Yesterday was supposed to be all about homework, but I didn't do anything in that area. Captain came, Ray left. I walked a lot. We went to Nancy's to check on her chickens and got three eggs from them and three from ours. I sent six with Captain. At 11, I met with the KR finance committee and we talked. Then I had lunch. I arranged to have a plumber come and do the backflow inspection for the community center, just under the wire. The deadline was Sept. 1. I got an e-mail about a job opening and spent the rest of the day working on that. I helped Ray some with the pasta bean salad for the Kenney Ridge potluck.

My friend Adah was there; we hadn't seen them in a while. She sat next to me while she ate supper. I had to encourage her to eat everything before she had a second muffin. And clean up the pizza she dropped on the floor upside down. We hid in the closet and behind the couch--and found the puppy (stuffed toy) she had left months before! Soli and Sophia played Speed--Gerald and I had played that a lot the year he was here.

TV, ice cream, bed.

We left before 9 yesterday morning and came home after 9 at night. This was a good plan in terms of saving gasoline. It was a little tiring.

After Ray rushed into his building a few minutes before he had to teach a class, I drove to the Ramsey Center. As I hadn't been there in a while, it felt strange and interesting. Ray had bought a parking pass for Ramsey so I would not have that excuse to not use it. I had to park on the second floor, not like when we used to come very early in the morning. Walking down the stairs and into the building is already a workout. I went to the cashier's window and asked whether I should cancel the payment for membership as a spouse, since I can access as a student. She agreed and had me fill out a form and sign as Ray, which I did. I also asked for my locker combination (again).

I spent 30 minutes on the bike and I was sweating when I finished. The scale at Ramsey says I weigh 180--I was lower than that a few months ago, but I will do it again.

I drove to the library and spent some time reading for class. Then I met my Dad for lunch at the Last Resort. I had a piece of tres leches cake in honor of Molli and Adrian's wedding and saved some of it for Ray. I got to the Institute over an hour before class, so I kept working on the readings.

Ray met me there after class and we drove down to Thomas's for peaches, but they were all gone for the season! I had some peach ice cream to comfort myself...we did some grocery shopping at the Kroger on Epps Bridge Road, since we had a little time before potluck.

Potluck, choir, bed.

My Dad went to be a mentor at an elementary school yesterday morning, so he didn't come here. I went in with Ray, so I could go to class without driving the truck. He was just barely there on time. I went over to the Tate Center to see about renewing my passport. Oddly enough, they can do it for a 5-year passport, but not a ten-year one! That's okay, because they charge something like $25 over and above the passport fees. They could take my picture, which was the part I needed. Now I just have to mail it myself and hope I don't do anything wrong to slow the process.

Then I went to the library. They have been expanding for months--lots of men in hard hats, yellow tape, big trucks and occasional noise. Now they have finished the first phase and we can go in the front door again. There are some library tables and chairs with a view, and 60+ computer stations in a huge room. They were pretty much all in use. At least one person was playing solitaire on a big screen. I did some of my reading for my classes on my iPad and picked out a few books for fun. I took myself to lunch at Loco's, eating their Rooster salad, yum, and reading my email.

I was early to class and it went well. We received our first papers back, and mine said excellent. I do feel like I talk more than the other students. Mary is a few years younger than me and she talks even more.

Ray met me at the Institute and we drove home together. It was hot and we studied the forecast. Isaac may not be coming our way after all. We had hoped for rain. He went out and mowed as it got a lttle cooler. I made supper, but waited to eat. I decided I really need to put in the plants I had bought before the rain (in case we got it). It was really hot and humid and I couldn't dig because the dirt was too hard. It's a catch-22, because I want to plant them before the rain, but the ground will be softer after the rain. It turned out they were badly pot-bound, just a mass of roots and very little soil. They probably won't live. Moral of the story: don't buy half-off plants from a nursery going out of business.

