Ray slept a little late yesterday, then we walked a little more than usual, then I took him to Aderhold, where he was giving a review session, so it was after 9:30 before I got in. We had our staff meeting and I worked some on the budget. M. found out that there was a report she had to turn in today (based on the data they have been entering since last week). She gave me a couple pages that ask for numbers--how much we spent in various categories last year, and where our matching funds come from. It took me about an hour, but I got that done. I left at 1:30, picked up Ray, and we went to Kroger. We were out of just about everything, so we spent over $100. Orange juice, milk, eggs, bread, fruit, veggies, yogurt....

Then we came home and tidied up some before Cathie came to clean our house. It took her 4 1/2 hours to clean just the three bathrooms. I know she worked really hard and they look great. But I was hoping to get a couple of the bedrooms and the living room clean too.

I watered the garden and moved the baby plants outside. I know the Captain is going to be upset some of them died. Three asparagus spears are poking up.

I made supper while Ray worked on his test. Then he wanted to watch Dancing with the Stars. There were exhibition dances by the professionals, which were fun to dance, but mostly they just dragged out the agony of announcing which couple had been eliminated, asking them dumb questions like "how do you feel after hearing that?"

Ray was up until 11 and woke up again at 4--I think that is why he got sick last week and it is not going to help him get better. But he has to finish making up a test. I don't think his students appreciate how hard he works.

Worked hard most of the day: payroll, DCA grant. Weather was sunny, breezy, a little cool. I walked over to Habitat to turn in our registration for the Run/Walk for Home. A sweater was sufficient.

I waited a bit for Ray to be done with his faculty meeting. As we were heading home, he remembered to stop by and pick up the dogs. Thank goodness! I was mortified that it was a little after 5:30. Dr. Cown is so agreeable; he didn't seem to mind. He says Cameron is right about a year old--put down a March birthday in the computer. He calls him a lab mix--not much new information. They both had shots and baths and boarding has gone up. He gave us a discount, but it was over $300.

At 6, we met with Cathy, who is coming tomorrow to clean house! yay! She seems perfect, charges $20/hr, brings her own supplies (except they are not "green"). I suppose the fact that she home schools her 17-year-old son and he goes to Bible study 3 nights a week doesn't  mean she can't do a great job. She is Mary jean's cleaning lady and has been in the business 17 years. We had a nice chat and she didn't seem horrified by the state of my house. She's coming at 3 this afternoon.

Ray made dinner. He threatened to go to bed at 8, but managed to watch most of Dancing with the Stars. I like the dancing part, but there was a lot of fighting and negativity (possibly staged or at least encouraged by the producers), so I switched to a Big Bang rerun after he went to bed. Tore out the other sleeve band on Ray's vest and worked on it some, but too tired and late to get it right.

Home Again

It's about 5 hours driving time from our house to Tybee Island, each way, if there are no traffic or other problems. Then we (OK, Ray) spent a couple hours or more Friday night and Saturday night, driving to the Savannah airport to pick people up late at night. The weather was not perfect--rainy, cold, windy, overcast--but we had a pretty great beach day yesterday morning, playing bocce with Nate, getting water in a bucket for Lidet. Molli dug tunnels with the kids. Captain, Molli, Ray and Bonney went in the water. I went in up to my knees, but as the tide was out, it was a long cold wade to get to the deep water and I chickened out. I had less than 40 hours with Amelia, less than 20 with Molli, a third of them sleeping. Was it worth it? Absolutely. I love the ocean. There is nothing as calming and exhilarating as the sound of the waves and the sight of the beach, sea birds, and my family all together. Yesterday morning when I woke up, it was light, even sunny, and everyone was asleep. I climbed up to the third floor deck in my pajamas and bare feet for my first look at the ocean. As people gradually woke up and said hello to each other, some for the first time, it was a great joy. We played Cancellation Hearts. Nate, who is seven, can play about as well as the rest of us. We played Carcassonne, just Nate and Molli and me. We played Banangrams, a new game like Scrabble.

On our way home, we all had dinner at Uncle Bubba's, in a corner with windows where we could see the marsh and even walk outside with the kids when they got tired of sitting still. We had pink drinks--I had an orange cream daiquiri. We had onion rings and fried pickles. We had seafood all around. And we had three large awesome desserts--pecan pie, strawberry shortcake, and chocolate creme brulee. We passed them around several times. Nate thought that was pretty fun. And then we were on our way at 7 pm. Fortunately, the trip went well. I drove the first 2 hours, straight on route 16, at 65 miles an hour. It rained some. At Dublin, Ray took over, and I slept most of the rest of the way, including the thunderstorm.We were home by 11:30, amazingly, and what a joy to sleep in my own bed.

