So here's the short of it, 
So another year's over and a new one is beginning.

And here's the long.

I've never done very well with keeping resolutions, so I've decided not to make any New Year's resolutions this year.

I am going to focus on one thing though.

Beauty - I'm going to try to notice something that I think is beautiful every single day. Of course this world holds so much beauty that shouldn't really be very hard - actually when the days get a little longer, we often start the day with a beautiful sunrise right out the front window! And I'm really lucky that my job has me in schools so often.  There's really nothing more beautiful than our children.

So this year whenever I'm feeling sadness, pain, fear, or regrets, I'm going to try to remember to focus my mind on the beauty around me.

So here's the short of it, 
Mom is home...

And here's the long.

Mom got home about mid-morning.  She took the red eye from San Jose to Atlanta, then a long layover, and then right in to Chattanooga.  I had a gate pass to go get her, but the line of folks leaving was amazingly long for little old Chattanooga!  So they had a fellow roll her out to security, then the police officer on duty brought her through - I think so the volunteer guy didn't have to go back through the line, and then I got her!

Hershey was thrilled to have her home.  I talked to her a little while ago and she's settling back in.  Her  back is still bothering her a bit - that's probably par for the course after such a long flight in an airplane seat.  She took a good nap this afternoon and has worked on the pile of mail that accumulated while she was gone.

She was really tired, but she was eager to talk about how much she enjoyed spending time with everyone.  Even though we really missed her, I'm really glad she went - and glad she's back.

So here's the short of it, 
Sophie is acting very strangely today.

And here's the long.

Alan said that Sophie stayed outside almost all morning.  He says that she usually goes out for 15 or 20 minutes at a time coming back in when the weather is this chilly.  Then this evening when I took her out she really didn't want to walk.  I was visiting with a neighbor and didn't do a lot of walking myself, but she's usually nosing all around the circle visiting her friends or sniffing to see who's been in the territory whether I'm walking or not.

Today she stayed right by my side, then when I didn't come in when she wanted she went and sat by the front door.  Then when I still didn't come after about 10 minutes or so she came out and sat right in the front yard.  She's been wanting to stay right near me all night tonight.  I wonder if she's worried about me?  I came home about 1:00 this afternoon and after I grabbed a bite of lunch I took a nap - since she never sees me sleeping unless it's night maybe she thinks I'm sick again??

I'm fine - I hope she's not the one that's feeling poorly. Right now she's in her usual place napping while she waits for me to get ready to go to bed.  Love that Sophie...

So here's the short of it,
Home Day!

And here's the long.

What a wonderful day to just be at home all day long - that happens so rarely.  Well, I did go down to Mom's two times to check in, gather up the paper and mail, and feed Hershey and give her a little attention. But the rest of the time I was here in the house.  I got a big pot of Navy bean soup with Kale going this morning and it kept the house smelled up nicely all the live long day and on top of that it was scrumptious.

I tackled a big house project today - and I got a good start on it.  Of course now I'm distracted and want to start on something else...  maybe I can stay focused.

But tomorrow, I'm going in to work for a few hours to work on the *#% e-mail project.
And right now, I'm headed to bed as soon as my pajamas come out of the dryer!

So here's the short of it, 
E-mail!!!

And here's the long.

We have an ultimatum from work that our e-mail must be below 150 mg.
We had until December 20th to get our e-mails compliant with the new limits. Then we were rescued by having the deadline pushed to January 9th!  Of course lots of us needed that extra time.  I am WAY over the minimum!!

I went in to the office today - well not a full day as I went late and had to come home at 3:30 because they were closing the building.  I worked on e-mail the whole time - and I'm still not low enough!

For a long time they told us that if we would get them out of our in-box and put them in folders that we'd be OK.  Turns out that was not true.  It was still taking up space!  So I've been diligently putting my e-mails in folders all this time.  Now I'm just deleting them!  I've even stopped worrying about deleting "something I might need".  I probably have a couple more days to get this accomplished.  I'll probably go in on Thursday for a bit and work on it a little more.

