Work went pretty well yesterday, but I was definitely ready to leave by 3, even though I had lunch with Ray. It was almost cool and I wanted to be home; I have so much to do. Payroll yesterday and some other bookkeeping and routine work. Met with Meredith and talked some. Played two games of racquetball and won one--and swam for about 15 minutes. I felt really strong. Went by Mary's Tack and Feed to get the other kind of chicken feed, for growth, not laying. The chickens were fine; we let them into the tractor while I added some of the new food. After a while, they seemed ready to go back into the coop, huddling in the middle together instead of eating grasshoppers. Fed the dogs, too, and made dinner for us. Watched TV and read too late. Slept badly.

Chickens in the coop

What a busy weekend! Yesterday morning, I spent about an hour pulling weeds from the what used to be the garden. It was still hot and sweaty work, but better--in the 70s. We went to the service at UUFA. Later in the afternoon, we drove to Thomas Orchards for peaches and then to Washington, GA, to buy chickens! It's about an hour each way. They are three-month-old Blue Orpingtons. It was interesting meeting the woman who raises them, originally from Rhode Island. The other thing she does is rent space to RV's. It's hard to imagine why anyone would pay to park their RV in her yard in Washington, but there were two when we were there. It's not particularly scenic there, although it is rural, but there is water and electricity at every parking place. Go figure. She and a helper/relative? herded the chickens into their enclosure, by tapping two sticks together behind them, and shooing them toward it. That way she could catch them, from behind with two hands. They are bigger than I expected and prettier. We had borrowed a cage from Nancy H. and driven the truck. Then we put a piece of plastic over the cage, so there wouldn't be too much wind. They huddled together in one corner and I could check on them from my seat, if I unbuckled my seat belt and knelt on it. Ray talked about how they are dinosaurs.

When we got home, there wasn't much time. We put them in the coop and they seemed fine. I had put in food and water before we left. We had to change and head out to a dinner invitation; we were about 15 minutes late. Ray's friend John and his wife Barbara invited us to dinner with two visiting Turkish scientists and the daughter of one, Akanai. It was quite fun, but we were kind of tired and might have rather stayed home with the chickens!

Philosophical observation: the more fun you have on the weekend, the less you want to go to work Monday morning: we got to bed too late.

I didn't go to bed until midnight and now I am really sore--legs, neck, back, hips...but I woke up smiling.

Yesterday we went to the farmers' market--not much to get, but some pork chops, a sweet potato, and bread from Luna. Then we went to Democratic HQ and got some work done. Then we went to Kroger and bought a couple things. Then we went home. After a couple hours, Ray went and cut up a big tree that had fallen down--he had been there last year and there was still some left. I joined  him and helped wrestle the logs to the truck. Then home for the second shower of the day and we managed to watch most of Phenomenon, a movie with John Travolta we hadn't seen before.

We were a little late to Groovy Nights, a benefit for Project Safe. I was supposed to be trying on outfits, doing my hair and makeup. Most things I couldn't get into and I wanted to be comfortable for dancing, so I just went in my jeans and a t-shirt, but I found the white lipstick to wear. There were many interesting outfits, including a lot of storm troopers and other characters from Star Wars. Janna and Ron and John O. were there with us. Janna was especially critiquing the clothes and music, because some were from the 60s or even the 80s, instead of the 70s. And, of course, we didn't really dress like that. There was a girl in roller skates (50s?) and short shorts with a sequined halter top. She won the costume competition. We danced to Abba and other music, but there was no Elton John, no Moody Blues, no Rolling Stones, no Led Zeppelin...Great silent auction items, but the restaurant meals went for a lot. Somehow, we ended up with a package including 6 ballroom dance lessons. Interesting. I'm looking forward to it.

I emailed the QuickBooks file to the auditor yesterday morning, with a couple spreadsheets as well, and copied Maureen. She responded Hurray Patty. Now the fun begins. First is waiting to hear back when Pat will be able to start working on it. I worked on a spreadsheet to show Meredith how much we get from each grant for each activity and in the process had to call to check on something that didn't match up. Ray and I went to lunch downtown. I worked on a workers' compensation report that I have to send in within a week or two. And I left at 3, went by the bank, and headed to Ramsey.

