 3 miles. Ray couldn't move very fast. Then we swam a little to cool off.

On our way home, we went to Mary's Tack and Feed, where we bought a feeder, a waterer, and some feed for our future chickens, which are close to becoming a reality. We made dinner and started watching a movie, but had to go to bed before it was over.

The Captain and Vanessa left early yesterday for a week in Florida with my 92-year-old aunt. (they called last night from Ocala; all is good). At lunchtime, I met the shrimp man's son to pick up fresh shrimp they trucked from North Carolina. I drove home and bagged it and froze it. I ate my lunch by myself, with the dogs.

At work, Kerri is sick. Some of the children are sick, too. School has started again and it's not unusual to have something going around. So far, so good for me. New intern Greg answered the phone and helped out some. Bookkeeping for me.

Picked Ray up at 4:45 and took him to Democratic HQ. They put a password on the internet access because Republicans in New Hampshire or somewhere hacked into some Democratic HQ. Now the volunteers can't use the computer that belongs to the Committee (and Ray uses in his work as Treasurer). It may be too old to handle an encrypted password. Also, someone stole the HQ sign.

We ate some delicious curry from next door. Had to wait 15 or 20 minutes and it cost about $10. But it was good. After the meeting, we went home and ate some omelet and watched a little TV.

Worked on the books. Got lunch at Wendy's and ate at Democratic HQ. Picked Ray up at 3:30. Went home. Ray sliced peaches and mixed them with yogurt and blueberries for potluck. Went to UUFA to meet with the Olan Mills consultant about doing a new directory, with Chip. We're kind of excited. It will be good. Started falling asleep in choir. Went to bed and to sleep as soon as we got home.

Some mornings yesterday is very clear in my memory; other times it seems far removed. Today is the latter. Yesterday was Tuesday; we made the bus and I got my mother to yoga on time and arrived at the Shelter only a minute or so after 8. I was taking a break from bookkeeping and working on other things, like merging records in the mailing list program, Gift Works. But then Maureen called and wanted some more things done ASAP, so I put everything else on hold for now. I told Meredith, but couldn't really gauge her reaction, because she communicates largely by email (even when she is right next door). I understand the logic; it's more efficient not to interrupt each other all the time, but I am not very good at understanding nuances in email. I don't know if she was annoyed with me, or annoyed with Maureen, or not annoyed at all.

Had lunch with Janna, which was fun, but spent about half my lunch hour driving to and from Five Points.

Had pretty good success with some of the tasks; more to do today. Left at 3:30 or so to go to counseling. Robyn is so nice; I really enjoy meeting with her and feel better about myself afterward. She described Maureen as abusive and told me that I would have to keep trying if I want to convince her I'm crazy. She says (duh) I am not getting enough positive feedback at work and need to get more affirmation. She sort of suggested that I need a job that will be more satisfying. Hmm. I do think it's odd that I have had lots of jobs, none for more than five years, and none that I really loved. Or is that just in hindsight? I talked a little about being some sort of green building consultant, not sure how to make that happen yet.

Picked up Ray, went home for an hour or so, then met Deb and John for trivia on the East side. She had called and they said it started at 7:30/8. But in fact, it was after 8:30. They didn't stay long. We stayed for the first half, but we were doing quite badly, so we left before 10. The first question was "Who is rumored to be the new male judge on American Idol?" Now, that is what I call trivia. Ray had read it, but could not come up with the name (Steven Tyler). We put down Elton John. For ten points, we were supposed to name the five top-selling Kia models. She even gave us the first letters: S, S, S, F, B. We couldn't come up with one of them. (Sedona, Sorrento, ... I've already forgotten them).

I didn't sleep well at all, waking up at 11:30 and again at 3:30, permanently. I am reading a somewhat creepy murder mystery, so that didn't help. It's also a full moon, which I think usually keeps me from sleeping very well. Ray and I were discussing whether it is just the light, or if there is some more elemental effect, on a cellular level, leftover from when we were sea creatures affected by the tides. Or maybe I haven't been getting enough exercise or eating and drinking right. The food at Loco's was downright mediocre and I had some watery sweet tea, followed by a pretty crappy Grasshopper.

Not feeling great this morning, achy, eyes hurt, didn't sleep very well.

Yesterday worked 8 hours plus. More QuickBooks work, with a couple hours of GiftWorks. Some of our donors' addresses did not import and I am working on merging the duplicates. Went to the bank and met Ray for lunch at the Georgia Center. While I was there, I saw Andy L., Mary, Regina, Rudene and another person I did not know. They are all the Pre-K Resource Coordinators and they were celebrating being let go. Yes, apparently the governor has just decided to balance the state budget by cutting jobs in Pre-K. I worked for them for 5 years...over 15 years ago.

Came home, had a mojito, made and ate dinner, watched TV, read a little, went to bed.

There will be a morning when I will wake up and the air will be cool and pleasant. This is not it. I cranked the window in the bathroom a little to check hopefully, but no. I am sweating, even though the fans are turning over my head.

