So here's the short of it, 
We had another great day visiting

And here's the long.

Today was a Long day!  But we got lots of good visiting in.

Dan and Alan and I had breakfast at a place called The Pantry.  It was really nice to have a leisurely time together enjoying a good breakfast.

Then the three of us took Max to the Peabody Museum.  We spent lots of time at the dinosaur exhibit inside.  Max told us that the bones of the dinosaur in the exhibit looked like stones.  Then we made our way up to the 2nd floor where there is a very friendly kids room.  We spent lots of time looking at frogs and leaf cutter ants, putting together part of a puzzle, and opening all of these drawers that had cool stuff to look at.  Every drawer also had a small magnifying glass.  That turned into so much fun!


As we left and visited the gift shop, we found a magnifying glass with a bug box and a great pair of tweezers.  The tweezers were such a hit!  After we got home we spent lots of time outside "snipping" things and then looking at them under the magnifying glass.  And Uncle Dan showed Max the best trick of all with a magnifying glass - how to set a dry leaf on fire!

We had a lovely day all in all.  We all got another one last chance to hold lovely Caleb and spend time with Shelley and Lou.

Marjorie has things well under control.  And we are all so very grateful that she's there to lend a helping hand as long as she can.

Tomorrow we'll head home - today set a record 107 degrees - hotter than it's been since 1952.  I'm not eager for that, but I am eager to get home and finish up the planning and get ready for the Van Sant family reunion.  I'm looking forward to having everyone here fora visit.

So here's the short of it, 
Here's a bundle of love!

And here's the long.

Caleb Benjamin Stein 

So here's the short of it, 
Shelley came home from the hospital today!  

And here's the long.

Boy, Oh Boy - were her boys glad to see her!  She seems tired and weak, but I think she's glad to be home.

Dan got here about 6:30 this evening.  Alan drove up to Hartford and picked him up.  I got a good afternoon of baby holding while he was gone.

Myra and lots of other folks are traveling in this evening, but are getting in late.  So our visit will be a real quick one!

We're back at the hotel now and I'm hoping for a visit from the good sleep fairy in a little while.

So here's the short of it, 
We're here in New Haven. 

And here's the long.

Our flight was early.  And I didn't get my coffee quota!  As a result I've been sleepy all day.  The second leg of our flight from Charlotte to Hartford found me trying to read and trying to nap, and not being very successful at either.  I couldn't keep my eyes open if I was trying to read, but as soon as I got into a nap, it seemed that I woke for one reason or another.  I'm sure looking forward to getting a good night's sleep!

Our first stop as soon as we checked into the hotel was the hospital for a good visit with Shelley.  We were both very relieved to have a chance to see her with our own eyes, talk with her and see how things are going.  She is hoping to be able to come home tomorrow - so we'll see how that goes.  She felt up to taking a little walk, so we went to the Healing Garden on top of the 7th floor and sat for a nice pleasant visit.  It was such a nice change of pace from the hospital room.  From there Shelley decided she wanted to try something different from the food she'd been getting so we stopped at the staff/visitor cafeteria - I guess it's the same food, but maybe more choices?  She was too tired to stay there to eat, so we headed back to the room.  She was really tired from all that exertion.



Our next stop was her house.  We had a good but very short visit with Lou and Max since they were on the way to have a visit with Shelley.  We are expecting to have more time with Max tomorrow! When they left we had a good long snuggle visit with Caleb.  He is such a sweetie!  We left him in the very capable hands of his Grammy.

We are both pretty tired, so this will be an early evening and a full day tomorrow.

So here's the short of it, 
Another reason it's nice not to have to go to work!

And here's the long.

Since I didn't have to be at work this morning, I was able to go over to Liga's apartment and help her get more packing done.  Her kitchen is completely packed up and cleaned.  The bathroom except for things she's using and some last minute cleaning.  We also got a lot of the living room stuff into boxes.

I got to see her new apartment complex, although she's not got access to the apartment just yet.  I think she'll enjoy living on the other side of town.  It seems like it's pretty quiet; I know I'd like that!

