Dagnab it, I'm sick! I was so looking forward to having all my class work done and being able to do other things, like baking and paying bills. Now my brain is not really up for much of anything. Sore throat, cough, headache. The weather is very pleasant, though, and I am grateful for a lovely place to be while I am sick and people who care about me.

Yesterday, we were awfully close to late taking Ray and Dan in. Ray had trouble sleeping and didn't wake up until 7:30, so it's pretty amazing that he was ready to teach at 9. I went on to the Ramsey Center and dutifully rode my bike for 30 minutes. The machine said it was over 5 miles. It seemed easier than other times--could be I'm getting in shape. Or it could be that bike was set slightly differently than the last one. Took my shower, but I had forgotten to bring soap--gross!

I went to the library and renewed some books and got some more. I even checked out an audiobook to listen to on car trips. I had a lot of trouble trying to pick one my Dad will like as well as me, but eventually I did. There was a child absolutely screaming its head off and I found myself edging into the category of people who find that gets on my nerves.

I met Linda Lloyd at the Economic Justice Coalition and talked with her about volunteering there on Wednesdays. She gave me a packet of information to read and left before I did. I saw Joseph S., who asked after my children. They need help with grant-writing, among other things, and I offered to help.

Ate my lunch, which was potato salad and a yogurt. Went to class with Dr. Poon, a guest lecturer who was in charge of the Georgia Centenarian Study. Several students were absent. Hmm.

Picked up Ray and we stopped at Earth Fare. I felt like I was going to pass out and couldn't make it to potluck, so bought a baguette and some chicken salad. MMM, tasted like ambrosia, and saved my life.

Potluck, choir, Jeopardy, and bed. Slept pretty well in spite of the mask and the cold, with the help of cough syrup. Achy this morning.

Yesterday morning Ray took me to the Red Clay Cafe on campus. I carried my umbrella, my lunch, my water bottle, my computer, and my purse. I sat in a lovely quiet room and worked for over an hour, but the air conditioning was blowing on me and I didn't have a sweater and my hair was wet.

At 12:00, I went in the back of Ramsey. I was supposed to meet two students from my Epidemiology class to work on a project together. I kept trying to get my email and checking my phone, since I just knew Alan was somewhere in the building, getting out of class at 12:15. Finally an e-mail came through: in room 352. I went up two flights of stairs and walked around looking for the room. The numbers went from 351 to 353. I was tired and stressed and frustrated. I asked someone for help and she showed me the room, a nice quiet small conference room. Alan was on his computer and Mai showed up in about 10 minutes, saying how hard it was to find. We managed to do our assignment. Alan emailed it to us as we left.

I tried to paste the graph here, but it doesn't seem to work. It was very interesting, comparing death rates in the South to the northeast. They are quite similar for the younger group (25-44), except for one thing. There is a huge spike in the northeast in 2001. Yes, that would be almost 3000 deaths from terrorist attack. For the older group, 45-64, there are more deaths by about 100 per 100,000 in the South in 1999. The rate here is not declining very much, while it is in the Northeast, so by 2009, the difference is almost 200 deaths. Ray and I said we better move. I should look at the older group, and/or break it down by state.

As I was leaving, I realized I no longer had the umbrella. Ray had warned me not to lose it, so I backtracked until I found it. He picked me up back at the Red Clay Cafe about 30 minutes later. We headed home after a stop at his office and one at Normal Hardware, getting fasteners for the new fence we hope to put up around the garden this week to keep the deer out as they get more agressive. There are way too many deer in Kenney Ridge and they will not all survive, competing for whatever they can find to eat. Our plantings will be casualties.

At home, I worked on the readings and printed the journal article for yesterday's class. Ray cooked some ham steak and broccoli for me to eat before I left again.

Class was interesting, even fun. There was a simulation of what it is like to be old and live in a nursing home. They took away our possessions and self-esteem cards and gave us goggles and earplugs and made us use a walker and drink Ensure. Some of us had stickers on our heads saying we were confused or cantankerous...Then a professor of kinesiology spoke to the class about Physical Function--muscle and bone loss, etc.

