So here's the short of it, 
Today Jesse Matthews pleaded guilty.

And here's the long.

In 2011 Chattanooga lost police officer Tim Chapin.  I didn't know Officer Chapin, but from all that I've heard about him, he was just a wonderful person. He responded to a burglary in progress that April day, and Jesse Matthews shot him to death.

Jesse Mathews in front of Judge Barry Steelman 
- photo by Brent McDonaldtion

Chattanooga has spent the weeks and months following preparing for a trial.  The prosecution had planned to seek the death penalty.  Today Matthews was sentenced to life plus 15 years ensuring that he will never get out of jail.  He has given up all rights to any kind of appeal.

I hope Matthews lives a long life.  I hope that during his time in jail he'll become stone cold sober and that the chaotic ranting of an outlaw brain ceases.  And then in that time, within the setting that he's in, it's my sincere hope that he finds a way to turn from the life that he has led so far and make one step and then another in the right direction.  Nothing he can ever do will bring back Officer Chapin, but perhaps he can do some good where he finds himself if he wants to do that.  I hope he will. If not, I hope that he will come to know that he chose his life.

And I'm glad that Officer Chapin's family and our community don't have to continue reliving that awful day.

So here's the short of it, 
Sleep didn't come very easily last night and morning came mighty early.

And here's the long.

I imagine that I would have gone to work even if we had won the lottery - at least for today. But we only had one number so it was off to work!

I ended the day on the north side of the river so I decided to visit the Chattanooga Area's last remaining K-Mart.  I picked the name of a young girl in the family that our department has adopted for Christmas gift giving.  I had lots of fun shopping for her. I sure hope she likes the "outfits" I put together for her.  I'd sure have liked to just taken her with me and let her pick out some things.

I'm excited that tomorrow is Friday!  Can't wait to finish up this week of work and get thinking about a wonderful weekend!

So here's the short of it, 
Sand Man...where are you!!

And here's the long.

I've got a really early morning tomorrow, but I'm not sleepy enough to go on to bed tonight -- at least not yet.

Everyone else is snoozing away.  The dog is lightly snoring, the cat just woke up enough to stretch and change positions and go back to her sleeping.  Alan has been asleep for quite awhile.  I'm still sitting here.  I think I need to get my brain to slow down.  Last year, someone gave me advice to put a cool towel over my head - maybe I should try that again!

Or maybe I should try counting sheep.

So here's the short of it, 
Is it only Tuesday!

And here's the long.

HaHa.  Today was a long work day.  We had a teacher help session that lasted until 6:00 pm.  I suppose that's why it seemed so much longer than it really was.

I work with some of the greatest folks.  They know what they're doing, they are open to sharing, and they are darned fun to be around most of the time.

-----

Shelley got away just fine with the guys this morning.  Alan took her to the airport.  And Alan heard from her just awhile ago saying that they were home safe and sound.  It was such a good time to have them here for a visit.

-----

So if today really is Tuesday, I suppose I'd better get myself into bed since that would mean that tomorrow is Wednesday and another work day that will get me out of bed early!

So here's the short of it, 
Back to work and then our last visit with the Steins.

And here's the long.

Well, I'm back at work. Today was a rev it up and get moving day. But that's as good a way to get started back to work as any.

This evening we went over to Marjorie and Issi's and brought dinner in - we had a great visit.  We sure will miss Shelley, Max, and Caleb.  I know they are eager to get home and get settled back into their routine again. But it was really so much fun to have them in town.

I've stayed up later than I expected, so I'm going to head off to the bed so I'll be ready for the second day back on the job!

So here's the short of it, 
We sure had a great day with Max. 

And here's the long.

Today was a great day with Max.  We did the Creative Discovery Museum, Tried to take a nap, played with Poppa and Mama Lynn's "stuff", and helped out with supper.  The Sophie issue was solved with a benydryl and having her stay in the back room.  The benedryl kept her drowsy enough not to be barking all the time.




One of the fun spots at the Creative Discovery Museum was the face painting station.

Every time he added a line, he asked, "What do I look like now!"  The paint stayed on (well mostly) until we got home and washed it out before we attempted to nap.








Later in the afternoon Max helped out by "cutting" some cucumbers.  After this job, he said, "I'm done with this".  He wasn't up for much helping after that!  But it was fun to watch him cut the cucumbers.  He ate a piece for every three or four pieces that made it to the bowl for the table!






We sure are going to miss them when they head home!

