Hmm, it appears I did not write anything since last week! Here's a quick summary.

Friday morning Elisa went back to school. Ray went to work. I packed for a weekend at the beach and worked on my Pscyh paper. I enjoyed reading about housing for the elderly and picking out the nuggets that were important enough to share. When I had been sitting for too long, I would get up and throw a few things in a suitcase.

My Dad showed up about 3:30 to house-sit and dog- and chicken-sit. He was surprised to find me still here. Ray came home a little later. Eventually, we packed the car and headed to Clarke Central, where we were picking up Elisa from play rehearsal. We stopped by Kroger first and bought a few food items. Since it was the last week before the performance, the rehearsal went right up until 9 pm. We might have been able to extricate her a little early, but she had missed three days of rehearsals when she was sick. We had something to eat, watched the play, read e-mails. Ray took a nap.

At 9:08, we left Athens. Ray drove pretty fast when it was safe and we got to the island in just over four hours. No stopping for anything. Elisa slept a lot and I dozed some. Ray played hard rock music and drove through the night. We emptied the cooler into the fridge and tiptoed into our bedrooms without waking anyone up.

I got up at 8:30, really late for me. I was still up before everyone else. Deb and John had been to the beach with the dogs and were back in their room. I had some breakfast and worked a little on my presentation.

Becky and Elisa and I walked on the beach for awhile before lunch. We played Win, Lose or Draw. After lunch, we all played Bocce and some of us even went in the water, which was really cold.

Some of us watched the football game and I put the roast in the oven. Ray made the broccoli and Becky roasted potatoes and squash. It was a late dinner and Georgia, as Ray said, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. It was an exciting game. Nobody stayed up very late, although I think Ray and Kent were up until midnight. Ray was lecturing.

Sunday morning, I had some more time to work on my paper. When John got up, I went to the beach with him and the dogs for a little while. Then I came "home" and made pancakes and sausage for those who wanted them. We went to the beach about noon and Ray swam a good bit. I went in up to my ankles.

We packed and got ready to leave. My plan was to eat somewhere nice in Beaufort on our way home. Becky and Kent and Deb and John could drive there and join us and then come back to the house. They weren't leaving until the next day. John didn't want to take the time to drive to Beaufort when he was only at the beach for a few days, so we ate leftovers from the night before. I was surprised how angry I was. I guess I really look forward to a nice restaurant meal with friends. We could have gone without them, but it seemed like that would be pretty rude and cause hurt feelings.

We left about 3:30, driving a lot more sedately. We could see the scenery--flat for hours. We stopped in Augusta for a mediocre salad at The Chop House and got home before 10.

Yesterday, I went in with Ray and spent some time at the library, getting ready for my class. I had a nice lunch by myself at Chonell's, which has just opened on Baxter. It is a  "typical Southern" restaurant, with chicken and side dishes, but trying to be just a bit healthier than most. I had some kind of chicken stew, green beans, and yams, with half and half sweet tea. It was pretty good, for under 10 dollars.

I got to class early, planning to do some more work on my presentation, but Dr. Miles came in to talk about what a great job our group did for her class. That was fun. The presentations went well, but I had "too much information and not enough time! Your slide outlines could each easily have been the table of contents for a book on housing options for older adults," according to Dr. Emerson.

After class, I was practically giddy. No more classes until January! I have to turn this presentation into a paper, write my take-home final for Dr. Glass (9-15 pages), and send a few loose ends to Dr. Miles. Then I will be done, having made it through half the requirements for my certificate of gerontology.

We had rehearsal at the Fellowship for A Charlie Brown Christmas (Ray is Charlie Brown and I am Lucy, with a bunch of lines to learn). We picked up Elisa at Clarke Central and learned that Harriet had a stroke this weekend--a mini-stroke; she seemed fine, but needs to lose weight to avoid worse in the future, and change her lifestyle. She gave up smoking and drinking, but that's when she started gaining weight. When she's working on a show, which is most of the time, she doesn't eat right or exercise and she has a lot of stress. Hmm. I hope she can do it.








We came home and ate steak,  baked potatoes, and green beans from the freezer. It was pretty good. Ray and I watched some TV. I read some of my book, and was asleep by 11.