David Johnson, Charlie Coleman, Ike Scott and myself

The next day I attended the Pulaski County Bar Association meeting which was held on the top floor (30^th floor) of the Regions Bank Center and the speaker that day was David Johnson who happens to be one of our alums.  He is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee amongst others.  He shared his insights into the current legislative session.  I always enjoy attending the Pulaski County Bar meeting because I get to visit with so many of our alumni and that day was no exception. 

After the Pulaski County Bar meeting, I headed back to Fayetteville.  It had been a very full and a very good visit to Little Rock once again.

Razorback Day at the Capitol

Why was I returning to Little Rock you might ask, after having been there the week before? Well, it was Razorback Day at the Capitol! It began at 11:00 a.m. which meant a bright and early departure time. I had several events scheduled after that on Thursday and Friday, so that meant packing, getting ready, and getting out on time to arrive for Razorback Day. I managed to do that and rolled into Little Rock a little before 11:00 a.m. The opening rally was held at the Old Train Depot. The area where we met was called Next Level Events. Lunch was provided and the menu included spaghetti and meat
sauce, fettuccini with cream sauce, caesar salad and garlic bread. Chancellor Gearhart welcomed the group and introduced Governor Mike Beebe who spoke about the legislative session, fiscal issues, and his commitment to restoring higher education’s revenue shortfalls once the economic situation improves. Following his remarks, Vice Chancellor Athletic Director Jeff Long introduced Coach Bobby Petrino who spoke to the group. In addition to Coach Petrino and Vice Chancellor Long, Mike Macechko also spoke.  After lunch everyone was shuttled over to the Capitol building where Tusk the hog was parked out front. While the UA supporters entered the Capitol building, the Razorback Band was playing in the second floor rotunda. Accompanying them
were cheerleaders and the mascots. You could hear the Razorback enthusiasm echo all throughout the Capitol building. Following the UA pep rally, many of us went to the House and the Senate to visit with our local legislators and a group of us even went into the Senate Gallery where Chancellor Gearhart was to address that body.

Jeff Long and myself

One of the funny things that happened was that before Chancellor Gearhart could speak, Charley Pride showed up. Apparently he had received medical treatment at UAMS for a growth in his throat and because of the excellent care he received there he was able to maintain his singing voice. He came to say thank you, complete with a boom box and a number of tunes. Lemme tell you, I believe he sang seven songs, including “San Antone,” “Crystal Chandeliers,” and “Mountain of Love.” Charley Pride said he’s singing now better than he ever did. You might imagine he upstaged the Chancellor just a tad bit.  In addition to Charley Pride, Frank Broyles was introduced, so between the two of them things slowed down considerably because a number of the Senators and visitors to the Chamber wanted to have their pictures made with both of those celebrities. By the time Chancellor Gearhart came up to address the body, it had been quite awhile since we arrived in the Gallery, but the Chancellor did get an opportunity to address the Senate. Afterwards, I headed back to my hotel to check e-mail and return phone calls.

Myself, John Witherspoon, and John Witherspoon

That evening as part of the “Pride of Arkansas” tour sponsored by the Alumni Association, there was an alumni rally in Little Rock at the Junior League Headquarters on 4th and Scott Streets from 5:30-6:30 p.m. It was a reception with appetizers and light refreshments during which Mike Macechko and the Chancellor spoke, as well as Jeff Long and a couple of alumni leaders.  After that I walked back to the hotel and was met by Carolyn Witherspoon who (I think I’ve mentioned before on the blog) is a good friend and mentor. She is a partner in Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon & Galchus. Carolyn and her husband John picked me up and we went to dinner at a new restaurant called Maddie’s Place in Little Rock and had a fabulous meal. Maddie’s is described as a funky, informal, family-friendly environment with a New Orleans theme.  I had a Chicken and Andouille Gumbo starter and for my entreè the Crispy Mississippi Catfish with Slow-Cooked Greens, Butter Beans and Creole Menuire Sauce. I think John had the Roasted Farm-Raised Duck Breast with Blackeyed Peas, Sweet Potato Brabants and Creole Tomato Glaze. Carolyn had a big bowl of gumbo with a side of greens. It was fun meal and it’s always good to see them. I initially met Carolyn when my colleague John Watkins introduced us. Carolyn was the in-coming Bar President and she was looking for new people to appoint to committees and John gave her my name. We have been great friends ever since. Carolyn has played a very significant role in many of the important recognitions and memberships that I’ve been fortunate enough to obtain in my career, either by nominating me or bringing me to the attention of the membership committee. I am always happy to see her and John and, as I’ve said we had a fabulous time.

