• Wordark.it:  I've used this website for many years.  Sonya Campbell showed it to me, and I've shown it to a lot of people, too.  At the site, you type in a word or phrase, and it shows that word or phrase to you in all of the fonts that are installed on your computer.  Today, I learned that you can install a Chrome extension to have it always available on at the top of your Chrome window, which would be handy.  I learned you can click and have the font choices randomized so you're not always choosing from the same fonts (A-Z).  Most importantly, I learned you can click on a font, keep scrolling, click another font, keep scrolling, etc, and then click on Show Filtered Results and see all of your selections together to help you choose the one you want.  Nice tip to learn!

• 
  

*Things to scrapbook:  Page about Sarah Alice Tully, who died in a fire in KC apartment about 1971 (Thinks Maureen Gibbs in a sister.  She was never married.  I learned all of this from a conversation with Cathy McAfee, Aunt Marynelle, and Aunt Ruth while scanning their recipes at Cathy's house on December 1, 2021.) 

*Things to write:  Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) throwback to sheet music magazine, always searching for the one modern song they shared, and searching the Catholic Missourian to find lyrics.

*Things for Historical Society:  Know where you stand project....incorporate it into a Ralls County project. 

*Things to read:  Abby Jimenez books (I've read them all now--great books), Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie Karen Robards, KC Wolfe books.

*Things to watch:  The Chosen; Friendly Persuasion with Christa

*Things to do:  Get scrapbook page to Cannon Caldwell; get sheet music for Guns 'n Roses's song, November Rain and learn how to play it, and make t-shirts for Rhonda and me.

*Things to see:  Lake Moraine, Glacier National Park, Hawaii, New England...

What worked?  

• The directions are superb!  After showing a pattern of what to do, the directions show you a realife image of what it looks like.  This is very helpful for knowing what to do and why you are doing it.

• The directions include the names of materials that work well for this pattern.  While I chose my background fabric from my stash, I did buy a gradient fabric to use for my tucks.

• The finished size of this project is perfect for a wall hanging.  Now I need to find a place in my home to hang it!

What didn't work?  

• I didn't follow the binding directions, simply because I enjoy the process I use for binding.

• I didn't include the hanging sleeve for the project, and I will probably regret this.  I've never been in the habit of adding hanging sleeves to my projects, and I should have followed the directions to figure out how to do it.  I'll probably hang this with tacks, although I'm toying with the idea of removing the binding from the project and displaying the artwork in a picture frame that has the glass removed.

What ideas do I have for doing this project again in the future?   

• Now that I understand the process, I'm ready to play with color schemes and stitch lines.  How would this look in a more neutral or monochromatic color scheme?

• Wouldn't this make a beautiful quilt?  If I loaded backing fabric, batting, and gridded interfacing lengthwise in my long arm, I could make a larger version of this project. 

• Since this project is basically a quilt-as-you-go project, I wonder if I could make 12x12 blocks and join them to create quilt blocks?  Hmm....

• The possibilities are endless!  I love learning new things and trying new techniques!

I went down a Facebook rabbit hole

May 26, 2024:  I want to write some notes before I forget...

• Wojtek the Bear:  I want to learn more about him.  Were books written about him? Movies? 

• Wernher von Braun:  A former Nazi, this man ended up working for the United States.  I would like to know more.  Did he start working for the Americans before or after World War II?  Is this one of the Nazis that the United States assimilated after World War II as the Cold War began to develop—another topic to learn more about.

This year, we stayed in the Hilton at the Convention Center, and this was a fantastic decision.  The room for two nights didn't cost much more than we paid last year, and all we had to do each morning was wake up and walk to the quilt show.  During the day, I ran to the room a few times to grab a few things that were needed at random times.  The location is fantastic.  The night we arrived, we walked from the hotel to Branson Landing, just behind our hotel.  We enjoyed a margarita and supper at Flaming Margarita's.  The atmosphere was just what we wanted:  something a bit unique.  The margaritas were served flaming, and the burgers were served with a syringe full of cheese!  It was just the touch of uniqueness we needed.    We ended the night playing Scrabble SLAM, and we may have been a little loud!

Early Wednesday morning, I didn't have a class scheduled, but Mary and Teresa did.  Teresa's class still had an opening it, so I signed up and joined her in the classroom. Wonderfil presented the class, Threaducation.   Mom always used Coats & Clark thread, probably because it was the only thing available to her, and most like, it was the cheapest option available.  It is a polyesther thread that is still sold.  Generally, I use 50-weight Aurafil for piecing and 40-weight Glide for quilting.  I use a 60-weight Bottom Line for applique.  That's all I knew about thread until I took this class.  There are so many thread options available today! 

I learned so much in the class, and the presenters used one of my favorite teaching techniques, storytelling, to help us remember the information.

• As the thread gets smaller, the weight (number) gets larger. Sausage theory is how to remember this. Imagine you are feeding people with one pound of sausage. If you have eight people, the sausage patties are thick, like the thickness of an 8-weight thread. If you have to feed 100 people with that same pound of sausage, the patties will be small and fine, like the thinness of a 100-weight thread.

•  Several times, the presenters shared pictures of items stitched with 12-weight versus 50-weight or 40-weight versus 100-weight thread.  If you want the thread work to show, use a thicker thread; if you want the thread work to disappear, use a thinner thread.

• When a thread is advertised as long staple fiber, each fiber is still only about 1.5-2 inches long.  When a cotton thread is labeled as mercerized, it has been dunked in a caustic mixture to expand and strengthen the cotton.

• Nobody makes 100wt cotton thread.  It would break all the time. 

• Cottonized polyester removes the shine from the polyester thread and can be microwaved and ironed.  

• Three-ply thread is more round than two-ply thread and sits better on the fabric. Two-ply thread sinks into the fabric more than three-ply thread.

• Trilobal polyester will always look shiny. Strands are triangular, having more reflective surfaces.

• Piecing with an 80-weight thread will allow your seams to lay flatter. The presenters always use an 80-weight bobbin thread and adjust tension based on the weight of their top thread. When piecing with 80-weight thread, reduce your stitch length. Stitch length, not thread weight, determines the strength of the seam.

• No matter the thread weight, reducing stitch length on curves will make the curve more "curvy."

• Appliqué completed with 100-weight thread, whether by hand or machine, is almost invisible. Wonderfil's 100-weight Invisifil almost disappears and cannot be seen.  

• Invisifil has color.  Monofilament does not.  Monofilament ages poorly.

• When sewing with metallic threads, use a vertical thread holder, reduce speed by 50%, and use the correct needle size, preferably a 90/14.

• Metallic and topstitch needles are the same needle.

• And my favorite phrase, which I'm going to adopt, is: Instead of stitching in the ditch, we stitch in the neighborhood! Using a higher-weight thread will hide small bobbles when you accidentally come out of the ditch and into the neighborhood.

Because I love her work, I purposely chose quilting classes taught by Stacie Spradlin.  Stacie lives in Quincy, and I've been trying to find a class close enough to attend.   When I saw her on the Branson list, it was a win-win!  I took two classes with her, and I learned so much!  The first class focused on quilting feathers, and the second class provided numerous ways to customize quilts to the individual recipients.

Most importantly, the biggest takeaway from the conference is that I have amazing people in my life. Mary, Teresa, and I had such a great time meeting new people and laughing.  

The Unquiet Mind

March 7, 2024

If my mind were my legs, I'd be an Olympic champion.

Running non-stop, unable to run in one single direction; instead running two or three different directions at once,

Circling back from time to time to check on the running patterns of the other routes that are being explored simultaneously.

No time to take a break or catch my breath before a new route pops up and I'm off.

Some routes provide a leisurely path, while other routes are up and down, all over the place, and sometimes even disconnected.

Just when I make the connection of where I'm at and what I'm here for, a new route pops up. rerouting.

Quick, I grab a tracking app to write down where I'm at and what I'm doing, but before I can finish writing my thoughts, another route pops up.

So many routes that lead to so many outcomes.

