So here's the short of it, 
I had a great lunch today!

And here's the long.

Today was our New Teacher Consortium, and in order to save time we had teachers choose between bringing lunch or ordering in.  I coordinated the order in part with the Fox and Hen - a great little deli/restaurant on Highway 58.









Lunch was really good.  I'd recommend a visit there if you're ever out on Highway 58 around lunch time. That's  R.C.  the nice gentleman on the right in the blue shirt.  He's the fellow I worked with to make it all happen.


When I was working out the details one day I was there in the middle of the afternoon after the lunch crowd had gone.  He was bringing me small samples of the sandwich fillings - all home made by the way.   I had thought I wanted egg salad, but since it had olives in it I was changing my mind.  When I couldn't decide between the pimento cheese which I would highly recommend or the chicken salad, which I liked a whole lot, he said, "I'll tell you what, I'll make you a half of each."  I had to promise not to tell anyone, since that's not something he does on a regular order.  I thought it was a really nice gesture.  And It was great to have one of each for lunch!

I really like what we do with New Teachers.  I know they're thinking about changing that all up for next year and the coming years, and whatever training and support is offered will be good, but getting these newbies together several times throughout the year as they are learning their craft is really a good thing.  And having a lunch deal so that they can take a break and visit without having to leave allows them to really behave as a cohort.

Tomorrow is a morning at the office and afternoon at the office with a lunch meeting in between.  I think it will fly by because it's so busy!

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

And here's the long.

So by the end of the day today, I thought I'd like a job that involved much less interaction with human beings.  Like maybe data entry from a computer station in a corner of my living room!

I know that tone of voice and attempts at humor are not conveyed well on a blog post, so I'll be clear.  I know I couldn't really do that.  I just had a day with more difficult human interaction than I've had in a long, long time.  And these folks are all people I like, respect, and think are good people (workers).  I think that's what made it the most difficult.  I don't think it's over.  I think I have more interactions coming along as an outgrowth of this.

Anyway, I'm home.  Sophie's had a walk.  We've had dinner. And I've listened to Governor Haslam's State of the State Address.  Now I'm ready to get ready for bed I think.  Tomorrow is a very early morning.

So here's the short of it, 
It's almost midnight.  I'm not sleepy.  I'm not really tired. 

And here's the long.

Tomorrow morning will be here and I will be struggling to get myself out of my bed.




Tonight we had a great dinner cooked by Liga.  Chicken stir fired with cashews and vegetables!
Yummy.  She even made some apricot oat bars for dessert.

Wish that relaxation and sleep followed on all that - but it didn't. 

I'll post more tomorrow if I can stay awake after a long work day with little sleep. 

So here's the short of it, 
I do love the weekends!

And here's the long.

Weekends are so lovely...

Sometimes I wonder what I love the most about the weekend. Is it not having to awaken to the alarm clock?  Or maybe it's the luxury of staying in PJs until mid-morning?  Or maybe it's being able to go shopping in the middle of the day?  Actually, I think it's just all that - a day to do as I wish and not be in a rush and hurry for someone else's agenda!

This morning was a take it easy morning - good hot coffee, perfectly cooked oatmeal, and no hurry to get anywhere.  I was out of my PJ's by lunch time and headed off for a girls afternoon of errands with Liga, and Mom.  We spent the most money and time at Pet Smart (oh, those lucky dogs and cats of ours).  But we had several other stops as well.

We stopped at Elmcroft for a visit with Mommy Anne.  Mom went upstairs to find her friend Lillian Samuels who now lives there, and they came down to the front parlor where we were sitting.  It was a nice visit.

After dinner I decided to go ahead and get grocery shopping out of the way.  I'm glad that I went because the morning will be so much more relaxed tomorrow.  But I was reminded of why I go on Sunday mornings!  The aisles were crowded and there were "holes" in the stock, so I didn't find everything I had on my list.  But I'm still glad to have gotten that out of the way.  I'll sleep in a little bit longer in the morning and get up and make French toast for breakfast!

