Sun 31 Jul

Last day of July and done with work! Working seven days in a row sucks. I was exhausted and not really with it from about noon on yesterday. We went to Green Tea for dinner and I had a nice dish with lots of fresh veggies, but I barely registered anything. I know we had Culvers' sundaes afterwards, but I was just a shell. Got 9 hours of sleep pretty solidly, so I'm feeling more human again today. Food: 8:00 am Blueberry danish, 105 g blackberries, coffee

Sat 30 Jul

Happy Birthday, Mom! Very little time before my last day of work today. Food: 8:30 am Antwerp square, 103 g blackberries, coffee

Fri 29 Jul

Almost done with Suzuki Institute store. Today is the last full day of the store, tomorrow we open for a couple of hours and then inventory and put everything away til next year. Food: 7:25 am Chocolate croissant, 108 g blackberries, coffee

Thurs 28 Jul

Today will be very busy: Suzuki store 8-12, Bootstrap 1-4, and OBT board at 5:15. Lord, give me strength. Food: 6:30 am Caramel chocolate brioche muffin, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Wed 27 Jul

Got to hike Rib a bit last night and try a new (to us) restaurant in Wausau, Tine and Cellar. Had delicious pesto linguini with roasted cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and parmesan. Temps a little warmer again this morning, 66° at 6:30 am. Not sure what that will mean for the rest of the day. I'll be on my own in the store this morning, with Cathy coming in for the afternoon. Found out yesterday that I'm earning $12/hour, better than I had hoped for. Food: 6:30 am Chocolate pecan snail, 103 g blackberries, coffee

Tues 26 Jul

Temperatures have moderated again so it's more comfortable this week. Pretty tired yesterday with return to early rising and a full day. Realized that Thurs will be REALLY full, with 8-12 at the store, 1-4 at Bootstrap, and a 5:15 OBT board meeting. Yikes! Food: 6:25 am Bear claw, 102 g blackberries, coffee

Mon 25 Jul

Back to getting up at 5:30 am for just one more week. It's not pleasant, but it's not as bad as I had anticipated. Working til noon today so I can get home, grab something quick to eat, then get to OBT for 1-4. I'll be tired at the end of the day. Food: 6:25 am Apricot danish, 90 g blackberries, coffee

Sun 24 Jul

Lots of work this week unless she cuts the hours back. 5 hours today and again on Saturday plus the normal work week. I won't be sorry to see the end of this. Food: 7:50 am Blueberry danish, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Sat 23 Jul

Thunderstorms on the way for this afternoon if the forecasters are correct. We'll be able to walk to the Farmer's Market this morning without difficulties, but probably not to church this afternoon. If the storms blow themselves out today, they should have nice weather for the church picnic tomorrow. We won't go as I'm working 12-5 at Suzuki tomorrow, or however long she needs me. If I'm not in the store, I'll probably be volunteering to help with registration for the next Institute session. Whew, what a sweaty walk to the Market. Temps aren't bad but the humidity is nasty. Hopefully the thunderstorms later today will alleviate it. Food: 9:05 am Raspberry Antwerp square, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Fri 22 Jul

Up early again this morning, and I'll be working the morning by myself. Yesterday was tiring even though I got to sleep til my normal wake-up time and didn't work the store. I did all the laundry and hung it out and baked a loaf of sourdough cinnamon raisin bread, though I didn't have adequate time to proof it properly and it was very flat and dense. Bootstrap was very busy, so I was pretty wiped by the end of the day. Hopefully since I just have to work the morning and the laundry's already done, today won't be so tiring. Food: 6:35 am Gibassier, 103 g blackberries, coffee

Wed 20 Jul

Looks like the ability to take credit cards in the store is not going to happen. They may decide to close the store if it isn't able to sell enough to turn a profit. Seems to me that they could just forewarn the attendees that they will need to bring cash or a checkbook to the store; if they're prepared in advance, they'd likely comply. Food: 6:35 am Chocolate pecan snail, 103 g blackberries, coffee