Yesterday was the spelling bee and we did pretty well, in spite of not getting into the finals. Our team, two and a half geezers, was in the fourth and final round. So was last year's champs, the Hot Spells. We did not raise enough money to have a free miss. We were in the top four fundraisers on Saturday, but some of the other teams must have increased their donations. If you are willing to spend the money, there is nothing to stop you from writing a check 30 minutes before to bring up your total. All of which is good, because it goes to the athens Literacy Council. We did spell 14 progressively-harder words, though, before misspelling triquetous (I think that's it, I never heard of it before). Some of the hard words we spelled right include vacillate and vicissitude, as well as prespecience. Our team worked well for the most part and it was great fun. I bid on a lot of silent auction items, but came away with only one thing--a gift certificate for Agora. Janna came a little later than I did and won lots of things.

We also sang in choir yesterday and for the first time managed to carpool with two women from this side of town--yay! We stayed for lunch--I had made an apple crisp that was outstanding, if I do say so myself. Ray peeled and cored 10 apples. That's the hard part. When I was in line for lunch, Cathi said to me, "No one was in charge...the minister told me you were in charge. It's okay, we took care of it." I had no recollection of agreeing to do anything to organize the lunch, but it's certainly possible. 

Other than those two big events, we watched hurricane coverage, read some, wpent a little time outside, and took a 15-minute walk.  The mosquitoes were too plentiful for me to stay out. I am afraid of West Nile virus. Ray has mowed some of the lawn and the chickens enjoy being out. In fact, they squawk at in the morning, hoping I will let them out. I have a complicated plan to replace the garden fence and incorporate a chicken run. This will keep the bugs and grass down and make it harder for deer and others to get in.

Saturday we went to pilates and the farmers' market and spent the rest of the time at home. We ate shrimp for supper.

Yesterday was going well--until I found ants in my closet! What a pain. I carried a few things outside to get rid of them, sorted through a lot more, and started washing. I found an ant trap and stuck it in there--hopefully it will do the job. Liz told me cinnamon and cucumber peels are two natural repellents.

We had a little walk before Ray went off to work. Captain and I worked in the garden some, mostly pulling things up. I did a little reading while he was still out. Then I took my bath and got dressed. He hung my laundry. I had a terrible time trying to get the chickens in, even with him helping. The black one was on the nest and one of the gray ones was in. I let her out trying to put the other one in. Finally I left them, saying "Blackie is doing a better job laying eggs than you are, so I don't care what happens to you!" At that point, they were under the West deck. (nothing bad happened while they were out and I was gone)

I met Janna for lunch at Lumpkin Cafe and we had a nice time. She took me to her office at Aderhold, where I read articles on my phone and she had a series of meetings. When Ray's class was over at 2:15, we walked to his office to get the car. It was pretty hot walking across campus.

At home, I continued my reading while Ray napped. I started some bread. When he woke up, he went out to mow a bit. It makes such a difference! We moved the chicken coop and they happily went in it. I weeded the strawberries. There are only four of them alive that I can find and they are very dry. I watered them and hope to save them. I have three more to plant.

We had a very late supper after dark: pork and zucchini. We watched a British TV show via Roku and Netflix: the IT crowd. Very silly humor vaguely reminiscent of The Office featuring the nerds in the basement.

Slept until 6:30 when Cameron started barking his head off--it was still dark.

My Dad came pretty early and worked in the garden for hours. He planted carrots and radishes. I did a lttle, but it got hot and I was supposed to make cookies. Ray and I walked some. I mixed the cookies up, but it was too hot by then to bake them. I did some reading for my Psych of Aging class. He left and I had lunch about noon. I did some more readng and computer work.

I baked the cookies about 5. Ray came home and we turned around and went out again. The opening of the Democratic HQ was at 6, although we were a little late. I brought a few cookies, but there was a ton of food there and I should have just taken them home again. i forgot them when I left though, sadly. There was an excellent turnout and lots of people to say hi too. After a while, it was loud, hot, and crowded, and we left. My Dad was there, as well as Janna and Ron, Becky and Kent. Becky and Kent ate dinner at Heirloom with us. Ray had already eaten a lot at the open house, so he just had a salad. Becky and I had burgers. They were delicious. Heirloom's claim to fame is local food. I ordered the peach upside down cake, but only ate half of it. Becky's sweet potato pie was delicious, too.

