Yesterday was supposed to be all about homework, but I didn't do anything in that area. Captain came, Ray left. I walked a lot. We went to Nancy's to check on her chickens and got three eggs from them and three from ours. I sent six with Captain. At 11, I met with the KR finance committee and we talked. Then I had lunch. I arranged to have a plumber come and do the backflow inspection for the community center, just under the wire. The deadline was Sept. 1. I got an e-mail about a job opening and spent the rest of the day working on that. I helped Ray some with the pasta bean salad for the Kenney Ridge potluck.

My friend Adah was there; we hadn't seen them in a while. She sat next to me while she ate supper. I had to encourage her to eat everything before she had a second muffin. And clean up the pizza she dropped on the floor upside down. We hid in the closet and behind the couch--and found the puppy (stuffed toy) she had left months before! Soli and Sophia played Speed--Gerald and I had played that a lot the year he was here.

TV, ice cream, bed.

We left before 9 yesterday morning and came home after 9 at night. This was a good plan in terms of saving gasoline. It was a little tiring.

After Ray rushed into his building a few minutes before he had to teach a class, I drove to the Ramsey Center. As I hadn't been there in a while, it felt strange and interesting. Ray had bought a parking pass for Ramsey so I would not have that excuse to not use it. I had to park on the second floor, not like when we used to come very early in the morning. Walking down the stairs and into the building is already a workout. I went to the cashier's window and asked whether I should cancel the payment for membership as a spouse, since I can access as a student. She agreed and had me fill out a form and sign as Ray, which I did. I also asked for my locker combination (again).

I spent 30 minutes on the bike and I was sweating when I finished. The scale at Ramsey says I weigh 180--I was lower than that a few months ago, but I will do it again.

I drove to the library and spent some time reading for class. Then I met my Dad for lunch at the Last Resort. I had a piece of tres leches cake in honor of Molli and Adrian's wedding and saved some of it for Ray. I got to the Institute over an hour before class, so I kept working on the readings.

Ray met me there after class and we drove down to Thomas's for peaches, but they were all gone for the season! I had some peach ice cream to comfort myself...we did some grocery shopping at the Kroger on Epps Bridge Road, since we had a little time before potluck.

Potluck, choir, bed.

My Dad went to be a mentor at an elementary school yesterday morning, so he didn't come here. I went in with Ray, so I could go to class without driving the truck. He was just barely there on time. I went over to the Tate Center to see about renewing my passport. Oddly enough, they can do it for a 5-year passport, but not a ten-year one! That's okay, because they charge something like $25 over and above the passport fees. They could take my picture, which was the part I needed. Now I just have to mail it myself and hope I don't do anything wrong to slow the process.

Then I went to the library. They have been expanding for months--lots of men in hard hats, yellow tape, big trucks and occasional noise. Now they have finished the first phase and we can go in the front door again. There are some library tables and chairs with a view, and 60+ computer stations in a huge room. They were pretty much all in use. At least one person was playing solitaire on a big screen. I did some of my reading for my classes on my iPad and picked out a few books for fun. I took myself to lunch at Loco's, eating their Rooster salad, yum, and reading my email.

I was early to class and it went well. We received our first papers back, and mine said excellent. I do feel like I talk more than the other students. Mary is a few years younger than me and she talks even more.

Ray met me at the Institute and we drove home together. It was hot and we studied the forecast. Isaac may not be coming our way after all. We had hoped for rain. He went out and mowed as it got a lttle cooler. I made supper, but waited to eat. I decided I really need to put in the plants I had bought before the rain (in case we got it). It was really hot and humid and I couldn't dig because the dirt was too hard. It's a catch-22, because I want to plant them before the rain, but the ground will be softer after the rain. It turned out they were badly pot-bound, just a mass of roots and very little soil. They probably won't live. Moral of the story: don't buy half-off plants from a nursery going out of business.

Yesterday was the spelling bee and we did pretty well, in spite of not getting into the finals. Our team, two and a half geezers, was in the fourth and final round. So was last year's champs, the Hot Spells. We did not raise enough money to have a free miss. We were in the top four fundraisers on Saturday, but some of the other teams must have increased their donations. If you are willing to spend the money, there is nothing to stop you from writing a check 30 minutes before to bring up your total. All of which is good, because it goes to the athens Literacy Council. We did spell 14 progressively-harder words, though, before misspelling triquetous (I think that's it, I never heard of it before). Some of the hard words we spelled right include vacillate and vicissitude, as well as prespecience. Our team worked well for the most part and it was great fun. I bid on a lot of silent auction items, but came away with only one thing--a gift certificate for Agora. Janna came a little later than I did and won lots of things.

