46 degrees out. I was cold all night with the windows open. I can tell it's cold because my shoulders ache from hunching. And I have a cold. But some of my aches this morning are from playing racquetball yesterday. On Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday we can't go until at least 3:30 because Ray has class. And I was held up at work, so didn't pick him up until after 4. But since we didn't really need to rush home (no one at home to worry about...except Zoe), we played anyway. Only one game, since it had been so long and I didn't want to overdo before my trip. I think it really helps my state of mind, so I'm glad we did. But then it was after 6:30 when we got home and took 2 hours to make supper and then I was exhausted and didn't get to bed until after 11. I did find time to make my reservations to and from Atlanta, so now I am pretty ready to go. I still have to do a few thngs, like get my passport out of the safe deposit box, but I don't have to worry about getting there.

Yesterday morning, one of the residents told me that a former resident had died. She apparently took an overdose of some kind, probably deliberately. She had tried before, once at the shelter. She was being treated for it, but if someone is determined, there is not much anyone can do. Her young son will not remember her as he grows up...and her older son will surely be devastated. He is now hearing from his stepfather how he should be happy for her (I'm sure); that she is with God and she won't be unhappy any more. I am very very sad and a little angry at her, but I am also incredibly relieved that it didn't happen at the shelter. Or even next week. We also had a child come home with a high fever. At the emergency room, they gave him a prescription for Tamiflu. Do you know how much that costs? $100! And surely every one in the shelter will catch it. The thing is she should have Medicaid, but hasn't done the paperwork yet.

Really cool here this morning. In fact, cold. All the windows are open and I covered Ray up and turned off the fan. Then I put on jeans and socks and a sweatshirt. I am still not sure it is good for his cold (and mine).

Yesterday was the first day we had Bob, from the Council on Aging. They assign workers to agencies for training, up to 20 hours a week. They pay them. Unfortunately, Bob is not as competent as I would like. I asked him to copy and mail a document for me. After he left, I found two pages stuck in a drawer. I had to tear open the envelope and tape it back up. Fortunately, the mail carrier hadn't come to pick it up yet. Another thing I asked him to mail had no stamp on it. I put in a call to Council on Aging, but didn't hear back. I will ask her if she wants him to just sit here for four hours and answer the phone and door. He also took the recycling for me.

I did payroll, even though I didn't get all the time sheets until almost 4. I have to finish the details today. But it did get submitted, two days before payday.

Then I went to the post office and mailed a small package to Nate in Seattle. I think he is 7 today. There was a line of about 10 people, so it took almost 15 minutes. I just missed getting a parking ticket. The agent was across the street and I had put in a nickel for 12 minutes and it was expired.

Then I went to the VFW for the town hall meeting on health care. There were a few people already there. Other early arrivals included Nathan Horne's dad and Leara Rhodes. A couple of men were complaining about the census and I thought, good, don't answer the questions. Then Pat Priest came with her signs. They finally opened the doors at 5:30. I got a good seat on the end of the third row, where I could leave when I got too upset. Then my phone rang; Janna wanted me to come get her. So of course I did. We got back just at six and found a few seats in the back. It was pretty tense; a lot of people agreed with us, but some of them were yelling out things and I tried to tell a couple of them they were hurting our cause. I did agree with some of the things he said: we need to lower health care costs and we need to have civilized discussion. I will email him some of my ideas. It was 7:30 when we left. I took Janna home and went home. I ate a baked potato, a banana, and the last of the apple crisp with ice cream. Monday is the night we have three shows we like on TV.

It's cool this morning; the computer says 61. I am still achy and a little congested. I took Zycam yesterday, but don't know that it will keep me from completely getting this cold. Ray slept a lot this weekend; that is how he copes.

I went to the forum at UUFA yesterday at 9:30. It was about choosing a retirement home and there was some good info.: common sense, but helpful. Then I sang with the choir, including my 3 word solo: Hunger and homelessness (followed by "we can make a difference"). Other people sang things like "injustice, hatred." Then there was the fourth Sunday lunch.

I rushed off to the AAHS Board meeting downtown at the Bottleworks. It started at 9, but I told them I couldn't get there until 1. I was about 5 minutes late (the service ran over by 20 minutes--it was a good service, but still. Karen B. played an awesome cello Kol Nidre.). The board members were all into revising the bylaws and updating the policies, etc. Good stuff, but no answers for my immediate questions. Luckily, they finished about 3 instead of 5!

