Worked hard all day--9 hours, if you count lunch. It was a potluck holiday party. We were going to have it before Christmas, but it was hard to schedule, so we had it yesterday. And Meredith was there. Yay. We did a white elephant gift exchange, which was mostly pretty fun. I also gave away a few of my presents that I have been hoarding.

Went to the bank in the pouring rain, partly to take Ray to his class after he returned the car to me. He would have had to walk a ways in the wet. Meredith sent me a draft of the grant and I made suggestions which she generally accepted. Maureen from the board, a CPA, met with me and answered some Quickbooks questions--and some end of the year questions. Then there was an operations committee meeting, which went well. Meredith kept saying, yes, I'll handle that, it's my job... kind of fun. I left at 5, even though it was still going on.

It was almost 6 when we got home and my Mom had started supper from one of the recipes I had left lying around. While I was finishing it up, Ray was working, Captain was reading NYT magazine, Mom was resting. It was cold and rainy outside, but we had a fire and it seemed like a pleasant place to be.

Somehow Ray and I ended up watching TV until late in the night. He was correcting quizzes and I was knitting (or un-knitting--I had the wrong number of stitches and went back a ways before deciding I should just decrease 2). And now I woke up before 5:30. Oh, well, weekend will let me catch up.

It's raining out, but at least it's not cold--lover 50s I think, but my weather widget is not working this morning.

Day 2 with Meredith went well, I was a few minutes late and she was already there. she's a little stressed, mostly because she is trying to move to Athens and work at the same time. They sold their second car, so sh was dependent on her husband. She has been cooking for them and her Mom and now she can't.

We had lunch at the National to talk about some of the personnel issues that I didn't want to discuss in the office and she agreed with me totally and we talked about where to go from here. She was surprised that none of our case managers are licensed and we decided that as we replace them, we will make that a requirement--and up the salaries. She seems to value my opinion and support, so that is good.

I turned in my December reimbursements and picked up Ray a little after 3:30. I put the ziti in the oven that I had taken out of the freezer the day before. It was very much appreciated at potluck. I was falling asleep in choir. Ray was tired too and we went right to bed. I slept well.

Day #1 with my new boss, M., was good. She got right to work, occasionally asking me for information, meeting with staff, and working on the grant due Friday. We are supposed to talk about it today. I had a few twinges when someone asked her something instead of me, but I will get used to it. We had a staff meeting. She thanked me for staying on top of things. I met Ray for lunch. I worked on the reimbursements and she signed one. I picked Ray up a little after 4 and we were home a tiny bit before Captain and Vanessa. They had been to play bridge. Made and ate supper.

I went to Sky's house for a meeting about green features we want to make sure the new community center has.

When came home, Ray was watching the Bourne Ultimatum, not good bedtime fare! But we still went up about 10.

It has now been over a year--my first blog post was January 11, 2009. I did not expect to be so faithful in my posts. I know of about 5 people who read this, quite regularly. So tell me, what do you like and dislike? More about the weather and my health? Do you care what I watched on TV??

I have started keeping track of my meals and health on sparkpeople.com (pattyinathens is my user name). If you friend me there, you can access my home page and see in great detail what I have eaten and how much weight I've lost (none yet). Likewise, I generally post on Goodreads details about books I'm reading. I could keep up with movies on Facebook, but the process is a little cumbersome. I can never figure out how to get to it.

Yesterday, we went to the Fellowship. It was a very good service, featuring 3 baby dedications--fun. Maddalena wore a white christening gown. She is 8 or 9 months old. Camden was in a little plaid shirt and pants, looking around. Evelyn is the youngest; she was in a red velvet dress. Her brother Luke stole the show. He must be two and he couldn't stand still. He wanted to sit down and play with the stones we use for joys and concerns. Boys! They all had lots of family visiting and it was lovely to see. I don't think my children were dedicated, although I remember discussing it. Dave talked about Gandhi and the Dalai Lama (as preparation for MLK day, today). I enjoyed it and we sang lots of moving songs. Do you know this one? "If every woman in the world had her mind set on freedom...?" Don't worry there are verses for men and nations too. The last line is "there would be no more war." I got a little teary at the end of the service. There is so much more to do. I am pretty sure I can't be Gandhi and give up my worldly possessions... or send a big check to Haiti.