Prof. Guzman

Monday was a very, very busy day.  It started (as usual) with Pilates with Claudia at Studio Pilates followed by an early morning meeting to plan a reception for Prof. Guzman.  As many of you know, Prof. Guzman retired as of last year.  However, this is the last class of students who had an opportunity to have been in one of his classes, so we wanted those students to be able to say goodbye to him.  As it turned out, he was going to be in town to pack up his belongings, so the meeting that morning was to think about how to put on a nice event. 

Later that morning I met with Tim Tarvin and Emily Bridges.  They are the heros behind the Legal e-Source program.  If you haven’t visited our Legal e-Source website, you should.  It has received national recognition.  It’s a website that serves as a resource for non-profit organizations and gives them basic information on various legal issues they may face.  Prof. Tarvin and Emily were coming to meet with me about looking for grant funding to continue to develop and maintain the Legal e-Source website. The grants that we currently have will be expiring at the end of this spring.

At 12:00 we had a faculty meeting, during which we were pleased to be able to visit with Chris Thomas.  He gave an overview of the bar exam and answered questions.  Later that afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting Robert Lyford.  His son, Charles Lyford, is one of our 2L students.  Bob is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Arkansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (AECI) and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. (AECC).  He previously served as vice president and general counsel and staff attorney for the cooperatives.  Prof. Susan Schneider is working with Bob to help develop a cooperative website which would showcase the Law School’s Cooperatives in Arkansas course and highlight the AECC’s rich cooperative heritage.  I hadn’t previously met Bob, but I had an opportunity to walk with him, tour the Law School, share with him some of our initiatives and programs, and answer his questions.  We had a delightful visit and I’m really glad that I was able to spend that time with him.  It was great meeting him and we hope he’ll come back and visit us again sometime soon.  We’re also very grateful to the AECC for the Leatherman Scholarship that goes to one of our LL.M. students.  It’s an endowed scholarship that is named after their former attorney Leland Leatherman.  Mr. Leatherman was a pioneer of agricultural cooperatives as applied to the rural cooperatives that were responsible for bringing electricity to all of rural Arkansas.  He was a 1939 graduate of the UofA School of Law and served as corporate counsel of the AECC for many years.  The current recipient of that scholarship is Qiana Wilson and Mr. Lyford was also able to meet Qiana.  After meeting with Mr. Lyford, I had a meeting with Associate Dean Beard to catch up on a number of bits of business.  Sometimes when I’m away things pile up and we needed a half an hour to go through a number of pending matters. 

Paul Morris and myself

That evening I attended the Wright, Lindsey & Jennings cocktail party for 1L students held at Ella’s at Carnall Hall.  That is always a fun event.  I know a number of the WLJ attorneys and am grateful to them for taking time out of their busy schedule to come and meet with our 1L students.  A number of folks who came with the firm are our alums including Jane Kim, Charlie Coleman, Paul Morris, Adrienne Jung.  Many thanks to them for a very pleasant end to the day.  It was great to see them all.  Special thanks to Michelle Kaemmerling who invited me to dinner with the firm at Doe’s Eat Place.  It had been a long day and I wasn’t up for dinner, but I very much appreciate the gracious hospitality.  Thanks again to Wright, Lindsey & Jennings for your continued interest in and support of both our students and the Law School.

Tuesday morning, February 10, the Law School had a Digital Video Conference (DVC) with Ukrainian law professors and law students at the United States Embassy in Kyiv.  The topic was The Role of the Judiciary in Enforcing Constitutional Rights.  Professor Brian Gallini as well as Professors Don Judges and D’lorah Hughes participated on our end.  Professor Gallini’s counterpart in Kyiv was Dr. Khrystyna Pryhodko of the Academy of Municipal Management in Kyiv.  As you may know, we have been engaged in a number of DVCs with law professors, lawyers and judges from the Ukraine, due to the efforts, initiatives and relationships established by Professor Christopher Kelley who was a Fulbright Fellow in Kharkiv, Ukraine in 2005.