So here's the short of it, 
Thanks fo Kathryn Lynn Venable.

And here's the long.

This post is a hat's off to Kathryn Lynn Venable - a former Pineville High School Band Mate and Facebook friend.  And one who share's that - growing up in small town Southeastern Kentucky past.

I made a post about my morning oatmeal routine that I share with sweet Sophie most mornings and I lamented that I don't get my raisins because I don't want Sophie to have any.  Kathryn posted on Facebook with an idea to help me get out of my rut of thinking.  I tried her suggestion.  It didn't work exactly as I wished, but it made me remember that I it's not so hard to think of alternative ways to try things.  So now I have raisins in my oatmeal.

I still want to make sure that Sophie doesn't get any raisins - they are potentially very bad for dogs.  So I am putting a small jelly jar of raisins covered with water in the refrigerator.  Then in the morning after I have my oatmeal cooked, I just put a spoonful into my oatmeal after I take Sophie's portion out. Their time in the refrigerator has them softened up just like I like them. And they have time to get warmed up.
And I get the extra umph of raisins in my breakfast.

One more reminder not to give up, but just think in a different way to solve the problems and complexities of our lives.

Thanks friend.

So here's the short of it,
It's been a rainy day in Chattanooga!

And here's the long.

Wow. For me this was not a day I enjoyed the rain! I couldn't just hole up in one place to work and the rain was too heavy for me to be able to run through the raindrops without getting wet!

Thankfully I'm now warm and dry!

Poor Sophie was wet when I got home. Of course it's probably not as big a concern for her as it is for her owners to have a wet dog in the house!! I have noticed though, that she doesn't particularly like to go do her potty business in the rain. However, if the rain isn't coming down too hard, she doesn't mind running out to the back gate or over to the fence to bark at a passerby! And she certainly still wants to have her walk no matter what. What a fun and funny dog she is.

I'm glad no rain is predicted for tomorrow. It will be good to come home and start the weekend with a cool but dry evening!

So here's the short of it, 
It's the end of January, and I'm wondering where in the world winter went. 

And here's the long.

We're having unseasonably warm weather here in Chattanooga.  Now, I'm not such a great fan of long drawn out winters with mountains of snow for weeks at a time.  That might be one reason I moved a bit further south!  But I do like a bit of winter.  I like to have enough freezing weather to really put a dent in the flea population the next summer!  I like to have at least two snow days from school - and I want days when there's really snow on the ground, not just a few flakes here in the valley and snow on the mountains and in the county to keep us home.  I want enough to make a snow ball and have Luther tell me to be sure to get bread and milk in case I'm snowed in for the rest of the winter. I want enough so that the dog wants to roll around in it and the cat doesn't want to get out.

But it's warm and rainy not cold and snowy.
The farmer's almanac does say that early February might bring us some wet snow.  Tomorrow is supposed to be warm with thunderstorms!  I'm hoping the times that I'm out and about I'll be able to run between the raindrops and lightening strikes!

So here's the short of it, 
I'm listening to President Obama tonight. 

And here's the long.

I'm listening to my President tonight and some of my family is boycotting his State of the Union address.

I wonder how I was raised in my family in the place and time I was and came to such a different place politically than my parents and siblings.

I don't know how that happened.  How they got there and I got here.   I love them all very much, but we see the world in such a different way.   It's so strange to me.

However it happened, it's good we can embrace one another as family and set aside our political differences.

I love you all.

So here's the short of it, 
Nice evening here on the circle.

And here's the long.

Nice dinner.

Quiet House (the husband is at a meeting).

Sweet animals keeping me company.

Call from Mom - she's home from church and locked in safe and sound.

A bit of Facebooking.

A bit of Reading.

Going to bed early.

So here's the short of it, 
Two day weekends are just too short!

