Summer Fun

All of you who are parents – or who are children – are well aware that parents are willing to do almost anything for their children. When your kids become adults, and especially if they don't live close to you, those opportunities don't come around too often. But we have the opportunity of helping out one of the kids in a couple of weeks in a unique situation.

Older daughter and her family are going on a vacation cruise for about ten days. This year they are taking the kids, so we won't get to take care of them. And the cat is being boarded while they are gone. But they have asked it we would house sit for them. Oh, yes, and Mr. Turtle will be in the basement and will need to be fed.

Mr. Turtle won't be loud, he won't cause problems (or cough up fur balls). I just hope I don't forget about his being down in Grandson's room!! I'm not quite sure what “turtle sitting” entails, but I've asked for Grandson to leave me instructions. We laugh about our job of turtle sitting, but we are looking forward to some time in the Big City.

Hubby and I had already been talking about the possibility of some day trips to KC to check out the local sights. Now we can do that with only one trip up. We've been checking out places to see in KC. We definitely want to check out the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. We toured the Truman Library a few years ago, but there are other Truman sites to visit in Independence. The Kansas City Zoo has been mentioned, as well as the minor league T-Bones baseball team. There's The Plaza, the new shopping area by the Kansas Speedway, parks and fountains, and Crown Center. So many options.

We've also realized that the time we're there will cover Father's Day, the 8-year-old granddaughter's 9^th birthday, son and daughter-in-law's wedding anniversary, and the 8/9-year-old's dance recital. Older daughter didn't realize how perfect her timing would be!

We did laundry this morning – Thursday morning seems to be a good time for us to find the washers and dryers available. I haven't heard any jack hammering going on today in preparation for the new laundry room on first floor........but I don't think the new washers and dryers have arrived yet anyway. One of the two washers on this floor sounds like it's ready to go into orbit when it kicks into its spin cycle. We all have our fingers crossed that the new laundry room gets set up and working before this washer bites the dust.

Anyway, we're looking forward to a kind of busy, exciting summer. Not only do we get ten days in Kansas City with free lodging, but we're also heading to southern Oregon in August for a family celebration of my mother-in-law's 90^th birthday (and the folks' 65^th wedding anniversary on the same day). We're hoping that the majority of hubby's family will be there – we haven't seen any of them since his stepdad's 90^th birthday celebration three summers ago. And after all the time spent with my brood, hubby will get to meet his granddaughters for the first time. The excitement is mounting.

It's a little hard for me to stay in the “here and now”, with the planning being done for our two adventures. At this point we're pretty good with the August trip – plane tickets have been purchased, hotel had been reserved, and rental car will be available when we get off the plane. I guess I'll wait to start planning the packing logistics for that trip once we get back home in June. Plan one trip at a time!

Aging

Aging is such a strange thing – the more you do it, the better it gets. I remember being a small child and thinking how terribly old my grandparents were. Even as a teenager and young adult, I viewed my parents as being old. And I'm not alone. All kids view their parents as being old. I grew up in a time where grownups definitely acted older than young adults do now. June Cleaver cooked supper wearing a nice dress, heels and pearls. I can only imagine the laughter that would result if a current-day mother was portrayed like that on TV.

I can recall a time in elementary school when the subject of the year 2000 came up. Our teacher mentioned how exciting it would be for us to be alive when the new century began. I didn't laugh out loud, but I quickly did the math in my head and doubted whether or not many of us would actually see the turn of the century – after all, we would be in our late 40's!!! So old! I had a good chuckle when Y2K happened and I was not only still alive but feeling still reasonably young and vital.

It's funny now to look back and realize how young my grandparents were when I was little. My maternal grandfather was only 65 when he passed away......which means my Mom was only 35 when she lost her Dad. So when I was viewing him as old and almost decrepit when he was in his mid 50's. Silly child!

Doing more math makes me realize that Grandma became a widow when she was only 61. Being the tough gal she was, she hiked herself downtown and got a job at the local restaurant. She worked there for a lot of years waiting tables and cooking. She still made a mean burger and fries when I was in college. I remember going to the restaurant one Saturday afternoon with some college friends and everyone loved their meal. Grandma was great – and she could never figure out why we all thought she was so special.

Because there was a 12-year age difference between my folks, I always viewed Dad as being old. Mom got a pass because I knew she was only 22 when I was born. But I had a little jolt when we moved into the apartment and it hit me that Mom was the same age I am now when she moved in.

As much as I used to dread getting older, I find myself now wishing time would go a little faster. Talk about wishing your life away! But when I hit this next birthday, I'll be able to start collecting Social Security. Since we are living in H.U.D. Housing, our rent is income-based, and they take into consideration the cost of medical expenses, insurance expenses, and such when figuring individual rent expenses. But because I'm not 62 yet, my expenses weren't considered. So once I hit this magic birthday, we can use my health insurance costs to help offset our income. Of course, we'll also have my Social Security added to our income. Hmmm, a bit of a conundrum.

