Gracie woke me up at 6:30. I let the dogs out and went back to sleep. Then I drastically overslept. Fuck.

A lot of people at work seemed to have had a tough week. Yay, weekend.

Fed the cats and showered at lunchtime. I’m wearing used clothes and will change later before the concert.

It’s a good day for planting tomorrow–a high of 56 F/13C. It’s supposed to be windy though, which isn’t great for assembling the planters. I guess that I could put a brick on the instructions? I need to find my stapler to staple the instructions together. I checked on crops, and I should plant green beans as soon as I get the planters built. Sweet potatoes are a warm-weather crop, and I like them. Zucchini? I ordered bean seeds and sweet potato slips. I’m going to order my soil on Sunday. I’ve been looking at and saving green bean and sweet potato recipes. I bought a book on canning.

Hmm. I added a cooling comforter to my Amazon list (not expensive because Gracie chews stuff). But I’ve been sleeping without a comforter, so do I really need it? But that does give Gracie easy access to me to wake me up. I need to dig out my linen sheets.

I fell in love with a t-shirt that is artsy and would make a good travel t-shirt. But it’s $72! Yikes! I found the perfect shirt for my mom in the same catalog, sigh. I would get it for her if she was still alive.

Gracie came in at the last minute before I had to leave. Give me a heart attack, dog. I slammed their food down and left. I left early for the concert because the first floor is sold out, and I didn’t know what parking would be like. I found a spot though, and I’m in my seat chilling. It’s interesting to people-watch. Most people dressed up a little (including me—I’m wearing a linen top, pants, and blazer), some are wearing jeans, and some dressed to the nines. I’m in the balcony. Some people got seats right above the stage, which is something to think about for next time. Most of the people are older. I guess that classical music attracts an older crowd.

They did a good job building the venue. There are no bad seats.

This is my second time to see Joshua Bell. I saw him once in California.

The concert was fabulous. His wife has a lovely voice. He substituted the Massenet "Méditation" from Thaïs for one of the songs, which is one of my favorite violin pieces ever. He played it in honor of a friend of his from Indiana University who got a job at the University of Illinois, where we are. The friend had an untimely death while on tour. He commented that he was from nearby (he’s from Bloomington, Indiana) and said, “Go, Hoosiers,” and we all laughed. We gave them two standing ovations and they did one encore. Then he made a gesture with his hands that clearly said, “Enough “.

I’m sitting with a Diet Coke waiting for the traffic to clear out. Well, we ended with a bang with a tornado warning. The staff brought us down into the basement where the sets for plays are made. A nice person found me a chair.

I’m home now. It’s storming but not too bad now. At least I know that my phone makes a nasty noise when there is a tornado warning.