At home, I had a little wine and some sherbet and watched a couple shows. I was starting to get a cold, with a sore throat. Yes, it is very predictable: stress is followed by illness. Stuffy nose, headache, body aches and a sore throat. Hopefully, it will be a mild one.

I am grateful for the rain and the cool weather.

It's raining steadily and very gray. Wonderful for growing things. Not so good for walking. I had trouble sleeping last night. In fact, I think it is the first time I dreamed about my mother dying.

I went with Ray and Dan and then drove to Bishop for a great SGM discussion. The topic was Ecclesiastes, To Every Thing there is a season... I met Becky for lunch and then went to class.

We had a guest speaker, a professor of Pyschology who does research on memory loss. It was very good. Then I did my presentation, which went fine. Dr. Emerson seemed pleased. The class was its usual unresponsive self. With only six people, I would think we could have some good discussions. We continued to talk about dementia and memory loss. Do you know how many different kinds of memory there are? Eight, if I'm remembering right. And only a couple of them get worse as you age, usually.

We came home, I made omelets with peppers and ate leftover potato salad. Then I went to the Green Sanctuary meeting, which was well attended.

Watched TV, went to bed, nothing to read.

Had trouble sleeping and slept late.

My Power Point is almost done and I did some of the other readings for Monday.

We went for a longer walk and that made us nearly late for Pilates. Captain was here, but I didn't have time to chat much. There was a sub for Amanda and I didn't like her as much. Becky was there. We went to the Farmers' Market, but didn't buy anything. I was feeling too cheap to buy potatoes at $2/lb or squash at $3.

We went to Kroger to buy the potatoes and a few other things. Big lines because it was a home game day. At home, had some leftover pasta salad and a few cookies and an apple. Worked on my class work.

Ray mowed the lawn and then we cooked some shrimp for supper. Good with rice and a salad. A little ice cream afterward. Time for a couple TV shows and then bed, but I couldn't sleep. I finished my book and then got up and worked on my powerpoint. I inserted photos from Mexico, since it is a Mexican study. Slept until 7--with my mask on.

I enjoyed my day at home to some extent, but I am working hard on a Power Point presentation for Monday's class. Of course, I still have to do the regular work for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I want to get this done, so I can stop stressing about it and do some other things, like gardening and cooking.

Ray left before 8, so he could get lab work done for his annual physical. He took breakfast, of course.

My Dad came around 10, but he didn't come to garden. He was pleased because he had gotten his driver's license, thanks to a helpful person there. I made some cookies while he spent time on his computer, sharing news items with me. It seems like Obama is more and more sure to win the election.

I couldn't make cowboy cookies, because I didn't have enough chocolate chips. I started to make oatmeal cookies and found I was out of raisins! So I made oatmeal-coconut cookies. They were pretty good, but would be better with raisins (oatmeal-raisin-coconut)!

I ate some leftover couscous--it was really good. My Dad talked to Aunt Norma for a while. I took the phone and chatted, too. She was a bit confused and repeated herself, couldn't remember her granddaughter's name, although she said, "the one that went to Harvard." I think they are coming to visit her. Her legs are swollen and she is supposed to walk, but it is very difficult for her. She was also distraught that she couldn't come to Molli's wedding and that she couldn't even afford to send a check. That was sad. Captain said I was a really nice person to talk to her. I said, "it might be the last time."

He left and I went back to my computer for a while. Ray came home and went to bed. Liz took Cameron for a walk and brought him back and we chatted. I had some phone calls. But mostly I just worked on my assignment, until it was dark, eating more couscous and leftover mini-quiches.

Ray got up about 8 and cooked us some green beans from the freezer. We watched a little TV and ate a little ice cream and went to bed. Not sure if he slept all night, but I did, although I woke up ready to get back to work.

 Yesterday was busy, some parts better than others. We had a brisk 20-minute walk. We are trying to get up to 30 minutes a day. We think we're active, but apparently we don't walk as much as I thought. And it needs to be brisk.

As Ray and I headed out, we passed Captain Mudge coming in. He beeped and we kept going. I dropped Ray off and went to Janna's. She was almost ready and we drove to her dentist's. The appointment didn't take long and then we went back to her house. We scheduled several more appointments at times that are good for both of us. Then we went to lunch at Big City Bread, sitting on the patio outside where it was very pleasant.

