It's raining again this morning. Funny how it seems to go from one extreme to the other. It's lovely and cool now and soon I will be baking.

Yesterday, more tedious mailing list stuff for the most part, although not stressful. Ray slept in and I came home at lunchtime to eat and bring him in. It takes about 15 minutes for me to drive home and 15 minutes back, so I have a half hour to eat. But we have had healthy leftovers and I don't spend anything for lunch. It is pleasant and relaxing at home.

Went to the bank to deposit some donations, picked Ray up, and went home. Made supper for potluck and went to the Fellowship. Good dinner--I ate too much. Enjoyed singing. Came home, Captain and Vanessa were here, went to bed.

Another nice cool morning. If only it were light a little earlier--or I didn't have to be at work at 8! Have to walk the dogs and feed the chickens in the dark...

More mailing list work yesterday for the most part--after payroll. Starting to work on reimbursements for September. I want to get them in as early as possible, so that we can get the money back as soon as possible. We were okay for payroll this week. The next time we have to worry is in 2 weeks.

I came home for lunch, because I realized I had forgotten to feed the dogs. It was a beautiful day, sunny but cool. I think the high was 81. We had leftovers, so I had a healthful lunch, without even a cookie. This was great until I started feeling hungry a couple hours later.

I had a counseling appointment at 4. Ray took the bus and met me afterward. We only had about 45 minutes to make and eat supper. We had a nice frittata with bok choy and other veggies and some leftover rice. We were 15 minutes late for our rehearsal. They had just asked someone else to stand in for us, when we walked in. And 30 minutes later we could leave. So we were home again before 8.

No internet connection this morning. Temperature below 60 degrees! yay! Dark and moony while walking the dogs.

Played racquetball yesterday-won one game. Swam afterward. Felt good.

Ate dinner at Speakeasy and enjoyed it. They have great drinks. I hate spending the money though. Raspberry creme brulee. excellent food. then went to Memorial Park for rehearsal, but they didn't get to my part.

Vildan and me at square dance

Mutherem and me at square dance

It was raining steadily when I woke up this morning and still is a half hour later, as well as off and on all day yesterday. Ray just woke up enough to mutter that he is not going in today--he doesn't teach on Mondays. A great day for sleeping, but I delegated him to feed the chickens and walk the dogs. It is still pitch black and that will give me a calmer, dryer, morning.

Ray and me at dinner at John's house

We went to sing at church and stayed for Fourth Sunday lunch. I took the money, Ray washed dishes, so it was more work than fun, but fine. We went to Watkinsville and bought apples from North Georgia at the peach stand--no more peaches this year. Sigh.

Gave the downstairs a cursory vacuuming. Made humus, washed strawberries, made chocolate pudding cake. Ray made the stir fry for our company. Kent arrived about 30 minutes late, followed by Janna and Ron and then Becky, who brought the pita for the humus. We had a pleasant enough dinner and they left a little after 8. I had taken chicken out of the freezer, in marinade for grilling. Because of the weather, we decided to stir fry instead, but apparently grilling marinade is not that good for stir fry. It was fine, but not as good as it should have been. The cake was a big hit; Ron, Kent and Janna had seconds.

Asleep by 10.

Pilates class made it hard for me to get up off the couch the rest of the day. It's my waist. Then we went to the farmers' market, but bought nothing. We got gas, money, and Ray's prescription. We also stood in line at the post office to mail Nate's birthday present! Stopped by HQ to see how everything was going. And finally went to Kroger and bought a few things.

All afternoon, looking at recipes and cooking off and on, wishing it were just a little cooler. Had supper, watched TV, went to bed.

Cameron is a good dog, but he won't always come when called. So I don't like to let him out unless he's on the leash. In the mornings when we walk, it's okay. He is racing off after things, stopping and sniffing, catching up with me and running away again. But he comes back and has breakfast. Any other time I let him out,  he is liable to go down to the neighbors. They have two or three dogs and a fenced area. Paul sometimes lets Cameron in to play and this naturally makes it hard for him to come when I call, if he wanted to. So last night after supper, I didn't dare let him out, since I didn't feel like walking him on a leash. So, it wasn't a complete shock that he was whining enough to wake me up at 4 this morning! I wandered down sleepily in my nightgown and let them both out. He was back before I knew it, but Zoe was slower. By the time she came back, he was off again, tearing around the yard and into the woods, chasing deer maybe. I gave her a half a biscuit and threw his half in the crate. He didn't come and he didn't come. Then she thought she would go in the crate and eat his biscuit, with some justice. So I was trying to block her and call him at the same time. I had about given up when he showed back up. The  minute I tried to get him in the crate, he bounded out the door, as if to get me to chase him. Fortunately, when I said, "No, Cameron" in my sternest voice, he came and went right in docilely.