So here's the short of it, 
I'm a happy person today. 

And here's the long.

Not in the order that they happened but here are three things that really made my day.

...Mom arrived home from her time with Steve and Pat in Destin.  She had a wonderful time. And she seemed glad to be back home.  It looked like she really did well on the flight back home. I'm glad she went and had a great time, and I'm glad she's back home!

... Alan got our kitchen TV mounted so that it's no longer sitting on the counter!  There is so much more room. And I got really motivated to rearrange a couple of things and get that counter space I've been wanting!

...I spent an hour with Kelly!  She worked on my left side a bit today, and spent some time working that soreness out of the front of my right thigh.  I always feel tons better after Kelly's magic touch.

So here's the short of it, 
I can hardly believe that I have two more days without having to be at work!

And here's the long.

Today I woke at 6:30 AM.  It doesn't seem early when you don't have to get up! And even though I was up early, it's been a pretty relaxing day.  I didn't really set myself any tasks, but did do a couple of little chores.  Shelley and Max met us for lunch at Chili's. We had a nice visit and it was a treat to get to do lunch with family on a Friday!

Our weather is supposed to get down to 27 degrees tonight  so I harvested the rest of the tomatoes and got them into the house this afternoon. Tomorrow I'll figure out what I'm going to do with them.  There aren't really enough to do pickles --

By the time I was in the house, I had gotten a bit of a chill so I sacked out for an afternoon nap.  That's something that is a real luxury!  It's hard to nap when you are a working girl - and besides, I'm not usually a very good napper anyway.  But this afternoon I got some zzz's in.

I'm really cherishing this time off.

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

And here's the long.

Here's a big shout out to Marjorie and Issie for a great Thanksgiving feast!  The food was wonderful, the company was great, and the evening was just perfect.

Here is a collage that Liga sent me of all the sibs.  You can tell it's from her since there's one of her with each of her siblings!

And of course that last one -- of all of us with Mommy Anne. 

Happy Thanksgiving. 

So here's the short of it, 
We had a great day with Max today. 

And here's the long.

Our Thanksgiving break started today and we had the great pleasure of having Max visit for the day.   Here are a few of the things we did.

...played soccer on the circle


...played with Legos


...played with the crane and a toy jeep.


...did not play with Sophie


...ate a great lunch


...took a nap

...walked to the playground at Brainerd Baptist


...climbed on everything in the playground


...met the neighbor boys


...climbed the evergreen in the front with Caden


...played with Keva planks


...played the musical toy at the playground

...charmed his Poppa and Momma Lynn.

So here's the short of it, 
I'm trying to live it...

And here's the long.

So here's the short of it, 
Watching the Ken Burns The Dust Bowl.

And here's the long.

Tonight is the second installment of The Dust Bowl.  I just really do enjoy how Ken Burns handles our history.  Each piece of our history comes to life under his hands by telling the stories of the people who lived in that time.

This was such a difficult time in our history, but hearing these folks who were youngsters during this time is just amazing.  I would have loved to have had Ken Burns documentaries when I was learning history.

I think that reading Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath gave me an understanding of those folks who left.  Apparently it was the largest migration in American history.  But I had no idea that 75% of the folks who lived there actually stuck it out.

I've always been fascinated with the photographs of this era.  You can see some of those photos Here and Here and Here and Here as well as many other places.

I'll have to say. I got caught up looking at the pictures at the links I provided above.  I hope you enjoy looking at a few of them.

Here's one of my favorite quotes from Grapes of Wrath - I suppose that literature has helped shape my beliefs as much as anything else in my life.

"Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there.  Wherever they's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there.  If Casy knowed, why, I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad an' - I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry n' they know supper's ready. An' when our folks eat the stuff they raise an' live in the houses they build - why, I'll be there."
  - John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

So here's the short of it, 
four generations...

And here's the long.

This weekend, we had four generations of Richelsons together.  Shelley, Caleb, Mommy Anne, and of course Alan!  We couldn't convince Max to get in the picture at the moment --  he was busy playing under the table.

So here's the short of it, 
Today we had a great day of visiting. 

And here's the long.

We met with a bunch of the Richelsons, some friends, and a bit of my family at the CountryPlace Restaurant  today for lunch.  It really was nice!  Max had told his Grammy before they left that he might be shy -- but he really seemed to be in such a great mood. ''

Shelley, Dan, Liga, Valdis

This evening we had time for visiting and a light supper.  Here's a picture of the four siblings.  It sure was good to have them all home.  Here's hoping we get in some really good time together.

