What's happening at the "farm?"

The Prius is dead! Long live the Prius! Faithful Betty, a big part of our lives for almost 10 years, is gone. Our new Prius is white (not my favorite choice) and has a bluetooth connection, which is very exciting, as soon as I figure out how to make it work. We spent a lot of time yesterday at the dealership, but it is still amazing to me that we can walk away with a "new" car, no money actually having changed hands.

Daisy thinks the camera might be good to eat.

Ray was still pretty sick, but excited about looking at cars. I took a quick walk out to the mailbox with Cameron. (no eggs) We were at the dealership by 10:30 or so. There were three 2010 Priuses for sale (red, white, silver). There were all about the same price and all looked the same with the same features. One had leather seats and this was the only one that integrates with your phone. We got them to go down a little on the price and then started the slow process. Poor Ray cleaned out the old car.

baby goat Shanny

I had an OLLI Lunch and Learn to go to. I didn't know anyone at my table and ate a perfectly acceptable lunch, followed by a one-hour talk by Lief Carter about re-writing the constiation and why our system isn't working and what we can do about it. Clearly, it isn't going to change itself. Something has to be done from outside. How is a big question. I was thinking "revolution," but didn't say it. Everything will keep getting worse until it's really bad and then what? A dictator? Interesting stuff, but the timing was bad. I wanted to be at the car dealership.

There are the beauties! They're getting bigger!

I don't know why Brodie likes being on top of this new dirt pile.

I called Ray and met him there. He had driven the new car home and had some lunch. He had arranged for financing through the dealer, but I called Robins and they confirmed what we had to do. The financial guy at the dealership was not happy. "Do you want to save money?" he said. "Or give them your business?" "I want to give them my business," I said. "I am active in the Occupy Movement and I want the credit union to have my money." He turned away, I guess to change all his paperwork. Maria was our salesman, a somewhat strange woman who drives here from northeast Georgia every day, 45 minutes or so, but is one of the top sellers in Georgia. She's not much younger than me and somewhat hard to understand. But she knows her stuff and seems trustworthy, so I guess that is how she sells cars. Thanks to Robins, we do not have to start paying until March--and then it will be less than $300 a  month--for 6 years. Hopefully, the car will last that long. And maybe we can pay it off earlier, if I can get work. Ray had to go to get the title for the old car. They gave us $1600 for it, a lot less than we  might have gotten before the battery was going probably, but a lot better than nothing for a car with 183,000 miles on it.

Back at our house, our chickens

The new car is the kind you don't actually put the key in the ignition. If you have it in your pocket, you can push a button to start it. It has a hatchback, good for Cameron to ride in for one thing. The back seats fold down for really big items. And the mileage will be lots better.

I went by Publix and got some fish for our supper, not wanting to take the time to go back to town. I got some more flour and butter too, but I couldn't bring myself to buy eggs. Unfortunately, Ray promised cookies for his department's holiday lunch today.

My Dad was at the house and duly admired the new car. It was a beautfiul day, warm and sunny, although I was not home much to appreciate it. I made supper, fed the pigs, put the chickens up (no eggs), and we closed the shades down for the night. We resisted the tempation to go for a drive after supper, just for fun. Ray was starting to fade and we watched a few shows before he went to bed.

I was sure I was getting "the cold," although I feel pretty good this morning. I slept again in the little room (avoiding Ray's germs?), reading until I was sleepy and then putting my mask on for part of the night. I guess eventually I will stop taking it off and sleep with it all night. Hard to say if I slept better, but I am happy and excited this morning. Could be the new car, could be the holiday and the company coming.

I have heard that there is a Chinese curse, "may you live in interesting times," which we certainly do. Yesterday, I am sorry to say, was interesting. Not all bad, not boring, but definitely interesting. Ray was still feeling pretty sick, but had to go in and meet with a student who had questions. I also had plans. We had a brief walk and I managed to come up with a recipe for supper. I was feeling cheerful in the morning and in the Christmas mood, wearing my red turtleneck dress and green hat and light green pea coat. My children are coming, it is time to plan holiday (and wedding) events.