Still, turning 62 is going to be a good thing. And that means just three more years and I can start Medicare. And so I will finally be able to stop looking over my shoulder to see if there's some medical issue sneaking up on me that my health insurance won't cover. It will be nice to reach the end of that anxiety.

Yep, getting older is looking better and better. I'm glad that I'm still here to see what the next few years will bring. When I turn 62 in December, I just might throw myself a party!

Cemetery Time

We've survived the first long holiday of the warm season and are moving on toward the official first day of summer. Friday morning we took Mom to the cemeteries – it was a gorgeous, calm morning. The cemeteries were pretty quiet that morning, but we were trying to get ahead of Saturday's rain forecast.

Last week really wasn't the best week I've ever had. As the week went by, I knew I wasn't feeling right. I knew there was something “funky” going on where I had a couple of teeth pulled the beginning of the month. So I started my Friday seeing the dentist. Such an enjoyable way to start a holiday weekend!

After making sure there were no bone chips or tooth fragments left to cause problems, the dentist decided I had a “gum boil”. Now, I've never heard of this before. Neither has anyone else I've run into. I was always under the impression that boils were extremely painful. This growth, though, was at its worst uncomfortable, kind of like a bruise. I wish that had been the case with the removal!

Once again, the dentist came at me with a syringe – and I absolutely hate needles. For me that's the worst part of the entire procedure. My right side numbed up, and he went in. It was quick and easy, and I was feeling better by the end of the day. But I hate that numb feeling – and I have a tendency to start feeling itchy spots when the medicine starts wearing off. It's a very disconcerting feeling....this intense itching, and you're still numb enough that you can't feel yourself scratching.

At any rate, the dentist finished up with me in good time and we were able to get started on our cemetery rounds. It's always a bit melancholy to put out the Memorial Day wreaths for the family members. All the grandparents except my maternal grandmother have been gone for many, many years – and once I do the math, I realize it's been 21 years since she was with us. I'm trying to grasp the reality that it's been nearly 48 years since I lost my grandfathers.

My paternal grandmother passed away in 1973, Dad's youngest brother in 1976, Dad in 1992, and the middle brother in 1993. I make a point of passing by a childhood friend's grave and saying hello when we're at Ebenezer Cemetery – and face the realization that he's been gone nearly 21 years. More recent losses are two of my first cousins, who passed away two and four years ago. I think it gets harder when the losses are in your own generation.

Braden Cemetery is always so interesting to visit. It's in what's known as the “Tater Hills” of Coloma – at the top of a long, narrow, winding road. Going west from the cemetery is a dirt road that's no longer used – but back in the day, when Dad was a kid, it was a shortcut from our community to Coloma. And the family story goes that Dad and his brothers would get out of the wagon at the cemetery, at the top of that long hill, because they refused to ride down the hill in the wagon. They opted to walk down.....and I can't say I blame them! I know that road is in better shape now than it was in the 1920's and 1930's, and I'm none too fond of going down it in the car.

The Tater Hills are covered with tall trees, so coming to the top of that hill and finding a serene old cemetery nestled at the top can be a bit of a surprise. It's so pretty up there. Dad's family going back a couple of generations are buried there – his grandparents, an aunt and her husband, two of their children and a couple of grandchildren, an uncle, and other shirttail relatives are up there. Some of our close friends and neighbors are also up there, as well as the couple who lived up the hill from us.

Braden Cemetery is a beautiful place to visit......in the daytime. One of my first cousins is buried there, and his sister-in-law put a couple of decorative solar lights next to his headstone. She suggested to her sister that she should drive up there some night and make sure the solar lights were working. I don't think it took long for my cousin's wife to inform her sister that was NOT someplace she intended to go at night! And I can't say I blame her.

Coupons & Stuff

We're enjoying so much looking out the windows in our apartment. We're on the third floor and the windows look to the north. The house next to us is an old brick structure that sits on a double lot that runs from one street to the other. Their yard is filled with mature trees, and the result for us is feeling like we live in an adult-sized treehouse. We can see a brief glimpse of blue sky here and there, and we can see a small piece of the roof of First Christian Church. But otherwise it's a wonderland of green, birds, and squirrels.

We did a shopping trip out of town today. I enjoyed checking out the bargains at Aldi. It always amazes me how much I can buy there for so little money. And I've come to realize they have some good quality produce. I was kind of excited about shopping at wallyworld today because I've been checking the weekly Sunday coupon inserts. Normally I'm not a coupon person, but I figure now it's worth a few minutes of my time.

