February 3rd, 2018

Hal just dropped me off after our conspiracy dinner, and the shit has hit the fan. This morning we all woke to the news stations finally starting to report on the disappearances as being more than isolated incidents. Of course, this was triggered by the most recent disappearances. Sometime in the last two days the towns population of Albany, Wyoming disappeared. The entire population, all gone. And the reason we're not sure when this happened is because it wasn't discovered until out of town relatives were having a hard time contacting those that lived there. They called, left messages. When they weren't getting any response, they called known work numbers and left more messages. Still didn't hear any response. So they finally started calling local officials, then county and state officials. Those officials also started calling locals without response. They finally sent someone to physically check out the town this morning and that's when they discovered the town was empty.

Given what evidence they can find, they suspect the people disappeared by the morning of the 31st. Vehicles were parked at home rather than at work with bedside alarms still going off. Local businesses hadn't updated dates for the new month, and there were no time card punch in or outs for the 31st or later. There's also no evidence of the people walking away. One official is quoted as saying they may as well have disappeared in their own beds.

As if that wasn't stunning enough, Sam finally brought something to the table as well. He said a buddy of his had mentioned that hunting this year wasn't going so well. So he started looking into wildlife reports. What he found was that agencies all around the four corners were reporting significantly lower game populations than expected. But there's also been a reduced number of wildlife encounters, and almost no reports of wildlife in settled areas. It's as if people aren't the only ones disappearing, and the wildlife seem to have been disappearing in greater numbers. Considering how the estimates are based, officials have been looking for corpses and at first suspected poachers. But the numbers are too high to be so explained, and there have been no corpses or any other evidence that would confirm those suspicions.

Which, considering the earliest disappearances were individuals or small parties out in the wilderness, that makes sense. But for an entire town to disappear? And granted, it's an out of the way town with a listed population of maybe 60 people. But compared to two people out hiking in the woods, that's huge. And it more than doubles the number of missing individuals altogether.

But the news media is also reporting a shocking number of people being found. Most have no legal identity, don't speak any recognizable language, and all wearing basic fiber clothing. As opposed to modern cotton weaves. And considering those traits, that is a hell of a coincidence. A lot of these found persons weren't listed in news media as much as they were listed in police and hospital reports. Which is how we missed them. It does make me wonder about Jane though, she's similar to the others in that there's no record of her existence and she had similar clothing on when found. But she does speak English, with an accent that I don't recognize. Are all the rest of these people amnesic? Would that have anything to do with crossing the ohvau? That'd make Hal all the more lucky that he didn't get amnesia. I just wish I could've brought these points to their attention. I wouldn't have, I did promise Sam and Candace, even if Sam wasn't there.

That said, some of these people who are being found are like the girl who was found in Dinosaur National Monument, Amy Shaun. Former missing persons, most who had been missing for years, are showing up all around the country. Now granted, I'm talking about maybe ten people, so they aren't showing up in anywhere near the same numbers as those who're disappearing. Even the numbers of unknown persons who are showing up doesn't compete. So on the whole we're losing population. As if a balance would make things better.

So while all this has been going on, Max brought to our attention an incident involving our deer headed vigilante. This time it was an altercation with a bike gang, and video was captured showing him lifting one of the bikes (a Harley) and throwing it across the street. A couple of the bikers were beaten pretty severely, but they managed to chase him off with gun fire. Reports can't seem to confirm whether he was hit, but again there's been no reports of anyone checking into a hospital with a gun wound. This happened just last night. There's also no clear cause for the incident.

Those were all talked about after Sam got there. Before he had arrived, Max and Hal were asking how I was doing and wanting to know more about what I'd seen. For some reason I still haven't admitted to them that the lady was there all the way up till when Sam found me back outside. I don't know why Sam hadn't mentioned that, and I haven't had the chance to ask him. But it's also made it easy to fail to mention that I'd talked with her.

Though Max did coax out of me that she was practically naked. Hal was good enough to keep his mouth shut.

Trying to divert attention away from me, I asked Max if she'd heard about Melia interviewing college students. She said she had, so they started making plans on trying to get Hal and her together so Hal could finally report success to Tim. It was while they were talking about that when Sam showed up with barbecue. I've tried barbecue chicken before, but I've never had the pleasure of actual barbecue from an actual barbecue joint. I couldn't believe how good it was, and here Sam and Hal were both saying it was "alright." If this was "alright" I'm curious what they would call good.

