So here's the short of it, 
Ray is retiring!

And here's the long.

Ray Swoffard announced his retirement plans today.

He'll hang around until the end of November and then he's planning to go on with himself.  I wouldn't be surprised if he does some work in Nashville where several of our retired educators have ended up.

Ray has always been a champion for our urban schools. He's worked with the Benwood Initiative and brought some good changes to the system. I'm know he will be very missed. Many of our principals say really good whenever his name comes up.

Of course like always, we will continue with our initiatives and keep on doing what's right for children. But we'll miss Ray.

And these days, I'm always thinking -- I'm not too many years behind you!

So here's the short of it, 
A favorite meditation...

And here's the long.

There are lots of favorite meditations and readings at the High Holidays.  This one is always a favorite, and seemed especially appropriate in remembering Pennie and my Dad.

Do not imagine that character is determined at birth.
We have been given free will.
Any person can become as righteous as Moses or as wicked as Jeroboam.
We ourselves decide whether to make ourselves learned or ignorant, compassionate or cruel, generous or miserly.
No one forces us, no one drags us along one path or the other.
We ourselves, by our own volition, choose our own way.
                                                                         ..... Maimonides

So here's the short of it, 
It's good to be home. 

And here's the long.

We are home.  It's a long day's drive from Tampa to Chattanooga, but we pressed through.
Liga and I shared the drive/ride - it was nice to get some one on one time.

We managed to hit the outskirts of Atlanta right at rush hour.  I was reminded once again why I really love living in Chattanooga!

Mom came by after church tonight so we were able to have a short nice visit with her, and Valdis came by to pick up his clothes that we brought back from Florida (so he didn't have to check a bag on the way back). Then there's the welcome home from Sophie and Lola. I'm sitting in the recliner - Lola is stretched out on my lap after spending at least an hour head bumping me and licking me - Sophie is finally stretched out asleep waiting for me to head to bed.  She's herded me from the car to the house, around the circle, and has barely left my side since I got home.  We heard from the neighbor that she got kind of barky at night while we were gone. I hope she was just suffering from being lonely and now that her family is back home, she'll be settled down.

My brain is still spinning a little too fast to sleep although I'm pretty tired from the emotional weekend and the long drive home. Some rest will be just the ticket to bring back some equilibrium.

So here's the short of it,

Tomorrow we start in a different world.

And here's the long.

We head home tomorrow.

Today was filled with the rituals of death - the funeral, the burial, the food, the fellowship, and prayers.

And tomorrow we will wake and take our showers. We'll pack up our bags and drive up the road. There will be days when we want to remember something and think that we should ask Pennie - she would know that. There'll be times that her presence is with us in a way that brings us pride and peace. There'll be other times that leave us with an ache for the years that we believe she should have had. But mostly as the days pass and we think of her, we'll keep her memory, pass along the stories of her life, and watch as things grow out of her life efforts that we could not have imagined.

Today is the 2nd anniversary of my Dad's death. In our lives, Alan and I will always pair these griefs. But we will also always pair the blessings that these two brought into our lives.

Perhaps Gene and Pennie are on a heavenly sofa somewhere sharing stories about their grandchildren. (something I often saw them doing in the days they were together)

PENNIE PEARLMAN Obituary: View PENNIE PEARLMAN's Obituary by TBO.com

So here's the short of it, 

Pennie Pearlman

June 14, 1942 - September 26, 2011

And here's the long.

Thank you Pennie Pearlman for a life well lived that will be an inspiration to many for a long time to come.


We love you.

So here's the short of it,
Pennie...

And here's the long.

So there are so many people here in Tampa who came for Pennie.  She has been home since Wednesday, and several times the family has thought that it would only be a matter of hours, so we are here. I am grateful that we got here in time to visit with her and let her know we were here.

We spent the afternoon and evening with her today.  She is resting comfortably and her three boys and three daughters-in-law, as well as her brother and sister are being very attentive. She is not responsive, and again several times today she seemed on the verge of leaving us. We do all know, of course, that her time of leaving is between her and her God.

We thank you for your spiritual support - it sustains us.

So here's the short of it, 
Pennie we love you...

And here's the long.