Ray was already jogging, and I spent 13 minutes on the stationary bicycle. At four, we played racquetball for the first time in a while. I won. Of course, I had not just run 3 miles. Ray couldn't move very fast. Then we swam a little to cool off.

On our way home, we went to Mary's Tack and Feed, where we bought a feeder, a waterer, and some feed for our future chickens, which are close to becoming a reality. We made dinner and started watching a movie, but had to go to bed before it was over.

The Captain and Vanessa left early yesterday for a week in Florida with my 92-year-old aunt. (they called last night from Ocala; all is good). At lunchtime, I met the shrimp man's son to pick up fresh shrimp they trucked from North Carolina. I drove home and bagged it and froze it. I ate my lunch by myself, with the dogs.

At work, Kerri is sick. Some of the children are sick, too. School has started again and it's not unusual to have something going around. So far, so good for me. New intern Greg answered the phone and helped out some. Bookkeeping for me.

Picked Ray up at 4:45 and took him to Democratic HQ. They put a password on the internet access because Republicans in New Hampshire or somewhere hacked into some Democratic HQ. Now the volunteers can't use the computer that belongs to the Committee (and Ray uses in his work as Treasurer). It may be too old to handle an encrypted password. Also, someone stole the HQ sign.

We ate some delicious curry from next door. Had to wait 15 or 20 minutes and it cost about $10. But it was good. After the meeting, we went home and ate some omelet and watched a little TV.

Worked on the books. Got lunch at Wendy's and ate at Democratic HQ. Picked Ray up at 3:30. Went home. Ray sliced peaches and mixed them with yogurt and blueberries for potluck. Went to UUFA to meet with the Olan Mills consultant about doing a new directory, with Chip. We're kind of excited. It will be good. Started falling asleep in choir. Went to bed and to sleep as soon as we got home.

Some mornings yesterday is very clear in my memory; other times it seems far removed. Today is the latter. Yesterday was Tuesday; we made the bus and I got my mother to yoga on time and arrived at the Shelter only a minute or so after 8. I was taking a break from bookkeeping and working on other things, like merging records in the mailing list program, Gift Works. But then Maureen called and wanted some more things done ASAP, so I put everything else on hold for now. I told Meredith, but couldn't really gauge her reaction, because she communicates largely by email (even when she is right next door). I understand the logic; it's more efficient not to interrupt each other all the time, but I am not very good at understanding nuances in email. I don't know if she was annoyed with me, or annoyed with Maureen, or not annoyed at all.

Had lunch with Janna, which was fun, but spent about half my lunch hour driving to and from Five Points.

Had pretty good success with some of the tasks; more to do today. Left at 3:30 or so to go to counseling. Robyn is so nice; I really enjoy meeting with her and feel better about myself afterward. She described Maureen as abusive and told me that I would have to keep trying if I want to convince her I'm crazy. She says (duh) I am not getting enough positive feedback at work and need to get more affirmation. She sort of suggested that I need a job that will be more satisfying. Hmm. I do think it's odd that I have had lots of jobs, none for more than five years, and none that I really loved. Or is that just in hindsight? I talked a little about being some sort of green building consultant, not sure how to make that happen yet.

Picked up Ray, went home for an hour or so, then met Deb and John for trivia on the East side. She had called and they said it started at 7:30/8. But in fact, it was after 8:30. They didn't stay long. We stayed for the first half, but we were doing quite badly, so we left before 10. The first question was "Who is rumored to be the new male judge on American Idol?" Now, that is what I call trivia. Ray had read it, but could not come up with the name (Steven Tyler). We put down Elton John. For ten points, we were supposed to name the five top-selling Kia models. She even gave us the first letters: S, S, S, F, B. We couldn't come up with one of them. (Sedona, Sorrento, ... I've already forgotten them).

I didn't sleep well at all, waking up at 11:30 and again at 3:30, permanently. I am reading a somewhat creepy murder mystery, so that didn't help. It's also a full moon, which I think usually keeps me from sleeping very well. Ray and I were discussing whether it is just the light, or if there is some more elemental effect, on a cellular level, leftover from when we were sea creatures affected by the tides. Or maybe I haven't been getting enough exercise or eating and drinking right. The food at Loco's was downright mediocre and I had some watery sweet tea, followed by a pretty crappy Grasshopper.