Though I was amused when both of them warned about the spicy sauce. They've never tried my Dad's jungle curry.

I'll leave off on the food so it seems like I had a good night. In all reality though, I'm scared. If a small town is going missing, what's next?

February 2nd, 2018

Today was a bit of a blur. I think the recent news of the lunar eclipse encouraged people to hit up the museum a bit. It's kinda interesting how that happens. It made for a stressful day since we weren't expecting so many visitors, but the day passed by quickly. I almost forgot my lunch break till I saw Hal, and then I had to get someone to let me out so I could go. It meant that our lunch was shorter than we would have liked, but it gave us time to confirm plans with everyone for conspiracy dinner tomorrow. Sam said he'd be late, but to make it up to us he'd bring dinner.

I did get Efe's letter sent, though I didn't get any pictures to go with it. I decided I'll have to start a small collection for the next letter. To that end, I did mention doing so to both Hal and my parents. I'll ask Candace and Max later. Max did have a thing for my brother once upon a time. I remember him confessing to me that he knew, but he felt it was weird. She was around Batel and me so often that he thought of her more as another sister. Speaking of Batel, I did message her asking if she'd gotten a letter from Efe. She said she hadn't yet. So I also let her know that I'd start sending pictures.

After work, Hal was there to pick me up in the parking lot. He was excited to inform me that he'd heard Melia Floros was starting to interview college students about the tree. With all the pressure Tim's been putting on him, Hal's hoping he might be able to catch her on campus at some point. Wouldn't that be funny? All this clandestine training, and Hal could bump into her as himself.

I helped him with his work for a bit, put together some dinner for us, and then we watched the next episode of Supernatural while we ate. Hal's roommate walked in on us sitting together on the couch. I don't know what's wrong with him. We weren't making out or anything. We both pleasantly said hi and offered the leftovers if he was hungry. He went into his room, tossed his things, and walked back out in a huff.

Hal did ask about last night. He said Sam had mentioned finding me back outside. I wasn't sure what to tell him, or how much to tell him. Partly I want confirmation from Dr. Laurie about whether I'm seeing things. So I just told him I went to look for myself. I guess Sam hadn't told Hal that whoever I was seeing was still there. He asked more about what she looked like, suggesting that if I was hallucinating it might be like my dreams. That I was using the image of someone I had seen to create the image. Hal mentioned that if I could find whoever I was seeing, it might confirm that I was hallucinating.

I'm a little surprised that he's actually taking the hallucination seriously. Rather than trying to find explanations of fairies or something. Either way he's been supportive, and I appreciate that. Though I do wish he'd just hold me some times, rather than try to find an explanation.

Anyway, home now. Work again tomorrow, and then our conspiracy dinner. Kinda curious what Sam's going to bring. He did ask if anyone had any allergies, which that I know of no one does.

February 1st, 2018

After all the excitement from yesterday, it was nice to have just a simple chore day. Hal picked me up this morning to go to the gym, and we grabbed Candace on the way. Hal said they were going to do something exciting in the lab today so he was pretty excited about it. He also asked about meeting for lunch since he missed us yesterday.  So we made plans to meet up at the food court in the mall since it was in a convenient location.

While Candace and I were moving about getting our chores done, I brought up remembering Father Adamson and the church from back in September. Candace didn't seem very impressed in the coincidence, and she hadn't given it much thought. So I started pointing out all the churches we passed to make my point. By the time we were reaching the mall, she understood.

We had a quick lunch with Hal, which was nice. Afterward he brought us back home, dropping Candace off first. She had her own chores to take care of. As we pulled in to the complex I had a dizzy spell. Hal waited while I reoriented myself, I hope he wasn't too late getting back to class. But he said it'd be fine.

A letter arrived today from Efe. He seems pleased that Batel and I are making the effort to write him. He still can't say a lot about his own specifics, security precaution. But he did say he's largely enjoying himself. He does miss us though and hoped we would send more letters. I had mentioned the tubing trip I'd gone on, but I hadn't explained who Hal was. So this time I admitted that I've got a boyfriend now, and told him about staying overnight at Candace's to see the eclipse. I haven't sent it yet, I want to get some pictures of Hal and me together, and maybe take some pictures of Mom and Dad to send with. The parents were easy to get, but I'll have to catch Hal tomorrow after work or something. Then I'll have to get the pictures printed out. Maybe I'll send the letter and work on pictures for the next one.