Some routes a requirement, and others a run down memory lane and trying to preserve the route for others to explore long after I am gone.

Ringing the Bell at Ellis Fischel

December 21, 2023:  Well, this is it.  My final chemo treatment. My lab work was decent, so my treatment proceeded as planned.  My nurse, Makayla, was a hoot!  I didn’t have any symptoms during treatment, and the drive home was good, too.  Just before the treatment ended, my nephew, Kenny Cody, came back to our cubicle and visited with me and Brian.  It was his first time back in the unit, even though his wife had chemo treatments in the exact same area.  When Tammy had her treatments in 2021, hospitals were still in COVID protocols, so Kenny had to wait in the general waiting area outside the unit.  Tammy is even more of a rock star than I previously thought!  The treatments would be long and boring without someone with me in the cubicle or room.
At the end of the treatment, they did the bell ceremony. I have never witnessed one of the ceremonies.  As Brian, Kenny, and I rounded the corner of the unit, following Makayla, to my surprise, my nurse practitioner, Chris Wallace, and the unit nurses were lining both sides of the hallway leading to the bell.  Makayla videotaped while I rang the bell three times, and then we took a few photos.  

I had no idea how good the ceremony would leave me feeling.  I walked out of the unit hopeful that that would be the last time I ever had to enter that unit for another chemotherapy treatment.  Over the next weeks, the chemotherapy medicine will continue to attack my cancer cells and any other fast-growing cells.  Even though I don’t know how this journey ends, God does, and He’s going to get me through whatever lies ahead of me.

So many "I haven'ts," but I'm okay with that right now.  While working on stockings, Brian and Clayton brought in my Christmas gift, a workbench for my sewing room!  Since I picked it out on Friday before my mammogram, I've rearranged everything in the front three rooms to make everything fit and look nice.  Translation:  I have made a huge mess, and it needs to be cleaned!

After a few hours of cleaning (and making great progress), I tackled a project I'd been putting off.  I decided to tackle it not because it needed to be done right then but because once it was completed, I could throw most of it away, making it one less project I had to find a  place for.  Several months ago, Gary's wife, Sandy, gave Diana two photo albums to give to me.  I glanced through the albums and found several really neat photos.  My project today was to remove the photos from the self-adhesive, magic magnetic albums.  These albums were so popular in the late 70s and 80s, and, at the time, they seemed like a great solution to organizing photos.  The photos stayed put, and the albums were nice.  Fast forward forty years, and almost everyone who does any photo work knows these albums are the devil.  The photos stick to the pages and sometimes eat through the back of the photos.  If this doesn't happen, either the sticky stuff becomes useless and the photos move around, or the sticky stuff becomes so adhered to the photo that you nearly have to rip the photo off the pages.  I currently have about 10 pages from these albums that I need to freeze to make one more attempt at removing the photos and scanning them.   If you have any of these albums, please promise me you'll remove the photos from them immediately!

I honestly thought this would be a 30-minute job, but as I continued working beyond an hour, I was ready to quit.  Few photos came up easily, and the ones I could remove had sticky stuff on the back of them, making it impossible for me to stack the photos on top of each other neatly.  Also, Gary didn't write on the back of all of his photos, so I already determined that some of these photos would never have their story told.  This saddened me.  Right about that time, I almost quit because the project seemed hopeless. I pulled a photo from a page and noticed the back of the photo was filled with words!  Gary's words.  I read the first line and got goosebumps:  "Hi whoever reads this."  With this photo, Gary spoke to me.  His message was so powerful, and his words were just what I needed to hear.  Gary died almost 19 years ago, yet the words he wrote to whoever would be reading the back of this particular photo were so heartfelt and powerful! I still can't completely process his words and the knowledge that Gary wrote a message at one random point in time, not knowing if anyone would read it and definitely not knowing who would read it.  And, incredibly, I happened to be the one.  I quickly pulled as many photos from the albums as possible, and a few more included similar messages.  I'll share those later.

For now, I'm sitting here at peace, knowing that Gary went through many bad times and survived.  Wait, he didn't just survive, he thrived.  Through the grace of God, we can do this, too.  I can do this.  Cancer is my current "down," and Gary's words have inspired me to fall back on the word of God and continue moving forward with a thriving spirit.  Thanks, Gary.  I miss you and can't wait until we can talk again.  Love, Delores

An Unexpectedly Good Meal

Before today's PET scan, the hematologist already told me he suspected Stage I or Stage II, and he already told me that the treatment would be 4 chemotherapy treatments, each spaced 21 days apart.  The doctor was right.  I have (had) Stage I cancer.  I was all prepared for chemotherapy.  But...when you hear that they got all the cancer, it makes you wonder if you need chemotherapy.  Recently, a friend of ours was given almost identical news.  He received a diagnosis of cancer, they removed it all, and they recommended chemo.  He decided to refuse the treatment.  His theory is that if they got it all, why does he need chemo?  While I have never judged him and his decision, I wondered why he would refuse treatment.  If even one cancer cell remains, it will grow and return.  Why not have the chemo and make sure it is completely gone?  Well, after today, I better understand why he might have made the decision that he made.

Before you can begin chemo, Ellis Fischel requires you to participate in a cancer teaching appointment.  My appointment was with a nurse practitioner, Chris Wallace.  Personally, I prefer to see nurse practitioners, so I was (and still am) glad when I learned that a nurse practitioner would be doing the training.  I'm a researcher, so I already read numerous articles and studies about the doctor's recommended treatment.  One of these articles focused on a study that showed that having the particular type of treatment I am going to have increased your risk of having additional "other" cancers.  I read the study and attributed it to another possible side effect of chemo, and no one gets all the side effects, right?  I read the studies about sores in your mouth, throwing up, and hair loss.  I finally resigned myself to the fact that if losing my hair is what it takes to get rid of my cancer, bring it on!

While I thought I was prepared, I actually wasn't prepared.  In addition to chemo, I will be issued up to  9 medications.  To be fair, one of the medications is actually part of the chemotherapy process.  Three of the medications will be anti-nausea medications, two to prevent side effects, and four to prevent infection.  In addition to these nine medications, the treatment consists of 4 more medications, 2 of which target only cancerous B-cells, and 2 of which target any fast-growing cells.  The latter medications are the ones that cause hair loss, as your hair follicles contain fast-growing cells.  There will be weekly labs, and depending on the lab results and symptoms I may have, more medications.

In addition to the medications, we, of course, had to go over the side effects, which happened to be a list of more than 48 items, of which 10 were marked as the most common side effects.  What, do you ask, are the most common side effects?  Well, let me list them for you.

• Low red blood cells

• Constipation and/or diarrhea

• Fatigue and weakness

• Hair loss

• Increased infection risk

• Mouth sores

• Nausea/vomiting/heartburn

• Numbness and tingling

• Changes in mood (depression/anxiety)

• Elevated uric acid

The less common side effects are almost too frightening to think about, including secondary cancers.  Brian asked for clarification, and yes, chemo treatments sometimes cause other cancers. Ironic, huh?  

After the chemo training, both Brian and I felt the need for a second opinion.  Since the test results are saying my cancer is gone, I need to hear from someone else that these four treatments are necessary.  It's not that I don't trust my doctor team at Ellis.  It is, instead, me making sure that I'm not going through anything I don't need to go through, especially when the treatments have so many risks and side effects.  I am not seeking a second opinion so someone will tell me what I want to hear, but rather, so that someone will tell me what I need to hear.

I'm very thankful that the nurse practitioner explained all of these items to me to make me aware.  In my head, I keep going back to everything I read and was told about my adult tonsillectomy.  Thankfully, while the recovery wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, it wasn't easy.   I'm not obtuse enough to believe that I won't have any side effects from the chemo treatments if I have to have them.  If we decide to proceed with the treatments, I'm going to have to rely on my family, friends, and faith to get me through the four treatments.  I'm also going to rely on the prayers of my family and friends when I'm too worn out and discouraged to pray on my own.  I firmly believe their prayers are what got me through the most difficult experiences in my life, including this most recent health situation.

