I'm certified (in First Aid, that is)

Sorry to have been away from the blog, but I was getting ready for my Red Cross first aid, CPR, and AED certification exams. If
you don't know what an AED is, it stands for "automatic external defibrillator." It's used to try and get a heart back into normal rhythym, and a few public places have them now. I was taking a Red Cross course with my younger daughter, and really wanted my Red Cross certification--I nearly wanted it more than I wanted my MFA...well, maybe not that much, but it was important to me.

And...tonight I passed the exams! So now I have three cards in my wallet from the Red Cross, which I have tucked under my driver's license.

The holidays are upon the household, and I have bought our yearly ornament. This is Seti, the Christmas Yeti. Yes, he is really named after the Seti Project. Mr. Strega says that Seti brings lovely high-altitude gifts to all good little Himalaya climbers, like oxygen cylinders and ice picks, and tents that don't fly away with people in them during gale-force winds. I think Mr. Strega and I have been eating too many holiday cookies. But then again, I'm certified.