Yesterday, I sang in the choir. Alison preached about answering the call--finding the place where your passion meets the needs of others. I have the needs part down, but what work makes me really happy? I have certainly moments when I like my job, but I don't think it is a passion. I can't quite envision a society where everyone is doing what they love...and everything is getting done.

After the service was the fourth Sunday lunch. Tiffany had come, with a peacock feather in her hair, and a fake jewel beauty spot. I bought her lunch. I ate with Marco and his 6-year-old (?) son and enjoyed listening to him. And remembering. And I ate with Deb and John and we planned to go to trivia Tuesday night.

We drove to Watkinsville for peaches and tomatoes. Then we picked up Janna. I haven't seen her much lately. She has been working hard because of the start of the school year, and we were away for a week. We drove to the Callaway Building at the Botanical Gardens. There was a spelling bee to benefit the Athens-Clarke Literacy Council. We had organized a team from UUFA--Caryl S., Julie S., and me. My parents met us there too. Doc Eldridge was the moderator, David Sweat, Kay Giese, and Pat Barron were the judges (they are all judges). The event was quite disorganized. We were supposed to be there at 2 for orientation. There were only two other teams there then and a few people setting up. Eventually there was a very brief orientation going over the rules and members of six teams showed up. When the competition started, the first three teams were given two words: daquiri and dumbbell. Two of the three teams missed both words and were eliminated. We would have gotten them both right. After a short break, the next three teams went. First word we got right, second word we got right. One team was eliminated. Third word: drunkenness. We spelled it with one "n". Fourth word: inoculate. We spelled it with two n's. We were out. Embarrassing. My father was disappointed. After another break, the two teams spelled about ten words correctly before cognoscente. repudiate, occurrence, surreptitious...and several others we would have gotten right. Oh, well. It was for a good cause. It made me want to compete again and do better. But perhaps I am not as good at spelling as I thought I was.

We all went  home and tried to decide what we wanted for supper. We had eaten some at the event, catered by Lumpkin Cafe: fruit, humus, cucumber sandwiches, and little phyllo cups filled with pudding. Simple, but delicious. Ray didn't need any supper, Vanessa had cereal and milk. Janna and I put together some veggies: zucchini, mushrooms, tomato, with onion and garlic, eggs and a little Parmesan. It was delicious. I also sliced a cucumber and put some oil and vinegar on it. Captain had some of that with us. Then the three ladies went to the movies to see Eat, Pray, Love. We got there very early (because Ray & the Captain didn't come?) and enjoyed ourselves, with popcorn and a Coke that Vanessa and I shared. Fortunately, it did not seem to keep me awake. It was much better than I expected. At one point, the wise man tells her to smile with her whole body, even her liver. It is funny, but it is also somewhat inspiring. I will try to smile with my liver starting today, although I miss my children.

I am sore again this morning, but it is from going to Pilates class after a few weeks' absence. Hopefully, it will wear off!

It has been raining on and off for days. This morning there is fog outside my window. The big mass of green trees that I take for granted is barely visible, and our gravel drive winds between them and disappears mysteriously. The temperature outside yesterday was in the 80s, although incredibly humid, even when it wasn't raining. This means the air conditioning ran less and it was pretty comfortable in the house--no sun beating down on us and the poor garden. Unfortunately, too wet for working yesterday and probably today.

Mayoral candidates: Spencer, Nancy, Glen, Charlie, and Gwen (behind Ray)

At 9:00, we all went to Brett's for the monthly meeting of the Athens Area Democrats, to hear from the five candidates for mayor. It was pretty interesting. The breakfast for $12 was okay--scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, sweet bread, fruit...not much that was really healthy or even exceedingly tasty. I slipped out at 10 to go to Pilates class, and I am glad. Then I went to Democratic Headquarters and waited for my first volunteer, Helen. I was home about 1 for lunch and spent some time after that looking for recipes for the week. Played some cards, ate supper, watched TV, went to bed.

Ah, yes! Saturday morning after a hard week. My shoulders and back hurt, but I am happy to have made it through, without a full-blown nervous breakdown. My boss seems appreciative. There is still much to be done, but the books balance. Perhaps sometime this week, we will be able to tell the auditor we are ready. Aside from working straight through lunch until 4:00, there is not much to tell about that.

We spent less than an hour at home before heading  to the beginning of the year party at the home of the Geology Dept. chair, Mike. Mike is sort of a rough soul, who has been a friend of ours for 25 years. He lives in the wilds of Walton County, 30 minutes or more from our house. We were pretty early, but eventually many other faculty and graduate students found their way there. We arrived about the same time as a young couple, whose names I will spell wrong, Baris and Sanam, and their three-year-old daughter. They are Turkish, and in fact, there are three visiting Turkish geologists this fall. The other two are women. One has brought her 14-year-old daughter, Akanai, for a few weeks, since school has not started yet in Turkey. I enjoyed trying to communicate with them in slow English (the daughter's English is very good), since I don't speak any Turkish, which is not related to any other languages, if I remember right. Although they are here to study geology and collaborate with the scientists, it seems to me that they should be out in the community talking about Turkey and meeting people. We'll see what I can make happen... It made me wish I worked for the UGA office of international students, which is one of the places I applied during my long stretch of unemployment, and did not even get contacted, if I remember right.