And here's the long.

I can't believe this day is already over and tomorrow is a work day. These two day weekends just don't last long enough!

I had a pretty good Saturday which included a trip down into the countryside near Ringgold to buy a small refrigerator that I found on Craigslist for the office. I enjoyed the ride and once again was amazed to find a fairly large subdivision plopped down in the middle of the countryside!  When I look at it on MapQuest it's surrounded by woods on the north and farm land on the south.  Inside the subdivision though, it just looked like another middle class family subdivision - 3 or 4 houseplans, 5 or 6 streets that wind around to a main road, and lots of evidence of kids of all ages. It looked like a good place to raise a gaggle of kids.

Last night we went to an event sponsored by the Jewish Federation.  The topic was the afterlife.  There was of course, a Rabbi, an Imam from Atlanta, a minister from Brainerd Baptist Church - the big church right in our neighborhood, and a priest from the Greek Orthodox Church.  I was so interested in the point of view that each religious group holds. I was especially interested in what the Imam had to say - because I don't really know so much about the beliefs of Muslims.  Well, I've heard all the stereotypical things but had never heard a scholar before.  I was also really intrigued by the Greek Orthodox point of view.  It seems to have a center of mystery that I don't think I was quite aware of.   Of course, I suspect that the views vary greatly among the congregants of these groups!  I like diversity. I like it that we aren't all the same!

Then today, I tried making a homemade spaghetti sauce.  All these years as much pasta as we eat, I've always used "store boughten" sauce.  I like the idea of making my own as I can control the preservatives, the amount of sugar, the amount of salt, and all that.  But I didn't really like it very much!  So I'm going to wait a few weeks and try a different recipe.  In the meantime, I sure did make a big old mess in the kitchen today - not that I don't usually make a mess when I'm cooking...

All that fun stuff!  Tomorrow morning will be here soon.  I'm headed to bed.

So here's the short of it, 
So today I had a massage.

And here's the long.


I just cannot figure out why insurance does not cover massage therapy.  Massage, without a doubt, is the best thing I have ever done for my back. I keep wondering if Mom had gotten started with massage therapy 20 years ago, if her back would be in better shape.

I've still been able to walk up steps ever since my massage two weeks ago. Going down feels a little more precarious still.  Today she worked lots at the place on my back where my surgery was years ago and the area right at my right hip I think she called it the inguinal ligament.  She says it's all tight right in the hip.  She also worked on my thigh and a bit on my calf.  She says that my thigh is really tight.  I think she was working on the satrorius muscle - but that's not what I remember her calling it. But for sure it's the one that goes diagonally across the front of my thigh.

I remember that two weeks ago it was the next day before I really noticed a huge result from the massage appointment. Today my thigh has been achy all afternoon.  I've been trying to stay stretched out - think I'll sit in the floor again in a bit before I head to bed.

Anyway. I'm sold. This massage is making such a difference in getting me back to normal.  I keep thinking about spending 2 years of negotiating stairs like a 2 year old, and am just thrilled that I can now start working on gaining strength and more endurance for actually climbing stairs.

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

And here's the long.

Today our youngest daughter invited Alan and me to go to lunch, and she picked up the tab!

What a pleasure it is to have our adult daughter think about wanting to treat us, and then following through!  It was a fun lunch at one of our favorite little local spots. Na Go Ya, Chinese restaurant.






Thanks Liga. It was a wonderful lunch and so fun to  see you taking on such an adult role!

So here's the short of it, 
I never did get warmed up good last night.

And here's the long.

I was so chilly last night.  So why did I not have a thought somewhere in my brain that I might need another blanket on the bed! I went right off to sleep, and then I just didn't wake up enough to think -- old girl, get a blanket. So I didn't have the most comfortable night's sleep. Tonight it's a little chilly. Even though I'm not as cold as I was last night,  I promise this. I will have another blanket on my bed!

