Unusual events

Several unusual things happened Monday and Tuesday:We got our first snow (see above) and Stephanie got to stay home two extra hours: two-hour delay, thanks to the school buses having trouble up in the Knobs. With the delay, Stephanie got a light day at work – until Monday afternoon, when her next to last Culture Club produced a Fairmont Elementary first: a call home to a parent because of the behavior of a child (a non-English as a new language Culture Club participant, no less).

Tuesday brought other unusual occurrences: This fall some of Stephanie’s Fairmont colleagues have once or twice a week been gathering together for a workout with a Hip Hop Abs video that they play on a wide screen TV in the school. Tuesday after school Stephanie joined them for the first time. Monday – nine days after we’d dropped off Vincent’s phone for repair – Stephanie’s mother and grandmother dropped the phone off at Vincent's apartment complex (thanks, Nancy!) and his father’s apartment complex. And so Tuesday Stephanie called Vincent as she left work and talked with him for 22 minutes (first time we’d called him when he wasn’t asleep or home with his father).

Tuesday we also completed our first week splitting a Community Supported Agriculture basket of winter vegetables, eggs, and milk with my colleague Gail. We both paid in advance and for 10 weeks split the produce (plus chicken we bought and cheese Gail bought) from local farmers. Stephanie cooked the last of the mushrooms and tatsoi (plus some more of the turkey Pape Larry brought us at Thanksgiving) for dinner Tuesday.

After dinner Tuesday, to get ready for a church officer potluck Wednesday, I did something I hadn’t done much lately – or ever. With some help from Stephanie, I made a fruit salad for the event (pictured below) (and I haven’t really cooked for months – and I’ve never made a fruit salad).

-- Perry