After she went to work, I picked Ray up and took him to his doctor for a physical. I did some reading in the waiting room. I was dozing but there was a woman on her cell phone that made it hard for me to concentrate (or doze).

I took him back to the university and headed to Five Points. There is a German AFS student (Alisa) who is staying with a family there. I chatted with him a bit and when she came in, we said hello. I took her to ATT and added her to our family phone plan. It's only 9.99 for an additional person, but you have to have a 2-year contract...unless you have your own equipment. She had brought a Samsung smart phone with her, unlocked, and gave it to the salesperson. But it's another $30 a month for the data plan. Plus a $36 one-time activation fee. And then they asked about text messaging. We have not had unlimited text messaging, but a high school student will need that. It's $20 to add it for just her, but $30 to add to the whole group. So, naturally, we went with the $30. Now we all have unlimited text messaging. I'm pretty sure my Dad will not be using that feature, but Ray and I already do almost enough texting to make it worth doing. I took Alisa home; we were both pleased. She had been two days in high school with no phone and already people had been asking for her number of course. She will pay for her plan, when we get the bill. I hope we understood each other. Her English is very good; she has studied it for 9 years.

Ray and I came home; the traffic was pretty bad. We had about half an hour to throw together a pasta bean salad for the Kenney Ridge potluck, which was very nice (and tasty). Adah was there. Sometimes she is delightful and sometimes frustrating. I know her parents find her a challenge and I understand why. The more we can all help, the easier. She sat with me and then we went outside. When I said I was leaving, she grabbed my hand and started walking with me. "I'm going home with  you," she said. It was pretty endearing. Her sister Ruby was carrying flowers around from person to person and offering them to be smelled. That was cute too. At one point, I was playing War with Soli (card game) and coloring with Adah at the same time, not totally satisfying for any of us.

At home, I had meant to make bread but was too tired. We watched a little TV and went to bed. I slept well and am looking forward to a quiet day. I have lots of school work to do.

Cool again overnight--yay! Sadly, I had a terrible time sleeping. I did not want to give up on my sleep machine, but it seemed so loud and I could not get comfortable. Perhaps it is related to the fact that I have a presentation to do for Monday and I am the first one. Or perhaps I drank too much tea at lunch? and I am not looking forward to my trip north.

It is nice and cool and I have not had time to cook, sadly. I did go to the gym this morning and ride the bike for 30 minutes, so that was good. It is getting easier every time (and more boring).

I went to the library and read an article on a study about activity and aging. How do people's activities change as they get older? Women do more housework and shopping than men. My hypothesis is that is what keeps them alive longer, because they are more active. Men work more (for money) and then stop. They do more housework and shopping then, but not as much as women. Nobody does as much public service now as they used to. Something to ponder.

Met Becky for a nice lunch. We had to split a piece of Cecilia's raspberry cake. I had salad with chicken. I also had a nice sandwich in my lunch box, but couldn't turn down lunch with becky.

I went to class with Dr. Miles. She mentioned lots of things that I don't know about, like t-squares, but I am good at getting the bigger picture sometimes. We are now broken down into groups and will have to meet before our next assignment is due. Hopefully, someone in my group knows more about statistics than I do. I will learn a lot in this class, but is it what I want to learn?

Ray went home and finished the couscous I had started and picked me up. We went to potluck. He slept for 30 minutes until it was time to eat and he was still exhausted all through choir. I drove home and he went right to bed. He is up now, I hope he is alright.

I, on the other hand, had trouble going to sleep.

Nice and cool this morning. I need to find a sweater. Yesterday when we went for our walk, I wore a sweater. I took Ray to work and ran some errands and went to UUFA for a lunch speaker. The new Village (for older people) is going to start November 1 officially. For $250, if you're over 50, you can be a member of a network that helps people do things so they can live at home. Volunteers and discounted services are thoroughly screened and rated, for painting your house, transportation, housekeeping, and anything you might not be able to do. The director is a young woman named Kate. She was not able to come because she had a conflict, which is a little disconcerting, since we had been scheduled for months. The board member who came didn't do a great presentation, in my opinion. My Dad came and enjoyed talking to her, though, not about the subject. He had been to the school to mentor and they were on a field trip, always disconcerting.