Clubs We Never Want to be a Member Of

There are clubs you can join, and there are clubs you can go to for a night away and a good time. 
We join clubs we want to join.
Maybe the club is our hobby.
Maybe the club is about something we care about.
Maybe the club is just fun.

But,

Sometimes, we become members of clubs we don't want to be in.
Membership is not voluntary. 
Sometimes you see the membership coming, and sometimes it comes out of nowhere and leaves you breathless.

These are clubs that you don't even know exist until you or someone you love becomes a member. 
Clubs that are based on knowledge and understanding that we never wanted to have.|
Clubs that we don't ask to join, but clubs that instead make us automatic members.

These are clubs we never wanted to be a member of.

Clubs that when walking past, make you divert your eyes and not want to see.

Clubs that are rarely spoken of by their membership simply because if you’re not a member of the club, you just can’t understand.

If you don’t know if you’re a member, then you definitely are not.

You can often tell the membership by a look of understanding that goes so deep into the member's soul, making you hurt all over again.

These clubs make you see life a little differently, making you more aware of the fragility of life, safety, and security.

What clubs, you ask?

Sometimes you are notified of your membership by simply answering your phone.

"Ma'am, your husband has been in a wreck and we need you to come to the hospital."

"Mom, sit down.  Your son didn't wake up this morning."

"Oh, sweetie, your mom had a heart attack and didn't survive."

Other times, you are notified as you flip through a spouse's cell phone, photos, or email accounts.

"You wouldn't even have to ask, sweetie."

"Don't call me tonight because my wife will be home."

Sometimes, you know you're a club member just by the recognition that is shared in a meaningful glance.

Seeing someone wearing a chemo cap and using your eyes to convey that you know the surprise of seeing the first chunk of hair on your comb.

You've pulled on your hair to confirm it wasn't your imagination, only to see hairs taunting you in your shaking hand.

You've showered gingerly yet still have to reach down and pick up the mound of hair that has settled in the drain.

You've woken up in the morning and experienced that brief moment when you wonder if it was all a dream, only to see your pillow littered with long pieces of hair.

You've stood on a porch with your husband's beard trimmer and cried as you shaved away any remaining hair because it's just too hard to deal with hair being everywhere.

You've stood in front of a mirror, seeing a baldheaded woman staring back at you.

You've been so self-conscious that you didn't want anyone to see you, yet, to the shock of an unsuspecting delivery man,

You've also become so used to it that you forget to put your chemo cap on when you answer your door.

In a single glance, club members know all these things and more. Others don't.

But sometimes, you find out by accident.

Scanning the patient portal and accidentally finding your biopsy results.

Walking home alone just that one time, not knowing that you would become a member simply because someone else decided they had a right to take something from you that you weren't willing to give.

Sometimes you find out in the sterile environment of a clinic or hospital room.

"Do you smoke?"

"How long have you had this cough?"

"Is there a family history of cancer?"

Sometimes, the membership is sudden, yet sometimes, it comes after months or years of struggling and fighting.

"There is nothing else we can do."

"It's time to start getting your affairs in order."
"If there is something you want to do, do it now."

"I don't know why you're unable to get pregnant."

"We've exhausted all efforts."

Sometimes, you don't know if you are a member of the club or not.

"Ma'am, your daughter cannot be located. She was last seen at 11:30 p.m. at a local establishment."

"We're going to need to do a biopsy and wait for results."

Sometimes, the club teach you that you have a lot to learn.

Learning to live in a world without your child.

Learning to love yourself again after a stupid mistake changed your life and the life of another family.

Learning to live with survivor's guilt, trying to understand why God spared you but chose to end the life of one of his sweet children.

Learning to love  and leaving to live.

Some of the clubs will happen to everyone, at varying times and stages.

Becoming an orphan because of the loss of both parents, either together or many years apart.

Losing the love of your life after sixty years of marriage.

The club of men and women that suddenly became a widow, or maybe not so suddenly.

Learning to overcome the loss of a partner.

For these clubs, there are no officers, recognition banquets, or honors
There are only days and nights spent remembering how you became a member.
Reminiscing about life before your membership became active.
Seeking out other members, either actively or subconsciously, hoping to find someone who can help you make sense of this new club you've unwittingly joined and help you make it through the initiation process.
Praying for a miracle that will somehow change your life so dramatically that your membership will be revoked, yet knowing that this is an impossibility.
Doing anything you can to get your membership revoked.
Trying not to relive the experience that made you a member, while at the same time trying not to forget about life before admission into the club.

While some people never come to terms with their membership, denying that they fit into the group to which they have been assigned,
Others find a way to make the membership meaningful...to make sure that they are able to overcome the obstacles they've encountered and then continue to move forward,
Sometimes even becoming the group leader and activity director.

Are you a member of the club, or are you standing on the fringe trying to figure out how it feels to be a member?

Do you even know the club exists?

Do you know how to support membership when you aren't a member?  Can you?

Life Cycles

LIFE CYCLE

Life is a  quilt, pieced together and meant to be enjoyed and cherished.

The quilt is finished.

Weeks and sometimes months went into selecting just the right pattern, picking out luscious fabrics that have a personal meaning or connection to the quilt's future owner.

The sewing began, and the ripping also began.
Sewing, ripping, second guessing fabric choices.

Pressing seams open, squaring up, 

Making it just right.

Finally, after all the work,

a quilt is born.

The quilt brings such joy to its recipient.  

It's used gingerly, so as not to damage it.

So fresh and new!  Crisp and firm.

The new fabric smell, combined with the beautiful stitching from quilting, and sometimes you just sit in awe as you look at the new quilt.

Fast forward a few years,

the fabric is beginning to soften, and the quilt now has a few scars and stains.

You don't mind the scars and stains, though, because each one has a story to tell.

Fibers begin to relax, and the batting become fluffy.

Combined with the softened fabric, you have a quilt that warms you on cool nights and provides the security you need on other evenings.

Fast forward several more years, and you have a quilt that is not just a quilt, but a conversation piece and memory maker.

There may be rips in the quilt, and the binding is starting to fray from use.

Decisions have to be made.

Fix it? Leave it alone and let it live out its life? Put it away for safe keeping?

Decisions, decisions.

Quilts are a lot like us.

Most of us enter the world because two people in love decided they wanted a child, possibly as a memento of their love for one another.

A newborn is so fresh and new! 

You never forget the smell of a newborn, and as new parents, sometimes you will sit in awe of the new life you have created.

Babies grow up to be kids and then young adults.

Still new and fresh, yet, unfortunately, they start to accumulate scars and stains.  Hopefully the good outweighs the bad, and you can't see the scars and stains.  

Instead, you see memories of a learning to ride a bike, first love, and other milestones.

Many years later, knees give out.  Some relationships end and new ones are formed.  Suddenly you are spending about as much time a doctor's appointments as you are at family dinners.

Decicions have to be made.

Do you replace the knee or doing physical therapy to see if that helps.
Do you worry in the  quiet hours about relationships that didn't work out,
or do you celebrate the relationships you have?

Do you use your good China or put it away for your kids and grandkids to enjoy long after you are no longer around?

Just like the quilt, decisions have to be made.

Life is like a quilt, pieced together and meant to be enjoyed and cherished.

What you do with this quilt is entirely up to you, but I hope you use it to its fullest.

Certain phrases have a different meaning depending on the situation and the the time of your life you are in.  Ex:  Want a smoke? at a party when you are 25 usually is a positive.  Do you smoke? when you are 56 and the doctor has just looked at your throat is enough to make your heart stop for a quick second.

I asked Sharon to also include any military records or family records with the photos.  Very soon afterwards, she sent me some hand written notes from Uncle Harold, along with his discharge summary.  It's time to start analyzing the paperwork he left behind to learn more about my uncle's time in the military.  Here goes!