So here's the short of it, 
We had a great visit with Shelley and her boys tonight. 

And here's the long.

This evening Marjorie and Issi had us over for dinner.  Liga was able to come after work as well. We had a nice visit with everyone and so enjoyed having some time to see Shelley and the kids.

We're looking forward to seeing lots of family tomorrow.

So here's the short of it, 
I'm having another bout with e-mail.

And here's the long.

After being out of town for three work days with little time to take care of e-mail, I got back to work to find myself in e-mail prison once again!  And this time it took me way too much time to get out!

I do have a new system though.  One of my lead teacher colleagues introduced us to One Note the other day.  So today I spent a bit of time getting that set up and starting to move my "can't delete" stuff over to binders.  Actually I only have one binder at this time, but I have lots of tabs within the binders already.  I think this may actually save me!  I'm going to have to invest some time in it though, and I'm having trouble figuring out where that's going to fit into my schedule between now and the break!

Anyway, by this afternoon, I was out of e-mail prison, but I'll be back again pretty soon if I'm not careful.

So here's the short of it, 
I'm home ... and happy to be so!

And here's the long.

Today was a long ride home from Memphis.  It was sure nice to have a colleague with me.  It's never such a long drive when there's someone to visit with.  This was such a great opportunity to be with someone has the same core values in education as I do --- and to attend a conference that reinforced those values.

But it's always so good to be home. Sophie was really excited and running around all over the house.  Lola curled up in my lap to welcome me home.  I had lots of good food while I was gone, but home to a nice cup of my yogurt and strawberries -- YummY!

Another couple of days of work - but Shelley's arrives with the boys tomorrow.  Can hardly wait to see them all.

So here's the short of it, 
I had a wonderful day in Little Rock, Arkansas.  

And here's the long.

The second day of Facing History and Ourselves  today was in Little Rock.  I got up really early; Wendy wasn't feeling well enough to go, so I headed out myself. We started out at Central High School.  Yes THE Central High school, where in September 1957, 9 really brave young African American teenagers walked up the sidewalk to go to school, and walked right into history.

Today Central High school is a vibrant very ethnically diverse school.  I had an opportunity to interact with two students who were acting as docents - wow! was I ever impressed.  And the two young ladies I encountered in the ladies room were just as nice as they could be!

We heard, 3 of the Little Rock Nine as they've come to be known, as well as two other adults who were students at Central High school that year speak on a panel about that year.  It was quite interesting to hear the things they had to say, and it gave me lots to think about.  One of the things I've thought about all evening long is about how the parents knew that their children were really soldiers on the front line of the desegregation movement.

I was so glad to see Central High the way it is today.  And I know that there's much work left to do.  I hope I can be some small part of that work.

So here's the short of it, 
Great dinner tonight! 

And here's the long.

My colleague and I had a wonderful day at our conference today.  We learned lots about some of the latest research into urban education.  At the end of our day we heard Sonja Sohn from The Wire - that TV show on HBO that I've never watched, but now think I will.

This evening Lauren met us with Madison Claire for dinner.  It was SO nice of her to travel into town to have dinner with us.  I brought a pair of fairy wings for Madison - and had so much fun watching her flit around the restaurant!  We had a great visit with her Mom as well!

So here's the short of it, 
Veteran's Day

And here's the long.

Here's Dad!  He volunteered for the army shortly after he turned 18.

There was D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, and Operation Varsity.  And many, many small towns and villages along the way.

World War II shaped Dad in ways that I don't think I can even imagine -- and I really knew little about it until we were all gone from home, he had retired, and the stories began to emerge.

In a moment of great clarity Dad decided to write his story down for his children and grandchildren.  We are so lucky to have it in his words.  He spent many years remembering, writing, and editing.

Dad, on this veteran's day, I thank you for your service.
I also thank you for giving us A Name In The Sand.  

So here's the short of it, 
Crunched up weekend!!

And here's the long.

Today is my weekend.  Tomorrow I'm driving to Memphis for a conference.  So Saturday and Sunday got crunched up into today.  I didn't get it all done, so I'll be up really early in the morning.

But we did move Sunday Family dinner to Saturday Family dinner.  It was nice to have everyone together for the first time since Liga's return.

By the time I return from my conference Shelley will almost be here. Can't wait to see her and the boys.

So for now, it's climbing in the bed for some zzz's so that I can get up way early!!!

