I started out feeling really hopeless. I am so tired of not having a job, it is sometimes impossible for me to keep going and trying to stay busy. It seems useless and boring.

I dropped Ray at his office and took the bus to the Arch from my Dad's. There was only one guy there, Jeff, and the police chief was asking him about the paint cans on the steps, neatly piled in one corner, and the paper-mache puppets on the lawn out of the way. "They are going to be declared debris," he said. Jeff moved the cans under the table. When Adam came later, he carried the paper-mache puppets to the sidewalk. Aaron came and sat next to me and read his homework for an hour or so. Linda and Katie came and held a sign for a while. Kathi D. from the Press came and put money in and gave me a hug. Another guy gave me $20!

I knit and read emails on my phone and talked to people. Lauren was there for a half hour or so. Another young woman put signs up about a march Friday night. Gretchen and her little dog came for another half hour. She said the paper-mache wasn't dry enough to paint yet. She lives in a travel trailer she built herself. They let her park it at the storage units. She sews for a living and does art. I was the only one there for a while, though, and I had to leave finally.

I took the bus back to the Captain's; Ray got on at Aderhold and drove me to St. Mary's for my mammogram. He went back kto his office to get some things and then came back to get me. It was a relatively painless process. Except for the part where they checked my information--and I had to tell them that was not my work phone; I didn't have a work phone. Then they made me fill out a form with some of the same information upstairs. That is so annoying.

As we drove home, my Dad's car was right in front of us. I worked on the ratatouille for supper and then went out to plant the camellia with Captain. Ray had dug the hole, so there wasn't much to it. He hung out his laundry, even though there was a chance of rain. And sure enough, this morning when I woke up, it was raining. Good for the garden and the camellia, not so good for the laundry, but it will dry eventually.

As he left, my Dad dropped me at Karen's to feed the pigs. She had gotten more puppy food from Mary's, and another source of scraps. She had a couple buckets with lids that I can take to Five Star Day. She washed them out with the hose and a scrub brush, as the moon rose and I waited for Ray to pick me up. I walked toward home and he came along--I was sure it was him, even though all I could see was the lights shining in my eyes. We left the buckets on the side of the road to pick up on our way back and started to potluck. "Did you put the chickens up?" I said. "Darn! he said (or worse). I knew there was something else. I brought the ratatouille..." We turned around, picked up the buckets and took them with us. The chickens were in the coop, I just had to shut the door. We zipped to potluck and were not late! A good variety of food and company.

Amber had lost her voice and was trying to direct us without it--even more challenging than usual. We are working on Christmas and solstice songs, which I mostly love. I sat next to Jenny and she was in a mood to be silly--we had the giggles two or three times. She told about a friend who was on the jury of a case and her chair collapsed under her. She got the giggles so bad, she finally had to be excused. She would get under control--and then start back up again!

We were so tired when we got home, we went right to bed. Of course, this is the first Wednesday since the time change and it seemed later than it was. Naturally, I woke at 4:45...to the sound of rain, which I like.