The mystery of the constantly sopping wet carpeting in the basement bathroom has been solved. The hot water heater had been leaking, and Dan and Bill are replacing it as I type.

What a way to spend the first day of a four day weekend.

We have now had three sunny days in a row. We didn't even get that out in the desert this summer!!!  of course, tomorrow, my day off, it is supposed to storm.

Two sunny days in a row! Two sunny days in a row! Three clear nights!  I love these clear nights -- makes it so much easier to see (and dodge) all of the stupid deer running around in the roads! I hope this clear weather can continue until the weekend! Please! Please!

At least I do not think I have an ear infection. Today every time I blew my nose my right ear popped, so I think it is just my allergies. Hopefully if I switch from Claritin to Claritin D for a few days, some of the thick sinus drainage will dry up, and the pain in my ear will go away with it.

My friend John (that sweet man from Chicago) is supposed to be spending next week down in Florida on vacation. That state is about to be hit by a huge hurricaine, so I hope that his vacation will not be ruined (and I hope all of the people who live down there will also be fine, of course). My other friend John (the sweet man from Toledo) will be flying out to San Francisco in the morning, and I hope his vacation will also be free from natural disasters.

A friend brought in his deer hunting bow to work for me tonight, to see if I could pull it back. He uses a woman's bow, as he says it is a lot lighter and easier to use out in the thick woods. I had no problems, and neither did the other woman who tried it. We are trying to figure out a Saturday when I can take the boys out to his house and let them try to shoot the bow, and do some target practice with arrows. Jim figured if I could pull back the bow, so could my sons. So now we have to try to figure out a date. Bow hunting season starts on October 1, and he lives out in the country, so I hope we can find one before then, when the woods get to be crawling with hunters.

We actually had a sunny day! We actually had a sunny day!!!!And another beautiful moonlit night tonight...

Ran around all day before work getting the last of the school supplies. Did have to go to multiple stores to find that one special math notebook, but finally found the silly thing.

Stayed up late to pay the bills. Just finished. Don't think I have anything else to do other than routine housework and work for the next couple of days, so I might be able to watch some movies and/or read in my spare time, which will be good. I need to rest and relax, as my allergies are acting up... In fact, the tubes to my ears are either blocked, or my right ear might be infected. I will have to call the doctor if it is not better by my next day off.

Just got home from work...lovely cloudless night for a nice change. The big full moon shone down, was gorgeous.

Read The Great Gatsby over the weekend, a classic I have never read before. The back of the book said it was the novel of Jazz age America, but I think it is a story that can be told of any time and any place where people have too much time and too much money, and not enough caring about other people (other than as celebrities, of course). Was a beautifully written little novel.

Kids are back in school. I have a long list of school supplies to go purchase tomorrow. I will try to get everything at Target, but might have to hunt around for a spiral notebook of graph paper for Bill's math classes...he has pre-calculus and also trigonometry, both for all year...as far as that goes, he can probably also use graph paper for chemistry...

Must force myself to pay bills soon, I always find that to be so dreary...but at least I have a four day weekend coming up.

The soccer game on Saturday was fun. The jv teams tied 1-1 and were very evenly matched. It had stormed heavily all night, (in fact, the thunder kept me awake most of that night) and the field was very wet. At one point Bill made a slide tackle and slid along the ground on his butt, causing a wake of water. He looked like he was on a slip-n-slide!!!!! Hilarious!!!

Today was a day devoted to running errands and doing housework...nonetheless snuck in a bit of watching the Olympics (got to see part of the women's pentathelon, which was very cool) and started reading the novel Snow Falling on Cedars , a seering work about racism, which follows my reading The Secret Life of Bees, another seering and excellent novel about racism...

Rulon Gardner earned another Olympic medal, a bronze in Greco-Roman wrestling. Steven and Bill were thrilled for him. and I think they will always remember how kind he was to the young ones when we took the tour of the Olympic Training center in Colorado Springs.

Ran all over the place this evening. Took Steven to his soccer practice, then came home to get Bill and take him to the football game , then picked up Steven and brought him home, then went back to town to get Bill and some pizza ...this on top of running errands today like going to the post office, getting Steven's band book, and buying cheese bread at the bakery  (and Bill finished off the whole loaf!!!!!!!!!)

Tomorrow will feature a soccer game down the road at Lincoln High School, and grocery shopping. It's supposed to rain, so I don't think I'll be able to get much done in the garden...

Got bit by a flea at work again tonight. The new hire who keeps bringing them in has got to go.  It is filthy, and a hospital does not need filthy workers. And the rest of us don't need to be bitten at work!!!!!!!!!Disgusting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On a more cheerful note, the train tickets to Chicago came today. I also ordered tickets to a good jazz concert  (Wynton Marsalis and the Rockefeller center Jazz Orchestra) in Ann Arbor next month, and to the Oslo Philharmonic next spring, when they come to Ann Arbor and those should be coming soon.

Dan went to the doctor this morning. They did not find anything in his MRI, but some of his blood tests came back odd, so they are testing his blood again...I just hope they find out what is making his head hurt, though he hasn't had any bad headaches since they started treating his blood pressure...

Time for chocolate!!!!! Need some after those fleas at work!!!!