I had several coupons to use in the pharmacy/beauty section. I didn't mind at all stocking up on shower gel, razors, deodorant, body lotion, and sun screen for a savings. These are things we'll use and aren't frivolous buys. So I was a little disconcerted when I finished checking out and saw my coupons laying on the cash register – the checker set them aside and forgot to actually use them.

My coupons and I ended up at Customer Service, waiting in line for our turn. I made sure all of my coupon items were within easy reach, in case I had to prove I bought them. I gave over my coupons and my receipt and eventually got my savings back. It didn't quite cover the cost of our lunch, but it came close. It was definitely worth waiting for.

A few years ago on this day – or perhaps more than a few – I was in the dining room at the farm playing the piano when I heard someone coming across the porch. I was a little surprised to see my cousin walk in, because it was the middle of the week. But he had come by to tell us that I had a new baby cousin. As a 16-year-old, I was very excited to know there was a new baby to play with.

That was one of the down sides of growing up on the farm and not having a phone. There was a time delay in finding out news, whether good or bad. We were so glad that this cousin was excited enough to drive to our house to let us know this new family member had arrived. My cousin was a little worse for wear – he'd gone to sleep the night before and was sleeping very soundly when his wife woke him up to go to the hospital. He was running on just an hour or two of sleep. I know he was grateful for strong coffee.

When we moved into town, we finally got a phone. It was such fun, even with a system that automatically cut off any call after four or so minutes. The people on the party line were interesting, too – especially the older woman who could never figure out how I could be talking on her phone.

When Mom and Dad moved back to the farm, that was one issue that Mom said was non-negotiable.....she wasn't moving back out there without a phone. They also made sure they added plumbing to the house before moving back in. Running water, an inside bathroom, and a phone. That old farmhouse was right uptown!

Prom

We had a productive weekend. It wasn't overly busy – in fact, we took time out for a nice drive in the country Saturday morning – but I got a bit accomplished. All the travel arrangements for our trip to Oregon have been made and information printed off. We will have to keep up our walking routine so we're in shape for the “transferring planes dash” at Denver Airport.

I turned on Katie Couric's show this afternoon. She began the show with a prom theme, and surprised 47 high school seniors from a specialty high school in New York City with free dresses, shoes, and makeup so they can go to their prom. The girls were very excited and surprised.

My high school didn't have prom when I was a student. The school closed a short nine years after I graduated, and at some point during that time frame they did finally have prom. Once in awhile we could share in the excitement of prom if one of our students was invited to prom at another school – I think we were the only school not doing prom by then, but we did have our fantastic annual senior trip. But there was just a bit of electricity in the air when someone got to go to prom. We always wanted to hear all about it.

As my kids grew, I looked forward to their being old enough to go to prom. I always worked to teach the kids to be independent – some days I would think maybe I succeeded a bit too well. When older daughter was a junior in high school, I was excited for her to go to prom. She was excited as well – but her excitement included going dress shopping with a friend. She did ask me to do her hair – she wanted curls, and her hair had always been difficult to curl. And when prom night arrived, it was raining cats and dogs. She was probably disappointed with her hair, but I did the best I could.

By the next year, I had two going to prom – but the boy took care of ordering his own tux, and the girl once again went shopping with friends There was no request for curly hair. And son's only dilemma was asking to borrow my car since he was driving an old beat-up pickup. One of the big prom traditions at their school is Grand March, where the prom couples go across the auditorium stage one at a time to be introduced and show off their finery to the crowd of parents and well wishers. Neither kid participated.

When younger daughter was old enough for prom, I was used to the idea that I wasn't going to be included in prom preparation. So I was ecstatic when she shopped for her prom dress with me in tow. She was practical, and we went shopping not long after Christmas – and scored a clearance price on a dress left on the rack after not being purchased for that local high school's winter ball. It was a gorgeous hunger green and worked just fine for spring prom. She also asked me to do her hair, but that was do-able because her hair had always curled. We had tiny hunter green and silver roses that I wove into her hair after doing a curly up-do for her. But she, too, opted not to do Grand March.

In the early spring of her senior year, she started working at Worlds of Fun Amusement Park and spent every weekend in Kansas City. She did her own prom dress shopping and paid for a beauty shop appointment that year. She still wouldn't do Grand March, but since I was working two jobs then it didn't matter. I was cleaning the bathrooms at a local gas station while she was dancing the night away.

When hubby started working for the local radio station playing Big Band music, I was thrilled to find out they did an annual spring “Big Band Ball”. Hubby wasn't overly excited about getting gussied up and dancing the night away, especially the necktie part. But I told him my “no prom” story and commented this was as close as I was ever going to get. From then on, he understood how much I enjoyed it.

