Man, my book on CD is really bumming me out. I have 1 and 1/2 CDs left to go, and they are having to mortgage The Olive Farm!!!! I hope it turns out okay! As sappy as the author has been at times, I don't wish them harm!!!

This is a bitch day. I am teaching summer school and I really don't want to be here. I mean I really don't want to be here! I have all of the copies I planned on using, but just don't feel like interacting with students, or anyone else, at all.

I got here at 7:20, and was contemplating this fact. There is no real reason for feeling this way. My drive was superb, but, on the other hand, I didn't get to bed until midnight. I had one tiny glass of wine with dinner - could I possibly be that much of a lightweight?

I thought, "Well, in a pinch, I could show a video." I have a copy of Cirque du Soleil that would be perfect - no words, and it is a tried and true kid-pleaser. I go to pop out the video I had in there, and it is stuck. Probably ruined - and it took me a while to get those episodes of Travelers, a travel show that I loved and am still mourning! Strike one for me.

So, then I thought that I would go to the copy room and run off a couple of word search puzzles, just in case there was some lag time. After wending my way around the parts that the janitors have blocked off for waxing, I saw that there was a line of 3 people. I don't have the time or patience for that!

So, here I am, faced by a smiling group of children, and my old students are dropping by to see me, and I really just want to be back at home, in bed. Maybe that's what I will do this afternoon.

But, it's already 10:30 - I'm 2/3 of the way through! - and things have turned out fine. I think I'm going to make it.

Yesterday, after spending two hours at school (taking advantage of the ethernet here until we get DSL) researching prices for our trip to Mexico, I decided to take "the long way home." This means taking minor highways the northern route from Marietta to Roswell to Norcross. It took 50 minutes, and will only be used in a grave traffic emergency.

Or if I take riding lessons, since most of the riding stables in the area are centered around Alpharetta, which is north of Roswell.

When I got home, I had a little something to eat, and watched Oprah and Phil. I managed to take the dog out for a pretty long walk. At the pond in the office park where I usually walk my dog was a family or two of Mexicans, fishing. They didn't look like they were catching much. The one lone duck in the pond was swimming at a safe distance, hoping for a handout, I guess.

After my walk, I came back to a disgruntled husband. He had been dealing with Bell South, trying to get the DSL connected. That wasn't so bad. But the cable people, Comcast, had lost the entire request, and were unappologetic about making us wait 2 more weeks while they put another in. He let them have it!

As I was cooking dinner, I noticed that it was warm. We have been lucky lately, with the weather being so overcast and relatively cool, but the summer heat is beginning. I saw my husband sneak over to the thermostat, and knew instantly that he had turned it up in my absence.

I won't go into the thermostat wars that have been going on since we were first married. Just let it be known that I like it cool. Which it was not, especially since I was cooking over a gas stove. I set the smoke alarm off - and then I mentioned that it was warm, and he 'fessed up. Trying to keep my cool (where there was none), I merely suggested that this strategy makes it harder to cool the house when it gets really hot. I also suggested that we try again to find an electrician to put up the ceiling fans (Not that it's his fault - we have asked for recommendations for good electricians, but they are booked or on vacation. Now, I just want an electrician - one who's available!)

After dinner, we set off to find a Publix. There was one across the highway... and a Bruster's, and other modern conveniences. After our shopping - just to pick up some staples - we stopped by Bruster's for ice cream. I am trying to be good and lose some weight before our trip to Mexico, so I tasted the Key Lime Pie, and ordered the sugar-free, non-fat chocolate. BIG MISTAKE: I should have reversed the two. I ended up throwing away the ice cream, and eating a cupful of cherries.

As we waited for the temperature to lower so that I could go to sleep, I watched an episode or two from my Sex and the City DVD (I'm in Season Two). Then, I decided to make a call to Mexico to touch base with our host in Atlixco. Suddenly, the phone number that I had been given 3 years ago - one that worked last week when I called - was getting a "this international call cannot be completed as dialed message. Yikes!

I called a couple of times, and then tried to figure out what to do, using the phone book. That was little help, so I dialed "0" - assuming that this was the way to contact the operator. After two or three failed efforts, and other numbers dialed, and other options chosen, I was finally connected with an operator in Mexico. One AT&T operator, upon hearing the series of numbers that I had dialed, said that wasn't near enough digits. When I explained that it had worked last week, she said that Mexico has changed to a 3 digit area code and seven digit phone number, and I must have just run out of the window to use the old system.

Lucky me. The Mexican operator, confused at my spelling of the last name, at first said that there was no one by that name in Atlixco. I re-spelled, and even then she came up with a "Sofia" with that last name. Luckily, the number checked out with Pablo's.

I had a conversation with him in Spanish (He speaks English fluently, but I guess he had decided to speak Spanish with me). I did pretty well, except for a couple of misunderstandings. We are to call him when we land in Mexico City, and he will pick us up at the bus station in Puebla. He said not to rent a car, but I am not sure about that yet. I don't want them to feel obligated to drive us to Oaxaca or Veracruz. But, he said that we could rent a car in Puebla when we get there if it is necessary. Who knows, it may be just as easy to take a bus!