Before I was able to fall back to sleep, it began to rain, complete with thunder and lightning. This was a great source of joy, but did keep me awake the rest of the night. Now the AC is running again. Maybe this is the last time this year. Probably not. I look forward to baking again sometime in the next month.

Yesterday morning (and every morning), I walked the dogs out to the road to get the newspaper. This time of year, I head out when it is dark, although I wait until it is almost light, as long as I can, because i have to be eating breakfast at 7 and in the tub at 7:15 in order to leave the house at 7:30. It is interesting to leave the house in grayness. The solar light (the one that still works) is a small spot of brightness. I can't see the chickens in their coop. Sometimes the dogs want to stop there, but I encourage them to leave the chickens alone. Sometimes I hear their soft chirrups as they shift on their perch. Cameron ranges around me, disappearing and reappearing. Sometimes I hear Zoe panting behind me, sometimes I don't see her again until we get back to the house. On this occasion, there was a moon still up, casting my shadow as I walked along the path. At the end of the street was a brightening sky, so that as I headed back, it began to compete with the moonlight and my moon shadow to the right was replaced by a fuzzy shadow to my left. The grasses and trees began to take on some color. When I got home, the solar light was out and I could see Ray in the lighted kitchen working on breakfast. I gathered the dogs in and fed them and gave them water and returned to my indoor life.

We worked on getting an appeal out. Instead of the third quarter newsletter, Meredith decided to send a mailing to all those individuals we have not received money from, asking if they want to update their contact info and stay on our mailing list--and send us a contribution. We are hoping for enough money to help out with our cash-flow crisis. We will also purge our mailing list based on the information we get back. The new software is supposed to make it easier and save us money. It didn't this time, but I learned enough talking to the man at the bulk mail center to help me next time. If we create bar-coded envelopes or labels, we can save half a cent per letter. That's $5 for 1000, so I don't feel too bad that I didn't get it right this time. I ordered 3 new twin mattresses for room 6, which has been empty for a couple weeks. It had to be professionally cleaned and exterminated and repainted. The curtains are washed, the beds need to be repaired. I need to buy pillows and sheets on Monday.

This morning I dreamed of a homeless family, someone who used to work for the Shelter. Usually I don't. The news of the economy and the difference between the haves and have-nots is really pervading our lives. I have read about a coming revolution; I hope we can change things without killing people.

I went to the bank and picked up some fish tacos for Kerri and me. The traffic was crazy, the Friday afternoon before a home game.

I picked Ray up before I went to the bulk mail center to help me carry the trays. My back did not like sitting and stuffing envelopes. Then we went to play racquetball, got all dressed and ready, but no courts. We waited for a while, then decided to swim. The pool was crowded too, but we got a lane. The water was really cold and my foot cramped up. We swam for 10 minutes and then went to take a warm shower. They were getting ready for a kids' swim meet in the big pool--brought back the memories.

We were home before 6, feeding chickens and dogs and lugging water from the rain barrels to the really dry plants. I did find some nice-looking beans to pick, as well as peppers. Looking forward to some time in the garden this morning and cooler weather and rain tomorrow and next week. Yay!

We had watched a couple of hours of TV by 9, so went up to read and fall asleep. Very peaceful and calm.

It's Friday and all my obligations are behind me (for the moment). Nothing planned for tonight or this weekend, unless you count pilates, the farmers' market and the Fellowship. Sounds good at the moment.

It's been a little cooler--didn't reach 90 yesterday. Not cool enough to sit outside or keep the AC from running, but getting there. And the moon has been lovely all week. Full moon at the equinox must be pretty rare. 

Yesterday, I worked a long time, doing more of that back accounting tedious work and getting ready for stuffing envelopes and doing mailings today. Ray and I had lunch when we traded off the car, at the Georgia Center cafeteria with John D. and Muterem (not the right spelling of her name). She is very homesick and missing her daughter.

