Hot, Hot, Hot and Hotter.....

Welcome to the South!!! Man - it is like breathing hot water out there. Glad I decided to stay in today. It was already hot when Fran got to my house yesterday morning. After quickly eating one of the blueberry muffins I made, we met with the group almost on time! After working in service the whole morning, we went downtown to a new Italian Sandwich Shop on Main Street called Toast. The food was delicious if a little pricey. It was so hot inside, we grabbed a table in the shade outside where at least there was a breeze. We split a great panini made with grilled chicken, fontina, arugula and tomato, a tossed salad and a delicious dessert along with some white wine. Fran wanted to check out a shop in Brightleaf Square - she was hoping they still had a store there she really liked but it was gone. We browsed through Morgan Imports and then a small antique shop where I bought a pair of embroidered pillowcases and two lime green paper fans for the two of us because it was so hot. All the small shops had their doors open and it was too miserable to shop for any length of time. I love how they have made such good use of the old tobacco factories and storage houses using as much of the original structures as they could. After climbing back into the furnace the car had become, we headed back home. While sitting at a light on Main Street, I saw Sarah and I think her Dad and brother - I called out and she ran over for a quick kiss - what a beautiful and sweet young woman. I have been wanting to try a new place - Grill 46 - down the street from my house so we stopped in and got an ice cream cone - hers strawberry and mine butter pecan (my Mom's favorite "bought" ice cream with peach being her favorite homemade). When we got to the house, BigD and Miya were waiting for us on the back porch and there were some flowers for me on the stoop. What a nice surprise from Page1 with a nice message to cheer me up from the "ruff" week I've been having. You can see them above on the left. After Miya made a big pest of herself to Fran, she had to leave to pick her dear hubby up at the QB. I really enjoyed my time with her. Yeah - Thursday night was rough - Leah called a little before my meeting to tell me she got laid off from her job. Having worked in the personnel field for almost 20 years combined, I have some first hand knowledge of lay offs - both on the giving and receiving end. No matter what you tell yourself, it is personal - or at least it is personal to the person being laid off. I think she is planning to catch a ride back home with Roseanne and her daughter Sunday to visit with us for awhile. I'm looking forward to having her and Page2. I think we will work on her resume while she is here. I honestly had to "make" myself go to the meeting because I knew that is where I needed to be and guess what? The local needs talk was about endurance - especially for the older ones. It was so encouraging but of course I happened to be sitting on the same row as a dear older friend who hasn't been doing well lately and my mind flew away with memories of the influence she and her example of faith and always commenting at the meetings has been for me these past 43 years. I had to leave the meeting a little early anyway because I had to do some things w/BigD before my friend arrived early the next morning but I also found I was getting a little emotional. Being in service and spending the day with Fran and then coming home to flowers from Page did make things feel better. I woke up again very early this morning - still having bad dreams from time to time - not sure what that is about. My sister Rose called to say they were making some calls and she wanted to stop by. Since it made me get out of my PJ's into some clothes, I guess that was a good thing. She brought a nice sister with her and we had a short visit. Her dear hubby has a talk in July and I need to look up some research material for him. Since I have to print it, I'll have to wade through all the "stuff" packed away in the office to get to it. What's new - right? So we are having a pretty lazy day today so far. I think we are going to pick up some of my favorite pasta, salad and have some wine tonight. I also have to wash and fold some more clothes and plan to study today for the WT study tomorrow. BigD is sleeping so I may call Eileen and have her study since I missed it yesterday. haven't heard from Fina about hers so may be having it tomorrow after the meeting like last week. That will work too.