So here's the short of it, 
Our voices should be heard more often!


And here's the long

Here are some of the signs I like from the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. 

You can find a bunch more signs at The 100 Best Signs At The Rally To Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

So here's the short of it, 
More late birthday celebrations.

And here's the long

Today I took a really nasty fall.
One of the Great Danes from down the street (across from Mom's house) came up into the circle.  I called his owner - nice to have dog tags on the collar -  but he was at work!  So I grabbed a leash and started walking Waco down to put him in his fence.  Waco saw a squirrel and I didn't have the presence of mind to let go of the leash.  Down I splatted right on the road.  I banged myself up pretty badly.  I guess I probably laid in the road for a good 30 seconds unable to move or get up.  Poor Waco came over and just looked and poked around at me.  He was very confused about what had happened.  I feel very fortunate that one of our teen drivers wasn't coming or going from the circle or I might have been hurt even worse.  I think I'm OK.  My left knee is skinned up - well, I'll have to say, it's mighty bad looking - but it doesn't really hurt that much.  my left hand hurts a bunch though.  We'll see what gives tomorrow! 

Betsy and Wayne came up this evening.  Betsy has a neighbor in her Atlanta neighborhood that she's been friends with since she moved into the neighborhood over 20 years ago.  The neighbor's daughter had been living in Chattnooga for a long time.  She had a stroke a couple of days ago and passed away. 

Wayne and Betsy drove up for the visitation and then we went out for dinner to the Sweet Basil restaurant here in Brainerd.  We had a really good visit.

 
When they discovered that we were out celebrating my birthday, I got their special birthday dessert.  It was a small scoop of ice cream and a wrapped fried banana with a sweet syrup drizzled over all.  And of course a lighted candle. 

I also got another late birthday card today.  I really enjoy getting late birthday cards and having late birthday celebrations.   It just keeps the party going.

So here's the short of it,

More pictures of Scarritt Bennett

And here's the long

I really liked the Scarritt Bennett Campus.  I took a few pictures of some of the architectural details I found interesting.

So here's the short of it, 
Birthday thoughts.

And here's the long

I was so distracted by the drive home yesterday, the severe weather once I arrived, and Alan still being sick that I didn't even take the time to reflect on the passing of another year. Not that I didn't think of it for the blog, I just didn't think of it except for a short post on Facebook expressing my gratitude to be in this year and not last when I was so sick!!

This year I'm healthy.  I'm back at work full time. And even though I have some frequent reminders that I still have some lingering reminders, I'm doing really well!

Sometime this weekend, Alan and I - and maybe the kids will go out for a birthday dinner...

The significance of this birthday - is that I'm having a birthday!

So Happy Birthday to me!

Click Here for the You Tube Version of my Birthday Song

So here's the short of it,

Bad weather tonight in Chattanooga!

And here's the long

The weather was blustery and threatening this morning in Nashville.  Since I was in a dorm room, I didn't really have access to television.  My weather app was showing a band of really bad weather headed toward Nashville and another one right behind both headed toward Chattanooga.  Staying through the end of the conference would have had us driving home right in the middle of that weather.  And if we tried to wait it out, we'd be driving home in the dark.  So we left a little before noon.  Even with getting ahead of it we were buffeted by the wind and it was NOT a fun drive home.

The weather was right behind us!  Hamilton County made a great call and did an early dismissal (30 minutes early) to make sure all the kids were home before the bad weather hit.  And all the after school activities and child care were cancelled!  The storm came and did it ever come!  Funnel clouds were sighted all over the place.  Thank goodness no one was hurt, but there was some property damage.  Apparently a funnel cloud touched down on the Chickamauga Dam causing several cars to lose control - ending up in a 7 car wreck, which was not awfully serious, but caused some bridge damage.  The bridge will be closed tomorrow, making getting to work to or from Hixson an adventure for those who usually use the bridge.

All is well, but there sure were some tense moments.  Right now it looks like the threat of severe weather is gone, and we can rest.

