So here's the short of it, 
So another year's over and a new one is beginning.

And here's the long.

I've never done very well with keeping resolutions, so I've decided not to make any New Year's resolutions this year.

I am going to focus on one thing though.

Beauty - I'm going to try to notice something that I think is beautiful every single day. Of course this world holds so much beauty that shouldn't really be very hard - actually when the days get a little longer, we often start the day with a beautiful sunrise right out the front window! And I'm really lucky that my job has me in schools so often.  There's really nothing more beautiful than our children.

So this year whenever I'm feeling sadness, pain, fear, or regrets, I'm going to try to remember to focus my mind on the beauty around me.

So here's the short of it, 
Mom is home...

And here's the long.

Mom got home about mid-morning.  She took the red eye from San Jose to Atlanta, then a long layover, and then right in to Chattanooga.  I had a gate pass to go get her, but the line of folks leaving was amazingly long for little old Chattanooga!  So they had a fellow roll her out to security, then the police officer on duty brought her through - I think so the volunteer guy didn't have to go back through the line, and then I got her!

Hershey was thrilled to have her home.  I talked to her a little while ago and she's settling back in.  Her  back is still bothering her a bit - that's probably par for the course after such a long flight in an airplane seat.  She took a good nap this afternoon and has worked on the pile of mail that accumulated while she was gone.

She was really tired, but she was eager to talk about how much she enjoyed spending time with everyone.  Even though we really missed her, I'm really glad she went - and glad she's back.

So here's the short of it, 
Sophie is acting very strangely today.

And here's the long.

Alan said that Sophie stayed outside almost all morning.  He says that she usually goes out for 15 or 20 minutes at a time coming back in when the weather is this chilly.  Then this evening when I took her out she really didn't want to walk.  I was visiting with a neighbor and didn't do a lot of walking myself, but she's usually nosing all around the circle visiting her friends or sniffing to see who's been in the territory whether I'm walking or not.

Today she stayed right by my side, then when I didn't come in when she wanted she went and sat by the front door.  Then when I still didn't come after about 10 minutes or so she came out and sat right in the front yard.  She's been wanting to stay right near me all night tonight.  I wonder if she's worried about me?  I came home about 1:00 this afternoon and after I grabbed a bite of lunch I took a nap - since she never sees me sleeping unless it's night maybe she thinks I'm sick again??

I'm fine - I hope she's not the one that's feeling poorly. Right now she's in her usual place napping while she waits for me to get ready to go to bed.  Love that Sophie...

So here's the short of it,
Home Day!

And here's the long.

What a wonderful day to just be at home all day long - that happens so rarely.  Well, I did go down to Mom's two times to check in, gather up the paper and mail, and feed Hershey and give her a little attention. But the rest of the time I was here in the house.  I got a big pot of Navy bean soup with Kale going this morning and it kept the house smelled up nicely all the live long day and on top of that it was scrumptious.

I tackled a big house project today - and I got a good start on it.  Of course now I'm distracted and want to start on something else...  maybe I can stay focused.

But tomorrow, I'm going in to work for a few hours to work on the *#% e-mail project.
And right now, I'm headed to bed as soon as my pajamas come out of the dryer!

So here's the short of it, 
E-mail!!!

And here's the long.

We have an ultimatum from work that our e-mail must be below 150 mg.
We had until December 20th to get our e-mails compliant with the new limits. Then we were rescued by having the deadline pushed to January 9th!  Of course lots of us needed that extra time.  I am WAY over the minimum!!

I went in to the office today - well not a full day as I went late and had to come home at 3:30 because they were closing the building.  I worked on e-mail the whole time - and I'm still not low enough!

For a long time they told us that if we would get them out of our in-box and put them in folders that we'd be OK.  Turns out that was not true.  It was still taking up space!  So I've been diligently putting my e-mails in folders all this time.  Now I'm just deleting them!  I've even stopped worrying about deleting "something I might need".  I probably have a couple more days to get this accomplished.  I'll probably go in on Thursday for a bit and work on it a little more.

