Yesterday morning, Elisa got up so late she had to take her breakfast with her to eat in the car on the way to school, and plan to buy lunch. I walked her all the way to StipeMaases'. It was raining and cold. Then I walked all the way back, jumped in the tub, and we rushed off. I didn't eat most of my breakfast, either.

I dropped Ray off and waited for Janna to be finished with her dentist appt. I spent a few minutes at her house, admiring the work they have been doing to renovate their basement. Then I had a doctor's appointment. My doctor does not cheer on my accomplishments as much as I would like. I have lost two pounds since the last time I was there, and my cholesterol has improved. Unfortunately, my sugar has not. She is still willing to let me keep trying to improve my diet and exercise. I am hereby giving up orange juice for one thing. I was somewhat pleased, though.

I met Becky and Le'Ann for lunch at DePalma's, an Italian restaurant with mainly pasta dishes on the menu. I ordered a grilled ribs appetizer and a side salad--meat and veggies, no carbs. It was good.

The plan was to pick Ray up and trade cars. I was supposed to go to class while he went home to make something for potluck. However, I was reading my email on my phone while I was waiting and another student sent out a question about working on our assisgnment since class was cancelled. Apparently, an email went out, but I was left off. Ray and I stopped by the Institute to confirm and then we went home. I have to say, having class cancelled made me unreasonably happy.

Ray immediately went to sleep, not surprisingly, since he had gotten less than five hours the night before. He did build a nice fire first, though, and I enjoyed sitting on the couch and reading stuff on my iPad. I didn't do much of anything constructive. The weather was cold and gray, but it was cozy in the house.

Elisa came home on the bus and helped me make a lentil salad, with peppers. Then we went outside and covered the tomatoes and most of the peppers. The basil and peanuts will have to take their chances. There was a frost advisory, but it may or may not happen. We also picked about a dozen peppers, two small potatoes, some radishes and some lettuce, just in case.

We went to the Fellowship and enjoyed our dinner, less than 10 of us for potluck. Then we had choir rehearsal. When we got home, I went right to bed. I woke up at 5, with the sleep mask on!

Election Day

This morning, I'm happy to hear that Obama won. It was closer than I had thought it would be and there were some other votes I didn't like as well.

Yesterday, I stayed home with Elisa (who didn't get until after 11). I did the reading and wrote an assignment for class last night. Sadly, it didn't get in with the things I took to class. Not impressive!

E. and I took a little walk after she ate breakfast and I ate lunch (and I made bread after finishing my homework).

We headed out about 4:30. I went to class. We had a long presentation by a researcher about hunger and the elderly, a topic I care about, but not an hour's worth on how they designed their study, etc. Meanwhile, Elisa walked around downtown some. When she came to the Institute, it was already locked up for the night, so the professor had to get a key to let her in. I was apologetic.

My dear friends Deb and John (and Becky and Kent) picked her up about 6 and took her to dinner with them. I was keeping in touch with Ray by text message. He was representing the Democrats at the Board of Elections, certifying absentee ballots, and not sure when he would be finished.

I slipped out of class about 7:30 (again) and went to pick him up. Then we stopped briefly at the election night party to let my Dad know we would not be there, after all. I dropped Ray at the Will Call line and went to park the car at the Classic Center. I parked on the lowest level in one of the last few spaces. We were not late, hadn't missed anything, but I was stressed. In fact, I really didn't like th Blue Man Group.

After the show, we went by the Election Night party. Crowded and noisy and too close to call for most races. I'm really sad the charter school amendment passed in Georgia, but glad about Elizabeth Warren! Then we stayed up until about midnight. Now I'm pretty tired. 

River Birch

It is great that the time has changed. Unfortunately, my internal clock still causes me to wake up at 5:45 old time...which is 4:45 new time. And my overactive mind kicks in and won't let me go back to sleep. I think about all the different obligations I have and how to get everything done in the right priority without any conflict. Ha! It is a beautifully rainy morning and the sound on the roof should have lulled me back to sleep, but no.

Yesterday morning, Elisa took the bus for the first time. We walked out with her. It was light, but the sun wasn't quite up yet. The driver was agreeable. We finished getting ready and were able to leave at a very reasonable hour. I drove to the credit union after dropping Ray off and then met the small group at the Botanical Garden. We had a private instructor and walk, learning to identify trees. It was great fun. In the piedmont, we have red cedar (juniper), loblolly and short-leaved pine. We learned about alternate and oppposite leaves, simple and composite. It was a beautiful day, cool enough for a coat, but sunny.