This picture was taken by Zachary Lewis.
It was taken at the Northgate Mall from the Outback Steakhouse.
I took it from the WDEF News page http://wdef.com/news/10_26_10_storm_pictures/10/2010

So here's the short of it,
Lots of good presentations here today. 


And here's the long

Today was a good conference day.  I am delighted to be here and to reconnect with so many colleagues from around the state.  I am also really pleased because today for the first time in a long time, we had some really excited, really young professionals who expressed an interest in carrying on the work of the TAG board!! I'm not ready to retire tomorrow, but I will say that I am definitely thinking that it is on my horizon in a way that it never was before now.

Tomorrow looks like a really good day.  I'm hoping the weather holds until we can get back to Chattanooga.

So here's the short of it, 
I'm here at the beautiful Scarritt Bennett Conference Center in downtown Nashville.

And here's the long

So after being home less than 24 hours, I got unpacked, repacked, and on the road to Nashville for this year's annual TAG conference.  I expect that it will be a wonderful  days.  We've got some great speakers, and some really good sessions it looks like.  I absolutely love that the Nashville crew decided to hold it at the Scarritt-Bennett Conference Center.   And I'm delighted to see some old friends.  I missed the conference last year - like I missed so many things, so it's been awhile since I've seen so many of these friends and colleagues.  It's good to be back.

"The Center’s mission challenges us to eradicate racism, work for justice and reconciliation, and do what we do from a global perspective. These commitments grow from a history of education here that prepared people for lives of service. Scarritt-Bennett continues and expands that tradition."

I'm starting to think this would be a wonderful place for a family reunion!!!

At any rate.  I'm staying in one of the old dorm rooms.  It's really pretty nice, although certainly not a hotel room.  I have a small room with a twin bed to myself, and I'm sharing a bathroom.  I have a "plugged in" computer connection - for which I had to pay extra.  But it's charming and lovely and I like that I'm staying right on the site of the conference. 

Laskey Hall - where most of our sessions will be held

Gibson Hall - where I'm staying

Wrightman Chapel - where our opening remarks and Keynote will be held

There are 10 acres of beautiful stone buildings and tree lined sidewalks.  It looks as though it will rain most of the time we are here.  That will be fine.  There is not much distance between any of the buildings, and we'll survive.  Besides, Nashville needs the rain! 

So here's the short of it, 
Home again; Home again - jiggety, jig. 

And here's the long

It's a pretty long drive from Destin to Chattanooga, Tennessee - and Alan did ALL the driving today.  We got ourselves out and on the road by a little after 8, and were home before 5 this evening.  

The trip through Florida and Lower Alabama is pretty interesting.  But it is purely amazing that there are not better roads to the beaches.  Perhaps that's purposeful -Alan thinks it is.  Anyway, we are home and everything is OK.  Liga left Dexter with us for one more night.  He is already almost as big as Lola.  I think he's going to be a big guy!

Sophie was really glad to see us!  She went on a chewing rampage while we were gone.  Since Liga isn't living here, she didn't exactly know how much of that we've been dealing with.  We lost two TV remotes this week.  They are chewed to smithereens!  I wonder what else we'll find all chewed up as the week wears on!

Tomorrow I'm headed out for Nashville for a couple of days for a conference.  I'm driving over with my work buddy, Tara.  We should have a pretty good time, get an opportunity to see several of our friends and colleagues from around the state, and learn a thing or two! 

I'm glad to be home, and glad to be getting ready to curl up in my own bed. 

So here's the short of it,

Today was our last day of vacation!

And here's the long

We had a great last day here in Destin.  This morning we drove over to Okaloosa Island and spent the morning with Russ and Tina at their place.  We had coffee and donuts - good old Krispy Kreme donuts! We had a really nice visit and they showed us around a few of the places they are managing.  They were all nice, but a couple of them were really nice!

After a wonderful morning, we headed down toward Grayton Beach which is going the other way from Destin.  The other night on facebook my school friend Wendy Jung mentioned that she was loving sitting on the beach.  We went back and forth a couple of times and figured out that we are really near one another!  So We drove down to meet them for lunch at the famous Red Bar and Piccolo Restaurant.  Mom, Aunt Frances, and Aunt Joyce had a key lime pie adventure there so we knew about it.