I'm glad to have good work to do.  I'm glad to have an office to go to. I'm glad to have e-mail and not have to rely on interoffice paper mail anymore.  This e-mail limit is hard - but I'm glad for it. I have a hard time throwing things away, and this is good practice.  After I get all the e-mails deleted, I'm going to tackle one of my file cabinets, and then another one, and then another!

Wish me luck and send my positive good vibes for support!

So here's the short of it, 
My breakfast routine.

And here's the long.

I like to have Bob's Red Mill Organic Extra Thick Rolled Oats for breakfast most mornings.  I like the heartiness and fiber in the extra thick variety. I make them with a 1 part oats and 2 parts water ratio. If I'm the only one eating I use a 1/2 cup of oats and 1 cup of water. I add a teaspoon of brown sugar and a pinch of kosher salt to the water before I dump in the oats. On school mornings, they get started before I jump in the shower and then turned to the lowest setting - they're ready when I get back to the kitchen.  

When they're done, I get two bowls.  One gets about a quarter cup or a little more of oats and the other gets the rest.  They (both) often get topped with some chopped almonds or other such (I keep the chopped nuts in a little jar right next to the stove for just this purpose.  Then each dish gets a bit of milk poured in over the hot oats. I also pour a little small bit of milk (or cat milk) into one of those tiny measuring bowls.  At the table - I get the big bowl of oats.  Sophie gets the small bowl on the floor next to my chair. Lola gets the little bowl of milk or cat milk up on the divider between the dining room and living room.  That's a nice, good breakfast routine.  Not every morning, but certainly most working mornings - Sophie and I really like our oatmeal...

I really enjoy raisins in my oatmeal, but I haven't quite figured out how to do that without having to make Sophie's separate from mine, since raisins are so toxic for dogs. And while I'm really glad to make enough to share with her, I somehow can't see myself getting into the habit of cooking her a breakfast of her own on a working morning! Sometimes I do use other dried fruits in the mix - like cherries, or apricots, or that dried fruit mix.  Those are nice variations that keep me faithful to my oats routine!

I have a hard time always finding these oats in the stores.  Even our specialty markets don't always have just exactly these.  I haven't had success getting any stores to carry this specific variety even when I've asked either.  Maybe they just get confused - they get the organic but not the extra thick, or they get the extra thick but not the organic, or maybe they get the organic, extra thick, but also gluten free which is about 3 times as expensive.  So I just order them by the carton online.  I order about every 2 or 3 months and keep the extra bags in the freezer.  It has worked out just great and really encourages me to stick with the oat routine!

So this morning it was good to have oats and good black coffee with Sophie and Lola.

So here's the short of it, 
This has been a very different Christmas.

And here's the long.

This is a very different Christmas night.

Mom is gone to spend time with Elizabeth and Greg.  I got this picture of her with Avery and when I've spoken to her she's sounding very happy to be with them. Betsy sent the picture of Mom with Avery yesterday! Steve and Pat are in Destin having Christmas with only Patrick as this is the year the girls are with their in-laws.  So we didn't do our rather "normal" Christmas tradition of heading off to Atlanta for the day to celebrate with family there.  So it was quite different for us here in Chattanooga.

We started the morning off with brunch for just the two of us, and we ended the evening with the kids coming over for a Christmas/Hannukah celebration.  We had Latkes with all the fixin's and Cheese Blintzes with some of the preserved cherries from the fall canning - we lit the candles and exchanged gifts.  What a lovely evening.

The kitchen is clean and the leftovers are packaged up so that they'll be easy to get to tomorrow. And now the kids are gone; Alan's gone to bed; and I'm winding down my own day as well.

My Facebook and professional friend posted this on his wall today.
"The Word Became Flesh... and Moved Into the hood."
One of his friends that I don't know posted this in reply -
"I like the version that says, God put on skin and moved into the neighborhood."

So this is Christmas.
May it all be well with us, those we love, and those we have a hard time understanding.
And may we all occupy the hood with as much love as we can muster.

So here's the short of it, 
Remembering Christmas past ...

And here's the long.