Potluck was good. Also met some new office staff Ray has mentioned and one of their 9-year-old daughters, Charlotte. Charlotte is all skin and bones and a very picky eater. I am worried about her. She likes to read and watch scary movies. The Ring is just lame, in her opinion, not very scary. I wouldn't know; I never watch any of them. She recently discovered a book she really enjoyed and read all of: Wait Till Helen Comes. I recommended the Redwall series to her mother; don't know if it will take. In my usual obnoxious style, I made Ray leave at 8:30, practically the first people to go. It was incredibly humid outside, sweat was dripping off my nose. The Turkish women gathered around, asking me why I was leaving. I invited them to church on Sunday.

Ray was watching Harry Potter as I drifted off to sleep.

My back and shoulder  hurt; I hope I can avoid the full-blown spasmodic back pain I sometimes get. I have not made it to pilates in several weeks and have been horribly stressed at work, sitting at the computer tense all day every day. I did get just about everything done yesterday, reconciling through July 2010 (not that I don't do it every month, but now I have done it the "right way"), as well as preparing some other reports. I treated myself to a special lunch yesterday, when I went to the bank and the post office, and it was almost pleasant out--only 86, although by 5 it was 95 again and very humid. After work, Ray and I went swimming again. I have no stamina--I get tired or bored after 15 minutes or so. This is the first week at UGA and the students are everywhere. The traffic in Athens is horrible and young women in tight shorts and other odd clothes are on every street. It is hard not to find them obnoxious. We went to dinner with Janna and Ron. It was crowded and noisy and the food was mediocre, but it was good to see them. Home by 8, asleep by 10.

Well, I managed to get through December 2009 reconciled and start on 2010, as well as a few other things. But I was stuck on November for a while and when I ask for help, I get lectured for 20 minutes about the importance of this work and how I should understand it better. I finally told her I didn't appreciate being called irresponsible, when I have worked my butt off trying to improve things since the minute I started. She wants me to not just do the work, but be like her and be proud to call myself a bookkeeper--never mind the work that's not getting done while I am doing this.

I met Ray for lunch and still managed to leave before 5. He took a bus and met me at the Varsity to try to avoid the 5:00 traffic. Made couscous salad for potluck. Pasta and cheese does not appeal to me as much as it used to. But working 8 hours is definitely not for me. I am not getting enough exercise and my back and shoulder hurts. Enjoyed potluck and choir and got to bed early. Unfortunately, woke up at 4 thinking about that vile woman.

Worked 8 hours yesterday, with a lunch break. Hard work. Too late for pilates class. Traffic awful because UGA started up again. Rained twice. A little cooler, but humid. Ray and i went to Ramsey to swim, but the pool we were enjoying closed at 6, so only swam for 10 minutes or so. Went to Community Center Committee at Sky's for 20 minutes. Ate delicious omelet Ray made. Watched TV, went to bed. Overslept.

Well, I worked 8 hours yesterday. It was pretty horrible, but I made it. First off, it was time to do payroll. I tidied up my desk and took care of everything I had left over. Maureen arrived at 10 and proceeded to help me straighten up the bookkeeping from 2009. She has a certain way she wants it done and she demonstrated for more than two hours. She was pretty upset when I said I had to go to lunch. I said I was pre-diabetic and had to eat. And that I couldn't work for more than four hours without a break--and I didn't think she should either. She said she does it every day and it's better than going home without finishing the work. I said there is always more work to do, it's never done. And I left. The first place I went was closed, with a sign on the door we are in the back catering. Don't restaurant owners know how much that pisses me off? A great way to alienate customers. The second place was too crowded, so I walked across the street (in the heat) and had an okay lunch, reading my iPhone. I was able to get back in a little less than an hour and soon it was my turn to see if I could remember all the steps to reconciling her way. She seemed pleased, but I have to do it on my own today. Plus some of the work I didn't get done yesterday because I was doing this. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon, there are screaming children watching cartoons on TV and it's incredibly hot with the door to my office closed. I turned up my music and tried to be productive. Left a little before 5, feeling pretty good about myself.

Picked Ray up at HQ, where he was filling in for me. Went home and worked on supper some. The trouble with working till 5 is there is not much left of the day. After supper, watched TV. Fell asleep about 9.

It was rainy and overcast yesterday and still humid, but it didn't get to 90 for the first time in months. Too wet to do much in the morning, except walk the dogs out to get the paper. Then to UUFA for water communion and Alison's first service. It was good. I enjoyed singing, but it was not our best work--only one rehearsal. We drove down to get more peaches (and shared an ice cream cone) and then met the Captain and Vanessa at a Chinese restaurant. I ate moderately, but we all felt kind of full afterward. Ray took a nap. C&V took the recycling and I ran the vacuum quickly. Then I spent some time looking at recipe books. I spent some time on the computer and phone too, trying to recruit volunteers for this week for Democratic HQ.

After supper, Ray and I went to pick blueberries. I had seen some in the community garden and asked whose they were. Nancy said they were hers, but we were welcome to them. It was almost dark; we saw a large hawk, but we picked about two pints before calling it a night. Then we stayed up too late watching TV, as sometimes happens on Sunday. Not the best start to a stressful week.