This evening when I got home, it was still light enough that Sophie and I did a good little walk.  The two oldest neighbor boys came out and I asked if they wanted to walk with us (the older one often asks).  He said, "I'd like that, if you give us permission to go with you." I was pretty wowed by that.  He's about 7 and just the nicest young man.  Sophie hasn't really warmed up to him, but I do hope that will happen.  I think it would just be a good thing.  Anyway, we walked and talked, and talked and walked.  His little brother was more interested in seeing how muddy he could get his shoes, in that gooey, thick, black mud that gets left over as water slowly evaporates. I understood from my walking buddy that little brother  would get in really big trouble when he got home. When I probed a bit about "really big trouble". he said, "well, Mom will really scold him, and that's not very much fun."

He says he's going to try to walk with Sophie and me more often.  I'll enjoy that.

So here's the short of it, 
It's not really that cold, but I'm chilly and tired this evening.

And here's the long.

I worked in three "spots" today.  The first was next to a window in the Hickory Valley Office.  It was quite chilly!  Next we went over to the board room, so called because it's the place our school board holds their meetings.  It was freezing.  Then I came back to our conference room for a short meeting, it was warm enough, but the meeting wasn't long enough for me to get warmed up. Then I was back next to that window.

By the time I got in the car I was blasting the heat on high.  I never did get warmed up.  I sure wouldn't have gone back outside if Miss Sophie didn't need her walk - but if there aren't rain drops falling or I'm not collapsed on the bed, she can usually drag me outside at least for a little bit!  Of course, that chilled me down again.

My warm covers are calling me. I'm headed that way in just a little bit. I'm going to warm up my bed buddy (a non electric heating pad filled with something that feels like feed corn).  It warms in the microwave and works to help relax me and get me soothed to sleep when I put it on my sore back. Then I'm going to snuggle under the covers and sleep... after all tomorrow is an especially early schedule.

So here's the short of it, 
A Monday holiday really makes for a nice work week!

And here's the long.

I'm feeling like the week is already half over - oh tomorrow is hump day! How wonderful to start the school week a day late.

This was an old rainy day and I had to be out and about.  I don't like getting in and out of the car and toting things around when it's a rainy day!  I just have to remind myself that on the glorious days of the fall and spring, I love being out and about!


Tonight I went to a training on the district's new math initiative. I've often thought that I would have done better in math if I had begun higher math classes about 3 to 5 years later than I did.  I like math, but even though I made good grades in math classes, I don't think I ever really "got it"... those higher level math concepts that is.  I'm not interested in going back to school to learn the math, but I sometimes think it would be fun. We did a little math at the training this evening, and our table did a pretty good job of figuring out the problem.




Tomorrow is another day when almost every minute is spoken for - those days fly by!

So here's the short of it, 
So on this day I'm celebrating the impact of Martin Luther King, jr. on our society.

And here's the long.

I'm going to do that by posting some of the quotes that are most meaningful to me.

• Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

• The gospel at its best deals with the whole man, not only his soul but his body, not only his spiritual well-being, but his material well being. Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of men and is not concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them is a spiritually moribund religion awaiting burial.

• The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.

• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

• History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.

• The time is always right to do the right thing.

• We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

So here's the short of it, 
It's the end of another great Sunday!

And here's the long.

Up early and hit the grocery before the Sunday crowd got there.  It was a WalMart day just because there are a few things that Bi-Lo doesn't carry and it's a trip to go out to Publix.  Alan prefers to shop at Food Lion, but we got the news this week that they are closing down all those stores.  Anyway, I love to get it all out of the way on Sunday morning when it's not so crowded.  WalMart didn't even have Sophie's dog food!  They had put cat food in a similarly colored bag in the spot where it should have been.  I stood there in the dog food aisle looking at cat food and wondered who in the world made that decision - the stock person or his/her supervisor.  Oh well, had to stop in at Bi-Lo on the way back home.

