The Good, the Bad, the Slimy

A while ago, you may remember, I applied for and received my FOID card.  Mom and Dad were concerned that I be able to legally deal with the guns and ammunition safely, should I inherit any, and so I complied!  Got my FOID card.  Good to go.

Then . . .  Get your concealed carry license, they said.  It'll be fun, they said.  And it'll teach me how not to be scared of guns.  So I signed up for the John A. Logan class with Bob Alcorn and Vance Schmid and learned more about makes and models of guns, gun construction, bullets, how bullets are made, what makes bullets work, where one can carry a gun (not really anywhere I go . . . being a teacher and all . . .), what the laws are about access to guns, gun safety, etiquette at gun ranges, and on and on and on.  In two eight-hour lessons.  As an English teacher, I felt very much like a fish out of water, but after I realized that I was not going to be tested on all the gauges, makes, models, and technologies behind firing a weapon, I was able to relax a little and just focus on shooting properly and memorizing all the safety rules.

There are actually two firsts in this post:  on Wednesday, I fired a gun for the first time ever in my life. The gun is a Beretta Bobcat .32, and here is my bag, packed professionally by Dad with all my stuff--ear protectors, eye protectors, bullets, and a tool for loading the bullets into the magazine.

So, on one of the hottest days of the summer, Dad and I headed out to the Harshas' land in Vergennes to teach me how to shoot!  See the fog?  That's my camera, cranky from the move from inside the air-conditioned car to the shooting range in the humidity . . . .

And then it was my turn.  Yikes.  To be very honest with you, my heart was pounding a little from fear of the machine in my hands.  I held the power to seriously wound--or kill--myself or my dad with that gun, and that knowledge made me edgy.  Dad has had guns in our house my whole life--as a hunter, former Marine, and sportsman, he feels comfortable around them and cleans them with precision and cares for them tenderly.  Me, not so much.  I didn't EVER pay attention when he was messing with the guns or look too carefully when there were deer draining in the yard, preferring instead to find something else more fun to do.  Now, however, I needed to learn ALL THE THINGS before class tomorrow!  No pressure . . . .

So.  He handed me the gun, explained how to handle it safely while I loaded it, how to put bullets in the top chamber and also in the magazine, and where the safety was.  Wearing my new (pink) safety glasses and electronic ear muffs, I approached my target, and assumed a comfortable stance, and then pulled the trigger.  BANG!!!  HOLY FLIT.  That was scary.  It really was.  But I did actually hit the target paper . . . so . . . it also felt victorious!  HA!  I can totally do this.  And then the next reloads were equally successful, and with each reloading and firing, the gun became less scary and more like a tool that I could safely control.  There is a certain comfort in knowing how to make sure the gun is empty and knowing how to hold it when it isn't, and while I do feel less ignorant of guns and their workings, I do still feel extremely respectful of them, recognizing that they are capable of taking life. See?  Here I am:

And, after my classes at John A. and qualifying test on the Egyptian Rifle and Pistol Club, I am the proud owner of this certificate:

So there it is!  And other than a few snafus, which include my putting my holster on incorrectly the first time, not knowing what kind of Beretta I had when the instructor asked me on the first day, and the lizard kerfuffle*, it was a significant learning experience that I'm glad I went through.  I really do feel safer, both knowing how to handle a gun safely and knowing Mom and Dad will feel better about my having access to their guns now that I know better about how to treat them.  And two more firsts were accomplished!!  Check, check!!