I went to Earth Fare and Ray and I came home. I did a little class work before heading out again for class. A woman with early onset Alzheimer's spoke to us about it. She was diagnosed at 45; she couldn't work any more and told us all the things that were hard for her. Fascinating and distressing. She can't read books (or listent to them) or watch movies or TV because she forgets what happened earlier. She still goes grocery shopping, but she has to do it before 10 in the morning and if anyone interrupts her, she has to go home. She can't have a chat with a friend in the store. Noise and crowds bother her, and routine is important; changes upset her.

At the end of class, we watched a movie a woman had made about her mother after she got Alzheimer's. I cried and cried. We had to write our reaction. The most important thing to me was that, once the daughter realized she did not need to correct her mother, they were both much happier. She would forget in a minute anyway. She tended to perseverate on things--she showed up at the dentist's office every morning for a while. She called her daughter every few minutes to ask about her hearing aids, which were being repaired. She bought a lot of Lorna Doone's. She didn't remember who the daughter was, thought they were classmates in college or neighbors and of course it was really hard for the daughter. But the Mom was perfectly happy. In fact, after she moved to an institution and no longer had anything left of her life, she seemed very happy. They were allowed to live in the moment and they did. It was frustrating to her to have things that she knew should mean something to her, but they didn't, so she was much better off not living in her apartment. And she needed people around her.

Then I went to a KR board meeting, which was not what I wanted to do at that point, but it went pretty well.

Rode the bike at Ramsey for 30 mins. Found I had no soap in my locker, must have left it in the shower last time. So I showered with no soap, after considering using some left by someone else...

Went to OLLI, where the Captain was manning the Vegetable Gardening table. He seemed quite happy, answering questions and recruiting people to join the group. I am not currently a member, although there are things I would like to take. It seemed like it might be too much, and I am reluctant to spend the $45 to join, plus the class fees. Not ruling it out though.

Had lunch with Becky, sitting outside, it was that nice out.

Went to class. Trying not to respond too much, since some people say nothing. There is another woman, Mary, about 5 years younger than me, who talks even more than I do. If I hold back, she jumps in...

Picked up Ray, who was exhausted after his weekend field trip. Went home, ate vichyssoise and mini-quiches...watched TV, went to bed, couldn't sleep for a long time. So somewhat crabby and sore this morning.

Not only are all the windows open, not only is the ceiling fan turned off, but I went and got my bathrobe to put on this morning (not the winter one, but the lightweight summer bathrobe)! It is pleasantly cool and it was yesterday morning when I woke up. It was 62 and I ran around opening windows. Then I baked the chocolate cookies.

My Dad came as I was finishing up breakfast--a farm-fresh egg from contented chickens. Cameron and I walked out to get the paper.

I picked up Dan on the way to UUFA. No choir, but we set up for the Activities Fair as soon as the forum was over. I had volunteered as Lay Minister for Special Events (just made that up). I had drawn a sketch of what tables to put where. Marco set them up for me and others put chairs around. It seemed to be pretty successful. karen C. came and sat with me at the FUUN sign up. We got a lot of people for the Green Sacntauary Committee.

I brought some leftover salad with me and ate that, plus a few of the cookies I had brought. A few kids were eating a lot of them and I said that was enough. They needed to bring their parents.

After all the cleaning up was done, I headed home happily. I let the chickens out and Cameron and settled down to read for hours. It was a beautiful sunny day and by 5, it was cool enough to open the windows. I ate a small serving of vichyssoise and some fruit.

I got some mini-quiches out of the freezer (left from the wedding) and headed to Janna's. Kent and I arrived at the same time, 6 on the dot. Ron said, "what are you, my parents?" The two of us chatted a bit while Janna finished her preparations. It was the anniversary of her mother's death and she had invited over a few of her good friends. Besides Becky and Kent and John and Deb, there was me, her sister Dani who was visiting, Beth and Joe and Brad and Nancy. We had a pleasant time and a delicious dinner: lots of salads and Becky's blueberry cake (and my cookies and mini-quiches).

Everyone left but me. We chatted and I read some and then Ray called to say he was nearly back from the field trip. I picked him up and we came home and went to bed. I'm tired this morning. I guess I did a lot yesterday.