Oh well, the rest of the day has been fairly lazy. I watched some shows while the laundry was in, and then helped Mom with dinner. So now I've got to fold clothes and then I can go to bed.

January 31st, 2018

It's been a long day, and I'm tempted to put this off till tomorrow. I didn't sleep very well after my experiences this morning. Despite curling up with Hal and him holding me closely, I just couldn't stop thinking about what I'd seen. I tried to focus on Hal's breathing, and I think it eventually worked, but it seemed like I was awake all the way till when he moved to get around. But I don't remember him leaving.

I just know that it was late in the morning before Candace finally knocked on the door and woke me up. Everyone else was already gone, and Candace said she'd let me sleep longer but we had plans. I had leftover eggs that the others had eaten. Had to eat quick though to make the bus. Didn't even get to shower, we were out the door while I was still chewing and pulling my coat on.

Candace didn't pry, but she let me know she was there if I needed to talk. I was still processing, I am still processing. I need to know what my results are from Dr. Laurie I think before I'm prepared to say anything about it.

We stopped by the store as we'd planned and picked up some canned goods. Candace insisted on canned pears, we also grabbed some vegetables, some soups, and a chocolate bar. Well, three chocolate bars, but only one made it to the church.

We made it to the church easily enough, which was good because I was so lost in thought. But Candace remembered the way and did a fantastic job getting us there. She confirmed with me every step of the way, which was the only way I was paying attention, but she did it. I told her later that she'd done such a good job, she could probably start taking the buses on her own.

The church was not very busy. I wasn't sure what I'd expect, so I can't say I didn't expect that. But still, it seemed wrong that there were so few people there.

As we walked up to the church, I couldn't help but feel it was familiar like I'd been there before. As we entered I realized why. We were greeted by Father Adamson, who had done the memorial service for victims of the place crash back in September. He greeted himself and said he was pleased that we'd shown up after learning we were there for Jane Doe. He did notice me looking around at all the room and agreed with me that it was sad there weren't more people. But he did relate that the local congregation had brought together a lot of supplies beforehand, just that most of them weren't able to be here today.

I asked if it was possible to meet Jane, I was a little worried that we might not be able to do that. Father Adamson apologized that the news reports had misunderstood his offer, and he hadn't intended for people to meet her directly. But, as there were so few here, and Jane was here, he said he'd ask.

When he returned, he had with him an older looking lady that matched the pictures I had seen on TV. She looked more lively than her pictures had, which was good. But she had a quality about her that I instantly recognized in Candace. An innocence, naivety, that is different from that of a child. She looked between Candace and I as Father Adamson introduced us, then he said he'd just be "over there" if we needed him.

Jane and Candace both seemed to turn inward upon meeting. They both studied each other as though looking for something familiar. But they couldn't have been more different. Where Candace is tall and svelte, Jane was only taller than me and humble. Not large, not skinny, but healthy. Candace is dark of skin and hair, and I'm still not sure about how old she is. Jane on the other hand has just enough color to appear tan, and her hair is graying. I'd place her around mom's age.

When I couldn't take the silence anymore I introduced myself and Candace. Jane took our offered hands, but she seemed to hesitate before saying "Jane." We hesitated ourselves, and so Jane prompted us asking if we were there about a job. I said no, but when I tried to explain why we were there I found myself hesitating because I  was about to talk about Candace's amnesia to someone. I think Candace realized it too, and so she finished what I  was about to say.

Once they were talking, I gave them space. I didn't want to leave, I was too curious what they had to talk about, but I didn't want to be looming. So I mostly just listened. In truth, they didn't have a lot to say at first. But they seemed to finally accept each others presence in a way that I couldn't. I knew if they got together they'd have that connection. Then they started asking each other questions, confirming each others experiences. What's this, have you noticed that, what do you think about? They had a similar sense of humor about things, stuff I'd take for granted, but they saw in the light of lacking context.

While they talked Hal called. I rejected the call and immediately texted him to apologize. He was hoping we could get some lunch together, but I told him I was busy and couldn't. But I was looking forward to seeing him when he was done for the day. He accepted that.