Since she's not going to be driving right by our house going to and from work, I imagine we'll start to see her a lot less.  But that's all a part of the growing up and becoming more independent.  I think she's doing great.

We are leaving early tomorrow to spend a few days in Connecticut.  We get to meet our new grandson Caleb, play with Max, and spend a little bit of time with Shelley, Lou, and other family.
I'm looking forward to this trip!

So here's the short of it, 
Shelley's having a rough go of this! 

And here's the long.

After going home and feeling well enough to have lunch and go to Caleb's first pediatrician appointment.  He's doing well and has gained weight.  By this afternoon she was running a temp and had the shakes again.  So it was back to the hospital again.  She's been diagnosed with an e-coli infection.

Hope you'll send your best wishes, prayers, and thoughts for a quick and good recovery.

We'll be headed up for a visit on Wednesday for a few days.

So here's the short of it, 
Thinking about my girls tonight.  


And here's the long.


We got word today that Shelley went back to the hospital - either last night or this morning.  It was prompted by a temperature and continued pain.  Alan heard from her this afternoon and she's feeling better and hopes to be home tomorrow in time to go to Caleb's first pediatrician appointment.  We are all sending our best thoughts and prayers!  I'm so glad that Marjorie has been able to be there.  I know this would have just been so hard without that support!

And on another note, I spent the morning helping Liga get started packing.  She's moving to a new apartment across town.  I think it's a good move - but I foresee a change in our patterns of seeing one another for sure.  Right now our house is between her apartment and her work.  We are about 2 blocks out of her way.  So we often see her either on the way there or on the way home.  Her new apartment is in the other direction and I think we might not see so much of her.  I'll sure miss that, but gosh it will be great to have her still be so close by.

Tomorrow I believe that Aunt Joyce is driving down.  We've got the VanSant reunion on go for the weekend after the 4th of July!  So tomorrow we'll be getting down to the details of planning.  We've got the broad outlines in place - we should have a fun day.

So here's the short of it, 
need to light a fire. 

And here's the long.

I'm not too motivated.  I spent the morning with Mom - we went to Linda's, then to the market at Grace, and then to Wal-Mart.  After I dropped her off I decided to finish up my shopping at Bi-Lo.  By the time I got home it was way past lunch time and I was ready to crash.  It was way too hot to be outside. And I really didn't have any motivation to do anything much in the house.

I had a nice nap and then this evening, I've just been pretty lazy.

Tomorrow is another day - I'm gonna get some stuff done!

So here's the short of it, 
This summer is fairly flying by!

And here's the long.

I always used to hear my parents and grandparents talk about how quickly time passed.  Of course, before I left my parents house, time seemed to go by so slowly.  But I do think that as I grow older time goes by so much faster.

It seems like I just woke up this morning about three hours ago and it's already close to my bedtime!  And I was up early because I had an appointment before 9.  And it's not really like I had one of those "so busy time flies" days either.  The day's gone.  I did get a batch of yogurt into the fridge, the tomatoes watered and tended to, a load of laundry done, the dog walked,  supper cooked and cleaned up, reunion planning, and I've even logged in some computer time. Don't have a clue how I got all that in.

Now it's off to sleep to get ready for another tomorrow.

So here's the short of it, 
I've been a bit lazy today!


And here's the long.


I did get up and take Lola to the vet for an 8:30 appointment.  Then this afternoon we drove down to St. Elmo to pick up Alan's car.  Lo and behold - he couldn't get out of my car when we got there.  Something had happened to the door latch right there in the parking lot of B&F.  So we brought Alan's car home and left mine there for them to fix.  We took the Jeep over to Pep boys and then picked it up again too.  And late this afternoon we went back and picked up my car.

With all that running around, it's no wonder I didn't feel like I got much done!

I'm glad I get another chance at it tomorrow!

So here's the short of it, 
So another day comes to a close. 

And here's the long.

