So here's the short of it, 
Happy Halloween

And here's the long.

Another Halloween at this house is over.  The candy is gone. The lights in the front of the house are out and the door is closed.  And Sophie is trying to relax.  She was really on point tonight.  Alerting me each time a group headed toward the door.  I think it was probably a pretty stressful night for her. Almost every group commented on how beautiful she is -- and several youngsters commented on how big she is!

Alan has been working really hard on the front lawn over the last few weeks.  So he concocted a couple of signs to try and keep the kids on the sidewalk!  Believe it or not, it worked to a large degree.  In case you can't make out the sign, it says-


DANGER

QUICKSAND

USE THE
SIDEWALK


I heard several parents telling their children to stay on the sidewalk!

We had over 175 Trick or Treaters.  I always ask them where they go to school to get some kind of idea of where they are coming from.  Tonight they were mostly from around these parts.  We had quite a few who came from the town side of Missionary Ridge, and then scattered ones from as far away as Ringgold and other outlying areas.

Vika R. and her boyfriend came by late in the evening.  I haven't seen her in a long long time.  Vika was adopted from Latvia by a family in the neighborhood just a couple of years after Liga and Valdis came to us.   It was so sweet of her to come by.

So here's the short of it, 
We've heard from Liga every day. 

And here's the long.

Liga bought a text plan that allows her to do 50 international texts for a certain price -- so we've heard from her every day.  She sounds like she's really having fun and that she's making some friends in her group.

Today they were at Tzfat or Safed.  Her text said that it was "gorgeous".  Later on they were going to do some hiking.  It sounds like they are getting in a hike every day.  Can't wait to see her pictures!

My day was particularly long and tomorrow probably will be as well!  I'm sure going to enjoy hitting the bed and getting into the snooze here in just a few minutes!

So here's the short of it, 
Thinking about everyone in the path of the storm.

And here's the long.

There are several folks we know who are more or less directly in the path of Hurricane Sandy -  Shelley, Lou and the kids; Ellen, Keith and kids; and several former students and acquaintances.  Myra has been in Italy and was supposed to be arriving home (Philadelphia) tomorrow - that homecoming has been delayed because of weather until Thursday!

The news stories and pictures are absolutely astounding.  There's this picture of a pretty disoriented and probably very scared bay shark next to someone's front porch, identified on the picture making the internet rounds as Ventnor, NJ.  I suppose it could be photoshopped, but it certainly seems as though it could be as real as some of the others that are making the rounds.  I've heard that Long Island City is underwater - that the New Jersey subways are flooding - that there is three feet of water on the trading floor of Wall Street - and over 2 million people are without power!

I'll have to say that my favorite lighthearted photoshop image shows Poseidon emerging from the sea onto the eastern shore.

On a more serious note, I'm thinking of those we love, those we know, and all the people we never even heard of who are having to live through this unbelievable storm.  I'm in thought and prayer as are folks of many faiths.  Strength to all for the hours and days to come.

So here's the short of it, 
I think that my patio breakfasts are over for the season.

And here's the long.

This morning it was too cold to sit on the patio and eat breakfast.  And yesterday it was too cold.  It's also too dark at breakfast time now to sit out on the patio and eat breakfast. Sophie also prefers to have breakfast outside, but we can manage indoors until the weather warms up.  And who knows - maybe there'll be a day or two on a weekend when it's warm enough to have a very late breakfast or a lunch out on the patio.  In the meantime, I'm moving breakfast into the dining room until spring time.

I'll still share a dish of oats with Sophie.  Raisins in mine - not in hers.  But I'll sit at the dining room table and she'll be nearby.  Maybe every once in awhile we'll have yogurt instead.  And since we'll be inside, once in awhile Lola may come to join us for a bit.  Especially on the mornings we have yogurt.

It's a nice start to the day.

So here's the short of it, 
Liga's off to Israel!

And here's the long.

Liga's long awaited Birthright Trip departs from Newark in just a little over an hour.  It's been an exciting few weeks as the time for departure got closer and closer.

