Labor Day.

The wind came up last night and now it is blowing like crazy outside. I have all the windows open and am enjoying it immensely, the sound and the feel of it. According to the news, it is supposed to start heating up again today; at least we had a relatively cool weekend (not out of the eighties). Man oh man am I looking forward to the fall.

eHarmony is having a Labor Day weekend special--free participation through today. I went ahead and signed up but don't expect to be able to continue, as eHarmony wants a credit card. Match.com allowed me to pay from my bank account. I went ahead and emailed back a man who contacted me, and then sent messages to two others. It is a real drawback that I don't know how to upload photos, as people like to see faces.

I missed my crossword puzzle all day yesterday. Today there is no paper because of the holiday, so I can't check to see what puzzle appears. Tomorrow I'll do that--see if the puzzle that shows up is the New York Times one or another of these three-letter word puzzles that are a waste of ink. Blast. I want to know NOW.

Yesterday KidThree and I went to PastorJ's church. They had services outdoors in the park next to the facility where they usually met, and had a barbecue afterwards. It was lovely. This group of people is so very friendly. Most wear nametags, and many of them came up to introduce themselves to us and chat for a bit. KidThree appeared to enjoy it; I'll take her back happily. Especially when they offer up tri-tip.

We also went to do a little clothes shopping. Very little, as I couldn't swing much, but at least we got out. A Mervyn's near us is closing because of the chain's bankruptcy, so we went there first. We had a good time choosing tops for her to try on and found one that is cute and fit well. Then we went shoe-shopping; she found a pair of plain black sneakers. Our routine when shoe-shopping is for me to try on the shoes first, as I know just how her shoes should fit me in order to fit her (my feet are that tiny bit wider). If a shoe feels to me as though it would work on her feet, then we go to the trouble of trying it on her. That saves time. Sometimes I've gone out to get KidThree shoes without her, which gets some funny reactions from the store personnel as I am so obviously out of place buying stylish-teenager shoes. One young man once even hesitantly suggested to me that I might be in the wrong store and was so confused when I told him what shoes I was there to try on. When I explain that I'm there to get shoes for my daughter, they are relieved--all is right with their world again and they help me happily.

Today I'll take the rejected pants back to Wal*Mart for my refund. That money goes into checking to help pay the rent. I am so looking forward to October, when I start earning enough money to pay the bills regularly and on time, and will still have enough to buy KidThree more than one top per shopping trip.

I sent Mom, SisterC, KidOne and KidTwo my winning column through email and got a funny response from SisterC. She wrote, "you are such of a good writer, and I haven't even read your entry yet!" Happiness is a sister who is believes of course you should win, even when she hasn't read the winning entry. Mom's computer is not working these days, so she may not be able to get to her email. She doesn't like to use Dad's computer.

KidTwo is heading to her daddy's home country tomorrow for a month with the relatives. She is looking forward to seeing her grandparents, especially as her grandfather had a health crisis recently. A friend of hers from here in town is meeting her there for ten days of her trip; they plan to go sightseeing together. After the month down South, KidTwo will move to the country next door, where her daddy has been transferred and where she will work and go to school. If I ever win the lotto, I'll go visit KidTwo down South and have her show me all around. After I'm done kissing and hugging her. The kids have promised many, many online photos so I can see where they go and who they visit. Several of the relatives I know from visits up here and others I know long-distance through KidTwo and KidOne's visits; I look forward to seeing pictures of them and have sent greetings all around. (Yes, I know they are my ex's family, but when I divorced him, I kept his relatives.)

This morning the laundry awaits. Water is boiling for my second cup of coffee, then I'll sort loads and get things going. Before the sun comes up and the heat starts up and I want to crawl back into my cave. FriendL and I are going to go to a movie later, "Tell No One." KidThree fussed theatrically a little until I said it was subtitled, then she was fine with being deserted. She and I will go see "The Dark Knight" tomorrow. Also this morning I am staying with LadyP for a little while; her husband still needs the break, Labor Day or no.