I don't know how much longer we sat their while they talked, but at some point Father Adamson came by to remind Jane about something. Jane apologized that she had to leave, but she asked if there was any way to get a hold of us. Candace gave her her phone number, and Jane said she'd call as soon as she could. And that was it.

It was neat seeing them come together like that. It was almost like old friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time, but at the same time they were just discovering each other and themselves. I know for a bit Jane was asking about me a lot, and I was happy to be included. But I think once Jane learned that I didn't have amnesia, she lost interest.

In a way I'm jealous, or envious. But the only way I can understand them the same way would be for me to lose my memory, and I just can't imagine doing that. I can't imagine looking at mom and not knowing who she is even as she's telling me.

Anyway, our bus ride home was quiet. I was still ruminating on things, and now Candace was too. Though between the two of us we kept enough of a head to catch all our stops.

Hal was calling me before we reached the last stop. He was a little concerned about whatever had kept me busy, he thought I might be meeting my doctor again or something. As before I simply told him I couldn't talk about it. So I changed the subject and asked about plans for tonight. When he didn't have anything to suggest, I asked if we could go out.

I had forgotten that we still needed to clean up Candace's place after last night. But Candace insisted that it was alright and for me not to worry about it. Though once we got back to her place I was able to look around and found that she'd already done most of the work. I still feel like a heel, but at least I know I wasn't leaving the place a mess.

So Hal picked me up and we went to Annie's. It wasn't fancy, but it was familiar. Things were a little awkward since I didn't want to talk about last night, and couldn't talk about today. But we were able to get back on to more geeky subjects, like the new remake of The Crow with Jason Momoa. We're both a little worried with all the remakes going on. They haven't all been bad, but they hadn't all been good either.

Afterward we went back to Hal's place. I realized I hadn't showered all day, so we took care of that.

Now I'm home, and very relaxed, and very tired. So I'm going to go to bed.

Jan. 31, '18

It happened again.

Candace woke us up at three-thirty as we agreed, while Sam woke Max. It was hard getting up that early, and it wasn't made any easier by how cold it was. We all bundled up in our warm coats, and Hal and I wrapped ourselves up in a comforter for good measure. Candace led Max and us outside where she and Sam had already stacked logs for a fire. Candace did make sure we all had some of her wonderful hot chocolate to sip on.

So here we were standing around in the freezing cold, almost hugging our hot mugs while the steam flowed up around us all. Unfortunately the cloud coverage was so bad we didn't have a clear view of the moon. Things were bright though, much brighter than could be explained by the street lights and porch lights that were on. Where the moon was was brightly back lit clouds, it was pretty despite our desire to see the moon itself.

As we waited, watching, Sam joined us. He came out wearing, I shit you not, a full actual wool cloak. It was very cool, and when we got to talking later I asked about it. He said he'd gotten it through his Ren Fest connections, someone that sells wool cloaks and coats. He said he could hook me up if I wanted one. I even got to try it on, and it's warm. I may have to take him up on that.

Since we couldn't make out the moon for ourselves, Hal brought out his phone so we could watch a live feed. As he was doing that, Sam pulled out flint and steel and struck the flint to create sparks. He did this over a pile of what looked like wool, but I guess it was wood shavings. It didn't take him long and soon enough he had a tiny smoking flame. He cupped it gingerly, almost like holding a precious child and blew on it to encourage it. It burst into flame and quickly he placed the shavings into a nook he'd left in the brazer. With a little more encouragement, the flame caught and grew and in short order we had a full on fire.

With the fire roaring, we bundled close. Sam stepped close to Candace and brought Max in to wrap his cloak around them. Watching on Hal's phone was alright, but of course our attentions wavered. We got to talking and Max suggested at one point we should roast marshmallows, which was a great idea.

It was about a quarter to five that the total eclipse started, and by then Sam had already tended to the fire. He had let it burn down and added wood in such a way to offer a place to put the log we had spiced up earlier. He brought out the log in preparation, and as the full shadow started to pass over the moon he placed it on the fire. It didn't immediately catch, the green plants and flowers smoking for a moment before catching themselves. But the smell that was given off was nice. Between the sandalwood and the anise, it was very pleasant.