We watched John Stewart and went to bed, so woke up before 6.

Yesterday I had Ray drop me off as he was leaving, so I could walk back. I spent a little time in the garden. My Dad came about 10, but didn't spend time outside because he was dressed for lunch. I took a bath and got dressed and we both read things on our computers. Also I made pasta bean salad.

At 12:30, we met Bill, our spelling bee team mate, at Transmet and had lunch. I quizzed them both on spelling words from a guide the Literacy council had emailed me. My Dad got them all right, except one. I can't challenge you to spell it, because I can't talk to you orally. Can you spell sarsaparilla? Of course, it's pronounced sassparilla. Our plan is for Bill and me to defer to the Captain. We are pretty confident, but then I was confident other years. Our team? The 2 1/2 Geezers. If you want to contribute or learn more, click here. The event is this Sunday afternoon at the Hotel Indigo. Tickets are only $5, I think.

After that, I went by the library for a bit until Ray was finished for the day and came to pick me up. The library is in the throes of a major renovation and it's interesting to find a place to sit there. At the moment, you can't actually look through the books. If you want one, you can ask for it and they will find it and bring it to you, if you know exactly what you want. I generally browse, so didn't get any new books yesterday. I expect I'll be able to see them again soon.

Ray and I spent a little time at home before we headed to the Fellowship for potluck and choir.

I seem to be burning my candle at both ends, with predictable results. Last night we went to see The Campaign at Beechwood with Becky and Kent. It was better than I thought and we were home before 10. I just have to have popcorn and Snocaps at the movies, unless I go to Cine, and the only thing to have with popcorn is Coke. So then I was awake most of the night--how stupid is that! I had to rush there from class, which went from 4:55 to 7:55. I enjoyed it. An older woman biology professor spoke about some of the aging research. A lot of it was beyond my comprehension--I wished Ray were there; he would have really enjoyed it.

Primates and Humans share a lot of DNA. Primates die soon after their reproductive years are over. Humans live a lot longer. What evolutionary reason is there for that? This is a question I had already pondered and really wanted answered. There are several hypotheses. The ones she likes best is the grandmother education effect. Women who live longer have more grandchildren. Theoretically, they provide support to their children and so they are  more "successful" from a reproductive point of view. No, not because they nag them... She also talked about how that works. Some of it was about tleomeres and genes and I can't tall you about it. In involved nude mice...She also urged us all to know the warning signs of stroke and emphasized that heart diseases kills more women than cancer, and is more preventable. Yes, exercise and diet, and quit smoking if you haven't.

Working backwards through my day, before that I was home reading my assignments for that class and there were a lot and I didn't finish all of them. It took me a while to get access to one of them. I couldn't read it on my iPad until I downloaded it on my computer and copied it to Dropbox or Evernote. I had lunch with Becky, Ray, and Le'Ann at Eitenne. Le'Ann broke her ankle in two places. Becky picked her up and took her home and we had a really nice time. I was somewhat moderate in my food choices, ordering salad nicoise (which they make with seared raw tuna steak--quite yummy, but not authenitic in my opinion). I helped other people eat their French fries and pasta and had a couple bites of Ray's croque madame, which is better than ordering my own. I did order creme brulee. The chocolate tart was too sweet for Becky, so I had a couple bites of that too. This is why we were able to have popcorn for supper...

In the morning, I went to the eye doctor and ordered new lenses. The ones I have are scratched, and she told me last year they should be replaced, but I didn't want to spend the money. Ha! I don't have any more money this year, but I noticed it when I was doing a lot of reading for classes.

I went to pilates yesterday morning. We had time for a short walk first. I stopped at the Farmers' Market on the way home and got some potatoes and zucchini. I spent a little time in the garden. It wasn't very hot yesterday, but humid, threatening but not delivering rain.

My Dad came over for a bit and planted some broccoli and lettuce for me. He was feeling down because the food we had eaten Friday night had made him sick and he doesn't know what he can do to keep from being sick so much.