We got out of Chattanooga a little before 9:00 this morning and made it to Tampa about 7:30 this evening.  We made several stops along the way and had a good drive. We went straight to Pennie's house.   She is home, surrounded by her family. I feel very fortunate to have been able to get here in time to see her and have a chance to share some last thoughts and feelings.  Those of you who asked me to give her a message - I did.  She seems to be comatose, but I always believe that there's a possibility that people hear your words.

As we left this evening, her heart beat was a strong, steady 82, and her respiration was fine. She's not quite finished here on earth...

So here's the short of it, 
Pennie - We love you.

And here's the long.




The kids and I are packing for a long drive to Tampa where we'll join Alan and the rest of Pennie's family.  We decided that since it is the weekend to go on down.  It seems that time is now very short.

It will be good to be with Alan again. It's been hard being apart during this time.

I ask for your prayers for all of our family as we move from memory to grief and back to memory again.

Pennie. You touched us in so many ways.

So here's the short of it, 
Car trouble

And here's the long.

My car has been having trouble starting. When I turn on the starter, it cranks a little like there's a battery issue.  Yesterday or maybe the day before I took it and had a guy check out the battery. The battery was fine.   They also checked out all my fluids and the air in my tires etc.

Then yesterday, I met Valdis to get some things done that were pressing.  He got in my car for a short ride, and when he got out, he said "Mom!  I smell gas.  This is not good!"

Today I left the car with the great Guys at B&F for them to discover what needed to be done.  It turned out to be a fuel pump! Then when I got there this afternoon to pick it up, they told me it was under warranty!

So the car is ready for a long trip.  The kids are getting ready.

I'm trying to get myself ready.

I miss Alan, but I'm glad he's able to be there already.

Pennie. I'm thinking of you.

So here's the short of it, 
Your thoughts and prayers will sustain us.

And here's the long.

Tonight Alan and David were able to get into Pennie's e-mail account and send this e-mail to "her list"

Hello All, this is David writing on behalf of our Mother Pennie.  For those that have not heard, she has had a very precipitous decline in her health over the past few days that led us to admit her to the hospital early Monday Morning.  She is mainly unresponsive on bed rest receiving pain medication as needed. She sleeps most of the time comfortably.  After visiting with her doctor, we have decided that she is not going to be able to continue this fight any longer.  She is simply too weak.  With that in mind, we know this is not the way she would want to go on.  We have therefore decided to end her suffering and call in hospice.  She is going to be discharged from the hospital this evening and sent to her home tonight.  She is constantly surrounded by myself, Brian, Alan and Myra as well as our family and friends that are here.  Keith is due in tomorrow night at which time we will begin to let her go.

I will try to keep this list posted as best as possible over the next few days, but I know Mom would want all of you to know what was happening.  It is a very sad time for all us and I would like to thank you all for enriching her life and making it a blessing.  Please keep her in your thoughts as this very difficult battle comes to a close.

Love to all,

David on behalf of Pennie Pearlman

The message below is the last one that she sent regarding her treatment.

I am back from Dr. Fink's office. My platelets were off, so all I had today was the parp without the two chemo drugs. Those drugs are gemcitabine/carboplatin. I will do the same thing on Thursday, then next week I will go on Monday for just labs. The next week it is assumed that I will begin round two with all three drugs, but we'll see about that later.

This is neither good news nor bad news, it's just what it is. Brian and I think they may reduce my dosages because I am a small woman, but we're just guessing, which is human, but not very useful. I weigh 111 now, which is moving in the right direction!

Let's keep good thoughts only!

Much love

 

So here's the short of it, 
Pennie on my mind...

And here's the long.

Alan drove to Tampa today - Myra will fly in tomorrow. It will be good for them to be there together.

Pennie is still in the hospital and fairly unresponsive.  Tomorrow they'll move her back to her house.
This is a line taken from an e-mail from Deborah - her daughter-in-law. "After a yearlong battle with metastatic stage 4 breast cancer, her body is starting to give out."


For those of you who pray....

So here's the short of it, 
Pennie....

And here's the long.

My dear sister-in-law Pennie has taken a turn for the worse very rapidly.  Right now, she's in the hospital, but her children are thinking of taking her home with caregivers tomorrow.