This morning she came over for breakfast so Alan and I could take her to the airport.  It ended up being just as inexpensive to fly in and out of Chattanooga (when you consider the cost of having to get to a remote airport).  She's been good about keeping her nervous Mom posted by text on her whereabouts for each leg of her trip.  By about 7:30 she had connected with her travel group and I was able to relax.  They leave at 11:50 so I'll hear from her after she boards and then not again until they've landed.

Here are a few pictures of her departure!

She did a great job of packing!  Much better than I would have done!!

We sat for just a few minutes and visited before it was time for her to make the first leg of the trip!

Bon Voyage!!!

Here's to a great and wonderful adventure!!

So here's the short of it, 
Birthday thoughts.

And here's the long.

Tonight Alan and I went to services at Temple -- for my birthday.  One of the explications at the bottom of the page included this quote from Martin Buber.

When people come to you for help, do not turn them off with pious words, saying "Have faith and take your troubles to God."  Act instead as if there were no God, as though there were only one person in all the world who could help - only yourself.  Martin Buber

I was especially struck by this. I think it might be a good quote to go on my mirror for this birthday year.  I suppose I first became acquainted with Martin Buber in my college years.  I read I and Thou for one of my philosophy classes, and it had a pretty powerful impact on my thoughts.  That book is still on our bookshelf, but it's been a few years since I picked it up.

I think having this quote where I'll see it a couple of times a day will be a positive influence.  It may even encourage me to look through the Buber book again, But even more importantly, it might help me look at my actions in this light more often.

So Happy Birthday to me -- what a great birthday gift to have this come into my life this evening.

So here's the short of it, 
We should have taken a 3 generations picture in front of the ballot box!  

And here's the long.

Today at lunch time I took Liga and Mom and we all voted.
I love Early Voting!  The line wasn't long, the people were nice, and it's done and we all feel good about it.

This blog could be about our differences of opinion, or about our passion for our candidates, but it's not going to be.

I'd like to say thanks to you Mom and Dad for instilling in me the desire to be a part of it all.  To study the issues and to study the candidates.  To figure out which candidates I think best represent those things that I believe in.  And then to go and cast my vote.  Even when I know that my candidate won't win, or that I live in a state where my vote "won't count".  I vote because You taught me how important it is to take a stand and then try my best to make things happen.

So we voted.  I suspect that Mom and I might have cancelled one another out!  But that's OK.  We both made our voices heard.  And as someone recently said.  Whoever we elect as president will only be there for 4 or 8 years, but our family will be there forever!

So here's the short of it, 
Alan had a second epidural this morning.

And here's the long.

Actually this is not the second one.  He's had several of these over the years - but this is the second one in this "series".  Two is generally all the insurance will cover and then he has to wait awhile.  Today took us all morning long -- and then the instructions were that he was not allowed to be alone the rest of the day.  That was the first time we've gotten those instructions.

Anyway, he did fine except he's experiencing itching all over his upper torso that's related to the procedure.  I know he's been uncomfortable because of that.  They did give him benedryl along with the injection this time, but the itching was still there.

He's resting now and tomorrow he has instructions to take it easy.

So here's the short of it, 
Well -- this was one of those days at work. 

And here's the long.

I sure am glad that I love my job.  I'm awfully glad that I work with some good folks.  Because this was one of those days -- well one of those days that I would just as soon have been digging in the garden or - oh yeah, sleeping in until the sun came up and then having a leisurely breakfast with the doggie!

But that wasn't how it was!

So I'm going to try to get myself into the bed a whole lot early!  Then I'm going to try to get to sleep early too!

So here's the short of it, 
Home again.  

And here's the long.

Liga and I spent the morning with Mom and Papa Russ.  Avery spent the night with us so we had a chance to visit with her too.  She's sure adorable.  Can't wait until all the next generation kids are old enough so that all these little guys will gather at some family event and get to know one another.  Our Max and Caleb, and Steve and Pat's little grand babies, and Russ's little guys.  That should be lots of fun.

