Worked a couple of hours at the Land Trust, on the volunteer manual mostly. Not much else for me to do right now. Went to lunch with Janna. Spent about 3 hours in the doctor's waiting room while Ray had his physical. He's pretty good, but needs to lose some weight. Their air conditioning wasn't working, so it was very uncomfortable there.

Went home and prepared and froze beans and peas. Cut a cabbage from the garden and made cole slaw for potluck. Thundering, windy, but only a few drops of rain. Fortunately, Captain had watered everything thoroughly.

It's quite pleasant here this morning; down to 74 upstairs. I slept well.

Yesterday, Ray slept late and we managed to fiddle around so that we didn't leave here until after 11. I picked some things in the garden. I was supposed to meet Deb at 12:15 for lunch, so I didn't even go in to the ALT office. I parked there and walked to Graze and waited about 15 minutes. We had a very pleasant lunch and I walked back, getting there about 1:30. Of course, I was missing the staff meeting! For some reason, I can't remember that Tuesday at 1 is the staff meeting. Every week. No big news.

Worked on the Volunteer Handbook for a while. At 4:30, the Todds and Laura (the intern) met with us to de-brief the bike ride. Almost everything was favorable and we made nearly $1500. They started right in talking about next year, which I still think is premature. I think we could probably make $3000 next year, and maybe $5000 eventually. We will change a lot of things, the biggest being to make the race a loop. They are talking about starting and finishing in Washington for one thing, and having longer and shorter  loops. But I am not convinced it is the best way to raise money, when you consider time invested.

Went to my parents' to pick up some potato salad and peaches. Ray met me there. He was having a drink when I got there and my Dad urged me to sit down and wait. But of course, I was already hungry and we had to stop and buy yogurt and go home and make supper, so I firmly refused over and over.

After supper, I gathered the potatoes my Dad had dug and brought them in. He is planning to harvest and water everything today. Watched TV and got to bed at a reasonable hour.

Yesterday morning, Ray left without breakfast to get lab work done for a physical later this week. I puttered around while it was still a little cool, hating to leave the house before I had to. I picked some things in the garden. When he got home, I jumped in the shower while he had breakfast. My parents arrived just before we left, and put some laundry in.

I took Ray to his office and then went to Helene's, in Winterville, for the Small Group Ministry meeting. Our topic this time was play, and it was a lot of fun. I picked up lunch at Wendy's and was at ALT before 12:30. I worked solidly on a volunteer handbook until I got a call from the air conditioning people that they had a cancellation and would be at the house in 15 minutes. I picked up Ray and hurried home, but they called when we were halfway there. I hated for them to wait outside in the heat, but I suppose they are used to such things. When they got to the thermostat in question, he flipped it to on and the AC came on. It was miraculous and we don't know why it didn't work on Saturday. And we still have to pay them $79, but we were very happy to have in working and enjoyed it the rest of the day.

Not sure what I accomplished after that, but it was comfortable. I was looking at places to stay in Queens, but generally they are not convenient to Amelia's place. My parents came back about 5:30 to get their laundry. I made some shrimp with potatoes and tomatoes, kind of a salad. I don't think Ray liked it much, but I did. We watched a little TV, ate some ice cream, and went to bed before 10. But, once again, we both had trouble sleeping. Not cold enough? Still on Seattle time? I finished my book, but it was not the kind to keep me awake. At midnight, Ray went down and made some pizza. I dozed on the couch, but didn't feel like pepperoni. Now it sounds pretty good, though...

and the light and bird sounds woke me up before 6. I am of good cheer, however.

Yesterday morning was quite pleasant for about 2 hours. Today feels the same. Ray and I sang in choir. The service was interesting. Alison took questions from the congregation, written on cards. The directories arrived, so Chip and I put labels on them. (not as easy as you would think; only people who got pictures taken are entitled to a free directory.)

We came home and had Salade Nicoise with Captain and Vanessa--beans and lettuce from the garden. Tomatoes and peppers are coming. After they left, we put on our good clothes and rushed down to the Classic Center to congratulate Steve Jones, who is now a federal judge. We stood in line and had our picture taken with him. We also saw lots of other people we knew, including Sydney Jackson and Bill Berryman, people we hadn't talked to in years.

When we got home again, it was too hot to do anything. The AC was running, but couldn't get it down below 80. I was hungry and ended up eating cookies instead of something better. Finally, we had some burgers Ray cooked on the grill, and the tabouli I had made, plus a few bites of asparagus--yum!

Watched a little TV and went to bed before 10, but it was hard to sleep.

Friday, I got to work a little earlier than I had been all week and began studying the volunteer manual and working on an application, while doing a little mailing list work and still sending some thank yous for the bike ride. I don't actually have addresses for the volunteers--an email for one, and just a phone number for another. Ray gave platelets and came to pick me up for lunch at 1 o'clock. We went to a new French restaurant called Etienne. It was good, crowded and noisy, and hot in the window where we were sitting. They have 3 hamburgers on the lunch menu--not what I would call typical French fare. Now I have to write the review. Afterwards, we didn't feel much like working. It was almost 2:30 and abominably hot. We came home and cranked up the air and did not much of anything. I was reading the Share the Care book, working on my photo software problems, and getting a headache. We didn't need much supper, though. Watched a little TV and went to bed. Hard to sleep.