Here's the door to the Red Bar.   Inside is even more ecclectic and interesting.  But most of the people seemed pretty much like us - people visiting the gulf coast for a bit of sun before the winter sets in and looking for a place to have lunch.  There aren't any fast food or chain restaurants this far out from Destin.  This was a fun afternoon.

So here's the inside - and the booth right behind where we were seated.  It was pleasant and we sat and visited for the longest time.  I brought home a piece of their "famous Key Lime Pie", and for me - that was tonight's dinner!!






I finally made it down to the spa area here at the condo this afternoon.  Now if I had done that on the first day, I'd have probably gone every day.  It was deserted, but I spent a good little bit of time in the hot tub, then in the steam room, and then in the shower.  It seemed to loosen up all that chest congestion a bit as well!  If I have an opportunity to come back, that spa area will see more of me!!

We are leaving in the morning and driving straight through to Chattanooga.  It looks like there's not really an easy way to get to the interstate from here.  I need to remember to ask my friend who talks about growing up in LA (Lower Alabama) what she thinks the best route is to go to and from.

It's been a lovely and relaxing week.  I'm not really ready to go home, but that's good.  I learned as a teacher that it's good to quit something before the kids were tired of it and they'd want to do it again.  I think this is the same way!  Even so, home will be good!

So here's the short of it,
Today was a really lazy day!

And here's the long

Alan is getting my cold or whatever it is I have.  His started out with a sore throat.  I'm beginning to feel just a bit better.  But today we stayed in the whole day and had a very lazy day.

I woke early this morning and opened all the doors in the living, dining room and sat in the breeze having morning coffee!  It was just great.  Then I spent until 4:00 PM in my pajamas, reading, playing on the computer, napping, walking around the condo, and drinking coffee and tea.  Alan read and slept. 

This evening we met Tina and Russ for a lovely dinner at Angler's over on Okaloosa Island.  It's a nice little restaurant right on the beach at the entrance to the Okaloosa Island Pier.  It was breezy and lovely and we enjoyed our dinner looking right out at the pier.

There was a curious incident with a young girl playing in the sand below the deck where we were eating.  She lobbed something covered in sand toward out table and it landed on the table right between Tina and Russ's plate!  There was sand all over the table, and in the food.  The parents were sitting right behind us and didn't react at all.  The restaurant kindly gave us new plates, but it was a very odd thing!

In spite of all that, we had a lovely evening with Russ and Tina!

Tomorrow is our last day here.  We'll see what kind of mischief we can round up!

So here's the short of it, 
Lots of time with my big brother today! 

And here's the long

Today we had a wonderful lunch and afternoon with Russ!  I often think about what a hugely positive influence he has been in my life.  Mom likes to tell me over and over about Russ, who was 3, getting ready to turn 4 in about 3 months.  He apparently took the admonition to be a good big brother to heart from the time I was born. I can remember him being pretty protective of me.  Of course we had those sibling quarrels, but they pale in comparison to the support and love that I have felt from him over the years.  It's great to be able to visit him here, and share some of his time.  I really do often wish, that the waters of Katrina had washed him up to Chattanooga!

It was awfully hard to get good pictures at lunch - the light wasn't very good, AND blogger doesn't want to upload the picture of the two guys I've been hanging out with for the last few days!  I'll try adding it later tonight or tomorrow. 

Thanks blogger!

So here's the short of it, 
Here are a few pictures 

And here's the long

This is the first Banyan tree I've ever seen.  It was in a beautiful park in St. Petersburg when we went to see the Chihuly glass exhibit.  I was fascinated by the roots hanging down from the limbs that eventually reach the ground and grow into trunks.  Talk about putting down roots!

This is the first boy I've ever seen in a Banyan tree!  Although I imagine that if I lived in India, I'd have seen my share of young boys in Banyan trees, even if they looked a little different than this youngster. 

