Hump Day

You know, hump day just doesn't have the same impact when you're retired!  I think of every day as Saturday, except Sunday which is Sunday...so there's no room for hump day, I guess!  Regardless, it was a beautiful day.  Still don't have the air on...I think we'll make it tonight yet.  May have to turn it on tomorrow, though if it gets sticky.

I did some errands today and even went grocery shopping.  When Dave got home, we went for a long bike ride.  Other than that, I didn't do much!  Speaking of groceries, have you bought any watermelon this year?  Fareway has cut-up pieces that are absolutely delicious!  We've bought several of these little bowls of watermelon and each one has been wonderful.  Fareway even still had apricots today and they seemed to be solid and not bruised.  We've had a long apricot season this year compared to past years.  I love this time of the year because I love fresh fruit!!

More later...

Dreary Day

Today was one of those days when everything was GRAY and the sky seemed to be dripping!  I was still able to have the windows open, but one more day of this GRAY and I'm going to need to find a sun lamp somewhere!

Dave got off work early this afternoon - came home about 3:30.  For supper he wanted to try out this new Mexican restaurant called "Tasty Burritos".  It's kind of like Subway in that you order a burrito, then choose what meat you want on it.  You also choose from a variety of toppings.  I had ground beef and Dave had chicken.  These are 12" tortillas so they are BIG...and tasty!  I would say they are very good.  If I didn't shake so much, I really would have liked mine.  But they are a little messy to eat and when you shake like I do, they are really messy!  We both brought half of our burritos home for another meal - they were that big!  Not badly priced since we're having 2 meals out of them...$6.50 each plus 59 cents each for guacamole!  There are a couple of other things that are 59 cents if you add them, but I can't remember what they are.

More later...

Good Monday

I had a good day today.  I went to BRT this morning and really enjoyed it.  We studied John 15 where Jesus tells his disciples (us, too) to love one another as He has loved us.  Then why in the world is there so much hate?  It's pretty plain and repeated many times to love one another and to love our enemies, etc....so for the life of me, I can't see where people "hate" blacks, or gays, or any number of people.  Come on, people, get a clue!

This afternoon, we had bell practice.  We're starting to get it, I think!  By the time our practice was over, we played our song through pretty well.  I have a hard time getting my bells to ring all the time.  I've got to work on flicking my wrist!  I figured out the damping part, now I've got to get a consistent ring!  There's a lot to think about!

Tonight Dave mowed again.  Sure looks better around here.  I made a one-pot dish from Pinterest.  It was pretty good, but it made a ton, so we'll be eating it for a while!!

More later...

Super Sunday!

75 degrees and no humidity!!  Can't ask for a nicer day, can we??  It was good to go to church and not cook today!  Pastor David continued his series from the book of James. Today's sermon was about faith with works.  Very interesting reading from James 2:14-26.  We had the praise band there today.  I came to the conclusion that our congregation just doesn't have the right dynamic for the praise band.  Most everyone is sitting there just staring at the words of the music, but not singing.  It's funny, though, that when the band plays something familiar, we can really rock First Presbyterian!  They played 3 songs that were familiar to most of us and two that we'd not heard.  I prefer songs from the hymnal, but I don't mind praise music.  I'd hate to take a poll, though!!

We went with Bunch for Lunch today after church.  There were 10 of us at Courtside.  We all laughed a lot and enjoyed some good food.  We haven't had Courtside food for a long time so it was nice for a change.

This afternoon, Dave napped while I watched the race.  Other than that, we had a pretty uneventful day!  Tomorrow starts a busy week for both of us!

More later...

Saturday

I used to love Saturdays - back when I was working.  But now that I'm not, it's just another lonely day.  Dave goes to Habitat on Saturdays and at least he gets home around 4:00.  When he got home this afternoon, he washed the grime off of his truck then we went for a bike ride.  This time we went into the cemetery and around and then home.  We still didn't do any big hills, but we've done several little ones now.  The long inclines are really hard on my legs!  The Peg-gears don't work very well at times!!  It was fun, though!  I hope we do this every day!

Today I had the a/c off and the windows open and at one point, I thought I would freeze!  I had to put the window down!!  It was supposed to get up to 74 today, but I think it didn't make it out of the 60's with a brisk NNW wind!  Chilly for the end of July!  Should be good sleeping tonight!!