Alan will be driving down to Tampa tomorrow.

Your prayers for Pennie, for her children and grandchildren, and for the extended family are so appreciated.

We all also thank you for every way that you support the search for a cure.

So here's the short of it, 
Not much to say tonight. 

And here's the long.  

It's been another Sunday -  Tomorrow is another Monday.

I'm very grateful for my family and my friends.

So here's the short of it,
I'm home again.

And here's the long.

Joyce came back from her visit to Baltimore on Thursday. She went up to go see Jeremy (her grandson) get his PhD conferred!  What a happy occasion. So, she spent the night with Mom Thursday night and Friday morning, they headed up to Knoxville.  On Friday after work, I drove up to Knoxville and spent the night.  We had a great time making costume jewelry earrings and just having fun!

This morning we woke up and drove up to Somerset for the Mount Victory reunion. It was a lovely day and I got a chance to see lots of folks that the VanSant children grew up with.  AND I heard lots of great stories from the sisters as we drove up and back.

We got back to Chattanooga about 9:30. but I'm a bit wide eyed since I had coffee at dinner to keep me awake for the drive back!

Here's a thanks to Mom and Joyce for a very entertaining evening and day!

So here's the short of it, 
I wanted today to be Friday! 

And here's the long.

I'm tireder this week than usual. (Yes I do remember my junior high grammar. I know that we say more tired, but don't you think tireder just sounds tuckered out whereas more tired just lets you know I wasn't this tired last week!)

It's turned off cool now and there's a hint of fall in the air around here.  My office was actually cool this afternoon and I was glad for my "office sweater".  And this evening when I took Sophie out for her walk, she was so frisky - and I had to wear a jacket!  She's got such a dense coat that I know she loves having the weather be a little cooler. She really had a great time with Winston! They are such good friends. Winston is on an electronic fence and doesn't venture out of it ever!  But Sophie runs into his yard and finds him.  They play bow, then Sophie gives a yelp that sounds like he's nipped her (although I've never seen him even try to do that), then they run like pups all over his front and side yard. Sophie runs in larger circles because Winston is sure to stay inside his fence.  They run around for a bit and then Sophie comes and walks around again - and if he will they have another play session when we get back around to the yard again.

She's really been Charlie - but there's a new baby at Charlie's house, and Charlie is not interested in coming outside until she gets that all figured out.  So we really haven't seen much of her for a few weeks.

We're going to bed here in a minute, because no matter how hard I wished, today was not Friday, and I have another work day tomorrow!

So here's the short of it, 
Fleas....

And here's the long.

Today I was in a meeting in one of our middle schools - the assistant principal was in attendance.  In a joking around moment before the meeting started, he said something like - OK lets all do a good job for the next two days, and Central Office has said we can have the next two days off.

I just had to chuckle. I'm waiting for those two days off!

This afternoon I was finishing my work day over at our main office. We were required to leave the building at 4:00.  There is a flea infestation in the whole office complex!  Apparently some feral cats have taken up residence under the buildings.  There is no money to replace the carpet - it is horrible - and now it has fleas!

Anyway they are bombing the buildings again this evening.

I feel really lucky that I work down at W. 40th street after this afternoon.  Of course we did have a little garter snake on the elevator one day not long ago - it scared the willies out of most people in the building. For a few days after, we had the smell of moth balls in the elevator as they put something in  it to make Mr. Snakey stay out of the elevator!

This evening I was glad to come home to a place where we don't have snakes or fleas!  Just two sweet fur babies and a lovely husband.

So here's the short of it, 
Praying...

And here's the long.

Tonight we went to a dinner/ speaker event on prayer.  A Catholic Priest, an Evangelical African American Bishop, and an Orthodox Rabbi there to talk about prayer in their respective practices. I was enthralled.

After they spoke, there was an opportunity for questions. I want to share one question and one answer. One woman talked about losing her son and being unable to pray for many years. It was very clear that she yearned to be able to pray - she called it being stuck.  The Evangelical Preacher answered by saying that we should take our cue from the Hebrew psalms which often begin with a complaint or an expression of sorrow or grief.  

I was curious about that and found a few things that rang true. Of course there are many more.

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? . . . how long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? 