I took him to his office (when I say this, what I usually mean is, he drove himself to his office and then I took the car). Then I headed to Siri Thai, for lunch with my friend Michael, Executive Director of The Stable Foundation. He is a lot of years younger than I am and has a master's in public administration, but I don't think I am wrong to call us friends. TSF used to rent space from ALT and I have been in various meetings with him over the last few years. I knew that he wanted to talk to me some about fund-raising for TSF, which I had talked to him about once before and I thought he wanted me to do volunteer case management. I wasn't sure what I was going to say. But he actually suggested he might hire me sometime in the next month for a part-time temporary case management position, connected to a grant they received some time ago but are only now receiving and must use up before July 1. I must say I was very excited and enthusiastic to imagine working again. It has been so long, and I have tried so hard to make my accommodation to not working, that I wonder if I will find it difficult. I don't know how much it will pay and suspect my hours will be less than ideal (evenings and weekends?). Not to mention that it has been several years since I did case management (at IHN, while also being director). However, it made me kind of giddy.

My next stop was to pick up Jean at 1:15 for her appointment at the oncologist. This is when the day began to get really "interesting." The light on my dashboard--the Prius has lots of electronic symbols--with the red exclamation point came on and I felt some hesitation in the way it drove. I called Ray, I called Mary Jean and got her to pick up Jean, not wanting her to be in the car when it died. I drove to the dealership and left the car with them. I had their shuttle take me to the doctor's appointment. Meanwhile, my Dad picked Ray up and brought him to our house to get the truck and he met me there.

The doctor was the sleep doctor, Dr. Das, who introduced me to my new CPAP machine (actually his staff did most of the work). He told me I stopped breathing 79 times per minute! This is sort of ridiculous, because I am sure I don't breathe that many times a minute. Either I misunderstood him or he misspoke. In any case, it is a lot of times. I have been rather leery of this whole process. I feel like this might be questionable medicine, one of those fads that come and go. However, our Blue Cross HMO is paying for it--I only have to pay $15 every time I go to the doctor. I began using it last night--more later. As we left there, I called the dealership and left a message--$79 diagnostic fee regardless, but they were to call with the details of what needed repairing and how much it would cost.

Back home, gray and in the 40s. No eggs. I proceeded with supper. The Toyota dealer finally called. The hybrid battery was going; it would be $2963 to replace it...plus $1300 for a new catalytic converter. No telling how long it would hold up. After driving it that day, I didn't feel like we could even bring it home. It might go at any moment. I asked if it could be driven as a gasoline-powered car. "No, I'm afraid it doesn't work that way." Of course not. I had known this was a possibility. The car has over 180,000 miles on it and is almost 10 years old, one of the best and least expensive to maintain we've ever had. But now, really, when we were just scraping by with my not working? It seemed terribly unfair and I am actually grieving for our car that has been so much a part of our lives.

However, we went right to the website to look at used Priuses (Prii?). There are three at our dealership, all 2010s, all around $20,000. A lot for a used car, but I can't really imagine buying anything else. Thank goodness for the glimmer of hope that I might actually become employed within a month. There are also two jobs worth applying for in Sunday's paper. One, I applied for on line immediately, and the other I will do so today. Although the odds are long. I also called the credit union I recently joined, Robins, and applied for a car loan over the phone. She talked to Ray, as well, and we are pre-approved for up to $25,000! Our credit scores are both A+ and they will give us a fairly low interest rate, less than 3.5%. In addition, we can opt to defer repayment for 90 days. If we stretch payments out over 6 years, it will be less than $400 a month. Surely I can find something that will pay me that much in the next 3 months! So, an interesting day for sure. We have an appointment to test drive at 10 this morning.

Ray tried not to go to bed, but let me feed the pigs by myself. I had no scraps or leftovers for them, but the walk there and back mostly restored my good mood. He was somewhat better than the day before.  We finished preparing and ate our supper, the last featuring peppers until next year. I have four smallish old green peppers left and will use them as the need arises, but I will no longer search out recipes that use vast quantities of them. And, in fact, there is nothing in the garden now I feel obliged to plan around. There is a lot of dill, but it volunteered, so I don't feel like I have to use it unless I come across something that calls for it.