Later that morning I met with Prof. and Law Library Director Randy Thompson.  We have a meeting every two weeks to touch bases on what’s going on in the law library.  One of the things that has been pending for quite a while (and we’re happy to say seems to now be resolved) is the cooling unit for the server room on the second floor of the law library.  The equipment in that room generates a great deal of heat and the room does not have a vent to the outside.  We had not been able to get the room cool enough to protect the equipment and, as you know, electronics do not fair well in very warm temperatures.  At our meeting it came out that our Facilities Management folks working along with Prof. Thompson and our IT staff actually were able to obtain a custom design cooling unit that looks like it will be able to do the job.  We’re very relieved to have that resolved because one of the side effects of not having an appropriate unit was a huge giant space caterpillar looking thing that went across the top of the library ceiling.  We no longer have that eye sore, and that’s a good thing.  Thanks very much to Facilities Management for working with us to get that done.

Dean Greenwood

At lunch I met with my fellows Deans at the Graduate Education Building.  As I’ve mentioned before, the Academic Deans get together about twice a month and each Dean takes a turn hosting.  This time the meeting was hosted by Dr. Reed Greenwood of the College of Education & Health Professions.  The topics of our meeting that day were administrative evaluations, that is how the Deans would be evaluated by Provost McMath and our faculty and staff colleagues, and also the upcoming budget hearings.

That afternoon I met with the Law School Executive Committee.  I believe I’ve talked about the Executive Committee before in the blog.  It is an advisory committee to the Dean and administration of the Law School.  My colleagues on the committee also address the concerns of faculty and represent the faculty to the Central Administration of the University.  I’d asked the Executive Committee to meet with me to think about budgetary issues in light of the Chancellor’s suggestion that we seriously begin considering how to save and where we might cut back on expenses during these tough economic times.  This is an important issue, and as you know from the early January blogs on the Dean’s conference, one of the topics the Deans discussed several times was that no Dean should make these kinds of decisions without the input of the faculty.  I really appreciate the Executive Committee for staying late in the afternoon to meet with me.  We had a very productive meeting.

After the Executive Committee meeting, I had a surprise visit from one of our alums, Ben McMinn.  He and I had a very lovely visit and update about what’s happening around the Law School.  He also shared with me a bit about his practice and what was now going on in his life.  It’s always a pleasure to visit with our alums when they are in the area, and certainly our visit was no exception.  Thanks Ben, for dropping by.

That evening I had the February Inn of Court meeting on my calendar.  The program was described by our alum Bill Putman this way, “The February Inn of Court program will be on the exciting, fun-filled and action packed subject of legal writing.  If any of you have examples of especially egregious, inappropriate, incomprehensible and/or humorous pleadings, letters, judicial opinions or e-mail messages (non-privileged, of course) you’d be willing to share, the presentation group and I would appreciate it if you would e-mail or fax them to me.  No prize for winning entries beyond the satisfaction you will receive for helping elevate the standard of writing in our Inn which really should be reward enough.” It sounded like a great program, but I have to say that I did not make it.  I was preparing to leave the next day for Little Rock, so I missed the meeting, but I’m sure it was terrific because Bill was involved with the program.

Denise Hoggard and myself

Saturday, February 7, Denise Hoggard, who has been featured in the blog before and who is a wonderful friend, cooked me breakfast.  It was fantastic!  I felt very loved.  She cooked hashbrowns, ham, bacon, eggs, biscuits, mocha and fruit.  It was fantastic (did I already say that? well, you all know that I’m a foodie, so . . . anyone who cooks for me gets big love).  Thank you very much, Denise.  Afterwards, we sat around, digested and visited.  I have to say it was a little bit tough to get on the road after that, but I was certainly a much happier camper after her gracious hospitality.  All in all it had been a fabulous week and a good end to the week.  It was time to get home, unpack, and get ready for church on Sunday and to prepare for the next week.

