So here's the short of it, 
I'm not getting any TFI starts!

And here's the long.

When Mom, Dad and I were in Israel, there were these wonderful cherry tomatoes in the restaurants.  They were large and extraordinarily sweet.  When they got back to Middlesboro - Lo! and Behold! there was a napkin in one of Mom's pants pockets that a tomato had gotten crushed in.  Don't you know that Dad and Mom propagated those seeds and called them Tomatoes From Israel, called TFI's, and for years now we've all had them to grow in our gardens.

Last year, I didn't get a good crop and I ended up only saving a few little seeds.  And I didn't get a start! I tried starting them a couple of weeks ago and I'm getting nothing.  Mom's not having any luck either.  I'm sad to think we aren't going to have any TFI's this year.

Maybe Aunt Joyce has been able to get some starts - she's the only other person I know of who might have seeds. If she doesn't get any starts, someone in our family is going to have to make a trip to Israel!

So here's the short of it, 
Is it have to or get to? 

And here's the long.

Tonight I had to wash the dishes.  And tomorrow I have to go to work.

I can remember one time when I was a youngster visiting my Grandmother VanSant.  I think that I was volunteered to be on the cousin team that was assigned to wash the dishes.  My memory of this time was that the cousin crew was pretty slim (maybe just me).  Sometimes there would be a gang of us around (9 siblings can breed a bunch of cousins) - but when that was the case, it always seemed that there was a corresponding gang of Aunts who took over the kitchen chores.

I suppose I loudly complained to My Mother that I didn't know why I had to wash the dishes.  Grandma didn't often have much to say about things such as this, but she piped up and said to me, "You don't have to wash the dishes; you get to wash the dishes."

I don't think I gave that much consideration and went about doing the dishes and feeling very put upon. But Grandma planted a seed with me that evening.  As I've grown older, I often remind myself that I have a choice of how to look at things.  I can choose to think that I have to do something or that I get to do it.  It sure makes a world of difference in how I approach the task when I can remind myself that I get to do it.

So tonight I got to do the dishes!  I got to scrub the remaining bits of deliciousness from the pots and pans and plates and flatware.  I got to load a dishwasher - gosh I remember so many days of sinks and drainboards and scalding water!  And tomorrow I get to go to work.  I have meetings with two schools/families that I've been working with for several years - and it's work I feel good about.

So Grandma - thanks for that night.  Thanks for planting a seed that would stay with me for so many years.

So here's the short of it,
I can remember Dad teaching us about perigee and apogee. 

And here's the long.

What a beautiful "super moon" tonight. I've been hearing about it for a couple of weeks now. It must have been when there was a "super moon".  So tonight I opened the front door and looked up at the moon, it did look much larger than usual.  There were clouds in the sky, but right there in the sky, centered right in my front storm door was a break in the clouds and that beautiful big moon with a halo around it.  I could just hear Dad saying something like.  "Now, the moon is at Perigee, when its orbit is the closest to the earth.  When it's at the furthest point, its called Apogee."

I didn't get a good picture because the phone camera doesn't do so well in the dark pointing at a distant, so I found a picture that looks very much like what I saw tonight from my front porch.  I loved that the article where I found the picture was written by a woman who lives in a town called Moon. Click here for the article by Jenna Staul.  Her picture is from last year's Perigee.

It turns out that in a couple of weeks the moon will be at Apogee and will cause an annular eclipse visible from a strip of  California!  The story of Uncle Tom and eclipses is for another time.

For now I'll say, Goodnight Moon!

So here's the short of it, 
Sleeping is a beautiful thing.

And here's the long.


I've never been a morning person.

Today someone posted a real funny on Facebook attributed to Jim Davis (Garfield creator).

"If we were meant to pop out of bed we'd all sleep in toasters".

I'll have to say I got a good chuckle out of that one.

