Stepping back into Time

This past week, I was given the opportunity to step back in time...40 years to be exact.

I graduated from John Marshall High School in 1970. Yep, 40 years ago. Both of my daughters graduated from John Marshall as well, the youngest in 1996. I have spent a lot of time in that building.


Here is a photo of the crest that is in the foyer floor that was presented by the Class of 70.




The building is getting ready to be put up for sale and I was among a group invited to tour the old building with the purpose of trying to determine if there was anything that might prove useful in the new building. I must admit, I thought it was a big waste of time, but I did want to see the school one last time. I was unprepared for the range of emotions that I experienced. From nostalgia to disbelief to downright anger.

The group consisted of school district employees, a former principal, a former parent, and little old me; the only person with true ties to the school...a Proud John Marshall Alumni. This afforded me the opportunity to share memories and insights with the rest of the group.

Nostalgia from 40 years ago.
Walking into the building as a new student was a terrifying experience. I still remember it vividly. Would I get lost? Would I fit in? Would I make friends? Memories came flooding back. The Latin teacher who each year made her students dress up in bed sheets for a day and speak Latin over the intercom. The Home Ec. teacher who told my mom I would never be able to not burn a meal, (boy, was she right). Homecoming floats and parades. The Spanish teacher who took great pleasure in having kids describe the color of your clothes to the whole class. The cosmetology students who always seemed to have strange hair colors. Being a pep club member and having to go to football games in the snow. I will never forget when the students staged a walk our and dorky me called my mom for permission to walk out. Not granted, so I was stuck in school with all of the other losers. For the life of me, I can not remember why we walked out though. Prom. Graduation at the State Fair Grounds with a class of 1000, but only receiving tickets for mom and dad. Graduation was so crowded and so long.

Nostalgia as a parent.
Having my babies go to High School was pretty traumatic. Would they get lost? Would they fit in? Would they make friends? Yearbook editors. Deadlines. Science Fair projects. Homecoming floats and parades. Cheerleader. State Championship games. Going to Football games in the snow. Prom. The crazy art teacher who delighted in telling kids that they did not know their colors. The science teacher who was intent on blowing up her part of the building. The civil rights leader who taught my daughter more in a semester than most teachers taught her in a year. The German teacher who demanded German, and only German, be spoken in her classroom.

Disbelief.
I knew the building was old and had been vacant for 3 years, but I could not believe what I saw. It looked like renters had jumped rent and just left stuff everywhere. Anything you can name had been left in the building. I am talking about items that, while old, are in usable shape. I had assumed that the last school in residence had taken all of the stuff with them. I can't come up with a reasonable excuse as to why so much was left. There is broken glass in the hallways, puddles of water and black creepy stuff in places.

Anger.
Schools are in such desperate need of supplies and money is so short, that it infuriates me to think about he amount of usable stuff that has been sitting in an empty building for over 3 years. Someone should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen.

Salvage trip.
New John Marshall staff was asked to come back to the old school and prowl through the items to see what could be used a the new school. Five hearty souls showed up. I was excited, as we have always been short of things such as tables. Here is a listing of some of the very usable items we found: boxes upon boxes of brand new blank envelopes, boxes of copy paper, brand new headphones that were still in the plastic wrap, unopened boxes of Voyager materials, a cabinet full of NCR forms that are still used by the district, shelves of multi-cultural workbooks, band instruments, pianos, music stands, filing cabinets, rolling carts, science equipment (including beakers, dropper bottles, scales and weights), tables, chairs, desks, trays that go on teachers desks, book shelves, sheet music, band uniforms, athletic clothing, crutches and clinic cots. There were shelves of textbooks that are no longer under adoption. The school vault and one closet were full of old financial and attendance records. There is a filing cabinet full of old personnel files (including SSN's, letters of reprimand and plan for improvement letters).

Here is a room of band instruments and a piano.

View from the main office towards the library.

I certainly hope that the items that we don't take to the new school will be offered to the other school in the district.

Two very interesting things happened on our salvage trip.

1--While we had permission to be in the building, we assumed that the district would clear it with the security people. WRONG!!! While we were prowling through the science lab upstairs, who should appear at the door? Two armed security guards. The silent alarm had been triggered and they were at the school to ascertain who the culprits were. Needless to say, I panicked. I could just hear my dad. My principal handled it like a pro and we did not wind up in jail.