Tonight we are almost at the harvest moon.  As we left dinner, here was the sky view.  I thought it was lovely enough to photoshop a bit

                                                                                                                                                                                    

Our porch seat at the restaurant was lovely tonight and afforded us a great view of the beach.  But I especially loved the umbrellas!     

And here is the lovely sunset on the beach!

So here's the short of it, 
Thanks Steve and Pat.  

And here's the long

Today we left Tampa about 8:00 AM and drove over to Destin.  That's traversing a big part of the state of Florida.  It was a pleasant day to drive and since Alan wanted to do all the driving, I just had a nice ride.  I really enjoyed watching the Florida scenery.   I've never been around the Florida panhandle very much, and we drove through a considerable much of it today.  I can see why people are sort of attached to it!  It was pretty sad to see so much farm property now bank owned. Just seeing the signs made me conjure up images and stories "ripped from the headlines".  I wish we could find a way ...

We got here at a little after 3:00 and are definitely settled in.  We explored enough to get in some groceries and have a nice dinner. Tomorrow is my day to sleep as long as possible, and then just take it easy!  No quick moves!

Thanks so much Steve and Pat.  We are loving it so far.  

So here's the short of it, 
Today was a lovely Tampa day!

And here's the long

This morning Pennie and I made 6 pounds of meatloaf!  I didn't think to take a picture of it all... It's going into her freezer to be meals for the future.  We had a good time!

We drove down to St. Petersburg for lunch and a visit to the Chihuly Glass Museum with Pennie and her friend Debbie.  The lunch will be a story we can talk about for a long time.  Too expensive for very poor service and very unappealing food, but the glass exhibit was really grand.  I thought when we first talked about going that I had seen his work, and I realized that I had seen an outdoor exhibit the summer I was in Jerusalem.  It was an installation in and around the Tower of David.   I saw some of the same kinds of pieces that were in the exhibit we saw today.  I kept wondering to myself if that was what I saw, and then there in the gift shop was a gorgeous book, Chihuly in Jerusalem 2000. 

This evening, we had a lovely dinner with all Pennie's Tampa kids and Wendy and Nathan.  It was odd not to have Erin with us, but away at college instead, and the kids are all growing, as kids do.  It was good to have a chance to visit with everyone.

So here's the short of it, 
I'm still coughing like crazy. 

And here's the long

Well, our road trip went great.  It's a haul, but we made it to Tampa by about 2:30.  We had a nice nap and then spent the evening with Pennie.  One more time, I'm really grateful that Liga is staying at the house and taking care of things for us.  It makes it much easier to be away...

We had a lovely visit with Pennie late afternoon and evening.  We gave her regards from all her well wishers.  She looks fabulous and is in such good spirits -what a breast cancer warrior!

Alan and I are both going to try to get to sleep early tonight.  I need the sleep for healing.  My chest congestion is still pretty bad and I'm coughing like crazy.  I've been taking Mucinex during the day and that seems to help.  I'm drinking some hot decaffinated tea and decided to take the Mucinex at bedtime tonight as well.

So here's the short of it,
So fall break started today.

And here's the long

Fall break is a pretty new phenomenon in Hamilton County.  But this year when teachers and parents were asked to vote on a calendar for next year, I didn't know of one teacher who voted for the option with no fall break!  I took a day off today, so this was really my first day of fall break.  We are off on a fall break trip.  I'm really glad that we have grown children who can house sit and Mom in the neighborhood to keep an eye on things during the day! 

We drove to Atlanta first and had a nice lunch with Betsy and Wayne.  Elizabeth, Josh, and Elijah are in for a friend's wedding so we got to see them for a nice visit.  Steve drove over and gave us the scoop on Destin.  We drove all afternoon and we've lighted in Valdosta, Georgia for dinner and an overnight stay.  Tomorrow we head on to Tampa, where we are bringing reinforcements to the Breast Cancer Warrior, Pennie! 

Join Alan's and my families in prayer for Pennie's complete healing. 

So here's the short of it, 
If you pray...