Yesterday was the Democratic state convention and I was a delegate. I wasn't sure whether it would be exciting or boring. Ray dropped me off at the Classic Center (it was raining). I found the registration, alphabetical by county, and picked up my packet. Then we had to stand in line to get our t-shirts. One line for paid, one for not paid. The lines were very long and curved around and mixed together. Jenny was directing people, but she would be talking with someone and five other people would get in the wrong line. I went and asked if I could help--couldn't we divide the list? No, they said, there is nothing we can do, we've tried. As each person came up, their name was checked off and they were given a lunch ticket (if they had paid). Then they were given a bag (that said coca-Cola on it), a little stuffed duck (AFLAC), and a t-shirt. There were blue and white t-shirts in 3 sizes (large, XL, XX). So they didn't make up the bags ahead, because they asked each person what they wanted. I went back there and started putting ducks and shirts in bags and lining them up on the floor, so they could ask for what they wanted and not have to wait for it to be assembled. We ran out of the blue and sometimes we only had 2 sizes, so it got easier. They stopped asking what color people wanted and just giving them one. After about half an hour, the line got shorter and I went and stood in it.

Then I went in the theater and found the Clarke County spot. Most of the delegation was on the other end and I didn't really sit with anyone I knew. There was a lot of official procedure, electing a chair of the convention, approving resolutions (honoring Tommy Irvin, who is retiring; recognizing anniversaries of the Voter Rights Act and the 19th Amendment  (women's right to vote). Every speaker and every person introducing the speaker said something about what a great year it was going to be and how we need to win...I admit to a certain amount of cynicism. We heard from the Young Democrats and the Women's Federation and other affiliate groups.

After about 2 hours, we had a lunch break. I know they gave me a ticket, but I could not find it. There was a long line of people picking up their lunches. Jenny tried to plead for me; she said she had seen my check and knew I had paid ($50 to be a delegate). By the time I got there, all the lunches were gone. They said that there had been 150 more people than they had been told. But they were still assembling them: a sandwich, a bag of chips, a cookie. I somehow managed to finagle a lunch, even though they insisted that they couldn't give me one without a ticket. I offered to pay the $8 a man was paying, but I only had a twenty. I think they would rather give me the lunch than make change. Drinks were at the end and I admit I took a Coke. I went down the escalator to find a place to sit. As I started eating, I realized the sandwich was turkey and a roll. I had to go back up to find lettuce, mayo, tomato and cheese. That tasted better. I spoke to a young man, Shane, who is a graduate student in Public Policy. I told him what I did. I said, "if you work in human services, you soon come to the realization that it is only by changing policy that you can really make a difference." I can't raise wages and improve living conditions or provide affordable housing.

After lunch, and some more preliminaries, the major candidates spoke. Mike Thurmond, who is from Athens, has been Labor Commissioner and is running for U.S. Senate. Jenny kept saying how good he was. He definitely was fired up. He veered over into religion some, though, which made me uncomfortable. Many of the candidates asked for God's blessing on us. Michael was the youngest of eight children; his father and grandfather were sharecroppers. He used to help his Dad sell watermelons off the back of a truck. (I've heard this story more than once). He said, "Son, if you work hard and all goes well, one day this vegetable route can be yours." We all laughed because Mike has done much better than that, one of the first African-Americans to hold state office in Georgia.

Russell Edwards is our candidate for US House of Representatives, running against Paul Broun, the tea partier. He is tall and young and looked and sounded pretty good. Except, as Jenny pointed out, he said a lot of things about how bad Paul is and not much about his qualifications (maybe because he has no experience). In private, he is quiet and intense.

Roy Barnes

We had state-wide offices: Labor Commissioner, PSC, Secretary of State (she is a fiery, ex-Army Captain), Education (Joe Martin), Lieutenant Governor (I love Carol Porter, mother of 4 grown sons--all at UGA?), and Governor. I don't really like Barnes, but he is the candidate. He has been governor before and is a little slick for my tastes. His speech seems too rehearsed, but he made some good points. He talked about what a difference a governor's election can make by citing 1962, when George Wallace was elected in Alabama and Carl Sanders in Georgia. Up until that time, Birmingham seemed to be destined to become the shining star of the South, attracting industry and growing larger than Atlanta. Governor Wallace soon made a speech about drawing a line in the sand: Segregation Today, Segregation Tomorrow...Soon there were bombings and 4 little girls were killed going to church because of the color of their skin. And business began to pull away from Alabama. Georgia was not impressive in their embrace of integration, but supposedly the governor believed in the rule of law and that is what he followed.

Then Ray arrived and he and I waited around to collect any materials from the candidates that they were willing to give us instead of taking back with them (not much). We dropped them off at HQ and went on home.

Meanwhile, Nancy H. had called to invite us to her house for potluck dinner and my Mom had made an apple cake, so all we had to do was show up. It was fun to talk to some of our neighbors. Ray enjoyed playing with the small children (only two). Dinner was great and healthier than a potluck anywhere else.

