Continuing miscellaneous

Look closely and you can see Devin to the right of the gate in the backyard. He's still living dangerously, even after probably using up one of his nine lives when he was AWOL.

I don't know how he got up but he was having some difficulty determining how to get down. Finally, I went out and got him and he ran off to explore other things.

Today is Tuesday so I spent the morning down at the homeless center where I do volunteer work - assisting the guys on the computers. The center I work at is for male-only clients and they must be drug-free and alcohol-free. In one section of the shelter, there is a small computer room where a few pcs are set up. When a volunteer is available to staff the room, the guys can come in and read their email, search for housing and jobs, practice typing, etc. Sometimes all I have to do is be there to unlock the room and start up the pcs and the men have no questions, need no instruction. Other times, I need to give basic instructions, show them how to use a computer, how to create an email account, how to create a resume or perform a search. Today was mixed - some of the men knew what they were doing and got right to work, others needed to know how to navigate, how to use the back arrow, etc. Even some of the men who knew what they were doing still needed attention. They wanted to show me the site they were working on, tell me of a housing opportunity they'd found. For some of the guys, it seems that what they most appreciate is someone to listen.

After my shift was over, I stopped at my favorite 2nd hand store to see what "must buy" items they had. Last week when I was there, I ended up walking out without ANYTHING - not a book, a puzzle, nothing whatsoever. That is quite unusual as I almost always find something that will be useful. Today I found four dessert plates, and 5 puzzles. I also found some books on WWII which B. and I will find interesting as we are currently watching Ken Burn's show on WWII, "The War". One of the books I got is all WWII photos from Life magazine, the other is a collection of war memories that Studs Terkel put together. Both should prove interesting and then when we are done with them, we'll donate them back.

Five puzzles is a lot to find in one week. Of course you are taking a chance with used puzzles as sometimes pieces might be missing. I've had good luck so far though and have had few puzzles that weren't complete. When there are pieces missing, I document that, pack up the puzzle again and recycle - maybe someone won't mind a missing piece or two. The complete puzzles are also packed up after I finish them and they are passed on to one of my aunts or one of my sisters - and they pass them on, too. We can get a lot of use from a 99 cent puzzle! Today's assortment of puzzles included Bryce Canyon National Park, Crater Lake National Park, Madame Alexander Dolls, At the Wee Folks' Fair (a gathering of dwaves and fairies - very lighthearted), and Autumn at Stony Creek by Charles Wysocki. I plan to start the Autumn one as soon as I finish my current puzzle. The Wysocki one has jack-o-lanterns, pumpkins, apple butter, autumn leaves - a nice fall scene that will be fun to do as our days turn to fall.

With the cooler weather, I've pulled out my crock pot and have been using that more frequently. Tonight we'll have Moussaka with Tofu Topping. Once you have the chopping all done and everything put into the crock pot, then you can forget it for the rest of the day while you get on with your life. If you happen to be home, fantastic scents throughout the day will entice you with the evening's meal. I haven't cooked with tofu before so this is a first for me. I have made a number of other recipes from this cookbook, some of them really great, so I expect this will be good, too. If you are looking for any good crockpot recipes, give this book a try: 125 best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes by Judith Finlayson. Some of the soups are amazing!