Then, I hit the grocery store on my way home and got a few things we need. It was a little more crowded than I like. When I got home, it was still sunny and not too hot. After I put the groceries away, I went out and picked green beans and lettuce. Then I sprayed the knockout roses and everything sticking through the fence with the deer repellent the Captain had mixed up before he left: eggs, hot pepper, garlic...It works quite well, but when it's constantly raining, there is no point in applying it.

Life seems much simpler with my parents gone. Ray and I can keep up with the smaller amount of housework: laundry, dishes... I know it's an illusion, because my parents do a lot when they are here. I like to wander around the house, opening and closing shades and windows and admiring the empty and tidy rooms.

I still have a lot to do to get ready for my trip. I am very excited and nervous and trying not to let it overwhelm me. Take a deep breath...

Warning--I'm going to whine.

My neck hurts and I'm getting a cold. Ray came down with it Friday and I don't know how I thought I would escape. Sometimes I do. He is very prone to respiratory infections; I think because of his asthma. I don't want a cold because I am singing this morning, I am attending the AAHS board retreat this afternoon, I don't want to expose my parents when they come home Wednesday, and I don't want to fly to Madrid with a cold overnight Friday. I am thinking of taking the little plane from Athens to Atlanta (it's only $39--I hate to tell anyone because the flights will fill up) and that is especially uncomfortable with a cold. I hate small planes especially, but no driving to Atlanta in Friday afternoon traffic; no parking, 30 minutes in the air is hard to argue with. I will have a couple hours to kill in the airport, but that's so much better than rushing and stressing.

Yesterday I did not leave the house. Well, I walked out to get the paper and take Zoe for a walk. It wasn't actually raining, just misting a little. When I was coming back, it started raining again. It was like that all day. In the afternoon, around 3:30, it had stopped for a few hours. I went out and picked some peppers, basil, a few tomatoes with bites out of them, and a handful of beans. A half-hour later it was raining again.

A woman named Denise came with a helper (Sheila) to clean the house about 10. They were here two hours; Ray didn't think they did that good a job. $100. But it is nice to have the floors clean and the bathrooms. We had to tell them not to worry about some rooms--the TV room, most of the upstairs.

Most of the day, I cooked, interspersed with some reading of cookbooks and time on the computer. I made pastitsio, a little at a time. We were having Mike and his wife to dinner. But we decided we should let them know Ray had a cold, because she has had cancer and has "white blood cell issues." In addition, there were flash flood warnings and they were driving from Monroe. So they decided not to come. Ray and I enjoyed our dinner (sans salad; they were bringing that). Some heavy storms came through and the satellite was out for a bit. But we have so many programs recorded that we would be fine without for weeks.

I woke up in the night and realized I was getting a cold--bummer.

I woke up about 4:30 and it was raining. I was so disappointed. I had been looking forward to doing some gardening. The Captain mixed up some deer repellent before he left. Anything that is not behind the fence they will eat, including the knockout roses, which rarely get to bloom becaucse they are being munched on. Also any part of a plant that sticks through the fence--pumpkin vines, cucumbers... There are things that need picking, too. I will probably still take a short walk.

The air conditioning is running like mad. Ray must have woken up in the night and been warm, so he turned it down. I don't dare change it. It's probably 70 out in spite of the rain.

I left work about 3 yesterday and picked Ray up. When we parked and got out of the car to play racquetball, he realized he didn't have his bag, so we went home. The traffic was crazy (home football game today). When we got home, I made banana snack cake to take to Janna's for dinner, in honor of the high holy days (Rosh Hashanah was a week ago and Yom Kippur is tomorrow). It called for a cup of pecans. The only pecans we have are ones we gathered from Becky's trees a year ago. Ray started shelling and chopping. It took about an hour and we still didn't really have enough. Then I put it in the oven and we were more than an hour late for dinner! It was delicious though. She served chicken with apricots and currants and rice with wild rice. Deb and John were there too--and Nathan! It was fun to see him and talk with him, now that he's an adult.