At home, I started working on macaroni and cheese. There was a Kenney Ridge meeting at 4 and I assumed it would be followed by a potluck dinner. Ray called around and found out that, no, there was not one this time, just the meeting. So I finished the macaroni and cheese and froze it, went to the meeting, and made something different for supper. While I was out, my Dad got the chicken bones he had been saving in the freezer and made stock. Yay! When we got home, they were having drink and snack. They wanted me to join them, but I had to get supper started.

Between phone calls from both daughters and one sister, as well as some serious dozing, we watched the Golden Globes. It was fun.

This morning, I am thinking of Molli. It is an hour earlier in Mexico, but I know she is up, on her way in a car to the airport in Veracruz, with a chatty driver. She is headed to LA for a few days of training at her company's HQ.

Ray and I were very busy.

We took a little walk in the morning. After breakfast, we went to Pilates class--the first ever for Ray. It was good and we will probably go every week. It was raining when we came out, so no chance of cutting down trees, digging up the ground, or doing laundry. We went by Plato's Closet, where they only took one item from our bag of clothes. While we were waiting, Ray browsed and bought some shirts and one pair of work pants. I bought a book and a new pair of sneakers for racquetball. It was over $50! Not as good as Goodwill...they didn't appear to have women's clothes my size, and I know they cater to much younger people.

We had lunch and did a little tidying, including vacuuming, before Captain and Vanessa's bridge guests arrived. She had made and frosted an apple cake for them. Ray and I stayed upstairs on our computers while they were here. I balanced the checkbook and listened to music with the headset. Otherwise I would hear my dad saying to my Mom, "why didn't you bid...?" After a couple hours, I came down and started working on supper, in part because it was a little chilly in the house. Then I heard a lot more--apparently nobody had much in the way of good cards and it was not much fun. When they left, my Mom put her head down on the back of the couch. "What's the matter?" I said. She said, "that is the most unpleasant woman I ever met." This is a pretty strong reaction for my Mom. Apparently she complained about everything, wearing her coat because she was so cold, even though Ray stirred the fire up and they were just inches from it. She took a bite out of two different pieces of chocolate (hoping she would like the second better than the first) and left them on the table. She didn't want any cake because she is dieting, but nibbled on candy all afternoon. And I guess the worst thing, she bragged about what a great player she was, but neither of them played very well at all, making it hard for my parents to play because their bids were so unreliable. She insisted on enforcing all the rules, but they never knew whose turn it was to shuffle or bid and he once bid out of turn. Anyway, it was almost funny.

We had dinner, which was somehow not as good as I hoped. I think the three dishes I made were all good, but not particularly complementary... after dinner, we attempted to watch TV, but couldn't all agree. My Dad was grumpy about how we were always going out. Most nights he would be asleep, or at least in his room, by the time we left for contra dancing a little before 8. We had a great time and came home very sore and tired. We saw lots of people we hadn't seen in ages, like Susan and Tim. Their daughter is in a grad. program at Auburn for something like agricultural sociology (think Omnivore's Dilemma). It sounded pretty neat. She did a nine month trip with Heifer International and now her brother is doing one too.

It rained for about 15 hours, I think, but it is not as cold now. We didn't even have the woodstove going overnight.

Yesterday was a good day. Sunny and not too cold. I was (and am) excited that it was my last day as Acting Director and when I come to work on Tuesday (Monday is a holiday), there will be someone there to discuss things with and take over some of the work. She will probably be there right at 8 and I will not have to worry so much about what time I arrive. Perhaps this is not a good thing...