*Okay.  The Lizard Kerfuffle story.  After we finished our four-hour class on the laws of concealed carry and then lunch, we were to meet at the gun range for the lessons on how to holster and unholster a gun.  There's a classroom out there, a cinder-block building with air-conditioning and tables, and as I walked in behind the other classmates, a GIANT LIZARD** raced all fast and wiggly RIGHT IN FRONT of my feet!!  So I screeched a little***.  My yelping sure got the attention of all the little old men who wore hearing aids and who hadn't heard a word I'd said in two days, and it should be noted that I probably scared the doodoo out of an entire classroom of people holding guns.  Holding his chest over his heart, Vance asked what was wrong, and when I gasped that there was a slimy LIZARD in his building, he did not respond with the level of concern I wanted.  "Oh, yeah," he said.  "Those things are everywhere out here.  So grab a seat, everybody, and we'll begin . . . ."  Meanwhile, my heart was still thumping, and now I would spend the rest of my lesson in the building watching the floor around my feet and along the walls.  Just in case.****

** I might be exaggerating.  He might have been about five or so inches big.  But for the intents of this story, please picture a Komodo Dragon.

*** Maybe a lot.  And maybe hopped a little.

**** No more lizards spotted, but I could FEEL their presences.  So be on your guard if ever you find yourself at the Egyptian Rifle and Pistol Club.  

GO, CARDS!!!

This past week, the Eye-talians came here to Herrin!!!  This was a BIG DEAL in our town, several months--almost a year--in the making.  Herrin is largely populated by Italian families, hence the 900+ families with memberships at St. Mary's, the huge Herrinfesta Italiana extravaganza, the dozens of Italian family-run businesses here, and the strong Italian population of our school.  This phenomenon is due to the fact that in her earliest days, Herrin was a mining town in need of workers, and posters were sent to Europe to draw immigrant workers to mine coal here.  Most of the workers hailed from Cuggiono, Italy, and Herrin became strongly influenced by the culture they brought here; foods, language, family structure, religion--they brought it all here and planted a new Cuggiono, right in the middle of Williamson County, Illinois.

Cut to a hundred years later--the leaders of the town of Herrin are committed to making sure the ties are never severed from Cuggiono, our sister city, and have taken many steps to ensure enduring relationships.  I myself have been to Cuggiono twice, and the Cuggionese have visited us a number of times as well.  But we visitors have all been adults, which is great for the present, but it is of extreme importance that we get the kids together to ensure the relationship is maintained into the future.  Toward that end, we hosted the Cuggiono basketball team this summer, in a trip timed to coincide with the Twinning Ceremony of our towns.  I hope you've seen this on TV--Herrin and Cuggiono are officially sister cities!  Twins, in fact.  Forever!  Yay!  And the boys who came over were feted and celebrated to the best of our abilities--they absorbed all the American culture we could possibly give them, and one of the days, we went to St. Louis and visited Busch Stadium.  Wherein I experienced A First.

We acquired tickets for a tour of the private, not-for-public areas of the famed stadium, and the boys were fully enthralled.  I'm not even a die-hard fan of baseball, but I was star-struck as well.  Take a look at what we saw!

Our first look!

Inside the walls of the stadium, our guide showed us the plaques of the former Red Bird logos, from the first days to the present.  Then he led us down onto the field.  ONTO THE FIELD.  This is the view from home plate--what a powerful image for the home team--all the Anhueser Busch logos and businesses and the Gateway Arch, right there in front of the batter.  And maybe a little intimidating for the visiting team?  Hm.

The pics under here are taken from inside the dugout.  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm INSIDE THE DUGOUT right here, next to Sandra Colombo (grand dame of Herrin, and maybe the whole world), and my friend Michaelann next to her.  Then, I SAT on the bench in there.  The second pic here is my view from the bench (right now, it's mostly some Eye-talians, but in a game, that view would be far more impressive . . . ).  The third pic is a shameless selfie of Ms. Amanda Hickman, English teacher, seated on the bench that belongs to professional Cardinal baseball players.  My caboose was in the presence of greatness, surely.

From the dugout, we went to one of three special bar/restaurant areas.  The first was this one, called, maybe, the Branch Rickey suite?  Am pretty sure.  Anyway.  Very swanky.  And pricey--can't remember how much, but more than I'd be spending for one baseball game, or like many, an entire season of tickets.  Also, I'm pretty sure these nice people who were eating in the right side of the pic were SUPERhappy that our tour group filed through their lunch.