We had a complicated schedule because of the Democratic meeting at 6, followed by rehearsal at 7:30. We rushed  home about 5, with traffic, to feed the animals and grab some supper--leftovers for Ray, a sandwich for me. The meeting was okay, but sparsely attended. The rehearsal was more fun, but a little long (ha, just wait a few weeks). Then we watched the first episode of Big Bang Theory for this season--maybe not my favorite episode ever, but Ray had to stop and rewatch one part--twice--because it was so funny. And then to sleep.

Meredith was home sick until mid-afternoon yesterday, and McKenzy was sick too. I printed some financial reports and studied them and made a few changes. I worked on some very tedious QB and mailing list stuff, recording some old information. The previous person who did my job recorded the monthly Shelter Provider deposit in a lump sum, without breaking down who gave how much. In order to have good information, I am going back and changing that in both QB and GiftWorks. Greg and I went to the Food Bank and got milk and juice. I grabbed lunch at Wendy's on the way back. The refrigerator was pretty full, so I asked him to throw out some of the older condiments to make room.

I picked up Ray before 4 and we stopped at Kroger to get yogurt and a few other things. The Breyers ice cream was on sale--less than $3! So we got about 10 cartons. When we got to the car, Ray started to get out the keys. "This is not good," he said. There they were, lying in plain sight on the back seat, locked in. He had gone back out to get the reusable bags we had forgotten to bring in. We had to call a locksmith, which fortunately only took about 10 minutes and cost $60. It kind of put a crimp in our mood. I have been worried about doing that for years, ever since we lost the other 2 sets of car keys within about a year of getting the car. In a way, it was a relief to find it was that easy and inexpensive to deal with. To get a new one from the dealer would have been about $500; they have to rekey the ignition, apparently.

While waiting for the locksmith, I finally heard back from the salesman for Olan Mills, Tom. He explained to me how to close off the online signups and print out the appointment pages to take to potluck. So, I did that while Ray made a salad to take. It turned out to be easier than I had feared, starting with remembering the login and password I had chosen.

We went right to bed when we got home, although I read for awhile.

I worked almost 8 hours yesterday, bookkeeping and the mailing list mainly. I feel caught up at the moment, but tonight there is a board meeting, so I will go in this morning and print off some more reports that are current.

A guy that I knew slightly years ago at Ecology has given substantial amounts in previous years. I mentioned to Meredith that he gave us $1000 last year in early September and she wrote him a letter asking for a donation this year, which he promptly sent. So that made us both feel good.

I printed the labels for the business mailing we're doing. It was very easy from GiftWorks.

One of our residents has a huge swelling on her face. She went to the emergency room and they said it was a spider bite. She doesn't know if she got it at the shelter or not. They had prescribed antibiotics and pain medication, but she can't afford to get them filled and hadn't said anything about it. There are a couple organizations that help with prescriptions, and we would probably pay for it if they didn't. I called the Nurses Clinic and they said to send her right over.

I had lunch with Andy and enjoyed it. She told a horror story about how the school district reclassified all the resource coordinators that had tenure and then fired them a year later, as soon as they could. In the meantime, they had to "cross-train" some other (newer,  younger, less expensive) employees in other programs, like Early Headstart and reading. There were four of them who had been there since I was, about 15 or more years. She has applied for other jobs at the school district with no success. They were told at the end of last year. She and Jack spend their summers in Canada, so she can't really look for a job that is not with the school district.

Ray and I came home, ate supper, and went to rehearsal. Pretty fun. Captain and Vanessa are in Atlanta at a motel, getting ready to fly to Boston.

Still smoky, but getting better. Yesterday was going well at work until I got an email from the board finance lady. She has such a way of saying things to really get me upset. I wanted to tell her, when you send me an email like that, it suggests you think I am stupid, lazy, immoral...and it makes me not want to work here any more. So, I was really stressed all through lunch with Ray at The Taste of India, which was otherwise very good. After lunch, I called her and got a better understanding of what needed to be done. She is not very good at explaining things, so I got upset but didn't really have much idea what to do from the email. I had to go back and undo the July reconciliation, but I figured out what the problem was and fixed it, redid July and August, and sent her a copy. Hopefully, now she will be pleased. It's not that she isn't right and it's important that someone pays attention. She just has terrible people skills, I guess.