And here's the long

Over the weekend the Chattanooga community lost a very bright and beautiful young 17 year old to suicide.

One of the most difficult parts of my job, over the years, has been when a student decides to take his or her life.  I didn't know Zakkarie as I was not his teacher. However, I did go to the visitation tonight because I felt like I wanted to honor him in some way. 

I do know that the world lost a young man who would have been capable of bringing much to the field he was interested in - medicine.

I don't know how, but his Mother seems to be  holding up.  If you pray, remember her, Jennifer Dixon, in your prayers.

So here's the short of it, 

I'm trying to figure out why I work when I'm sick?

And here's the long

So, I've had a pretty yucky day.  I went to work cold and all.  I thought about it off and on today when I was between stuff, and tried to think about why we go to work when we are sick.  I mean - I know why I went, I was obligated to 3 separate meetings which had been set up weeks ago and which would take weeks to reschedule, and each of them had to do with some pretty important stuff (kids)! So it felt important for me to go.  Never mind of course, that I'm probably contagious - of course it's not Ebola, it's just a chest cold; and never mind that I tried to be pretty careful not to contaminate my colleagues with my coughing or with touching things. And never mind that I know from studying biology that I was probably contagious before I even knew I was getting sick!  I know that my ancestors had to go to work whether they were sick or not and that they shared the load and tried to help their family members/clan members/neighbors when illness struck.  I think our sick leave bank is a way of extending this circle of caring beyond the people we know and care about.  Thankfully, I had enough sick leave last year not to have to use the sick bank.  And thank goodness, I still have some days left and am earning more every pay period.  But that begs the question of why I wouldn't just take them when I feel crummy.   My Dad would have said it was because of "the stock I came from" - a hardy, and hard working people who gave no quarter to weakness.  That might be one of the reasons that not working so many days last year was so hard.  I'll have to say, though, that I really did feel that circle of belonging.  My work colleagues circled the wagons.  They took care of everything they could without even letting me know that a problem existed.  They continually checked on me and lifted my spirits.  When I could go to work they shifted things to me that they knew I could handle and if I dropped a ball, they just picked it up and took care of things.  

So, I still don't know why I chose to go to work today.  I know I'm going tomorrow, too, unless I have fever.  So, I'm going to take my medicine, and get to bed earlier than I did last night, and imagine that the goodness of the rest will make me feel much better tomorrow. 

So here's the short of it,

Headachy, chest congestion, coughing, muscle cramps...

And here's the long

Last night was yucky and today was yucky too.  As the night wore on, I started coughing and started feeling a bit feverish.  I also started having leg cramps again.  It's been awhile since I started with the soap in the bed!  Last night the cramp was in my thigh running down the inside of my leg from my groin area to about my knee.  I couldn't figure out how to stretch it out!  I tried massaging it, but that didn't help much...  Thank goodness it didn't last two long and it only happened three times.

This morning I was worse! I had lots of chest congestion, feel a bit feverish, and had a pretty bad cough.  I found an old bottle of Dayquil and took a dose.  It did the trick to get me through the day.  I stopped after work to get another bottle and took time to read the warnings....let's just say I didn't buy it!  It seems I'm on the cusp of most of the contraindications listed.  So I got mucinex instead, and I did get the Nyquil - it's not got the same bad stuff in it. 

I'm hoping that I'll start feeling better by tomorrow.  The Nyquil should help me sleep better.

Tonight I had a comment on the blog suggesting that I try Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa for my cough. I looked it up and it sounds like something I'd like to try.  As soon as I'm near a place that sells it, I'll pick up small bottle.  I wonder if I  can take other medicines at the same time - I'll have to do some more research.  In the meantime, I'm ready to try to get some sleep - that should help probably more than anything. 

So here's the short of it, 
Oh no.  

And here's the long

Oh no ... Fall break is next week.  Alan and I have a bit of a road trip planned.  And...I'm getting a sore throat.  I also have a bit of chest congestion starting.  I'm not happy about this at all!

I'm going to the drug store tomorrow and find some stuff to knock this out before it gets started!  So there!!

