Back to work, back to work. Since I haven't really DONE any work since I got here, I can't really say I'm back. So far I've read everyone's blogs and paid some bills, had a meeting and drank some coffee. Now I'm moving on to Diet Coke and getting ready for a kick-off luncheon I have to go to in the director's place. I don't know much about this luncheon--it's to kick off a grant for community resources and apparently we're a community resource. You're supposed to bring a listing of the resources that you offer. We don't have a listing--no brochure, no publicity, nothing like that. Just a web page (cefls.org, in case anyone's interested), so I'll show up empty-handed and be woefully inadequate and probably embarrass myself. Again. All I really want to do is some work, like clear off my desk to make a spot where I could actually do some work. But at least it's Wednesday.

Last night I came into town to do some grocery shopping. I got the check for my stock, and I love to shop for food when I actually have money to spend. It's such a luxury--buy whatever you want to buy: dog food in the BIG bag, 3 big boxes of soda, 2 boxes of Cheerios to stock up, stupid stuff, I know, but it feels good to be ahead of the game in the pantry. I always want to have food in the pantry, it's part of the "I live in the woods and you never know" way of life you never get away from where I live.

I had a long, long phone conversation with Liza yesterday afternoon. She's very sad. Her grief mechanism is not really anger, it's just a way of not being nice. She admits that, which is pretty funny "I don't feel like being nice." I told her we would always be all right with each other. I'm certainly not going to jeopardize my relationship with my mother or risk losing her at this point in my life. I have too few members of my family left as it is. Anyway, she's pretty blue and the weather has been a contributing factor, too much rain and gray skies. I think I cheered her and will try calling again later in the week. Wait, there isn't much later in the week, it's already Weds. Well, over the weekend I'll certainly call again. She doesn't read the blogs and checks her email infrequently but I think we've all been calling her. Maybe we could keep calling her frequently. She at least is admitting that she feels very sad because her son died, something she hasn't always done. She's been gardening a lot, shovelling the horse shit they had delivered, which makes her feel pretty good. She and Mark went to the cemetery in Leicester to put geraniums on David, Betty, Grannie and Nonnie's graves. Since she usually has to do this alone it was really great to have Mark go along.

My union rep reports that CEF's attorney called to say they're reporting to the board at the June board meeting what our proposal is and will see what the board recommends so we won't know whether they accept it or not until the end of the month. At least they haven't rejected it. I don't know for sure what the board will do but I sort of think they'll accept it in the spirit of negotiating things. If they reject it they look bad. It gives us 5 days without pay instead of 10 days without pay, which was what they were saying we should have this year because there are 27 pay periods--it's really complicated and convoluted and the whole thing came up because they didn't see it coming last year or the year before and plan ahead. It's a leap year, and this sort of thing happens every 11 years or so when the number of days finally adds up so that there is an extra 2 week period in the payroll cycle. Last time this happened they ignored it and just payed us 27 times, as most agencies are doing this year. But it looks as if management didn't plan ahead if they do that, so they want to pay us only 26 times this year, like, not pay us for the last 2 weeks in December. That's what we're negotiating about right now, that's what the whole fight is over.

I'm really excited about the trip to Wisc. Can't believe it's 2 weeks away. I really thought Molly was going to be there longer so that she'd have time alone with Kristen, so I feel badly that I'm not leaving them any time alone together, but I have to read this book for my book group so I'll spend plenty of time by myself, leaving them together. I planned my ticket so carefully around the dates I THOUGHT Molly was going to be there. Duh. Goofed again. The book I'm reading this time is The Botany of Desire. It's the history of 4 plants: tomaotes, potatoes, tulips and marijuana, and how they have changed during their history and what influence humankind has had on them and they have had on humankind. Once again it's a book I suggested. Well, heck--no one else seems to suggest any books so it always comes back to me, the librarian to come up with something. This is a book Bill read a couple of years ago and loved, so he gave it to me for Christmas and I never read it. Good excuse for me to read it now. I feel as if this group is turning into my own private agenda for reading and I don't really like that, but they seem to agree with my choices and no one offers any other ideas. Help!

OK, almost time for lunch now. Lunch starts at 11:30, as if I wanted to eat a big meal then, when I hardly ever eat lunch at all. Unless I'm sitting on the big rock at the boat house with my dogs and my niece in the sun.