Psalm 31 

. . . Be merciful to me O Lord for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish, my strength fails because of my affliction and my bones grow weak.

Psalm 32 

My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught. .. My heart is in anguish within; the terrors of death assail me. Fear and trembling have beset me, horror has overwhelmed me. 

Psalm 69

 ... I sink in the miry depths ... I have come into deep waters, the floods engulf me. I am worn out calling for help ... My eyes fail, looking for my God.

Psalm 88 

So Bishop Teal said to this lovely woman. Start where you are. Even if you are complaining to God, that is a prayer.  I was so grateful to hear his answer to her. I hoped that it brought her some comfort. 

I have always believed that we are praying.

Even when we are arguing.

Even when we are crying out our anguish.

Even when we don't even have words. 

We are praying.

So here's the short of it, 
Wonder why we're all so tired!

And here's the long.

It's just Monday and last week was a short week. But by the time it was mid-afternoon today everyone at the office was just worn out!  It's a full moon - does that have anything to do with it?

Sophie is just stretched out - sound asleep on the floor - I feel like I could just get down on the floor next to her and snuggle next to that furry self and sleep for hours.

Tomorrow is a busy day but I'll tackle that one when it gets here!

Aunt Joyce came down to spend the night with Mom before she heads up to Baltimore tomorrow to be at Jeremy's ceremony to have his Ph.D. conferred.  Don't you know the whole family is really proud of of Dr. Rotty!  Can't wait to hear all about it when Aunt Joyce is back in town.

So here's the short of it, 
Reflections on 9/11

And here's the long.

This evening we went to a community 9/11 commemorative service that was held at Mom's church. There were four area ministers, a choir made up of volunteers from all across the community, a brass ensemble, and honor guards representing First Responders and the military. The service was mostly music and was very well done and quite beautiful. I was glad that we went.

I've been watching the Facebook posts all day long that reference the 9/11 event. My friends and family are all over the political spectrum in their responses to the 10th anniversary. It all makes me so reflective.

It was a horrible day. I, like anyone of a certain age, remember exactly where I was and how that day unfolded. I remember how much I wanted to just be with my family and hold them all close. I remember my Dad telling stories about the bombing of Pearl Harbor - I imagine for our generation, 9/11 must be an awful lot like that event was for our parents.

And then there was war.  World War II and for us this never ending war on Terrorism.

Tonight I'm thankful. For living in a country where we can all express our opinions. For a country where we come together despite our differences when we face a common enemy. For those who serve and protect us. And for those who work to repair the world and bring justice to every dark corner so that we can one day again know peace.

So here's the short of it, 
This cooler weather is so welcome. 


And here's the long.

Wow this three day week was a humdinger! I am SO glad that the weekend is here and when I crawl into bed I won't have to have the alarm set!

I'm so thankful that the weather has cooled down.  Even though the daytime temperatures are going to get up into the 80s over the weekend, that's far better than that long stretch of days in the upper 90s with no rain and grass crunching underfoot.  Sophie's walk this evening was so pleasant - she was frisky and playing. I was even walking a little more biskly.

And sleeping is so much better when the nights are a bit cooler, so I'm thinking I've got some good sleeping coming up! And after this week, I'm heading there much earlier than usual!

So here's the short of it, 
I raise a glass to you (and you, and you, and you!)
A glass of wonderful water that is!

And here's the long.

So this morning I woke up to my first batch of home distilled water. When I opened up the distiller this morning, there was a residue left behind that made me pretty glad I wasn't going to be drinking that (whatever it was!)  I've been sipping on my new water off and on all day.  I think even the distilled water I've been buying must absorb some taste from the plastic it's stored in.  This water really tastes nice! Wonder why I didn't think of a distiller a long time ago!

I rounded up a few glass containers to store the water in - looks like that will be the next task - finding what containers I want to keep it in, and deciding how much we want to keep on hand.  I don't want the containers to be too small, but if they're really large, they'll need to be shaped in a way that makes them easy to handle. I also need a few glass drinking bottles for taking drinking water to work.  Now, I may just use ball jelly jars for that purpose - maybe I won't get really weird looks if I take a jelly jar of water in my lunch! But they are way too small to store water for cooking and making coffee.  The coffee takes about a 1/2 gallon for a full pot so I need some larger storage options that will be easy to handle.

