So here's the short of it, 
Oh My!  I've got this awful earache...

And here's the long.

Last night my left ear started aching!

I have no idea what has hit me.  I don't have swimmers ear for sure, unless you can get that in the shower.  I looked up home remedies for earache about midnight last night and ended up warming up some olive oil with garlic.  Ibuprofen, a heating pad and garlic oil in the ear all night long.  By this morning, I still was suffering pretty much.  I was able to get in to see the PA at my doctor's office, and she confirmed that I have an ear infection.  I came home with a prescription for amoxicillin and started it right away.  I spent the whole afternoon in the bed with a heating pad on my ear.  I haven't slept that much in a long, long time!

But my ear still hurts!  I'll take another dose of antibiotic in just a little while and hope that the Ibuprofen, oil, and heating pad gives me enough relief that I can sleep better than last night.  I really do need to work tomorrow.

So here's the short of it, 
I sure don't feel good tonight. 

And here's the long.

I was really growing tired by mid afternoon today.  I had a training that was interesting enough, but the venue had no comfortable seats.  I spent time in a folding chair, a cushioned chair, the floor, standing against a support post in the room - at one of those "cafetorium" tables on a little round stool, and walking around.  My back really was hurting.  And I was kind of exhausted too!

By the time I got home I had the beginnings of an earache and just an overwhelming tiredness.  I napped for awhile and woke with my ear throbbing, my muscles aching and just really tired!  I've had my microwave heating pad on my ear for about an hour. I've finally looked up home remedies for an earache. I settled on the garlic in olive oil along with the massage.  I had some bottled chopped garlic, so I used that in a bit of olive oil and heated it up.   I've put in the first drops and massaged.  It does feel a little better.  I have lots of faith in old home remedies.  So, I'll treat it again in a bit before I go to bed and have it ready in case I awake in the night.

Hoping to be feeling well enough to work tomorrow!

So here's the short of it, 
I hope it's a great year.

And here's the long.

Our regular work week starts up tomorrow.  Teachers come to work on Thursday.  We've got just a few days to get everything ready for students to hit the doors.  I was in a school last Thursday to help prep for a training tomorrow.  It was that just before school feeling.  The floors have been stripped and waxed.  They will not be this shiny again until next year!  The lockers are standing empty and without locks.  Somewhere in an office or a teachers lounge somewhere there are hundreds or maybe even thousands of locks just waiting to be assigned.

...and there've been no referrals to the office yet, not even a reprimand from the teacher.  There aren't any missed assignments or failed tests yet either...  It's a time to start over.  Everyone gets to start fresh - the students, the teachers, the support people, the administrators.  Everyone gets another chance - a chance to do things differently this time.  A chance to listen a little more closely, to get that thing done in a little more timely way, and to try just a little harder this time.

I hope everyone has an opportunity to face a new challenge and come out a winner.

So here's the short of it, 
Send more positive thoughts and prayers for Shelley!

And here's the long.


Last night Shelley ended up back in the hospital!

Her fever went back up and her surgeon wanted her back in the hospital.  He just had her admitted instead of having her deal with an ER ordeal.  She is doing OK right now as far as we know -- so here's the story!

Before her liver surgery one of the interventions used to try to control her continuous vomiting and pain was to put a stent into her liver.  During the liver surgery they couldn't fine the stent and with the surgery going as long as it did and as complicated as it was, they decided that retrieving the stent would just have to wait until another time.  Everyone knew at some time it would have to come out, but it was probably not expected that it would be so soon and under these circumstances.

Apparently her surgeon, was pretty sure that the stent was the likely culprit.  He removed it this afternoon with an endoscopic procedure.  We heard just before she went into the surgery, and just afterwards.  But haven't had any word since.  Like most parents we assume that's good news.

We are hoping that now she'll be able to rest, get well, and soon enough be back to normal!

We all would appreciate prayers and positive thoughts for her recovery and good health.

So here's the short of it, 
Me and Chick-fil-A

And here's the long.

I'm not boycotting Chick-fil-A.  I'm also not buying any Chick-fil-A.