So here's the short of it, 
We had a great visit with Max!

And here's the long

We had such a great visit with Max. He and Shelley left just before 1:00 this afternoon headed to Nashville to spend the night.  They are spending the night with the McSwains and head off to the airport to get back to New Haven tomorrow. 

Valdis came by and spent a little time visiting.  Max loved seeing him, and I think Valdis really bonded with him that month he went to keep him for Shelley before she had daycare set up for him. 

This afternoon was certainly a change of pace.  Alan was tired and spent most of the afternoon napping.  Max takes lots of energy! 

Tomorrow will be here in just a few minutes. I'm going to head to bed! 
Next week is fall break - I'm so looking forward to some R&R!

So here's the short of it, 
We sure are having a good time with Max.

And here's the long

  

  Of course we decided to take a "tree picture"  I think this might be Max's first picture in front of our tree.  Liga came over for dinner with us and we had a great time. 

Alan and Max and Sophie enjoyed watching some of the Kentucky football game.  Liga was watching as well, but not in the middle of all that hurrah!  

This afternoon after I put Max down for his nap, he was singing in the bed for some time before he went to sleep.  At one point he was singing over and over "dog",  "cat".  I thought that was pretty funny.  Sophie really likes him and he's pretty taken with her as well.

So here's the short of it, 
Max is here!

And here's the long

Max and his Poppa are having a great time!  

I'm having a great time with him as well.  We picked him up this evening and have had a great time so far.  We are excited to have the whole day with him tomorrow. 

He and Sophie have already made friends.  I'm eager to see how they get along tomorrow. 

So here's the short of it, 

Mom's doing pretty well. 

And here's the long

Mom had some oral surgery done this morning, so I took a 1/2 day of sick leave and went with her for that.  She's pretty amazing!  She did very well with the surgery - she even kept an appointment this afternoon and then went to Sweet Diversity with me this evening for a little while.  When I picked her up, her whole house smelled of apples.  She went up to an orchard in Cleveland last week, and she's been making apple butter yesterday and today.  It sure did smell good. 

Tomorrow is not a student day, so I should be able to work uninterrupted on a couple of projects.  I'm looking forward to that.  Shelley and Max will be here tomorrow.  We are excited to see them!

So here's the short of it, 
Sophie doesn't like the car. 

And here's the long

Sophie has such an aversion to getting in the car.  When she was little, every time we took her somewhere she would get sick to her stomach.  It wasn't long before she just quit wanting to get into the car.  We've been working on getting her in the car.  Alan would say "let's ride", and give her a treat - she wouldn't take it or she would spit it out!  We've decided to stop using the prompt "ride", and are using "get in the car".  She does not like the car at all!  I've gotten into the back seat with some really yummy treats, and she will come into the car.  But as soon as she gets the treat, she is right out. 

Anyway this has all given us pause, as she's overdue her vaccinations.  This evening, our neighbor, who is also our vet, brought home her vaccines and we got her "legal".  Now we've got to continue to work on getting her to overcome her anxiety about riding in the car!

So here's the short of it,
A great evening with Malcolm Gladwell...

And here's the long

 Tonight Malcolm Gladwell was the speaker for the Hunter lecture series. I've read The Tipping Point, and Blink, but after tonight I want to read them again.  Alan went down quite early and got us a place near the front of the line.  I joined him soon after and we got really good seats in the main auditorium.  They announced that it was the largest crowd ever for the Hunter lecture - they filled the Roland Hays auditorium and 4 overflow auditoriums, as well as a couple of classrooms!

His topic was leadership and the cost of what he called overconfidence.  I have a couple of take aways to share.


The first thing that really caught my attention was his notion that we shouldn't go through this great financial calamity without understanding the lessons we were supposed to learn.  I thought that is so true about any of the difficulties we face - we need to be sure we get those lessons.

The other take away was that the finanicial crisis was caused by intelligent, competent, and savvy people - people who were well respected and who knew what they were doing.

He went on to talk about the difference in outcomes between ordinary incompetent people and the experts who are overconfident.  The one annoys him, the other terrifies him.

