So here's the short of it, 
Waking up. 

And here's the long.

So this morning my alarm sounded and I thought to myself that there is nothing in the world more  wonderful than that cozy feeling of stirring awake without an alarm and turning over for one last snooze before waking up for whatever the day holds.

And then there's the reality.  The alarm.  The snooze button. The alarm again - and maybe even again. The final move to roll out of the bed and get a start on the day!

Tomorrow's not an extraordinarily early morning.  Maybe I'll even get up before the alarm sounds!

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

And here's the long.

Sometime in the late 70's Mom bought me a Singer Touch and Sew sewing machine.  It's been a great machine through the years.  Now, I'm not a seamstress who sews all the time, but I have spells when I make things.  And I can make a pretty fine stitch if I say so myself.

Just before Christmas, I had a little project in mind to make for my family.  I got all the stuff together and then when I started to sew my good old Singer friend just wouldn't work.

Ever since I moved to Chattanooga, I've used the Pro-Sew shop to do regular maintenance and repair work.  So today I finally got the machine down to see about getting it fixed.  It seems that there are some gears that have to be replaced,and it's going to be a pretty expensive fix.  So I had a really nice visit with Henry - the owner of the shop - who told me today that he's 85 years old but wants to work another 3 years!  Then I packed the machine back up into the car and brought it home to decide what I'm going to do.

Maybe a new machine is in the works.....

So here's the short of it, 
Alan has requested banana bread...

And here's the long.

A couple of months ago Alan said he'd like it if I started making banana bread.  He has memories of his maternal Grandmother - MeMaw as she was known, making banana bread.  So I've been trying to find a recipe that we both like.

Alan's request was to make sure it's moist.  My first try was moist alright.  It was a dense, thick, and not so successful try.  (Alan ate it anyway).  The next one was OK, but not moist enough.  The next one wasn't much better.  I've got another recipe in the oven right now -  it's got oatmeal in it.  It's filling the house up with this delicious smell right now.  Wonder if it will be "the recipe."  It will have to taste as good as it smells!

So here's the short of it, 
We have a Marine Officer in the Family...

And here's the long.

Patrick received his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Corps this evening.    
Alan and I were sure proud to be there to be a part of it.










Here is Steve helping him get his uniform ready and adjusted just right.

And here is the whole family!


                                                                                                                       

"I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreigh and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation frely; and without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; that I will well and faaithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter; So help me God."

And here is the new 2nd Lieutenant and his proud parents!

So here's the short of it, 
Happy Valentine's Day to all!


And here's the long.

View Original Picture here

So here's the short of it, 
Wow - I got tired

And here's the long.

This afternoon at the office I thought I was gonna have to put my head down on my desk and take a nap!  My two office suite colleagues were feeling the same way! I'm guessing that we've all got a touch of this awfulness that's making its rounds in the schools.  Thank goodness it's not gotten me down like so many.  This morning when I went into my first school stop there was a little fellow on his knees leaning over a trash can.  The secretary asked him if he felt like he could wait for his mother in the chair.  He looked up at her - his little face was so pale -- he shook his head no.  I used some of the hand sanitizer that sits in the front office of nearly every elementary school in our county  - probably the whole country!

Anyway, I'm fine.  I got a second wind and am going to try to get into bed a little earlier than usual tonight.

So here's the short of it, 
Watching the Westminster Dog Show

And here's the long.

It's been a long time since I chose not to watch the State of the Union message from the president, but tonight I decided to watch the Westminster Dog Show.

The dogs are beautiful, and I'm amazed at how they are so well trained and so remarkably well groomed.  

I'll have to say though, our Heinz 57 variety dogs over the years have been the best dogs.  And we've got ourselves another one too - our Sophie who is stretched out on the carpet in front of me just waiting to put me to bed. 

I suppose I would wish that everyone in the world could have the opportunity to give a part of your heart to a dog.  It would surely make the world a better place!

So here's the short of it, 
I'm watching Antiques Roadshow.

And here's the long.

I love this show.  It just amazes me to watch the things that people have, to hear the stories behind how they came to have them, and to find out exactly what they might be "worth" - at least on the market today.

I do love these things that people bring.  What a look into the past of our country this show provides to the audience.  A few years ago Antiques Roadshow actually came to Chattanooga.  Here's a link to some of the items that were appraised in Chattanooga.