Liga commented that dinner was really a southern dinner - pinto beans, mixed greens, roasted potatoes and onions, roasted butternut squash, spoon bread, Mom's cole slaw, and her marvelous cooked apples. Both the kids and Mom were here - that's such a good week starter to have Sunday night dinner with family.  Even Sophie joins us and lays around the dining room while we're having dinner.

I'm excited to have a day off tomorrow.  I'm sleeping in a bit and not getting in a hurry about much of anything.  I'm going with Mom to get her stitches out - or at least looked at.  But I'm not going to have a list of stuff to check off tomorrow.

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

And here's the long.

We had a great day visiting with Shelley, Max and a few other special folks!

Uncle Steve and Pat drove up last night and were at Mom's helping cook breakfast when I arrived a few minutes before eight this morning.  Shelley and Max were pretty close behind and just a little later Liga arrived.  We had Mom's yummy pancakes and fruit for breakfast with plenty of coffee!  Steve and Pat were headed on to Birmingham for a visit with Meredith and Ben, so they were on their way by mid-morning.  It sure was good to get to see them.


Then we moved the party up to Tuxedo Circle.  Max got some good time running on the circle, playing with Sophie, and kicking a soccer ball around. He also played with the crane that Aunt Frances left at MaMa's house.  That was so much fun it had to come up to our house for awhile as well.  Aunt Betsy and Wayne drove up from Atlanta for a visit as well.  We had Mom, Liga, and Marjorie and Issie with two big bags of Rib and Loin potatoes!  What a great and easy lunch.

Here's a great shot of Liga and Max "napping". What fun.  They had a good time.


Shelley and Max are in Nashville tonight visiting with good friend Erin.  She and Erin have posted a couple of really cute videos of the boys playing!

We'll sure miss them!

So here's the short of it,
We had a two hour delay!!

And here's the long.

What a great Friday. We had a two hour delay so I got a chance to sleep a little later!  That was a great thing.  Even though it was a late start it felt like a very long day.  I'm sure glad that we have a long weekend!

Tonight we enjoyed another evening with Shelley and Max - hosted by Marjorie and Issi.  It sure was nice to spend some time together.  We're looking forward to one more day of getting in some visiting with them before they're headed out of town.

So here's the short of it, 
Will it snow?

And here's the long.

We've had such warm temperatures and no real evidence of winter yet, so today's weather forecast was almost hard to believe - a chance of snow! It was actually rather pleasant this morning - not even any frost on the car windows.  By the time I headed home from work the temperature had dropped, the wind was roaring, and teachers were beginning to talk about snow and whether or not we might have a snow day or at least a delayed start.

The wind has continued to howl and here in Brainerd it has spit snow/rain/sleet off and on all evening. I don't expect enough snow for a snow day even if the mountains get that predicted inch, but I suppose there is a possibility that there would be enough ice to have us go on a delay. And that would be a fine way to end this week!

It looks like we're in for a few days of much cooler evenings.  But the daytime temps are still going to be pretty warm and after tomorrow early morning it looks like there won't be any precipitation. So it will be a nice long weekend.

So here's the short of it, 
Started work early, got lots of stuff done, ended late. 

And here's the long.

A couple of meetings that seemed to go very well - office time in between.  Then I spent the afternoon at the Hickory Valley office.  There weren't many people in, so it was easy to really get a bunch done.  Sometimes when everyone is there, it is so hard to really concentrate.

This evening we had a nice dinner at Provino's with Shelley, Max, and Mom.  No, I have no pictures to post.  My phone camera does NOT have a flash and it was too dark to take a good picture, but take my word on this - Shelley is beautiful, and Max is adorable!  We had a great time.  I keep thinking I should try something different, but every time we go I'm seduced by the Eggplant Parmesan -- so good.

Mom is looking much better.  I think she's feeling a bunch better too.  Her face doesn't look nearly so bruised, but she told me she had on a heap of make-up.  I'm glad her fall didn't turn out to be disastrous!