I got 12 cards to various stages of completion today and started cutting out parts for our Aug. 6th class, which will be here before I know it.  I also updated the church website, making changes as requested, and I even made some time to read!!

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Frantic Friday

I don't quite know why, but for some reason I was thinking about the song, "Manic Monday".  Hence the title of today's post!!

I had an appointment at 9:00 this morning for a pedicure and I was long overdue!  Then at 11:00 I had an appointment for my nails!  So in between I came home and worked on cards!  After I got all beautified, I had to take the bicycle tire out to Walmart.  Today there were hundreds of people in Wally World and I was about 7th in line at customer service.  At least I got a nice lady, who ran down one of the male employees and had him go back to the bike section and get me a new tire!  I only had to wait about 20 minutes after she helped me.  Then I did the rest of my shopping and came home!  After I got home I fixed lunch, put away the things I'd gotten at Walmart and worked on cards again!

This evening Dave put my tire on and then we went for a bike ride.  I hope we can do that most days.  I like riding and I especially like riding with him.  I determined I'm not ready for Ragbrai though!!

More later...

Thursday with friends!

You ever notice that there are some businesses that are a real hassle doing business with?  I find that with Walmart.  My new bike has a bubble in the front tire (looks like they slashed the tire with a box opener when they were getting it out to put together).  So last night Dave talked with Customer Service who told him just to bring in the receipt today and they'd replace the tire.  Of course, Dave was working so I got the dubious pleasure of going to Walmart on this  errand.  I get to go back tomorrow - this time they want the tire!  Last night they didn't need the tire, today they do!!  I hate dealing with Walmart.  It always seems like the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing.

After running my errands, I headed to Fairfield for lunch with some of the class of 66.  There were 18 of us classmates in attendance today...AND one teacher!  I loaded all the pictures onto my Facebook page!  It was fun, but I ended up with a bad headache so I came home about 1:20 or so.  I hardly got to talk to Sudi or even Karen...  We'll have more time in Branson in September!

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Fun Wednesday

I woke up abruptly this morning.  Dave dropped the shampoo bottle and that served the same purpose as an alarm clock!!  It was okay, though, because I needed to pick Mary up by 9:30.  We were going to Cantril because she had never been there!  What a fun experience to see the place through "virgin" eyes!  We did our shopping and then came back to O-town for a burger at Morgan's Corner.  It's a bar & grill, but they have really, really good old-fashioned hamburgers.  We had a fun day!

This afternoon I got my backordered magnetic plate from Stampin' Up!  I can hardly wait to use it.  Maybe tomorrow afternoon...  This evening Dave and I took a bike ride and discovered that my new bike has a rupture in the front tire...the inner tube is coming out thru the side of the tire.  So now I get to go to Walmart and resolve that issue!  There are some things I don't like doing and that is going to be one of them.  I am not a Walmart fan and going to customer service isn't going to be fun!

More later...

Exciting News!

Kaylee aned Clayton got engaged!  So we're going to have another wedding in the Allison family.  I'm guessing it won't be for another year, because K & C leave for Belgium in about 15 days!  That's exciting, though.  She said that her best friend asked him to marry her - how sweet!  They are such a cute couple - he's 6'10 and she's about 5'4!!

He's very nice and I think we ALL approve wholeheartedly!  Congratulations to K & C!!

This was a very laid back day for me.  I worked on making some Christmas cards and read a bit.  I even quit playing one of the games on Facebook that I've been playing for over 2 years!  It had just gotten old and not much fun any more.  The developers sold the rights to the game and opened a new version, but you basically had to start over and I was on level 199 - didn't want to start over!

More later...

Normal Monday

I had a pretty normal Monday.  Dave went to work and I went to Bible Reading Time.  I unfortunately didn't sleep for a long time last night.  Last I remember looking at the clock it was 3:30 AM!  I hate that.  I came downstairs and played some games of Mahjongg a little after midnight and went back upstairs around 2:00.  I was really tired about 2:00 but when I went back upstairs, I still couldn't sleep!  It's so frustrating!