Ray managed to stay awake through Wheel and Jeopardy. (He is always hoping we will somehow catch up on our backlog of recorded shows--I refuse to watch more than one episode on the same day, so it hasn't worked yet). Now the day got even more interesting. Perhaps from all that had happened, I was pretty charged up and not ready to sleep. I watched two more shows and puttered around a bit before going to bed and starting a new book. It turned out to be quite engrossing and the light was bothering Ray, so I moved into the other room.

hooks up to a machine that blows air into my nose

This is perhaps more information than you want, but this is how things work sometimes. I would normally sleep in the red room in this situation, but I had stripped the bed when Amelia left after Thanksgiving and had not yet made it up. But I didn't want to put fresh sheets on and then sleep in them right before Molli and Adrian arrive on Saturday. So I slept in the little "bamboo" room, or sewing room. It was piled with stuff, including quilts and blankets on the single bed, but I eventually made myself a kind of comfortable nest in there. I liked this room, and I could see out the door and big windows, where the moon was shining. I brought my book and my glasses and my drinking water--and my CPAP machine. I have slept without it all this time and it seemed sort of silly to feel like I had to start now, this very night, but it didn't seem to make sense to put it off, just because I was in a different room and already having trouble sleeping. I read a while and began to doze. I got up and turned off the light and managed to get the thing on, but was no longer at all sleepy. What with the car and the job possibility, and the different bed and the interesting book, I gave up and took off the mask and turned on the light and read some more. I went through the same process again an hour or so later, including an attempt to fall asleep without the machine as well. Eventually, I gave up and finished the d**n book, slept some with the machine on and some with it off. I really don't know how much. It was 7 when the brightening sky woke me. I love my open house with all the windows, but not a good place for me to sleep in.

One of the strange things about the machine is that they ask me over and over if I am tired and fall asleep during the day, or wake up feeling like I have slept badly. I always say no. I usually sleep a good bit less than most people I know and don't feel tired or sleepy until I sit down in front of the TV at night. So, the promise of a better night's sleep is intriguing to me. At this point, I don't know how much I slept or how much of it was with the machine and I can't say I am better rested than usual. But we will see. Perhaps I will start sleeping only 4 hours a night or so!

A little less sore this morning and hopeful of getting over this spell of back pain.

I was faced with an interesting challenge: bringing cookies to the Kenney Ridge Christmas dinner without any eggs. And without overdoing so as to bother my back. I made delicious pancakes with the one egg we got Saturday. Then I mixed the dough for Jam Kolaches (no eggs).

We headed to UUFA, riding with Dan. Ray taught Sunday school, with no voice, and I sat in the pews. It was one of my very favorite services ever, with some awesome music, about God, strangely enough, and questioning his existence. One of the songs was "Dear God," which ends with "I don't believe in You," a clever and moving song. After the service, there was the annual meeting, a real trial sometimes. We had to approve the budget and changes to the bylaws, as well as hear a report from the Goal-Setting committee. The usual suspects (Jane and Wilma, for instance) raised questions that had to be responded to, but everything was approved unanimously.

Ray was feeling very bad by this time and didn't say a word all the way home. He went straight to bed without eating anything. I had some lovely leftovers and continued on my quest. I rolled out the jam cookies and put them in the oven while I was talking to Molli. When I hung up, I found I was supposed to put jam in them and fold them over before I baked them! Oh, dear. I didn't have much to offer and now I had screwed even that up. I put little circles of jam in the middle of the cookies. Then I had time to mix up one more thing that didn't use eggs, an interesting apricot bar with coconut and a rich crust. It took a little longer than I would have liked. The day was clouding over and getting cooler. While it was baking, I put up the chickens and changed my clothes, brought in the laundry, and got ready to go to the party.

Ray got up as I was leaving and seemed much better. He wanted to come with me, but we decided he really shouldn't. I put everything in the car and drove to the community center. I brought my cookies (some still warm) in, and a bottle of white wine I put in the fridge. Then I walked over to Karen's to feed the pigs, who were happy to see me and my scraps. I snuck in Karen's house and changed out of my jeans and dirty shoes, grabbing an empty plastic bag for them from her counter. Then I walked over to Steve and Shannon's house for the appetizer course. Most of the snacks were gone, but I had some wine (the same red Acorna that we drink at home). The house was small and crowded, but lovely. You have to walk up some very steep stairs to get to the master bedroom, which is like a secret lair. Downstairs, there is one main room, a small bedroom, and a lovely bath. The kitchen is wonderful; Paul made the rustic custom cabinets.