So here's the short of it, 
It is sure good to have a Friday evening!

And here's the long.

Well, work is done for another day.  And that closes down another week.  This week I learned that two more of the people I work with will be retiring this year.  I remember when I first started out I really didn't know many of the people retiring at all. So things change.  And someday I'll be one of those folks!!

Next week I'm traveling to a conference on Urban Education - and I've never before travelled with the colleague who's going with me. She's really one of my favorite principals and I'm eager to have some extended time with her -- gonna pick her brain about bunches of stuff!!

This evening I'm wondering why I feel like it's almost midnight and it's really not even 8:00 PM.  I think it's that dratted time change that gets so much more difficult every year! I'm glad to have tomorrow before I go on my trip to get a bit of relaxing in.

So here's the short of it, 
Liga is home!

And here's the long.

Liga has touched down in Chattanooga!  She looks fine, but exhausted.  Her Dad picked her up at the airport and they came here about the time I got home.  Then we took her home and stopped in at Nikki's for dinner on the way.  She was happy to have an American hamburger! Although she did say that the Israeli vegetables were the best she ever had! We are so glad that she had the opportunity to go on a Birthright trip.  And we're so glad she's back home safe and sound.

Here's a shout out to Keith and Ellen and kids for coming to her rescue last night when her cancelled flight stranded her in New York.  It sure was nice that she had folks who love her to see her through that bump in the road!

She's interested in going back -  imagine that.

So here's the short of it, 
Liga's part of the way home. 


And here's the long.

We got a text last night about 11:00 - the group was at the airport Early morning they would be leaving for the US of A.  Then at a little after 10:00 this morning, I got a call saying that her flight from New York to Charlotte had been cancelled. I never got an explanation - I think that maybe the storm coming through tonight was the problem - on top of the damage from Sandy earlier on.  I was on my way into a meeting and didn't have time to do anything - so I called Alan and he got to work on it right away.

By the time my meeting was over he had been able to book another flight -- but not until tomorrow!  It would be another few hours before she would land and find out.  In the meantime, there was not a hotel to be had near JFK.  So he got in touch with nephew and family Keith & Ellen (and Katie and Jack) -- of course they invited Liga to stay with them.

When she landed at a little after 3:00 she knew before she got off the plane that her flight was cancelled.  Her phone would text but she didn't have enough signal to support a voice call.  She was so tired.  Exhausted, she said, and was just frazzled about not getting home tonight.  Her Dad talked her through it all though, and she took a cab to Brooklyn and is safe and sound with the Pearlmans tonight.  Thank goodness for family to take her in! Her last post said that she was so exhausted she was almost delusional!

Tomorrow she'll have her last legs of the journey and will be back home by early evening.  I know she'll be eager to be home in her own bed and her own apartment.  And maybe she'll be a little more rested.

We are so eager to see her.  and hoping that this little blip in the end of her trip will end up just being one of those funny stories as time goes along.

So here's the short of it, 
Election night coverage!

And here's the long.

I don't need to get sucked into watching the election results into the wee hours of the morning.  But I am SO interested in the outcome.  I don't think it's any secret to my family and friends that I am "all in" supporting Obama/Biden for another term.  So yes, I have CNN on, and I'm also following the outcome on the blog I've been reading for about the last month. It's the New York Times FiveThirtyEight blog Nate Silver has been doing this blog based solely on statistical data rather than the passionate party based predictions that we see on so much of the media which seems only intent on entertaining us -- or at least telling us what we want to hear.  (We all choose to watch the stations that tell us what we want to hear!)
I am, at this point in the evening, deeply disturbed about the reports that there are places where our democratic processes seem to be in peril.  There are reports that people in Florida have had to wait in line for 6 hours.  That there are electronic voting machines which are not correctly recording votes in some places. And a friend of mine who knows, in fact, that there have been past instances of incompetent people being registered to vote - and I suppose had ballots turned in "on their behalf".  I am dreadfully sorry for all of the fraud that is perpetrated in our country to "win".

There are two things that I think are incredibly important.  The first is to educate people and help them to understand the importance of participating in the process.  The second is to make the process transparent, fair, and easy for people to participate.  As Wolf Blitzer just said on CNN - in this day and age in the United States of America it ought not to be an act of heroism to cast a vote.

Whoever wins this election - whether we know by tomorrow morning or if it is settled in the courts again.  I will honor our process.

Good night all.

So here's the short of it, 
Election Day

And here's the long.