I went to the chiropractor before going to BRT.  My hip hurt so bad last night - that's why I couldn't sleep.  Hopefully tonight will be better. After BRT I went to Fareway and picked up some groceries, then I got to stay home until about 3:15 when I went back to church for beginning bells.  I can hit my notes and count the beats, but I don't do so well with damping!!  I think we're going to play at church one Sunday in August, so I'd better get better with all phases!

It sounds really windy outside.  We're supposed to get a cold front moving through.  Yesterday we got 1 1/2 inches of rain which we really needed.  Hopefully we'll get a little more tonight!

More later...

Fun Day!

We really had a fun day today.  Of course, like all Sundays, it started at church.  Pastor David talked about favoritism today - from James 2:1-9 and Acts 10:34.  Great sermon again, PD!  Then after fellowship time, Dave and I both took short naps...skipped lunch!  We went to the movie theater to watch The Lone Ranger this afternoon and ate our lunch there!  Popcorn!  Loved the movie!  Thought the critics were way wrong on this one!  It's nothing like the Lone Ranger on TV, so the critics panned it.  Johnny Depp did a great job as Tonto - again, though, nothing like Jay Silverheels on TV!  He just brings so much to every character he plays!  Arnie Hammer made a good Lone Ranger, too.  He definitely looked the part, however his teeth were way too white for the time period!!  Funny how you notice things like that!  The horse stole the show!  Silver was wonderful!

Before we went to the movie, Dave yelled at me to come see the red fox in our yard.  I didn't have time to get my camera, but he/she was beautiful!  He must have heard Dave cause he went trotting off to the north side of St Joe's.

Today was also National Ice Cream day, so Dave went to Graham's and bought ice cream for our dessert tonight.  We had BLTs with tomatoes off of our own plants with ice cream for dessert!  Quite a wonderful day, if I do say so myself!!

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16th Memories

Today we held the 16th Annual Memories Car Show and it was a beautiful day for a show!  It was a little hot, but that's to be expected!  We had 115 cars and a good time was had by all.  Everything with the computer went very smoothly and I was able to just mainly supervise the other two ladies who typed.  Now that they have this program mastered, Lester's grandsons have come up with an entirely different, more efficient program for next year.  Back to the drawing board!

More later...

Hot Friday

At one time today my computer said it was 97 here in O-town!  Only 76 in Largo!  Right now it's still 76 in Florida and 85 here!  Somebody must have turned on the furnace outside!  I guess we're not cold any more!
I had PEO today.  There were only 17 of us there, so the heat must have gotten to some of them also.  We had a wonderful program on CFCA by Connie Millard.  She "adopted" a child from Honduras thru CFCA and she told us about her trip to meet her little girl in Honduras.  Quite an experience.  Great program!

After PEO I ran some errands, then came home and watered the tomatoes and flowers.  I even picked another perfect tomato!  Sometime this weekend we're having BLT's!  Not tomorrow though, because we'll be at Bridge View all day long for our 16th Annual Memories car show!  It's again the hottest show in Iowa!

More later...

CJ's in town!

This morning, Dave picked up my 3-wheel bike from Walmart so I hopped onto it and took a ride!  Riding in Iowa is not the same as in Florida - everything is flat in Florida!  Not so in Iowa!!  It was a real challenge to get back up the hill at the bottom of our driveway.  These 3-wheel bikes aren't geared bikes - you just have pedal power.  I had to strain to get up that hill, let me tell you!  But I made it.  It was so humid today that I was drenched when I came back in from riding.  Sweat was just running and it wasn't all from exertion!
This evening we went to The Hills for C.J. Bruton's induction into the IHCC Hall of Fame.  C.J. lives in New Zealand and brought his beautiful wife back to his college stomping grounds just to get this award.  He's so special.  There was a nice crowd on hand to greet him!  He left here in 1997 after we won our first National Championship.  He came back in '99 to watch his little brother play here, but other than that he's been playing professionally in either Australia, Puerto Rico, or New Zealand for the past 16 years.  It was so good to see him again!

He is a very special young man!

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Hot Day

Heat index of 107 at 3:00 PM - now that's a hot day!  At 8:15 it's still 90 outside - it's only 76 in Clearwater.  We wouldn't even have the air on down there and here it runs and runs!