In the morning, my back was bothering me and I couldn't wait to go to pilates. Ray didn't feel good, though, so I went alone. It really helped. I stopped by the Farmers Market and got bread for myself and my parents. We have all the same veggies in our garden that they have at the market! My parents went home to their apartment, Ray was asleep. I took a quick shower, got dressed, grabbed the leftover bean snap and a cookie, and headed to UUFA. I was a little late, but hadn't missed anything. Got to walk in with Pat James, a Mom I haven't seen much since the girls graduated  high school. She has 3 daughters and they went to the same elementary school, middle school, and high school as mine.

The meeting was to form a Share the Care group for Jean Bryan, who has stage IV cancer. There is a book and a website about this model for caring for someone without making it too much of a burden on any one person. We shared our feelings and history, about 30 of us, and filled out forms. I determined to have a minor role, trying to learn to set limits. However, when they asked for volunteers to visit Jean in the hospital that night, I volunteered.

We had a lovely dinner at Last Resort with Deb and John (and Sloane) and I hurried over there about 7:30. Jean's good friend Sherry was with her, but she had to drive back to Atlanta. There was a lot of nurse activity going on, checking on meds, etc. Jean was a little confused, but seemed glad to have company after she settled down. Deb and John and Sloane arrived and Sherry left. By 8:30, she was dozing and we went home. The hospital is so confusing and unfriendly, once you leave the room you are visiting.

At home, I finished up the tabouli I had been working on intermittently for a couple days and stuck it in the fridge for today. Ray realized the upstairs AC was no longer working. We both studied it, turned it off and back on, pushed the reset button, changed the filter. Nothing. Fortunately, we could open the windows and cool it off some overnight--it being below 78 outside. Tomorrow we will call someone to fix it, but in the meantime it will be pretty hot upstairs. It took us a long time to get comfortable and fall asleep, but I finally manged to sleep until 7 this morning--and Ray is still asleep. It is quite pleasant and I want to rush around and do things before it gets hot. My photo software is giving me an error message and that is really not what I want to deal with right now!

walking Lidet to school the last time

rhodendrons of various colors

Lidet and Ray admiring flower

beautiful gardens in front of all the houses

The air conditioning just kicked on, meaning it did not get down to 78 in the house overnight with the windows open. I was sure it was going to rain, the air felt so hevy, but nothing, jutst the promise of more 100 degree temperatures today, like the last 2 days, and the need to water the garden almost constantly. Our electric and water bills will both be high. My back is hurting. I don't know if it liked Polly's bed better (I didn't think so at the time), or it's what I am doing during the day that makes it so sore. I thought swimming was supposed to be good for it, but now I am not so sure. We have been to the pool both days.

Other than that, I have spent some time at ALT, sending out some thank yous and clearing up details from the bike ride mainly, but getting ready to read the volunteer handbook. I have had to switch desks several times because the ones I usually use are taken. Yesterday was mostly taken up with a presentation by a man originally from my hometown, Glens Falls. He graduated 10 years before me so we did not have any friends in common. His manner was a little odd. Part of his "schtick" was to refer to himself repeatedly as shallow and superficial--the idea being that we (ALT) are too serious and need to consider being more flashy to attract web viewers, for instance. A lot of what he said made sense. I was a little jealous that he could set himself us as a consultant and make money telling people how to do marketing. Could I go around telling non-profits how to do things? Maybe I just need more chutzpah--or maybe a degree.

In the Seattle airport, heading home

The garden is a source of great pleasure. I picked about a pound of yellow beans yesterday. Perhaps my back did not like that... And there are more to pick today. The lettuce are bolting, beets, potatoes and onions ready to harvest. There are still a few peas. The chard looks great. Summer squash beautiful and delicious. There will be lots of tomatoes soon. Blackberries are starting to ripen. The two hens are still pretty much broody, so we are only getting one egg or less every day.

Our bodies are still adjusting to the dififerent time here, hungry at the wrong times, and not falling asleep. We were about to go to bed last night, when we started watching Salt, a very exciting movie starring Angelina Jolie as a woman working for the CIA. She is always running and kills bunches of people. She never slept the whole time. Needless to say, when it was over, I did not fall asleep for hours. The weather didn't help either.

View from Polly's window, including Olympic Mountains

Lidet and her friend Natalie on their way to school

Really big tree

Cool after-school program

This sign advertises Troll-Caught Salmon--it cracked me up.

Really? Everything in Seattle is advertised as healthy.

Polly's veggie box from Full Circle--you just pick up the one with your name on it.

for Amelia

flowers at Pike Place Market

incredible fruit display--one of many

Lidet looking out the window of the ferry

approaching Whidbey Island

 

Seattle in the distance

Ebey's Landing

driftwood fort

Lidet talking to a statue in Coupeville

Home again safely, about 1 this morning, which is not as bad as it sounds, because it is 10 in Seattle. We had a lovely visit and are dreading the heat, predicted to hit 99 today. It is nice to be home, though. It is so quiet and peaceful here. I am getting to be less of a city girl all the time. My house seems big and empty and lovely. Both of our flights went very smoothly--a tiny bit of turbulence on the way back, when they put the seatbelt sign back on, but mostly just boring. I deleted a bunch of names from my Contacts list that I didn't know who they were.