Cemeteries & Bunny Rabbits

Another weekend is upon us......it's a little scary how often they seem to come around these days! It's going to be a little cool here for graduation. Hopefully it will stay dry.

Our usual Friday cleaning was done today, as well as running to the grocery store. We found a great treat for hubby – no sugar added ice cream bars in vanilla bean and salted caramel flavors. Food choices for diabetics are so much better than they used to be. We did a “quality control” check on the way home.......they passed with flying colors.

Next weekend will be our annual trip to the family cemeteries – Mom changes flowers for the seasons at the cemetery where my Dad and grandparents are buried. But for Memorial Day we visit two cemeteries and leave more flowers. I need to get my flowers down and take inventory so I have time to pick up what I need at the store.

Over my childhood years we visited the cemeteries with regularity. In fact, when I was really small individual families were responsible for mowing their family plots. I remember going frequently with Mom and Dad and playing – carefully – around the cemetery while they mowed. There were always cautions of rattlesnakes to keep me from getting away from the mowed areas. I never saw one, but then I never wanted to either!

One spring when the folks were mowing there, I found some wild strawberries. They were beautifully ripe and tasted wonderful. I've never had wild strawberries since – I had some kind of reaction to them and was very sick that evening.

As I got older, I didn't enjoy trips to the cemeteries nearly as much. I lost both my grandfathers when I was 13, just three months apart. That had a profound effect on me, and I'd certainly had enough of cemeteries to last me for awhile after that summer. I think it was the following spring when Mom and Dad decided one warm evening they needed to check on something at the cemetery. I went with them, but I took a book and opted to stay in the car and read.

The warm sun was setting and the day was waning to dusk. I was sitting sideways on the back car seat with my legs stretched out on the seat, leaning back against the door with the warm breeze blowing through the open window. Knowing me, I was probably reading some engrossing mystery. I hadn't heard any movement at all when suddenly there was something cold and wet on the back of my neck.

I'm sure I jumped a foot as I swatted the back of my neck hard. I turned around, and there stood Dad. He was laughing so hard he could barely give me a hard time for slapping a poor innocent little bunny. Somewhere in the cemetery he'd come across a baby rabbit and managed to get hold of it. I don't know why he thought it would be fun to stick the critter's cold little nose on the back of my neck – but he thought it was a whole lot funnier than I did. He never knew how close his little angel came to using some really inappropriate language!

I'm comforted now when we go to the cemetery and I visit the resting spots of all my grandparents, Dad, 2 uncles and 2 cousins. Luckily, I've never had as exciting a visit as that spring evening when Dad found the bunny.

Summers

It's a nice sunny afternoon, and I'm enjoying a cup of hot coffee. It may be a little late in the day for ingesting caffeine, but I really need a mid-afternoon wake up! I slept well last night, but I've been yawning since lunch. It might have something to do with the heavy lunch we had.

There's about a week of this school year left, and we're at the point where you're not sure who's happier about that – the students or the teachers. I know older daughter has been counting down the days to her summer of freedom. She's not teaching summer school this year......she's been working so hard on developing the new Core Curriculum class material that she decided to give herself a break. We've been encouraging her and her hubby to take another vacation this year so we can stay with the kids again.

We didn't have summer school when I was a student. Come to think of it, my kids didn't either. I think at that time summer school was still for those who needed to improve grades before the next school year. Or maybe we were just in smaller school districts. I know locally they have an active summer school program for the elementary kids (and possibly middle school), and I know older daughter has taught summer school for several years. I know one year there was a new, innovative summer school curriculum being used. There was one unit of it that combined cooking and science for the students, and the curriculum included all the items needed for that subject. Several of us beefed up our supply of kitchen utensils after summer school was over. In fact, the last time we visited daughter, her counter was covered with funnels and basters she'd brought home from her classroom left from that summer.

For me, the big thing to look forward to in the summer was Vacation Bible School at the church. We held VBS in the heat of the summer, for one week in the afternoons. Every day we would line up outside the church and march in to our VBS theme song. We said the pledges for the American flag, Christian flag, and the Bible. Three people were chosen each day to lead the procession carrying those items. We would sing songs and have a general lesson, then we would go to our age-appropriate classes. We learned a lot, but we had the added stress of memorizing and remembering for the program at the end of the week. We always had crafts, and each age group usually did two crafts each. We would enjoy cookies and koolaid, and we had play time. There were always good games of Drop the Handkerchief or Red Rover. We would come together for a final song or two before being dismissed.

We always seemed to have a really large attendance for VBS. So many kids from the extended neighborhood would attend, regardless of where they normally went to church. It was always fun to see them. Some of those kids lived in another school district, so it wasn't unusual for VBS to be the only time I saw them.

