So here's the short of it, 
Myra's here!

And here's the long.

I finished up my work until sometime in July (even though I'll probably go in one day) oh, and I have one morning next week that I'm trading around.  So I'm home for  awhile. and Myra is here for a visit!  I'm really glad that we're going to get to spend a bit of time together.

This evening she and Alan had a nice visit with Mommy Anne and enjoyed the regular Thursday night  "Sing with Richard" entertainment.  I joined them for a bit and then the three of us had a chance to visit over a late dinner.  I'm home now and beginning to get a bit of the sleepy head.  Now get this --- I don't have to get up in the morning! I'm going to turn off my alarm and sleep until I wake!

So here's the short of it, 
I met a great scholar today!


And here's the long.

Today was the second day of the Facing History and Ourselves Workshop in Chattanooga.  I haven't been able to go to much of the training this year because I have so much to do to get the year finished up!  But today I had a chance to sit in for a few minutes to hear Dr. David Patterson speak.  I feel so privileged that I got to spend just a bit of time with him.  He's speaking tomorrow morning - and I'm obligated to be in a meeting across town!  I'm pretty disappointed.  I hope I have another occasion to hear him. And I am certainly planning to purchase some of his books.  


Now I was only able to spend 15 or 20 minutes in the workshop, but it seemed that every other sentence that he uttered made me want to do research that would take up a significant piece of time!  I was especially enthralled with his discussion of the importance of a person's name, and the Nazi requirement that all Jewish women take the name Sarah and all Jewish men take the name Israel.  He's written a book Wrestling with the Angel: Toward a Jewish Understanding of the Nazi Assault on the Name (2006),  I know I'll want to read that one!  He was just beginning to speak about propaganda when I had to leave for a meeting, and I missed that.   


I hope that he'll be invited to another of the seminars they'll be doing and I'll be able to spend more time hearing his expertise.  

So here's the short of it, 
Shaving away at the required stuff to do!

And here's the long.

One report done and sent off today.
One more will be completed by the end of work tomorrow!


I'll have to admit that I was a little cross eyed by the end of work today.  And I see that in my future for tomorrow as well!  But it will be done.

So here's the short of it, 
The countdown!

And here's the long.

Only 2 more work days after today before I have a bit of time off!  Tomorrow will be a day off since I need to work on Thursday. And then there's a meeting I have to attend next Thursday so I'll trade a 1/2 day.  So some sleeping in and working around the house and getting some stuff done is coming my way.  I don't let myself get excited about things much ahead of time usually, but I'll have to say, I'm really looking forward to some time off!

And Myra will be here at the end of the week!  It's going to be a real treat to get some visiting in with her.

So here's to working on a modified teacher calendar and having a few weeks off in the summer!!!

So here's the short of it, 
I may have lost one of my favorite jobs. 

And here's the long.

Over the years I've cut Valdis' hair more than any barber.  Especially when he was a little fellow and loved to wear a buzz cut in the summer.

Once when he was about 10 or 11 years old I did a haircut - not a buzz - and it was not to his liking.  As usual it was a cut done late in the evening and all the barbers were closed.  He came up with the idea that a really good marketing idea would be to have an "emergency room" barber/hairdresser shop where people could go when someone made a huge error when trying to do their hair!

I really made a big one tonight.  I was using the clippers and we agreed on a 1/2 inch.  It was looking really good.  I got the guard off and got his neck good and then trimmed up around his ears.  Then we decided to do one last pass especially around his ears.  I do NOT know what I was thinking.  I made a short pass with the guard off and took off about two inches up one side of his head!  Of course, there was no choice left - I had to go ahead and buzz the rest of it off.  I felt so horrible about that mistake!

I'll have to say he was much more gracious than most people would have been about my mistake!
But I don't know if he'll ever let me cut his hair again!

Valdis - if you ever take time to read this - I'm really sorry.

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


And here's the long.


I had the pleasure of attending a lovely wedding this afternoon. It's been probably a couple of years since I haven't been to anything at the First Christian Church for a long time.  They've done some remodeling and - I believe painted the sanctuary.  It was certainly a beautiful affair!  I'll have to admit that there were so many school people there, I almost thought it was a work day!


The wedding was sweet and simple.  And I enjoyed being with them. I had to chuckle - Rev. Paul Rebelo said that since they were such logical people they had decided to skip the part asking if anyone had any objections.  They told him that if any one objected they had had three years to tell them about it and so Rev Rebelo intoned that at this point if anyone objected they were to "forever hold your peace".  I wasn't the only one in attendance that got a good chuckle.   


Ben's Mom, Max, is one of my former co-workers. She's been retired a couple of years and my oh my, she is looking fine!  It was so good to see her and get a hug.  

So here's the short of it, 
This was a lovely Friday leading into the much awaited weekend!

And here's the long.

Today was cool and rainy.  My office temperature is always a bit on the wrong side, so I had the windows open today to bring in some warm air so I wouldn't be freezing.  And most of the morning, there was a nice rain falling.  I ended up wearing my "office sweater" most of the day.

The End of Year Report that I am responsible for is all done except for one piece of data that I have to get on Monday when I go in to the main office.  I'm delighted to have that completed.  But truthfully a day staring at the computer screen and manipulating data is enough to make one a bit cross.  But all in all it was a good day.  Not much was going on in the building so it was really quiet. All day long I only ran into 4 people - I imagine all the other folks in offices down the hall were also grateful for the quiet day!

Tonight I'm looking forward to snuggling down under the cover and not having an alarm go off in the morning!  I'm looking forward to the weekend!