We watched a little TV and then to bed by 10. It rained at 11 or so. I am a little achy this morning--I have to wait another week for pilates.

Whew, I worked hard all day yesterday and will be working as much as 45  hours next week. The board has determined that we need to go back and get the bookkeeping straight for several years, so that we can have an accurate audit. They talked about hiring someone else to do it, but I said I would rather do it myself. Now to get down to it. There are so many other things I would rather be doing, but I will be glad to get this behind me. I was trying to get everything else caught up and do some preparation, but I finally had to give up for the day about 4:30. The noise of the kids, volunteers bringing dinner in the pouring rain and exhaustion kept me from staying any longer. Meredith was tired, too. She had worked late the night before and left about 3.

One of our Moms is moving out next week, she is very excited. She has been working 2 weeks at the chicken plant; it's hard work but steady money. She will be renting a place for $425. She and Kerri did a budget and she will have about $40 left over after rent and utilities. Not enough in my book. And that's with us paying for child care, which is only for 6 months. Maybe a man will appear on the scene in that time and "rescue" her.

At lunch time both Thursday and Friday, I ran out to buy something for the shelter and lunch for me and I stopped at CCDC HQ to eat it there. Yesterday (Friday), though, I waited about 30 minutes for my to-go order, so I took it back to the office instead. Had to buy some baby wipes, orange juice, nursery water and cheese slices. When I got back to the office, I found I had missed the 1:00 Friday staff meeting. That is a new thing and I didn't have it in my head, although it was on my calendar.

The grand opening of the democratic HQ went well Thursday night, although there was some behind-the-scenes competition and lack of clarity as to who was in charge. Stuff kept getting moved as one person or another decided it looked better somewhere else. There were probably 100 people crowded into the space and it was hot, even with the AC running full blast and trying to keep up. Several people spoke, including our opponent to the idiot Paul Broun, Russell Edwards. He is a tall, quiet, intense guy with a big nose, but he gave an inspiring speech.

I slept better last night, it was almost 6 when I woke up this morning. In fact, I felt pretty happy all day, even though Gerald was leaving. I worked on the reimbursement requests and made progress. I went to lunch with Gerald. Ray joined us for dessert after his faculty retreat. Gerald paid! I left work a little after 3, had to stop and get some more sugar because Captain and Vanessa needed it to freeze peaches. I didn't want to go home by way of Kroger, so I stopped at a gas station Food Mart--they didn't have sugar! The Golden Pantry at another gas station did, but in small expensive bags.

After about an hour at home, it was time to take G. to the shuttle. We agonized over the decision of whether to drive him to the airport or make him take the shuttle. It's partly an environmental question, but it was also the first night of choir rehearsal--and we just to tired to be driving back from Atlanta at 10 o'clock.

After we dropped him off, we stopped by Democratic HQ. Note to self: pick up nametags for Grand Opening. Make donation box. Make volunteer handbook. Then we had about an hour before potluck. Rather than drive home, we went out to the Toyota dealership. They have been advertising big sales, and there are some good ones. A basic new Prius is less than $23,000. If you add another $1000, they have some really good financing offers--0% for 2 years, 2% for 4 years, I think. But they also had 3 used Priuses. One is only $13,000--it is 5 years old, with almost 60,000 miles on it, but it looks really nice. I don't really want to trade in our existing Prius, but does it make sense to trade the Corolla when it has about the same mileage? I am not sure they would take the Protege, especially since I don't think we can drive it there. And then we would have 3 cars plus a truck, probably more than we need. Hmm. Our Prius has a cracked radiator and needs its catalytic converter worked on. If we trade it in, we won't have to worry about that. But otherwise, it seems to be still going strong at 160,000 miles.

After that, we went to potluck and choir. It was fun, but I started dozing off and now I have a stiff neck!

I woke up at 4 this morning, hot and sweaty and feeling stressed. I got up and read for a while and felt much better, although tired.

Yesterday I worked and got caught up on some of the routine things that piled up while I was gone. Went to the bank. Ray and I went swimming. Gerald had lunch with Rebecca C. at the Grit. We went home and did some cleaning and made pasta bean salad. Vanessa had made a peach and blueberry cobbler that was delicious. Janna and Ron and Francesca came for dinner. It was fun.

Molli, I'm okay.

Yes, it is still hot and humid. I took a brief walk, picked up the paper and admired the foundation for the community center, glanced at the garden, which is looking pretty sad, and admired the almost 3 inches in the rain gauge from last week. I made pancakes with egg whites only (because that's what we had in the fridge), and they were tasty. Took a bath and washed my hair in my own bathtub and headed to UUFA with Ray. Our new minister was there, Alison, and it was great to see her.

Ray and I went to Kroger to get enough food to last a few days, then got a bunch of peaches at Thomas's. We drove to Bishop and picked up Cameron, who seemed very happy to see us. Apparently, he  had a great time playing all day every day and I felt bad taking him home. We don't play with him and we can't let him run around because he runs too far away, since we don't have a fenced yard.

We had a sad sort of Salade Nicoise because we didn't have all the ingredients and it was already one. The bread we bought at a bakery in Fernandina was moldy.