Tues 19 Jul

Twas a hot night last night. I woke up in the middle and it was 84° in the room and it never did fall below 80° by morning. Fortunately I got some good deep sleep early on. Opening the store by myself today. Cathy won't come in til later so she can keep herself to 8 hours today and won't need to leave Marie on her own. Food: 6:35 am Apricot danish, 102 g blackberries, coffee

Mon 18 Jul

Wasn't as hard to get up early today as I had anticipated, though it's only the first day of the week. Not sure if it will work out for me to get coffee before I leave if we have Bob make it as usual, but I thought I'd see how it worked out today. I may have to be the one who makes the coffee these two weeks if it isn't ready soon enough. I don't normally drink my coffee til the end of my breakfast, so it's possible it will be done by then. I'm starting breakfast at 6:30 and Bob won't likely even be up for another 15-30 min, but he usually starts the coffee right away. I might have to finish it while he's in the shower, but that's okay. Food: 6:30 am Bear claw, 102 g blackberries, coffee

Sun 18 Jul

Looks like a nice day, current temp at 67°. I cantor and Bob ushers at church. I'll probably try to drive over to Suzuki Institute to drop off the snacks sometime after church. Nice drive to Madison yesterday with a lovely brunch at Sardine. Food: 7:55 am Blueberry danish, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Sat 16 Jul

My legs were really tired after working yesterday. I got there a little before 9 and no one was there so I walked around NFAC a lot looking for folks. I later found out she had scheduled the Friday shift to start at 10:30; I had just moved my hours over from the Thursday shift when I switched and assumed they were the same, starting at 9. I probably won't get paid for the extra hour and I had to work til 4 pm instead of 3:30. Oh, well. We are going to drive down to Madison today to buy snacks at Costco to sell in the store. Hopefully I won't have difficulty negotiating the tax-free transaction. Food: 9:00 am Mixed-berry Antwerp square, 102 g blackberries, coffee

Fri 15 Jul

First day on my new job! Mary Hofer called me last night and while talking, we arranged that she would pick me up at 8:40 today because it was predicted to rain and I don't have my parking permit yet. I wanted to walk, but the forecast looked grim, and was actually correct. I packed a lunch and a water bottle and hope that the rain is done by the time I want to walk home. Next week, I'll need to be in at work already by now. Hope I hold up for two weeks of early rising. Food: 8:00 am Costco cinnamon roll, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Thurs 14 Jul

Pleasant morning again, with nice sunshine. No walk with Kathy today, so I'll try to get the laundry done before Bootstrap. Food: 7:50 am Costco cinnamon roll, 104 g blackberries, coffee

Wed 13 Jul

A little cooler this morning, pleasant. No Body Pump this morning, no walk with Kathy Thursday, so I have some more free time before starting my little job. Praying for the woman who will run the store as she returns home today from Bogota with her family. Can't imagine a full day of international travel right before the responsibility of running the Institute store. I expect she's a bit stressed. Food: 7:55 am Costco cinnamon roll, 103 g blackberries, coffee

Tues 12 Jul

Pleasant cooler morning, at least for now. Last really free day for awhile, given the next two weeks will be taken up with working at the Suzuki store. I guess tomorrow's also pretty free since there's still an alternate class to Body Pump. Food: 7:50 am Costco cinnamon roll, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Mon 11 Jun

Perfect weather in Door Co for the weekend, and a nice time had with Geoff and Michele. Had breakfasts at Julie's (to avoid White Gull Inn crowds) both days. Drove them on a peninsula tour after breakfast Saturday through Peninsula Park, Ephraim, Sister Bay, and to the end of the point. Stopped at Piggly Wiggly, Seaquist Orchards, and Charlie's Smokehouse. Had a late picnic lunch in the little pavilion in Fish Creek park with smoked whitefish spread, ramp chevre spread, crackers, cherries, apple cider donuts, etc. They went back to the camp for a bit while Bob and I went to 4 pm Mass in Fish Creek, then they met us afterwards for pizza at Wild Tomato. We drove back to our room and shared some Costco raspberry cupcakes in the outside picnic area. Michele woke up in the night with extra knee pain, so she opted out of Sunday. Geoff met us at Julie's for breakfast, and then we were able to take a longer hike in Peninsula together. We said goodbye in Fish Creek and Bob and I headed home, with a couple of Costco stops. Food: 8:00 am Costco cinnamon roll, 102 g blackberries, coffee