When we were children, Santa's visit was always a big production at our house.  I learned later that Dad really didn't like getting up before the crack of dawn and part of the production was staged to allow him those extra hours of sleep on Christmas morning.

We always went to a church service on Christmas Eve.  After that, we came home and opened one gift each.  Of course we always had to ask and ask and ask before Dad would finally say OK, just one. Then we'd be off to bed trying hard to sleep.  We might hear bells jingling outside the window or hear a HO, HO, HO!!, but we never went looking.  My brothers always shared a room near mine, and we'd talk from our beds for awhile.  Eventually we'd be sound asleep.  But not for long!  Dad would be in the bedroom shaking us awake and whispering that Santa was by the tree and that if we'd be really quiet and hurry we might see him leaving the presents.  Of course we'd head for the tree just as quickly and quietly as we possibly could.  There'd be presents under the tree, and, of course, no Santa!  Dad would be right behind us saying, "You just missed him!  He was just here!!"  And in the houses that we lived in with a fireplace, there might be something a little awry about the ashes and soot.  Outside there might be footprints on the roof, or hay where the reindeer had been munching while Santa was inside doing his job.

And there would be three sleepy headed kids looking at the presents under the tree.  We'd make a beeline for the ones that Santa had left.  They were never wrapped, and if needed they were assembled and ready for play.  After we spent some time with the amazing Santa gifts, Dad would say something like, "Well, since we are all up already, let's open the rest of the presents." And he'd do that slapping his hands together as if anticipating something wonderful.  So there in the middle of the night we'd open our gifts, then it was off to bed often I had a doll next to me.  Sleep would come a bit easier than it had earlier in the evening, and we'd be up much later in the morning for a traditional Christmas Day breakfast and then off to Church.

It's a quiet and lovely evening here on Tuxedo Circle. Alan's back home safe and sound.  He's snoozing and I'm just relaxing while Sophie sleeps at my feet and Lola is curled up on my lap. I'm keeping an eye on Santa's journey.  He was in Uruguay when I started this post and he's now getting ready to land in Prince Edward Island, Canada - so I'm thinking in just a little bit if I go out the front door, I might get to see Santa landing on one of the rooftops here in the circle!  I think Dad would want me to look.

So here's the short of it, 
Last night the Crock Pot, Today the Kitchen Cabinet!

And here's the long.

I've lived in this house for 24 years. When I first moved in and got the kitchen cabinets organized, the cooking oils in tall containers went on the top shelf to the right of the stove. They've been there all these years. Whenever I needed to use cooking oil, I had to drag out my step stool or tiptoe as tall as I could possibly reach in order to get what I needed.

As the years have passed and usage has changed and packaging has changed, nothing in my kitchen changed.  But that tiptoe feat has gotten harder and harder over the last couple of years because of the continuing neuropathy in my feet and the fact that I am now prone to muscle cramps when I press my muscles as far as they will reach like that tiptoe pose.                

Then came today...

I was getting ready to use some cooking oil when it occurred to me that the cooking oil containers I now buy (and have been buying for maybe the last ten years) will easily fit on the second shelf!!!

I reorganized things around a little bit and now I have things that I use very infrequently on the very top as well as things that are still too tall for the second shelf, but the cooking oil fits very nicely all on one lazy susan on the second shelf and it's easy peasy to reach.

Wonder what I'll think of tomorrow.  And more importantly, I wonder what changes I could easily make that would make my life so much easier that I just haven't "seen" because I'm still doing things out of habit.

So here's the short of it, 
All these years ...  and tonight I think of the Crock Pot.

And here's the long.

For almost 20 years I've been making a chocolate sauce recipe that I serendipitously discovered when I was making an ice cream pie that called for a layer of chocolate fudge on the graham cracker crust before the ice cream went in.  Pennie always asked me to bring it along when we were planning who would do what for dinners at her house. And because it's just so darned easy it became a go to for gifting the neighbors on the circle and a few others.

For all these years I've made it in small batches in the microwave - which involves lots of interrupting and stirring and making at least 4 batches because of space.  Tonight I thought about just using the crock pot!  What a great discovery!  I'll always do it this way from now on!