Ray was splitting wood and hit his finger, so he came in and put ice on it. It is very discolored and he will surely lose the nail.

Ray and I had leftover rice salad for lunch and Captain went home to eat canned chicken soup.

Ray and I watched the Olympics we still have recorded and rested up.  I would have made some ginger cookies, but I'm out of eggs. Fortunately, I figured it out in time, so I have creamed butter and sugar in the fridge. I needed two eggs for dinner, to make frittatas with peppers and potatoes, which were delicious. And have one left for pancakes this morning.

After supper, I tried to rustle up some kind of outfit for Groovy Nights. I still have some things I wore in the 70s--or at least something a lot like. A long "peasant" skirt and cotton over shirt, for instance. But the costumes at Groovy Nights tend more toward shiny materials and bright colors--white boots are big too. So I changed to a black and white dress I have, with beads, eye shadow and white lipstick. And my Bass sandals--I have been wearing basically the same sandals since then. I have two pair, because my Mom had exactly the same ones. So I don't need to buy any more sandals for a long time...After all, we're certainly not going to win the costume contest.

I was pretty off the whole night--I really didn't want to go anywhere and it was loud and crowded with people I don't know. Deb and John met us there. I was forbidden from bidding on any auction items--but there weren't any I wanted, really. I spent $5 on a drink and $10 on a frog bath mat. It's cute and I felt sorry for it, because no one else was bidding on it. Maybe I'll give it to someone for Christmas.

We danced a little, but they played the same songs over and over, some that we like, but not all my favorites from the 60s and 70s, just the pounding repetitive ones, like YMCA and Celebrate and We are Family. It's just too much the same every year. They have footage of Soul Train they show, which is interesting, but seems to me to border on racism sometimes--the ads for hair products are fascinating. They serve chocolate fondue, which is yummy, but hard not to get on yourself. We couldn't sit at a table because they were all reserved for people who spent more than we did--or planned better. So we sat on chairs and ate on our laps.

We came home after 11.

Hmm, looks like I missed a day. Sorry about that.

Thursday morning I worked on my writing assignments for class. Ray came home after his class and ate lunch. Then we drove to Atlanta. We were picking my Dad up at the airport, but first we went for a quick visit to Fernbank, where Ray took lots of photos of the dinosaur skeletons. We also visited the exhibit on poop. Of course, we didn't get to stay very long and probably didn't leave as early as we should have. Then the traffic was bad and my Dad called to say he had already arrived. He wasn't feeling good, so we abandoned our plan to eat at Bistro Niko. By the time we got to Conyers, he was feeling a little better. We ate at the best restaurant in Conyers, an Italian place, according to Trip Advisor.

I told him what he should and shouldn't eat. No sauce, plain pasta with grilled chicken. The salads Ray and I had were especially good.

They dropped me off at UUFA for a Lay Ministry meeting, where I volunteered for too much, probably making up for the meetings I missed while we were away. There is a lot to do and we seem to talk more than we do. Nancy M. gave me a ride home. My Dad was sleeping at our house. He slept 12 hours and felt great the next day.

We had carefully left his car at his house and the truck is full of firewood still from a week ago. So I drove Ray to UGA and came home with the car. On the way, I stopped at Hendershots and got my Dad some coffee. In an hour or so, he was ready to go home. I drove him there and then went to Kroger. Then I had lunch with Becky.

Meanwhile, I was very annoyed at UGA. I wasn't able to register. One of the reasons turned out to be a new requirement last year that everyone prove they are a US citizen. OK, I have to fax them my drivers' license. But couldn't they have told me before now? I stopped at the Institute and they faxed it for me. Then I rushed home and kept trying to register. It took until 4 before the flag was removed. Now I am officially registered...and I have to pay almost $4000 by Monday. Annoyingly, they use a company to process credit cards that charges 2.75%. Oh, well, at least I have that option.

Last night, I drove my Dad to a fund-raiser for the Madison County Democratic party, where his friend David is active. It was about a half hour from home, in the middle of nowhere. There is a winery north of Ila! We tasted several wines and chatted with the vintner's wife, who is Irish. We settled on a bottle of Grenache, a blush wine that seemed tasty but not too sweet.