I'm trying to sort through all of this for myself.   I think boycott has as a part of the definition "to try to coerce" ...and I'm not really about coercion.  But I am about making informed choices.

I do love the Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich.  It is awfully good ordered up with extra pickles. There's not one around our neighborhood, so on those rare occasions when I'm over near Hamilton Place at lunch time, it's a good special treat.

And let me say, I love it that we live in a country where people can make decisions about how they spend the money they earn and support the causes that they want to.  And let me also say that Chick-fil-A supports some absolutely wonderful causes.  I personally know several students who have worked at Chick-fil-A and have had part of their college paid for because of the scholarships that are available to them.  And I think that they probably have lots of other wonderful causes.  I also know that they have a commitment to "treat every person with honor, dignity, and respect - regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender" -- kinda like the Hard Rock Cafe motto "love all, serve all".  And I'm also very sad that their chief PR person who worked hard to make sure that we know that has passed away.  

So then,  why am I not buying Chick-fil-A.  Chick- fil-A uses the profits from their business to contribute to organizations which I'm making a personal choice.  I'm not saying close down the places.  I'm not saying that they are horrible people.  Here's what I am trying to say with my choice.  

I believe that it's fine for the church and other religious organizations to define religious "marriage" any way they choose.  I think it was the late 1500's before the church even got involved in marriages.  So S. Truett Cathy's use of "biblical definition" is really a bit uninformed. But nevertheless, the marriage that we are referring to is the one that a state confers which gives two people certain rights and benefits in the lives of one another - such as being able to be a dependent on an insurance policy, being able to make medical decisions in cases of emergencies, being able to visit in the hospital at certain times, and yes financial rights and benefits. This is not about who God recognizes as married.  It's about who the law of the land recognizes as having those and other responsibilities, rights, and benefits from their partnership. 

We learned just the other day that Sally Ride passed away much too early.  She left behind a partner of 27 years and this partner who shared her life in every way has no rights and will not receive any benefits because we think in this country that we know who ought to be "married".  I can't get there in my head.  So I'm not going to eat any Chick-fil-A sandwiches or waffle fries any more.  I know that won't make much of an impact.  But if 1/4 of 1 cent of every sandwich I purchase (which may only be 3 or 4 a year) goes to support groups which I disagree with so fundamentally, then I'm going to spend my money elsewhere.  I'm not trying to close Chick-Fil-A down.  There are plenty of people who agree with them and will continue to enjoy the deliciousness - it just won't be me.  And in addition to all that, Mr. Cathy's public statements take this out of a mere personal belief and into the realm of using his position and power to influence others. 

My friend Patty Streip commented on Facebook that there are many other companies who may support things we don't agree with who just haven't been "outed" yet.  And yes, that's probably true.  But when they are, I'll stop doing business with them too.  I don't buy products that are tested on animals.  I don't spend any money at the Yellow Deli. And I work pretty hard to try to buy products that are produced in a sustainable manner.  

So today I drove by Chick-fil-A.  Down the road a bit there's a Krystal.  They sell this thing called a Krystal Chik.  

I had one.  Now it's not the same as a Chick-fil-A.  But right now I don't know of any groups they are supporting which I wouldn't want to contribute to.  And that little Krystal Chik is not a bad sandwich!

So here's the short of it, 
Tomorrow is Friday and I don't have to work!

And here's the long.

Not working tomorrow is the only thing about this long day week that is a good thing.  But tomorrow will be good.  I think I'll sleep an extra 30 minutes!  I have plenty to get done before Monday rolls around - and then a week from today, teachers will be back at the work place!  Before we can turn around, we'll be at the end of the first 9 weeks!

Just had a great, short visit from Liga.  She said that 70 people were laid off at Memorial today.  I know that has to be stressful! Thank goodness at this point no Lab employees were laid off!

Now, I think I'll wind up my evening and head off to bed - sleep - what a wonderful thing.

So here's the short of it,
So many of us will miss our friend and colleague. 

And here's the long.

Briggs Smith

There is a somber mood all around the office and at the Central Office because of the early and untimely death of our dear and generous colleague, Briggs Smith.  I know the teachers who worked in Career and Technical Education will miss him. He was always a friend to our department and to our little corner of our big department.