Then I went to the Institute of Gerontology. It was about an hour before class, but I ate my lunch and finished up some of the reading to prepare. I led a discussion of Green House nursing homes (google it) and the empowerment of the direct service workers there. I want to learn a lot more about this idea, which is better for the residents and the workers. It went pretty well, but a majority of the class would rather work in a traditional nursing home, interestingly.

Ray and Elisa were waiting for me. They had stopped at Masada and E. had gotten some Uggs. She did not bring boots with her from Germany, since they only wear them when there is a lot of snow. She found that the young women here are already wearing their Uggs.

We went to the grocery store. We usually avoid being there when it is crowded, but somehow we were stuck and had to buy some things. E. drinks a lot of orange juice and we needed milk and cereal for her, too. She also asked for frozen waffles, which we bought. It was crazy and the 5:30 traffic at dusk was incredible. We have managed, for the most part, to be home before then.

We made asparagus risotto and cooked some delicious pork chops that had been marinating. Then we watched TV and went to bed.

It was a beautiful sunny day, although it started off a little cool. I was up for a while and had to wake Ray about 8 to take things out of the truck for me. I had eaten some breakfast, showered and dressed and gathered a few hats and other items I had knitted.

My friend Le'Ann was selling her daughter's crocheted items--cute hats with faces attracted the most praise. She is recovering from a badly broken ankle and needed some help setting up. I was allowed to put out my items along with hers and I was curious to see if anyone would buy them. I didn't sell a thing, but she was pleased with the amount she sold. I talked to some Montessori friends and enjoyed the day.

Ray and Elisa came by when it was time to help us pack up. She had slept in and then they had walked around the trail.

Elisa and I met Janna at Talbot's for a brief visit. I bought a green shirt--everything was on big sale, so it was only $15. I didn't spend $30 on a black cardigan. I guess I probably have enough sweaters.

Then we went to UUFA. We had volunteered to watch the children so their parents could go out to dinner. We got free pizza, chips, and cookies, as well as grapes and carrot sticks for our trouble. The organizer didn't want us to have to wash dishes, so she brought styrofoam plates and plastic cups. Needless to say, I used real plates and glasses and it didn't take much to rinse them and put them through the dish machine. There were 11 children, from about 2 to 10 years old. No disasters, one fairly argumentative child. "I didn't do anything. What did I do?" He was really delightful in most ways. In fact, they are a rather smart and agreeable collection, who know each other and got along pretty well. Mostly, they played outside. Later, they watched Charlotte's Web. Aaron beat me at Sorry twice.

We got home about 9, watched some TV and ate broccoli.

Elisa's first day

The sound of an alarm going off--over and over, for more than 30 minutes. Actually three diffferent sounds. I had been up for an hour or more, so it was only amusing. About 7, I went down and started getting things ready for breakfast. After a while, she showed up, dressed and pleasant. She drank orange juice and ate toast with peanut butter. I sliced her some bread for sandwiches and she chose ham and mayonnaise. Also a banana and a cookie. I managed to find the brown paper lunch bags.

We took Cameron and walked toward Valley's house. It was just light and a bit cold, but she didn't want any hat or gloves. It was a good walk. Valley and her Mom showed up in their little red car about 8, before we got all the way to their house. I grabbed the newspaper on my way back. Ray was just stirring as I got into the house, which meant he was very late.

After I got him out the door, I settled down to work, but my Dad called before long and then he came by. I started making some bread. With Elisa eating, I will need a lot more. I also looked at recipes for sausage, which I took out of the freezer to thaw. Most things need to thaw over night, but sausage is pretty quick. It can also go in the pan and start cooking, even it's not completely thawed. I hung out some laundry, too.

After my Dad left, I ate some lunch and settled back down to get my paper done. Surprise, surprise! On studying the syllabus, I realized I was confused about the due date. I have another week for that paper...of course, there are still this week's readings, which I mostly did for the rest of the day. When the sun is shining and it's warm inside, sitting on the couch (which reminds me of my Mom) reading is a very nice way to pass the time. I am often very inspired by what I read. I think, "yes, I need to do this work." In this case, it was about caregivers and how we can do better. It is rare for doctors and social workers to integrate care, of older people or anyone. It is not unusual for older people to have mental health as well as physical health issues. They are often most comfortable with primary care physicians, who sometimes know little about mental health or social issues, and are most llikely to prescribe medicine, and don't have time to listen to older people. A social worker could bridge that gap, but, for the most part, there is not funding for that sort of service. hmm.