This event was quite interesting. I knew no one there except David...and the DJ, Barbara S. There were more African-Americans than white people and everyone was having a great time, chatting and laughing. Most of the ladies vere very nicely dressed--I wore a red dress that was pretty fancy, and my mother's Venetian necklace. Dinner was BBQ, chicken, green beans, mac & cheese, peach cobbler, watermelon, and sweet tea. It was very good. But it was served on syrofoam plates with plastic cups and silverware! Democrats! Jeez...

There was line dancing and getting candidates on the floor to shake their booties...very amusing. My Dad talked some to David and we left a little after 9.

Meanwhile, Ray had been to the Geology party and met us at the Captain's house, so he would have his car this morning. We went right to bed about 10.

I have three textbooks now. I bought one used, one as an e-book, and am renting the third. Actually, I read the first chapter as a free trial and will probably rent it. I have done most of the reading for two of my classes for next week, but have to do the writing part. I am officially accepted, but still could not register yesterday when I tried. They told me last night that I should be able to now.

I made rice salad in the morning, while I was reading. I had leftover jambalaya for lunch and it tasted pretty good!

I went to the bank and met Ray to leave the red car at my Dad's. I was feeling euphoric and having lots of thoughts and ideas. I saw the policemen with their radar gun and slammed on the brakes. Fortunately, they had not been "shooting" me.

I walked into the glass on the epidemiology of aging--and it was at 2:30, not 3:30. Darn! I hate being stupid. It is also a very different class from the other two, involving statistics and lots of terms I don't know. On the other hand, the professor is relaxed and interesting. On the other hand, the class seems very disorganized. I guess it will be educational.

I am starting to feel like a student again. I went to two different bookstores, to buy a used copy of one of my books for under $30. I bought another online as an e-book and rented a third...I have so much to do!

An early-morning thunderstorm made it really wet for us to walk and kept me from working in the garden. Ray headed out and i followed later, meeting Becky at Transmet for a nice lunch. We went to Cofer and I looked for bean seeds, but they only had fall crops. Then we went to Belk and bought Jockey underwear on sale. That's one thing I can't buy at the consignment store.

I had another class at 4:55, this one much bigger as it is the intro to Gerontology: Perspectives in Aging. As I arrived, they gave me my acceptance letter. Now I can officially register (and pay!). Three hours is a long time... I knew someone in the class, Nancy T., from the Democratic Committee. She is older than me and her office at UGA is closing. She gets to take classes for free as a UGA staff member.

I had an idea today: design for seniors (apparently that is not the right term--older adults). Not just housing, but public and private buildings could have features that make it easier for older people. Just as there are play areas for children, or places to park bikes, as the older population explodes, it should be easier for them to patronize businesses and attend public activities. No steps, handrails, chairs that are good for your back and easy to get in and out of, reading materials in waiting areas. No loud music, good acoustics...

I have a headstart on some of the assignments. One is to spend at least 8 hours with an older person and write down my observations...it can be a relative.

Came home, watched TV, went to bed.

I went to class yesterday, even though I am not actually enrolled yet. I am starting the Gerontology Certificate program at UGA. The class was the Psychology of Aging and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I really like learning and the challenges that go with it. I have to buy two books and get busy reading and writing. There were 6 or 7 others, an interestingly diverse group. Two Ph.D. students seem very young to me, but so does the professor, who just got married and changed her name--I think it's Emerson now. Along with a lot of introductory stuff, like reviewing the syllabus and signing up to do reports, we watched a couple of TED talks--one by Jane Fonda, a hero of mine and Dr. Emerson's. She is now into aging and spoke about the third act of life and being finally able to be yourself, especially for women.

The other TED talk was by a woman neuroscientist who had a stroke and talked about the experience. It took her 7 years to recover, but she was clearly pretty sharp again now. The left lobe of her brain stopped working, and so she couldn't talk or dial the phone, but the right brain took over and she had a euphoric feeling of well-being. She says if we could all turn off our left brains occasionally, the world would be a better place. Fascinating and powerful.