We'll sure miss him hanging around the 3rd floor at the end of the work day.

Briggs, may you find peace at last.

So here's the short of it, 
We had some excitement at work today. 

And here's the long.

Yesterday and today we've been training our newly hired special education teachers at the W. 40th street office.  At lunch we were eating up on the 3rd floor just outside my office.  One of my colleagues had gone out to get her lunch -

There's only a short story in the news so far 

Jennifer came in and told us that as she was coming into the parking lot, a police car came flying into the exit side of the parking lot with his lights flashing.  He drove over into the sports field behind our building (which is an old school building).  She saw him jump out of his car putting on his vest with a rifle in his hands.  He began walking parallel to the building.  She was on her cell phone with her Mom all this time telling her what was going on.  Her Mom told her to get herself in the building and stay away from the windows (she didn't obey the part about the windows)

We watched off and on while we were eating lunch.  We'd eat a bit and then go look out the window.  It wasn't long before we saw another police vehicle.  And it wasn't long before there were 5 or maybe even 7 police officers.

Now in the meantime - the woman who runs our building, Dottie,  called Central Office to see if there were any directives for us - like maybe locking all the doors so someone couldn't run into the building...

We headed back to our training after our lunch.  Most of our teachers had gone out to get something at a local restaurant.  Everyone got back into the building without any incident - thank goodness.  As we started up the afternoon sessions, Jennifer went to one of the doors in the back of the building that is kept open so that if there was some kind of movement toward the building we could be warned. By about 2:30 she came in and reported that they had apprehended one individual. They watched him surrounded by the police officers, handcuffed, and put into the patrol car.  Shortly all the patrol cars left and we were all back to normal.

I'll tell you this - during all that time, I sure didn't have to worry about falling asleep!

Now, just want to say - Dottie never did hear anything from Central Office about what we were supposed to do.

 


This is the view out of my office window.  The police car is visibile in the middle of the picture.


















Here's the first police officer on the scene.  You can't tell, but he's wearing a vest and carrying a rifle.  He's also got on shorts?

So here's the short of it, 
I'm sure glad I only have to work one of these long day weeks!  

And here's the long.

I had no trouble getting up this morning.  I had a pretty easy time getting myself ready and leaving in time and got there even a little early --- but this afternoon about 2:00, when I had to sit down in front of my computer for a couple of hours I really thought I was going to just fall asleep in my chair!  Of course if I had been at home and close by to a bed, I wouldn't have even been able to fall asleep!  


I wasn't able to go to sleep until almost midnight last night.  I'm going to try really hard to get myself to sleep a little sooner tonight or I really will be having trouble staying awake tomorrow!  Of course, there's so much to get done before school starts that I'd better not fall asleep!

So here's the short of it, 
Tomorrow is work! 

And here's the long.

I really can't believe that tomorrow work starts back.  Where in all the world did the summer break go?
And I have a "short week" to work.  The short week is the invention of our central office - I'm sure they copied it form somewhere.  The short week is a four day work week - Monday through Thursday.  The day starts at 7:30 AM  and doesn't end until 5:00 or maybe it's 5:30.  And there's this notion that as much gets accomplished in four long days as five regular days.  And the money gets saved by not having to have the buildings open that one day a week.   Can you tell it doesn't make much sense to me?

Anyway, thank goodness that because of when I'm going back to work I only have one of the four day weeks to work! The next week we are back to the regular 5 day week.

So up early tomorrow and off for my first day back at work!

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

And here's the long.

Wow - I'm home!  I'm just exhausted after all the traveling, but I haven't made it to the bed yet.

My suitcase isn't even unpacked.  I set it up and got out my medicine and said - I'll think about that tomorrow.  I took Sophie for a walk (or she took me for a walk since I've really been missing those walks), and then came in the house to get myself relaxing.

I wonder if my animals are going to believe it when I don't pack my bag up to leave tomorrow night!  Lola is perched on my leg right now and Sofie is sleeping about two feet away from me.  As soon as this post is done, I'll be off to do the shut eye thing.