The recipe is really simple. It is my variation of the fudge sauce in the Classic Mud Pie recipe from Toll House Treasury which was published in 1986.  (it's on page 9 in the pie section)

Chocolate Sauce
1 12 oz bag of Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
2/3 cup of Heavy Whipping Cream
4 Tablespoons of butter. 


Melt ingredients above together 
Do NOT boil. 


Add 1 Tablespoon good vanilla


Stir until smooth. 
Refrigerate in microwaveable container

This is good on ice cream, cake, cookies, well for that matter on your finger.

I've discovered that it is especially delicious paired with some of the preserved cherries that I made earlier - poured over some really good vanilla ice cream.

----

Well tonight I made the recipe X 8.  Usually I can double the recipe in the microwave.  Tonight I just dumped everything in the Crock Pot and went and did some other things.  I did keep going to check on it because I'm in the habit of having to be right there to get this recipe to come out right.  But I've learned a lesson.  I can just put this on and go about my business and hours later put it in the containers and be ready to go.  I got 20 of the ziplock 1 cup containers and all at one time!

So here's loving the Crock Pot!

So here's the short of it, 
This post is for Shelley's husband, Lou.

And here's the long.

Lou's mother passed away last night.  We didn't get to know her very well.  We saw her at Shelley and Lou's wedding and at Max's bris.  But we never really got to spend enough time with her to get to know her.  I know that she must have been a pretty special person to have a son like Lou.

I wish I could go with Alan.  He's leaving tomorrow to go up for the funeral.

Please remember Lou, Shelley, and Max as well as the rest of Lou's family in your thoughts and prayers.  Even when a death is expected there is a depth of loss that's so hard.

Carol Stein, we will honor your life and the sons you brought into the world - especially your baby son who has joined our family through Shelley.

So here's the short of it, 
And we are home.

And here's the long.


What a wonderful weekend  - we celebrated Katie Jane's Bat Mitzvah, got hugs and some time in with Shelley, Lou, and Max, and had a bit of time to do a couple of things in New York.

I am sure glad to be back at home.

You know there's just something about your own place.  No matter how fun any other place in the world might be there's a really right feeling about your own shower, your favorite chair, where you keep your coffee cup and all that jazz.  I know it's crazy but there's even something familiar and nice about your own toilet!

So it's good to be back home after a wonderful weekend away!

Here's the short of it,
Today was our last day in NY.

And here's the long.

Today we took in the 9-11 Memorial in the late morning and then spent the rest of the day at the Natural History Museum on the edge of Central Park.

The exhibits were great and being together with our two youngest was a memory I'll cherish forever!!

I was trying to figure out which exhibit I liked most - maybe space (history I actually remember) or maybe the origins of humans - I've always been fascinated with this. Or maybe it was our stroll through mammals of North America. I could go again tomorrow!

But it's a better plan to head out tomorrow and really be back home!


-- Post From My iPhone

Here's the short of it.
The Lion King!

And here's the long.

Late this morning we had a lovely brunch with the family at Bubby's on the river. It was a great time to visit, say some good byes, and enjoy some delicious food.

Back to the hotel for a quick rest up and then out for an early dinner at a place called Tramonti's and then off to the Minskoff Theater for a performance of The Lion King.

It was a great evening. We are back at the hotel now and this bed feels really great!

-- Post From My iPhone

Here's the short of it,
We've had a wonderful day of celebration.

And here's the long.

We've spent the day helping family and friends surround and support Katie Jane in her Bat Mitzvah. And it's been a lovely day.

Services this morning were lovely and different enough that I was really glad for the kids to participate in them. The congregants were warm and welcoming. It was obvious that there's a good and vibrant group of kids Katie's age in the congregation.

This afternoon we had a great party and then evening with family at Keith and Ellen's home.

I'm just SO tired - came back to the hotel on the earliest bus! Alan's still there. Here's hoping for a restful night.


-- Post From My iPhone

So here's the short of it,
We are here in New York for Katie's big weekend!

And here's the long.