Speaking of running, I had to run errands today.  I went to get groceries, pick up prescriptions at Walgreens, go to O'Hara Hardware for a replacement knob for my Crock Pot, and go to the credit union.  I'd go in a building and when I came out my glasses would fog over!  Steamy!  Of course this weekend is our car show and it's always hot for it!

The heat even got to Dave today.  He said he was just drained!  Poor guy!

I almost forgot, I harvested my first tomato today.  Can't wait to eat it!

More later...

Ooops...Again!

I guess I forgot to blog again last night!  I was a little PO'd at my husband, so I went upstairs at 9:45 and didn't even think about the fact that I hadn't blogged!  He had worked until about 6:30 or so, then came home and stayed outside working on a trailer he had purchased for Golden Furrow.  He didn't even come into the house until when I was headed upstairs...so I was feeling a little neglected and PO'd!  I got over it, but after I had my little pity party!

Enough of that!  Today I had some friends come by to learn what they could from me about the computer program we use for the Vintage Cruiser car show.  I taught them everything I could remember, but the darn thing didn't work!  After they left I got on the copy I have on my home computer and realized I'd left out one step!  It's hard to remember from one year to the next when you only use it once a year!  The bottom line is that it is working fine and I think they'll be able to handle it...I'm probably going to the car show anyway, just to be there to rescue them if there's a problem.  Then next year I'll be able to just not worry about the car show at all!  I'd rather see Karen in Ankeny when I can visit with her instead of at a funeral where she's torn 100 different ways.  She convinced me!  My thoughts will be with her, though.

Today I made a Pinterest recipe that was wonderful!  I made crockpot lasagna - easy, easy, easy and delicious!!  It's definitely a keeper!

More later...

Wonderful Day

This was another beautiful day!  We went to church this morning where Pastor David started a new series on the book of James.  James was Jesus' half brother and he talked about temptation and running from it.  Very good sermon!  After church we came home, changed clothes, and headed to Waterloo to see Bryan and Erin..  We took them to lunch at Fiesta Jalisco.  I had a Fajita Quesadilla and Dave had Enchiladas Verdes.  Good food!!  While we were at Bryan's we checked out his kitchen which has been completely redone - actually it's not finished yet.  We also went out to their garden to see what all was growing.

Bryan was nominated by John Deere to take a class/program from MIT so he started that over the 4th.  He's having to study lots plus work full time, so there's no time for finishing his projects at home.  That's very frustrating for him because he can do everything unless he doesn't have time.  He'll probably hire someone to finish some of his projects for him while he studies.  In August he'll go back to Boston for  several days of schooling there.  Most of his classes are online, though.

More later...

Nice day!

This was a nice, relaxing day.  Dave went to Habitat, so I was home alone...again!  I enjoyed myself, though.  It was a cloudy day, but mild nonetheless.  I had one visitor - Juliene dropped off some framelits and borrowed some that I had.  I worked on some card ideas I have been mulling over, plus a read for a while.  I am ready to go to bed now, but Dave's asleep in his chair and I don't want to waken him when it's only 9:00.

He went to the ER this evening after Habitat.  He had gotten a 1/2" splinter on his knuckle and we couldn't get it out.  Since they're working with an old house, he decided he'd better get it out before it got infected.  As it is, it probably turned out to be a $600 splinter...maybe more.

My high school friend's husband died yesterday and  his funeral is next Saturday - the day of our annual car show.  I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get there when I need to be at the show typing in the entrants and tallying the results.  I'm about the only one who knows how to run the program.  Maybe I can figure out instructions and get them typed up for someone else.  I'm also the fastest typist and that's a good thing when it comes to a time constraint like the show produces.

More later...

Relaxing

I had a massage today so now I'm just relaxing in my chair, playing some games, and waiting for time to go to bed!  Dave's already had one nap at 5:00 or so and now he's sleeping again.  I'm sure he'll be able to go to sleep as soon as I wake him to go upstairs to bed..  Lucky him!

It was a beautiful day today and I think it's supposed to be like this for the next week or so.  It's good to have low humidity again!

We went to The Club for $3 bloody Mary night.  Bob was fixing his "famous" bloody marys and boy, were they good!

More later...