I left at 3, when Ray came to get me after giving platelets. He felt a little odd, so he let me drive. After a little computer time, I made supper, with my parents' help, and enjoyed drink & snack with them, while watching some TV. Ray & I headed for rehearsal, which was a little lame because half the people we needed weren't there. It seems to be a fairly disorganized large production (I think they said 60 people...), but I expect it will start coming together.

We watched Masterpiece Theater, one I had seen about a week ago, bur Ray liked it, and went to bed. Slept well. Cool this morning. Time to go walk the dogs in the dark!

Unfortunately, our house still smells of smoke, in spite of having the windows open all night two nights. It's not too bad, but during the heat of the day when we had it closed up, it was worse. We lit some candles, but they didn't seem to help. If it hadn't been in the 90s, I would have baked something and that would have helped.

We had pancakes, walked the dog. Ray slept late. Captain & Vanessa came for breakfast. They went back to Nancy's to clean up and move home. Ray & I went to the Fellowship and sang a great song. Unfortunately, my voice was not very strong. I think it was affected by the smoke. Vanessa was coughing some during the day, too. In the afternoon, Ray took a nap. I vacuumed and tidied for the evening.

Kenney Ridge potluck! I had said 5:30, because I thought people would come late. But, by 5:40, we had a houseful. The Captain drove to Tontonno's to get spaghetti and meatballs. I played War with Miles (he won) and then I entertained Jeff some with the basket of toys in the study: robot, bouncy balls, finger puppets...lots of healthy food. Everyone enjoyed themselves. Many thanked me and said what a great house for a party. Lots of interest in the chickens. Sharing of information. Karen F. brought goat cheese she made herself from her goats' milk.

Watched some TV, fell asleep, and went to bed.

Yesterday was one of highs and lows. Cool enough in the morning, but in the 90s most of the day. We went to Pilatess (yay!), where there were only 3 of us. There were signs of home game traffic, but not a problem for us. We went to the bank, got gas, and went to the farmers' market. After lunch, I was somewhat at loose ends, since it was too hot to do anything outdoors. Eventually, I started making some chili that I would freeze for future meals, as well as making supper. After supper, we hurried to pick up the Turkish women scientists to take them to the contra dance. It was great fun and they enjoyed it. Susan and Tim were there, Doug A., Mary W. and Charlie J., and a few other people that we have known for 20 or 25 years. A few from the Fellowship. I took the ladies home to Student Housing, by way of Five Points to buy some bread. They don't have a car, so it must be difficult. They wanted to walk home. I said it was probably safe, but I would rather drive them. Ray had a great time dancing and, as usual, danced every dance, changing his shirt halfway through when it was soaked with sweat.

As we walked in the door, it appeared I had left the chili on the stove. It was charred and the smoke was choking. No harm done, even the pot seems okay, but the house still smells. In his haste to try to get the hot pot outside and open the door at the same time, Ray dumped it upside down on the little rug by the front door! I can't believe I didn't turn it off--not to mention the wasted effort and ingredients.

A long, hard day, but I have "finished" the mailing list. I sorted it by address and looked for duplicates that way, too. There will always be changes and additions, but I am declaring it officially transferred from the old software. We will do a mailing next week to the 900 or so that have never given any money, asking them to let us know if they want to remain on the list. The printer is donating the letter in lieu of a third quarter newsletter. I did some bookkeeping corrections too.

Ray and I had lunch (at Wendy's!) and went to the gym after work. Two games of racquetball, but I wasn't at my best. It was late on Friday and I didn't focus very well. The evening was pleasant. He made supper because I was exhausted and had no interest in food. Watched TV and read a little late. Woke up at 5, but managed to go back to sleep until almost 7. It is cooler but humid. It was in the 90s again during the day.

Another hard day at the office. Among other things, turned out I thought I paid the taxes back in May, but did not click on the "submit" button. $337 in fees and interest does not help our cash flow. Took more money out of savings so I could pay bills.

Had lunch with Becky at SaladWorks. Good, but not conducive to conversation. Why do so many restaurants have poor acoustics?

Came home with Ray and stopped at Nancy's, where Captain and Vanessa are staying for a few days. Nice. We made supper and watched TV and fell asleep. Not much to tell.