We had a great drive to Atlanta this morning. I was expecting heavy traffic when we got to commute traffic, but with four of us in the car we jumped in the HOV lane and made great time. But even without that there was not nearly the traffic I had expected. Our flight was good. And we had a relaxing afternoon at the hotel.

This evening we went to Keith and Ellen's synagogue. It was great to be in a small service with so much family. Both kids (and even Alan at one point) commented about how glad they are to be reform. But it's nice to be in another slice of world for A bit.

We are all looking forward to the big day tomorrow.


-- Post From My iPhone

So here's the short of it, 
What a day!

And here's the long.

Yesterday Alan came home to a very definite problem with our hot water!  Our plumber came but wasn't able to get it fixed so we didn't have hot water last night nor this morning - well not in our bathroom, or the kitchen, or the laundry room.  I just didn't try to gather up all my bathing stuff and go to another bathroom this morning, so I did a sponge bath and baking soda in the hair!  It was OK. But I'm sure glad the plumber got here this afternoon and got it fixed. I'm looking forward to a great hot shower in the morning!

I didn't have a minute to spare today.  I was in three places for three different meetings from the start of the day to the end of the day, and each of them were meetings that demanded my full attention. I'll have to say I was pretty zonked by the end of the day.

Now I'm packing for our New York Trip.  Katie Jane is becoming a Bat Mitzvah this weekend and we are going to help celebrate.  I'm looking forward to the trip - even though it's very bittersweet to have Pennie's grand-daughter at this milestone without Pennie there.  But it will be a wonderful weekend and a good time for much reflection.

So here's the short of it, 

Here's to another good day.

And here's the long.

A half day of work and a half day sick leave to take Mom to the doctor. We drove down to see David Judge at his Gadsden office for her follow up from the left eye cataract surgery. It was great to see him. He pronounced her in great shape and said she could be turned back over to her regular ophthamologist.  

We had a nice visit on the drive down and back.  I'm glad I'm at a place in my work life when I can take off some time to be with Mom for such things.  

One more day of work for me tomorrow and is it ever a  busy one.  AND I've got a couple of things to do tonight to get ready for that!

We have hot water issues today.  This afternoon when Alan got home he discovered that in our bathroom and the kitchen there was very little hot water and pressure.  It seems that we have a broken line somewhere under the house!  Alan thinks our plumber can get here tomorrow.  A cold or low pressure shower might be in the works for tomorrow morning though.  That could be a great morning adventure!

So here's the short of it, 
I finished today in a great way.  

And here's the long.

I met a former student for a coffee at Starbucks after work.  I do love staying in touch with former students.

I walked in and Lydia (beautiful Lydia) stood up and wrapped her arms around me and just gave me a most wonderful hug. Wow.  It's been a long time since I've seen her and it was great.  We drank coffee (well a chia tea latte for me) and talked for an hour and a half.  I left thinking - "gee that gave me enough goodness to last at least another year"!  Thanks for that Lydia.

Sometimes when I visit with former students they say lots of thank yous and such.  But you know, I'm the one that has a thank you.  So many of them taught me and helped me grow professionally or personally.  I have been so blessed to have had the opportunity to teach so many fabulous students.

Thanks Lydia -  You are amazing.  And I am so excited for the students that you are going to be teaching and reaching in the years to come.

So here's the short of it,
The office environment is getting a bit difficult.

And here's the long.

As I mentioned before, we are playing musical offices at the West 40th street place.  We had to move out first in order for all the other moves to happen. And we are moving into the last office that will be vacated -- and that's not happening until next week!!!

I've been working in a little makeshift space just with a little table for my computer to be set up.  It's working, but I'm really feeling ready for a more permanent space.  Since it's only a week until we're off for winter break, I'll be fine.  It's pretty clear that I won't really be able to get straightened up until I'm back from the break.

Between now and then I'm spending lots of time in schools and so not having much of a place to accomodate me isn't such a big deal afterall.

So here's the short of it, 
Today was a nice cooking day.

And here's the long.

Liga was over for most of the day helping us out with some house cleaning.  Thank Goodness!  It was great to have some help.

Today's family dinner was pasta with a choice of meat sauce or marinara with lots of veggies to stir into either one. I used a wide noodle - but I had told the kids we were having spaghetti.