Other fun summer activities I looked forward to was an annual church picnic at the Carrollton Park, where there was a swimming pool. Mom's homemaker's club also had a summer family picnic, either at the Carrollton Park or Simpson Park in Chillicothe. Both places had swimming pools, which were fun. And our family reunion was always the end-of-summer highlight. For many years when I was in elementary school, it was held on the third Sunday in August........and then after that long day of playing, I would have to be up and refreshed and ready to start school the next day. During those years, we switched back and forth between the Carrollton Park and the Richmond Park.

The end of the school year was always exciting. But for me, the novelty usually wore off soon. I missed the activity and the companionship of school. Some days it was just too quiet on the farm.

Graduation

Tonight is the 5-year-old whirlwind's preschool graduation, complete with blue cap and gown. I've seen her “graduation photos”, and she obviously enjoyed posing in her regalia. I'm sure she'll have a wonderful time. My cousin Karen posted photos of her granddaughter Eden's preschool graduation from last night on Facebook. I know these kiddos feel so big reaching this milestone.

My class celebrated graduation in May of 1971. We came home from our senior trip on Saturday, some of us sunburned and a couple of us with colds. We were tired and full of memories. On Sunday afternoon, we gathered at the school gym. The tradition was that the seniors gathered up flowers from wherever they could around the neighborhood and put together flower arrangements to decorate the stage for graduation.

We all gathered back at the gym that evening for Baccalaureate. That was a lot more low-key ceremony than what was to come. We marched to the stage to “Pomp and Circumstance”, played by one of the sophomore girls on the piano. As I think back, I really don't remember too much now of that evening. I'm sure there was some special music and a speech, possibly delivered by a local minister. If I felt really energetic, I could dig out some mementos and find the program from that evening. But I don't have that kind of gumption today!

The more important event was Commencement the following night. It was a bigger deal than Baccalaureate – a bigger crowd, a longer ceremony, and we marched in to “Pomp and Circumstance” played by the school band (minus the seniors). Hearing that song still makes me tear up. There was special music, speeches by the Valedictorian and Salutatorian, and the guest speaker. And finally, we received our diplomas.

I had always been so ready for graduation – for years I couldn't wait to be done with high school and start my life. And that feeling didn't change – so I was quite surprised when I started crying after graduation and had quite a time getting a hold on my emotions. I still can't explain my reaction to getting that diploma, except that I know I was tired still from senior trip and even at this stage of my life I tend to tear up easily when I'm tired.

When I graduated from college two years later, my emotions really weren't involved. Instead I had a sense of relief at my accomplishment coupled with curiosity at what was to come. That graduation wasn't as big a rite of passage as high school graduation had been.

Other than crying when I heard “Pomp and Circumstance”, I was calm and focused when the kids graduated from high school. In fact, I bordered on a feeling of excitement knowing that they were about to start another phase of their life. At their college graduations I just felt a sense of relief....with son, it was a BIG sense of relief.

In a short three years we'll start with high school graduations for the grandkids. I'll be very happy for them and not feel the need to cry – except for when they play “Pomp and Circumstance”.

Meanderings

Mother's Day has come and gone – and so, for the moment, has spring. Wow, after some high-80's days last week, today's overcast low 60's feels really chilly. Sounds like we'll stay in this territory most of the week.

Hubby had an encore performance at the VA clinic yesterday, so we were in Kansas City for awhile. We stopped at Walmart on our way out of town, and it started sprinkling on us as soon as we got in the car. We drove in really hard rain for awhile. I was glad to leave it behind shortly after going through Levasy. I don't mind driving in the rain – pouring rain is something else entirely. That front went through here an hour or so after we got home.

We were so busy the first of the month with the house closing and all that fun stuff – I was too caught up in that swirling vortex to share one of the fun aspects of living in a senior housing facility that happened. Local teachers frequently use the local senior population as a teaching tool. On May 1, that lesson was about May Day. The first graders used construction and tissue paper to make cone-shaped May Day baskets and flowers. They included a May Day poem and their names.

At each of the facilities, they went through and knocked on doors to present the May baskets. If the resident wasn't home (like us), they hung the basket on the door. The little guy who made ours made a puzzle out of his name as a decoration on the basket.

One of Mom's long-time friends lives at another senior apartment in town. There was a lovely photo of her being presented her May basket in the local paper. She got a bonus because May 1 was her 95^th birthday, and the first graders visiting her building sang “Happy Birthday” to her.

Over the years of Mom living here, I've heard of the different visits by the school kids. I know they come at Christmas time and sing Christmas carols. It seems like they have another visit or two during the school year. I think it's great that they are presenting that kind of lesson to the younger ones.

