It was a good week!

We just finished the third full week of school It was a good week, filled with the usual laughs, praises, productivity and exhaustion, lol.

I find that I prefer a regular schedule. I do not mind doing the same thing over and over, each day, and in the same way. It gives me comfort. This week I went to a movie after school with a friend and then went out to dinner. We had a great time. But I still prefer to go home after school each day. I enjoy my Saturday routine of cleaning and then writing, and Sunday's routine of worship at church then cooking in the afternoon, interspersed with a nap. I don't know why I adhere to a routine so strongly, but it works for me and I'm going with it.

I'm watching the Outer Banks beach cam and the surf is pretty high. The camera is plastered with salt and rain and rocking back and forth in the wind, so the picture is blurry but the general state of things is clear enough. Hurricane. I hope the people along the Eastern seaboard heed the officials' warnings. Hurricanes are nothing to fool with. And parsing the Category 1 or Category 2 is nothing to fool with either. People say, 'Oh it's 'only' a category 1 so I'll just stay right here in my beachhouse on stilts and ride it out...' That is a foolish thing to do.

Category One Hurricane Barbara in 1953 left one dead and damages over $1 million in 1953 U.S. dollars. Hurricane Stan in 2005 was a Category One storm but the heavy rains it produced resulted in a deadly toll. Unofficially, as of this time, there have been up to 1,500 deaths in Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica from that Category One storm. Officially, there have been 796 deaths. Hurricane Katrina came ashore in Florida as a Category One hurricane and we all know what happened after that. She strengthened to become one of the worst hurricanes on record in terms of deaths and damage. Officials are worried about Hurricane Irene's rains and flooding capabilities, so please be careful out there and heed the warnings.

I put some more Maine photos on my Facebook photo albums and some friends with whom I work complimented me on them. It is fun to see Maine through their eyes. Maine IS a beautiful state, with many things to recommend it. I particularly love the wildness of the foggy coast, and I do miss seeing it quite a bit. I think I'll put up some more photos later, and re-visit my old state via pictures.

The weekend is here and I am thinking of what to cook for my workweek lunches. I think this week's main dish will be corn chowder, along with corn muffins, and granola bars. I've made casseroles three weeks in a row and now it is time for some soup!

Have a good weekend everyone and stay safe!