Now that the log was on the fire, Candace passed out candles for each of us to hold. Sam lit his from the brazer, then in turn lit all of ours. Then we went about her yard and house and lit all of the candles that she and I had put up. It was kind of neat. While we couldn't see the shadow pass over the moon, the area did get noticeably darker and the bright spot in the sky had disappeared.

Between Max, Hal, and I, we were geeking out. Sam seemed to enjoy our conversation, but often asked about our references. Candace just listened. Once we realized she just didn't catch any of our references we started listing off movies that we were going to have to show her. She did get excited at that.

It was during this conversation that something caught my attention. I looked over toward the tree, and standing beside it was a beautiful woman. Despite the cold, she was only wearing a shift that was so sheer she may as well not have worn anything. She had olive skin, a little lighter than my own, and thick, dark, long flowing hair. She was tall, at least compared to Max and I. She's probably about as tall as Candace, and her hair just as dark. She wasn't as thin as Candace, her proportions would be better compared to Max than to me. Like I said, drop dead gorgeous. And she was watching us with an amused expression.

Of course, the first thing I do is look to Hal and Sam to see if they notice her, but everyone else was just talking. I looked back, she was still there. So I swallowed my pride and asked if anyone else could see her.

No one could. But since I had now drawn attention to her, and everyone was looking toward her if not at her. She responded, concerned even, and was now watching me intently. I didn't describe her, not fully, because that was embarrassing enough. But also because if they saw her, I'd want them to be able to confirm it. Sam asked what she was doing, I said "Just watching us." Though really, by this point she was watching me.

She didn't leave though, and the others became concerned as I was that I was seeing things. They all knew about the fairies, but only Hal was there for that. They were all having about the same reaction that Hal had before. But Hal was now showing concern much more along what I was feeling. But he remembered his theory about fairies showing themselves to me. So he left the comfort of our blanket and walked out to the tree where I had pointed. The lady seemed alarmed that anyone would approach her, but once she understood I was directing him she became amused again.

She brought her finger to her lips, a sign to me to keep quiet, and then she stepped away and avoided his search. I don't know why I stayed quiet, part of me is screaming that I should have said something. But as easily as she was avoiding him I don't think it would have done any good to have him more frantically run about the yard. So I kept quiet while Hal searched around the tree.

With nothing found, the others started to ask if I wanted to go in. I considered it, but when I looked back to the lady, she had a pleading look on her face as though begging me to stay. So I said "No, I'm fine." She indicated that I should pretend that she had gone. So I did.

I think part of why I agreed to this was that she was responding to us, to me, and interacting with me. I thought if she were just a hallucination, she'd be acting on her own regardless of what happened around her. Now I'm not so sure, and I'll have to ask Dr. Laurie next time I see him.

We watched Hal's live feed for a while, and she stayed the whole time. She seemed to enjoy the smell of the fire, but she avoided stepping close to it or to us. She did move about the yard and inspected Candace's garden. I think I even saw that she approved.

Since there was little else to see though, Hal and Max both indicated going back to sleep before they had to get up for class. So we all went in. They went to bed, I told Hal I'd join him later. Candace yawned and said she was going to bed. Sam asked me if I was going to be alright. I said I'd talk to Dr. Laurie when he calls me up about my results. He asked me if I needed anything, and when I said I'd be fine he locked up and went into Max's room.

When I looked outside, she was still there. She was watching me still, and she gestured for me to join her.

So I did.

When I was close enough, she asked why I could see her. Her voice was lovely, deep in a feminine way, and had a thick accent that almost seemed familiar. I told her I was asking myself that same question. She remained quiet as she watched me. It was penetrating, intimate, uncomfortable. So I tried manors, I introduced myself and asked who she was. She smiled and said it was nice to meet me, but she answered only that she was family. Before I could ask, she said I was a good friend. It caught me off guard, and I wanted to thank her and ask what she meant. But again she didn't let me. "She's in terrible danger, take care of her." Finally I was able to ask what she meant. She looked up toward where the moon should be. "I'm sorry," she said "but I'm out of time." And then she faded away.

I didn't move for a long moment. It seemed like I didn't even breath. Too scared of what had happened, if it had happened. Too scared that it hadn't happened. In my head, over and over was Candace's explanation, that tonight Selene could visit.

