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19615. arkymalarky - 6/12/2006 7:05:12 PM She's 75.
Good luck with the x-ray. 19616. jexster - 6/12/2006 7:08:18 PM 
Why Arky's a Daughter of the Confederacy
I am a Daughter of the Confederacy because I was born a Daughter of the Confederacy. A part of my heritage was that I came into this world with the blood of a soldier in my veins...a soldier who may have had nothing more to leave behind to me and to those who come after me except in heritage...a heritage so rich in honor and glory that it far surpasses any material wealth that could be mine. But it is mine, to cherish, to nurture and to make grace, and to pass along to those yet to come. I am, therefore, a Daughter of the Confederacy because it is my birthright.
I am a Daughter of the Confederacy because I have an obligation to perform. Like the man in the Bible, I was given a talent and it is my duty to do something about it. That is why I've joined a group of ladies whose birthright is the same as mine...an organization which has for its purpose the continuance and furtherance of the true history of the South and the ideals of southern womanhood as embodied in its Constitution.
I am a member of The United Daughters of the Confederacy because I feel it would greatly please my ancestor to know that I am a member. It would please him to know that I appreciate what he did and delight his soldier love to know that I do not consider the cause which he held so dear to be lost or forgotten. Rather, I am extremely proud of the fact that he was a part of it and was numbered among some of the greatest and bravest men which any such cause ever produced.
I am a Daughter of the Confederacy because I can no more help being a Daughter of the Confederacy than I can help being an American, and I feel that I was greatly favored by inheriting a birthright for both.
Written by Mary Nowlin Moon (Mrs. John)
A member of Kirkwood Otey Chapter 10, Lynchburg, Virginia
First read at a Chapter meeting on June 2, 1915
19617. arkymalarky - 6/12/2006 7:09:59 PM That's nice, but let's hear some Jolie Blonde! 19618. PelleNilsson - 6/12/2006 7:59:18 PM Another year for Flexy to be able to drive a car? Frankly speaking I think that is ridiculous. I wouldn't have said so if we were speaking about a big car with manual gear and without power steering but that's not the case, is it? 19619. arkymalarky - 6/12/2006 8:21:45 PM Dadgum. I went to Yahoo and had to get up to do something, went back in five minutes later, literally, to find The New Yahoo. Not sure how I like it, but it was weird to catch it right when it changed. 19620. arkymalarky - 6/13/2006 1:01:42 AM BTW, Judith, how is your leg? I thought about you and Keoni today when Bob left to get golfcart batteries. We haven't been on the trail in the golfcart since last year. 19621. arkymalarky - 6/13/2006 1:36:11 AM Maybe I should post this in The Good Life, but I'll go ahead here. When I first started posting in the Fray I had more free time than I'd had since college. In the past three or four years, from the point when I left to spend a stressful year where Bob works and then came back, it was not long after that I got hugely busy on rural education and at the same time my job became much harder because we had to cut back so much and we've all been way overloaded (it's the same all over the state in all but rich schools, and administrators and teachers in poor districts are leaving in droves).
Last spring after the hysterectomy I didn't do much--I used it as an excuse to get a good long break--and this year I started graduate school, even though I'm still way involved in rural ed issues and my schedule was the worst it's been in 20 years. This isn't optional for me. I have to do this now so I can begin making retirement plans if they close rural schools. I don't want to work in a larger district.
I have a week--this week--and then I start a two-week seminar, we're going on vacation for 2-3 weeks after that, and then having our July gathering when we get back. I'm very excited about all of it except the seminar, and I would be looking forward to it, except it's 12 straight 11-hour days.
So I need help: In all this time I've been so busy that my house and plants have gotten way out of control. I cringe still to say that Keoni can attest to that, since he did such a noble job vacuuming! That will be taken care of by the time he arrives this year. ;-) I'm very much in the mood to work on my house this week and I've been trying to figure out where and how to start, but I don't seem to have places for anything anymore.
If I start and don't finish, it's not a big deal since I'll be better off with anything I do, and everything's functional for vacation, work, and the July gathering. I'd just like to do it for myself, especially since I will be as busy--busier, actually--this year and next summer. Also, I redid my classroom this year for the first time since I came back, and I'd like to have the house where I want it too. I also need pointers on how to maintain it even though I'm so busy. After next summer things will suddenly be very different and it won't be an issue. Mose will be married, I will be done with graduate school, and rural education issues will be resolved one way or another. It probably will not be in our favor, but at least I will be in a position to retire, do something else, or work on rural ed full time.
I think need a system for getting things back in control and keeping them there, and I've tried making a daily list, but if anyone has pointers from experience or just common sense advice I'm all ears--or a website. I bought a book, but it's just a conglomeration of tips. I saw a great article on cleaning while waiting in some waiting room a few years ago, and I must confess I actually considered swiping it--the only time I've ever even considered such a thing in a waiting room. I should have, because I never found it anywhere and don't remember the magazine, year, or anything. It was EXCELLENT, though, covering everything from the cookstove to the toilet in record time--real cleaning too, not just a lick and a spit.
I also intend to paint some, but I think I can do that part without too much advice. I'm only changing a couple of room colors, though. After ten years I still love the colors in most of the rooms and will simply touch up or paint a new coat where it's needed. 19622. arkymalarky - 6/13/2006 2:58:27 AM This one's pretty good. I had no idea there was a channel for this stuff. I'd been googling a while before I posted, and googled a while more, and didn't find much until I said "room-to-room."