Now who knows how it will really work, but my plan is to sleep for half of forever, then spend several hours in the shower before I do a couple of chores tomorrow - which I'll have to have done before family dinner!

So I should say night ya'll!

So here's the short of it, 
In Kentucky tonight...

And here's the long.

Mom and I drove up to Middlesboro, KY this afternoon.  It was a lovely drive and we managed to dodge all the raindrops every time the wheels were turning.

We got ourselves checked in to the motel here in Middlesboro and headed to Pineville for the Visitation for N.B. Lundy.  We took a little detour and drove by the house where Mom and Dad lived for so many years.  It looks as though someone is living there, and there's a for sale by owner sign posted in the yard.  It's still a beautiful place and I can still see the mark of Emily and Gene on that place.  It just so looked like there needed to be a garden in the back though!

From there we drove on over to Pineville and since it was still pretty early we took a trip up Spruce Street and drove by the house where we lived when I was in junior high and high school.  The neighborhood has changed a lot and there have been some changes to the house - including the big rock that used to be out by our driveway being absolutely gone!  But a lot of it is still so very familiar.  The little spring out back, the back yard that climbs steeply up into the woods, and the creek that comes down the mountain into the side yard.  Gosh I have lots of memories of that creek!

We went to the visitation and I saw lots of people from Pineville that I suppose I hadn't seen more than 30 years.  I saw lots of folks that were my brother's friends -- that was really nice.  Mom seemed to see lots of people as well.  After we left it was still daylight so we drove up Catalpa street to look at the house we lived in before we moved to Spruce Street -- then down Cedar Street, and around town a bit.  I have to say I was a bit nostalgic.  It's been a good many years since I tripped down some of those memory lanes!

Tonight a friend of Mom's from the Library Ladies club meet us for a visit at Pizza Hut where we had a late dinner.  We are at the hotel tonight and ready to call it a night.

So here's the short of it, 
I'm home again to a rousing welcome.  

And here's the long.


Sophie and Lola are really showing me that they are glad I'm home.  


I could say the same for my Mom and Alan, since Alan came and picked me up greeted me so sweetly, and Mom made a great dinner so I didn't even have to worry about that.  


But there's something about a dog that jumps and twirls and lets you know with every fiber of its being that you are home and you've just absolutely made her day!  When I took her out for a walk she was ecstatic!  She ran to and fro and every time I called her name she turned and ran for me as fast as she could - not a moments delay - none of that looking over and giving me that "I'm not quite ready" pose.   

And then there's Lola.  Even though the very first thing I did to her when I got home was give her that awful Amoxicillin that she hates to take, she's been right by my side all night long.  She's either an arms length away or right up next to me to get a little petting.

We people could sure learn a lot from our pets!

So here's the short of it, 
Tonight is my last night in Connecticut. 

And here's the long.

Alan says that Sophie goes out out to the back gate every afternoon about 4:30 to begin her wait for me to be home.  She doesn't come in until about 6:00.  It's mighty awful hot down there in Chattanooga for a big fur dog to be waiting out in the sun.  I wish I knew how to tell her what day I'd be home!

Shelley was up and about today and looked much better.  She's still in lots of pain and still can do no lifting.  I was teasing Marjorie and asked her how many years she was planning to stay.  I'm so glad that she's at a place in her life where she is able to stay and help out.  What do people do who don't have a Mom or someone who can come and provide the kind of support that Marjorie has been able to be for Shelley???

I've had a good time.  It's hard to leave with everything not back to normal - but it's on with the program and back to Chattanooga.

So here's the short of it, 
Shelley's home...


And here's the long.


Shelley got home a little after lunch today.  She is feeling really crummy and slept most of the afternoon up into the evening.  We entertained Max outside with some variations on ball throwing. 


It's good to have her home, and I'm hoping that just being home where her life is will help her heal.  I'm headed home after tomorrow, and Marjorie is really going to have her hands full, but for sure there are lots of friends that are pitching in to help out.  


I took my night-time medicine tonight and as I put it back I saw my morning pill case with only two morning left!  Time surely has flown by.  

So here's the short of it, 
Shelley is still in the hospital...