Our ride home was eventful to say the least.  We stopped for lunch at Panera and we stopped at the Outlet Mall in Calhoun to pick up a couple of things for Liga's Israel trip.  And we had lots to talk about - it's nice to be in a place where my daughter and I are able to visit and talk about grown things.

So here's the short of it,
Really nice visiting.

And here's the long.

Betsy brought Elizabeth and the kids over to us late morning and we had a great long visit.

Liga and I were out running an errand when they arrived, but we got back just as soon as we got the message that they were here.  I did not have enough time to get a visit in with Betsy, but I'm hoping I'll get to see her before too much longer.  I guess we'll have to do better about having a phone visit.

Anyway we played with Legos, watched Avery do her cute little thing, and just had a great time with the kids.  Mom (MaMa or G-MaMa) made potato soup and grilled cheese for lunch and then we played and played some more.  Miss Avery was determined NOT to take a nap so she was quite cranky!  Elizabeth and I had a really nice visit - she needed to go to an Walk-in Clinic for an ear problem so we had a good chance to talk about the kids, and school, and her move.  Then it was back in time for MaMa's spaghetti supper.

Elizabeth and Elijah headed back to Betsy's and she let Miss Avery spend the night with us!  After about 30 minutes of looking around for her Mom, she settled right in and had a good time with us.

It's off to sleep for now.  Tomorrow Liga and I will head back home.

So here's the short of it, 
Elizabeth and her two little children are visiting in Atlanta. 

And here's the long.

Elizabeth is my older brother's oldest child.  She lives in California and has two children, Elijah and Avery.  I've never met Avery!  I'm excited to get to see my great niece.  And Mom says that Elijah is really like a big boy these days! We'll get to spend some time with them tomorrow.

This evening after Liga got off work, we headed down to get in a bit of a visit.  It was a nice drive - although I'm not liking driving in the dark nearly as much as I used too.  I like the advantage of being able to see everything in the daylight! Anyway, we made it fine and dandy.  We're staying at Steve and Pat's house, although they are visiting with Pat's sister - a commitment they had made several months ago.  I'm sorry to have missed out on a good visit with them for sure!  I did have a good chance to chat with Pat this morning before they headed out for the plane though - and that was nice.  It's been awhile since we've caught up with one another.

Now it's time to see how much sleep I can wrangle out of this night!

So here's the short of it, 
Twenty Five Years ago! 

And here's the long.

It was a beautiful Fall Sunday.  

The wedding party included -
          Emily and Gene Howard, Lynn's Mom and Dad
          Anne and Izzy Richelson, Alan's Mom and Dad
          Shelley and Daniel Richelson, Alan's kids
          Rabbi Ken Kantor, the officiant.

Those were the attendees as well.

Twenty-Five years is a long time, and it's just a little time ago as well.

Happy Anniversary Alan!  How about we try for another 25?

So here's the short of it, 
Heading for the Land of Nod...

And here's the long.

I swapped out a couple of fall break days for a couple of days this week so I'm looking forward to going to bed here in a little bit.  And even more than that I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning.  No alarm going off in my world tomorrow.

All the other souls in my house are sound asleep right now, so in just a few more minutes, I'm going to toddle off to bed and head to the land of nod myself.

So here's the short of it, 
Facing History and Ourselves - check it out. 

And here's the long.

Tonight Facing History and Ourselves, in partnership with Hamilton County Schools, Baylor  and the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, hosted a Parent Event which explored how to foster a safer and stronger school community.


We began by watching a part of the documentary film BULLY. This film provided a
compelling and tragic portrait of the consequences of bullying in our society. The film clip was followed by a discussion, led by Facing History staff, using lessons from A Guide to the
Film BULLY: Fostering Empathy and Action in Schools.

We had a good turn out and the parents who attended seemed to be very interested.  I was so pleased that there was a cohort of our school psychologists who chose to attend.  Perhaps you'll have a minute to explore their website which you can find here. And if you have any input in the schools in your communities - perhaps you can encourage them to include Facing History instruction in their curriculum.