Harold Leake Discharge Papers

3. Harold E. Leake completed his career as a Sergeant. FIND LINK TO SHOW HEIRARCHY.

4.  INF: Infantry Division

5. AUS:  Army of the United States

6. Company K of the 169th Infantry Regiment of the 43rd Division More Information

7.  Relieved of duties May 14, 1946

8. At Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis, Missouri

21: Occupation at time of induction.  (Code Table) 3-16.10  16.10 is the code for agriculture, which aligns with the description, farm hand general.

22:  Harold was inducted into the Army on May 24, 1944 at 

25:  Jefferson Barracks, located near St. Louis

26.  Harold was registered with the selective service

27.  1=Fit for military service (More Info)

28.  Inducted from Ralls County, MO

30:  Anti Tank Gun Crewman 610:  Operates as a member of the crew of self-propelled or towed antitank gun used in the destruction of enemy tanks and other armored vehicles

31.  Harold was awarded a combat infantryman Badge and was given a Rifle M-1 S `on July 15, 1944.  

32:  Campaigns Harold participated in, but not specific battles:  New Guinea and Luzon

33:  During his time in the army, Harold earned the following honors:

• Good Conduct medal

• Two Overseas Bars:  An Overseas Service Bar indicates a soldier has served six months of service in a combat zone.  Each bar indicates a separate six month period.

  • Overseas Bar:  Army Overseas Service Bars are worn on the Army Service Uniform to represent the cumulative amount of time spent overseas, with each stripe representing 6 months. Multiple Overseas Service Bars are worn simultaneously, extending vertically on the sleeve of the uniform.  The Overseas Service Bar is worn centered on the outside bottom half of the right sleeve of the Army Service Uniform coat. The lower edge of the overseas service bar is placed 1/4 inch above the sleeve braid of the coat for officer personnel, and 4 inches above and parallel to the bottom of the sleeve for enlisted personnel. Each additional bar is spaced 1/16 inch above, and parallel to the first bar.

• Asiatic Pacific Theatre Ribbon with Two Bronze Stars

• Philippine Liberation Ribbon with One Bronze Star (More information here)

• World War II Victory Medal :  The World War II Victory Medal is a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945.

35:  I still need to figure out what BT A stands for.

36:  December 2, 1944, Harold was shipped to APTO (Asiatic Pacific Theater Operation), arriving on December 23, 1944.  As far as his return home, I’m not sure what NOT A means, but he arrived back at port in the United States on May 6, 1946.

37:  Harold served the Army from the continental US for 0 years, 6 months, and 6 days.  He served overseas for 1 year, five months, and fifteen days.

38:  Harold’s highest rank was Sergeant.

40:  AR 615 - 365 RR 1-1 Demobilization, is the Army Regulation concerning Army forces reduction after the war.   I’m not exactly sure what Separation Program SPKPM 210.8 PAR 1D on January 16, 1946 means.  I’ll keep researching.

42:  Harold completed 8th grade.  

43:  Total Service 1 years, 11 months, 21 days

44:  The Mustering-out Payment Act is a United States federal law passed in 1944. It provided money to servicemen, returning from the Second World War, to help them restart their lives as civilians.

46: Amount of money received to get home

47:  I'd like to learn more about this person

48-53:  Insurance information.  He had to pay a monthly premium of $6.50 to continue his National Insurance.  I’m not sure what continue only $5,000 means.  Need to learn more....

55.  Explanations Below

• Lapel Button Issued (Lapel Pin was a small round pin issued at discharge, commonly called the "Ruptured Duck" box.)  (I need to clarify this information.) 

• ASR Score 35 (ASR Score is the number of 'points' earned which determined when a soldier was shipped home) 

  • ASR Score is the number of 'points' earned, which determined when a soldier was shipped home. The ASR score system was revamped again in September 1945 because too many experienced veterans were going home and leaving the younger soldiers to wind down the operations in Europe after the end of World War II. All European units were re-designated as Occupational, Redeployment or Liquidation Forces. Occupational Forces consisted of volunteers and the troops with the lowest scores. According to the WWII point system, troops with scores between 60 and 79 ASR points were classified as Liquidation Forces. Those with the highest scores and troops designated for return to the U.S. were considered Redeployment Forces. 

Notes from Uncle Harold that he left through his local VFW paperwork:  FASCINATING!

Harold E. Leake

3020 Co. Rd. 228

Fulton, MO 65251 

(573)642-6520

Branch of the Service:  Army (Infantry) 43rd Inf. Division

When did you serve? May 24, 1944-May 14, 1946

Where did you serve? Asiatic area New Guinea, Philippines Is, 6 months Japan

Length of Services:  Almost 2 years

Hghest Rank: Sergeant

Service Medals Received:  World War II Victory; Good Conduct; Inf. Combat Badge; Asiatic Pacific, Marksman SM 1Rifle

I took my basic training in Camp Roberts, California.  After a short furlough home, back to the west coast from there to Holland New Guinnia from there to the Island of Luzon in the Philippines.  Was there when the war ended.  After a short time was sent to Japan for occupational duty, about 6 months.

Came back to the West Coast, then to Jefferson Barracks to receive my discharge

Memories:  How accurate are they?

July 13, 2023:  Unfortunately, my sisters and I have been spending a lot of time together.  I used the word unfortunately because we are spending time together going to visitations of our family and extended family.  Steve died in September  2023, our cousin Linda's husband, Rocky, died unexpectedly in March after a hit-and-run car/pedestrian accident, and most recently, our cousin Linda died unexpectedly.  For the last two deaths, we rode together to the individual's visitation in Liberty, MO, about a 3 to 3.5-hour drive from Perry.  Trudy was sick for Rocky's visitation, so our cousin, Cathy McAfee, rode with us.  For both of these trips, we talked almost non-stop.  Brian advised me to roll the window down from time to time because he knew our talking was going to suck all of the oxygen out of the air.  He wasn't wrong!  We like to talk, and when we talk about family memories, we really like to talk.

About two weeks ago, I bought a subscription to Storyworth.  Storyworth sends subscribers a writing prompt every week, or more frequently if you wish.  The prompt is meant to give you a topic to write about, with the goal of creating "your story" over the course of a year.  If you don't like the prompt they send, you can choose a new one or pick your own topic.  So far I've had a prompt about my mom and another prompt about my dad. I don't always stick to the exact prompt, but I try to write to the overall gist of the topic.  I tried to just let the thoughts come to my mind and type them as quickly as I can.  I pay little attention to spelling and grammar at this point, with the goal of just getting my thoughts down on paper.  If I have an idea I'm afraid I'll forget, I quickly type a few words to help me remember my thoughts and then return to the current work in progress.  I've really tried to focus while I'm writing, evening addressing thoughts or memories that are difficult to process.  After the year, you can buy a bound copy of your story, and you can even buy additional copies for family members.  For now, I'm not going to think about that.  I tend to get wrapped up in making a project big and grand, which sometimes derails the entire project.  I don't want this process to end like that.

Last week, I used a picture of my dad's truck to help me write some memories I have of him.  One time, Dad's truck bed caught on fire, so that was a major topic while I was writing.  Ironically, somehow the topic of Dad's truck fire came up on our way home.  Diana and Trudy filled in pieces of my story.  I couldn't remember who noticed the fire, but I knew someone said, "Dad's truck is on fire." Diana clearly remembered that she was the one that yelled the declaration of the fire, and then she remembered going to the phone and dialing the number Mom ingrained in our brains in case of a fire:  3300.  That's right.  No area code, no prefix.  Just 3300.  This connected Diana with someone from the fire department, and the fire truck showed up before we knew it.  In the story I wrote, I stated that we didn't know how the fire started.  Trudy knew!  She said that Bradley, Dad, and others were cutting down trees and branches the day before, burning their harvest of weak or broken limbs.  The next day after church, Bradley started shoveling up the piles of burnt debris, which he assumed were free from fire.  They weren't.  Not long after he started scooping the piles into the truck, the truck caught fire.  Dad's truck was old, probably a 1952 Chevy.  He used it primarily for the garage, so the wooden boards in the bed were soaked with years of oil and gasoline.  Oil, gasoline, and fire are a dangerous combination, as we found out that day.  