After a bit, I walked along to the community center, where people were starting to gather, but no one had begun eating. I spent some time with my favorite little girl, Adah with the bright eyes, playing a card game we invented as we went along, with Mike Conroy, and having a lovely time. We got to eat after a bit, turkey among other things. I was pretty restrained in terms of carbs, so I could have a little pie: blueberry and squash plus cherry crisp, with homemade organic whipped cream. The cookies were very well received, and there were plenty of other desserts, of course. I left pretty early to come home and see how Ray was doing. He had especially enjoyed the apricot bars! He was doing pretty well and had worked up an appetite. After a couple game shows, I went to bed and to sleep by 10 ish. Then we got up at 4 or some ungodly hour. Of course, he had not slept well, since he had slept so much during the day. Oh, well.

Another fun and busy day, but I was very afraid my back was going to give out, so had to try to take it easy and still get things done!

We were somewhat taking it easy in the morning--I put some bread to rise and was looking at cookbooks and reading e-mail, when suddenly it seemed we would be late for pilates. No walk, left the bread rising, but got there in time. In fact, there were only four of us and it was really good. Ray told Amanda about my back issues and she did a lot of good work on it. She said when it "goes," it's usually not the triggering event, but something in the previous day or two (like sitting in the Classic Center for hours).

We went by the Farmers' Market and it was surprisingly busy, with more things than you would expect. I bought some sweet potatoes and some small eggplants. Keyshona Armstrong was playing and I really liked her.

We ate some delcious leftovers for lunch. Captain was there; he has lost his free internet connection. I think the student who was "giving" it to him is gone home, but will hopefully be back in January. He did some laundry too, but was too beat to hang it out. He went home and I hope is feeling better today.

Ray and I buckled down to getting ready for dinner guests. I baked the bread and started the soup by soaking and cooking garbanzo beans. We tidied a lot and then we went to feed the pigs. When we got back, I picked some lettuce and spinach, which he washed for me. I worked on the soup some more and took my bath. We told them to come at 5:30, because it is so hard to find us in the dark and dark is early now. Ray cut up the cauliflower for me. I finished the soup, except for the tomato that went in at the last minute, which I chopped up ready and waiting. I got the cauliflower started and they arrived. We took just a minute to glance at the chickens and the gardens and then they came in. It was pretty warm in the house from the sun and the cooking.

They brought some wine and an appetizer--brie and cherry paste with little toasts to eat it on--delicious--and they helped us with the rest of our preparations. Well, Barbara did. Ray and Robert spread cheese and cherry paste on toasts for us and filled our glasses. She was an excellent helper. She peeled and cut up the apples for the apple crisp, while I mixed up the topping. We got that in the oven and she grated the cheeses for the pasta. We put the soup in the tureen Amelia got at Thanksgiving. I had already set the table with the Christmas plates and glasses, napkins and utensils. She filled the glasses with ice and water. Ray served the soup and put the pasta on to boil. I cut up some fresh bread and put it on the table with butter. We had a lovely time. Everything was delicious and not really stressful. We played a round of Wits and Wages between dinner and dessert and Barbara beat us all badly. I think Robert had 4 points, I had 3 and Ray had 1. We only played about 4 questions--Barbara must have gotten 4 points on every one! A genius or just really lucky? She is someone I knew from Mothers' Center years ago who has started coming to the Fellowship in the last year. I had never met her husband. Their oldest child is Molli's age. We talked about everything. He is a professor of Forstry. They spent a year in Australia a while ago. They live out of town, toward Watkinsville, on 30 acres, in an octagonal house that I can't wait to see. They have platned pecans and fruit trees, too. Never had trouble with deer until this year, amazingly.

They left about 9; it seemed much later, and I went right to bed, not from exhaustion, but to protect my back. They wanted to help with the dishes, but Ray said no. He didn't do much, though. I think he was asleep before I was. I woke up at 3:30, but managed to sleep a little more before I got up at 5:30. It still aches, but I am not as worried about it now. We'll see.

I made crackers yesterday morning. I've never done that. The hardest part is rolling them out very thin and cutting them with a biscuit cutter and putting them on the cookie sheet. They were good, but not perfect. The first batch wasn't cooked enough, despite cooking them twice as long as called for, so they are a little soft and biscuity. The second batch is a little overdone, so they are hard and crunchy. But the flavor is good and I like the idea. I will try again, maybe with a different recipe.

Ray gave a final test at 12:30. I went in with him and had lunch with Janna. We did a little Christmas-related shopping that was quite fun and I picked him up again and we came home. I cut all the chard I could find, but the chickens have been eating it. If they would neatly choose one stalk and eat it all, it would be easier, but they had holes in them and pieces missing, so trimming them was a bear. The dish was not as good as the last time I made it, but we were able to eat before 5. This is good because we had to get the chickens in the coop, change our clothes, feed the pigs, and go downtown to volunteer at the production of A Christmas Carol that my Dad was in.