Today Alan, Mom, and I went to the Golden Agers to help with an early celebration of Mommy Anne's birthday!  We sure did enjoy being with her for that special occasion.

Mom and I hung out for awhile after the lunch - we went over to the church to check on some of the arrangements for the reunion that's going to be happening before we know it, and then I ran to the office for a couple of minutes.  Mom rode with me for that excursion. In the meantime, Alan took Mommy Anne to an orthopedic doctor for a consultation.  It looks like she's going to have to go back for an orthopedic specialist to take a look at her.

Then this evening, my neighborhood helpers came over and helped me water everything and work in the herb garden for awhile.  They also were a big help getting all that straw out of my car from hauling it yesterday.

So here's the short of it, 
Introducing my garden help.

And here's the long.

The two older boys from next door have taken a liking to doing gardening.  They've informed me that any time I'm working in the garden I should just knock on their door so that they can come and help me.  I'll have to say, I'm tempted.

Tonight they came over - we hoed, raked, watered, and spread straw.  Then they helped me take a  bale of straw down to Mom.  I took a few pictures to introduce them to you.


Here's Ian taking a turn at watering the  tomatoes that have been in the ground awhile

















And here's Caden working on giving our tiny little new transplants some water.



Look closely and you can see the two bales of straw we spread before we watered.

Not sure why that one boot came off.














But the one shoe saga continues.















This is how it ended up for the rest of the evening.

So here's the short of it, 
Luxurious relaxing day, and good news from Shelley.

And here's the long.

I didn't leave the house today!  Well - that's not exactly true.  I was in the yard and garden and took Sophie for her walk around the circle.  But I didn't even get out of my PJs until noontime!  What a luxury.  I have a much busier day tomorrow so I suppose I'll be dressed and at 'em much earlier. 

Shelley is feeling quite a bit better.   Here's what she posted on Facebook,


"Ok, stent in liver cyst successful! I have to have more surgery in a few weeks to have the cyst taken out. It was too close to my c-section to do it this visit. Caleb is doing great and hopefully we will both go home tomorrow or Weds. Thank you for all your sweet messages, help, and etc...during this crazy time! I don't know what Louis Steinand I would do without my fabulous mom, Marjorie Goldberg, who is taking care of Max!"


This is sure one of those times that I'm very aware of how fortunate we are to live in the time of modern medicine.  We can't wait to see everyone - play with Max and get to meet Caleb!

So here's the short of it,
Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers in my life. 

And here's the long.

First of all Happy Father's Day to Dad.  Even though you are no longer here, you continue to be the man who influences me more than any other man in the world. Thank you for helping to shape me into the woman I became -- well, I'm still working on it and you, Gene Howard continue to be perhaps my most significant guidepost.

Then to Alan - my dear husband.  Father to my two wonderful stepchildren, Shelley, and Daniel, and to our wonderful children Liga and Valdis.  Thanks for hanging in all these years.  It's been quite the ride, and I'm looking forward to what the future will bring.

Then to Lou - who is strongly on my mind these last few days. Father to our two wonderful grandchildren, Max and Caleb - and strong partner for our beautiful Shelley!

So to you three and all the other men who have been a Fatherly influence in my life.

Happy Father's Day!

So here's the short of it, 
More tomato plants in the garden...

And here's the long.

The two older boys that moved in next door have become my garden helpers.  Late this afternoon, Ian knocked on my door and asked if I was planning to work in the garden this evening.  Since I had a few more tomato plants that needed to get in the ground, I thought sure why not, so we made a date for about an hour later.

The two boys met me in the garden and we got five more tomato plants in the ground.  They are delightful kids and were really a big help.  We worked on the 5 plants I already have in the ground.  They are covered in green tomatoes already - but I didn't get them in the ground soon enough to have any ripe ones yet!  We got them trained into their cages - and got the cages tied up to the tomato stakes to stabilize them a bit.

I used the post hole digger to get good holes for the five we planted.  Caden wanted to try making the hole by the time we got to the third plant.  He was very determined and really did a good job for a 5 or 6 year old!