Finished all my readings for Monday and wrote the paper...way too much to say in 2 pages, so I just stopped. I have two chapters left to read for Tuesday. I have written some questions based on the other readings, but need to talk to the other person assigned this week to coordinate.

My Dad came and set out some seedlings. I went for a walk and to pilates with Becky, then bought a few things at the farmer's market, including a chinese cabbage. I got out a load of laundry before I went.

when I got home, it was thundering and I brought the laundry in. It wasn't quite dry, but close. After lunch, it rained steadily for awhile, good for new transplants. That's when I did my reading, except I dozed some...

Took the meringues off the cookie sheet and mixed up batter for chocolate sugar cookies, rolled and cut most of them, but need to bake them now. Fortunately, it's cool for the first time in ages! must open up windows...

I was invited to Deb and John's for supper, but couldn't remember what time. I thought it was 6:30. I got busy with the cookies, then I had to put up the chickens, change clothes...So it was about 6:50 when I got there--turns out they wanted me for 6. It was the shortest dinner party ever, because we were going to a music event at the hospital at 7:30...The music was very nice, but I left about 9:30. Then I ended up reading until late. There is a certain luxury in having the house to myself, as long as I have friends to do things with me. 

Finished one of my many readings. Captain spent a little time in the afternoon. I had to take Ray in for his field trip, so I could keep the car and get him some cash. Becky and Deb came for supper about 6:30. They brought ingredients to mix for a giant salad, some Vichyssoise for me and Deb, but not Becky, a little bread, and sauteed pineapple and ice cream for me and Becky. White wine and an old Woody Allen movie (Sleeper) made a pleasant evening. Went to bed about 10, read a bit, slept okay, got up early.

Not a good day, mostly. Ray and I had a little walk and he went to work. I had a little trouble waking up. I just didn't have any energy. I downloaded some papers to read and took my bath and got dressed. I had started reading when the phone rang.

My Dad was upset because he had stood in line to renew his license. All had gone well, they had taken his picture and were about to issue it, but the computer said he was on the national register due to something in NY. They didn't know anything more, but gave him a number to call. He tried twice and was on hold for awhile, but didn't get through. It was very frustrating, because he didn't know what the problem was, probably some kind of mistake, but he didn't have any way to clear it up. He came to my house and was on the phone for awhile and got it taken care of. This was a great relief, but he had been so stressed that he was kind of exhausted and didn't feel well. He had some canned soup and toast and I ate my leftover steak from dinner the night before (I gave him a bite). He headed home for a nap. I went back to my reading and working on my computer, but I didn't feel very good. Maybe I didn't eat enough carbs or something, but I was kind of shaky for a while.

I cooked some pasta for a salad for potluck and some cookies. Ray got home about 6. He had been to the grocery store and bought things for his trip as well as for us. We finished up the salad and headed to potluck. It was pretty fun. Watched a little TV and went to bed early.

Long day. Left about 8:30 with Ray, picked up Dan, drove to campus. Ray and Dan went to teach, I went to Ramsey and rode the bicycle. It was a little easier than last week. I appear to have gained 1-2 pounds since then.

Drove to the library, read two articles for epidemiology. One study of twins with Alzheimer's suggests a genetic component. Another study points out that obesity is increasing while smoking is decreasing, which could be part of the reason. Checked out four books.

Went to UUFA for a meeting and to eat my lunch, chicken sandwich on homemade bread. Spent about 45 mins going through membership lists with 8 other people. A name none of us knew came off the list. We got to the Cs before I left for class.

Epidemiology class: I had to present my charts and explain them. Several of us did. We have to redo the assignment for this week and write a 2-page paper on it...Also looked at limitations of various ways to do studies.

Picked up Ray and my Dad and went to Porterhouse. Had a really nice time. We ordered cocktails: Moscow Mules for the guys and a black raspberry mojitof for me--delicious but small. Ray and I had spinach salad, Captain had she-crab soup. Captain and I had steaks, Ray had chicken saltimbocca. We had a bottle of Malbec. Ray and I ordered one dessert--peach cobbler with ice cream. I was full. For one thing, I broke my rule and ate several pieces of bread and butter while we were waiting. Sean, the maitre d', sat and talked with us for a long time after we were finished. The restaurant wasn't very busy. He is a delightful young man and very liberal. Turns out, his brother spoke at the convention last night. He started a brewery in DC with an SBA loan a few years ago and is wildly successful.