My main dilemma is storage of stuff I use regularly. I don't have enough bookshelves, cd/dvd/vhs shelves, etc., and I don't have much room for them where I need them most. 19623. arkymalarky - 6/13/2006 3:32:48 AM I think I hit the jackpot with that site. It's got everything I was looking for, if anyone else is looking for that sort of thing. I know Judith has lots of great advice, I remember from her posts in Salon and here. 19624. arkymalarky - 6/13/2006 3:56:45 AM I've found piles of stuff (pun intended) on that website, and I am now completely motivated and full of ideas for the week. I'll link it in the Good Life thread later.
I'm glad I came in here for advice and a pep talk--
Thanks Mote! 19625. webfeet - 6/13/2006 5:11:38 AM Another scary saturday at a children's birthday. This one had a basketball theme, pitting the children against one another. Things got ugly when 2 older girl cousins of the birthday boy, who were taller than the kindergarden small fries, grabbed the ball from the little ones and used their natural advantage to shoot a few hoops while the others scrambled after in vain. One of the mothers was practically in tears. She got up and started to yell at the 'coach' (who was also the unctuous and wildly patriotic owner of the scary fitness complex) through the mesh net. Some of the other mothers were also up in arms.
Sports bring out the beast in parents. I wished, as I sat there, that I gave a shit. 19626. arkymalarky - 6/13/2006 6:12:46 AM Though I enjoyed a few of them, I was very glad when the competitive birthday party stage ended, somewhere around junior high. Not competitive activities, from which we were thankfully spared, but competitive parties.
One of the first Mose went to was a sleepover, and she was so excited about going to a "bumpkin" party (for those who may not be familiar, "bunkin'" is a Southern idiom for a sleepover). She had no idea how right she was. That was when Bob had gone back to college and we were driving a ratty Nissan Stanza that would die if it idled at all. Needless to say, the whole neighborhood knew when Mose arrived. 19627. Macnas - 6/13/2006 9:55:28 AM I enjoy watching my kids do the sports thing. Joe is never going to be a star at anything, but he throws himself into things with a joie de vivre that makes me feel good to watch.
Eve, on the other hand, is athletic and competitive. Don't know where she gets it from, as neither myself of the Missus particularly care about sports other than to encourage Eve and Joe to at least have a go at everything and do the best they can.
Rough and tumble, well that's all part of it. We watched as Joe had his front tooth knocked out for him by a classmate last week, while they played hurley.
It was due to come out anyway, so no harm done. Joe was a bit put out about things for a few seconds, but after spitting the blood out of his mouth and being told the tooth was going to be worth a few shillings to him, he grabbed the hurley and went off again as wild as ever.
If anything, sport learns them that things aren't always fair or Barney the Dinosaur nice.
19628. PsychProf - 6/13/2006 12:40:59 PM Arky and Webfeet...I have made your posts "Post of the Day" at my place. Thanks.
http://worldcrossing.com/WebX?14@@.1de0af68/710
19629. PsychProf - 6/13/2006 12:41:56 PM Mac...yours too. 19630. arkymalarky - 6/13/2006 3:21:30 PM Thanks, PP! I'll check it out. I haven't been there since I got my web accelerator.
Mac, I agree with you, and it's best if parents will take that approach and not try to micromanage their kids' social and sporting interactions. Although, I'm a nervous ninny about stuff like four-wheelers and trampolines and I'd have had a hard time with an active kid out here. I agree with Web that parents can be awful. The kids are usually the good sportsmen.
Mose used to tickle me because she always called herself a tomboy but rarely went outside. Physically, she seems to be a slug like her mother. I wish she'd gotten active because I think she'd be much better off health-wise (as would I), but she just never had the interest. She got a bike, learned to ride it, then never rode it again. She learned to swim, grandparents got a pool (for different reasons, not for her), she never swims in it. She even learned to ride a unicycle and quit after she learned how. We nudged once with softball after she wanted to join a team for the summer. We wouldn't let her quit in the middle and it was okay, but that was it. Season ended, she was done. 19631. judithathome - 6/13/2006 4:23:57 PM Magos, sorry to learn about Flexi's fall...that sounds like a good title for a novel...and I can see why you might be apprehensive over his driving. I'd be worried that Keoni might have a dizzy spell if he had the carotid problem Flexi has...and trying to drive with only half a good wrist? It would be easier for me to just do the driving rather than worry myself sick every time he went out in the car alone. 19632. judithathome - 6/13/2006 4:32:03 PM Arky, I'm in the midst of cleaning this week for guests who are coming on Friday...the thing I've found most useful is to do one room at a time and to start high and work my way down...the floors and baseboards are always last to be done. That way, any dust that is stirred up in the room settles to the floor and is the last to go...
As for having storage for things you need to get to readily, I use trunks for tables...end and coffee...and covered baskets for decor...those hold a lot of stuff. I don't know if that is what you meant but there's nothing like an old trunk turned on its side (with a sheet of glass over it if you wish) to use as a coffee table in front of a couch and with a whip of the trunk lid open, you have books, writing paper, envelopes, stamps, manicure set, handi-wipes, just about anything you would need within reach...AND if someone pulls up in the driveway, anything you need to throw in there is easily dumped...quickly. 19633. arkymalarky - 6/13/2006 6:20:14 PM Thanks Judith! That helps a lot, and knowing ahead of time where I'm going to put things is a major hurdle, because we've been short on space for important papers, etc, since we've been in the house. Now that I'm in school it's just too much, and I don't have time to keep order with our current arrangement.
I'm going to have to buy a second file cabinet, another bookshelf, and something larger than what I have now to keep cd's and dvd's in.
You may not have seen my question in all my other stuff, but how's your leg? 19634. arkymalarky - 6/13/2006 6:20:56 PM The weather's great today and I just washed my car. I wish it would be like this all summer.
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