It's just been crazy lately as I'm trying to get the hang of this new Smarthinking work schedule. Thursday I worked 11 hours (reviewed 22 student essays) - 7 were my regularly-scheduled hours, 3 I picked up because the supervisor asked me to, and 2 of them I worked for Mom, because she and Dad were trying to get out of Lafayette ahead of Hurricane Rita.

They didn't get out, of course, because it took too long to stuff four cats (one of whom has reached the venerable age of 15 years) and one rather large yellow lab into crates and then put the crates in the car. Also because by the time they got all the crates in the car, there was just slightly less than enough room for my mom. She didn't want to get stuffed. But anyway, I worked her two hours for her so that they would have time to do all that stuffing. It turned out to be for the best -- they only got winds of around 50mph tops and although they lost power, they still have telephone service. So they'll be fine as long as they don't perish in the heat.

Today Dean and Robyn and I went to Target (for a full-length mirror), O'Charley's (for lunch), and the movie theater (to see Tim Burton's Corpse Bride). Tim Burton has created a wonderful little world, once again, though I did not think the plot was as good as The Nightmare Before Christmas.

And, the most important thing: we also went to Rack Room Shoes, where I got some new Micro-Stretch Keds white leather shoes - not the classic "Champions," but one of the new flavors of Keds -- they're called "Players" and the look kind of like Converse. I drooled over some real pink Converse sneakers, but decided I need a pair of white sporty shoes more than I need pink ones. Dean says we can go back for the pink Converse later this week. Yay!

I'm on the clock now, so I'd better get to work. I'll post a picture of my new shoes later.