Got worried there for a couple of days--all our refridgerators are used, and they all died one by one until we were down to the one on the front porch, and she started acting up. But Charles defrosted her, and we moved her inside, and all looks well for now.

I aso mowed the lawn yesterday, and The Teen has her first behind the wheel class this morning. Big, big happenings in the Harkin world.

Friday we left for Ohio; a dear friend of ours died unexpectedly and we went to the memorial. There was a huge turnout. He was an amateur musician, and there were many, many local folkies. And friends and family from around the the country.

We stayed Friday and Saturday night in a hotel--our key only worked Friday--and for that matter, so did the door from the hallway to the parking lot. But it's all good.

Sunday we ate at Mellow Mushroom Pizza, and drove to Kenyon College, one of the colleges The Kid is considering. Not only is it one of the best liberal arts colleges in the country, but the campus is gorgeous. She's in love, but there sre still other colleges to consider.

We got home around midnight, the Kid and I went in to school and work late, and tomorrow starts all over again.

Found out yesterday that a dear friend from South Carolina died unexpectedly, so Charles and I called a couple of friends for the widow yesterday, the only thing we could do from here to help out. The memorial is a week from tomorrow; Charles and I both arranged for enough time off for the trip.

We also spent the day (I'm off today because I work tomorrow) running errands--buying plants for the garden, mowing the back yard (which means mowing the poison ivy) .

Started this post Friday, and it's Monday today. I am on vacation this week; I spent two hours at work getting the handouts ready for the blogging class I'm teaching next week. Got the oil changed in the car, and other errands run; after supper I have to help The Kid with a PowerPoint, so I expect to miss another House. I do hope to get a little motorcycle time in tomorrow morning, after dropping off my daughter at school and before Charles gets up, but I'm not counting on it. I really need some time out out on the road. We have some babysitting in the afternoon and then might go see Dark Shadows in the evening.

Charles has developed odd muscular twitches; he has an appointment with a neurologist in a few weeks. And he's getting all his records together for unemployment; he has to go in and see them to continue his benefits. He's very nervous, but he has been keeping records, so really isn't in trouble.

OK, lots of stuff I' m thinking and worrying about and busy with, but hopefully, I'll get some down time soon. I wonder what it costs to spend a week at a monastery?

At a stop, right after a group of passengers got on

Female Rider #1 (Already on bus): Hey, Girl. Where T?

Female Rider #2 (Just got on bus): Who?

Female Rider #1: You boyfriend.

Female Rider #2: This my husband.



Female Rider #1: I need to get my eyes fixed. I got cataracts. I know you husband. I know his cousin, too.

One of the anti-biotics I'm on for diverticulitis toere up my bowels. I had serious runs. I stopped the pills for aday and a half, got out of the bathroom, am eating lots of yogurt, and am back on the drugs. With luck, I will be able to work this week, and eventually will stop trading one type of abdominal pain for another.

All went well. I had a CT Scan which found no blockage of my intestine, but a tiny amount of infection. I missed 3 more hours work, but, hey, I've got lots of sick time built up. So we still don't really know why all the abdominal pain, but it won't prove fatal, so ultimately, it doesn't really matter.

I'm taking two kinds of anti-biotic for a week, to see if that helps. No booze, and no spicy foods.

G*d is punishing me.

I came home from work early yesterday because of a migraine; I told y'all about the injection, and it was thrilling, but the bicycle ride to work was too much. I got sick, taught my Excel class, and came home and slept all day.

Today Charles is taking me to lunch, then I'm going to the doctor to see what these abdominal cramps are all about. Charles keeps getting mad because I call them "stomache aches" when I'm not thinking about it; I think because they're like the pain I used to get when I was a girl. We never figured those out, either.

Sorry. I don't mind pain. It's pain I don' t understand that worries me.

Get up, use the facilities, shower, clean up cat shit, clean up more cat shit, get dressed, clean up cat shit, make coffee, clean up cat shit, wake up daughter for the first time, pour coffee.

Getting to bitch about it online: priceless

It's a full life.

I am about to try out my new anti-migraine needleless injector. The migraine is bad enough to warrant rapid intervention, but not yet so bad that I'm too stupid to understand the instructions.

Yesterdsy I got Charles up early and we went down to the soup kitchen for lunch. To serve, not eat. We had done that before, served, not eaten, years ago, but the kitchen was run by an arrogant b*tch who eventually got fired, and Charles and the Teen have been back with the church where he works, so I gave it another go.

It was cool this time. They're located in a new, roach-free building, and the staff were all friendly and welcoming. I was pass-through, getting things from the kitchen when the servers ran out. The problem was that my glasses fogged up so much whenever I opened the warming cabinets, thay I grabbed the wrong dishes. I eventually had to just take them off.

We served way too many hundreds of people. Seversl of which I recognised from the library, and one of which waved.

After that, we three went to nineteenth-century rules baseball in the park. We missed the first five innings of the first game, and it was too cold to stay for the end of the second.

We hit the head shop for inscense, and I grabbed a new purse, too, since my old one was held closed with safety pins. Then we went to the mall, where Teen dramalessly busted the boy who is "not my boyfriend" at the mall when he said he couldn't go to the mall, went home, had supper, and watched Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Today is the retirement party for Charles' favorite professor.

Yesterday, I forgot, apparently, to turn off the heating element under the coffee pot; today I awoke to Baked Cafe ala Marie. I turned off the heater and let the pot cool, when I returned from work, I started the pot soaking--hopefully it'll clean up for tomorrow.

It was a long day at work, and I think they lost a DVD I returned yesterday, Our Idiot Brother. I just want to have a drink or two and unwind.