Sam came out and called to me, breaking me out of my stupor. He asked if everything was alright. I told him I didn't know. He came up and wrapped me up in a hug. He didn't have his cloak, or his shirt. I didn't notice at first how little he was wearing, I only noticed how warm he was, how strong he was. He held me firmly, comfortingly for another long moment before I finally moved. He asked me then if she'd ever went away. I shook my head, "Just now" I explained.

He brought me in and led me to our room, asking a last time if I needed anything. I said no, thank you. And then he watched me enter my room. I closed the door and listened for him to leave, which he didn't immediately. But now that he's gone I'm writing this down before I curl back up with Hal. I can't forget any of this. "She's in terrible danger, take care of her." Who's in danger? What danger?

January 30th, 2018

It's been a good day. I was nervous about leaving my bag with Hal all day. Not that I don't trust him, just that I don't often do that. So I spent most of the day and even my time here at Candace's anxious to get it back. My mind was throwing every possible bad situation it could think of for my bag to disappear. I hope I didn't offend Hal with my relief, I tried to hide it by hugging him as though he was who I was waiting for.

I almost got on the wrong bus after I left work. Lost in my thoughts about the bag, I almost got on my bus home on autopilot. But I remembered at the last second, and focused on what I was doing till I got here.

Candace was working on setting the place up for a full shindig when I arrived. I didn't realize this was such a big deal for her. And she was surprised that it wasn't that big a deal for us. She called it "The Festival of Lights," which was odd considering it was for a total lunar eclipse. Either way, I helped decorate while we waited for the others to show up. It was fun, and we were putting candles everywhere. I won't lie, I'm a little worried that we've got a fire hazard on our hands. But the candles won't be lit until during the total eclipse. Sam had delivered a brazer earlier in the day and set it up in back with a fire resistant tarp just for safety.

Part of our preparations was to put together a log to throw on the fire. We ground up some anise seed and almonds, used that to grind up some cabbage and cucumber, and then added olive oil. It looked like a great wet rub when we were done, and smelled pretty strongly. But rather than rubbing it on meat, we rubbed it all over the log. Then we used twine to tie some watercress, five lily's, and a bunch of sandalwood sticks around the log. It's been sitting on the coffee table ever since, "drying."

What's been explained to me is that when the penumbral eclipse begins, we'll start a fire in the brazer. Once the total eclipse begins, we'll throw our prepared log on to burn. Then we'll use the fire to light candles and use our candles to light the candles all around the house. According to Candace, during the total eclipse Selene can visit, and we're lighting the candles to let her know she's welcome.

Max showed up while we were working on that, and she's all sorts of excited to take part. The log we prepared is pretty big and we couldn't lift it alone. It was propped up on the kitchen table so it wouldn't roll away, and we worked around it to get it all done. When Sam got there he seemed pleased and moved it into the living room so we could use the table for dinner.

We knew Hal would be coming directly after his lab, and that he'd want to get to sleep as soon as he could so he could get enough rest. So we all pitched in and helped make dinner. I worked with Candace while Max helped Sam. We made herb and garlic bread, while Sam and Max put together a stew with mushrooms and lamb, parsnips, turnips, carrots, and onions. While that was all cooking then we made ginger bread men while Sam and Max made a fruit salad using a lot of berries. By the time Hal got there the place smelled wonderful, the food was ready to eat and the ginger bread men went into the oven.

We had a fun dinner, even Sam seemed to cheer up and was telling jokes! It couldn't last though because both Hal and Max needed to get to bed. So while they each took a room and settled in for the night, we three cleaned up the kitchen. So now we're just passing the time, which is why I'm writing this. But I am getting tired, I think I'm going to try and curl up with Hal while I can.

January 29th, 2018

Monday's are always nice. They can be pretty boring once in a while, but boring is relaxing compared to the weekend it always follows. And with tomorrow being Tuesday, business usually picks up just enough to make the day go by and then it's my weekend!

That said, I'm going to have a lot going on this weekend. Tomorrow night is when we're all going to be staying over at Candace's. I spent some time poking at Max today just to remind her and and get her planning for it. Hal was much easier. We talked about how we could pull it off at the gym, and he confirmed during lunch. Then after picking me up, we went to his place and packed up an overnight bag for him. Afterward I helped him get as much homework done as I could. It wasn't so much me answering questions, as he dictated to me while I typed up his paper. It was kinda fun. If something didn't make sense to me, I'd ask, and it'd prompt him to reword the sentence. I think it worked out well.