I think one of the things I really like about the show is that in addition to seeing lovely things and hearing interesting stories, I always learn some history that I didn't know about before.

Tonight I've seen a pre-civil war rifle made in New Haven, CT, where Shelley and family now live; a wooden sculpture from China probably done in the period that preceded the Ming dynasty; a viola that the man who brought it in thought was a violin; and these carved wooden folk art items that had been used in a German POW camp in the south - they indicated the various areas of Germany where the prisoners came from -- reminding me that there were nearly a half million German POWs in the United States.  Here's some information about that.

There was this great necklace that a young woman had inherited.  She thought it was a Tiffany piece --- and she was right!  She was so surprised at the value - maybe as high as $250,000.  She was advised to have it repaired and safeguard it.

Here's a really interesting article and the accompanying link to this particular appraisal.

So here's the short of it, 
Scalloped potatoes.

And here's the long.

We celebrated Valentine's Day early since everyone will be on crazy schedules when it does arrive.

One of my side dishes for tonight was a variation of the Pioneer Woman's Scalloped Potatoes. Our variation here is without meat.  But it didn't come out right!  Oh it had a good taste for sure, but it was awfully runny.  It's the first time I've made scalloped potatoes with a recipe that didn't use a roux. Mom asked me if I had soaked the potatoes -- well, I had.  Mom told me the soaking would have taken the starch out of the potatoes.  So there. But then when I checked the recipe again, I discovered that the recipe really did call for flour!

So I'm going to try this recipe one more time -- and I won't soak the potatoes and I won't leave out the flour!

So here's the short of it, 
What a lovely day with Mom and Aunt Joyce. 

And here's the long.

This morning was a great adventure.  First we made it out for a late breakfast at Wally's breakfast bar.  Dad's Gideon group met there on Saturday mornings and they have brown gravy!  The food was good; they kept the coffee coming; and we had great visiting.

On the way home we decided to stop at this Thrift Store that I really like just up the road.  It's called Second Blessings and is affiliated with a church/ministry that is actually right next door.  The couple that runs the business are just as nice as they can be.  Now this is a 2 story deal, and the basement is just full of furniture, which I love to look at!

Here are a few of the knick knack's that Mom brought home as a part of her haul!  We sure did get lots of laughs during the time we were there!  The fish bowl is Annie Cat's new water bowl.  Joyce thought she'd really have fun drinking out of the fish.  I thought that was pretty funny.  Joyce got several really nice things.  She said that it was the first time she'd ever been thrifting.  Her haul included a new lamp, a big crock pot, 2 really nice purses -- and some other things as well.  I managed to get home with a very small crock pot to use for some of my non food experimenting, and an old fashioned potato masher - a really good one.

We've decided that we really should do that again, so we'll see.  Maybe we'll hit different thrift stores next time!

So here's the short of it, 
Surprise visit!

And here's the long.

Mom called today and while I was in a meeting, and it was the end of the day before I had a chance to listen to her message.  And what a surprise.  Aunt Joyce had decided to come down for a visit.

So this evening, I had dinner with Mom and her baby sister!  Mom made us a great chicken casserole and we had such a great time getting caught up and visiting.  It's always such fun for us to compare teacher notes since she's been substituting for a couple of years now.  She's in such high demand -- and at a middle school! She gets to work as much as she wants.

We are going to try to get a little bit more visiting time tomorrow.  And for now -- it's Friday night and I'm heading to the bed.

So here's the short of it, 
Another early morning tomorrow!

And here's the long.

This has been a whole week of early mornings!  One more really early rise and getting out earlier than normal and this week will be over!  I've got a pretty hectic schedule tomorrow, so by the time the day is over maybe I'll be able to come home and stretch out and relax.  And I sure hope it works out that I'm able to sleep in on Saturday!

But for tomorrow it will be another really early rise.  So one more time - I'm going to hope that once I make it into my bed, I'll be able to fall off to sleep without too much trouble.

So here's the short of it, 
Maybe the groundhog was right.

And here's the long.

Over the weekend they brought the groundhogs out.  And from north to south the report was that the groundhog did not see his shadow so an early spring is on the way.  Here we had a beautiful spring like day and you could believe that it won't be long before coats will give way to light sweaters and the spring rains will bring on the blossoming trees and the crocus.  Of course there's that prediction of a great big blizzard heading to New York, so I don't know what they might be thinking about the groundhog's prediction!