And here's the long.

Shelley thought that she would be able to come home today.  Even as the day progressed and she continued to have pretty bad pain, she was still hopeful that she'd be able to be home by the evening.

She's ended up staying one more night and hopefully will be home by mid-morning tomorrow - at least that how it seems at this late hour.  I know she's really looking forward to seeing her boys and Max is really missing her!  I'm looking forward to seeing her as well, and really hope she's not coming home too soon!

But for tonight, they'll take good care of her at the hospital and Marjorie and I will hold the fort here!

So here's the short of it,
A boy filled day!

And here's the long.

Here are a couple of pictures that probably sum up my day as well as anything could.

 Caleb likes very much to be held.


This is a sling fashioned from a lightweight blanket that is very useful in keeping the weight off !  The best part about it is that he seems to like it.

Max visited his Mom at the hostible (hospital) this evening and she told him to give his baby brother a kiss - a very gentle kiss when he got home.  He remembered the request and was eager to comply.

So here's the short of it, 
N. B. Lundy was Dad's friend and colleague. 

And here's the long.

When Dad went to work  for Kentucky Utilities in London, KY, N.B. Lundy was working for them as well.  Both families ended up in Pineville, KY.  And Dad continued to work with and for N.B. until he retired.

I can remember babysitting for their girls a couple of times.  And I remember being at lots of KU functions with them.

N.B. passed away yesterday.  He was a fine man.  I would imagine that Dad was there to greet him when he passed over.

When I get home next week, Mom and I will take a short road trip up to Pineville for his funeral.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Betty Sue, Tracey and Julie - we are thinking of you.

So here's the short of it, 
I had a really nice visit with Shelley today. 

And here's the long.

Shelley is actually looking better than I had expected!

I went to see her for a little while this afternoon.  She had eaten two "meals" by that time.  Her catheter had been removed.  She had taken two walks.  Her IV's had been removed (they left the needles in place just in case). And she seemed in good spirits.

I was glad to find her in such good shape.

She scored this great room.  Maybe being Lou's wife had something to do with it - but she was next to a person who kept their TV blaring at top levels.  When she asked several times to see if the volume could be lowered, they decided to move her instead.  So she's in this great corner room that looks as though it could be a suite!  Lou's got plenty of room to stretch out and visit!  I'm really glad that she got that little benefit - however it came about.

She says at this point that she thinks she will stay until Monday. That's such a good idea.  It would be really hard for her to get the kind of rest she really needs right now if she came home.

Those of you who pray - keep Shelley and her family in your prayers.

So here's the short of it, 
I'm here in New Haven.  

And here's the long.

Shelley is, according to her Mom, better than she expected. And according to Lou, she's doing fine.

My trip was uneventful, but very tiring.  Leaving at 6:50 in the morning from Chattanooga means a really early morning - and it still doesn't help me get to bed any sooner!  I also didn't have seat assignments that made napping very easy at all!

Everything here is going right along.  Max misses his Mom - but Marjorie and Lou have in all under control.  We had a great evening and I got some good visit time in with everyone.

So far it seems as though Max is really getting along well with his baby brother.  Here they are watching Diego together.  It's earlier than usual for me, but I'm really tired so I'm going to call it a night.

So here's the short of it, 
Shelley came through her surgery just fine.

And here's the long.

Ah yes, there was glorious news today.

After 3 plus hours of surgery today, Shelley's offending liver cyst is gone.  The biopsy showed no malignancy and while they were in there they went ahead and took her gall bladder so as not to have  that possibility rear its ugly head in the future.

I'll have to say that Alan was as nervous as I've ever seen him.  Even after Lou sent a text saying they were closing, he couldn't get relaxed about it.  Once he heard the news about the biopsy he did calm down a little bit, but it wasn't until he got a text from Shelley herself that I could see him really relax.

I'm headed out tomorrow morning for CT.  Hoping that my visit will be helpful.  I'm looking forward to being there for awhile.  And the fact that I'm getting back to work a few days later is just fine and dandy this year.

So here's the short of it, 
I had a really nice lunch date with Liga.