I'm somewhat amused that the two nursing homes in town also come to this building occasionally – one does Bingo, with prizes, and the other brings lunch a couple of times a year. It's a nice outreach for them, but I always wonder if they're trolling for prospects! Along the same line, before we had a local Ambulance District, the local funeral home doubled as an ambulance service. A friend of Mom's worked at the hospital, and whenever she would see the funeral home employees in the hospital halls she would ask them if they were “putting in or taking out”.

I realized just a bit ago that we've been here two months. Time flies, as we're all learning. As every day goes by we find ourselves settling in and loving it here more and more. We've both survived the change in location and the inevitable change in routine. I'm a rut person – I like my ruts deep and straight and unaltered. But I think I've adapted well to how things are now.

I haven't had to open multiple cabinet doors to find anything. Adapting to the electric cookstove after so many years of using gas went more smoothly than I expected. The adaptation overall has been a positive experience. Except parking. Last week we finally got to move from on-street parking to having our own spot in the lot. We're both still turning toward the street exit instead of the parking lot exit when we get off the elevator. I'm waiting for the day we get completely out the door and realize we're on the wrong side of the building – we'll get a good laugh out of that.

Mrs. Leakey

What a nice day – nowhere to be, nothing on the calendar, a day to do what I choose to do. Which is nice, but my choice began with cleaning because not doing it would have driven me batty. I felt much better once things were clean and in place. Some days it doesn't take a lot to keep me happy.

It's a great time of the year. Graduations have started, smaller schools are already coming to the end of the year, and this weekend is Mother's Day. And tomorrow is one of my favorite teacher's 80^th birthday. I hope she'll have the outstanding day she deserves.

Erlene Leakey was among everyone's favorite teacher as we went through school. She was younger than most of the other teachers, she was pretty, and she was very nice. She was one of those teachers who made everyone anxious to get to high school so they could have her as a teacher.

Like most of the teachers in our small school, Mrs. Leakey was qualified to teach multiple subjects. She taught all our business classes and also history. For freshman year, I only had her for Civics. History was one of my favorite subjects, and she made it even more so.

By sophomore year, I had her for multiple classes each year. With some teachers, that would have been a “personality overload” - but not with Mrs. Leakey. I had her for history both sophomore and junior years. Typing class was our sophomore year. Junior year I also had her for accounting, shorthand, and a practical business class. I can't remember what the exact name of that class was, but it was where we put together the monthly school paper and the yearbook.

When we started typing class, we had manual Royal typewriters. I believe there were two electric typewriters in the room, but I'm not sure we got to touch those that school year. When we started doing the school paper, the two electric typewriters were put into use. I don't want to say that this was “the olden days” - but our school paper was done on a mimeograph machine. We used the two-part paper that had an inked page on the back that left a reverse purple imprint of the typed letters on the back side of the white page.

That special white paper was then put, ink-side out, on the metal cylinder of the mimeograph machine. A really stinky fluid was added to the machine, and the copies of the school paper pages were cranked out one by one. We were fortunate that school was small enough that we would put out the paper for every family with just one mimeograph master sheet per page – it didn't wear out.

Those two electric typewriters were specialized in that they had a half-space key. The school paper was printed on regular 8 ½ X 11 sheets, with two columns in full-block style (meaning that both sides of the columns were straight). So we had to count words on each line and either add extra spaces to make it fit the column, or use the half-space key to squeeze letters together. If you made a typing mistake, you had to pull the white sheet away from the purple sheet and scratch the purple ink off the back with a razor blade. It could get really tedious when the deadline got away from us.

I had Mrs. Leakey during senior year for more shorthand and another year of doing the school paper and yearbook. My added advantage with her was that she lived just a block or so down the street from my Grandma in Norborne. When I stayed with Grandma for a few days in the summer, Mrs. Leakey was always gracious about having me stop by and see her. She was just a fun, lovely person.

Mrs. Leakey was also our class sponsor our senior year, so she was with us through all our graduation preparation. She and her husband also traveled with us as chaperones on our senior trip. Mrs. Leakey was, for me, the best part of high school. Students need more like her. A very Happy Birthday, Mrs. Leakey!

Proper Grammar

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm ready for life as we know it to slow down! We've had something going on almost every day for the past ten days, and I'm getting ready for some quiet down time.

Hubby sees the Dermatology Clinic at the Kansas City VA Hospital every six months, and yesterday was the day for that. We headed up mid-morning and enjoyed lunch at IHOP and a little shopping before going to his appointment. The Clinic was running a little late, then we had to wait at the Pharmacy to pick up a prescription before we could leave the hospital. We decided to stop at Price Chopper to pick up a few things before heading home.

It was a fun day, all things considered, but it was 4 or a little after when we made it home. We seem to go in spurts ordering things on the internet. We won't order for awhile, then it seems like we order a bunch of stuff at once. We got our fun packages on Tuesday, then when we got home yesterday there were three more that had been brought to the apartment. Today one more came in, but that should be it for now. I'm sure the office is glad that we're done – only one package came in the mail, so the office had to deal with the deliveries from UPS and FedEx.