Other than that, I spent about an hour pulling up grass in the garden, hoping to plant some beans before it is too late. But I have to buy some seeds and I don't know if the stores will have them. We have a few old ones, which have not worked when I planted them before.

I went to the doctor for my physical. My cholesterol and blood pressure meds are working pretty well, but I am still creeping toward diabetes. She told me to cut back on carbs and get more exercise. When she started telling me specifically about potatoes and rice, I told her I was doing that, but it didn't seem to help. Of course, I will do better now that I am home, especially the exercise part.

I went to Earth Fare and bought a f ew groceries (including white bread flour), as well as some things for lunch: tuna salad, Asian noodle salad, squash salad. I went to my Dad's, brought in his mail, and ate my lunch there.

After class, I came home. Ray and I made Roman rice and beans for supper. We still have Olympics on tape, so watched some of that, plus a little John Stewart.

Water communion at the Fellowship yesterday. The Lay Miniters (incluing me) conducted part of the service. It's always fun to hear where people have been and see them at the start of the year. Lisa and Ella and Billy were there. Ltos of good rain music, like Dan Fogelberg's and Come Sing A song with me (which includes Come Walk in Rain with me).

Before we left home, I had cooked potatoes and green beans and hard-boiled eggs and put together dressing, so we had Salad Nicoise after the servcie. I had to stay for a meeting from 1-3, at which we discussed a book we had read, Don't Call Them Jerks, about dealing with difficult people in the congrgation. It was a good conversation, better than I expected. Ray went down to the peach place in Watkinsivlle and brought me back peach ice cream, which I ate in front of eveyone. It was awfully good. We have lots of peaches now.

We watched Olympics most of the rest of the day, except we saw an old movie from Netflix late in the evening. It was very fun: Charade with Audrey Hepburn.

We had thawed a small pork steak for supper and I made a delicious BBQ sauce. Ray grilled it, but it was a little too done, unfortunately. We had a few broccoli stalks from the garden adns some rice. Also a cucumber I bought at the farmers' market. And a bag of corn chips--well not a whole bag.

It was cool enough overnight to open the windows, although a little damp. Yay!

There was a drip irrigation workshop yesterday morning from 9 to 11, so I didn't do much else except eat breakfast, shower and dress, before I drove there. It was at the greenhouses on South Milledge belonging to UGA's Horticulture Dept., and taught by a professor. Lots of good information. Of course, I would have to spend money to buy the parts, but it might save us money on water bills. At this exact moment, we have enough water, but that will surely change. I didn't rain much here yesterday, but it was very overcast with some occasional sprinkles.

Ray went and cut firewood, which was great. He was exhausted though. Fortunately, it was relatively cool.

I made us omelets with peppers for lunch and watched some Olympics recorded from the day before. Volleyball, track, platform diving, women's water polo. I could watch all day every day and not see everything. The recordings are great, because you can skip through the ads and even the interviews if you want, just watching the action.

We went to Paul and Tanya's to celebrate her birthday. It was nice to see many of our neighbors. They were having pork barbecue and asparagus...as well as lots of other things, including cake. but we had another invitation. We met Janna and Ron and Deb and John and Becky and Kent at Teds Most Best for a lovely dinner and then the theater. Lysistrata at Town & Gown. Ray was running the box office, and it was sold out. They had to turn people away. Which is nice in one way, but it was kind of a madhouse. Some people said they had reservations, but their names weren't listed...

The show was not my favorite, but impressive. A large cast, of whom we knew many.

Yesterday morning I whipped up a batch of Cowboy cookies while it was relatvely cool. I opened the kitchn window, in spite of very high humidity. I spent about an hour working on salvaging some of the garden. There is a squash plant that had hundreds of fuzzy white bugs on it. I squshed a lot of them, but I bet they are back this morning. Must spray. I pulled up a lot of weeds (mostly grass) and some dead plants (tomatoes, dill...). I am going to plant another squash in a different place and see if I can get it to produce some fruits before frost.