With both of us working on his paper though, I texted Mom and asked if I could bring Hal over for dinner. She said that'd be fun, so I invited Hal. Given his confession of wanting to try other culture's cuisines, he was thrilled to try what Mom had made. It was a lot of fun. But short, because of course he still had homework to do.

So I've been putting together my own overnight bag and thinking about how these next two days are going to work out. Candace did get a hold of me to say that Sam was okay with everything, though he was hoping we could use public transportation. He did say if we couldn't, he'd give us a ride, it's just that he does have a lot to do. So I looked up the routes and I'm pretty sure I can get us there.

Tomorrow I'll bring my overnight bag when Hal picks me up. We'll hit the gym as usual, and then he'll take my bag with him while I go to work. Now because tomorrow he'll have lab, I'll take the bus directly to Candace's. When Hal gets out, he'll meet us there with my bag. That way we're good for the night. Because Hal and Max have school, they both mentioned wanting to try and get some sleep early and then we'll wake them for the eclipse. Hopefully afterward they can get some rest again before having to get up for class.

Since I'll have the day off, I've elected to just stay with Candace and I could go home at my leisure, or Hal can pick me up, I've got options. What'll happen though is that Candace and I will set out to go to the church where donations are being made for Jane Doe. We'll try and get some canned goods or something along the way, and I did find that there's a stop by a store where we can do that in between buses. So that should work out. Depending on how that goes, we should have plenty of time to get home before Hal gets off work. My worry is that normally he'd try to come see me at lunch, and I don't know what I'm going to tell him then. I've got some time to think about it though.

So yea, big two days. And with all that happening on Wednesday, I'll have to do my chores on Thursday. I was going to try and get my hair cut this week, might have to put that off till next week. We'll see.

January 28th, 2018

It was an interesting day back to work after our conversation last night. Security was going around to all the departments to talk to everyone about what happened on Friday. They were making sure everyone was aware of procedures and policy for any number of incidents. While they were at it, I was congratulated on handling myself and the situation well. I didn't think it was that bad until I noticed security out of the corner of my eyes, and then I just did my best to remain calm. I just couldn't understand why the guy was so insistent on getting in. His offer of the coin threw me I think.

Otherwise work went well. Some guy came in wearing that blow up T-Rex costume that I see all over the internet. He did well playing with the kids until he startled one little boy who just started screaming and crying. I felt so bad for them both, it wasn't intentional by any means. The guy left, and came back in later without the costume to apologize to us.

Hal did stop by for lunch, and he was able to pick me up after work. But we didn't have a lot of time before he had to go meet Tim. He gave me a ride home and we just sat in his jeep and talked for a while outside my place till he had to go. It was actually kind of nice. And we just talked about his family. His own grandfather's health has been declining over the years, and he had to be admitted to the hospital again this morning. Hal was sad of course, but he was mostly accepting. He said this was the sixth time in two years that his grandpa had to be admitted. I made sure to hug him tightly before he left.

So I've had the rest of the evening here at home. I helped Mom make kebabs and naan for us tonight. Her's are always good, and so easy I'm going to have to remember that for our conspiracy dinner next Friday.

I hopped on my computer just to do some looking and found an article about Jane Doe. I've been checking every so often since Candace agreed to meet her hoping I might find some way. Turns out Father Adamson with the Catholic church is organizing a bit of a charity event for her. Someone had recently offered a place to live while she gets her feet underneath her. But because she has nothing at all, Father Adamson is inviting the community to stop by and donate. He's asking for clothes, food, necessities, money to help pay her medical bills, and if anyone could offer her a job it'd be a chance to meet her. It'll take place on Wednesday, which is great 'cause I'm off then. So I got a hold of Candace and asked if she'd like to stop by. We could bring something to donate, maybe something left of Eli's stuff if it'd be useful, or canned goods. Candace thought it was a great idea. So Wednesday morning we'll meet up like we usually do, and after Hal goes to class we can make our way to the church. Or, since Candace wants to make sure Sam remains in the loop, he can give us a ride. She said she'd talk to him and find out.

Oh well, off to bed with me, still have work in the morning.