Goodbye Auntie Mae

Today, we laid our Auntie Mae to rest in Fell Cemetery outside of Libertyville.  The funeral service was very nice.  Rev. Cecil did the tribute and 4 of us got up to talk about a memory of A. Mae...Randy, Teressa, A. Janie, and me.  At the beginning of the funeral, Bob rang a school bell and told us that class was in session.  The rest of us rang her school bell marking the end of the funeral.  Following a short ceremony at the cemetery, we went to Faith UM Church in L'ville for cookies and iced tea and fellowship.  Of course, I took my camera, too.

This first picture is of the first cousins, minus Jon and Robert who didn't get to come.  Larry and Donnie have passed, so there are only 9 of us left.

 This is a picture of most of the family there.

The Cooksey "kids" were a little late getting back from the cemetery, so I took a separate picture of them.  

 Of all 11 of the first cousins, there were first 6 boys born, then the 3 of us girls, then 2 more boys.  So here are the girls.  Bob's the oldest boy now and I'm the oldest girl.

As funerals go, it was a pretty good one.  We had lots of fun getting together, even though it was for a funeral of our aunt.  RIP Auntie Mae - we'll miss you!

More later...

Lost morning

I lost this morning.  I slept until 8:45 - I was just so tired from last night...I couldn't sleep when I got home last night.  I was exhausted but because I sat down all day in an uncomfortable chair, my legs kept jumping and I couldn't get to sleep.  After I woke up, had breakfast, read the paper, I almost fell asleep again!  I finally got going around 11:15!  I had to get groceries so I went then.  When I got home I ate my lunch and then sat down with my legs up...and fell asleep!!

When I woke up I went outside and mowed.  I just finished and Dave came home to mow!!  Talk about good timing.  I had put a beef roast on in the slow cooker, so we had a good supper of roast beef and Fareway potato salad, with watermelon for dessert!

Now it's bedtime again - maybe it was a wasted day instead of just a wasted morning!!

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Loooonnnnnggggg Day

Holy Cow!  This was a long day!  I got up at 5:00 AM to be at the precinct voting place by 6:00 AM!  Yuck!  We got out of the voting place at 9:13, took the ballots to the courthouse, and finally got home about 9:45.  What a waste of a perfectly good, albeit HOT, HUMID day!  We had a grand total of 21 voters in those 14 hours!!  Not only was it a waste of a day, but it was a waste of taxpayer money to pay those of us who work as election officials.  Even the largest precinct in O-town only had around 130 voters!  Ridiculous!!

Ok - now that I've gotten down off of my soapbox - I'm going to bed!  No games for me tonight!!

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Whooeee!

It's still 81 out there!  I can't believe how hot and humid it is!  I had a really busy day.  First it was BRT at church, which was very interesting.  Then home for lunch and paying bills, etc.  At 4:00 I had to be back at church.  Six of us are learning how to play bells.  I've never even had one of the bells in my hand - it's not as easy as it looks!  I was chewing gum, however, and I believe that trying to do 3 things at once isn't possible for me anyway!  I'll be better next time - I'll leave my chewing gum at home!

That lasted until 5:00, then I went into Fellowship Hall and started setting up for our card class tonight.  I'm tired.  I'm heading to bed now because I have to get up at 5:00 to be at the precinct voting place at 6:00 - ugh!  It'll be a long day tomorrow!

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Sunday

Hot summer day today!  Right now we're 2 degrees hotter here than in Clearwater!  We were 93 today with 91 in Clearwater.

This morning before church, I got word that Auntie Mae passed away around 10:30 last night.  Her funeral will be Thursday at 2:00 with visitation starting at 1:00 at Behners in Fairfield.  I called my aunt in Missouri and Bob and then I went to church.  Pastor David wrapped up his series on Job today...we both thoroughly enjoyed the series.  I think he's starting on James next week!  We went to lunch at the Tequila Grill which is relatively new in O-town.  It was pretty good and had a good crowd!  Then I had to make some phone calls to line up 4 of the 6 pallbearers for Auntie Mae.  All four agreed, so I called my cousin to confirm.  By the time we got home and I got done making my calls, it was almost 4:00!  Where did this day go??

This whole week is going to go fast...I'm swamped all week.  Tomorrow I have 5 different things and Tuesday I work the election from 6 AM to 10 PM!  At least it'll be a chance to get caught up on my magazine reading!!  I would bet that we don't have over 50  voters in the precinct I'm working.  It'll be boring!