A little after four, Ray came home. He had picked up Elisa. She watched me making the bread and was properly appreciative and interested. She chopped some carrots and peppers (the onions made her cry), and we made a soup with sausage and white beans that was excellent. We all had two bowls; I think Elisa had a third one. The bread wasn't quite finished baking, but we had a couple undercooked slices anyway.

Then she went upstairs to work on homework while we watched TV. I don't know anyone who ever worked on homework Friday night. I fell asleep about 10.

Now I am coming down with Ray's cold, which means he didn't get it from me, I guess. Elisa arrived last nitght and I hope she doesn't catch it. It is nice to have her here. Our schedule will change a bit, since she will be leaving the house before 8. Fortunately, I am an early riser.

I baked some cookies yesterday morning, the rest of the butter-nut chip slice-and-bake. We held out for the sun and didn't light a fire. Ray went off to work and i wrote my life review. The paper we have to turn in is an analysis of the life review, which is private. Sadly, it makes me cry to look back over my life. Some of it is happy, but it feels like I have worked very hard and accomplished nothing. I guess I set my sights too high. All my efforts to recylce and not use energy do not seem to have made a difference. Without the government to set policies, the degradation of the environment and the death of human life as we know it contnnues. Similiarly, the causes of justice and women's rights have advanced little, if at all, in my lifetime. As for my career, I cannot really say that I have had one. I think the assignment was meant to inspire me to decide what is important for the rest of my life, but I feel discouraged instead. I am proud of my children, though. Perhaps they will save the world.

On that front, the big news from yesterday is that Molli learned what her score was on the LSAT--168! That means nothing to me, but she tells us it puts her in the 96th percentile. She can probably get into whichever law school she wants--almost. Maybe not Harvard, but she will have choices and that's great.

I dumped some frozen corn in my pasta salad and took it to the Kenney Ridge potluck, along with Elisa. Soli and Adah and Ruby were there. It is amusing to have people meet her and ask if she speaks English or how is her English. It is excellent. Sometimes she is not familiar with out expressions, but she will ask, which I admire. When I told her we were going to potluck, she asked what is potluck.

She worked in her room while Ray and I watched some TV. We went to bed and I gave her a choice of alamr clocks--the wind-up kind or the digital electric kind. She said, "or I have my own." Of course. One of the ways life is changing from one year to the next.

Pretty cold this morning, but the sun is coming to warm us up. Yesterday, we lit the fire in our woodstove for the first time this fall. It did a good job of taking the chill off while we scurried around in the dark. I am very much looking forward to the time change this weekend.

After I dropped off Ray and Dan, I headed over to the Ramsey Center to ride the bike for 30 minutes, the first time I've done it in a while. I'm a little sore this morning, but otherwise it's good. I spent a couple hours at the Economic Justice Coalition and reviewed some information for my Epi class, looking at the assignment for our big group project.

I stopped by the bank and went to Clarke Central to register as Elisa's guardians and change her address. Then I met Hunaid for lunch. We walked from his house to Lumpkin Cafe and sat outside in the sunshine.

After that, I headed downtown and met with the two other members of my group to talk about the project. We have some questions about the assignment that we will ask her next week. In the meantime, I need to do some research on some senators from the northeast and any well-known murders and suicides from the area.

It didn't take an hour, so Ray and I got to head home while it was still pleasant. We even let the chickens out for a bit, but I think they were unhappy about the weather. They didn't go much of anywhere and stood on the porch steps for awhile.

We threw together a pasta and bean salad for potluck and had dinner with our friends. At home, we watched TV. There's still lots of coverage of "the aftermath of Sandy." It's pretty horrible. Today I read about two people who drowned in their home! Amelia spent most of the day giving out food in a neighborhood about an hour away from her by bus, which was running but packed. She has food and electricity and heat and is just frustrated she can't get to work. The Public is in lower Manhattan, so it is still without power and closed.

I slept pretty well.