I am feeling pretty good about my ability to run the Shelter. The Case Manager deals with the residents and keeps me informed. Sometimes she asks me my opinion. There are three interns who help her--social work students. There is a volunteer who has come in all this week to answer the phones and do any tasks I come up with; he even changed a light bulb for me. I get the phone calls that are too complicated for them to answer, so I can talk to people about poverty and homelessness and how they can help. I am still doing the assistant director jobs: paying the bills and the staff, submitting reimbursements for grants. I don't think it takes 25 hours most weeks. The interns run errands for me: buying groceries and other supplies. I still make bank deposits myself. They are keeping up with a database of contributors and writing most of the thank you notes.

Yesterday I met with a man at Manning Brothers (a restaurant supply store--fun to browse in) about buying a commercial dishwasher. When I attended the ServSafe training about food safety, I decided we really needed one. Our residents are not washing the dishes in a way that will definitely kill germs. They also use a lot of paper plates and plastic silverware, which I want to stop. It will cost about $4000, but we have 2 $1000 donations and the Board has approved spending the difference.

The Maytag repair man came because one of the washing machines wasn't working. He said it was most likely that people were using too much detergent. A front-loading machine only uses about 3 gallons of water and needs less than a tablespoon of detergent, sometimes as little as a teaspoon. ($65 for the trip of course) I pass that info. along to the Case Manager and she makes sure the residents know.

The rest of the day I spent working on the filing system and reading old emails on the Director's computer. I am slowly working on transferring some of my information from one computer (the Assistant Director's) to the other--like my Contacts and Calendar.

Ray had a Democratic Committee meeting and he needed to prepare the Treasurer's report, so I waited at his office to rush him home at 4;30. He did the report and drove back to the meeting and I stayed home alone. I talked to my children on Skype though, so it wasn't really like being alone. Amelia and I are gradually making the reservations for our trip to Galicia--I leave a week from today!

I woke up before 5 even though I wasn't in bed until after 11. Ray and I are enjoying having the house to ourselves, not that we are doing anything differently than we would if my parents were here. They called and left a message on the answering machine, which I think means they're safely arrived for the night somewhere. But their cell phone was breaking up, so I can't really understand the message. I should have called, but it was so late by the time I thought of it that I didn't.

I called the Maytag repair man for our washing machine at work without making any jokes about them being lonely. We had our staff meeting without incident. I wrote and signed and mailed checks to the gas company, the water company and others. I dug up information on our workers comp history to give to a different insurance company to see if we can get a lower rate. Some volunteers from Baldor came to study the kitchen and see about putting the dishwasher in. We have gotten another $1000 from Georgia Power, so we can buy a new one instead of a used one. The volunteers will run a new electrical circuit for it and build a counter, etc. It's nice to work for an organization that has built up such a positive reputation in the community and so many supporters. I know if there were a financial crisis, we would be able to raise the money to keep going.

I was supposed to leave at 3:30 to go get my mammogram, but the phone kept ringing and people kept showing up (interns, etc.), so I didn't leave until almost 4. They have moved some things out to a building in Oconee County and it seems to take forever to get there. There are a bunch of big brick buildings and it took me a while to find the right one. Then of course I had to wait a while, since I had technically missed my appointment. Ray was waiting for me at Transmet, a restaurant near the bus stop, drinking beer and correcting papers, so I didn't feel too bad for him.

When we got home, I picked green beans, eggplant, basil. The ground is still muddy and wet from all the rain, but the grasshoppers don't seem to mind. They are mating everywhere and I can't bring myself to crush them with my fingers like my Dad would. Ray made bean sanp with our own tomatoes. I chopped the basil and peppers for the hot pot salad, as well as peeling the potatoes. Working on dinner together was nice.

Amelia called from Madrid and she and I talked on Skype for 40 minutes. It is kind of incredible to be able to see her room and the things she bought today (yarn, postcards) so far away and absolutely free. We are both looking forward to our visit coming up soon. It will be kind of an adventure for the two of us to be driving around Galicia with our limited Spanish. Fun and beautiful and delicious and interesting, and probably not dangerous.

I was thinking about my next knitting project, so Ray and worked on straightening out a bunch of old yarn while we watched John Stewart...and Cybill.

It was nice to see the sun yesterday, but the heat and the wet earth made it unpleasantly humid, and we opened the windows even so when it got below 78 out. This morning it seems cool and comfortable.