When I wrote my blurb about Dad's truck burning, I knew I didn't remember everything.  That said, I realized quickly that my memories of the day were very different from Trudy's and Diana's.  Were my memories wrong?  Nope!  They were my memories and that is the way I remember the day.  Diana and Trudy have their own memories, and they very clearly the way they were in involved in the event, or in the case of knowing that Bradley scooped the embers into the truck, Trucy clearly recalled what Bradley told her.,

This was the maiden voyage of our new (to us) camper.  This camper has a slide out, something that we've wanted for a long time.  The other camper was so cramped when people came inside it.  This one has some space, which we really like.  Our maiden voyage did not disappoint!  The truck and camper worked perfectly together, and I did a pretty decent job packing the camper with what we needed for the weekend.  As a matter of fact, I overpacked!  Shocker! Here's are a few thoughts from the weekend.

•   No matter how much you plan, you're going to forget something.  Thankfully, we are usually no more than a few minutes to a town where we can buy what we forgot.  If not, we've found we can live without a lot of things.

• In a normal week, I wear one pair of shirts and tshirt for the entire week.  If I go somewhere (work, sewing group, etc), of course I wear something different.  But if I stay home, I wear the same clothes for many days.  Why on Earth, then, do I pack for a weekend camping trip like I'm going on a two week vacation?  I wasn't sure what tshirts and shorts I wanted to wear, so I took too many.  I wasn't sure how hot or cold it was going to be, so I also took jeans, a sweatshirt, and my coat.  I ended up wearing a tshirt and shorts each day.  As we unloaded the camper, I brought back so many clothes!  I'm going tot try to pack lighter in the future.  I'm also going to start accumulating some camping themed t-shirts that I can leave in the camper, reducing my packing greatly!

• I only packed chairs for me and Brian, which I'll never do again.  When Kaitlyn called to say she was coming up for the day, I asked her to stop in a Dollar General and buy a few of the fold up chairs they well.  She showed up with 3 different chairs:  a $20 fold up like I was talking about, a $30 chair, and a $40  two-seater.  Kaitlyn's motto is usually "go big or go home," so I don't know why I expected anything less!  She told me to keep the two most expensive chairs as a Mother's Day gift, but I'll be trying to  return them to get her money back to her!  

• I bought a package of the marshmallows that have chocolate in the middle of them.  I doubt I'll ever buy them again, though.  They melt really fast in the microwave.  In  10-seconds, the inflate and melt.  I thought this was great, but as I began eating a s'more, I figured out really fast that the marshmallow is probably the stickiest marshmallow I've ever eaten.  It was a mess!  There isn't a lot of chocolate in the middle.  In the future, I'll stick to regular marshmallows and Hershey's chocolate bars. 

• Want to camp without getting a divorce?  Be sure to get a camper with an automatic awning.  Every camping trip prior to this one, Brian and I almost hated each other by the time we got the camper rolled out.  Brian thinks that because he knows how to do something, it should come natural to every one else, too.  NOT!  I never remembered how to help him roll out the awning on our old camper, so I always did something that added extra work to the process.  With the automatic awning, I had the awning rolled out before he even got back to the camper after hooking up electricity.  It was night starting the weekend without a squabble!

• I'm very thankful for Brian's driving skills, especially his backing skills! I cannot back up anything--a lawn mower, a car,  a truck...nothing!  He can back anything it seems.  I knew he was good, but I didn't realize how good until we watched a family back their new camper into a camping spot across the road from us.  The driver could not get the camper into their spot.  In the process of trying to do so, he ripped the awning off of his camper and nearly jack-knifed the truck pulling the trailer.  Brian would have had it in place on the first attempt.  Camping is definitely something I can only do as long as Brian is along.  I don't have the skills necessary to even get us there!

It was a nice, relaxing weekend.  Brian and both agree that it's a better camping trip when our kids and grandkids join us.  We will have to work on making this happen.  Right now, it's time to begin scheduling our next camping weekend so this one doesn't become our only trip of the year!

I began by sorting and organizing school portraits and other portraits.  After getting all of your school photos in one place, start organizing photos that are the same together.  For each portrait of someone, you might have an 8x10, 5x7, 4x6, or small wallet or trading photos.  Pile similar photos together. This step may take a while, but it is a very important step!  If you don't get all your portraits in one place and sort them into similar photos, you may be almost finished with this step when you suddenly find another portrait!  Then, you will find yourself repeating steps.

Along with this step, make a school year chart similar to the one shown in this post.  I used the chart primarily to help me figure out school photos.  Mom would write 1978 on the photo, but sometimes, she would write Sophomore.  Using this chart, you can match the grade level and year, which will help in the long run.  Making this chart will save you a ton of time and energy not only while you are organizing your school portraits but as you organize other photos and memorabilia, too. Make the first date the year your first child started school, whether kindergarten or preschool. Continue your years through the graduation of your youngest child, even if they haven't graduated yet.  I keep this chart on a bulletin board in my scrapbooking room.  Mom's mom's chart looked very different as I started adding birthdays, anniversaries, etc., to give me a complete picture of the photos I was organizing.

This next step is optional, but I highly recommend it!  Take one stack of photos and scan the largest photo in the pile.  By scanning the largest photo, you will have the most flexibility with the scanned image.  I scan almost all photos at 300 dpi.  At 300 dpi, a photo can be reproduced the same size as the original without losing details or becoming pixilated.   If the largest photo you have from one year is one of the very small trading photos, scan that image at 600 dpi.  At 600 dpi, a photo can be enlarged to twice its original size before becoming pixilated.

After photos have been sorted and the largest photo scanned, it's time to start putting some of the photos aside if you choose to do that.  For this step, I use an accordion-type folder.  When I sorted Mom's photos, I wrote each of my brothers' and sisters' names on one of the dividers.  I put the names in chronological order because that is what makes sense to me.  You do what makes sense to you.  Grade your first pile of photos, keep the largest copy of the photo, and put all remaining copies in the appropriate person's section of the accordion folder.  The accordion folder will be your portrait duplicates folder.  When a photo is in the accordion folder, you know you can give the copy away, as you have saved one photo for the organization process.

Now, you have one copy of every portrait/school photo all in one place.  Make one pile for each person/sibling.  From here, begin wherever you want.  I started with the oldest child for a few reasons.  Mom was always good about writing on the back of photos, but she was especially good about writing on the back of my oldest sibling's photos, aka Gary's. I also chose to start here because Gary's wife had children from a previous marriage, but Gary didn't have biological children.  Mom had a lot of photos of Gary and Sandy's grandkids, but overall, the pile of Gary's photos was the easiest for me to organize.  Starting with your first person, organize his/her photos chronologically.  

You have a few options once you have the photos in chronological order.  You can put the photos in an envelope or accordion folder with that sibling's name.  I wanted to organize the photos to make it easy for Mom to look at them.  I glued each photo to a piece of black cardstock bigger than the photo.  Using a gold metallic pen, I wrote the person's name, the photo's date, and the photo's grade level on the black cardstock beneath the photo.  If anything else is written on the back of the photo, I also wrote this on the black cardstock.  When I started, I sat with Mom, and she wrote the information on the cardstock.  Her handwriting was absolutely beautiful!  As the project continued, this process exhausted her, so I took it over.  After all the photos were matted and labeled, I glued them to 12x12 scrapbook paper.  After all of Gary's photos were put on 12x12 scrapbook paper, in chronological order, I put the 12x12 pages in photo albums.  I put all of Gary's photos in one album.  It was super heavy.  Mom couldn't lift it well, which defeated the whole purpose of putting the pictures together so she could look at them. I would choose to use multiple albums with fewer photos in each album if I were to do it again.  The photos should be easy to store and access.  The weight of the album does matter.  Even if you can lift the album now, you might not be able to as you get older.  Of course, you can wait until you are older to put the pages into separate albums, but you might not want to do that much work by that time.