Captain on the far right, with his back turned.

It was the last show and was well attended. My friends Deb and John and Becky and Kent were there, which was nice. My Dad remembered his lines, spoke loudly and clearly. He had a cold, as did Scrooge. As part of the Ensemble, he wore black sweatpants and a black shirt, which was not a particularly flattering look for him, but perhaps I have never seen him look like that before. The play itself annoyed me somewhat. The "playwright" messed with the story, adding narrators and a sort of Greek chorus, as well as Kelly as a somewhat anachronistic bag lady character, who spoke to the audience, saying, "that's my cue" and "this is making me hungry--how about you?" People seemed to like it, but it was kind of distracting to me. I didn't really get into the story. There was a violin in the background, which made some people hard to hear. Of course, as a volunteer, I didn't get the best seat in the house either.

Captain on far left (with his coat on after the show outside)

Anyway, now it's over. Captain can sleep all day if he likes and hopefully he will feel better and not be too let down. We were home before 9. I made it through Wheel, but fell asleep during Jeopardy. So naturally, I woke up again at 4:30. I need to break this cycle--a nap, maybe? Not likely.

Still feeling it in my back, but no spasms and not limiting my activities much. Captain says he has a cold and Ray thinks he is coming down with it. A little tickle in my throat. We'll see if the vitamin C can keep it away.

Baked Moravian Ginger Cookies (no eggs) that I had mixed the day before. Interesting. They look a little like graham crackers. 

I went to town with Ray in the morning as he prepared to give a test. Mailed four save-the-date cards. It turns out they are oversized, so cost as much as letters (44 cents). This is not a huge deal, but I asked the printer when I picked them up. And I would think the designer would have known. Not only that, but the post office branch (in Add Drugs) was out of 44 cent stamps. He put a 29 cent, a 10 cent, and a 5 cent on each of them. Of course, I have 44 cent stamps at home I could have used any time. Well, if we want to mail any more, we don't have to come to town to do it. I have about 10 cards left.

Went to the library and got a few books. I was sitting there and said hello to someone who was in Mothers Center with me years ago. She retired at 62 and is living in subsidized housing on social security. No car. She had walked to the library and I gave her a ride back downtown. She says yoga has helped her adjust. She has a 5-year-old granddaughter she babysits a lot. I admit, it made me feel very wealthy and well off. Thank goodness for Ray's job and insurance and retirement.

I met Becky for lunch and it was delicious. We had a good time, as usual. I went to the Athens Land Trust to take a look at the house plans they are going to be building next year. They have a small subdivision that they bought (?) when it was foreclosed on. They had a competition for affordable house plans and picked the three best entries out of five submitted. They are pretty cool.

Picked up Ray and headed home. Sunny and nice inside but low 50s out. Made soup, including turnips we bought Saturday at the farmers' market. Turns out Ray loves turnips. I did not know that, all these years. Planned dinner for Saturday. Put the chickens up. Took the turnip greens to the pigs. Ate supper, watched TV, knitted, went to bed before 9. Tried to stay awake because Molli was supposed to call at 9. If she did, I missed it.

Better, but sore and nervous about doing anything that might set it off again. Ray went in for a little while; it was reading day. My Dad came by after his performance. It went well, but he is tired and thinks he is coming down with a cold. He begged off the rehearsal last night so he could go to bed at a reasonable hour. He had me make him tea with honey and lemon (and bourbon) and rested a bit before he went home to eat and sleep.

I wanted to make cookies, but there were no eggs. I kept going out and checking. I let the chickens out, although it was dark and rainy. I had the impression they wanted me to do something about it. I made a chocolate eclipse cake for potluck. It was still warm and delicious and very well recieved. They didn't know that it has no eggs in it and not much fat and uses sour milk. I finally found a cookie recipe with no eggs that I mixed up and put in the fridge to chill. I will cook them as soon as it is light.

Ray was home for lunch, just after my Dad left. At 5:15, we got the chickens up, took the trash to Nancy's, fed the pigs, and headed to potluck and choir. Watched a little TV, knitted a little, and went to bed about 10. Slept well until 5:30. Freezing out this morning.