I did a bunch of small chores that had piled up this morning and did the laundry. This afternoon I was listening to a post-class video that had been posted and evaluated five papers from the submissions of final papers. That's part of the deal – instead of the professor or teaching assistants grading all these papers, they are peer assessed. If you want your paper's score, then you agree to evaluate five other's papers. In this class, you are also required to re-evaluate your own paper after you do the other five.

I don't mind doing the evaluations, it's a good opportunity to learn something new or to see something from a completely different perspective. My frustration today was opening up one paper and finding it in Spanish. In spite of the fact that I should have gained enlightenment while studying Buddhism and Modern Psychology, I could not read the paper. (And that was a really bad pun.) I put a post on the class Discussion Forum and hopefully someone will retrieve that paper so it can be evaluated – though in honest part of the class instruction is to submit all papers in english.

The first class that I took last fall admonished us to be compassionate when evaluating the papers and to remember that a large number of students don't speak english as their primary language. I have to tell you it was tough for me to evaluate those papers on the basis of content alone and to ignore all the bad grammar and punctuation! I'm wired to be almost a perfectionist when it comes to those two points.

For this current paper, the professor posed four questions and required us to pick two of the questions to discuss and answer. One paper that was quite obviously from a non-english speaking started out with “Okay, so I decided to do question 1 and 2”. Then the student went on to ramble that we learned Buddhist thought and beliefs in class and there's been scientific research about it........without actually stating the Buddhist beliefs or saying what the scientific research was or what it found. It's probably good for the youth of America that I did not become a teacher. No one would have received an “A” on a paper unless their grammar, punctuation and spelling were correct, regardless of the subject of the paper!

I still am thankful almost on a daily basis for our school principal Mrs. Mosher and her insistence that we all learn proper grammar. It was the best thing she could have ever done for us.

Happy Birthday

As they used to say on “The A Team”, I love it when a plan comes together. I love it even more when everything works out even though you don't plan it. This day has been, start to finish, a wonderful day. And the added bonus is that it's hubby's birthday. I think it will be one that he remembers fondly. It's also a testament to how little it takes these days to keep us happy.

When hubby got up this morning, he turned on the light and found what we call “door mail” - here, everyone has the habit of sliding things like the newspaper, cards, etc., under the recipient's door. He had a nice birthday card signed “your favorite mother-in-law”. Not much later, there was a knock on our door telling us the building air conditioning had been turned on. That was a really good way to start the day.

We decided to take our morning walk outside and took a tour of the town Square. The new building on the northeast corner is getting a new brick facade on the lower part of the front. It looks very nice. When we got back, we sat on the patio and visited with friends for awhile. That was a very nice addition to our day.

When our apartment building was constructed, many of the people who moved in didn't drive. And as a result, there aren't as many parking spaces as there are apartments. Even when Mom moved in 22 years ago, the parking lot was never full. Now it's a different story. Not only do the vast majority of tenants still drive, but there are a lot of couples here and some of them have two vehicles. So there is a pecking order for the parking lot – the ones who have been here the longest get the prime parking lot spaces and everyone else parks on the street behind the building. As people and their vehicles leave the facility, the tenant who has parked on the street the longest gets to move one vehicle to the parking lot. All that said, we were happy to get a phone call from the office just after lunch telling us we could move to the parking lot. An added bonus is that it's probably the easiest spot to access in the entire lot.

The next fun thing to happen was the delivery of a new electronic keyboard we ordered over the weekend. I've played the piano since I was seven, and I'm really excited to have this. It took some doing to get it set up, because I had to rearrange some of the furniture. But it's up and looks nice. And the first thing that was played was “Happy Birthday”. Mom came in while we were setting up the keyboard and thought we looked hot, so she treated us to a nice cold drink at McDonald's.

Now we're just sitting with our feet up, enjoying the air conditioning and looking at the new keyboard. Have I said how easy it is to keep us happy? Hubby said that he's really enjoyed this birthday – and I couldn't have planned on any of these nice things happening today.

Tomorrow will be a long day for us – hubby has a doctor's appointment in KC. The good part of that will be brunch at IHOP before we go to the hospital. It will probably be late afternoon before we get home. Any trip to the City is fun.

Summertime

Happy Monday and Happy Cinco de Mayo to everyone! My apologies for not getting to the blog Friday – instead I ended up spending the majority of the afternoon having an emergency dental appointment. By the time two teeth were no longer attached to my jaw (and one of them broke in the process, bringing about something akin to mining for gold), I wasn't feeling like doing much. And I had enough novocaine in me that talking wasn't really an option. After recuperating and taking antibiotics for a few days, I feel much better than I had been for awhile.