So here's the short of it, 
I find myself wondering how sleep really works.

And here's the long.

Last night I had one of those nights that felt as though I didn't sleep.  Of course I know that's not true, but there was that weird feeling of being just on the edge of sleep or maybe it's just on the edge of wakefulness...

My back was hurting, but not that keep you wide awake really severe pain -- just the oh yea, my back hurts wonder if that's why I'm having trouble sleeping kind of pain.

Anyway, I wonder what kind of rest one really gets on nights like that. I don't remember dreaming, unless my dream was that I wasn't sleeping.  And I don't remember getting up or looking at the clock many times which is something that sometimes happens. And I wasn't really that tired during the day either.

So I find myself wondering about sleep - it's restorative powers; the different kinds of sleep; the routines that help one go to sleep -- and how easy it is to fall asleep sometimes; and how difficult sometimes when we are trying to chase it down!

For now, night night!

So here's the short of it, 
Malala Yousafzai this is for you!

And here's the long.

There were so many days that I took going to school for granted.  Certainly as a 14 year old girl, I didn't understand the value of "getting to go to school".  There were no people in my world who believed that women shouldn't be schooled.  There were certainly a few who didn't see the value of college for women - but no one would have come after me with a gun.

Malala is in a hospital, still in a coma and on a respirator.  She was shot point blank in the head.  Those who shot her have sworn that if she survives, they will find her again and kill her.

Her crime.  She wants to go to school.  She wants to be educated!

In a CNN interview last year, she said, " I have the right to play. I have the right to sing. I have the right to talk. I have the right to go to market. I have the right to speak up."

The Taliban has taken responsibility for the shooting.  They believe that no girl should be educated. Taliban spokesperson Ihsanullah Ihsan said, "We do not tolerate people like Malala speaking against us.  It's reminiscent of Herman Goering who said, "Education is dangerous - Every educated person is a future enemy."

Young girls everywhere will be moved by this story!  Here's a link to the most recent developments.

Malala -  prayers and the positive thoughts of the world surround you.
You are such a hero.  You are in my thoughts and prayers so often these days.

So here's the short of it, 
25 years and counting...

And here's the long.

Tonight we went to an anniversary party for some friends who've been married for 25 years.  Every 5 years they have renewed their vows.  Or as husband, Daniel says - tightened the ball and chain.  Not only was it a party, but they said "I do" again.  Actually what they said this time was "I still do".

Jeannie wore the original wedding dress.  Dan played guitar and sang the song he wrote for her 25 years ago. Now, what you can't see in this picture - Jeannie is wearing pink cowboy boots! And Jeans under that wedding dress!

It was fun to see so many people there and find out their connections to Dan and Jeannie.  We all had on name tags.  She said to me I really believe in the Name Tag Project - google it when you get home.  And so I did.  Turns out, it's an effort to get people to interact by removing some of the awkwardness of social occasions where lots of people don't know one another.  It was fun to follow Jeannie's instructions and ask people we didn't know - or even those we did - "now how are you connected to Jeannie and Dan"?

Glad we went, and glad to be home and headed to bed in just a bit.

So here's the short of it, 
Last Day of Fall Break!

And here's the long.

Well, I do have the weekend - but today was really the last day of "not working" on a week day.

I took Mom to an early doctor's appointment and then we went to IHOP for a nice breakfast.  I haven't been to IHOP in quite awhile, and Mom said that she didn't think she'd been at all since they'd been in the new building (which is across the street from the old building).  It was lunchtime by the time I finally got back home!

The afternoon was filled with errands and a visit with Mommy Anne.  And then home for the afternoon/evening.  Now I don't know where the afternoon/evening went.  I piddled around and did a few things, but suddenly it's gotten pretty late.

Tomorrow is another day and the work week is approaching so quickly I can almost hear the Monday morning alarm!!

So here's the short of it, 
We had a dry run this evening. 

And here's the long.

Tonight at 6:29 PM we had a dry run of Mom's mobile medical alert system!