Some of our teachers are making facebook posts about snow tomorrow. Apparently there's a slight chance, but I don't expect it - I'll have to say I wouldn't mind having a couple of snow days this winter season.

So here's the short of it, 
Getting back into the swing of work after a couple of weeks off is . . .

And here's the long.

Wow!  Spent the whole day in the office - and really needed to do that.  But I am SO tired.  Headed to the pillow pretty soon here. It's really hard to get back in the swing of the working thing.  This week and then we are off on Monday for MLK.  That will certainly help some.

Thanks to Marjorie and Issi we got to have dinner and visit with Shelley and Max.  Valdis was there too.  It was fun to spend time with them.  Too bad I was so tired and unthinking that I didn't even snap a good picture of them.  Here's one from a couple of days ago that Alan took at a park.  That's cousin Evan with them. Glad, so Glad that they are here for a visit.




A bit of aside.  After two days of a really achey butt (even waking me at night!), I realized I can go up steps better now.  Maybe the massage is helping.

So here's the short of it, 
I was about exhausted today!

And here's the long.

I decided to take a half day sick leave and then worked in the middle of the day. I went in at 10:30 and left at about 3:15.  I'm glad to have come home.  I changed into some lounging clothes and went to bed and napped for about 2 hours!  Wow, I was tired.

I'm tired enough that I don't think my nap will really impact me falling asleep tonight.

Alan is back and we had a nice quick visit with Shelley and Max.  He had a good time chasing Sophie around the living room.  I promised him that when he comes over and it's light, we'll take Sophie outside and play with her.

In the meantime, Dexter is visiting with us with his kitty mommy, Liga.  He is such an elegantly beautiful cat!  He and Sophie are getting along nicely enough although they are both a bit skittish of the other.  But Lola is not happy to have another cat on the premises.  She is letting him know it too!  She hisses at him every time he comes near her.  Poor kitties.  Poor Lola for feeling so insecure, and poor Dexter for having an unwelcoming hostess!

Isn't he a gorgeous GrandKitty.

So here's the short of it, 
Something about those massages is working...

And here's the long.

Well, this morning - the morning after - I woke up to a really sore butt!  The thing that's so interesting is that it's the side that Kelly did not work on yesterday that is the most sore.

I am just constantly amazed at the way our bodies work - and the notion that as one side compensates for the other and will react to whatever is going on on the other side is so interesting - and so apparent today. I'm thrilled though, because I believe that means that these massages may be bringing about some real change and not just temporary pain relief.  I'll keep up my stretches and hope that will bring about some relief.  I'll be eager to see how going through a work week causes the pain to move around.

It's a rainy, rainy night.  I'm tired and glad to be in my cozy home tonight.

So here's the short of it, 
Prior Planning - well, we'll see.

And here's the long.


Liga is going to spend a few days here with us while a couple of things get straightened out at her apartment.  It will be nice to have her around.

Today was a slam, bang, busy, busy day.  But if I've really done good prior planning, I should be able to stay in all the livelong day tomorrow!

Mia came over for breakfast early this morning and we had just a wonderful visit.  Then I had a massage with Kelly - I'll tell you she is an absolute miracle worker and I feel so much better!  I'm going to try for 2  times a month.  Maybe if I do that for several months, I'll start to get some more permanent relief.

Then we did a ladies lunch at the new Hibachi Grill - one of those endless Chinese buffets.  Mom, Liga, Aunt Joyce, and I had a great time.  Mom wore her sunglasses because her eye looks pretty bad, but she had a bit of trouble seeing since the restaurant was a bit dark.  Since we were seated at a table way in the back with not many people around us, she eventually took them off.  Some of the swelling and bruising is beginning to make its way down her face so her cheek looks a little swollen, and it's beginning to discolor a bit.  But we had a great time.