After the cool days last week, we're back to warm – our outside thermometer says we're in the mid 80's. The air hasn't been turned on in the building yet, so we're trying everything we can think of to stay comfortable. If someone hadn't used the stovetop and the oven today, it probably would have stayed a bit cooler in here. But, the food was good.

After not accomplishing anything Friday and taking it easy over the weekend, I finally made myself sit down and write that paper for my class. It was the one thing standing between me and another completion certificate from Coursera. Don't get me wrong, I'd highlighted my notes and done some research. And I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted things to flow. It was just a matter of actually doing it.

Whenever I talk about this, I can just hear my kids commenting on how I always stayed after them to do their homework and not put things off until the last minute. I'm sure they're doing the same song and dance now with the teenagers. But it must be strange to them to have their mom procrastinating on homework.

I'm going to take a break from further learning for awhile. There aren't any classes starting soon that interest me, and I might as well focus somewhere else for awhile. Summer can always bring more time with the grandkids, more activities in general, and some vacation time. We're gearing up for a trip to Oregon in August to help hubby's mom celebrate her 90^th birthday (which is also the same day as their 65^th wedding anniversary). That will be a fun time. I've started monitoring the airline sites, hoping to find that perfect flight at a reasonable cost. Actually, I will be quite happy to find anything that departs and arrives at reasonable hours and only has one plane change.

Younger daughter is settling in at her new job, though she found the down side to it on Friday – having a fire drill when you work on the 30^th floor. It's a good thing Friday is casual wear......that was a lot of steps. Older daughter is happy having annual MAP testing out of the way for her 5^th graders. She has the May calendar posted in her room and is counting down the days left in this school year. This is coupled with all the end-of-year activities for the 5-year-old whirlwind, which ends with Preschool Graduation on the 14^th.

Both granddaughters will have dance recitals in June – we hope to attend both of them. They can be long, but they are fun to watch. I'm not sure if either of the boys has summer plans, other than perfecting their driving skills before their late summer birthdays.

Summers always seem like such busy times, no matter what age you are.

Going to the Zoo

And with a few penstrokes this morning, we are no longer homeowners. It felt good to get that final signing over with – it felt even better to go to the bank and cash the check! Then we had to deal with the nuts and bolts of switching insurance, getting the various utilities out of our name, and all that other fun stuff. And accomplishing that called for a celebratory lunch at the local Mexican restaurant – which in turn led to seriously needing a nap. Instead we just returned from a brisk walk around the Square....cloudy, 57 degrees, and a breeze blowing from the north.

I know partly why I'm procrastinating on everything today – I'm supposed to be doing some research and writing a paper for my current online class. Luckily the deadline got extended, or I'd be in serious trouble! My mind just isn't focusing right now, which is kind of ironic since my paper is supposed to be on meditation and how modern psychology relates to that. After six weeks of class, we covered this “focus” business enough that I should have a better handle on it.

Instead, my mind is at the Kansas City Zoo with the five-year-old whirlwind and her day care. I know even though it's chilly, it's been an exciting day for her. A photo appeared on Facebook last night of her and the brown paper bag she'd decorated for today's lunch. It had her name, the zoo entrance, an elephant, a giraffe (both recognizable), and what I interpreted to be some water with a seal on a rock next to it. Maybe it was a penguin, but it was small and in the background. Tonight she has the end-of-year program for the Grain Valley School District Early Childhood Program. She's going to be one tired little girl by bedtime.

I have really vague memories of going to the Zoo when I was only three or four with Mom and Dad, my aunt and uncle and two cousins. I remember it being hot, asphalt, and I remember having a picnic lunch at a picnic bench. I really don't remember seeing the animals. And I do remember stopping at my great aunt and uncle's home in Hardin on the way home. I've never understood why I don't remember the animals since I'm sure they were the best part of the day.

The next time I went to a zoo was in St. Louis on our Senior Trip. It was great fun. And since there were only ten in the class, we all stayed together and enjoyed the experience. We saw so many things that day – not only the zoo, but we went to the top of the Gateway Arch, saw a show at McDonnell-Douglas Planetarium, and staying downtown in the Sheraton Hotel.

My favorite zoo of all times is the Washington Park Zoo in Portland, Oregon. Talk about a big, magical place! I lived in Oregon six years and had several opportunities to take the kids. The Portland Rose Garden was in that same complex, as well as a lumber industry museum. That was a really magnificent zoo – but then, it's in a pretty magnificent city.

It's too bad the Whirlwind has her school program tonight. Otherwise, I could give them a call and listen to the excitement in her voice while she talked about her day at the zoo. I need to make a point of calling over the weekend to hear all about it. Too bad we can't live next door to all the grandkids to get all this exciting news first hand!