Ray and I tidied up a lot because the cleaning lady was coming. Now we have a really nice house, except for a few rooms. Two people were here for four hours. She said if we have a regular day and time, it won't take so long to keep it up.

Ray and I left as they got started. He went to his office and I went to lunch with Becky at Mama's Boy. It is always crowded and noisy there.

Not much to say about yesterday. We had another thunder-boomer in the afternoon. This one lasted a while and must have left us a good amount of rain. The chickens were out most of the day and they looked pretty pathetic when I put them up, soggy, like a wet cat. We watched a lot of Olympics, but there is still a lot more to see. I spent most of the day on the computer and answered some of the important e-mails. Potluck at Kenney Ridge was mostly pleasant.

hmm...time warp...where to begin??

We are home in Athens, Georgia. It is hot and humid. We had an awesome thunderstorm last night, so are not directly suffering from the drought right now. Most of the garden is pretty bad off. Deer got in and ate the beans and other things. The tomatoes, cucumbers, squash are pretty much done, due to heat and drought mainly, although we harvested some earlier in the year. It is consistently over 90 and stuff just doesn't do well. Sweet potatoes are growing just fine. We have a couple pretty sunflowers, as well as marigolds and zinnias, and lots of peppers. We should have some eggplants in a few weeks--they look good. And we ate some melons that were good.

I am trying to adjust to being alone here again. It is very quiet and nice in some ways--I can mostly find what I want and don't worry about anyone else. We have recorded the Olympics and watch at our own pace, zipping through ads and some of the "background" stuff. Except that there is too much and I fall asleep after a while.

We had a pleasant potluck supper at UUFA last night, saying hello to five of our friends there. I made a pasta bean salad, using some of the many peppers we have. There's enough left for tonight's KR potluck as well. We ran some errands during the day, meeting the cleaning ladies at my Dad's apartment and going to the bank and the grocery stores. Ray spent some time at his office.

the Mayflower II

Cameron seems happy to see us and we let him in to the cool house often, whenever I am downstairs to make sure he doesn't decide to climb on the couch. The chickens are out of their coop now, pretty much for the full day, the first time in a while. They seem unhappy and I haven't had any eggs from them yet. I have noticed before they seem to blame us for heat or cold or rain.

The day Molli and Adrian left Boston for the Cape, we met them in Plymouth and visited Plimouth Plantation, a recreation of where the Pilgrims landed and set up housekeeping. We thought it would be a fun and educational experience for Adrian. I remembered it fondly from the last time we went. Unfortunately, it was a little hot (no AC of course). The re-enactors there are amazing, with accents and authentic costumes...

I had lab work done yesterday morning and I am afraid of the results. I have gained back weight whie I was traveling and not able to eat as well as at home. We shall see.

Deb and Molli

The day we flew home was a little more stressful than most of our travels have been. We took the M60 bus from Upper Manhattan, near Columbia, to LaGuardia. We have done this before and generally enjoy it. But it happened that it took over an hour this time. It is really hard to watch the minutes go by and know you are going to be late and can't do a thing about it. We actually got to the airport about 45 minutes before our flight. We came in on the wrong level and had to hurry to check in. The kiosk would not let me check my bag, even though I had prepaid it. A helpful person got us to the head of the line and eventually they overrode it and sent our bag through, but they warned that it might not make it. After that, it wasn't too bad. We got to the gate in time to board easily, but no sitting around waiting. The whole flight I was wondering if the suitcase would make it. Landing, getting to the baggage claim, and there it was. Next challenge--could we make the 4:15 shuttle? A call to Groome reserved us two seats, although it was very full. I sat next to a young man from Estonia, who had just arrived in this country for this first time, to become a student-athlete at UGA. His sport? Decathlon! Very interesting. His English is better than many Americans'. I gave him my contact info and said I would love to drive him around and have him to dinner, etc. But I may or may not hear from him. He doesn't have a local phone yet or email address... His name is Michael Uibo, in case he becomes world famous.