Dept. of Veteran's Affairs in Little Rock

At noon I met with one of my favorite folks, John Snell.  He is an alum and was in the same class as Terry Smith who came over and helped me clear my yard.  In fact, years ago he and Terry actually came over and bolstered my front porch after I had a student group over and somebody fell through the stairs (long story).  He truly is a good friend.  He works in the Regional Counsel’s office for the Department of Veterans Affairs.  I hadn’t seen him for a long time, at least not to be able to sit down and catch up, so we had lunch together at Copper Grill.  And you know what?  I don’t even know what I was thinking, but I didn’t take any pictures on the 6^th!   We had a great visit.  He keeps up with a lot of the folks in his class and it was good for me to hear what they were doing.  I really appreciate you John for driving over to have lunch.

Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola

At 2:00 p.m. I visited with Mayor Mark Stodola, the Mayor of Little Rock who is also one of our alums.  It was remarkable that he made time for me in his very busy day.  We didn’t visit for long, but we had a good visit and he too indicated an interest in having a student serve in his office as an extern.  I’m pretty excited about that and was glad to be able to hang out with the Mayor and some of the senior elected officials down there in Pulaski County.  I’m very proud to call them our alumni and very grateful to them for making time in their busy schedules for me.

After that it was time for me to return to the Hampton to check e-mail, return phone calls, draft a little bit of correspondence, and prepare for Arkansas Bar Foundation Mid-Year Scholarship dinner and reception.  It was held at the Little Rock Club with a reception beginning at 6:45 p.m. and the dinner at 7:30 p.m.  It is a very nice event.  I very much enjoy attending each year.  I missed the first year that I was dean and I’ve been very careful to make sure that it gets on my calendar ever since that time so that I will be present.  Both deans attend and recognize the students who have received Arkansas Bar Foundation scholarships.  It is a special event in that many of the donors are there and they get to meet the young people who are the recipients of their terrific generosity and we get to publicly say thanks for their support of the two law schools.  Steve Shults came and picked me up for dinner, and it was nice to have him do that because then I didn’t have to worry about where I was going, parking, and that kind of thing.  I appreciate him for that and I also appreciate President Rosalind Mouser for inviting me to join her at her table at the dinner.  We sat with her, her husband Kirby, Donna and Lamar Pettus, and Karen and Doug Hutchins.  It was good to visit with them a little bit before the evening’s program started.  I’m very proud to have the honor of introducing our young people to the bar fellows and to say thanks to them and to the scholarship donors for their gracious generosity.  Our scholarship winners were:

William Buckley (Bogle-Sharp Scholarship and R.A. Eilbott, Jr. Scholarship)

Joe Bussell (Harry P. Warner Scholarship)

Courtney Cline (Joe C. Barrett Scholarship)

Jennifer Cormack (Sebastian County Bar Association Scholarship)

Clark Donat (Arkansas Bar Foundation Merit Scholarship)

Baxter Drennon (Judge Henry Woods Scholarship)

Samuel Eastman (Rather, Beyer & Harper Scholarship)

Matthew Fryar (Horace and James McKenzie Scholarship)

Carla Gibson (Shackleford/Phillips Scholarship)

Blake Glasgow (Paul B. Young Scholarship)

E. Conner McNair (Bernard and Bud Whetstone Scholarship)

David Mitchell (Austin McCaskill Scholarship and Vincent W. Foster, Jr. Scholarship)

Bob Veach (Donald J. Adams Scholarship)

Taylor White (Wilson & Associates Ethics Scholar Scholarship)

Arkansas Bar Foundation Scholarship Dinner

Congratulations again to all of these outstanding law students!  We are all very proud of your accomplishments.  Afterwards, we took a group photo with all the scholarship recipients and both deans and then each law school individually.  Steve and I then headed over to the Capitol Hotel where we met up with a group from the dinner and hung out with them a little bit before it was time to say goodnight for the evening.  It had been a very good and a very full day.

Women Featured in AY Magazine

Bright and early at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday I had to show up at Jason Masters Studio on Main Street which is located in the Block Two Loft, for the photo shoot for AY Magazine.  As you know, 8:30 a.m. is early to be photo ready so after dinner I went right to bed and got up early to look spiffy for the photo shoot the next day.  It was really a blast.  It was fun to meet all the other women.  They were (as you might imagine) pretty spunky and I’m very honored to be amongst them.  The shoot was a fun time and during it we got to know each other a little bit.  I know what you’re asking, “Who else was featured?,” but you’ll just have to pick up AY Magazine in March and see for yourself.   After the photo shoot, I asked if we might take some pictures on my own camera for the blog and here they are, but they aren’t going to be nearly as fun as the professional photos done by Jason, so you’ll just have to watch for that.