We took Captain home and got home ourselves about 8:30. Watched some of the convention, had a long phone call, and then couldn't sleep. I read some of a library book, trashy sci-fi by Bujold. Determined to keep the mask on and I did.

Walked over to Nancy's, but their car was back. Very wet from the rain the night before, so no gardening. Ray went to work and I worked on my classes, redoing my charts and doing some reading.

After lunch, I started some bread. Lunch was leftover quiche and lentil salad. It was good and filling. When Ray got home, I put the bread in pans and told him when and how to bake it. I took an apple and some cookies because I wasn't that hungry. My Dad came by briefly and brought me cream for the vichyssoisse I'm making.

I took my job application to the city office and went to class. I turned in my homework for today's class, because the professor was there. She told me I would have to explain it to my classmates.

We discussed CR, a hypothesis that reducing caloric intake dramatically extends life. They have done research on animals, including monkeys, and there are people who are following the theory to its logical conclusion. They eat drastically less than the rest of us--vegetables, fruits, nuts--in the hope of living longer. They look really skinny and odd, but they seemed really pleased with themselves. Personally, I am not sure why I would want to live a lot longer if I couldn't eat things I wanted to sometimes. What would I be looking forward to? Obviously, eating healthy would be good for you, but a recent study cast some doubt on the claims for a significantly longer life. It does appear to decrease the chances of getting cancer. Ray says the cancer cells starved to death. I'm not sure he's kidding.

We also looked at all the ways an older person can get hurt in a typical home. There are things that can be done to prevent a lot of them--remove throw rugs, turn down the temperature of hot water... Each person should have some environmental pressure, some things they need to do, but there needs to be a balance between too much and too little, so they are not at risk, but still maintain as much independence as they can. I know this is why my Dad likes to cook for himself, rather than have me feed him. Plus he can make whatever he feels like.

When I got home, I wanted some supper. The house smelled like fresh bread. We had a little leftover chicken and leftover rice. I found a recipe for fried rice and chopped an onion and garlic, sauteed them up with oil and soy sauce, threw in the chicken and rice and added an egg. It was darn good.

It was 10 before we went to bed and I slept well.

Very humid in the morning. I worked in the garden with my Dad some. Then Ray and I walked over to Nancy's. We got a few eggs. It was hard walking up their drive, it was so heavy. We stopped in the community garden and picked a few tomatoes that were rotting on the vine. I looked forward to going in and taking my bath and putting on clean clothes. But soon I was hot and tired again, just sitting on the couch. As my Dad said, we assumed that the hurricane would go through and then we would have cool dry air, but no. On the other hand, we don't need to water for a while.

I worked some on my class work and Ray helped me with Excel a little. We nearly came to blows, but I think I have something to turn in. We'll see how well it is received.

He made lentil salad and I made quiche nicoise. We were supposed to go to Ashford Manor for a concert, but there was a big thunderstorm. Becky and Kent came to eat with us. She brought pineapple and ice cream and coconut and toasted pecans. It was all delicious.

They left early and we put the TV on, but I fell asleep two or three times and finally went to bed about 9.

I always think I'm going to get a ton of stuff done on the weekend, especially a three-day weekend.

After doing a little weeding and planting strawberries, we walked to Nancy's and back, with three eggs. Our chickens have been pretty steadily productive, too, so that I know have about 3 dozen eggs. I'm planning to make quiche today.

We didn't have to sing this week, but we went to the service anyway. It was about Labor Day and social action, and included Tammy Webb talking about Haiti. Also Linda Lloyd talked about voter registration. She said they are not allowed this year to have a table at DFCS, where they usually register about 30 people a day, or the library, or several other places, including Family Dollar, where they called the police, when they were in the parking lot. It was depressing. I really feel like giving up sometimes. We have been working for so long and we're going more and more backwards.

