A. for A. and Friendship Club

Still hot, even when I walked Kimball at 7:00; I had been up for three hours by then. Why? Because I had gotten up for the usual and was nagged by the fact everything wasn't perfectly put together for the A. For A. session, I spent those hours finishing up. Finally got people assigned to different parts--and that's difficult with six people, seven playlets, and roughly twenty parts. I try to make them reasonably equitable, so one or two people don't end up with the lion's share and the others with minor roles. Anyway, it paid off. I had been worried that I'd have some dropouts yesterday or--almost as bad--have more sign up. That didn't happen, though, and I told Brianna not to put anymore on.
It went pretty smoothly, but boy, do they need work. Almost universally, they spoke too slowly and ponderously and in monotones. That's especially deadly in comedic roles and all but one play (Impostor) are. Speaking of that one, both Marcelle and Sharon were so wooden, you could make a chair out of them. Jim was his usual, although he's improved. Char needs to pick up the pace considerably, but happily, Noreen, "the new girl" (which is how I introduced her) is actually not bad. Mikkii is the loose cannon--the way she spells her name would give you a glue--but who is fair in comedic roles. They need much, much, more rehearsal, that's a cinch.
Class over at 11:30, I went directly to the Poinsettia Pavilion to join the Friendship Club ladies for lunch. Deb was right in that these gals are pretty long in the tooth, much more so than she is (Deb is 64). She owns The Lynd Group, which is a finance firm, I think specializing in senior citizen business.
Anyway, the lunch was okay (I ate it, although it included pork and mashed potatoes; of course, I skipped the dessert) and the members were very welcoming. According to Deb, they're just a group that goes on day trip outings; I don't know what else they do. Googled it, but they're not on it--a somewhat off-putting sign for me. Deb is going to send me over and I'll think it over before I decide if I want to join. The topic of the speakers, reverse mortgages, was a snooze fest, but it was an okay way to spend part of an afternoon.
I sped home after to change clothes. The heat was still horrendous--over 90--and even I am not foolhardy enough to take my mile and a half in town at the height of the afternoon, so I went again to the mall and walked about the same. After I left there, I thought the pool was the place to be and decided to just stop at Wal-Mart and buy any bathing suit I could find. (The one I have is too big now and I'm self-conscious about it.) Well, darn, they didn't have any, so I had to wear my old one.
I thought maybe Suzanne would be there, but she wasn't. I just swam around a bit--it felt heavenly--then left. Ran into Don and chatted with him for fifteen or so. Niece Joan called and we discussed a few--yes, family matters. I called Ellen, who was in Santa Barbara at Greg's mother's, and she told me there was a huge fire along 33, so they couldn't drive home that way. I looked on-line and found 150 acres have burned. That's scary; I hope it's out soon.