My Dad had left the red car for us, so we just got in it and drove home. OK, the house was pretty messy. I had to keep reminding myself that we would not have wanted to leave it empty for a whole month and this was a small price to pay. The man sits on the couch and eats and drinks on the coffee table and never The day before we took the Megabus from Hyannis to New York City. This is amazing--just get on the bus in Hyannis and off in lower Manhattan--I think it was $39. However, it was not as nice as our Megabus in Athens. It was not a double-decker and the internet didn't work. My thoughts about playing cards or doing something on my computer did not hold up. It didn't matter much, though, as Ray, Molli and Adrian slept most of the time. I read and was about ready to drift off by the time we arrived in NY. We had chosen our hotel partly bcause it was only a few blocks from the bus stop. However, it stopped five blocks away. I guess they are still working out the stops. Our driver insisted he was supposed to be there (11th avenue), while the coordinator said no, this is where you are supposed to pick up, but the dropoff is at 7th avenue. Looking at our pile of luggage, he allowed us to get back on the bus, carrying it all on with us, and he drove us to the original stop. I don't know about the other riders. Maybe they didn't mind. Now I hear that a Megabus recently caught fire on its way to Charlotte. Maybe I will be less excited about taking it...wipes it off! We slept well and appreciated our own bed and everything else.

(para. missing here) We walked (thank goodness for rolling luggage) to our hotel. It's great to be the grande dame (or the old lady). Everyone else carries the heavy stuff and I just tag along with my purse. We had reserved several rooms and finally cancelled all of them except the Gershwin. It is a self-proclaimed "funky" or artistic place. But finding a Manhattan hotel that sleeps 4 comfortably at a good price is a challenge. This was $250 a night, about $50 more than the cheapest we found, but the location and the Frommers recommendation clinched it. A tiny elevator and we reached our room at the end of the sixth floor.  We left everything there and went around the corner to eat. Really good food, but noisy and crowded, at the Cafe 28.We had to take turns going in the one bathroom before starting on a walk. No particular destination, just enjoying being in the city. We walked south to Madison Park and remembered the last time we were there with Amelia in the rain. We admired the buildings, the Flatiron and the clock tower, and kept walking down to Greenwich Street and back up, making a big loop. We considered taking the train or bus back, but nothing was very direct, so we just plugged along, stopping for sustenance at Crumbs (cupcakes and chai). We had a late and wonderful dinner at Marseille--I'm a sucker for French. It reminded us a good bit of Bistro Niko. The chilled corn soup was awesome. I thought the desserts were not as wonderful as the rest, which was fine. I was very moderate, having some authentic bouillabaisse and a few tastes of other dishes. Pinot Grigio, bread and butter--it was all good. and I love this level of service. many different waitstaff kept our glasses filled and got our food there hot. Lots of people watching (or clothes watching).

The next morning I got up hours before anyone else, took my iPad down to the coffee shop (birches) and ordered some tea and a bagel. Oh yes, I am a New Yorker now. Watching the other people. work already going on out on the street. Eventually, we all got showered and dressed, packed our things and left the Gershwin. We took the subway up to Amelia's old stomping grounds near Columbia, that being one of the law schools Molli would like to attend. We had breakfast at Nussbaum and Wu, where we had eaten eight (?) years ago, when Amelia was a student at Barnard, and Molli and Gerald were high school seniors. The food is very good. Every place like this, the menu is extensive and it takes me a while to study it all. I love having so many choices. I had a spinach and mushroom omelet, having already had my bagel. Then we ordered a few things to take with us, sandwiches for the flight (cheaper and better than anything at the airport--and a good thing, too, since as it turned out, we didn't have time to buy anything). Roast beef and turkey with Russian dressing...Then we had to say good bye to Molli and Adrian for now, and board our bus.

We had picked them up in Boston Saturday morning early, leaving our cousins in St. Johnsbury after an early breakfast. Molli's travel luck held and they arrived about 15 minutes early. We got there just as they picked up their suitcases from the baggage claim. We drove to Point Judith, Rhode Island, where they needed to get the ferry for Block Island to attend Christine and Ian's wedding.

Yesterday was a recovery day. Ray slept late. I cooked supper--pork chops and Spanish rice and beans from the garden. Spent some time at Barbara's.