I did just pop out of bed this morning.  30 minutes before my alarm sounded, something just woke me up and I was ready to get up and get started. That sure doesn't happen very often.  I was even out of the shower before my alarm went off!

Let's see what the weekend holds for sleep! I hope my bed hasn't permanently turned into a toaster.  I really love those last minutes of sleep in the morning when I awaken and the alarm hasn't sounded yet. The clock shows another hour or maybe just 15 minutes before the alarm is set to go.  That's the time to just snuggle down into the covers and get a delicious snooze in.  Maybe I'll get one of those in the morning.

Luis Perez

So here's the short of it, 
I had a great day of iPad training today.

And here's the long.

Mr. Luis Perez an Apple Distinguished Educator was in town and I was able to join for one day of training.  He's been here all week courtesy of UNUM.  They trained their folks and allowed special educators to join in the training.  We were sure lucky to get to spend the day with them.

And here's a great shout out to UNUM for funding this training.  They provided us with a great teacher who kept us captivated as we learned how to use the iPad to make a difference in our teaching and learning.


Ok for those of you who have iPads or iPhones and little kids (or maybe even big kids)- you really have to try out Sock Puppets.  I'll have to say I sure did love it.  I downloaded several apps that I just know every little kid (especially Max next time I see him) will really enjoy.

I was in the training with our supervisor of technology, and I may have wrangled an upgrade to an iPad 2!  That would be so helpful with some of the things we are needing to do at work. If it doesn't happen it'll be fine as well, but it sure made me giddy for a minute there.

One of the women in our training was a UNUM employee (they only trained their own employees on day 1 I think).  Anyway - she won and iPad 3 that first day!  Don't you know she was absolutely thrilled!  I believe that for sure when I retire, I'll have to buy myself an iPad.

So here's the short of it, 
Love having the windows open!

And here's the long.

It seems like summer is upon us.  Today was another day of high temperatures which means my office was cold.

Let me explain.  I work on the third floor of an old school building.  For some reason when they put in the heating and cooling system, the three rooms in the area where my office is were paired on a thermostat and duct work with one or maybe two rooms over in the office suite where my office used to be.  I don't really know the reason, but the temperature control is always a challenge.

When it's hot outside, in order to get the other offices cooled down my office is way too cold.  And when it's cold outside, in order to get the outer offices warm, we are quite warm!

The solution to this problem at this point in the spring/summer is to open the windows to let in some warm air.  A few weeks ago I had Ronald our wonderful custodian and all purpose can do almost anything kind of guy come help me get the windows unstuck.  Then we used WD 40 on the window channel, and now if I really strain and groan, I can get two of the three windows up.  This works just fine as long as we aren't having rain or high winds. Thank goodness we aren't an allergic bunch.

So here's the short of it, 
Sophie loves her play dates.

And here's the long.

Sophie always has a better night if she has an opportunity to have a play date with one of the circle dogs.
She doesn't see Charlie much these days.  Charlie, a golden retriever girl dog, had a new baby come to live in her house last August and she is much too busy these days to spend time playing with Sophie.  When she does come out, she's very preoccupied with needing to go back in and check on her little girl.

Cutie Pie our neighborhood Labradoodle is often outside - she loves to chase a ball and bring it back to have you throw it again.  And Sophie loves to steal the ball from her and play keep-away!  But in spite of that they are fast friends.

A new dog, a big German shepherd named Weaver, has come to live with Ms. Martin two doors down.  He's not out very much, but the two of them have met and it looks like a nice friendship could happen if he gets to be outside much while Sophie is out in the evenings.

And then Winston. Winston is a cute mix across the circle. He's got some German Shepherd for sure but I don't know what else. He's already a year old and not nearly as big as a Shepherd would get.  He's behind a wireless fence, and he knows better than  to come across that line, so he waits patiently for Sophie to get around the circle and then they have such a good time.  I can see the untrained herding instinct in both of them when they play.

Here's a clip of their usual play.