Liga was over so she brought a chair out to the garden and kept us company, supervised, kept us supplied with good cool water, and helped the kids.

And to think that if Ian hadn't knocked on the door, I probably wouldn't have gone into the garden this evening!

So here's the short of it, 
More Caleb news...

And here's the long.

Today Caleb made it out of the NeoNatal Intensive Care Unit to the regular nursery.  And his Mom and Dad got an opportunity to hold him.  Shelley said that holding him was the best medicine she could have possibly been given!

Both of them are feeling better and don't you just know that they are really feeling better when they have a chance to snuggle like this.

We haven't had any news since this afternoon, but we know they are busy growing, healing, and getting ready to be at home.

And we can hardly wait to meet him in person -- and of course having an opportunity to get in a good visit with Shelley, Lou, and Max.

So here's the short of it, 
He's here!

And here's the long.

Caleb Benjamin Stein was born today! He's an early bird, but he weighs as much as his big brother did.

He's 6 lbs 14 oz and 19 inches long.  He's getting a little help breathing tonight, but is expected to be fine tomorrow.

His beautiful Mommy, Shelley tells us she's doing fine. I'm really glad she's in the hospital where she can be carefully monitored.

I can't wait to see this little guy!

So here's the short of it, 
Sophie has a visitor this evening. 

And here's the long.

This little beauty is named Nora and she's going to spend the night with Sophie.

She wandered into the circle sometime this morning when I was out working in the garden.  I saw my young neighbor, Anna chasing this pup around.  Anyway, about noon, Anna's Mom called to tell me that the pup was a lost little one and that they had called the number on her Tag, but that they had to leave and were concerned about leaving her on a tie out and they don't have a fence.

So we brought her over here and she's been here since.  She's doing just fine.

The number on her Tag gets us to the agency that is supposed to help us reunite her with her owners.  Gina and I have both called.  They told us her name, but they won't give us the owners specific information.  They finally did tell me the street the owners live on.  It's a split street!  Part of it is near here and part is over on the other side of the neighborhood.

Gina and I both think that maybe the owners are away on vacation, since there's been no contact from them.  So she can stay here for a few days.  She's just as sweet as she can be and she's very pleased to let Sophie be the boss.  She's found the cat, but she's just interested in her, not at all trying to bother her.  So Sophie will have a girlfriend around for a bit (whether she wants it or not!).

Wish us luck finding Nora's owners!

So here's the short of it, 
Love this being off work!

And here's the long.

Here was my day.

     - a late breakfast with a dear friend
     - helping transport cousin Clyde from VBS to a day camp
     - a side trip by a furniture store and a thrift store (spent no $)
     - puttering around the house in the heat of the afternoon
     - dinner then a good walk with Sophie
     - gardening in the cool of the evening with a couple of neighbor boys helping with the weeds.
     - a bit of laundry

Glad to have a big of time with no work pressures.

So here's the short of it, 
Mom's mobile alert system is working again!

And here's the long.

Mobile Help Now

Mom has had a mobile alert system for a few months, but a few weeks ago the receiver disappeared and she couldn't locate it.  Now this is a really cool alert system.

The little mobile unit is like a cell phone and operates on an AT&T signal.  She wears a wrist device instead of the necklace, and as long as she has the wrist device and the little mobile unit, she can send a signal no matter where she is.  So that means she can take it with her whenever she travels and it works anywhere.

When she "lost" the old one, she eventually called and got them to send a new one.  Of course, as might happen, after the new one arrived, the old one showed up in a most unusual place.  Anyway, we had to get the new one set up.

This afternoon we got the new one set up and the old one boxed up to send back.

If you know of anyone who needs an alert system - this one is great.  Mom didn't have to have a land line.  It works in her car when she's driving to church or to her PEO meetings.  When she goes to Atlanta or anywhere else it works.  As long as it's charged and she has the remote unit with her she can summon help. And she doesn't travel many places where AT&T doesn't work, so we all are a little more relaxed knowing that if she gets into trouble she can get help.

