Last week I gave the kitchen a thorough going-over, but during the week the rest of the house has had dogs in charge during the day so I need to sweep and vacuum. Friends are coming for lunch on Sunday and we'll celebrate the news of one of them getting a new job (also leaving the same library). The rest of them haven't been told yet, so I'm going to have a special bit of dessert there to help celebrate. I haven't figured out what's for lunch yet, though.

Making jelly starting tonight, and I need to buy some more jelly jars. I'm running low, though I have enough for a couple of batches. I have 10 jars of pickled okra and may be going for a few more over the weekend. They're small batches of 4 or 5 pints at a time because I'm picking a few every day and after 5 or 6 days they're still good and I use them before they start to deteriorate (like what you see in the grocery store.) Maybe some fried okra as part of our lunch.

This is a time of year I actually enjoy on campus; it's when the new students and their families are arriving to help them move in and find their classroom buildings, etc. There is a look on their faces - and asking them the question "can I help you find something?" is always met with relief. Sometimes they're almost on top of what they were searching for, other times it's just easier to walk them to the new place than to describe it. To be a new student here approaching the world of education, this is still good. It's the being employed here part that is temporarily problematic. They'll eventually clear out the bad managers and it will get back to something approximating normal. We all wish our students well and want them to succeed. Classes start next Wednesday, then hold onto your hats (and get here extra early to hold onto your parking spaces!)