I've already voted.  But tomorrow is still heavy on my heart and mind as I know it is for many.

My fervent hope is that once the election is over our country can come together and heal some of the wounds and divisiveness that has taken root.

Facebook has certainly contributed to that divisiveness.  I know that I have fundamentally different political beliefs from many of my friends and family.  The way we deal with that on a day to day basis is to find the things we have in common and talk about and share those things.   Facebook allows us to express our opinions in the most passionate of ways without thinking about the folks who have opened their news feed to us - in other words invited us into their living rooms.  I'll have to say that in the early part of the campaign season, I was more guilty than most of posting my opinions often and in most passionate ways.  Roberta Echols, my colleague, friend, and FaceBook friend made a post that helped me see the error of my ways -- so I tried to keep my "Facebook Mouth" shut in mixed company (politically mixed that is).  I pride myself on having friends and family of many persuasions - and I like that.  I know and admire people of differing religions, races, sexuality, and political opinions.  I know and admire people who are professionals, laborers, and stay at home workers.  I know dog lovers and cat lovers, and I have a couple of friends who have pot bellied pigs - and I know people who don't want an animal anywhere near their home.

Tomorrow, we'll have a new president - I hope.  I hope we don't get thrown into a months long debate over who really won.   I don't know who it will be.  I'll pray for whoever it is.  And I'll keep working for those things I believe in no matter who it is.

So here's the short of it, 
We are now on standard time, normal time, or winter time...

And here's the long.

Dear Time Change.  Why do we do this madness two times every year.  I do not like your darkness coming so early.  I thought I would enjoy your "extra" hour of sleep, but for some reason sleep eluded me last night.  Oh I'm sure that I slept, but it felt like I stayed on that edge between sleep and wakefulness all night long!  And somewhere in that tossing and turning was that hour when time folded upon itself and repeated.  Wonder what that really does to us to repeat an hour.  I would imagine that it might be more significant than we believe.

In just a little bit, I'll be taking a melatonin so that maybe I'll bet a little help with the sleeping tonight.  I've got a pretty heavy day tomorrow so good sleep would be helpful!

Tomorrow morning it'll be dark when I get started.  That's no fun - but good strong coffee, a nice shower, and a bowl of oats with Sophie will get a girl started on any day!

So here's the short of it, 
Liga turned 25 today. 

And here's the long.

Twenty-five years ago today, Liga was born in Latvia.  At the time it was a part of the old Soviet Union, but there were already rumblings of independence the spring before she was born.

Now all these years later, she's in Jerusalem with a whole bunch of other young adults her age on an exploration.  What she's exploring? - I suppose that's different for each young adult on the trip.  Perhaps it's her faith, maybe her own independence, maybe it's the country itself - maybe in the end it will be about something none of us can at this time even imagine.

I think it's highly appropriate to turn the quarter century mark half way around the world in an adventurous way.  I hope it's everything she could wish for.

Happy Birthday, dear daughter!  

Happy Birthday to you.

So here's the short of it, 
Friday night!  Love me a Friday night. 

And here's the long.

I'm sitting in my chair with the heating pad on my back and my pup snoozing at my feet.  It's been a long week, and I'm pretty tired.  But I'm gonna have some rest going on this weekend and it's time to change the clocks!  I'm gonna be falling back and getting a few more minutes of sleep!

Myra and Milko are home from their Italy trip.  Their return was postposed because of the problems Hurricane Sandy caused with air travel in the NorthEast.  Thank goodness they are home and their house seems not to be damaged.

Cousin Mia's former in-laws, who live in New York, are coming to Chattanooga for at least a week.  They have no electricity and are unable to stay in their home.  Her former husband is no better off and unable to be of any help.  It's great that they are able to come here.  Here's hoping that their time here in Chattanooga will allow them to have some distance from the horrific state of things in New York.  And they'll get a chance to visit with their grandson while he's in his normal school routine!

So here's the short of it, 
We had another text from Liga today.

And here's the long.

Liga's been really faithful about sending us a text every day.  They spent a day in Tel Aviv - I hope they got to spend a bit of time on the beach.  They've arrived in Jerusalem where they'll be for 3 days.  They've got lots on their agenda for the three days.  Of course, the itinerary we have is just tentative, so we'll really have to wait til she's home to hear exactly what they did.

Her descriptive words are "amazing", "inspired", "GORGEOUS" (her caps), "excited".  So although her texts are short and sweet, they let us know that she's having a really good time.