Now we need to get a date on the calendar to test it once a month!

So here's the short of it, 
More summer cooking.

And here's the long.

We had a nice late lunch today.  Myra, Mom, and the kids.  Lunch was great and the company was wonderful.
Those summer lunch menus!  Mom picked green beans from her garden this morning and cooked them for us - she also brought, at Liga's request fried squash. Linda's produce market had some patty pan squash yesterday.  So I picked up some of that for Mom to use.  I'd never had it fried before, and I really like it!

We also had fried corn from Linda's - Peaches and Cream corn and some tomatos and cucumbers.  

I made spoon bread using the recipe from Boone Tavern in Berea.  It was really good, but next time I'll cut that recipe in half.  You can find the recipe I used at this link to the website Saveur.

So here's the short of it, 
This is National Dairy Goat Awareness Week!

And here's the long.

I've been going to the Saturday Farmer's Market at Grace Episcopal Church from time to time.  Last week I saw a sign at the Dixie Soap stall that they would be bringing their goats this week.  It seems that in 1988 President Reagan proclaimed the second week in June as National Dairy Goat Awareness Week.  Mom was interested in going  --  Mia and Clyde were at Mom's when I went to pick her up so they went as well.

Aphrodite was one of the does that they brought.  She sure was ready to be milked!  There were lots of families there with their children to watch the milking!  I had fun too.  I've seen cows milked but I'd never seen a dairy goat being milked before!

Dixie Soap uses their goat's milk for the soaps and lotions that they make and sell at the Farmer's Market every week.  I always love to stop at their stall.  They have such interesting things.  I've never made soap but keep thinking it couldn't be that hard!

Anyway if you'd like to visit the website of Dixie Farms just follow the link!

So here's the short of it, 
We had a lovely evening.

And here's the long.

Alan, Liga, Myra, Mommy Anne and I all went to Temple tonight.  Mommy Anne got back to Elmcroft in time to go to bed and then we headed over to Bonefish Grill.  We had a great time having a nice dinner and lots of time to visit.

It's really special that Myra is here and we are having time for a good visit.

Wow, though, I'm a sleepy head tonight.  I usually get tired but not sleepy enough to get in bed and sleep.  But tonight I'm falling asleep in my chair!

So here's the short of it, 
Myra's here!

And here's the long.

I finished up my work until sometime in July (even though I'll probably go in one day) oh, and I have one morning next week that I'm trading around.  So I'm home for  awhile. and Myra is here for a visit!  I'm really glad that we're going to get to spend a bit of time together.

This evening she and Alan had a nice visit with Mommy Anne and enjoyed the regular Thursday night  "Sing with Richard" entertainment.  I joined them for a bit and then the three of us had a chance to visit over a late dinner.  I'm home now and beginning to get a bit of the sleepy head.  Now get this --- I don't have to get up in the morning! I'm going to turn off my alarm and sleep until I wake!

So here's the short of it, 
I met a great scholar today!


And here's the long.

Today was the second day of the Facing History and Ourselves Workshop in Chattanooga.  I haven't been able to go to much of the training this year because I have so much to do to get the year finished up!  But today I had a chance to sit in for a few minutes to hear Dr. David Patterson speak.  I feel so privileged that I got to spend just a bit of time with him.  He's speaking tomorrow morning - and I'm obligated to be in a meeting across town!  I'm pretty disappointed.  I hope I have another occasion to hear him. And I am certainly planning to purchase some of his books.  


Now I was only able to spend 15 or 20 minutes in the workshop, but it seemed that every other sentence that he uttered made me want to do research that would take up a significant piece of time!  I was especially enthralled with his discussion of the importance of a person's name, and the Nazi requirement that all Jewish women take the name Sarah and all Jewish men take the name Israel.  He's written a book Wrestling with the Angel: Toward a Jewish Understanding of the Nazi Assault on the Name (2006),  I know I'll want to read that one!  He was just beginning to speak about propaganda when I had to leave for a meeting, and I missed that.   