I continued with each sibling.  When I got to photos of my sibling's children, I completed the same process, putting the pictures chronologically in order behind the sibling's photos.  For example, Teresa's album had pictures of Teresa, followed by the wedding portraits of her and Steve, Wendy's pictures, and Kenny's pictures.  As I got to Wendy and Kenny's photos, I started combining their photos.  For example, if Kenny was in kindergarten when Wendy was in fifth grade, I put both pictures on the same page.  You can do this step however you wish.  What am I saying?  You can do any of these steps however you wish!

Family members enjoyed looking at these albums when they visited the house.  When Mom passed away, each family member took their album, and I also gave them all of the duplicate photos from his/her section of the accordion folder.  This was a fast way to give each sibling the photos Mom collected through the years of them and their children and grandchildren.

After completing this process, I began organizing all other photos, which I'll call candids.  This process took me a lot longer, but amazingly, it didn't take as long as I thought it would.  For my family, our photos ran from 1951, the year Mom and Dad were married, to the current date, which I believe was about 2012.  I did the photos before 1951 as a completely different group of photos at a completely different time. I got six boxes and labeled each according to a different decade: the 1950s, 1960s, etc., up to the 2000s.  I put each photo in the correct decade's box.  

I am very lucky that Mom generally wrote dates on her photos.  When I came to a photo that Mom didn't write on or date, I became a detective and figured out when the photo may have been taken.  Sometimes, the photographs themselves have dates on them.  The tricky part of using this information is that the date printed on photos is generally the date the photo was printed.  While Mom was pretty good about developing a film after a roll was complete, not everyone is.  By not everyone, I mean me.  I would sometimes have many rolls of photos to develop and hold on to them for months or years.  

Another technique I used was grouping photos by their size or shape.  Through the years, photographic prints have changed.  For example, Mom's 1950s photos were usually square black and white with a scalloped edge.  If I saw photos that looked like a photo I knew the date of, I grouped those photos together.  This usually worked, but not always.  My mom loved cameras!  Her Uncle Joe gave her a camera in probably the 1940s, and she also had a more modern 1960s-type camera that she liked.  As long as they made the film for her 1940s camera, she would use it occasionally.  Just keep this in mind as you begin your decade sorting.

Mom and Dad lived in the same house their entire life.  This made dating some of the photos difficult.  For candid photos, I can look at the house we lived in and know a general timeframe.  From that timeframe, I often looked at the flooring or wallpaper, knowing about the year we switched out the green 1970s carpet that never wears out with the 1991 grey carpet just before Sarah was born.   You can also look at the other people in the photos. Look at the cars in the photos.  Look at the decorations on the walls.  If Great Aunt Suzie, who died in 1970, is in a photo, the photo had to be from 1970 or before.  Since I was not 100% sure about these dates, I tried to write @ 1963 or probably 1967 on the photo, if I wrote anything on the photo.  Become a sleuth and start assigning each candid photo to a specific decade.

This process step gives you a great history of cameras and photography.  The transition from black and white photos to color photos was a game changer for some photographers.  The 1980 color photos look very different from the 2000 color photos.  The standard for photo film also helps you date photos.  35mm film has been around for a very long time.  In 1972, Kodak introduced 100mm film, which produces a specific photo size. Do you remember 126mm film? It was introduced in 1963 and, by 2008, was no longer being manufactured.  And don't forget disc film!  That would be from the 80s.  If the photo was printed at home from a printer (and is probably grainy and sometimes smeared), this is most likely a photo from the 2000s, which is about when digital cameras became a thing.  The digital camera and photos are a whole different discussion for another day.  

Some photos didn't fit into the candid category. Off the top of my head, I remember coming to photo Christmas cards of family members or photos that relatives sent to Mom to show how their kids were growing and changing. Other photos that just don't "fit" into this process are photos that my siblings and I shared with classmates. I'll talk about how I handled those at another time.  

After all candid photos were sorted into decade boxes, I started with one decade and started processing them. I put all the other decade's boxes out of sight and nowhere near where I worked.  Looking at all of these photos (there ended up being at least 13 photo albums of non-duplicated photos) was overwhelming!  I started with the 1950s box.  I used scrap paper to make dividers for the box:  1950, 1951, 1952, etc.    I began filing all photos behind their probable year.  Once all of the 1950s photos were sorted, I processed the 1960s box.  I pulled out all the 1950 photos and pulled out duplicates, leaving one of each photo in the decade box.  There are many ways to handle duplicate candid photos, but I'll share how I did it.  I took a box and put the 1950s duplicates in the front of the box, followed by the 1960s duplicates, etc.  You could easily "stack" duplicates in the photo album sleeves if you prefer.  My goal was always to make one set of photos from Mom that was in chronological order.  As a side note, when Mom died, I took the duplicate candid photos to the meal after Mom's funeral and let siblings and others pull out any photos they wanted.  After all, these were the duplicates.  

After I had one decade of unduplicated photos, I scanned the photos.  Again, you don't have to do this.  That is totally up to you.  Personally, I love scanned images because they are easier to store and don't take up physical space.  After scanning the images, I filed them in photo albums.  I started by putting them in random albums, trying to reuse Mom's albums.  I quickly realized that I wanted all albums to be the same, so I went to Walmart and purchased several photo albums of the same shape.  I didn't purchase enough albums, so I went to Walmart a lot to purchase albums.  I tried to get all albums with the same design, but when push came to shove, I always chose an album the same size as my other albums.  Using my label maker, I labeled each album with the date of the photos in the album.  For example, 1951-1952.  Sometimes, an entire decade would fit in an album.  Other times, depending on family events, one year might take two albums. I would like to offer one small piece at this stage, do not completely fill an album.  Chances are, you will find some 1950s photos that were mistakenly put in the 1960s box.  When I ran across these, I filed them in the blank pages of the 1950s album, usually at the back.  While the photos weren't in chronological order, they were still pretty close.

I continued this for all the decades.  This process wasn't easy, but I'm thankful I did it!  Mom's photos were easy for her and all family members to access.  If my kids were at Mom's house and wanted to look at pictures she took of them as a baby, they could grab a specific year and enjoy the memories!  Disclaimer:  My kids weren't the biggest fan of my process.  Before my process, Mom had an album for each grandchild. The album would have the person's name written on the front of it, and if you were lucky, she had found your name in a newspaper or something and cut it out and included it within the album's pages.  Sometimes, there would even be a small piece of an envelope that she wrote a note on and inserted on top of a photo.  If you were really lucky, you could still see the cut-out "v" on the said envelope, showing where she used that specific envelope or paper to help her hem a pair of pants to keep the turned-up fabric the same length.  Sometimes, there was a news article in your album; most likely, your birth announcement from the newspaper was also there.  While my kids preferred Mom's system, it was a confusing system.  What if there were three people in a photo?  Whose album did it go into?  Again, I just stuck with chronological to make my life easier. Life happens chronologically, so why not organize life that way?

When it was time to clean out Mom's house, we put all of these candid albums in several plastic tubs and started passing the tubs around.  The first sibling started with the tubs, taking out the photos they wanted to keep.  After days, weeks, or months, that sibling passed the tubs to another sibling.  I'm not 100% sure where the albums are now.  To ensure all siblings had all the photos, I had my brothers and sisters buy a thumb drive, and I put all the scanned images of Mom's photos on the thumb drive.  This would make another post, as I used the tagging feature of Forever's Historian program to help me separate my photos from Mom's photos.  

Future Topics:

• Organizing Mom & Dad's Wedding photos:  This started my obsession.

• What to do with the "other" photos

• How I organize my scrapbook pages

• How to organize obituaries and other items that you or others have cut out of newspapers.

• What to do with invitations, thank you notes, letters, etc.