M. was at work when I got there. She couldn't sleep because of our cash flow problem. She had me print lots of reports, trying to figure out whether we can get enough reimbursements soon enough to cover our projected expenses. She thinks we will use up all our reserves by October 20. I told her i think it will be okay, but she needs something more concrete. I called DCA and they said we should be able to submit some reimbursements next week and get some money in by early October, but that seems too iffy to her. I am afraid she will make herself sick. I am trying not to ot to panic myself, but it is definitely having an effect.

Ray and I  played racquetball and swam before going to rehearsal. Then we went to Your Pie for trivia, since there wasn't any choir rehearsal. We did well until the questions about drinks. What 5 kinds of liquor are in Long Island iced tea? vodka, gin, rum, tequila, and Cointreau (or something like that). It made me feel like throwing up just to think about. What do you call a drink consisting of pale ale on the bottom and Guinness on top? Black and Tan. What was the first beer made by Terrapin? Rye pale ale. So, we didn't place, but enjoyed ourselves. Ate pizza and gelato. Went to bed and slept well.

Working, having lunch at Democratic HQ (roast beef sandwich from Big City Bread), working some more, taking Janna to her meeting, picking up Ray. Captain and Vanessa went to the circus. I didn't cook. Ray ate leftovers and I ate odds and ends: crackers and cheese, popcorn, ice cream...Worked in the yard a little and watched the chickens. Watched TV, slept well. Nice and cool this morning, hot in the middle of the day.

Sunday, I went to the Fellowship, getting a ride with Don so I didn't clutter up the overcrowded parking lot. My parents picked me up there at 12:30 (well, it was more like 12:45) and we went to the Greek Festival in Watkinsville, as we have many years. Great food and I love to watch the dancing. It was very crowded this time. We sat with Evan and Jennifer and saw other people we knew. Takis did not do his solo dance and pick up the table...I hope he is okay. I did not see Mari. I believe she is a mother now...

When we got home about 4, I was checking my emails and found an invitation to the Applebys! They were hosting a party for Jared Bailey, who is running for District 5 commissioner. I am not actually in District 5, but I was glad of an excuse to visit them and I wanted to make sure they had a better turnout that I did! There were not a lot of people there, but we talked about extending the bus lines and other local political issues.

We didn't eat much supper and i watched TV until 10:30, when I drove to the university to pick up Ray after his field trip. So it was late when we got to sleep and late when I woke up yesterday! We showered and dressed and I ate breakfast in the car. No walk for the dogs.

After a long day of working on the mailing list, doing payroll and buying milk, we went to play racquetball. Ray won, but I am playing much better than I used to. I don't know if the swimming and pilates is paying off or what, but I am much less likely to feel like I can't possibly get that shot.

We had rehearsal at 6:30, so just got something to eat at EarthFare and made our way to Memorial Park a little early. Easy and fun choreography and singing. (the music for Sound of Music was much harder). No TV and early to bed.

I slept really well again last night, even though a thunderstorm kept us up later than usual. There was one very close clap of thunder that scared us. But the rain was very welcome and there was lots of it. We had almost finished watching a movie that I like (In Her Shoes) about sisters, when the satellite went out.

In the morning, I worked in the garden some. The chickens seemed happy, going after the corn the Captain had bought and thrown in their tractor. I have decided to name them (even though we said we weren't): Sylvia, Gladys and Mabel. Sylvia is the smallest and darkest. Gladys and Mabel fight and Sylvia runs away. They don't actually hurt each other, but they are deciding who is going to be dominant--the "pecking order." It wasn't cool, but it wasn't hot. It was humid and felt like rain. At 9:30, I took a quick bath and rushed to pilates class. Made it there just barely on time. Love that class. At $10 per drop-in session, it is a great investment and something I do just for me. 

After that, I headed to the Fellowship. They are having a "start-up weekend" to celebrate our new minister and talk about our goals for the future. It was about 6 hours of sitting, listening and talking. I managed to get away with only 4. Connie is the consultant from the Mid-South and she is very good and energetic. It was a good discussion, but I am not sure it was worth it for me. It is interesting to find myself in the position of "elder"; that is, I have been a member since 1992, longer than most of the people there, although there were several there older than me.

When I got home, didn't do much for the rest of the day. Cooked, watched TV. Enjoyed being home. Had a drink and snack.