2--I was pushing carts of stuff to the front door and was hot. I stepped out to cool off and decided to step back and look up and down the front of the school. The pavement is cracked and uneven in places. Next thing I know, I am on all fours on the concrete. My first thought was "Please don't let anyone see me." I picked myself up and continued working. When I arrived home and undressed to get into the shower, I looked at my knees. Both are bruised, skinned and swollen. Needless to say, I spent the rest of the day on the sofa with ice bags.

All in all, it was a pretty interesting experience.

Okie Spirit

If you look up the word "Okie" in the dictionary, you will find the following definition: "a native or inhabitant of Oklahoma". There is also a reference to the Great Depression, but nowhere can I find that the word "okie" is synonymous with daredevil, thrill seeker, or simply stupid.

However, I have it on the very best authority, (mine), that Okies are indeed, daredevils and thrill seekers. OK, maybe we are a little bit nuts as well.

Consider the following as proof of my brilliant conclusion. Monday, May 10th, 2010, there was an outbreak of tornado's in the area. Sirens were going off. Normal people were going to their shelters or at least to a closet. I am sitting on the sofa watching the news coverage of the storm and Bob is at Garden Ridge shopping. While shopping, he hears a huge clap of thunder, but continues to shop. As he was checking out, the sirens go off, but he calmly finishes his shopping and then loads his car and proceeds I-40. He called me and as we were talking, he began telling me about all of the folks parked on the side of the road looking back east of where he was coming from. (Yes, he made it home ok.) When the radio said there was a funnel at Memorial and Penn, I ran outside and looked. Never once thought of going to the closet.

Even when Okies have a tornado staring them in the face, true Okies just stare back. I loved the interview with the lady at the Loves Travel Store that was destroyed. When asked why she didn't take cover earlier, she simply said she was from Oklahoma and this was not her first time at the rodeo. Although, she did concede that it was her closet encounter with a tornado. So, where do you think she rode out the tornado? In her car, until some guy came and forced both her husband and herself to go inside. She did allow that it was a bit scary, but as soon as she finished her coke, she was going to load up and head on down the road.

Yep, gotta love us Okies and our spirit.

Seriously, the Okie spirit is alive and well today. Generous Okies are taking the time to help fellow Okies deal withe the horrible destruction that has occurred in our state. Please keep those folks who lost loved ones, or lost everything they owned, in your thoughts and prayers.

Republic Gastropub Resturant Review

Those of you who know me, know that I celebrate my birthday for an extended period of time. So, it should come as no surprise that, even though my birthday was a couple of weeks ago, my friend Linda and I celebrated my birthday last night.

In our usual adventurous spirit, we chose a brand new restaurant to have dinner at. Republic Gastropub. I was under the impression that it was a fancy type restaurant. WRONG. This is a casual, laid back pub with giant TV screens all over the place. I bet on game days this place is full to the brim with sports fans.

OK... now on to the good stuff. Our choices for our meal. Linda began with a dirty martini and I had a rum with Mexican coke. I am unsure what the Mexican coke was, but the drink was a bit strong for me.

Our appetizer was the Homemade Pub Pretzel served with Serrano-honey mustard and beer-cheese fondue. The mustard was hot, hot, hot, but the fondue was really good. The pretzel was warm and very soft. Really good.

For our main course, we both had the Beef Tenderloin. It comes topped with Chef's butter, which was roasted pepper butter this night. The meat was cooked to perfection, tender and really good. The roasted pepper butter was different, and I did eat a little of it, but the steak was so good that you didn't need the butter. Linda got skillet potatoes while I got the sea salt shoestrings.

Of course, no meal is complete without dessert. Linda got the special of the night which was Strawberry shortcake while I got the Meme's Doughnuts. The doughnuts were actually doughnut holes served with chocolate and butterscotch sauce. I was on a sugar high for a long time.

Our evening was just beginning. We left the restaurant and went to the Civic Center to see the Celebrity Attraction production of Cirque Dreams Illumination. I have seen several different versions of Cirque and am not really a fan. With that being said, I was completely surprised at how different this show was. It was not abstract and was thoroughly enjoyable. I felt like I was in a circus, watching first class acts. There was one act, in particular, that was totally unexpected and I could have watched him all night. His name is Jean Chiasson and he is a strap flier. A strap is attached to a hoist and he wraps himself up in the strap and does amazing acrobatics. The interesting aspect of this is that he comes out of a tub of water and keeps getting dunked and then drips water all over the stage. I don't know why that was so entertaining, but I was really sad when his act was over.