What a pleasant task - figuring out how to put the puzzle together to make one more thing in life a little better!

So here's the short of it, 
Water, water, water....

And here's the long.

I've been drinking distilled water ever since the big ash spill up the river at Kingston, TN in December of 2008.  Of course TVA said the water was clean and there was nothing to worry about, but Uncle Bob has raised my level of awareness with all the water testing he participates in up in and around Lexington, KY.  A year later - Jan.1, 2009, the first independent test results showed significantly elevated levels of toxic metals (including arsenic, copper, barium, cadmium, lead, mercury, nickel, and thallium) in samples of both the slurry and the river water! Then after my bout with cancer, I just thought that I shouldn't take risk of drinking water that might have that stuff or other who knows what in it.  Distilling water is said to remove Chemical toxins, radioactive elements (we also live downriver from a nuclear plant), inorganic minerals such as arsenic, lead, and mercury, as well as Biological stuff like bacteria, viruses, and parasites.  So, I've continued to buy distilled water for drinking and cooking - lugging home several gallons each week. (By the way, I love using it to make coffee!)

I finally decided to purchase a small water distiller for home use, and it arrived this afternoon after I got home from work. I've already got it set up, cleaned up, and distilling the first gallon!  I can't wait for my first visit to the grocery store without hauling home several gallons of water.  I'll just have to figure out my routine. It's an automatic distiller so it will shut off when it's done and I could just fill it before I go to bed and have a fresh gallon when I wake. But several of the reviews suggest that you manually turn it off before it completely finishes - it helps with keeping it clean with less work. So I'll have to see how that would work.  Perhaps starting a batch right when I get home from work - then it would be ready to turn off right before bedtime? We'll see.

Here's the unit I bought.  I'm excited to stop buying plastic water bottles, and still feel good about the water I'm drinking.

Water, water, water...

So here's the short of it, 
So, it's still raining!

And here's the long.

Lee hit us with rain! The rain started falling and has just kept on coming. Apparently in some locations we had enough rain to be considered a 1,000 year flood, but because the ground was so parched and soaked up so much of the moisture, there was not the flooding that there could have been. When Liga left work last night she had to go home via the freeway, which is out of her way, in order to avoid flooded areas. Thank goodness we didn't experience anything here but having to turn on the pump in the basement!  The WPA ditch behind Mom's house came out of the bank, but the neighborhood put together a crew to clean up debris out of the ditch a couple of days before the rains and the water really flowed right on. The power of the water in that ditch is absolutely amazing!

Here are some pictures of places not too far from us as shown on Chattanoogan.com an online local news source.

Right in our neighborhood!

Very near us.

Moore Road and I24 

We were out of school today because of the flooding and because so many of us were without power.

Here on the circle, we lost power about 11:00 last night. After that there were lots and lots of sirens. I still don't know what that was all about.  Of course, here on the circle, as usual, our power only stayed out for a little while.  By 3:00 AM it was back on again. We didn't know when we decided to move here that this house was in the magic zone in terms of the electric power grid. We have been SO lucky over the years. I think last night might be the longest we've ever been out of power! Some of my Facebook friends are still out of power! The news says about 17,000 customers are still without power!

Tomorrow we have an hour delay for school, but since I have a meeting at 8:30 and need to be at our meeting place before then, I guess I won't go in on a delay.

So here's the short of it, 
Well, the long awaited rain has not materialized.

And here's the long.

It's raining all around us - in Knoxville, in Nashville. We did get some misting, and enough drops to make me come in the house when I was out this afternoon with Sophie. I keep looking out the window like a small child on Christmas Eve looking to see if Santa is on the way - and of course seeing the same thing - just whatever is on the edges of my imagination.  :) But no real rain yet.

Here's what the weather says.  I hope it's coming - it should already be here! The lower temperatures and the rain will be so welcome! And I won't mind one bit having my day off be one that keeps me confined to the house!

Rain, Rain -- all those days in my childhood when we children chanted the "Rain, Rain go away" song. now is the "another day" that we were talking about for you to "Come Again"!