The "filmstrip" above was my attempt at returning to my cut and paste days of crafting!  Linda Hodges designs display windows for the historical society, and she comes up with amazing ideas and concepts.  Recently, she planned a schoolhouse window and a photography window, asking me to print out pictures of schools for the school window.  I hemmed and hawed around....what size? frames vs. no frames? who would pay for the frames?  And on and on!  One day, I met Linda uptown to help her put the finishing touches on the windows, and we have a brainstorming session.  I forgot how good those can be.  You can't have a preconceived idea or it doesn't work.  We were both open to anything.  We narrowed it down to mounting photos on black cardstock and placing it at the bottom of the window.  Well, I came home and thought about it some more.  Hmm, filmstrip is black.  I wonder if I can replicate filmstrip?  With the help of my Silhoutte, I found a way to do it.  I love how the strips turned out.  The day before the Lasagna Supper, Linda, Linda Woodhurst, and me met at the historical society to do some cleaning and put the filmstrips into the window.  They looked great.  Now, two weeks later, they don't look so great!  I need to get uptown and retape the strips, using clear tape to hold up the tops of the filmstrips.  

Today's post was to write a limerick in recognition of tomorrow being St. Patrick's Day.  When I checked the page, two people had already posted a limerick they created.  I loved it!  It was inspiring!  I decided to write my own limerick and post it to the page.  We'll see if this encourages others to write a limerick, too.

Tomorrow, I begin to "teach" a new set of students.  For the spring semester, I will be supervising and helping develop two student teachers from HLG.  Our first meeting is tomorrow, where I will meet two brand-new-to-me individuals and begin to navigate the world of student teaching.  This makes me think of my student teaching days.....

It was December 1988, and the envelope (didn't have email) arrived letting me know my student teaching assignment.  I remember standing in the living room of our trailer on Walnut Street, opening the envelope in anticipation of getting exactly what I wanted! I wanted to student teacher in 2nd grade with Arlen Provancha.  I opened the envelope and saw that I would be student teaching in 6th grade with Muriel Beshears.  Muriel Beshears.  While I was in college, I did a lot of student teaching at Perry Elementary, and Muriel Beshears scared me!  She was strict.  Very strict!  She was a bit fierce and not afraid to speak her mind.  I might have cried.  Okay, I did cry!  Why?  I wanted 2nd grade with Arlen!  Sixth graders were no where on my list of students I wanted to work with!  And, I wanted Arlen Provancha!  He was dynamic, energetic, and enthusiastic.  Muriel was strict and fierce.

I don't remember an orientation like I'm going to participate in tomorrow.  I think I just showed up on the agreed upon date and started doing what the college asked us to do.  At first, I observed Muriel, and then subject by subject the roles were reversed and Muriel observed me as I taught.  When I was observing one day, I remember watching someone playing in their desk while Muriel was teaching.  I don't think she noticed.  I assured myself that I would be on-the-ball and notice things like that and put a stop to it.  At the end of each day, Muriel and I would touch base about how the day went and decide what changes we needed ot make for the next day.  I never mentioned to Muriel that someone was playing in their desk.  

Fast forward a few weeks, and Muriel was observing me as I taught.  I'll never forget our follow-up conversation.  SHE POINTED OUT THAT STUDENTS WERE PLAYING IN THEIR DESKS WHILE I WAS TEACHING!  What?  I kept a watchful eye! And, the audacity!  I didn't say anything to her when it happened to her, so why was she telling me about this!  Didn't she know they played in their desks when she was teaching, too?  At that point, I had two options:  be a bitter Betty and say, "They did that when you were teaching, too," or learn from the  feedback she was about to share with me.  I chose to learn.  I asked Muriel what she does when that happens.  I don't remember what she said, but I'm sure she was direct and to the point and had a bit of wit and a touch of good-humored sarcasm in her response.

Student teaching with Muriel was a great experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything.  The fierceness she showed outside of her classroom was the fierceness a momma bear shows her cubs.  Muriel's students were her children.  She was responsible for them.  She considered them her mission in life, her purpose.  You know how you can say something negative about a close family member but not one outside of the family better say a  negative word?  That's what Muriel's classroom was like--a family.  There were inside jokes with her students, there was discipline, there was humor.  Muriel's teachings skills helped shape me into the teacher I became.  You know what I figured out about Muriel Beshears?  She was dynamic, energetic, and enthusiastic.  She was also strict and fierce in the best way possible!

So, as I sat down tonight and thought about my meeting with the two new teachers I would be working with for the next few months, I asked myself, "What can I do to make our introductions a teaching experience to show these two individuals that every moment is a teaching experience.  I sat at the kitchen table.  The same kitchen table where just hours earlier I assembled a puzzle of my family that I had printed from my scrapbooking company.  I think the kids and grandkids will love it.   I wonder what I can do with puzzle pieces.  Well, this is what I came up.  I 'm going to label 10 ziplock bags 1-10 and put three puzzle pieces in each bag, one for each of us..  I'm going to take two  die.  We'll only use one die for the first six questions, but two die for the last set of questions.  We're going to roll dice and answer the question.  We'll probably laugh because we're nervous.  We're going to start getting to know each other and hopefully form a bond that is as strong as the bond that Muriel and I shared.  It might not happen, but I'm going to try as hard as I can to help these ladies become outstanding teacher.  You know why?  It's because they are my students, and you never forget how to be a teacher.

Even the hardest puzzles have solutions!

Introduction–Names 

Border pieces of a puzzle are the easiest, so we’ll start with the easiest pieces first.  These questions are about who you are. After you answer a question, you get a puzzle piece.  When all puzzle pieces are distributed, we’ll complete the puzzle.

Roll the die, and we’ll answer whatever question you land on. (18 pieces, so 6 questions)

1.  What is your name?

2. Where did you spend most of your childhood?

3. As a teenager, what was your favorite social activity?

4. Tell me about a teacher that had a positive impact on your life?

5. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

6. Tell me about your family, however big or small that might be.

Now for the inner pieces. These are a little bit harder because they talk about feelings, emotions,and what makes you you.

7. You’re about to complete your student teaching. What scares you the most?

8. Why do you want to be a teacher?

9. Tell about a powerful relationship you currently have with someone other than a family member.

10. Imagine you are 80 years old.  How do you want people to describe you?

How can you use an activity like this in a classroom?  How can you change it?

Every time I learn something or try a new process or activity,, I think about how I can use what I learned in my classroom or my life.  I’m not just talking about professional development. I’m talking about things I read in my sewing magazine, conversations I have with friends and families, and conflicts I encounter.  Todd Whitaker (What Great Teachers Do Differently) said something at a conference that has forever impacted me…personally and professionally.  When we do things perfectly the first time, we don’t learn as much as when we fail.  When you fail, you have to really evaluate what went wrong and make a plan to get it right.  It may take several times, but you will grow personally and professionally when you fail.  From that, you grow into something amazing!

Student Teaching Advice From a Seasoned Veteran

(aka…someone who loved being in the trenches…me)

1. Ask questions.

2. Keep a journal.

   1. Could be just for you.

   2. Could be something that you write in as you observe the classroom teacher and that she writes while watching you teach

3. Over plan.

4. Maintain confidential information and conversations.

5. Be a team player.  Be someone who helps put the puzzle together, not tear it apart.

6. Spelling and grammar matter–a lot.

7. If you are struggling, don’t wait too long to ask for help. Remember, if it was easy, everyone would do it!

8. Know your content.

9. If you don’t know an answer, don’t make one up. Find it.

10. Think of the most innocent adult in your life.  The person that you want to be perfect in front of.  Before you post ANYTHING to social media, would you want this person to see it?  If not, don’t post it.

11. Relationships, relationships, relationships

12. Be present in the moment.

Things I've Learned

• Finding a week that works for all family members is almost impossible!  We never had a day when everyone was together, but everyone sure tried and made it at least one or two days!

• It's hard to give someone directions if you don't know where you're going.

• We aren't guaranteed tomorrow, so enjoy today.  While on vacation, Trudy messaged our sister group to let us know that her brother-in-law, Jason, died.  He was only 48. 

• No matter where you go or what you do, there's no place like home!  And your own bed!

The Branson We've Experienced (Beginning 2019)

• The Butterfly Palace

  • Tickets are good for three days.  If we do this again, we'll go on our first day so we can go again anytime we have a few minutes of downtime.

• Branson Boardwalk

• Branson Landing Fountain Show

  • Lights and fireworks on the hour!

• Legends at the Dick Clark American Theater

  • We loved this show!