I worked on the democratic HQ staffing and then Becky called and we went to swim in her pool for a little bit. She has changed it over to salt water, which means less chlorine, and it doesn't make Vanessa cough. We had a very pleasant visit with them.

We were home a little after 6 and put the pork roast in the oven and shucked the corn before Gerald got home from his trip to California, visiting many of our national parks, several that I have not been to. They had a good time but were pretty tired. It rained the two times they camped, but everything went pretty well. We are supposed to look at pictures later.

Gerald and I walked Cameron (we forgot dog food!) a little. We watched a little TV and then it was 10:30. Now, back to work.

Ah, home sweet home! I've said it before, there is nothing like going away to make you happy to come home. Although the highs are predicted to reach 98 or 99 every day this week! Fortunately, our air conditioning seems to be up to the task.

Yesterday morning started with a  quick dip in the ocean and a short walk on the beach, a last visit to the pool, and an hour or two of packing up. I even played a last game of Spider. Ray packed up the car and then showered, so he didn't start the drive all sweaty. We headed to Darien first, to a restaurant we had eaten in when we went to Sapelo almost three years ago. Fortunately, we were able to remember where it was and find it again, tucked along the waterway in a condominium complex. It was about as I had remembered, fun and good, although not as good as the restaurants we have been eating in. After that, it was a pretty long day, with no place good to stop. I knit some, taking turns sitting in the front with my Dad. First my Mom finished the Janet Evanovich book I bought the other night, then my Dad read it, then I started and nearly finished it. Ray just kept on driving. It was hot and boring in south and central Georgia. We were looking for a place to stop and stretch in Vidalia and thought maybe there would be a produce stand, but nothing. Finally stopped in Soperton, just parking along the sidewalk, so we could walk back and forth. There was a store open, claiming to be a drug store and jewelry store. They had everything you can imagine, silver plated trays and cookbook holders, hardware, and stuffed animals on display--taxidermy of a fox and a bobcat and a little bird...it was cool in there. We could have bought ice cream, but resisted.

We were home before seven and it looked wonderful, although we were too tired to do much of anything. Some people had cereal and milk for supper. We needed some groceries, but didn't want to go out and get them. We carried everything in from the car and emptied the cooler, went and got our mail from Sky and opened it, watched a little TV...I really missed the DVR. If you can't find anything you want to watch, you can watch something you recorded. Now I have a week of John Stewart to catch up on, for instance.

Ray went for a long walk before breakfast. I went part of the way with him and came back along the beach. I really enjoy looking at all the houses and thinking about how I would build my dream beach house. Where would the windows be (on the ocean side)? When I got to the house, my parents were just coming back from a swim in the ocean. I put my suit on and joined them in the pool.

About 10, we went to the Amelia Island Museum of History and heard about the different nationalities that settled and ran the island. We came home for lunch and spent the afternoon in. I did some genealogy research, but didn't really find much new. Went downtown about 6, when they had a concert. It was cooler today, but still a little too hot for standing around listening to music. A nice idea though. We had dinner at the "best" restaurant yet, a crowded very good French restaurant. We had a good dinner, but the service was not quite as good as we have been having and it was much more expensive than any of the others. Also hard to eat "healthy" with cream sauce and great desserts.

I had trouble falling asleep, which means I read a lot of Middlemarch. The cars go right by my window at the head of my bed; maybe there were more on Friday night and Saturday morning...cause I woke up early too. Perhaps I'll sleep on the drive home.

Beach, pool, breakfast. Then we got to the dock in time for a ferry ride to St. Mary's. St. Mary's is not that wonderful a place, but the ride was great. Captain Scott and his sidekick, Johnny, told us lots of interesting facts and pointed out dolphins.

The shrimp fleet is seriously diminished, because people do not look for wild caught local shrimp. And because the cost of owning and maintaining a shrimp boat makes it hard to make a living that way. There are about 12 boats still catching shrimp at Fernandina Beach. There are oysters growing everywhere. Too bad they are not as popular.

Cumberland Island was owned by the Carnegies. We went by it. It is now a national park, deserted sand beaches. Scott said that the Carnegies were too nouveau riche and were snubbed by the millionaires on Jekyll Island, so they bought their own island. There are wild horses there. It was one of Mrs. Carnegie's conditions that they be left there when she gave it to the park service. We saw one of the horses on our way back.

We docked at St. Mary's, looked briefly at the Cumberland Island Park service visitor center (and gift shop--I love park gift shops), and walked a few blocks in the heat to the Orange Hall. We had to stop for a while in a lovely air-conditioned book store with comfortable chairs to get our strength up. The air conditioning wasn't working throughout the house, but it was cooler than outside and the guide was quite entertaining. She was from New Jersey...and let us sit on the furniture. Like so many of these stories, the woman for whom it was built died of yellow fever before it was even finished. Her husband remarried, the oldest child died too, and supposedly haunts the house. Other people bought it and took care of it, although it was broken into apartments at one point. It had somewonderful old furniture, some that reminded me of my grandmother's, not original to the house. We enjoyed it very much.