Tybee Island, Day 2

It is sunny and I can see the beach from here, but there is a houseful of sleeping people that I love (9 of them) and I don't want to leave in case one of them wakes up!

Molli arrived safely and on time at 11:55 last night. I told her I would be there to pick her up, but I was in bed asleep. Ray and Amelia went though, and the Captain offered and so did Bonney. They said hi to me when they came in, but I don't expect them to be up for a while.

I told Nate (age 7) he could wake me up when he woke up, as long as it was light out. It's almost 8 now, but no sign of him yet. He is from Seattle, so his body thinks it's not even 5 am. He loves to play games, and so do I. Most of our family does. He knows whenever we get together, I will play as many games as he wants, almost all day every day. I try for a little outside time too.

My Mom will probably be the next one up; she will want to make breakfast for everyone. Good thing, because I'm starving! Yesterday she made bacon and eggs for all takers. And Amelia brought bagels from NY--ymm. I was trying to get a count for her of how many wanted bacon. My sister Polly said, seriously, "why would anyone not want bacon?" Well, of course, Amelia is a vegetarian, but Ray and I don't eat much bacon for health reasons. Polly is skinny and probably doesn't need to worry about her cholesterol or blood pressure.

After breakfast, Ray went back to bed and the 7 of us went out to the beach. It was crazy windy, with rivers of sand blowing down the beach. We walked backwards into the wind and enjoyed the shells and other things on the beach. It was pretty cold. I had brought hat, gloves and scarf, but not a coat, just a sweatshirt. Captain and Vanessa turned back pretty soon, but the 5 of us found a big driftwood tree stump to sit behind and keep the wind at bay for a minute. Sand kept blowing around the edges into our faces, so we headed back before long. We ended up missing the place we had come onto the beach and walking on the roads a ways before we found our house, so got a lot of good exercise.

Vanessa made grilled cheese sandwiches for most of us, with tomato for those who like. We have piles of cookies that she made and froze for weeks. Polly and Amelia and I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things and then we stopped at Waves for sand toys. This is the same shop Ray went to Friday night to get flip flops and shorts. It is a stereotype of the beach store--lots of really tacky stuff, including hermit crabs with painted shells. I bought Lidet and Nate t-shirts and some outdoor stuff--frisbee, nerf football.

Polly and her kids headed off with Amelia to walk to the lighthouse, but I needed a little down time, reading and knitting with most of my favorite people. When Ray asked to go for a walk, I couldn't say no. So he and I and Bonney walked to the lighthouse to meet the others. Captain and Vanessa stayed in. So I got lots of exercise yesterday.

Dinner was ham with mac & cheese that I had made ahead. Polly made a salad. We managed to fit 9 around the dining table, with stools from the counter to augment the chairs. It was good and popular. Bonney doesn't eat wheat gluten these days, so she had potato and sweet potato instead of mac & cheese. Amelia had a sweet potato too, to add to salad and mac & cheese.

After supper, the big Hearts game. But first, Lidet's birthday party. She was four years and one week old (except that the orphanage just estimated her age). Vanessa had made and frosted a sponge cake and brought it from Athens. It already had 4 candles, but we had a time finding matches. My Mom had some in her purse that were really old. Apparently Lidet doesn't like cake, but she enjoyed the ice cream--and the presents. She and Polly drew with her new crayons and notebook, while the rest of us played cards. Nate held his own. Ray was having a really bad game, but it was still fun. I had to bow out at about 10:30. Must sleep, cannot keep eyes open...

Friday was good, worked hard until 1:30 or so, and then Ray and I drove down. The trip went very well. The last hour is always awful and I think, "this is not worth it." But it is. We were on Tybee by 6:30 and it was still sunny. My parents had beat us by a couple hours. We ate at Sting Ray's, a fun seafood place. I admit to being so radical that I can't really enjoy drinking daiquiri out of a styrofoam cup, but the food was very good. I had low country boil, which I thought was a little healthier than fried seafood, but still fun: boiled shrimp, sausage, potato, cole slaw. In fact, there is still some in the fridge.

I woke up too early because i am excited about seeing everybody (tonight!) and have a lot to do. but it's still dark and the house is asleep. Yesterday, Ray stayed home and slept and hopefully is getting better. he also did a load of wash. I still managed to be a few minutes late for work! I worked on the DCA grant some more, lots of numbers to balance and questions to ask. M. had a call from the powers-that-be. Apparently, the people we helped in 2009 were not entered into the computer system properly. Although many people were entered and exited, it looks like very few services were provided. Our local government office, HED, has to turn their report in April 1, based on that information. So we now have to go back through the 2009 client files (over 300) and make sure that every service provided was entered into the computer record-keeping system. This is when I say, TG I am not the director! She was pretty angry, but we know how important it is to do correctly going forward.