  • For $5 extra, you can sit in the VIP area on the 2nd floor.

• Runaway Roller Coaster

• Talking Rocks Cavern

• Lost Canyon Cave & Nature Trail Cart Tour

The Lake of the Ozarks We've Experienced (Beginning 2022)

• Jolly Charters at Jolly Roger's Grub & Grog

Places to Eat

• Clockers Café (Branson)

  • This restaurant is in the downtown area.  Very tasty!

• The Keeter Center at the College of the Ozarks (Hollister)

  • Ryan found this restaurant on TikTok, and it did not disappoint! 

  • Get there when they open (10:30) because they fill up quickly.  

  • You can't make lunch reservations, but you can make supper reservations.

• Hook & Ladder Pizza Co. (Hollister)

• Joe's Crap Shack (Branson Landing)

• Landshark (Branson Landing)

• Tucker's Shucker's (Lake of the Ozarks)

• Cheeky Monkey (Good food, family drama, LOL!)

• Craig's Treehouse (Same other, good atmosphere and food)

• Picking Porch (Great food, limited hours, 11-7)

• Paula Deen's (Great food, unlimited food, bit $$)

Where We've Stayed

• Trout Hollow Lodge:

  • We've stayed her several times, and we love it!

• Ozark Village in Osage Beach

• Gazebo Inn in Branson

  • Nice rooms right on the strip

Other Branson Attractions For the Future

• Ralph Foster Museum

  • Located on the College of the Ozarks campus, this museum houses the truck from The Beverly Hillbillies.

• Aquarium at the Boardwalk

• Bowling

• The kids enjoyed putt-putt golf

• My favorite acronym from the day:  RND:  Rip Off & Duplicate!  I love this.  No need to reinvent the wheel all the time.

• Pocket parks are a huge movement right now for cities and counties.  The use of string lights makes them a bit more modern, and these are great locations for food trucks, outdoor movies, etc.  One presenter also shared that a policeman request that new developments in their city be called parks so they could patrol them for drug use/sexual offenders. 

• Murals to tell a story are another big push.  They can tell the story of the town or county, and, if designed correctly, some of them make great Snapchat/Instagram backdrops.

• One city designed portable mini-golf “holes.”  They can be used all together at one location (pocket park, city park), or each hole can be moved to a different location throughout the area/town/county so players get to see a larger section of an area.

• Bee boxes in pocket parks are also growing in popularity.

• I was able to eat lunch with the guest lunch speaker, Denise Coogan of Subaru in Indiana.  They are now 99.97% waste free.  She shared some of the strategies that they used to get to this point, including working closely with all employees and stakeholders to brainstorm and try out new ideas. She kept using the term kaizens as a synonym for ideas.  I think this is a term that the Subaru team thought of, but maybe not.  I need to look into this...

  • If you want to find ways to eliminate waste, look for areas where you say, "We've always done it this way."

  • Save cans and bottles and donate the money you make to a charity.

• I’m always keeping my eyes and ears open for neat places to visit, things to see, and topics to research. These things intrigued me….

  • Excelsior Springs, MO has worked hard to revitalize their downtown area.  Everyone sitting around me from that area talked about how great The Elms is for a short get-away.

  • The USS Hoga is the last floating vessel that was in Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. Docked at the Riverfront, it is a part of the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.

  • Bear 399 in the Grand Tetons has it’s own Facebook and Twitter account, and you can often see live feed of the bear in the wild. (Subaru partners with National Parks to improve recycling practices in these areas).

It's All about Perspective

July 7,  2022:  Recently, Sarah showed me a new technique for taking photos with a cell phone--taking them upside down!  She shared a tick-tock video with me very similar to this one, and I have to admit, it's kind of cool!  This makes a small, but subtle change to the photos, giving them an entirely new perspective.  I'm sharing a few examples below.  Love the technique or not, it's something to try from time to time.  I wish I would have taken these photos from both angles so you could see the difference.

Things I Learned

• The lint roller is a quick way to  get the lint off the precuts.  I'll definitely do this again (if I remember).

• I have a lot of stash, but I'll probably need to buy some neutrals and/or background fabric to make the projects I want with the stash I have.

• I thought I could access all of my bookmarks from my school account, but I had a lot of trouble finding them yesterday. I need to find them and get them copied over to my  new Google account.

• My quarter inch seam has definitely improved over time!  I need to remind myself often that when I try something new, it will get better with time.  And I need to give myself more grace.

• Since I like the way the flimsy turned out, I need to make some notes to make sure I can do it quickly in the future.  Since I only used 20 strips, I have 20 more ready to go.  I may make an identical quilt with the fabrics.

  • I cut the flimsy into the following pieces:  7 inches, 5 inches, and  17 inches.

  • I put a 2.5 inch strip of white grunge on either side of the 5 inch piece, and I put a 5 inch border all the way around the quilt top.  To do this, I needed  about 3/4 of a yard of white grunge fabric.  

  • Ultimately, this project takes half of a jelly roll and 3/4 of a yard of background fabric.  This is definitely a quick and easy quilt top.  Depending on the fabric, it would be a baby quilt or a lap quilt for an adult.

Thoughts for the Future

• I'll definitely make this again.  I may make it again in a few minutes with the leftover jelly roll strips!

• When I do it again, I'll probably add one more 5" piece to the top or bottom.  This way, the strips will be offset a bit instead of lining up horizontally.  I think it will look better with the offset.

• I also saw a pattern where a completely different fabric was used in place of the 5" inverted fabric strip.  Loved it!

• When I quilt this, I may use an all over design, but wouldn't it be fun to practice a variety of narrow border options in the various strips?  Hmm......

• It's time to stop saving my stash for the perfect project, because the perfect project doesn't exist!  I need to begin using up what I have!

• Who am I kidding?  I'll probably go fabric shopping with Mary this week!

At the end of the process, we ended up with two quilts--the applique quilt and an alternate quilt of pieced blocks.  I've already quilted my applique quilt, and as soon as my batting arrives, I'll be quilting the pieced quilt.  I have already signed up to do Lori Holt's next quilt-along with our Monday group, and I'm looking forward to August so we can catch up on each other's lives!

Things I Learned:

• After a few weeks, I finally got the hang of the bias tape maker.  We were making 1/4 inch bias tape, and at first, I couldn't figure out how to pull the fabric through without it untucking in various places.  By about week 4, I had it figured out.

• We used the 1/4 inch bias tape to make beaks and chicken feet.  I hate all of my chicken feet, but by the time I saw an alternate process that I liked (Thanks, Sandy!), mine were all finished and I didnt' want to redo them all.

• My hand stitching improved during the process.  As I learned more, by stiches got smaller and smaller, and, hopefully, they will hold the chickens for many years to come.

• I love Lori Holt's applique technique.  It is the process I'll use for upcoming applique projects, including a camping pillow and elephant wall hanging that are on my to-do list.

• Lori Holt is one heck of a marketing master.  She should teach classes in marketing. 

Thoughts for the Future:

• "Quilt as desired" may be the most fearsome words in the quilting process.  As I loaded my quilt on the longarm, I only knew that I wanted to stitch around my applique work.  I started the process by machine basting my quilt.  I had a problem in the upper left hand corner that I still can't figure out (too much bunching), but other than that, it worked pretty well, I do think I'll try to have my design in mind before I start quilting in the future, as the rolling back and forth got a bit tedious.

• I can stipple!  Sometimes my stippling looked good, and other times, it was awful.  That said, I think if I go back to my drawing notebook and sketch out some stipples, I can train my brain to do it correctly.  

• Next time, I'll probably machine applique.  I truly wanted to learn how to hand applique, which I did, but I'd like to try appliqueing on my machine next time.  I think I'll feel more confident that my work will hold up over time if I machine applique. If I don't like the look of it, I'll go back to hand applique.

• I loved piecing the alternate quilt!  I didn't want to do the sashing and borders like Lori Holt suggested, so I created a different type of sashing.  I really like it, but I think my "stop border" kind of messed with the design.