When Liga's boyfriend got here, she was trying to explain to him that we weren't really having spaghetti - I overheard her say, "well it's not really spaghetti, Mom's using Jewish noodles".  I thought that was pretty funny.  The meat sauce especially was a hit!

I also made a huge pot of navy bean soup - so between the leftovers and the soup we'll be good for lunch and dinner for the rest of the week!

It's been nice to be in this routine for almost a year.  Mom - the kids when they can with their girl/boyfriends when they can - all here for Sunday night dinner.  It's nice for us.

So here's the short of it, 
Yummy!  

And here's the long.

Well, today is coming to an end -- had the house to myself for most of the day.

My friend Max came over to have a lesson in making Pulled Cream Candy.  This is an old Kentucky recipe - and handed down from my Great Aunt Ruby.  She made it every year and sent it to her brother at Christmastime.  My Grandpa VanSant.  I started making it in my late 20's and have made it almost every year since.

One year I made it and went to Atlanta to my brother Russ's house for Christmas.  The batch that I took was gone in no time so Russ requested that we make some more.  He went out and bought a marble slab, but none of us could exactly remember the recipe.  Mom called Aunt Frances, but she didn't have the recipe.  She called Great Aunt Ruby in Oklahoma, got the recipe, and then called Mom back.  And we had the recipe.

It's an extremely simple recipe.  And it's not really lots of work - it does take a good bit of time and attention.  Here it is for any who would like to give it a try.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MAKE THIS RECIPE IF IT'S RAINING


Great Aunt Ruby's Pulled Cream Candy

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
1 tsp butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla

more butter

Put sugar in a large (4 quart) heavy pan.  Pour boiling water over sugar.  Set over medium low heat. Stir gently and as little as possible with wooden spoon until sugar is dissolved. When sugar begins to boil, add butter and whipping cream slowly, so it does not stop boiling.

Cook at a slow boil until crackle stage when dropped into cold water.

Pour out on a buttered surface such as marble or granite. When cool enough to handle, pull candy.  Keep hands buttered. Add vanilla while pulling.

Stretch candy into a long piece - like a rope-  Cut into small pieces with buttered scissors.  Leave on marble until it creams.  (may cream quickly or it may take up to 24 hours)

Do NOT stir after sugar is dissolved
Use only a wooden spoon for testing
Do NOT make when raining!

Here's a link to a couple of other recipes (that I've never tried)  Kentucky Cream Candy

So here's the short of it, 
I'm pretty glad it's Friday!

And here's the long.

What a week it's been.  I've got SO much to get accomplished before the winter break and I really do need to work 3 days in every work day to get it all done! But I was so ready for the week to be over.

This weekend I'm hoping to get some good hard sleeping in.  ...and well a few more things as well.

Russ has headed back to Florida.  We'll miss having him just down the street.  I've never lived in the same town as one of my brothers since I've been an adult and really our visit times haven't usually been very lengthy - mostly just long weekends or less.  So it was great to have him there for almost a week.  Maybe he can make that happen again sometime or we can get there for a good long visit.

I had to do too much chair sitting in my work day today and my back is letting me know about that.  I'm going to pay attention to it here in a bit with some good stretching.

So today is Friday and I had my PJs on by 7:00 PM.  (Alan beat me).  I'm going to turn in early after I take care of that stretching.  And I'll see what the weekend holds!

So here's the short of it, 
Today I took a sick day to take Mom to the doctor and go to the doctor myself.

And here's the long. 

Mom had a good report.  Her tests on her brain - both MRI (brain tissue) and MRA (brain circulation) were fine and showed no evidence of stroke.  Her carotid artery and her heart echo tests were fine as well, so that was a great report. Dr. Cannon cautioned us all to make sure that we stay on alert for any changes and call 911 if any occur.  So we'll be watching out for all that.

Russ, Mom, and I had a nice breakfast at Wally's and then spent the morning talking about getting a medical alert in place.  I think all of us will have more peace of mind when that happens.