Liga and I spent the afternoon together.  We visited with Mommy Anne and ran a few errands over on Gunbarrel - then came home and got weekend grocery shopping out of the way!  That means that I don't have to get out tomorrow.

So this is the plan.  I'm going to sleep until I wake on my own.  These last couple of days have me whipped and I'm really ready for the sleep to come my way!

So here's the short of it, 
When it rains it pours!

And here's the long.

Today I needed to get to work pretty early as I still had a few things to get done before our PD started at 8:30, so I stopped by Mom's at 7:00 to check on her.  I thought I'd just sneak in and make sure she was sleeping soundly or bring her something to drink and encourage her to rest up.  I pulled into the driveway to see lights on and the TV going!  Mom was up watching the news, working on a quilt pattern for Elizabeth with samples of each block so Elizabeth can make Avery a quilt, and having morning coffee with a piece of Hershey milk chocolate with almonds for breakfast!  So much for my sneaking in!

I took a great picture of her and sent in to my brothers, but I'm following the golden rule here, because I don't think I'd want her to post the picture of me on the internet if I had that big a shiner!  Her eye is terribly swollen and very dark purple.  The stitches almost blend into the bruising.  From a distance it almost looks as though she is wearing an eye patch.

My plan was to go home for lunch and bring something in for us to eat.  In the meantime she sent me a phone message and asked for some Boric Acid (that may be another post altogether!!!).  On my way to get us lunch (and her Boric Acid) I got a text from Valdis saying to call him as soon as I can.

.....   Valdis began to describe a horrifying night of throat swelling and discomfort to which I respond, "Honey, that sounds like you might have strep.  You should probably go to a minute clinic."  "Mom,"he says, this is not strep, I've had strep lots of times and it doesn't feel this way." So he called his prescribing doctor, and after wrangling with the front desk staff 3 times before he finally got them to agree to tell the doctor instead of leaving a message for him to return after office hours, Valdis got a call telling him to go immediately to the Emergency Room.  So I grabbed stuff, dropped it off for Mom and made a beeline down to the ER (yes, again) where Valdis was already checked in and waiting for the triage nurse.

Sure enough as soon as they took a look at him in triage and heard his symptoms and his meds, they got him into a space in the ER so that he could be seen at once.  It seems that the doctor, physicians assistant, and nurses all thought there was about a 50/50 chance that it was strep. He couldn't breathe through his nose, his tonsils, throat, and uvula were swollen and covered in white blisters.  While they waited for the strep test to percolate, they went ahead and gave him benedryl, Solu-Medrol, and prednisone.  This was a precautionary measure!  We sat, chatted, and waited.  As the clock ticked down, his color started calming down, his throat became less inflamed, his breathing eased, and even his voice began to sound more normal.  By 4:00 this afternoon, when the strep test came back negative, he was well enough to be dismissed to home.   Since he'd had a huge dose of benedryl, he had a friend pick him up and take him home - and we stopped at a pharmacy to get his prescription of steroids.

WOW!  what a night and day.

After I got Valdis handed off to a good friend, I came to Mom's where I found Aunt Joyce.  We are SO fortunate that she lives so close by.  She hopped in the car this afternoon and came down to see about Mom!  That included bringing a pecan pie (a small piece of yummy peanut butter pie) and her loving self! I'm so glad she's going to be with Mom tonight.

I think all together, I may have gotten about 2 or 3 hours of sleep last night.  I'm beginning to feel the need to find my pillow and settle in for the night!

Whoever you are - wherever and for whatever reason you dropped in to read this post, I know your positive energy can have a powerful impact on our lives here in Chattanooga.  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

So here's the short of it, 
Home at 2:15 AM

And here's the long.

Mom took a tumble at her house.

We went to the ER - arriving about 10:30.
A clear CAT Scan, 11 stitches and an awful swollen and black eye later we are home.

I've got an early morning so this post will be the shorter of it and the short.

