The Working Poor
7:12 p.m. - 2005-08-19


We are finding ourselves in a peculiar stage of life. We have to work, but other family members on his side are retired and affluent, so they plan these family get-togethers at totally inconvenient times. We were invited to a dinner/family reunion on Monday with dinner to be served at 5:30. At that time, I will still be slaving away on the Monday recordings. He said to just come home when I can, and we will drive out to hell and gone (far west county where they moved to) without dinner or any hope of same, in the heavy after-work traffic, chat for at most 1 hour, and turn around and come home, fall into bed, then there we are, back at work before we know it. How horrid. I decided to pass, since if I don't go, he can leave work early and actually get there in time for dinner. I find myself scheduled out of family activities.

But on my side of the family, things are looking fun. Tomorrow is Eric's birthday dinner, for which Evan is BBQing steaks, and we are making massive amounts of strawberry shortcake. Auntie M has decided to give away all her vast collection of rubber stamps, so she asked if I wanted some. Of course I said yes. I have been using up my supply of greeting cards and need to make a lot more. It is very handy to have a huge box full of lovely cards for every occasion. We have papers in every color that we use for this. Auntie M is coming down tomorrow and bringing potato salad, so I am looking forward to that too.

Joel and Jane and Jellie are back from their trip to Washington to visit friends. Jellie took a lot of pictures, and she was showing them to me on Jason's computer the other night. It has been a very long time since I was up in Oregon and Washington, though we have gone up there in the past. We even honeymooned along the Oregon coast.

West Nile is spreading in west county. While he was away driving to Atlanta, they arial sprayed out there. I have an outfit now to wear in the morning when I go out into the yard. I have a sweatshirt, sweatpants, and my straw hat covered with netting (a relic of the bee wars). The insects, they do love me, so I have to be careful. In my lifetime, epidemics have come and gone. When I was a kid, it was polio, then various flus, then AIDS, now flu again and West Nile.

I am so glad it is Friday, and two more weeks until a three-day weekend.