Then this afternoon, I had an appointment.  We talked back pain.  I'm going to have an MRI and then a referral to a surgeon just to talk about what's going on.  In the meantime, I'm getting a muscle relaxer and a lidocaine patch. I'm also continuing massage and stretching.  As a matter of fact, I had a massage right after my doctor appointment.  Kelly found a spot right on top of my pelvis where my muscles were just tied up in knots!  She said she can't really even work on that until she gets some of the periphery muscles loosened up.  So she began to work on them. She also worked over my right shoulder.  I feel so much more lengthened - standing taller.  I can't believe that massage helps so much and that insurance doesn't pay for it because -- well I guess I really don't know why they choose not to pay for it.

So here's the short of it, 
It's nice to have the big brother here. 

And here's the long.

Russ is still here - so once I got home, we went out to eat.

We decided to try the Hibachi Grill.  One of those ubiquitous Chinese Buffets.  This one is fairly new and is occupying a place that used to be a Ryan's steakhouse.  Now, I like that combination of a buffet paired with a Hibachi Grill.

Mom didn't try the Grill, but the rest of us did.  I chose a vegetarian fried rice and liked it quite a lot.

It's good to have Russ here for such a nice long visit.  He's been lots of help to Mom, but more importantly, his visit's given her such a good piece of companionship with her first born!  How really great it's been.

Russ and Alan have also had a chance to spend a bit of time together.  They've been on a couple of shopping trips and had a couple of lunches.  We've also had great visiting time at dinners together.  Oh yes, it's nice to have the big brother here!!

So here's the short of it, 
We are playing musical offices at work. 

And here's the long.

There are four of us relocating to "new to us" office spaces. I have an office mate.  We had to move first before the other two could move - but couldn't move into our new space because it's still occupied.  So the other day Valdis came and helped us get our stuff that's all  boxed and crated up into a small empty space just to stage it until we can get into the office we'll be moving to - it will be the last one to be empty.

Then the office mate that needed to move second (into our now emptied office space) needed to have a space to stage some of her office things.  I really understand that.  So today Valdis came and moved seven filing cabinets (full) out of our eventual office space and then hauled all the stuff out of the area where we had staged the boxes of our office stuff and stacked it up into the space where those filing cabinets had been.  He worked like a big horse!

In the meantime I'm working in a little small temporary space where my computer's hooked up - but I don't have access to files now, and I even have to borrow a paperclip!

Oh well, I can do this.  In a couple weeks it will all be done and we can get settled in.
And I can borrow paperclips, staplers, and post its until then.

So here's the short of it,
Brother Russ is here for a visit. 

And here's the long.

Russ drove up late Friday evening but didn't get to see him until yesterday.   He's looking good!

He spent the day yesterday working on Mom's gazebo roof.  Now that's really been a project.  She got it ordered and then Steve came up and got it raised with Valdis pitching in some help. Then Valdis worked 2 or 3 days doing some finish up work on it.  When the rains came in Alan and Valdis went down and wrapped it in a tarp.  Now Russ has worked on it and he's got the shingles almost finished.  Mom is going to be really pleased to have it this spring.

This evening we all went to church with Mom to a Christmas Concert.  The group was a quintet of young women called Magnify.  They are between the ages of 17 and 21.  The songs weren't the usually known Christmas carols, but lesser known ones.  Their voices were really beautiful.

It seems that they've got a deal in Nashville coming up to make a recording!  Isn't that exciting for performers who are so young!

So here's the short of it, 
I had a great massage today. Kelly is awesome!

And here's the long.

Kelly Mantovani

Now, this woman really knows her stuff!  I get what would be called theraputic massage.

Here's a link to Center MedSpa describing the massage services that are available.

One of my plans when I hit the lottery is to just put Kelly on retainer for everyone in my family - and visit her every 3 days.  That's how long she says it needs to be between massage treatments for the muscles to recuperate enough for the next one.

The rest of the day was great as well.  Liga and I had some nice Mother Daughter time - we had a little shopping that needed to be done. And then this evening we had dinner with Mom.  Russ is in for a few days and we had a chance to have a nice visit with him this evening.