Another wonderful time with my friend, Linda, came to a close. Thanks Linda for being part of my birthday. I love the dog. He is sitting on my fireplace hearth watching me as I write.

Sewing Retreat in Rogers

When you look up the word "retreat" in the dictionary, you will find the following: Period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, study, instruction under a director resulting in relaxation and renewed energy.

I have never been on a "retreat", but Bob and I recently attended one and let me tell you we came home exhausted from the schedule of the retreat. It was awesome and I would go again in a heartbeat, but when I see the word retreat, I will know better.



Sewing With Nancy. You know, that show on PBS that you see when flipping thru the TV channels to watch something "good"? Bob and I recently attended a Sewing Retreat in Rogers, Arkansas. Nancy was the special guest. OK, I know it is a bit weird to even think of Bob and I sewing, but we are having so much fun with it.

Let me give you a bit of history regarding our foray into sewing.

We have a wonderful friend, DJ, who makes the most incredibly beautiful embroidered clothes in the world. I was always begging, pleading and generally making a pest of myself to get her to sew me something, anything. Bob was watching her sew one day and saw the machine and became interested. He asked me if I would like to learn and we were on the way. We bought a 6 head Baby Lock machine about 1 year ago. Bob has taken the lead, learning and making all sorts of things. I have been his assistant, but have recently begun sewing on my own. Yes, we have sewn stuff together, upside down and are the proud owners of a green reindeer, but we have enjoyed each and every moment. When Brodie was here in November, the machine was running full steam, making animal shirts for him.

Now on to Rogers. Bob asked me if I would like to go to Branson for a sewing retreat. I love Branson and jumped at the chance. Bob signed us up and then came home and told me he had misread the location and we were going to Rogers. Oh well, it is a trip, so what the heck?!

We left on Wednesday and drove to Rogers. Ate dinner at a Steak Resturant and checked into Embassy Suites, where the retreat was being held. That is the last time we ate a meal outside of the hotel until we checked out on Sunday.

I was signed up for one track while Bob was signed up for the full schedule. He had a class at 8 a.m. on Thursday morning, so we got up early for Breakfast, registration and his class. His first class was making a pin cushion and ran until lunch time. By lunch time, we had figured out that my track was nothing at all and we signed me up for the whole thing as well.

After lunch we went to a software class. I was promptly lost, but Bob and the man putting the class on talked the same language and Bob learned a lot.

Thursday evening we had a lecture series with Nancy, the star of Sewing with Nancy. She is so funny. She had a suitcase full of items to show various techniques. She was asked if she made all of her own clothes and her reply was "No, even Julie Child gets to eat out". We were so tired, we went back to our room, had room service and crashed.

Friday morning, we were up at 6:30 for breakfast. Another session with Nancy followed by lunch and then a class on Embellishing. I know what you are thinking when you read the work embellish...Wrong! You can take a piece of white material, "punch" colored pieces of material or pieces of thread into it and basically make your own material and then create a purse, shirt, whatever.

This purse began as a white piece of material. All of the leaves, flowers, designs were done on the embellishment machine. I enjoyed it so much. I can hardly wait to make something! Bob and I both made small accessory bags. We only had time to complete one, but the other is on the dining room table to finish.

We finished up Friday with a quick dinner in the hotel and then went back for a lecture session with a women who had all sorts of wonderful designs and ideas.

Saturday, we got up at 6:30, had breakfast and then went to our last class. This one was making a child's Apron.

Here is the story board showing the steps to make the apron. While the material is not what I would have chosen, it was so much fun. I hope Brodie will like his apron!
This is what a typical classroom setting looked like. Rows of tables with sewing machines set up. Each sewing machine had a person at it. The retreat was a complete sell out.

We hung out at the hotel Saturday night. Sunday morning, we left Rogers and spent the day in Branson before heading home.

This whole trip was a blast! I learned a heck of a lot, enjoyed time with my wonderful husband and did relax (just not rest).

Hey Bob, where are we going next???