And here's the long

Liga took me to lunch at Kanpai of Tokyo!  She didn't know that I used to work there.  Long, many years ago -  I was single and had just bought my house in Rossville, Georgia.  I needed a little extra cash so I got a job in the bar on weekends.  Kanpai was over on Mountain Creek Road at that time.  People came from all over and the weekend it was usually quite busy.  It was a good second job and tips were good.  I will have to say I still don't like the smell of Saki.  It seems like I smelled of it at the end of every work night there.  Today's lunch was really nice though!  It was fun to be with my adult daughter treating me to a nice lunch.  We ran into a work colleague who was also with her Mother and we ended up sitting at the same communal table.  That was a nice treat. 

When we got ready to leave the heavens had opened up and let loose with a huge rain storm.  There were flash floods all over Chattanooga - leaving me to wonder about all those storm water plans that the city has been talking about.  Apparently downtown got quite the flood.  Here's a picture from the Chattanooga Times Free Press Facebook page showing what was going on downtown.  There were lots of Facebook messages from folks trying to get to downtown or trying to get out of downtown, and it seems that there was a little bit of time when most reasonable people were just stuck.  It was good to get the rain though.  We sure have been parched! 

So here's the short of it, 
I worked today!

And here's the long.

Even though I'm really on vacation, I worked most of today.  My director asked that I come in for an all day meeting and take a comp day at the beginning of the year.  That seemed pretty fair to me. Of course I underestimated how tired I would be after the big weekend!

I came home and was so exhausted that I let Sophie walk herself around the circle and then brought her in after one time around instead of our usual walking together several times!

I took a deep, hard, short nap late this afternoon and then Liga and I have been watching a video for her world religions class.  I am enjoying watching with her.  Of course I've always been interested in world religions, and sharing something that I enjoy with my daughter makes it even more enjoyable!

I've also had a chill since I got home this afternoon.  Hoping that I'm just tired.

So here's the short of it, 
Today was decompress and figure it all out day.  (reunion that is)

And here's the long.

We ran some numbers and found that all in all we are pretty good on the budget.  We've been hearing from lots of folks that they had a good time.  I got in a nap in the late afternoon, and even had a chance to go help Liga out a little at her "old" apartment.  She has to be completely out and ready for inspection tomorrow afternoon so we did a little of the detail cleaning.  I even had the time and energy to get Sophie out for her evening walk.  


I have to work tomorrow.  I'll get comp time for having to go in - and I really don't mind.  It's just such an interruption in my summer mood!  How in the world will I concentrate!

So here's the short of it, 
We had a great gathering today

And here's the long.

104 VanSant descendants of Jessie Milton Jones and Vernon Vaughn VanSant (along with their significant others) gathered to spend the day visiting, telling stories, and getting reacquainted today.

Here they are.  There were 10 children.  Eight of those children lived to have children of their own.  Our 104 in today's gathering included the 3 sisters who are the last living in the generation of the children - as well as the wife of one brother.  Then there were the grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren!

We had relatives from Canada to south Georgia.  From Philadelphia, PA to Irvine, CA - and lots and lots of places in between.  We had people born in Japan, Germany, Latvia, China, and of course lots of people born in the USA.

Our family's diversity shows up in political affiliations, career choices, and life style decisions.

But today all of our differences were put aside and we had a great time!  I am ever so grateful for belonging to the big crazy quilt of a clan.  Thanks to Jessie and Vernon for starting this branch of the kin.  It's a great place to belong.

So here's the short of it, 
Much to write about... 

And here's the long.

Most importantly for the moment -- Marjorie is OK.  Marjorie is Shelley's mom.  She's been in Connecticut since before Caleb was born when Shelley began to have problems.  She has been the work horse in holding everything together for them while Shelley was in and out of the hospital and then home with instructions not to lift anything heavier than 5 pounds (with a baby weighing in at more than 6 pounds!)  For the last couple of days, Marjorie hasn't been feeling well.  Late last night she had an emergency appendectomy - she's "home" today - that would be back at Shelley's and we have heard that all is OK.  I'm sure hoping that's the way it is!