Now I'm home with a husband already asleep, and my pup and kitty snuggled really close by.

So here's the short of it, 
Wow - another week is over and I'm glad! 

 And here's the long.

I'm so glad that this is Friday night and that in a few more minutes, my head will be on my pillow and I'll be falling sound asleep.

Today I was running all over the place. I don't mind that, it sure makes the day whiz by - but today it was particularly tiring. This evening we went to the First Friday dinner at Temple tonight.  We had a lovely time with friends.

Now I'm so tired that I can hardly hold my eyes open!

So Good night to all.

So here's the short of it, 
Today I want to say thank you to a young girl.  

And here's the long.

I don't remember your name.
        I was a young teacher. It was my first full year of teaching and I was working as a Language               Arts teacher at Tabernacle Elementary outside Covington, TN in an elementary school - I had the 7th and 8th graders.  I thought I was pretty good - and I worked hard to make lessons that would be meaningful.  So naive!


You missed lots of school.  
       Most of the parents in this community were sharecroppers.  Yours were.  You were the oldest child, I think. And come the month of October I only saw you on days when the rain was pouring down. Your shoes were always caked with mud, and your thin dress would be wet from the rain soaking through your coat while you waited on the bus. It took me until the end of the year to understand that October was the month of harvest and you were staying at home to take care of your younger siblings or working in the fields. The county had only recently implemented a conventional calendar. Just a few years before school would have been closed for the whole month of October so that all the students could help with the harvest. You were needed at home. This happened again in the spring when planting time came around. I didn't really understand.

You were pretty quiet.
     You didn't really have lots to say.  I wasn't very skilled at manipulating classroom discussions and I could have done a much better job of drawing you in and making sure you had opportunities to share.  I had a small collection of books that were our classroom library - you always had one checked out as well as one from the library.

You always tried to get work in that you had missed. 

     You seemed eager to learn. You were probably overwhelmed with trying to keep up with everything that you were responsible for as well as keeping up with your school work so that even though you didn't stay caught up, you tried your best. If I had been more experienced and if I had known what you were experiencing in your life, I might have been able to send home enough work to let you stay caught up. 

You were back in school when we read an excerpt from Richard Wright's Black Boy.  This excerpt is a searing description of hunger.
"Hunger stole upon me so slowly that at first I was not aware of what hunger really meant. Hunger had always been more or less at my elbow when I played, but now I began to wake up at night to find hunger standing at my bedside, staring at me gauntly. The hunger I had known before this had been no grim hostile, stranger; it had been a normal hunger that had made me beg constantly for bread, and when I ate a crust or two I was satisfied. But this new hunger baffled me, scared me, made me angry and insistent...I would feel hunger nudging my ribs, twisting my empty guys until they ached. I would grow dizzy and my vision would dim. I became less active in my play, and for the first time in my life had to pause and think of what was happening to me."
I probably couldn't have assigned a more insensitive reading - although I believed that I was providing a culturally sensitive readings - as I was taught in teacher preparation - literature that would offer something my students could relate to.  


You loved to write. 
    You loved to write and I never had to push you to express yourself.  


After we read the Black Boy excerpt and discussed it in class, you were to write a response.  I sat down to grade them - there on my sofa in my nice 2 bedroom apartment with a hot cup of coffee - my feet propped up on my coffee table and that proverbial red pen in my hand.  I had probably read 6 or 8 essays before I got to your paper. I don't remember your whole response.  Here's what I do remember;


You said
     "I've been hungry before, but I've never been as hungry Richard was. The longest time I've ever been without food is from lunch at school on Friday til breakfast at school on Monday at the end of the month when we don't have any money or food."


I left Tabernacle Elementary at the end of that year.  You were going on to the high school.  I don't know what happened to you. I often wonder about your life. Were you able to move out of the poverty that gripped your family and much of your community in the late 70's? I would love to know because I would love to tell you thank you.


You taught me so much more than I could have ever dreamed of teaching you.
     You planted a seed that would take a long time to find fertile ground. But I think of you often and when I do your memory gives me a renewed passion for the work that I have found to do in this world.