Thurs 7 Jul

Nice cookout last night with Michael/Taylor and Geoff/Michele. Michael had to go back home and get their Beyond Burgers because ours were so solidly frozen together he couldn't separate them into patties. We had quinoa salad, green salad, and watermelon for go-alongs and Bob, Geoff, and I had regular burgers w/truffle seasoning and goat cheese filling. Tonight we'll eat the bibimbap from Farmshed so no worries about cooking. Kathy can't walk this morning, so I'm going to try to get as much laundry done as possible before Bootstrap. It's cloudy, but doesn't look like imminent rain so I should be able to hang out. Food: 7:50 am Kouign amann, 103 g blackberries, coffee

Wed 6 Jul

Geoff & Michele solved their mini-crisis of not having a campsite for tonight and tomorrow. Today Michele wants to shop for a swimsuit and a straw hat. Swimsuits I suspect we can find; straw hats I'm not so sure, but sun hats in general are usually available so maybe they'll have something that fits her bill. We went out to El Mezcal last night since Michael and Taylor were both wiped out from working in the heat yesterday. Cookout was postponed to today. Temps are forecast to be cooler today, so it will be nicer anyway. Food: 8:05 am Chocolate croissant, 103 g blackberries, coffee

Tues 5 Jul

Another nice day yesterday with Geoff and Michele. They didn't come til around 11 am so I had time to relax in the morning and also get the rhubarb coffee cake baked. I managed to get all my 12,000 steps in between laps in the house and walking some coffee cake over to Michael and Taylor at the end of the day. I took Michele on a "tour of Scotland" through our photos while Bob and Geoff went over to visit Rich in the afternoon. She would also like to do New Zealand if we find time. Food: 8:10 am Bear claw pastry, 103 g blackberries, coffee

Mon 4 Jul

Happy Independence Day! Michael and Taylor came over yesterday and brought lunch! I wasn't expecting them to bring food, but they brought asparagus to grill, hot dogs (both beef and vegan), Greek salad, and vegan chocolate cake. I put the pancacke batter back into the fridge - we'll have pancakes for lunch today instead. We had a great time all visiting together, and Michele gave them some socks and a beautiful cross-stitched picture of her childhood Siamese cat that her mom had made and her dad made the frame. Michael and Taylor will display it and appreciate it. Michele also shared some sourdough with both of us that has history back to the Oregon Trail. I will try to keep it alive and use it regularly. Food: 8:05 am Chocolate pecan snail, 104 g blackberries, coffee

Sun 3 Jul

First day with Geoff and Michele went well. Barely squeezed in my steps and had to absent myself for the first part of the movie to go upstairs and do Duo. Good bluegill po' boys at Mikeys. Visited the Hostel Shoppe where everyone else tried out a recumbent bike. They will join us for church today. Food: 7:50 am Blueberry danish, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Sat 2 Jul

Soon we expect Geoff and Michele to arrive to walk with us to the Farmer's Market, then come back for breakfast. They were tired on arrival yesterday, so they remained at Jordan and rested up. Gave us the opportunity for a walk at Schmeeckle in the beautiful weather and a relaxed dinner of burgers on the grill. Planning to possibly go out to Mikey's tonight for bluegill po' boys and truffle fries on the patio, but the remainder of the schedule will be played by ear.

Fri 1 Jul

Geoff and Michele arrive today, though not sure if they'll come to see us or just settle in and get in touch by text. Michele texted yesterday and implied that they'd just settle in tonight. We'll play it by ear. I still need to do laundry and get the oil change on the Prius today. Food: 7:45 am Honey bear, 104 g blackberries, coffee