Sunny and Hot In Virginia

Halle...Ready For School

6:10 in Bristow, VA

The Old Man And The Dog

Up at 6:00 again, a quiet house, a warm morning when I stepped outside.  So far, it's sunny but thundershowers are forecast for late afternoon, the temperatures getting into the high 80's by mid afternoon.  So far, only Jill is up though I hear Hayden stirring upstairs.

Yesterday was a Halle day as she woke up with a headache and Jill decided to keep her home from school.  So Halle had a full day with her Granny to herself.  She did not feel very good until the Motrin kicked in and then she seemed almost herself for the rest of the day.  Evie was excited about doing some art projects with her, to keep her busy and she seems to really enjoy painting.  So, around 10:00, I drove off to the local stores and bought water color paints, brushes, and good paper for her.  The rest of the day, both she and Evie worked on various projects, taking time out to watch a movie in mid afternoon, and to read some.  Halle was a happy camper all day, with the undivided attention of her grandparents, but mostly her Granny.  Evie even made a video of her art work, added music to it, which Halle loved of course.  My only task of the day was to wash our dirty car, something I have not done in months.  It looks 14 years old...cannot do much about that.

Jill got home from her class around 5:00, just as I was taking Hayden off to a doctor's appointment about 15 minutes away.  I knew she would be there for at least an hour, so I drove to the nearest shopping center, got an iced coffee, walked the aisles of Harris Teeter, the local grocery store, then sat in my car reading my book until she was done.

Jill and Coco

Checking Out The New Plantings

When I got back, Drew also was home, so we all sat outside on the porch, enjoying the late afternoon until it was time to grill the teriyaki pork chops.  They cook quickly if you want them moist, so we were eating dinner within 15 minutes.  Along with the chops, we had rice, broccoli and salad, thanks to Evie, as Jill spent most of her time studying like a good girl.  We had a lively conversation at dinner, trying to convince our tween granddaughter Hayden that we knew what was best for her...fat chance of that. We talked about two concepts that I emphasized with my students, metacognition (thinking about your thinking) and whether you "Listen or wait to talk." Most of us, obviously, wait to talk.  It was fun to get the whole family talking about these ideas.

Studying With iPhone

After dinner, Halle was in the backyard, heard Coco barking, and discovered a raccoon up in the V of a tree.  We all came out to see him,  a pair of sad eyes looking down at these crazy people.  He was not going to move till we were all in the house, so I assume he's gone this morning.  Around 8:00, I took Coco out for our nightly walk, as everyone else was getting ready for the next day, making lunches, studying, packing backpacks.  Once Halle was settled,  Drew, Evie, Hayden and I sat outside on their deck, a beautiful early June evening, talking about our day, Hayden's school, Drew's work.  Around 10:00, we went inside,  tired from our day, and all of us went off to bed.  I read till about 10:45 then fell asleep.

Rocky Raccoon