 After, we plodded through the heat, along the deserted streets, to the best restaurant in town, Langs' Seafood. It was wonderful and cool, we drank beer and iced tea and ate fresh seafood. It was that rarity among seafood restaurants: everything was good, the hushpuppies, the cole slaw, it was delicious and fresh. Mom and I had grouper. Dad and Ray had shrimp and scallops. The waitress was fun. The Langs own most of St. Mary's, including the license to run a ferry service to Cumberland, perhaps the thing that kept the town from disappearing altogether, since there is no other industry here now. We didn't have time to order dessert, but picked up a couple of giant double-scoop waffle cones to take on the boat. They melted faster than we could eat them, making a mess on the boat. Ray and the Captain enjoyed talking to Captain Scott about anything and everything and the speed of the boat made a cool breeze.

Back at the house, we swam, read, eventually ate dinner. Ray and I went out for a bit and did some shopping in Fernandina Beach.

Went to the beach swimming before breakfast, then to the pool. Played Spider. Visited a really nice consignment shop, where I bought a bathing suit, a skirt, some pants, and several pairs of shorts. And an Aigner purse (but that was kind of a lot). They apparently have a lot of people getting rid of really nice things here. Had lunch at home. Drove to Fernandina Beach, the old town on the island, and bought some pastries and bread. Visited some of the shops, but nothing really grabbed me. Went home, went swimming in the ocean, really big waves, went back to the pool, got dressed for dinner. Drove back to Fernandina Beach and had a really nice dinner. I had lamb...no dessert, just a taste of Mom's and Ray's. Walked along the dock in the sunset and drove home. Pretty nice.

Captain & Vanessa approaching the fort

at the drawbridge

Vanessa resting

Ray slept really late yesterday. Vanessa got up and put her bathing suit on and waited for the Captain. I played Spider (and lost) and wrote some. Ray finally got up while they were at the beach. He didn't sleep well. I said, "that's what happens when you take a nap." He and I had breakfast and then went to the beach, after they came back. Beach, then pool, is nice.

Quartermaster's quarters

Then we all went to Fort Clinch. OK, I guess I have to accept that I am something of a history geek. Maybe the combination of history and architecture makes it really fun to visit old forts. They are a lot alike and I've seem a lot of them. Ray thinks we've seen this one before. Old brick tunnels you can wander around in, but not get lost. Tables set with things from over 100 years ago. And a guy in a soldier costume who can answer any question that any of us come up with and seems to enjoy it. He said he had been doing it for 18 years. In a full, long-sleeved uniform no matter how hot it is. There were some surprise cool breezes at certain spots, when you come on a room with two windows to the ocean, for instance. It reminded me of the time we went to the fort at St. Augustine with Gerald 6 years ago and the forts and monastery we visited in Mexico. I really enjoyed it. Not to mention how much I like looking at things in park gift shops. I bought a present for someone. The stuff they sell is familiar--toy versions of civil war items, local wildlife, travel guides (I resisted). It was really fun and the Captain and Vanessa seemed to hold up pretty well and enjoy it too. If you travel with small children, especially more than one, you are bound to have somebody who is tired or hungry or wants to be picked up, but nobody in our group complained at all.

We spent the afternoon pretty quietly at the house. Vanessa generally goes out in the afternoon to sit in the sun, but not the rest of us. Then she can jump in the pool when she gets too hot.

After an early supper, we headed out for more trivia, this time at Karibo Cafe. I had called to determine, yes they were having it at 7 pm. We got there just a few minutes before and it looked like we might not be able to get in, but somehow Ray worked his magic. It was a much nicer place than Beef O' Brady's and the emcee was better. We had sangria, excellent gazpacho and really great onion rings. But somehow the atmosphere was not quite as much fun, more serious competition, fewer kids. We did well at first, the questions seemed pretty easy, but apparently so did other people. We were about in the middle of the pack until the last question, which allowed you to bet up to 16 points, Jeopardy-style. That is, if you answer wrong, you will have them deducted from your score. Put in order by size the following: Australia, India, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia. Mom and Dad and I had one opinion and Ray had another, but he didn't feel strongly about it so let us overrule him. Guess what? No surprise, he was right and we were wrong. We bet all our points and so, lost. We might have placed if we had been right.

Went right to bed when we got home and forgot to call Bonney to wish her happy birthday. So sorry, sweetie.

Vacation is so wierd, I'm not very good at it. I love the sound of the waves, though, when I can hear it, and looking at the ocean any time day or night. Somehow, I need to find a way to live where I can always see it. Swimming in it, walking on the beach are great, but seeing and hearing it are really wonderful. Now I can look out the window at the pinkening sky and see the water between the houses.

Yesterday we went swimming in the ocean before breakfast. My parents had been and gone and Ray was walking along the beach. There were other people down the way, but I had the ocean to myself for a few minutes. The waves were gentle. I floated between them and held my breath when one crashed over me. At some point, when I was standing, I looked down and a skate was fleeing out to sea. I fled onto land and waited until Ray was there to protect me before I went back in the water.

