Birthday Weekend

Life continues to be busy, but it should be calming down now.  I'm working Wednesday's from 4 to 8 and Fridays from 9 to 3.  I taught an ESL class Tuesday evening as a sub for a teacher who had another commitment, and I'll be doing some subbing.  That is enough for me for now.  I also signed up for a class today.  Wayne is taking it, on the cultural changes during the 1960's, and it sounded really interesting.  I called the instructor this morning and asked if it was too late to join in, and he said come ahead.  He talked about movies from the fifties and TV shows, such as Leave it to Beaver and I Love Lucy.  It was quite interesting.  I haven't been a student for eighteen years, so it should be fun.  I much prefer being a worker bee and student to supervisor and teacher.

We were busy last weekend.  I worked all day Friday, then Saturday went to garage sales and then to a shower for my nephew's fiancee, Umang.  Then are getting married September 27 in Tulsa, but Wayne and I are not going.  Since I'm working Fridays and going to take off a Friday in Oct. to go to Boston, I thought it was  best not to take off after just starting.  Anyway, Umang is a darling young woman and I'm sure the wedding will be beautiful.  Here are a few pictures from the shower:

Then we celebrated birthdays; Erin's was the 21st, Patrick's the 22nd, and Michael's the 23rd. Saturday evening we went with Amy and Dave to Bravo, a restaurant in West County Mall for Michael's birthday.  Then Sunday we had Amy and Dave and their kids and Rob and his girls and Patrick for a birthday dinner.  Here are some pictures from the birthday celebrations:

My two sisters, Kay and Julie, had birthdays on the 25th.  I'm going to have a "Fancy Aunt Lunch" on the 7th to celebrate Kay's birthday and my niece Annie's, who's birthday is in September.  At least the past two weeks weren't nearly as crazy as they used to be when I was working full time.  I used to call it hell weeks.  We would have meetings the whole week before school started then the first week of the semester would be crazy getting tutors trained and schedules organized. 

It's so nice working a few hours and going home and not having to think about anything.  Last Wednesday and yesterday I went to lunch and shopping with a couple of friends from work before my 4 o'clock shift, and that was fun.  And we haven't been too busy yet in the MAC (Meramec Academic Center), so it has been kind of fun seeing people and having time to visit.

Tension in Ferguson

St. Louis has been in the news all week, specifically Ferguson.  An eighteen year old was shot and killed while walking down the middle of a street.  There have been protests and peaceful demonstrations all week, with a lot of looting and destruction.  Everyone wanted to know why the policeman shot the boy and the name of the policeman, but that information was being held.  It got to the point where the policemen were carrying assault rifles and masks and throwing tear gas at people, even reporters. Yesterday the governor of Missouri took over and appointed the chief of highway patrol to handle the demonstrations.  Last night they were more peaceful.  Then today, they finally gave the name of the policeman and ironically, they began showing a tape of the murdered boy stealing some cigars from a small convenience store.  Apparently the policeman did not know about the robbery, but shot the boy who was on his knees with his hands up, execution style.  Now the policeman has left town.  What a mess. 

They keep talking on he news and in the paper about black neighborhoods and how they often have only white policemen, and how they need more black officers.  There is so much racial tension in St. Louis.  I wonder why we still have so many "black" neighborhoods.  I guess it's because we are one of the most segregated cities in our country.  There has been little effort to integrate our neighborhoods.  We live in Webster Groves, which does have a fair amount of blacks, but they are all in Rock Hill, part of Webster.  I remember in high school people called it "Hershey Hill," jokingly, and that was fifty years ago.  It's still the same.  And I remember twenty years ago when I taught at Ranken Technical College, which was predominantly black, the students would write about being stopped often for "driving while black."  Now it seems they are no longer able to walk while black. 

Back to School

We had a nice weekend, with my niece's wedding on Saturday.  The ceremony was at the Graham Chapel on Washington University's campus, and the reception was in the evening at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.  It was very, very nice.  Joanie looked beautiful, a couple of pictures:

My sister Julie and her husband and two of their daughters stayed with us.  It was fun having them here.  They have the nicest girls--even Wayne commented on what nice girls they are.

I know I mentioned going back to work, and tomorrow afternoon we have a meeting.  It really feels good not to be working full time anymore.  August was always the worse month with hiring and training tutors and meetings and paperwork.  It will be so nice to go to a meeting for a couple of hours tomorrow then come home.  I'm only going to work Wed. evenings and Friday during the day, and be a sub when others are sick or need a day off, so it won't be bad at all. 

Wayne is taking another history class, and it starts next Tuesday.  I think it is the fourth class he has taken from the same instructor, and it's on the 1960s.  It's the last class he can take from this teacher.  He got a notice last week that he has jury duty on September 2, which is a class day so he wasn't too happy about that.

Wordless Wednesday

Five on Friday

1. We had a nice quiet week, it's good to be home for awhile.  We don't have any more vacations scheduled, though I'm sure we'll go to Cincinnati sometime this fall and I'll probably go to Boston.

2.  Corinne turned 11 on Tuesday.  For her birthday she wanted to redo her bedroom, so Kate got her a comforter and shams from Pottery Barn Teen.  She asked me to make her some throw pillows to go in her new room.  She is painting the walls navy with white woodwork, and the comforter is navy with big white floral type designs.  Here are the pillows I made for her:

They look pretty cute on my couch!

Abbey was here on Wednesday and helped me stuff them.  She said, "You really captured Corinne's style, Grandma.  She's going to love these."

3. I had a doctor's visit on Tuesday with my oncologist, and all was good.  I was worried because my left leg and ankle keep swelling, but he said it was due to lymph nodes being removed and the other ones not picking up the slack yet.  I have to go to him every three months for three years. I guess it will take awhile to get over the notion that every thing that happens is the cancer returning.

4. I'm going to start working part time at Meramec in MAC starting this month.  I'm starting to get bored at home, and it is still summer. I'm going to work Wednesday evenings and Friday days, and fill in when others are sick or on vacation.  I told the supervisor that I will need to take off a couple of Fridays when I go to visit my kids/grand kids, and she said that would be okay.  They really needed someone on Fridays.

5.  I went to visit Aunt Prudy with Lorie, Patty and Nan.  She is such a pleasant person--always upbeat.  Her memory seems to be slipping more, but she is much better than my mother in law who asks the same questions every five minutes.  Aunt Prudy was so appreciative of us coming.