Another Saturday morning. I smile waking up as I realize it. Ray is at the coast with a group of students. I hope that it is going well. There is a certain pleasure in having the bed to myself to stretch out in and li there leisurely waking up. The windows are open, although it is not very cool an it is a little humid. I can hear the background insect noise. Two roosters crow competitively some distance from me. Then a train hoots and rumbles along. I can hear some cars as well.

Yesterday I worked hard, hoping to get the mailing list finished (not that it will ever be finished really). I did get through the M's on the last time through and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I begin to see a pattern. The people that I don't have addresses for are mainly those who have given a small amount several years ago and live out of state. So, it looks like they were deliberately dropped and I have been painstakingly adding them back! Starting on Monday, I am authorized to delete them instead. I also did a few other things.

At lunch time, I went to the Democratic HQ to eat my leftover pasta salad. The news has been depressing lately for Democrats. But the young people working for Russell are charged up. They had 40 people show up in Towns County, way up in the boonies, and a good turnout in Augusta. They say things are going well. A lady from Elberton came in and asked for a sign while I was there. And I got to see my older friend Ann D., who is a big fan of mine and was working the 12-2 shift.

At home, we threw together some supper, watched some speed Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, and I rushed off to the Fellowship. With the DVR, I can record them, and then skip through not just the ads, but the chatty parts. As soon as I guess the puzzle, I speed ahead to the next one. Wheel I can do in about 10 minutes, Jeopardy still takes 15 or 20.

At the Fellowship, they had a consultant from the Mid-South District, Connie. She is here all weekend. We are having a "kick-off" for our new minister. It's a chance to look back at our history and think ahead to who we want to be. I left at 9, but they were still going strong. It was interesting to be one of the older members. There were several that have been here longer--Virginia, Violet, David, Chip--but if you divided the group in half, I would definitely be in the older half. I joined in 1992. Some things I remember very clearly; others have faded away. I guess there is too much to remember every minute of every event.

Came home, went straight to bed, slept like a log for about 8 1/2 hours.

Ray and I both had trouble falling asleep last night, maybe because he is going away for the weekend, taking students on a field trip to the coast. On my part, I have not been getting enough exercise, so maybe that is part of it. It was cool enough to open the windows, but still in the 70s. Maybe when it is even cooler at night, it will be better for sleeping.

I worked, mostly on the mailing list, seven hours. I enjoyed eating lunch with Becky. Ray and I went out to dinner because we had the read-through for Annie at 6:30 at Memorial Park. Ella, Lisa and Geoff's daughter, is one of the orphans! Little Thomas Guillebeau, who was in Oliver and other things years ago, is the radio announcer. He has a great voice for it. Other than that, not many people we know. We will be in the Hooverville scene (I am trying to sell apples), as well as the Cabinet. Rehearsals are at 6;30, which is a bear, starting Monday. Ray shopped at EarthFare for most of the things he needs to make pancakes for 30, between dinner and the read-through. Then on the way home, we stopped at Kroger for milk.

http://www.athenscreativetheatre.com/

Worked mainly on the mailing list. It seems to go on forever. Also reconciled the checking account. Need to ask Maureen a few things, but she is tied up until next week.

Worked on pasta bean salad for potluck. Choir was good. Signed people up for photos for the directory.

In the 90s and humid again. No windows open last night. Chickens are fine, they are moulting or shedding their feathers.

Molli and chickens

Back to work yesterday. It wasn't quite as bad as I was anticipating. I worked mainly on fixing the mailing list. We ended up with lots of duplicate entries and the process to merge them is quite slow. I also look up addresses for some that didn't come through. It's not unpleasant or stressful, just tedious and not great for my back. Every now and then, I write a check or do something else, which makes a good break, but does interrupt my train of thought.

Yesterday I went out to buy trash bags and a few other things at Kroger, before having lunch at HQ, where we talked about how to improve the space and the work flow. It is a little tricky because it is Russell HQ as well as the CCDC office and we are hosting a field organizer for the Democratic Party of Georgia. Obviously, all those are important and overlapping, but it's confusing for volunteers and visitors, who sometimes don't know which office they want. And someone needs to take out the trash.