After a dip in the pool, shower and breakfast, a lot of sitting around until lunchtime. We drove to the south end of the island, past the posh homes of Amelia Island Plantation and back up to Fernandina Beach, the historic town on the northern end. We were looking for a specific restaurant that had been recommended, Espana. We stopped and the Captain go out and talked to a man at a gift shop, Slightly Off Center. He directed us, but the restaurant did not serve lunch. Neither did several others we walked to. The heat was strong and we were not. We found one place that served lunch, but it was a 15 minute wait for an inside table. It reminded me a little of a place we have eaten breakfast with Barbara on the Cape--not surprising for a beach resort. I had one of the best meals I've had in a long time--steak salad and blueberry square for dessert. Just enough good dressing, the steak cut into small enough pieces, tasty and not too tough. The blueberry square was served with warm blueberry compote and vanilla ice cream. Yum.

After lunch, more sitting around, napping for some. I called a few restaurants to find out about trivia and found one that was Monday night: Beef O'Brady's, at 7:30. That didn't leave us much time for dinner, but we weren't very hungry anyway, and ate leftovers from the fridge, as well as drinking mojitos. We got there early and ordered some beer and onion rings. At first, we didn't do very well, but in the end we came in third, after losing a tiebreaker: What year was LSD first proven to be hallucinogenic? We won a $10 gift certificate to Beef O'Brady's...I don't think there is one in Athens; we might have to use it this week. Trivia at a different restaurant tonight...it is kind of sad to be at the beach with no sisters or kids...and not really know what to do with myself. Plus it's really hot.

Played and won a game of Spider.
Went swimming in the ocean.
Went swimming in the pool.
Drove to Fernandina Beach and had a good lunch. Walked past interesting, tourist-y stores. Amelia would like it.
Bought groceries at Winn-Dixie. Interesting variety of people.
Ate supper. Walked on beach briefly. It was almost pleasant.

Went swimming in the ocean. Went swimming in the pool. Ate breakfast.

Now others are reading or playing solitaire. I want to go do something. Getting annoyed.

Ray and I got up pretty early yesterday and started getting ready for our trip. I walked out to get the paper, letting Zoe out with me. It was nice not to have Cameron pulling on the leash. I felt freer, but also a little less secure. Not that I am ever nervous about walking in Kenney Ridge, just a little different feeling, like you never know what's around the corner. Who knows what Zoe was doing--I didn't see her again until I got back and she was waiting on the front porch.

We ate some breakfast, finished packing, and filled up the cooler from the freezer and refrigerator. Ray packed the car, took his shower, and we locked up the house. We were off by 9. We stopped a little after 11 in Milledgeville, at the Metropolis Cafe. I found it thanks to iPhone and Urban Spoon. It is a Greek and Indian restaurant that the Captain was a little leery of, but we had a really nice and reasonable meal there and enjoyed the service. A young man with an earring was quite talkative and proud of the place.

After that, there was a long drive, with a brief stop at McDonald's in Baxley. South Georgia ia really flat and not very interesting, although there are moments of beauty to be found, in falling-down houses and abandoned advertisements for Coke. As we crossed into Florida, there were sad cement-block motels and even a drive-through bar--at least, that is what it looked like as we went by. There were dark clouds and lightning and we thought we were in for a doozy of a thunderstorm, but only got a few drops on the windshield. We turned East and drove over the Intracoastal Waterway, always a thrill to see the marshes and birds and grasses. As we got close to Amelia Island, we began to see more signs of "civilization" or development: Target, Home Depot, drug stores and gas stations and fast food chain restaurants.

Although I have been to Amelia before, nothing stirred in my memory, except that it is similar to other islands along the southeast coast. We found the right road and started looking at the house numbers until we found the right one. It is quite old and more like a house than a beach cottage. A split level. There is wooden paneling and wood floors, with good size rooms and plenty of chairs. Upstairs, three bedrooms and two baths. Down from the main level, another living area and second TV, as well as access to the outdoor swimming pool and more seating, completely surrounded by screening. The Captain and Vanessa swam there, then we all went across to the beach. It was pretty warm and humid, but the ocean felt wonderful. Then back to the pool, which seemed too warm at that point. There is not much in the way of yard, since the pool takes up most of it. But in the corner, Ray found a lime tree, with many big, great-looking limes (unless they are green lemons).

If you go down another level, you find a semi-finished basement, with washer and dryer and charcoal grill--and 3 rollaway beds folded up. Clearly, this is a house that is sometimes full of families with children. It makes me miss mine, but it also makes me smile--and enjoy the calm.

We had brought some hamburger with us, frozen the night before and put in the cooler in the morning. It wasn't quite defrosted, but a couple minutes in the microwave and it was ready. That plus a salad, lots of wine and crackers, and fruit, and we had a pleasant supper that was enough for us. Early to bed for all of us, except Ray and I had to flip through all the channels and see bits of several things, that were all too enervating to watch before bed. The Matrix seemed silly to me now, once one of my favorite movies. I saw Will Smith being chased for a while, but once he found his wife murdered, I wasn't interested any more.

The queen-sized bed in our room was too hard for me and I moved into the empty third bedroom with my book for a while, but eventually had an okay night's sleep and got up at 6:30. The AC is already running, but a look at the ocean is nice.