And now on to the Redbird Club level--less swanky and private, but still pretty cool.  The wallpaper here is one-of-a-kind, printed using a VIP's baseball card collection to decorate the walls.

And here we are in the broadcaster's box--those windows are closed now, but during a game, they're open to the elements:  weather, crowds, and everything.  This place is pretty amazing.  If I'm going to a game, I want to either sit in the dugout or here.  I'm not picky.

That Reserved VIP sign is for the Mets!  They were the night's guests.

This view, as it turns out, is pretty special--that statue is of Stan Musial, and the view is framed by a mock Eads Bridge--the first bridge from Illinois to Missouri.  I like the artistry and the history combined here.

From the Champions Club--one of the World Series trophies.  This one designed by Tiffany, thank you very much.

So concludes the tour of the stadium, but I have one more pic to share--the Arch!  We led the boys--regazzi!--there, and handed them tickets, tucked them into the eggs to go up, and promptly collapsed on the chairs in the waiting area underneath.  They went up, enjoyed the view and the swaying of the arch, and came down ready for dinner.  Good day had by all!

Adventures in Tutoring

I've tutored kids for their ACT exams for years now--they come to me in a panic, worrying that this test will RUIN THEIR LIVES if they "fail," and they're looking for tips and secrets.  I'm happy to give private tutoring sessions to ease their angst and, I hope, help them hone their skills and feel prepared to give the exam their all.

Well, this past spring, my friend Michaelann asked me to teach proper lessons to a classroom of children through the Continuing Education program at John A. Logan.  Yikes!  While I've been doing this forever for my own kiddies at HHS, this would be the first time I take my show on the road and offer my tips as an actual course.  For some reason, this thought is a little nerve-wracking to me!  It's one thing to give a lesson one-on-one, with an awareness of the one kid's needs, and another thing to address the needs of up to twenty-five kids in a meaningful way.  I'm going to do my best!  Feeling equal parts excited and nervous.

Michele is going to do the math component of the course on Thursdays to my Tuesdays, so we both went to John A. Logan to fill out employment forms.  Yikes.  The forms are intense--you'll be happy to know my background check is all clear for teaching children--and took us over an hour to get completed.  So we're official!  Starting in October, I'll be working for John A. to offer my tutoring skills to southern Illinois ACT exam-takers.  Hoping it's as beneficial as I'm planning for it to be!

Road Trip to LBL

 When I lived in Kentucky, my friends would talk about weekending in a place called Ay-yell Bee Ay-yell.  It sounded lovely!  Cabins on the lake!  Yummy places to eat!  Boating!  Swimming!  Floating in the calm waters!  Where is this paradise?  Turns out they were saying LBL, the Kentucky abbreviation of the Land Between the Lakes.  Ah.  That makes so much more sense . . . .

So when Mom suggested we do a newness in Ay-yell Bee Ay-yell, I was on board!  I've eaten at Patti's 1880's Settlement Restaurant, but Mom wanted me to see a show at the Badgett Playhouse, which I've never visited!  It was great!  We started out early--like, 10:30, and lunched at the Olive Garden in Paducah (have never understood why people get snobby about Olive Garden Italian food--I could eat my weight in breadsticks and unending salad with no regrets), and then we headed to the little golf store place my parents just love, then to Gander Mountain, which is the coldest store in the nation, and then, FINALLY, to the mall, where my favorite stores live.  Great trip ALREADY.

After our shopping, we loaded back into the car with GPS and made our way to LBL--it's only about thirty minutes outside Paducah--and puttered around the settlement until time for the show.  There are several antique shops, several places to buy yummy things (highly recommend the chocolate amaretto fudge--I'd share, but that ship has sailed), lots of boutique-y shops, and a lovely garden right in the middle of all the cabin-like buildings.  Take a look!