After work, Ray and I stopped at the Farmers' Market. There is one downtown on Tuesday evenings. It's much easier for us to stop on our way home than to make a special trip on Saturday morning. It was really hot--in the 90s. We got potatoes and bread and zucchini and eggplant. Peppers we have from our own garden.

We had a quick supper with Captain and Vanessa and then headed out to audition for Annie. I had gotten an email that morning that they needed more adults for the ACT production. I asked Ray and he said, "Okay!" Of course, they always want men, so he was asked if he would learn a few lines and be a Cabinet minister. He agreed and then Terry (the director) said they might make me one too. Ray pointed out that one of FDR's cabinet members was a woman, Frances Perkins, and we had seen a previous Annie production where they ignorantly portrayed her as a man. So I will probably be her. We sang and danced with the group audition too, but the dancing was particularly hard for me.

It has been a while since I was in a play, maybe not since I started blogging, and it makes me happy that we will be doing it again, especially together. You will have to remind me in a month or so, because there is a point in every show when I think, "why did I say I wanted to do this?" But I prefer having things to do in the evening; otherwise I just sit there and watch TV every night. I can probably knit some backstage or play on my iPhone. And it should not be very stressful, compared to some parts I've learned.

We didn't have to stay long and were home before 9. Captain and Vanessa were watching Wipe Out and tennis. I went to bed before 9:30 and slept well. It was cool enough to have the windows open overnight.

We had another wonderful meal at Bistro Niko. It kind of takes the edge off taking Molli to the airport to eat there first all together. Excellent food and too much wine. But then when we got home from there in the late afternoon, I was completely at loose ends. Couldn't find anything I wanted to do with myself on this beautiful holiday. The weather was excellent, a little too hot and sunny to be outside most of the day, but the morning and eventing were lovely. Even the light was different; as I looked at the trees going by on the way to Atlanta, they were beautiful.

The chickens seem to be settling in. I think the cooler weather makes them livelier. They do sort of fly at each other in a funny dance. I guess they are establishing the "pecking order."

Again, woke up and pulled up the quilt and turned off the fan. Got up and put on a bathrobe. Yay! It was really nice during the day yesterday, hot and sunny, but toward evening I sat outside and watched the chickens, who seemed much livelier when it wasn't too hot.

Ray and Molli and I sang in choir and listened to a service about immigration--sad and inspiring. It was not crowded, probably in part because of the holiday weekend, but several people enjoyed saying hi to Molli--and how great she looks! We drove to Thomas peaches and got the last of the year, as well as some brussel sprout plants for my Dad. He loves them, but hasn't grown them here; we'll see how it works.

Before dinner, we played hearts. After, we went to Buffalo's and played trivia. There were only 4 or 5 teams and we came in first! Not as wonderful as it would seem, because the prize was $35 in coupons to Buffalo's--which can only be used $5 at a time and expire in October. And they are not good on trivia night. There were still some questions which we could not answer. Two points apiece for naming the characters in Ghostbusters--we couldn't name one. He did give one point for naming actors, of which Ray managed 5. Our biggest loss was What foreign car company has a plant in Tennessee that's the biggest in the world? Ray and the Captain and Vanessa were sure it was Toyota, but it was Nissan. They put the maximum point value on that, so we lost 8 points. Molli and I didn't have any idea. One of the places we got ahead was by recognizing these song lyrics as being from Daydream Believer: "I rise, wipe the sleep out of my eyes, the shaving razor's cold and it stings..." We had beer and French fries and were home by 9:30. We were watching some TV, but I had to take myself to bed.

At last! I am cool. I am wearing socks because my feet were so cold. I have turned off the ceiling fan. The windows were open all night. I can hear insects and birds and faraway dogs barking and cars going by on the road. I woke up in the night and pulled the quilt off the floor to cover me. Sigh. We sat outside on the porch to have drink and snack and watch the chickens, who seemed a little livelier, too.

Ray and I got up at 6 yesterday (well, I was up before then anyway) and drove to Atlanta to pick up Molli, who is visiting for the weekend. She was in LA for a couple weeks for training and, luckily, the 3-day Labor Day weekend falls in the middle of those 2 weeks. What a joy to have her here! She looks great, having lost a lot of weight, and is very healthy and strong. I want to keep her around always. We ate breakfast in Hugh's new restaurant in Atlanta and enjoyed it very much. (Hugh Acheson is a young, much-admired chef, from whom I took a cooking class for charity last year).