Dining Room in Brave New Restaurant

At 11:30 a.m. I drove out to meet Jack Lavey who is a long time union and employee side labor and employment lawyer.  He has been a very good friend to me and workers in the State of Arkansas.  Jack befriended me not long after I arrived here in Arkansas and has kept up with me over the course of my career.  He’s been an encouragement and good buddy.  I wanted to see him and to spend time with him and to let him know I’ve been thinking about him and how much I appreciate him.  He and I went to lunch at Brave New Restaurant which is a wonderful restaurant and has a terrific view.  I think I was still suffering from my cold house.  I couldn’t get warm, so I had a bowl of soup and a salad.  It was delicious.  It was called a “Spinach and Brave New Shrimp Salad.”  It was baby spinach tossed with pears, walnuts, Stilton cheese, and vinaigrette, topped with Brave New Shrimp and caper berries.  Jack had a salmon sandwich which looked fabulous.  We talked everything – politics, the election, labor – it kind of reminded me of my pre-Dean days.  It was really good to catch up with Jack.  We have a number of close mutual friends and I was able to find out what was going on in Little Rock from a progressive perspective.  I very much enjoyed my time with him.  Thanks very much Jack, for the treat.  It certainly was a double treat to be able to spend time with you.

Left to Right: W. Michael Reif, Erin Behring, Dean Nance, William C. Byrd III, Monte Estes

At 1:30 p.m. I headed over to the Dover Law Firm where I was greeted warmly.  I visited with W. Michael Reif, Erin Behring, William C. Byrd III, and Monte Estes.  They were very gracious to me.   Thanks to them for taking time out of their busy day to visit with me.  It was a short visit, but a good one.  One of the things that I very much enjoy is getting out and about to meet alums I haven’t met before, as well as other lawyers in Little Rock.  Their gracious hospitality made me feel right at home.  I was also able to share with them some of the exciting new things we are doing and to get their feedback on things we might do differently or do better.  It was a very good visit and again, I really appreciate them taking the time to meet with me.  While I was there, a hawk showed up  and I found out that after I left the hawk was attacked by another hawk.  I’m glad that I missed that whole thing, but it was a very majestic sight to see the hawk sitting there on the railing looking out over the city and it made a pretty good picture, too.  I hope you think so, too.

Hawk on the Railing

At 3:00 p.m. I met with Pat O’Brien who is our alum and the Pulaski Circuit/County Clerk.  Pat was a hoot!  We had a blast!  I will say this for Pat . . . he never took any of my classes and I knew who he was and I had never really talked with him in earnest before, but we hit it off right away.  He, like me, is quite candid and a straight-up kind of guy so we had a fabulous conversation. And Pat, I heard those things you told me and I’m still mulling it over but I know how you feel about it.  He is going to get involved with our alumni strategic planning and I appreciate that.  He is quite a resource in terms of knowing who’s who and what’s what down in Pulaski County and I’m really grateful that we were able to get together there during my visit to Little Rock.

Pulaski Circuit/County Clerk Pat O'Brien

That evening I attended an event at the home of Dr. Rickey Medlock and Scott Heffington for Jay Barth.  It was very interesting.  I like to go to these events.  I’m always careful to note whether it involves any of our alums or any potential conflicts and I didn’t see any.  So I thought it would be a good way to meet a bunch of new people and that turned out to be the case.  I didn’t get any pictures because it was very, very crowded.  I didn’t want to be rude just snapping pictures of people I didn’t know, so sorry, no pictures for that.  Afterwards I had a nice relaxing dinner with Steve Shults.  I met Steve in August and he has become a very good friend to me and someone who’s easy to be around and hang out with.  Thanks very much for dinner Steve.  It was a really nice evening.

Amy Bower of AY Magazine

Wednesday, February 4, started with a request for information from a legislator and we scrambled to get that information in on time.  It was some pretty detailed budget information about the law school.  Once we got that out, I had an interview at 1:30 p.m. with Amy Bower of AY Magazine because I will be featured in the March edition as one of the top ten most powerful women in Arkansas in the category of law.  I’ve been teasing the folks around me saying I think it’s a lot more fun to be a top ten hottie at 50, but as one of our young alums, Chris Nebben reminded me, being a powerful woman is hot for guys who are smart.  So, I’ll take that compliment!  I’m very honored to be featured in AY Magazine.  Amy and I completed the interview that afternoon.  At 2:00 p.m. that afternoon we had a quick meeting to go over the upcoming events for the semester.  Michele Payne would be out for three weeks due to surgery, and the trooper that she is, she wanted to make sure that everything was in order before she left.  I very much appreciate her.  She is a delight to work with, very organized, and keeps me on task.