So many flowers in the garden area in the middle!

This is my LBL outfit, modeled in front of the big wheel.

Oh em gee--an ENTIRE store full of peacocky things.  Know anybody interested in shopping here?

No idea what this is.  But somebody is a better plant mom than I.

This guy!  He was not for sale, but he was ADORBS.

And then finally, time for the show!  Here's the playhouse:

The show that night was a variety show--a band and four singers traced the evolution of music from the 1950's to the 1980's, and it was so much fun!  Here are a smattering of pictures that are not blurry.  These people dance about A LOT.

Some country music!

Some "Devil Went Down to Georgia" here.  See that lady in front on the left?  The sweet little octogenarian?  Yeah.  She knew--and sang--every single word to "Afternoon Delight."  And that's all I'm gonna say about that.

Some Beach Boys!  That fire looks more real here than it did in real life--and later, somebody in the crowd was awarded a marshmallow as a prize.  Hm.  But also during the '60's music, there were beach balls being tossed around the crowd, and I discovered that this STRESSES ME OUT.  I wanted to take pictures, but I also didn't want to get clocked in the head with the GIANT and sometimes SPINNING beach balls, and neither did I want to be the one who let them fall to the ground and that's A LOT OF PRESSURE.  Oof.  Was relieved when we "slowed it down a notch" with the next song.

Forgot this guy's name, but he was amazing.

 Here we have some eighties music.  By the end of the night, I'd figured out these ladies.  One of them sang better than she danced, one danced better than she sang, and the other lady is part owner.  They were all really talented, though.

Totally forgot what song this is, but I think it's Motown?

This lady is playing a saw.  A SAW.  And the tune was fully recognizable.

Another newness in the books!  Or... on the blog!  Had a great time with Mom and Dad, and it's always a good day with yummy food, great shopping, and entertaining entertainment.  Good time had by all!  

Serendipity

Tonight, two of my fave people came together in the same room!  My bestie, Michele, and my church  and fellow blogging BFF, Beth Alongi, got to meet each other in Beth's Fused-Glass Class at SIUC, and it was just as precious as you'd imagine.  Beth is the most artistic and talented person I know--she's so gifted!!  She takes stunning photography, she designs web pages, she travels the world, she cooks like an ANGEL of culinary DELIGHT, she understands the importance of Downton Abbey, and she has lately been making gorgeous glass pieces of art.  If you haven't seen her work, you should definitely find her and demand to see samples.  You'll be amazed--unless you know her, and then you just expect to be amazed every time she shows you something.

So when I found a link to her Fused Glass Class in my Twitter feed, I knew I had to be there, and Michele needed to come with me!  And I was RIGHT.  It was so fun!!  Tonight, she taught us some basics about fusing glass--how the glass behaves in certain temps at certain thicknesses, what kinds of "brands" of glass there are and how they react differently, how to manipulate the glass to end up with the result she's after.  She passed around some of her projects, and I really wish everyone could see how creative Beth is.  She had a bride and groom piece (precious), a BASKET with woven strips of green, yellow, and white glass, and a bowl with fused mosaic-like pieces across the middle in the most beautiful colors of teal-y blue and gray and white, but with a little scoopy divot on one side.  She called it a "mistake," but all of us assumed it was a spoon rest!  Like she did it on purpose--because that is exactly like her, to think of a little accent like that.  The lady to my left called it "a happy accident," and the language teacher in me wanted to say there's a word for that!  It's serendipity!  It's actually one of my favorite words, and it's so perfect for tonight's adventure.  It pleases me to no end to be friends with beautiful and godly women like Beth and Michele, and I'm aware of how lucky I am to know them both--serendipity!