I got home and plugged my phone in to charge it up.  I was in the other room when I got the call from Mom's medical alert folks.  By the time I got to it, they had hung up and I didn't know who it was.  I was calling back when I heard the message ding in and quickly discovered that since they had not gotten a response from Mom or me that they had dispatched an ambulance! (I didn't know it then, but they had also tried Alan, but he was in a meeting with his phone turned off.)

By this time, I was outside with Sophie - now usually when I call her to come in, she comes running pretty quickly.  Not tonight.  It didn't really take long to get her to sit so I could leash her and get her in, but let me tell you, it seemed like it!

When I got to Mom's house, there was an ambulance with lights flashing!  They had just gotten there and the neighbor was walking across the street explaining to them that she had seen Mom leave for church not long ago.  They weren't sure because they could see the television playing! So went in and checked all the rooms to make sure that she wasn't in there in spite of that fact that she was gone, her car was gone, and the neighbor had seen her leave.

After they left, I drove over to church and cruised through the parking lot and saw that Mom's car was there.  Then I made a beeline for home.  I got back in time for Sophie to get her walk!

I was really glad that the life alert worked.  There is a little problem - it's a portable system, and it should have sent the ambulance to the GPS location where she was.  So the ambulance should have gone to the church.  Now that would have really qualified as a dry run.  They are supposed to be investigating to find out why the dispatch sent the ambulance to the house instead of where she was.  We'll get that little problem worked out.  In the meantime, a dry run is a pretty good thing.

So here's the short of it, 
Alan had an epidural today.

And here's the long.

Alan had another epidural for his neck pain today. He's had several of them over the years, and they do seem to bring some level of relief for his pain.  We were there and then back by late morning.

from: http://catalog.nucleusinc.com/imagescooked/9600W.jpg

He gets the twilight sleep anesthesia when they do this, so he's "out" for the rest of the day after having one of them.

He felt a bit better earlier today, but now he's got some pain going on.  According to the articles that I've read, it's pretty common to have some pain in the first few days after the injection.  I'll have to say I don't remember in previous treatments whether he had discomfort after the injection.  Click Here for an article that's pretty informational.

He's got another one scheduled in two weeks.  Let's hope he's going to be getting some good relief.

So here's the short of it, 
There's a definite chill in the air.

And here's the long.

Fall is here!  There was a chill in the air today. And my office was cold enough that I had to break out the old fuzzy "office sweater" to be comfortable!

Lot's of people, including Alan, have turned on the heat!  It sure was a quick change from fairly pleasant weather - including walking without a sweater, to this really chilly weather where I'm wishing for a coat like Sophie's that will get thicker as the weather gets cooler.

I suppose we'll have a few more warm days before it really gets cold, but apparently the forecast for this winter is for this area of the country to have colder and more snow than usual for this winter.  Now I know only gardeners and teachers think about winter weather in October.  And I've got enough of both of those in my blood that I suppose it's just a natural thing.

So here's the short of it, 
It's really nice to have family visit!

And here's the long.

We had another great day of visiting with family.

This afternoon we spent a little time with Mommy Anne at Elmcroft. We all went out into the "living room" and had a great visit.  David has tons of pictures on his iPad and he and the boys really did enjoy giving Mommy Anne a slideshow.  She had such a good time looking at them and talking about all the people in the pictures.

Later in the evening we all headed to the house and ordered in dinner.  We were really glad that Marjorie and Issie were with us.  Mom also joined us - and then Liga was able to come by on her dinner break.

I'm awfully lucky.  I know so many people who don't have much family, or are far, far away from their family and don't see them often, or have family but are estranged.  I love that Alan and I both have great families and we get to spend time with them.

And to Myra, David, Noah, and Evan -- thank you for coming to Chattanooga to spend some time with us!

So here's the short of it, 
Family...

And here's the long.

Alan's nephew David, with his two young sons got here today. And Myra is already here!

We had a great dinner at the Chop House with them and local Richelson relatives.  Mommy Anne was able to join us as well.  What a lovely evening and such a nice occasion for a visit.