More on the story in another post sometime.

So here's the short of it, 
Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's off to work I go. 

And here's the long.

HaHaHa.  I just looked up the lyrics for the Disney song from Snow White.  On the website I found the lyrics are not about going to work!  They are, "It's home from work we go".  That's so funny to me.  By the time the day is over - well most days anyway, I'm not feeling like singing.  But I think I'm going to start trying to have a singing attitude!  After all, I'm going home!  I was just sure they said It's off to work we go! I'll bet if I looked at a few more lyrics sites I'd find some that supported the off to work we go!!

Anyway, all of that thought came about because tomorrow is a work day.  Teacher folks will be back at it tomorrow and Friday to get ready for the kiddos to arrive on Monday.  You know the teacher calendar is really a pretty good thing. Having a short break every so often throughout the year really does give me an opportunity to restore and relax and go back to work with renewed vigor to make a difference.

So tomorrow I'll be back at it.  I'll be spending the day working on Professional Development and then yes, for those who follow the blog, I still have e-mail to deal with!  I'm hoping I can make the deadline!

It's really time to go to sleep, but I'm not tired and I'm not sleepy.  Maybe I'll go on to bed soon and hope I can fall asleep.  I wish that looking over at Sophie snoozing at my feet would put me in in a bedtime frame of mind.

So here's the short of it, 
Well I'm not feeling so hot this evening.

And here's the long.

Today I went in to work on the e-mail project!  I worked from 9:30 until 2:30.  I had a snack at my desk and only took restroom breaks!  I was the only person on the 3rd floor so I didn't have any interruptions and I made awesome progress.

When I got home it seemed to me like the house was really cold -- Or like I had gotten a chill on the drive home.  I put on a big fleece and settled in for a nap. I'm not sure I slept very long, but Lola curled up right next to me and we snoozed for a bit. Just having her share my nap made me feel a little better.

When I woke up I still felt what a friend of mine used to call "the gonks". I've had about 3 cups of hot chai tea and some supper, so I'm not really chilled any more. But I'm tired.  I hope a good night's sleep will make me feel a little better. It would not be good to be sick right as I'm supposed to go back to work!

So here's the short of it, 
It's really nice to have former students, now adults, as friends in my life.

And here's the long.

Today I had coffee with Greg Wilkey, who went to school at Tyner.  Actually his wife was my student, but he hung around enough that I knew him fairly well too. They are both educators and he's now an Assistant Principal at Tyner Middle School.

He's a writer and we were talking about the book he's working on now. It's the third in his series about a young man named Mortimer Drake who discovers as a teenager that he's really a vampire!  I've read the first two and I can really see why they appeal to teens.  He's specifically targeting young men.

Before the break a group of young men at his school read the book with him - the author!  I just think that's great.

The books are available on both Kindle and Nook.  And if you don't have either of those, you can download an app to your PC or MAC and read them there.

Growing Up Dead (The Life and Undeath of Mortimer Drake)  Kindle edition

Growing Up Dead (The Life and Undeath of Mortimer Drake)  Nook Edition

Out of the Underworld (The Life and Undeath of Mortimer Drake) Kindle Edition

Out of the Underworld (The Life and Undeath of Mortimer Drake)  Nook Edition

 

And the third book is under construction now!

So here's the short of it, 
Today was an awesome way to start the New Year!

And here's the long.

Liga and Valdis gave us a coupon for a prepared dinner for our Christmas/Hannukah gift this year.  Tonight was the night!

We had the two youngest in the house keeping the kitchen lively while Alan and I sat and visited with MaMa and Mommy Anne in the living room.  Sophie and Lola kept us company!

The menu was salmon, asparagus, wild and long grain rice (ala Uncle Ben), and spinach salad with raspberry dressing. Brownies and ice cream was dessert!

It's really nice to have grown up competent, capable children to share a lovely evening with.
And what better way to spend the very first day of the year!