I had a nice lunch with Becky to make a good break and heard about her crazy life, involving a horse show in Florida next week, driving down.

I left at 4, going by the bank to make a deposit. Two of our residents have gotten income tax refunds. One is buying a car for $2000 down. The other is paying off her debt at the housing authority, over $1000. I thought, oh, good, then she will be eligible for housing there, but no. It will clear her history, though. I was home before 5 and started packing my suitcase and a box of food and looking for games. At 6, I went to a Chili Cook-Off fund-raiser for the Homeless Shelter by the Women's Council of Realtors. I had a ticket for Ray but he was asleep in bed. I called around but couldn't find anyone available at a moment's notice. It was rainy, but I found the place--a goat farm with several baby goats, as well as adults (about 10 in all). Ten kinds of chili--some were pretty good. I wonder if I can enter next year, because I think mine is better. Not many people I knew, except Regina C., and some board members. I met Meredith's husband, Ken. He is cute and pleasant. He is studying at UGA for an MBA. He is starting a company to make fortune cookies with insults: called Mis-fortune Cookies. Hmm--would you buy them? Mary Kelly was there with her husband Mark. Nick is graduating from college this year and Zara from high school. She is going to UGA and can't wait to be in a sorority. They don't know where they went wrong--except letting her be herself.

I was home by 9, eating ice cream in front of the TV. Ray was up, feeling a little better.

Ray is sick. Poor baby! I knew he had not been getting enough sleep. His throat was scratchy and he would have stayed in bed if he could have. He took some medicine and went to work. At AAHS, I continued working on the DCA grant, getting to the budget part. whew. We have a new family-5 children! The 3 and 4-year-olds were around for now, until child care is arranged. M. was at a meeting, applying for money. We did get the $1000 I asked for from the Junior League. One of us has to go to the ceremony next month to get it.

I thought I had forgotten my lunch, so Ray went to Wendy's and got me a grilled chicken sandwich and we ate in my office. At 2, he came back and got me, we went home, and he went to bed. My lunch wasn't there either. Then I remembered, I had stuck it in the refrigerator at work when I got there first thing and then forgot about it.

It was a beautiful sunny hot day in the 70s. I finished up two giant pans of mac & cheese to freeze and spent most of the afternoon out in the garden, shoveling wood chips and manure. Good news! The first asparagus is up. It was getting so late in the spring, we were worried about it. The Captain attached pipe to a raised bed to make our second "hoop house." It will keep the squash warm and protect them from insects.

We didn't go to potluck. Captain and Vanessa had bought hot dogs and ground beef and he cooked them on the grill. I cut up the yellow squash and got the frozen French fries in the oven. I woke Ray up for dinner (he had asked me to) and he stayed up for a couple hours. I went to choir at 8:20 to rehearse the song we are singing for Easter (Sakura), but not the rest of the music for this Sunday.

Of course, I feel terrible that Ray is sick. I hope it is exhaustion or a 24-hour bug and he will be better tomorrow. Driving to the coast for 5 hours will not be fun, and spending the weekend in a strange bed, trying to be nice to people. I also hate how it impacts me--no racquetball, no chili cookoff tonight. And I sure hope I don't get it--or my parents--or our relatives this weekend. I feel a little stuffy and scratchy--but it could be psychosomatic.

Took Vanessa to yoga yesterday morning and was at work a few minutes late. M. was already there. Worked on the grant some more. Only got about 4 pages done yesterday. I'm going to have to ramp it up soon. Of course, it involves asking other people questions and waiting for their answers some. At our weekly staff meeting, we talked about record-keeping and measurable outcomes. The fact that we "served" 365 people is not an outcome. We just don't know how many people moved into housing--mostly because they don't come to us once they're doing well. The ones that stay at the shelter are easier, but we serve a lot of people in the community who are at other shelters and "unsheltered" through the Job TREC program. We give them bus passes, cab vouchers, work uniforms, tools, IDs and other things to help them find and keep employment. Also education.

Had oatmeal for breakfast and was hungry by 10. Went to Big City Bread and got a great blackberry muffin and a club sandwich for lunch. At 3, I went to a meeting because M. was at a different meeting. At 4, picked Ray up and headed home. Started the mac & cheese, but didn't get far. Watched two episodes of Star Trek and worked on Ray's vest. One of the armholes I made is too small, so I took it out to start over. I am not sure how to pick up more stitches, but I guess I can make two in one hole. Slept pretty well, but I am getting excited about our trip this weekend to the beach and seeing my children and other relatives.