Frere Roger Shutz, Founder of the Taize Ecumenical Community

Right after our meeting, I left for Little Rock and attended a Taizé service at 5:30 p.m.  A Taizé service is a service of prayer through song, words and contemplation.  It’s a very quiet, meditative reflective service.  A little bit about it . . . Taizé is the name of a village in the Burgundy region of France where a young Swiss theologian named Roger Shutz founded a Christian ecumenical community at the beginning of World War II.  He wanted to work for peace and help Jewish refugees by celebrating Christian unity.  His dream was to live in community with others who would practice the essential dimensions of the Gospel in a manner that would offer a response of Christian Reconciliation and hope in the face of the horrors of the war.  Brother Roger, as he became to be known, founded such a place in Taizé.  Taizé worship, now held in most major cities in the world, could be said to provide a ring of prayer, constantly encircling the earth.  The service was held at First United Methodist Church in downtown Little Rock.  It’s held there the first Wednesday of every month and I was fortunate enough to be invited by my friend Steve Shults to attend the service with him that evening.  It was a wonderful way to stop in the middle of what had been a very hectic and challenging time and to be quiet, reflect, and become centered again.  I’m very grateful to him for the invitation and very much enjoyed that service.

Dinner at the Vermillion Water Grille

What I did after that was a lot of fun.  I checked into my usual hotel, the Hampton Inn in downtown Little Rock, and walked down to Vermillion Water Grille where I met Jane Kim, Chris Nebben and Cameron McCree for a rollicking, laughter filled evening and a wonderful dinner.  It was delightful to be with them.   They always make me laugh and lift my spirits and they were fantastically fun as always.  Thanks very much to Jane who treated me to dinner.  I didn’t expect that at all.  The treat was being with them.  By the way, let me add here for those of you who read the blog, if you’d like me to get in touch with you while I’m in Little Rock or to share a meal or break bread, just shoot me an e-mail at cnance@uark.edu or send me a Facebook message and I’ll certainly get in touch with you and we’ll set something up.

Provost McMath

The next day, Tuesday, February 3, started out with my monthly meeting with Provost McMath.  It was a brief meeting.  We just had a little bit of business to visit about, but it’s always good to touch base with your boss and let him know what’s going on.  It’s been a pleasure reporting to Provost McMath.  I guess the most important point of the meeting was I needed to get my IDEA (Individual Development and Educational Assessment) survey done.  It’s an electronic survey sent to the faculty and staff that allows them to rate our administrative team here at the law school.

Professor Elizabeth Young

Later that afternoon I had a brief meeting with Prof. Elizabeth Young.  It’s always good to see her and to catch up with what’s going on.  As you may remember, she is a new faculty member who joined us and has brought our Immigration Clinic on line.  She had some fabulous ideas for programs and outreach.  It’s great to have her aboard.  She is being recognized by the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal as one of the “Fast 15.” Way to go, Elizabeth!  We are all very proud of you!

Later that day in my continuing quest to regrow my hair, I ventured up to Rogers.  But before I did that I went by the house because through Facebook I learned from those of you on Mt. Sequoyah that the power might be back on.  So after my meeting, I zoomed back out to the house and flipped the main circuit breaker and indeed the power came on!  And of course, you know what the first thing I did was, go in and turn the thermostat up so that when I came back my house would be warm.  After that I raced to Rogers so I wouldn’t be late for my hair appointment where Lora takes very good care of me.  It is growing back and I’m very grateful to her for that.  I missed a Women of Distinction meeting, but everything got scrambled coming back and facing down the ice storm.  I still did not have telephone or cable, but you know what?  It didn’t matter because the house was warm.  That was very important.  Ironically, Tuesday was to be my last day home that week for a little while because I was to head to Little Rock the next day.  It was nice to come back to a toasty house on Tuesday evening.