	Today	Tonight	Tomorrow
Cloudy	Heavy Rain	Rain	Rain
71°F	77°	64°	77°
Feels Like: 71° Get FREE weather on your desktop	High	Low	High
Past 24-hr: Precip: 0.04 in (est.) Snow: 0 in	Chance of Rain: 100%	Chance of Rain: 90%	Chance of Rain: 70%
Wind: From NE at 2mph	Wind: N at 13 mph	Wind: NNE at 14 mph	Wind: NNE at 14 mph
Through 6am: Widespread showers and thunderstorms developing around the overnight hours. Cloudy with temperatures reaching the low 70s. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.	Cloudy with periods of rain, some heavy early. High 77F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Rainfall over 2 inches expected. Flooding is possible in flood prone areas.	Periods of rain. Low 64F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.	Rain early... then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 77F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall possibly over one inch.

So here's the short of it, 
Welcome home Mom and Alan.

And here's the long.

Mom took the red-eye from California last night and I picked her up at 10:15 this morning. She looked great and was still full of joy from her time with Elizabeth, Josh, Elijah, and Avery.   I hope she rested up some today.  HerShe was so excited for her to be home.  Our house is certainly a lot quieter without that puppy girl visiting! Sophie has been napping all day since I took her home.

Then Alan came rolling in by about 4PM.  He must have not even stopped more than once or twice and I'll bet he was flying low to make such good time! He was worn out!

It's good to have everyone back home. I'll have to say I enjoy very much having some time to myself. That may come from lots of years of the single life... Nothing quite as relaxing as two or three days of just being home - except those same days without having to go to work!

But it's always good to have everyone back home again.

So here's the short of it, 
Happy Birthday Shelley!

And here's the long.

I have four children of my heart.

Shelley is the oldest; she came into my life when I married her Dad, and shared her time and life with us as she grew up.

She's settled far away with her husband and their precious child, Max!

Here's one of my latest favorite pictures of her.

Happy Birthday to you Shelley.
Wishing you health and happiness!

Love you!

So here's the short of it, 
Post Correction

And here's the long.


Well, Mom's dog is named HerShe.

HerShe (pronounced Hershey) was born to a rescue taken in by the Faires family from Mom's church.

This is Jenni. The lovely woman of the house who had the puppy and  who does such a wonderful job as the Director of Recreational Ministries at the church. She runs the Day Players and has, in addition to taking in HerShe's Mom, really been great to Valdis!

But to the story of the name.  Apparently the kids and Jenni kept referring to this one little pup as a HE.  Finally one day, Mr. Faires said this pup is not a HE  it's a HER  a SHE, a HerShe.

And she become known from then on as HerShe.

So here's the short of it, 
Oh my!  Hershey, Hershey, Hershey!

And here's the long.

Hershey is going to spend the night with Sophie tonight.

Mom's been gone to California to hold Avery.  And Hershey has been by herself.  Amy Wright has been going by every morning to take care of her, and I've been stopping by every evening to check on the house, feed her, and give her a little attention.

On Wednesday, I had Liga bring her up here for the afternoon so she could have a play date with Sophie.  Valdis came over to do a little work for me, and he took her back down and locked her up in her yard as he left.  This morning, Sophie got out the front door when I went to get the paper, and when I was out in the yard (yes in my robe) I heard all kinds of commotion, dog commotion that is down at Moms.  I had on my agenda to go out that way and check on things as I left for work.

Well, as I was getting ready to go out the door, Sophie just started barking up a storm.  I couldn't see anything at all that she could be barking at - but since she only does that when something's going on I didn't want to leave the house until I solved the mystery.  The mystery turned out to be Hershey!  She had gotten out and come back up for a visit!  When I called Amy to let her know not to come over to take care of her, I discovered that they had already been - maybe they had been there when I heard all the ruckus before!  Anyway, I decided to leave her here at the house today while I went to work. This evening, Valdis came back to help me in the garden, and when he left, I had him put her back in the yard at Mom's!

Liga came over for a quick little visit just a few minutes later (I think they are keeping a check on me while Alan's gone). And as we were talking, Lo and Behold!  Sophie started barking like crazy and there was Hershey at the front door!

So here's my solution.  

She is just going to stay up here with Sophie until Mom gets home.  

They'll have a big time together.