We went to Julene's house afterward, to play her piano. I like it and we will try to buy it and have it moved here before Christmas. The best place for it is in the guest bedroom, which is not really great, but we don't have a lot of interior walls to put it against. Poor design--I didn't think about having a piano.

Had a little tuna, lettuce, green beans from the farmer's market, olives and peppers--faux salad nicoise. Tasted great. Did some class work.

Met Janna and Ron at Beechwood to see Hope Springs. It was great, just not as funny as I had expected. It is really couples therapy for older couples, disguised as a movie about an older couple, with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones. They were convincing. Janna and I cried a lot. We met Becky and Kent for dinner at Longhorn, which was fun. I had a blackberry mojito, salad, and ribeye with baked sweet potato. Of course, I brought some home and didn't order dessert, since we had popcorn, Coke and Sno-Caps in the movie.

We were home before 9 and watched some TV, including parts of my Super Ex-Girlfriend, which was not very good, but somewhat funny. The moral? Don't break up with someone who has super-powers.

It was a good day, although it started with Ray sleeping on the couch. Sometime during the night, he had trouble getting back to sleep and moved down there. So, i had to be pretty quiet getting and eating my breakfast. When my Dad arrived, we chatted on the front porch so as not to wake him. We spent a little time in the garden before I got ready to go to pilates class. Ray woke up in time to come with me! Becky met us there, so that was fun. I think pilates has probably extended my life for a few years by keeping me healthy. The teacher is great!

We stopped at the farmers' market and bought a few little tomatoes and some green beans. At Cofer's, they were selling tomato plants. I would have said it was too late in the year to set them out, but I took a chance. I bought four red cabbages too. It was over 90.

I got 5 eggs from Nancy's chickens and two or three from ours. Ray was really hungry, so he had breakfast, while I ate leftover pasta bean salad, an apple and some cookies. We both "worked" for several hours. I read about research in extending life. I started falling asleep, so went up and worked on my finances for awhile, which somehow managed to wake me up...

We were supposed to go clean up after the football game at 5. We got there and waited around in the heat and humidity for an hour, and slipped away. It seemed they had enough people and they had promised we'd be done by 6. I don't know what was going on. We picked up my Dad and went to Bekcy's to swim. She had invited us for supper, too. Spaghetti and a salad, watermelon (and cookies). she teased me because I didn't have a roll. That was way more carbs than I usually have. It was very pleasant. My Dad talked about his fathter's hardware store.

It was after 10 when we went to bed. I woke up about 5 from a terrifying bad dream, involving a monster, maybe a dinosaur. Ray and some other people had a plan to kill it, but I just hid. Eventually I got back to sleep for another hour. Looks like another scorcher today!

Still too hot and humid to open the windows at night. My Dad and I set out some plants he had started: bok choy, broccoli, and lettuce. They should do well, if we keep them watered and the bugs don't get them. I have two summer squeash plants coming along nicely. It will be touch and go to see if we can keep them protected from bugs and they can produce fruit before it gets too cold. The days are shorter now.

Cameron rolled in something (dead) a couple days ago and smells awful. He stands at the door and whines, not knowing why I don't let him in the house. He thinks I am mad at him, but doesn't know why.

Ray went to work, my Dad was here for a few hours. We walked to Nancy's and back, with five eggs from her hens. I think we got three from ours too, so we're good on eggs for the moment. I might make a quiche, especially as there are some good leeks--or vichysoisse. I wanted to cook the pork ribs for Labor Day, but am saving them for John Olive, who is at the beach again, not surprisingly.

I did some reading for class and worked on an assignment involving death rates over 25 years and pie charts. And I finished my application for a county job.

I had found a half-pound of ground beef in the freezer. I think maybe my Dad left it there. I followed a recipe from Rachel Ray and made mini-meatloaves with mashed potatoes and some asparagus from the freezer. It was good and filling. We don't eat that way much any more. I didn't have any ice cream. We were done eating about 6:30 and starting watching TV. Jeopardy, John Stewart, and the rest of a movie we had started from Netflix: Maid in Manhattan. It wasn't outstanding, but entertaining. Then it was too early to go to bed and we didn't really know what else to do. I finished my book and eventually fell asleep. This morning Ray is on the couch. I suspect my breathing bothered him in the night.