We also sang in choir yesterday and for the first time managed to carpool with two women from this side of town--yay! We stayed for lunch--I had made an apple crisp that was outstanding, if I do say so myself. Ray peeled and cored 10 apples. That's the hard part. When I was in line for lunch, Cathi said to me, "No one was in charge...the minister told me you were in charge. It's okay, we took care of it." I had no recollection of agreeing to do anything to organize the lunch, but it's certainly possible. 

Other than those two big events, we watched hurricane coverage, read some, wpent a little time outside, and took a 15-minute walk.  The mosquitoes were too plentiful for me to stay out. I am afraid of West Nile virus. Ray has mowed some of the lawn and the chickens enjoy being out. In fact, they squawk at in the morning, hoping I will let them out. I have a complicated plan to replace the garden fence and incorporate a chicken run. This will keep the bugs and grass down and make it harder for deer and others to get in.

Saturday we went to pilates and the farmers' market and spent the rest of the time at home. We ate shrimp for supper.

Yesterday was going well--until I found ants in my closet! What a pain. I carried a few things outside to get rid of them, sorted through a lot more, and started washing. I found an ant trap and stuck it in there--hopefully it will do the job. Liz told me cinnamon and cucumber peels are two natural repellents.

We had a little walk before Ray went off to work. Captain and I worked in the garden some, mostly pulling things up. I did a little reading while he was still out. Then I took my bath and got dressed. He hung my laundry. I had a terrible time trying to get the chickens in, even with him helping. The black one was on the nest and one of the gray ones was in. I let her out trying to put the other one in. Finally I left them, saying "Blackie is doing a better job laying eggs than you are, so I don't care what happens to you!" At that point, they were under the West deck. (nothing bad happened while they were out and I was gone)

I met Janna for lunch at Lumpkin Cafe and we had a nice time. She took me to her office at Aderhold, where I read articles on my phone and she had a series of meetings. When Ray's class was over at 2:15, we walked to his office to get the car. It was pretty hot walking across campus.

At home, I continued my reading while Ray napped. I started some bread. When he woke up, he went out to mow a bit. It makes such a difference! We moved the chicken coop and they happily went in it. I weeded the strawberries. There are only four of them alive that I can find and they are very dry. I watered them and hope to save them. I have three more to plant.

We had a very late supper after dark: pork and zucchini. We watched a British TV show via Roku and Netflix: the IT crowd. Very silly humor vaguely reminiscent of The Office featuring the nerds in the basement.

Slept until 6:30 when Cameron started barking his head off--it was still dark.

My Dad came pretty early and worked in the garden for hours. He planted carrots and radishes. I did a lttle, but it got hot and I was supposed to make cookies. Ray and I walked some. I mixed the cookies up, but it was too hot by then to bake them. I did some reading for my Psych of Aging class. He left and I had lunch about noon. I did some more readng and computer work.

I baked the cookies about 5. Ray came home and we turned around and went out again. The opening of the Democratic HQ was at 6, although we were a little late. I brought a few cookies, but there was a ton of food there and I should have just taken them home again. i forgot them when I left though, sadly. There was an excellent turnout and lots of people to say hi too. After a while, it was loud, hot, and crowded, and we left. My Dad was there, as well as Janna and Ron, Becky and Kent. Becky and Kent ate dinner at Heirloom with us. Ray had already eaten a lot at the open house, so he just had a salad. Becky and I had burgers. They were delicious. Heirloom's claim to fame is local food. I ordered the peach upside down cake, but only ate half of it. Becky's sweet potato pie was delicious, too.

We watched John Stewart and went to bed, so woke up before 6.

Yesterday I had Ray drop me off as he was leaving, so I could walk back. I spent a little time in the garden. My Dad came about 10, but didn't spend time outside because he was dressed for lunch. I took a bath and got dressed and we both read things on our computers. Also I made pasta bean salad.

At 12:30, we met Bill, our spelling bee team mate, at Transmet and had lunch. I quizzed them both on spelling words from a guide the Literacy council had emailed me. My Dad got them all right, except one. I can't challenge you to spell it, because I can't talk to you orally. Can you spell sarsaparilla? Of course, it's pronounced sassparilla. Our plan is for Bill and me to defer to the Captain. We are pretty confident, but then I was confident other years. Our team? The 2 1/2 Geezers. If you want to contribute or learn more, click here. The event is this Sunday afternoon at the Hotel Indigo. Tickets are only $5, I think.

After that, I went by the library for a bit until Ray was finished for the day and came to pick me up. The library is in the throes of a major renovation and it's interesting to find a place to sit there. At the moment, you can't actually look through the books. If you want one, you can ask for it and they will find it and bring it to you, if you know exactly what you want. I generally browse, so didn't get any new books yesterday. I expect I'll be able to see them again soon.

Ray and I spent a little time at home before we headed to the Fellowship for potluck and choir.