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Saturday's thoughts

Most of my thoughts today are about my Aunt - Auntie Mae to us!  She's pretty bad right now.  I went to Mt. Pleasant and sat about 3 hours with her today.  She's probably not going to make it through tonight.  If she were to make it to August 13th, she would be 95!  She's had a good long life, but it's always hard to lose an aunt or someone you've been around most all of your life.  I'm praying for her to just go to sleep and leave this world peacefully.

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Friday

Beautiful again today!  Yesterday when Dave mowed, he missed a whole triangle of grass, so I mowed it this morning.  Don't know for sure how he missed it, but he did!  He also wanted me to take the Cadi to Blackwells to have them check the shocks and struts.  They didn't find anything wrong with it, thank goodness!

This afternoon I typed more on the phone directory and now I'm just cross referencing.  Hopefully I'll get it done and emailed out to Connie for final corrections and additions...then I'm done with that project.  This evening, Kaylee and Clayton were here to see Grandpa and Ann and us before they leave for Belgium.  So we went out to the KC Hall with them.  Then we went to the park for some bluegrass music!  Fun evening!

Got home and got an IM that Hospice told Deb & Ray that Auntie Mae would pass soon - sometime in the next 24-48 hours probably.  I'm heading that direction tomorrow morning unless I hear that she's already passed.  Bless her heart!  We also got word that a colleague of ours from IHCC got his new heart today.  The next 24 hours are critical for him, too.  We'll keep praying for both Sam and Mae!

More later...

Happy 4th of July!

I don't know about where you live, but here we had a wonderful day!  It was hot and the humidity kept creeping up - just like it should in July.  Much of the day today I had a bout with vertigo.  I realize that  some people think I'm dizzy all the time, but I'm NOT!  Today, however, I really was.  I took a "dizzy pill" after lunch and went to bed.  When I awoke, I felt a little better but I was still "off".  We had a potluck to go to tonight,  so we went and I'm really glad we did.  There were about 30 or so there from church and it was a lovely evening to sit outside in Plum Panache's garden area!  The food was wonderful and so was the company!

A fun time was had by all!

We just got home.  We're not going to the fireworks this year. I frankly don't feel like it tonight and Dave's exhausted so he's happy to stay home and sleep in his chair!

Hope you had a great day, too!  More later...

Wednesday

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood!!  You can't ask for any better weather than we've had for the last few days!

Today I worked on The Holiday Ranch phone directory.  I've got lots more to do, but at least I've got it started now.  I also had a haircut today - that was a relief.  My hair had gotten to where it just flipped up and out everywhere and I couldn't handle it any longer.  Mind you, it was still short, just not as short as I wanted it!

I also made a grape salad and some brownies today for tomorrow's potluck at David & Liz's.  Now if I just knew what time the festivities start.  My Dave made all the arrangements, so I'm really in the dark about it.

More later...

Wonderful Day!

As I'm sitting here typing this, I'm freezing...wait for me to close the window!  The air coming in my west window is really chilly.  I hope it's chilly upstairs - I love to sleep in air like this!

It was beautiful here today.  Some places around us got rain, but we didn't.  In fact, if it doesn't rain tonight or in the morning, I'm going to have to water flowers and tomatoes tomorrow!

Today, all I had to do outside of the house was give blood.  I reached the 6 gallon level today - I've given 48 units of blood!  Tomorrow I get my hair cut and have to make a grape salad and some brownies for a potluck we're attending on Thursday.  So I'll be busy!!

Beautiful Monday!

Beautiful, beautiful Monday!  Oh, how I love days like this.  The windows and doors are open and we're enjoying not having the a/c running!!  I had BRT this morning and I think we finished 8 verses is all.  We got into a discussion about what Jesus means when he says he is "the way, the truth, and the life".  There were only 7 of us there, but we had good discussions regardless!

I had to get groceries again today.  It seems like I get groceries every other day...I don't particularly like doing that, but since Dave leaves so early in the morning and comes home late, I guess it's the least I can do. I've been going to Fareway because I truly believe I get more groceries for my money there.  I pay $50 for 4 bags of groceries at Fareway and would pay about $70 at HyVee for 4 bags!  Of course, I haven't compared item for item, but I feel I'm saving money by going there.

More later...