I was pretty sad yesterday to have everyone leaving. When I went downstairs, the ants had really taken over the kitchen counter. There wasn't any orange juice. And when I tried to preheat the oven so I could make spoonbread and bake the cookies, it said Off. I was pretty overwhelmed. It was hard not to feel like everything was against me.

But I managed to bake the spoonbread in the toaster oven. Ray got up and started combating the ants. And Molli found orange juice concentrate in the freezer. Then Ray turned the breaker off and on and the oven started working again. It was a tiny bit cooler outside. Polly and Jim arrived with Nate and Lidet and I spent about an enjoyable hour playing with them before they left. Amelia headed for Durham by car. We took Molli and Adrian to the shuttle and they got home safely. Bonney and Chris went with the Captain to his apartment and packed up my mom's clothes and brought them back, after lunch at the Last Resort. Bonney brought me a piece of cake in memory of my Mom. I have to decide what to do with her clothes and what things we might any of us want to keep.

Ray and I went for a walk, took showers, and did a little picking up. We had time to relax some.

People continue to send emails and cards, and we continue to have some work to do. Nicky called and found out where we can donate her hearing aids. They are so expensive, it is a shame for them to go to waste. My Dad cancelled her plane ticket and talked to the banks and investment companies. For most things, we have to wait for the death certificate.

Eventually, we had some time to play Hearts with most of Bonney's family. And we went to Beef O'Brady's for dinner and trivia. We almost won--came in second by 1 point, due to overconfidence on the last question, where you are allowed to wager up to 20 points, which are deducted from your score if you are wrong.

It was fun, but I was tired and my back was sore. It is bad today too, but I know it will get better. It is a familiar kind of back pain, from stress and things like carrying boxes.

We mostly slept pretty well.