At last - rain! It thundered like crazy last night and then the rain came. I could hear the grass and bushes sighing in relief! It was 104 degrees outside yesterday when we drove to Lake Cumberland, with the top down on Steve's car. We were both drenched in sweat, but what great fun, with Gordon Lightfoot on the stereo. For such a large lake, we didn't have much luck finding it! We saw glimpses of it in places and found a boat landing, etc. but there wasn't much to look at since the water level is so low. I was not very impressed, but I grew up in Upper Michigan, just minutes from a swimming lake and a short drive from Lake Superior. So, these man made lakes from dammed up rivers just aren't real lakes to me.

Had an early Christmas when boxes of books from Scholastic arrived. To keep myself in the mood I have Scrooged on in the background. Every time I see it (well, actually listen this time) I catch something I missed last time. I rarely ever just sit and watch a movie - I am always doing something else at the same time. Seems like such a waste of time! But, there is never a bad time to watch a Christmas movie. Steve has been teasing me there is no place in the living room for the Christmas tree. Well, it is going to go in the dining room this year, since it is empty at the moment. Haven't found the "perfect" dining room set we can afford yet.

Oh yeah - back to the boxes of books from Scholastic. I had Christmas on the mind! I grabbed one of the Bluford High series to read right away as I have been hearing good things about this series based on a group of African American teens who attend a high school in urban California. I read Payback, which is about Freshman Tyray Hobbs, a bully who loses his power when one of his victims gets the best of him with a wrestling move and knocks him to the floor of the cafeteria, with the rest of the his victims watching. Everyone is delighted, but Tyray. Intent on getting his power back, Tyray lies and steals to get the money for a gun so he can intimidate the other students, especially Darrell, the wrestler. Raised in a family where the father is a big bully himself, Tyray knows no different. Well written, no. Didactic, yes. But, worth having in a JH and HS collection - yes. This series address issues that inner city teens deal with, but the short and easy to read titles are minus the street language that causes many of the other contemporary teen titles to be an issue in some high schools. The reading level is low enough for even the most reluctant/resistant reader.

Okay - now to go through paperwork, print out meeting agendas, etc. to get myself ready for the trip to Greenville.