I worked a lot on reimbursements and have three ready to submit. I had a good break enjoying lunch with Becky and Janna. We could have talked twice as long, but it really re-energized me.

We had three interns, Jaron, and four staff members and all the desks were in use. I am not sure where Jaron will sit when the director is here. I feel good about what we have done in the last 4 1/2 months. I think the shelter is better than it was when I started. Certainly the residents are relatively quiet and agreeable, although I can't take credit for that. I do think Kerri has had the supportive environment she needs to tell them she is not going to get involved in drama and pettiness.

Ray and I had a good game of racquetball--I won the second game by a couple points. We had intended to go to the Fellowship for a movie, but it turned out to be next week. We went to dinner and enjoyed it very much. I had one of the strangest experiences of my life though and it was in my dreams all night long.

Ray saw someone coming in and he said, that is the ugliest woman I've ever seen--it's Jay. I said no, it doesn't look anything like him. Fortunately, we had been told about this situation, or I don't know how I would have reacted. Someone that we knew slightly for years--his children were friends of our children, we know his wife--is now a woman. She sat down at a table far away and it did indeed look like a man dressed as a woman, but I didn't think she resembled Jay at all. Sure enough, after a while, she came over to our table and talked a while. She was meeting some people and they had a miscommunication, so they were running late. Not surprisingly, Jay liked to talk and so does Janine. Wearing a wig, a dress, and high heels, she told us about how upset her children are and how surprisingly supportive the university and her department are. We were agreeable and supportive, I think, but it is very hard for me to accept. She wanted a hug, which I gave her. She is taking estrogen and talked about how that made her love chocolate. She could have had surgery a couple months ago, but it is too expensive. We were glad to have recently seen TransAmerica and know a little more about it than we might have otherwise. Some people want to tell you more than you want to hear and that is Jay/Janine.

After that, we went to the movies--full price by ourselves, something we rarely do. The good news is that although my ticket was $9, Ray is over 55 and therefore a senior citizen and only paid $6.50! We saw Meryl Streep and Steve Martin in It's Complicated, a light, romantic comedy, funny and entertaining, and enjoyed it very much. The parking was terrible, I guess everyone was at the movies, and we didn't see the beginning, but we will sometime. There were hints of Julia Child in Julie and Julia. The Meryl Streep character studied baking in France and owns a big restaurant called the Bakery. I don't suppose people want to see movies about slobs and failures, but one does get tired of rich people who are good at everything. The house is clean; she is building a big addition with a view of the ocean, she is an incredible cook and great in bed.

I slept well.

Exciting news--AAHS has a new director! I met her yesterday morning. She seems energetic and smart and I think we will get along well. If anything, we are too much alike. She has been Development Director at a Food Bank in Austin, TX, has her MSW and her M. Div. Her husband is an MBA student at UGA and they will be looking for an apartment and trying to use one car.

I had trouble focusing after that. I gave her a copy of the grant I have been working on and decided not to do anything more on that until she looks it over and we can talk on Tuesday. She wanted to come in on Monday, even after I said it was a holiday, but finally said there wouldn't be much point if I wasn't there. I moved some of my things from her desk back to mine, like my children's picture. And copied stuff from her computer to mine. Talked briefly with E. from HED about one of my grant proposals, which I also need to discuss with M. (new director) next week. Went to the bank.

Ray couldn't leave until almost 5 and the traffic was slow. Vanessa was still a little groggy from her colonoscopy and the Captain tired and stressed. But he had put the pot roast on and I added the carrots and potatoes, so we had a great dinner after a while. To complicate things, our vendor of shrimp had called that afternoon and the Captain had to go meet him to pick up shrimp and scallops. They are very good quality, large and fresh, but not cheap. We enjoy having good seafood in the freezer, though, to add to our meal preparation options. He had to spend some time repacking them in 1-pound bags.

Read a little, watched TV, went to bed. Slept well. Still cold here (23 this morning), but sunny during the day and up to 60.