I'm glad to have good work to do.  I'm glad to have an office to go to. I'm glad to have e-mail and not have to rely on interoffice paper mail anymore.  This e-mail limit is hard - but I'm glad for it. I have a hard time throwing things away, and this is good practice.  After I get all the e-mails deleted, I'm going to tackle one of my file cabinets, and then another one, and then another!

Wish me luck and send my positive good vibes for support!

So here's the short of it, 
My breakfast routine.

And here's the long.

I like to have Bob's Red Mill Organic Extra Thick Rolled Oats for breakfast most mornings.  I like the heartiness and fiber in the extra thick variety. I make them with a 1 part oats and 2 parts water ratio. If I'm the only one eating I use a 1/2 cup of oats and 1 cup of water. I add a teaspoon of brown sugar and a pinch of kosher salt to the water before I dump in the oats. On school mornings, they get started before I jump in the shower and then turned to the lowest setting - they're ready when I get back to the kitchen.  

When they're done, I get two bowls.  One gets about a quarter cup or a little more of oats and the other gets the rest.  They (both) often get topped with some chopped almonds or other such (I keep the chopped nuts in a little jar right next to the stove for just this purpose.  Then each dish gets a bit of milk poured in over the hot oats. I also pour a little small bit of milk (or cat milk) into one of those tiny measuring bowls.  At the table - I get the big bowl of oats.  Sophie gets the small bowl on the floor next to my chair. Lola gets the little bowl of milk or cat milk up on the divider between the dining room and living room.  That's a nice, good breakfast routine.  Not every morning, but certainly most working mornings - Sophie and I really like our oatmeal...

I really enjoy raisins in my oatmeal, but I haven't quite figured out how to do that without having to make Sophie's separate from mine, since raisins are so toxic for dogs. And while I'm really glad to make enough to share with her, I somehow can't see myself getting into the habit of cooking her a breakfast of her own on a working morning! Sometimes I do use other dried fruits in the mix - like cherries, or apricots, or that dried fruit mix.  Those are nice variations that keep me faithful to my oats routine!

I have a hard time always finding these oats in the stores.  Even our specialty markets don't always have just exactly these.  I haven't had success getting any stores to carry this specific variety even when I've asked either.  Maybe they just get confused - they get the organic but not the extra thick, or they get the extra thick but not the organic, or maybe they get the organic, extra thick, but also gluten free which is about 3 times as expensive.  So I just order them by the carton online.  I order about every 2 or 3 months and keep the extra bags in the freezer.  It has worked out just great and really encourages me to stick with the oat routine!

So this morning it was good to have oats and good black coffee with Sophie and Lola.

So here's the short of it, 
This has been a very different Christmas.

And here's the long.

This is a very different Christmas night.

Mom is gone to spend time with Elizabeth and Greg.  I got this picture of her with Avery and when I've spoken to her she's sounding very happy to be with them. Betsy sent the picture of Mom with Avery yesterday! Steve and Pat are in Destin having Christmas with only Patrick as this is the year the girls are with their in-laws.  So we didn't do our rather "normal" Christmas tradition of heading off to Atlanta for the day to celebrate with family there.  So it was quite different for us here in Chattanooga.

We started the morning off with brunch for just the two of us, and we ended the evening with the kids coming over for a Christmas/Hannukah celebration.  We had Latkes with all the fixin's and Cheese Blintzes with some of the preserved cherries from the fall canning - we lit the candles and exchanged gifts.  What a lovely evening.

The kitchen is clean and the leftovers are packaged up so that they'll be easy to get to tomorrow. And now the kids are gone; Alan's gone to bed; and I'm winding down my own day as well.

My Facebook and professional friend posted this on his wall today.
"The Word Became Flesh... and Moved Into the hood."
One of his friends that I don't know posted this in reply -
"I like the version that says, God put on skin and moved into the neighborhood."

So this is Christmas.
May it all be well with us, those we love, and those we have a hard time understanding.
And may we all occupy the hood with as much love as we can muster.