But here in the south - we'll take those warm days.  I do wish we'd had just a few more really cold days to knock out some of the bugs. But we'll take what we can get.

So here's the short of it,
I hope you'll sing.

And here's the long.

Today I heard another conversation about singing - actually about not singing because of not having a good voice.  I didn't grow up in one of those singing all the time nuclear families.  But there was certainly music all around.  We never visited Mount Victory that there wasn't singing.  And then there were the car trips.  For many years we didn't have a car with a radio, so on our longer car trips there was always singing.  Mom and Dad might sing Barbara Allen or Running Bear, or maybe Dad would sing Here Ol Rattler Here.  Often we kids would just listen but sometimes we'd join in too.

Of course when we visited Mt. Victory, my Mom's side of the family, there would always be piano playing and singing.  Everyone sang - I remember singing at the little community church.  Grandpa would play the piano and everyone would sing. Back at home there might be cousins singing on the front porch or up in the grove.  And of course often the Aunts or Uncles would sing.  I have such a fond memory of Uncle Vernon and many cousins and Aunts and Uncles singing Danny Boy.

And then there was dinner time at the Howard house.  Frequently the blessing before our meal was a song such as God Is Great and God is Good or For Health and Strength which is the one that we still sing at my house.

So I guess here's the thing.  I want people to sing.  I don't really care if their voice is high quality concert level.  I don't even care if they can carry a tune.  I love the singing.  Of course I love to hear someone such as my cousin Daniel who has perfect pitch.  But I also love the little kid or the older man who's off key or a little flat but is singing enthusiastically and is so engaged in the song.  I love to hear a group singing the Star Spangled Banner and hear everyone strain for that high note.  I just love the singing.  I do know that a trained choir is an amazing sound, and I love to hear it.  But I love to remember those ordinary folks coming to the little church in Mt. Victory and singing praise and that was in its own way a really amazing sound too.

So around here we're going to sing - off key or not - we're going to sing.

So here's the short of it, 
Tonight the little boy from Alabama is safe. 

And here's the long.

In Midland City, Alabama, a bus driver who gave his life protecting "his children", was laid to rest - a little Kindergartener has been reunited with his family - and the perpetrator of the murder/abduction has been killed.  In the days to come, perhaps we'll learn more about what drove 65 year old Jimmy Lee Dykes to this end.  Right now we know so little about what made him tick.

But for tonight, Ethan is out of danger and with his Mother and grandmother, and lots of us who have carried this little fellow in our thoughts and prayers are breathing a little easier.

So here's the short of it, 
True Heroes. 

And here's the long.

I hope you'll take a moment to read this article by Bob Green.  This is the story of four chaplains who died 70 years ago today.

I've heard their story several times, but I'm so glad Mr. Green wrote about it today and that CNN carried the story to remind us.

I honor them all:

Father John Washington, born in Newark, New Jersey, who was Catholic; the Rev. Clark Poling, born in Columbus, Ohio, who was ordained in the Reformed Church in America; Rabbi Alexander Goode, born in Brooklyn, New York, who was Jewish; and the Rev. George Fox, born in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, who was Methodist.

So here's the short of it, 
Today we had a bit of snow. 

And here's the long.

About 10:00 this morning it started snowing in Chattanooga.  I was in the grocery store when Liga sent me this picture of her apartment complex parking lot!  It looked the same in the grocery parking lot as I left, and it had not even been snowing when I went into the store!

Now of course, within just a couple of hours most of it was gone. But it kept spitting snow at us all day long.   This was not the snow I was hoping for.  I know I should have thought of that before I up and moved myself to Chattanooga, but I've always wanted at least one good snow each winter.  And so far this is as much as we've had.

So come on snow! It's good for all of us to have a taste of winter - even as far south as Chattanooga!

So here's the short of it, 
Friday!!

And here's the long.

I sure am glad the weekend is here!  Of course it's a busy weekend, but that's OK.  It's not work days so it'll be a time to recharge.

I've got this fairly regular weekend routine that allows me to get a bunch of stuff done.  But here's the thing, I've got several things to do that aren't within my normal, so I'm having to rearrange everything so that it all gets done.  Now, I happen to think that's a really great thing.  It just makes you step out of your routine and see things with new eyes!  It's not like it will be any great drama to change the bed linens in the afternoon instead of the morning - but it will stir me up a bit I'd say.

So here it is on Friday night.  I'm going to head to bed and get a really good night's sleep.