I hope that he'll be invited to another of the seminars they'll be doing and I'll be able to spend more time hearing his expertise.  

So here's the short of it, 
Shaving away at the required stuff to do!

And here's the long.

One report done and sent off today.
One more will be completed by the end of work tomorrow!


I'll have to admit that I was a little cross eyed by the end of work today.  And I see that in my future for tomorrow as well!  But it will be done.

So here's the short of it, 
The countdown!

And here's the long.

Only 2 more work days after today before I have a bit of time off!  Tomorrow will be a day off since I need to work on Thursday. And then there's a meeting I have to attend next Thursday so I'll trade a 1/2 day.  So some sleeping in and working around the house and getting some stuff done is coming my way.  I don't let myself get excited about things much ahead of time usually, but I'll have to say, I'm really looking forward to some time off!

And Myra will be here at the end of the week!  It's going to be a real treat to get some visiting in with her.

So here's to working on a modified teacher calendar and having a few weeks off in the summer!!!

So here's the short of it, 
I may have lost one of my favorite jobs. 

And here's the long.

Over the years I've cut Valdis' hair more than any barber.  Especially when he was a little fellow and loved to wear a buzz cut in the summer.

Once when he was about 10 or 11 years old I did a haircut - not a buzz - and it was not to his liking.  As usual it was a cut done late in the evening and all the barbers were closed.  He came up with the idea that a really good marketing idea would be to have an "emergency room" barber/hairdresser shop where people could go when someone made a huge error when trying to do their hair!

I really made a big one tonight.  I was using the clippers and we agreed on a 1/2 inch.  It was looking really good.  I got the guard off and got his neck good and then trimmed up around his ears.  Then we decided to do one last pass especially around his ears.  I do NOT know what I was thinking.  I made a short pass with the guard off and took off about two inches up one side of his head!  Of course, there was no choice left - I had to go ahead and buzz the rest of it off.  I felt so horrible about that mistake!

I'll have to say he was much more gracious than most people would have been about my mistake!
But I don't know if he'll ever let me cut his hair again!

Valdis - if you ever take time to read this - I'm really sorry.

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


And here's the long.


I had the pleasure of attending a lovely wedding this afternoon. It's been probably a couple of years since I haven't been to anything at the First Christian Church for a long time.  They've done some remodeling and - I believe painted the sanctuary.  It was certainly a beautiful affair!  I'll have to admit that there were so many school people there, I almost thought it was a work day!


The wedding was sweet and simple.  And I enjoyed being with them. I had to chuckle - Rev. Paul Rebelo said that since they were such logical people they had decided to skip the part asking if anyone had any objections.  They told him that if any one objected they had had three years to tell them about it and so Rev Rebelo intoned that at this point if anyone objected they were to "forever hold your peace".  I wasn't the only one in attendance that got a good chuckle.   


Ben's Mom, Max, is one of my former co-workers. She's been retired a couple of years and my oh my, she is looking fine!  It was so good to see her and get a hug.  

So here's the short of it, 
This was a lovely Friday leading into the much awaited weekend!

And here's the long.

Today was cool and rainy.  My office temperature is always a bit on the wrong side, so I had the windows open today to bring in some warm air so I wouldn't be freezing.  And most of the morning, there was a nice rain falling.  I ended up wearing my "office sweater" most of the day.

The End of Year Report that I am responsible for is all done except for one piece of data that I have to get on Monday when I go in to the main office.  I'm delighted to have that completed.  But truthfully a day staring at the computer screen and manipulating data is enough to make one a bit cross.  But all in all it was a good day.  Not much was going on in the building so it was really quiet. All day long I only ran into 4 people - I imagine all the other folks in offices down the hall were also grateful for the quiet day!

Tonight I'm looking forward to snuggling down under the cover and not having an alarm go off in the morning!  I'm looking forward to the weekend!