Today is cooler

Whenever I slip on my scrubby sandals to go outside and bring the trash or hang the laundry, I walk across the grass. I don't know what is out there the cat likes so much, but when I come in, he goes bonkers. As I slip the sandals off and go to fold the laundry, I always look back to see him writing over the sandals like they had just been dipped in catnip.

The neat thing is that Luke will do his ecstatic rolling around, and Bert will wait nearby. Then Bert will take a turn on the sandal, smelling it and rolling all over it. Maybe there is some catnip out there, or catnip-like plants they like so much.

It has been cloudy all day and last night we got some rain. Right now it is only 80 degrees, the coolest it has been in some time. What a relief. I haven't even turned on the air conditioner today, another relief. That thing is loud.

I have a poll training coming up. I am working the polls at the end of July so I go through the training every time. I work at a station that the roosters and cows are more familiar with than the voters, lol. It is surely a little, out of the way station, but it is just my speed, this being only the second time I've worked. If there was a crush and a bunch of questions I am sure I would be clueless. I'm also glad that there will be several veteran workers with me. All in all it is a pretty quiet day and a way to make some money in the summer. I'm not a huge fan of training sessions but I know I need it and I want to do the best job I can on behalf of the people who come to vote. This is a photo of the place at dawn, just before we opened the polls:

See? I told you it was pretty. And rural.

I was looking for the wallpaper design I'd had in my childhood bedroom online the other night. It was of daisies and sunflowers, yellow and orange. It probably would seem garish now but I had loved it then. In my search I'd found this lady on Pinterest who had a gorgeous array of vintage 1960s wallpapers and the design was really beautiful. Sure, some of the psychedelic design back then was garish, but I found this array to be refined and interesting.

Here are just a few of her pins:

Here is a shot of me on Christmas when I was 1-year old. I like the design of the wrapping papers.

Everything old is new again, and these look retro modern.

Have a good day everyone, and take a moment to enjoy the view or admire some design. Or, just take a nap. ZZZ...zzz...

"My spontaneity is carefully planned."

I spent the requisite number of years launching myself out into the world in the cold, dark morning hours, driving to some job so I could earn my pay. I still do. So when a day comes along, like Saturday (not Sunday, that's church in the morning), or a holiday, I looooove to stay at home in the morning. I make the coffee and anticipate being able to drink it from a cup at my leisure. Not gulping from a thermos in the car. Staying in my pajamas is a decadence that feels just right, as the sun climbs through the sky and angles its rays into my brightening apartment.

Today was one of those days. School is out for the rest of the week due to Thanksgiving holiday. I stayed up last night until 12:30, feeling like a kid who's getting away with something. I slept like a baby until 6:30 and then, sighing blissfully, laughed at the clock. "Today you have no power over me!" bwa ha ha!

I got up at 8 and shuffled to the kitchen, and first order of business is making coffee and booting up computer. They are a tie in terms of importance for my well-being, I wish I could do both at the same time. As I settled down with my first steaming cup at 8:20, the phone rang.

Hmmm, that's early, I thought.
"Let's go vote!" my friend said. (Georgia is having a runoff for senator. Early voting starts today.)
"What?" Information doesn't register before coffee circulates. It is a known fact. Ask any biologist. Make sure to ask after he's had some coffee.
"No, thanks, I am not dressed or even showered."
"I'll give you 15 minutes, let's go! We'll buy donuts and coffee later!" Honk Honk
"You're in the driveway??"
"Yes, c'mon!"
"Naw, I think I will stay right here."
"I thought you were more spontaneous than that!"
"My spontaneity is carefully planned."

They were persistent, though his wife had said to him that I wouldn't be going because she knew I want to stay home in the mornings on my days off. Now, it is so sweet that a couple of friends think of me as they drive by and want to scoop me up for coffee. Real sweet!

But before my coffee, I might as well be a dog.

My morning out voting

Voting day!

So this morning dawned bright, warm, and sunny. Temperatures are a pleasant upper 60s already and after my morning ablutions and coffee, I left for Danielsville and the County polling station. I was worried about the lines and the waiting, so I brought my book with me and a thermos of coffee, anticipating standing outside in line for quite a while. However, the only other person preceding me into the polls was a young woman carrying a portable car-seat with tiny baby inside. She slowed the works only because all the old ladies who staff the polling station each wanted to coo and cluck over the baby. And they all asked the same questions even though they were sitting next to each other and heard all the answers already. Folks do love a cute little baby!

The polls were all electronic, touch screen machines so I got my card and slid it into the slot . I voted straight GOP, wanting very much for the House and Senate to retain a semblance of a two-party system. I was not enthralled about Sen. McCain until he chose Gov. Palin. Then I was all for the GOP ticket.

Next stop was the Payroll office at the Board of Education to get a question or two answered,, and as I was exiting later I looked up at the Chicken Express sign and saw "Now serving fried pickles." I said it before...

fried apple pie
fried pork skins
fried hot dogs
fried oreos

...and I'll say it again, the good folks down south will fry anything.

At the Post Office to buy a stamp for mailing my utility bill, I ran into a wonderful elderly man I'd interviewed two years ago. He is well into his 90s, but still spry. He did not remember me though, but we exchanged pleasantries at the door as I held it open for him. He turned and said, "I have on my Sarah Palin coat today," gesturing to the embroidered mountains and 'Seward Alaska' on the jacket's chest. "That all right with you?" He said with a twinkle in his eye but a challenge in his voice. "I said "Awesome! I'm all for it, nice coat!" He laughed all the way to the stamp window.

I have a bad cough and sinus cold, part and parcel of what you get when you work day in and day out with children, so after voting, the payroll office and the Post Office I went to the Dollar Store and stocked up on the essentials: Mucinex, Robitussin, and NyQuil, the real stuff, not generic. That'll knock the cold on its heels, ha! However, at the checkout, after uneventful scanning of my canned salmon and kitty litter, the clerk passed the Robitussin through the scanner and turned to me, asking "Birthdate?"

"Excuse me?"
"Your birth date, month-day-year, please," pointing to the blinking computer XX-XX-XXXX waiting to be filled in.
"I'm not sure why you are asking me this."
"The medicine."
"How old do you have to be to buy it?"
"Over eighteen."
"I am over eighteen."
"I have to put in the exact birth date."

I stared at the screen, mentally deciding whether to forgo the meds and buy them somewhere else or to cave and give the info. The meds were over the counter purchase, not sequestered like cigarettes are. If they wanted to protect minors from buying them, then put them behind the counter like cigarettes are. As I was mulling,

The clerk said "Forget it, I'll plug mine in."
I turned to the lady behind me and asked, "Where will it end?"
She said, loudly, "I'm 60. I'm proud to say how old I am!"
"It just that no matter where you go there are increasingly intrusive requests for personal information."
She said, "Those poor kids buying the cough medicines..."

I could see the cause for personal responsibility and privacy of information was lost, to this crowd at least...my next thought was that soon enough her easy compliance will likely land her in an Obamanation concentration camp/ holding cell or shot at by his Civilian Security Force. I had already gotten cash to pay because of the new rule that all credit card purchases are to be tracked by the IRS...and now this new thing. Oh well...such are the times and I do what I can to resist government intrusion into my wallet, home, and life!

Back home and unpacked, another steaming cuppa in my hand and the windows thrown open to enjoy the fresh air, I relaxed into my antique banker's chair and pondered the one unassailable truth: God is in control. "Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are His. He changes times and seasons; He sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness. And light dwells with Him." Daniel 2:20-22

Pray, vote, and in every situation, whether turbulent or peaceful, remember it is a situation where we can lead people to Jesus.

Have a good day!