After our lesson in the basics, Beth led us to a cupboard to choose our three glass colors.  Every time I'm supposed to choose colors like this, I immediately experience a very specific amnesia that makes me forget everything I own, all my favorite colors, and what things are missing in my collection of accessories.  Blank.  Michele chose three gorgeous colors that looked very Tuscan to me--golden yellow, a bronze-y brown, and a light yellow that was nearly clear.  Perfect!  The ladies around me selected themes of reds, greens, yellows . . . .  Oy!  What to choose??  I found a lovely plum color, and then a sort of off-white with pink undertones, and what next??  Hmmm.  Then!  Then I found a clear piece with stripes of purple and mauve in it.  Yay!  Colors that spoke to me.  These are the ones:

 Back in the room, it was time to cut these sheets of glass--they were in various shapes, but mostly the size of a sheet of notebook paper, and Beth sliced us each pieces that were about two inches wide.  Beside her is the man that took our money and delivered our receipts and kept track of stuff like that.  Bless his heart.  He was patient with our group of very excited ladies!

Now, after the strips were cut, Beth distributed safety glasses, glass cutters that were sort of like X-acto knives, some nipper-type tools that had little circles that would cut glass, and these other tools that you squeeze on the line that you scored with the knives and they snap the glass into two pieces.  Yikes.  These supplies are sharp and meant to cut sharp pieces of glass, and in the practice cuts, I managed to shatter two pieces of glass--thank goodness not my "real" pieces--into millions of shards and glass dust--thank goodness also for safety glasses!  But I figured it out!  I wasn't pushing hard enough to score the glass all the way down the line, and the squeeze-y tool couldn't do its thing.  There's an art to this, and it doesn't do to be too timid.

Beth told us to stack up five layers of our glass into whatever shapes and designs we see fit!  Alrighty, then.  Michele and I and the other ladies set to work--everyone had different approaches:  some (not naming names) measured carefully, making geometric and symmetrical shapes, some cut random shapes, some stacked different colors on different layers, some stacked strategically for hopeful attempts at control of the stripes to be revealed next week.

My stack!  Hoping that the clear pieces on top are visible on the creamy pieces.

Michele's stacks!  Hers are going to be beautiful and thick with Tuscan golds and browns.

Everybody had different end products in mind, and the ladies to my left were really very artistic--arranging theirs into star shapes and organizing their glass into tiny works of art.  I'm just hoping mine isn't embarrassingly hideous, because I fully intend to plan outfits and so forth around it when I finish it up in class next week.  :-)  Our class is two nights--tonight and also next Thursday, when we'll polish up and finish these pieces and also make another project, which I am SUPER PUMPED about!  I'll show you next week--no hints now.

This lady--who was TREMENDOUS FUN--loved that all the tools, her glass, and her top coordinated.  Love it!!

These ladies seemed to be real artists?  Who knew what they were doing?  And used the tools like experts?  Arranging their glass into organized stacks of beauty?  Cannot WAIT to see what happens in the kiln.  Might steal theirs....

A good time had by all!  Got to meet some fun new ladies in this serendipitous gathering--wishing I'd brought some others with me!  But no worries--this class will be offered again, I think, and next time, I'm bringing a crew.  Jen will have to gas up her car, but the others, I can scoop up from Herrin and bring over.  ;-)  Stay tuned for next week's reveal!!

Stars and Stripes Forever

At the beginning of the summer, I was a little nervous about my 40 blog--I have just a couple months left until my next birthday, and am only a little over half-way through my list!  But as it turns out, New Things To Do seem to find me, even when I'm not looking.  This week, my pals Cathy Shelton and Michaelann Stanley brought a Newness to me!

Cathy seems to be always trying new things to do--gardening, baking, painting, redoing floors and walls in her home, etc.; she's fearless when it comes to new projects.  So this week, she said, "Come to a painting class with me!  It'll be fun!"  Oof.  I recognize lovelies when I see them, but I am not, in general, prone to creating them myself.  Hm.  But whatevs!  Have never painted a painting outside of Vacation Bible School, so I'm game!