When we got home, we watched tennis on TV and made cookies and supper. Vanessa made her famous iced tea. After supper, Molli walked Cameron. Zoe and I went a little ways with her. We watched TV and went to bed early. I finished my book about growing up in Florida in the 40s and 50s, during KKK activities. Not conducive to sleeping. But I guess things are somewhat better now.

The Captain and Vanessa got home from their trip yesterday about 12:30. They enjoyed swimming in the ocean every day and eating in good seafood restaurants, but they are not going to be moving down there. The politics are even more conservative and the neighbors too depressing. The trailers (called "coaches") are kind of cute and available very reasonably. Aunt Norma, at 93, is doing pretty well physically, but she does forget what she has just said a lot. And their trailer is incredibly cluttered, including a huge number of the paperback books that Marsha reads.

It was finally cool enough to open the windows last night, although not the kind of cool that makes you want to snuggle under the blankets, but a welcome change. It was in the low 90s during the day, but not as humid as it has been. I am tired and sore, haven't really slept enough in days--or gotten enough exercise or eaten right. Hopefully, this 3-day weekend will set me straight. Nothing we have to do, except drive to Atlanta twice, maybe do some gardening.

Today is the first home football game at UGA and the traffic in town yesterday afternoon was bad. I always hate to see the cars and trucks with multiple UGA flags attached to every window. The people seem so crazily obsessed to me. I suppose it is one more way to keep from thinking about any real  issues.

Meredith is away for the weekend and took the day off yesterday, her first vacation since she started in January. I finished up the two reimbursement requests and submitted them. Unfortunately, the city finance department is now scanning every piece of paper and it will take two weeks to get our check. I worked some more on the mailing list. After lunch, we went to the Food Bank. They had lots of good milk, with expiation dates that hadn't passed yet, free interesting juices, like cranberry-black cherry, and brand-name cereals in boxes that were not completely damaged. We stopped at a drug store and got diapers, wipes, and disinfectant spray.

Then it turned out that the printer was out of ink. I had 3 ink cartridges for a different printer and they tried to hook that one up, but couldn't get it to work. I had a 3:00 counseling appointment, so had to leave. I felt bad because Meredith was gone and Kerri was terribly busy. After my appointment, I called and they hadn't been able to make it work, so I stopped and bought a cartridge and took it to them. That's when I really noticed the traffic. I picked Ray up and we went home and visited with my parents for a while. We just had leftovers for dinner, including some of the really good cheese from the party the night before, which was a big success, if you don't count the fact that only nine people came.

I worked on fixing the Invalid addresses in the mailing list. I'm still not halfway through and we need to get out an appeal; our bank balance is going down way too fast. Meredith and I are concerned. There will be money coming in the end of the year, but will it be too little, too late? I started on the reimbursements for August; that will help.

I went to lunch by myself and read a book on my iPhone. It was lovely and delicious, but I couldn't resist dessert and then I felt too full most of the afternoon. Plus I can't really spend $22 on lunch every day. After work, at 3, I went to Gosford Wine and bought some expensive wine and cheese for the party tonight. We are having a "meet and greet" for the Democratic candidate, Russell Edwards, running against the infamous Paul Broun, Jr. There is a lot to do, but the biggest problem is I only know of a couple people who are definitely coming. I will be so embarrassed if there is not a good turnout--I would love to have a crowd for him. People are out of town or busy or they know they will vote for him and don't see a need to be there. One said they would vote for "a turnip" if it was running against PBJ.

Then I got Ray and we picked up a few more things at Kroger. I need to clean and straighten up the yard and....

Another meeting with the Olan Mills guy went well. We are excited about our new directory. Potluck was delicious and choir was fun. Ray joined us! He has never sung with any group and seems to really like it.

I slept well until 3:45 am. Then I finished my book.

Long night. Now I have a headache, in addition to my sore back and neck and shoulders. Most of the time at work yesterday, I was working on the mailing list, if I wasn't reconciling old accounts, so I was at the computer. I did have a lunch break and leave at 3. Ray and I came home early, but he went straight to bed for a long nap. I made supper. I opened the door so the chickens could go into their yard or tractor, but they stayed in the coop. Maybe it feels safer to them. They seem fine. Watched some TV. It is a little cooler at night now, but it did get up to 95 again yesterday.