Come the end of August, school starts, and Stan gets to teach for real instead of student teach. He's amazed at how well-mannered the kids are. Yes, Sir. No, Sir. Sir this, sir that. Never hear that in California!!

My husband started sending letters home to parents detailing what the class would cover, what he expected from the students in terms of attendance, tests, papers, and so forth. Required the parents to read, sign and return the letter to indicate that they knew and the students knew what was expected of them. No arguments come grading time about "We didn't know about that....."

Well, winter comes to Pasadena, admittedly not like the Northeast, but winter nonetheless. We find the hallway heaters next to useless. So as a way to heat up the front of the apartment, I take up baking. I time the bread so it's coming out of the oven just as husband is walking up to the front door. Mmmmm. Fresh bread, just out of the oven, with a pound of butter. The pound of butter is a slight exaggeration. My recipe makes four loaves, so there's no problem consuming a fresh loaf right then and there. Should I mention that we eat a lot of bread?

There are cookies and cornbread and muffins, and sometimes pies. All out of my Rombauer's Joy of Cooking. That was my first Christmas present from my husband. When we were in Lawton. I still have the book, by the way.

That's it for today. Tomorrow: House hunting.