I'm pretty tired. Just one more busy morning to get through.

Yesterday was the Project Safe fund-raiser, where I spent 8 hours at the Classic Center, some of it boring, some of it pretty stressful. It was the first time they had done this, a step-dancing competition, with eight teams. Some of them were amazingly good. I do not imagine I could do it, too much fast coordination required. A lot of the routines do not require music. But some groups use many different pieces, starting at different times. The Orange Twin group had seven recordings, but they had a person to call the starting times over the headset. I only messed up twice. Both times involved starting music too early, when they were standing in a pose that I thought was the cue. Since there was only one rehearsal, and one team missed it, it is not surprising. But the mood is a lot more relaxed and I don't think it was a big deal for them. The judges were not as good as other shows they have had, not as funny or relevant and a little more critical. The sheriff would comment on how much he liked the "uniforms" and then say it was great. Project Safe, including Joan, had a really good routine. They took the second place judges award. It occurred to me that I would have tried to do it if I had been working there...and dragged them down or dropped out. I have heard that the woman they hired instead of me is leaving. I wonder if they will just ask me if I want the job. Probably not, probably they will interview again. It was over a year ago.

That was not all I did yesterday. We walked, had pancakes, did some picking up for the small group coming today. We went to the Fellowship and sang with the choir. A Presbyterian guest minister preached, complete with praying and Bible readings, and I was reminded of how much better I like the way we do it. He retold the story of the prodigal son, which I never understand. I am the older child, always doing what is right and good, and never getting anywhere because of it. So I don't understand the moral--fritter away your life and your father will welcome you with a big feast...They tell me it is about compassion, which is more important than being right. But my life is all about helping others. So this upset me. I felt like he was telling us all, "don't be self-righteous."

Then we went to the benevolence market and sang there too. I wasn't interested in looking at any of the tables, staffed by representatives of non-profit organizations, many of whom I knew. And I didn't have any money to give them, although Ray "bought" several gifts. The lunch was good. Janna and Ron were there too and we talked a little. She is so excited about the wedding (and the rehearsal dinner, which she is giving for us at her house).

Ray went home and I walked to the Classic Center. He went to the contentious community meeting and fed the pigs. He brought me some apples and peanut butter. I also had some food in the green room, chicken salad and crackers and a few baby carrots with dip. And potato chips and a cookie. He came back to watch the show.

My favorite part was that Dawn and her three children, Zack, Aaron, and Lily, sat behind the sound board. I offered them a chance to listen to the headset and they thought that was pretty cool (not the oldest one, but the other two). It's pretty fun to have children think you are important. I saw some other people that thanked me as well. My name was not in the program, however. This is what I do. I have done it for the Dancing with the Stars shows three or four times. I have the music cues and know when each track should start. I watch the final rehearsal and maybe one other time. I say, "standby track one" and "go track one" and the guy next to me, Peter, who is a union worker at the Classic Center, starts the music. One fun thing is making comments over the headsets to the other techies when we are waiting for the show to start.

It was after 10 when we got home, but I wanted to watch at least one TV show and eat some ice cream before I went to bed, so we saw Wheel of Fortune. Then I slept pretty well until 6.