I loved his metaphor using the Battle of Chancellorsville in the Civil War.  And I loved the references to Robert E. Lee. 

What a thought provoking evening - and how lovely to attend with Alan!

So here's the short of it, 
Maybe red pepper will do the trick.

And here's the long
 

We've started seriously trying to deal with Sophie, the counter surfer.  Alan and I are both just exasperated by her continual snitching things from the kitchen counter.  She goes in spells -- and of course, I have spells when I keep things put up much better than other times.  For the last couple of days her snitching has been particularly annoying.  So we've embarked on a "get Sophie to stop counter surfing" plan.  It involves bait with ground red pepper left on the kitchen counter. We've sprinkled it on potatoes, bread, a piece of turkey bacon, and some on the counter itself.  Red pepper was the trick to keep her from chewing on furniture and wood trim so maybe she'll get the message and we can defeat this counter surfing behavior!  Wish us luck!


It's hard to believe that October is here.  The weather has turned cool and the doggie girls of the circle are so energized.  It's nice to go out for an evening walk and have Sophie in such a playful mood.  The other dogs are loving it as well.  The cool weather makes for better sleeping for me too.  I think I rested a little better even though I still woke up at least four times!

So here's the short of it, 
Garden Report

And here's the long

I have one loufa!  I'm hoping it will grow enough so that it will be big enough to be really good and big before frost!  It may be the only one!

There were lots of Black Cherry tomatoes in the garden this afternoon.  The blight has gotten to those plants too, so I don't know how many more there will be.  They are so yummy and sweet!  The other tomato plants are still bearing as well, just not so much.  Tonight we had BLT sandwiches.  I found some new turkey bacon by Applegate that's made without nitrites and we used that with the big garden tomatoes.  What a treat!

So here's the short of it,
I think I hear God laughing. 

And here's the long

I remember someone saying to me one time, "If you want to hear God laugh, make a plan".  So last night's blog was a well thought out plan to sleep all night and into the morning today.  I got my eyes closed about midnight last night and thought I'd have a lovely sleep!  I was awake at 1:00AM,  again at 2:30 AM, once more a little after 3:00, then again at about 5:00, my alarm - which was not supposed to be on - woke me at 6:30!  Thought about how good sleep is after the alarm goes of, and snuggled back into the pillows....I tossed and turned, napped a bit and finally got up about 8:00.  So I'm not "planning" on sleeping all night and into the morning tomorrow!  Although I did take a couple of Advil PM just a few minutes ago!

Of course, the big news is that Jacob Fetz is here and Mom and I drove down to Atlanta to welcome him to the world.  He is absolutely adorable!  All of Steve and Pat's kids were in town for various reasons - so maybe Jacob decided that it was a good time to be born so all the Aunts and Uncles could be there to greet him -- even though he was two weeks early! 

Sarah looks great.  She ended up having to have a C-section when they finally discovered that he was trying to be born butt first!  In all the early pictures of him, his little legs are up - a great pike diving position.  Apparently he'd been in that position for some time.  By today, his legs were down, but he was still raising them pretty often. 

Mom and I went straight to the hospital and then back home with a stop for dinner. We spent about 4 hours visiting.  We saw all of Steve's kids, Steve and Pat, Betsy, and Ryan F's parents.  It's good to be home for bedtime.

So here's the short of it,
Looking forward to sleeping.

And here's the long

I'm all for a four day work week.  I sure am worn out by the time Friday gets here.  I think that my stamina is improving, but I'm sure glad that tomorrow is an unencumbered Saturday!  I can roll over and just go right back to sleep after I wake up in the morning!

Sophie doesn't really like me to sleep in late.  She considers it her job to stay at my bedside until I'm up. She often goes out early in the morning to check out the weather and who's up walking, but she comes right back to her duty post and stays until I'm up! On the weekends,  I'll often hear her just sigh as though she sure does wish I'd get up so she can get on with her life.

So tomorrow, I'll be catching up on the zzzzz's.
Sophie, my apologies ahead of time!