I didn't get a picture of the crew, but we had The Reingold siblings - Mommy Anne, sister Aunt Miriam, and little brother Arvin with his wife Lillian  - Cousins, Sherry and her husband Doc, Our kids Liga and Valdis with Kalie for Dinner with our out of town visitors.  We filled up a long table in that great back room of the restaurant!

I left a bit early because my niece Lauren, with her two children were dropping Mom off from her trip to Atlanta for great nephew Jacob's birthday.  I managed to get there not long after they arrived and had a good, but quick visit.

It was nice to see them, even if it wasn't a long visit.   I hope that we see them for a longer visit soon.

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

And here's the long.

It's fun to go away and get out of the grind for a minute, but it is just wonderful to come back home.

My sweet sister-in-law, Myra got here about the same time as me and we had a great visit over dinner. Home again - Alan's already in the bed, and I'm in the recliner with the heating pad on my achey back - Sophie May is keeping me company, and I'm catching up on the blog, and thinking of heading off to bed before too long.

Here's the short of it,
I'm in Nashville.

And here's the long.

Today was pretty eventful. After the conference my colleague and I walked around a bit and found some cute and funky shops. Our first stop was a kitchen store that had all kinds of cool gadgets as well as coffees and teas - then on to a hippie peacenik kind of shop, and finally To a new and used bookstore where I found a copy of Half the Sky. Can't wait to dig into that!

We ended the evening at the Mellow Mushroom and then walked back to our rooms. I'm glad I packed the heating pad. I'm sitting on it right now - it feels really good on my back!

Tomorrow we'll head back about mid-day. As much fun as it is to get away for a bit, it will be good to be back home


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Here's the short of it,
I'm in Nashville.

And here's the long.

I'm in Nashville at a conference for a couple of days.

We drove over this afternoon and got here in plenty of time before dark. We are staying at Scarrit Bennett again - a place I stayed 2 years ago. Sthe accommodations are certainly not luxurious, but it's such a beautiful place with so much character. It's almost like being on a retreat to be here.

Even though we're on central time here it's gotten rather late and I'm needing to head to bed!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

So here's the short of it, 
Half the Sky

And here's the long.

Tonight I'm watching another installment of Half the Sky, a documentary about women in other parts of the world.  Last night the focus was on efforts to educate girls in countries.  There's lots of research that shows that educating women is one of the best social and economic investments that can be made.

What changes this woman has brought about in her world!

But tonight there is a segment which has been filmed in Somaliland -  The woman at the center of this piece is a midwife who has spent her life working to serve the women and has built the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital.   She talked about how dangerous it is for a woman to be pregnant in Somaliland - how many young women and babies died.  This segment also addressed the issue of Female Genital Mutilation.  Oh wow!  I've known about this atrocity for many years, but the segment really made it much more of a reality.  That's what good television really does, huh!  It educates us - makes us more informed - makes us want to do things to change things.

This documentary is showing on PBS until October the 9th.  Or if you aren't around a TV, it is free streaming online until the 9th.  After that it's available for purchase.

Oh I hope you'll watch some of it.

So here's the short of it, 
I had a regular check up with my oncologist today. 

And here's the long.

We chatted about how things are going.  And I got some good information.
My blood work is fine, and he's sending out for a check up on my magnesium levels. I've been taking over the counter magnesium because it keeps my leg cramping at bay.  When I don't take the magnesium, I'm prone to night time cramps in my legs and feet and hands.  When I do take the magnesium I have mild cramping in my hands and my feet, but not usually at night - and certainly not the jerk you awake screaming kind of cramps that I was having.  It's the Arimidex that is causing the cramping I'm almost certain - and Dr. Schlabach seemed to agree that it's probably the cause.  However, he thinks that the magnesium is most likely the cause of my diarrhea distress.

So he gave me a prescription for a specific kind of magnesium.  We'll see how that works.  He gave me a plan B and a plan C as well.  So for right now I'm good to go.

And here's this.  He's the best doctor!