So here's the short of it, 
Good mammogram news today.

And here's the long

Today I had my 6 month mammogram of my left breast. They took the mandatory two shots - a vertical and that sideways one. They always have you wait until the radiologist takes a look at the film before they let you go in case they need additional views. Well, when I got done, the radiologist was on a break, and wouldn't be back for 45 minutes. I didn't want to sit around for that long, so they said I could just keep my "bracelet" on and if they needed me to come back, they'd give me a call. In about an hour they called to say I didn't need to come back. So that tells me that they didn't find anything suspicious. I have an appointment coming up with my surgeon, and I suppose she'll say the same thing. It's good to have that over.

I'm sitting here in the den doing my foot exercises and watching TV and getting sleepy. Sophie is sound asleep on the sofa, and Lola is curled up on the other chair snoozing away. Alan is asleep - I'll bet our crickets and spiders are even asleep. My own eyelids are getting pretty droopy. Tomorrow is a really early day, so I think I'll get headed toward the bed myself.

So here's the short of it, 
Sunday of a three day weekend is a lovely day.

And here's the long

It sure has been a lovely day today. I slept a little late and took my good old time getting myself up and going. I really love a Sunday when I know I'm going to have a day off on Monday. That makes the day much less frantic to "get stuff done".  So it's just a more relaxed feeling altogether. e middle of the day to And Sophie has me home in the middle of the day to take her out for a nice long walk. She had a great time playing keep away with Cutie Pie. Cutie races away and gets the ball I've thrown for her and brings it back to me and drops it at my feet so I can throw it again, and Sophie grabs it and runs around and around. I've learned to have another ball so that I can throw it for Cutie and we start all over again. Molly, the English Lab on the circle also came out to play, so Sophie got a really good workout today.

Our Sunday evening dinner was just going to be Mom joining us, but about the time I was putting dinner on the table Liga called just to check in. When I told her we were just sitting down to dinner, she said she had just gone on her dinner break, so she hopped in the car and came over. I like it that she's close enough to make a quick decision and run by for dinner. Valdis and Kalie have both had the awful intestinal bug and respiratory stuff that's been going around. They decided to stay home and not bring the bugs to our house!

So tomorrow, I'm going to have another one of those fairly relaxed days. I'm headed over to Nashville for a few days next week, so I need to get packed and ready to go, but it will be nice to just be relaxed about getting it done.

So here's the short of it, 
Tonight - date night.

And here's the long

The first day of a three day weekend! I could sure get used to a four day work week! It seems like that extra day in the weekend just really makes getting "stuff" done a whole lot easier.
 
So Alan and I had a date night tonight. We went to the Big River Grill over near Hamilton Place Mall. We got there a little after 6 and got in pretty quickly. It was a  nice evening and it's good to be home.

So here's the short of it, 
 Pineville, Kentucky.

 And here's the long


Pineville.  I began 5th grade here. That three story building in the front was the Elementary School. It was grades 1-6.  I was only in the 5th grade for a few weeks and then Dad's Army Reserve Unit was called up because of the Berlin Wall Crisis. It was 1961. We had just moved to Pineville;  I didn't know anyone and was just beginning to make friends. It must have been just about my 10th birthday when I started to hear the words Checkpoint Charlie, and noticed the serious turn of adult conversations.  It seems as though Dad was gone very soon, and then before we knew it we were packed up in a moving van and Mom was driving us across the country on the way to Fort Smith, Arkansas where we would be for the rest of that school year and most of the summer. 

We were back in Pineville by the beginning of the next school year.  My 6th grade classroom is the second set of windows from the left on the third floor.  The set of windows in the middle of the 3rd floor was the library, and I would spend at least two hours every day in the library doing assignments my teacher made for me and helping the "little kids" check out library books.  The years fairly flew by.  The Junior High, grades 7 and 8, were housed on the third floor in the building that's perpendicular to the elementary school. The High School was that two story building at the left rear of the picture.

I never really went back to Pineville except for visiting Mom and Dad after I left for college that fall of 1969. But the years in that small mountain community had a long lasting impact on who I would become.

So here's the short of it,
One nice day and I'm thinking of gardening...

And here's the long

What a day to be cooped up in an office!

It was almost spring like around these parts. And folks are overjoyed that the weather is so nice. All that snow was a bit much for this little corner of Tennessee. It made me start thinking about gardening and what kinds of things I might want to put in our little garden for this year.

Tomatoes for sure! Especially the purple varieties. The Cherokee Purple and the Black Cherry were so sweet and so tasty. I'm going to try Loufa again. Last year, I got big vines all over the place but only one fruit!  I'm not sure what else I'm going to try.  I was thinking that I might want to try some Swiss Chard this year. Dad always loved to do something new. And I've never grown Swiss Chard before. He started growing it several years ago and it was always a treat.  Mom planted some last year, and she was still harvesting it after the first couple of frosts. 


I was talking with a colleague today about canteloupe and she was saying that she'd recently had one that was really small and really sweet.  I haven't had any luck at all growing squash because of the squash vine borer problem here, but I haven't tried canteloupe before, so that might be a possibility as well! 


Oh wow - one nice day and I start getting the gardening itch. 

So here's the short of it,
The surprise project we were working on....

And here's the long

So now I can divulge the surprise I blogged about awhile back.  Liga wanted to make a special shirt for Pennie. She worked out this Logo and then chose the shirt, the fabric paint, and the colors.  It was lots of fun to watch her work through the process from the inspiration, to the design of the logo, through the free hand lettering onto the shirt, and finally getting the paint onto the shirt just right!

We decided together to make an apron with pockets since Pennie's been told not to cary anything heavier than a fork!  This apron has three great pockets so she can carry things.  It's a little hard to see, but there are these great little heart buttons all across the top of the pockets. 



Pennie called the day she got the package and she really liked them!

We loved doing it!

Pennie - we love you!

So here's the short of it, 
What a great and inspiring evening.

And here's the long.

 We went to hear Geoffrey Canada speak tonight as a part of the Hunter Lecture Series.

I think Chattanooga was ready to hear the things he had to say. There will be grants awarded for communities who want to try to replicate the work of the Harlem Children's Zone. Chattanooga is one of the applicants for that grant money.

Maybe the most important thing I heard him say  -  he speaks with leaders all over the country from all levels - from local leaders, state leaders, and national leaders, and they all ask him what we should be doing.  So the biggest secret is this he says, "There is no plan." " If you want to save your Children you have to do it yourself!"  What a challenge.  I want to believe that Chattanooga is ready to take that challenge.