On the square in Benton, there's a store called The Wild Trillium that sells local artists' products--clothing, paintings, crafts, jewelry, and so on, and from time to time, the lady who runs the store offers painting classes!  She provides everything--canvases, brushes, paint, aprons, the ideas, and the techniques, and we are to bring $35 and a willing spirit.  Just FYI, it's also permissible to bring an adult beverage and snacks to make the evening even more pleasant.  Sold!  Sounds like a plan!  Here she is . . .

Well, if a blank canvas is not intimidating, I don't know what is.  I've actually never sat in front of one that I was in charge of filling, and now the phrase "blank canvas" is going to have a whole new image for me!  So Sharon, our instructor, distributed our supplies, and . . .

our theme was Freedom! or maybe The Fourth of July! or 'Merica!  But these paints let us know we'd be getting in touch with our inner patriots and creating an interpretation of the American flag.  The first step:  paint the canvas red.  Easy enough!

The paints we were using were acrylic--Sharon the Instructor told us that this kind of paint will come off our skin and hair in a couple of days and out of our clothes never.  Pretty happy to have the apron, then, just in case, but as it happened, I was a fairly neat painter and didn't get any on the apron--although Murphy's Law would have it that if I didn't have the apron, I would have up-ended that plate of paint all over my lap.  The second step:  paint the field of blue . . .

She told us not to be "too neat."  Ugh.  "Don't be creating sharp lines around your blue field, ladies," she told us.  "Your blue should have raggedy edges."  Really?  This lady does not know how I roll, as I had already made my very neat horizontal and vertical lines and was carefully painting inside those lines.  Those raggedy edges you see here were added after the fact, and only on her instructions to do so.  Because as much as I like things neat, I also am a rule follower.  So raggedy it would be.  Next, we add the flying stripes--not straight lines, mind you, but flowy lines that suggest a flag flying in the wind.  Here's my attempt . . . note the fear in the eyes . . .

The hardest part, I've learned, is that moment after you've loaded your paintbrush, and it's time to do something creative, but the product you have up to this point is pretty good, and adding the flowy, no-boundaries-have-fun-and-do-your-thing element might MESS EVERYTHING UP.  Oy.  I had that white paint on my brush for a good two minutes before I picked a place and started making my zigs and zags.  But I'm pretty pleased with my flowing lines.  I think they evoke the movement pretty well, considering I am in no way an art-teest with practice in this area . . . .  Toot!  (That was my horn.)

Next were the stars!  Again, we are making sort of impressions of flags, not the real deal, so the stars were NOT to be five-pointed.  Hm.  Okay.  How to make stars??  These are my attempt--they might look star-like, but what you're seeing here are my list bullets--I put these in front of my to-do list items for every list I ever make, so I've done these maybe a gazillion times in my life.  They felt easy, so I went with them.  :-)  Now next, she told us to "throw some blue" around our stripes, and then, she says, breezily, "toss the word FREEDOM onto the field!  It'll look great!"  Gulp.  WRITE on it??  But . . . but I haven't made any awful mistakes on it . . . and you're asking us to FREEHAND our handwriting??  Oy.  Okay.  Here we go.

Ta-da!!  Mrs. Tow's second grade Palmer Method cursive lessons in full force right there.  Didn't mess it up!  Well, not too badly, anyway.  And here's my final product!

And here's a pic of all of us there that night!  It really was a lot of fun, and life lessons abound in a painting class, as it turns out.  One cannot be too afraid of getting outside the lines.  Any mistakes can be either embraced or corrected.  Sometimes it's better not to think too hard about adding elements to your plan.  Hm.  Painting as therapy should really be considered . . . .  These classes are offered in her shop every Wednesday, just in case you're interested.  Her shop can be found on Facebook, and you can sign up for whichever one strikes your fancy!  If you want company, I'm definitely game to do it again!!