On the home front, the VanSant reunion has begun.  The twins Ann and Sue with Ann's husband Andy and daughter Hannah from California and Clarksville, TN arrived first yesterday.  Our house guests Daniel Judge from Las Vegas, and Jon VanSant from near Colorado Springs, CO arrived last night.  Other family arrived throughout the evening and the day today.  Tonight we had a cook out and fellowship over at the Cumberland Pool Pavilion.  Alan took our grill and made the hamburgers, and we borrowed a great bulk hot dog cooker from the church and Steve grilled the hot dogs.  All was good.

We got in good visiting and now it's time for bed and start again tomorrow.  I'm glad to have so many relatives here.

So here's the short of it,
I'm proud to be an American

And here's the long.

Today we celebrated the 4th of July with our neighbors from the Belvoir Neighborhood.  We've been living here for almost 25 years, and the neighborhood began their picnic probably 2 or 3 years after we moved.  It's a great event and we always get to see people that we don't have a chance to see very often during the hectic work week/year.

The picnic was great once again this year!  Some years we have hamburgers and hot dogs, but this year we had barbecue.  Chicken and Pork - with all the trimmings. Neighbors bring desserts.  This year we were heavy on the "store boughten" cookies and cupcakes - but that's alright.  Mom brought along some fresh fruit and I got to have a little of that to go along with a homemade brownie, there was only one pan of those and I was probably lucky to get there at a time when there were some left.  We took a note for our upcoming event.  The lemonade in jugs was from the Publix deli and it was really good.

The fire fighters came and joined us and as usual there were some politicos out to meet and greet their constituents (or hopeful constituents).   The kids climbed all over the fire truck and paraded around the triangle with their decorated bikes.  Wow - time flies; it wasn't that long ago that we had kids in that neighborhood parade.

Now we are continuing this celebration with the neighbors and fireworks.  Sophie doesn't like this even one little bit!  Of course it's not legal to be setting off fireworks, but it hasn't ever stopped this neighborhood.

But - I did stop today amongst all my coming and going to think about how lucky I am to live in this country, in this time.  I am ever so grateful to those men and women who had the audacity to believe that we could make something new - try a form of government that had never been tried before.  It's not perfect, and quite frankly I worry about the incredible acrimony between the parties these days.  It seems that there's not much willingness to cross the aisle.  But this country has weathered tough times before.  I know we don't always get it right.  I know sometimes we get it terribly wrong.  But we can change anything about this country that we don't believe is right. And today I'm proud to be an American.

So here's the short of it, 
VanSant Family Reunion -- almost here!

And here's the long.

My Mom's a VanSant.  For many years the siblings in her generation have had family reunions to bring the family together.  I've probably been to as many of them as most people in my generation.

This year -- actually in just a few days, the VanSants - or at least some of the descendants of Vernon V. and Jessie Milton will gather in Chattanooga, TN.  We are expecting over 100 people to be here.  To be more precise - we are expecting 127 people.  From the oldest which may be my Mom to the youngest which is most likely Mattius from the lineage of William, then Sue, then Jessica.  We are all excited that the time is growing near.

Today I spent most of the day doing tasks to try and get ready for the great gathering!  I have a list.  I'm afraid I didn't get nearly as far on my list as I had hoped!  I'm going to just keep whittling on that list what time I have tomorrow.

Did I say yet I'm excited to have so many Aunts, Uncles, and cousins coming to Chattanooga!
Oh yes - a brother and nieces with their families too!

So here's to a productive tomorrow!

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

And here's the long.

Last night when we got home there was no internet!  It's been a long time.  A thorough investigation  this morning revealed that something happened that blew the fuse in the surge protector!  So it was a simple fix once Alan discovered the source of the problem.

Today we helped Liga get moved to her new apartment.  She's very pleased with her new digs.  I hope she'll really like it.  She's already commented that she's happy to be away from the train. Since her previous apartment was very near a train track.

We got a big breeze blowing through this evening and a few widely spaced rain drops, but today was a hot one.

It's time to start the big getting ready for our VanSant family reunion. For the next 3 days, I'm going to focus myself on that project!

Tonight I'm headed to bed before midnight!!