Greetings northern states folks, I have a get-together of some Canadian former Korea missionaries on June 20 and family reunion (Dad's side - they've had one annually for 110 years) on June 21. Weekend of June 28 is free. But that may be too early for many of you. July 5 is your big holiday weekend. July 12 is Mom's family's get together at my brother's. July 19 is free for me, I'm pretty sure ... but getting close to when I need to be in NC, the following weekend. I'd planned to be back in London before going to NC, but if I were to go direct (which is somewhat closer), that weekend should be O.K. I'm pretty sure that the Korea missionary reunion is the weekend of July 26 in Lake Junaluska, near Asheville, west end of NC, then plan to visit niece in Gainesville, GA, north-east of Atlanta, for a few days, as convenient for them, before returning to London. Possibly visit Pooh Bear along the way, as I did last time, 3 years ago. If meeting some of you as individuals, I'm thinking in terms of a few hours, perhaps meet somewhere for coffee, etc. Possibly overnight, if convenient - I usually travel with sleeping bag, and couch will work ... even a piece of floor (preferably carpeted): I don't have an operable air mattress ... but I'm fairly sure that son may have one that I could borrow. And, of course, I could spring for one! Rumour has it that moths fly out of Ed's wallet when he opens it. Good wishes for an interesting week, with something new happening to keep your interest up ... or should that be, with you doing something new, to add some spice to life (yours as well as others')? ole joyful

Hi Lindy Lu Who ... ... well, a WA-HO-O-O (not a boo-hoo) about that one! Thank you for making such a wonderful addition to this discussion! I have some Hanes ... and they're blue, too! But ... I've never seen them configured like that! Or ... so occupied, either, for that matter. Also, with elastic still intact - so they're not available for this purpose. Yet. Isn't this a wonderful idea? No more worries about the shortcomings (or, more accurately, long goings) of the elastic: in fact, if it were even somewhat tight, it might cause a problem. If any of you would like to use my old undies in such a fashion, I'd be glad to spring for the postage, even trans-border, to help the ancient briefs find some useful things to do throughout their retirement! Or, more accurately, delay their retirement! I can guaratee that I'll not send holey ones ... and you don't need to worry about the "baggy" that someone referred to, as the only part that's stretched is the elastic (possibly due to not having large body parts to ride herd on). And no stained or dirty ones, either ... solely ones that look to be only in slightly used condition. Then, with these still-useful things having their remaining useful life taken care of, I can go buy new ones with a happy heart!! Adding it as an extra errand when going to town to take care of several needs at a time ... ... and turning off the engine and coasting downhill, and as approaching signal lights when they turn yellow, half a block away ... to be passed by people pushing the gas pedal ... then hitting the brakes about a hundred feet before the "Stop" line. I staked a couple of rows of peas and picked some of the regular and of the edible pod kind. Took them to a nighbour who treats me well, and their daughter and SIL were there, playing cards. Daughter loves peas, I gave her several of the edible pod kind ... and she shelled them and ate them. En route home, I thought that I should have taken the edible pod ones back and given her some of the regular kind ... if she was going to shell them, anyway. Had some of each kind for supper - second picking - delicious! I hope that you had an enjoyable weekend ... and are looking forward to the coming week with anticipation. ole joyful

Susan, I first thought of the autograph idea when we got rid of the "original" table we'd had since we married in 1992. It was the most awful, ugly, unstable table, and the chairs were worse! LOL It was one step up from cardboard construction, tiny, with four rickety chairs and a peeling plastic top that was hardley thicker than Saran wrap. I tried everything to make it look decent. With the help of a neighbor, I painted the trestle legs and chairs; we put new fabric on the chair sets, and I assembled complete wardrobe of small tablecloths so no one would ever see the table top. Still, after we put it to the curb (and some poor soul picked it up; G-d love them!) and bought the new set I couldn't help but think of all the many people that had sat around that table over the past 12 years or so. Once I got eight people around it at once because no one wanted to sit in the livingroom "alone." I wished I had a record of them all. That's when I came up with the idea of people signing the new table, either on the back of one of the leaves, or inside the two linen drawers that fit at either end. There are people that sat at the first table that are no longer with us, or have moved so far away it's unlikely to ever see them again. I'll miss having them around the new table.

Alice, that's great that your classroom is like that. Perhaps you have a more flexible school district. I know many teachers who are completely fed up with the limited decision-making they have, where they have to teach to standardized tests, and which their entire future depends on those results. I went to public schools. I was a straight A student and took a load of honors and AP courses with perfect grades. I went to a top 10 university and was in for a shock when I arrived. I had perfected the art of memorizing and regurgitating facts for a test but I didn't truly learn. I knew how to do something, but I was never taught why I was doing it, or what it meant, or the impact. I went to 5 different schools in two different states so I can't blame any particular thing other than the style of teaching didn't work for me. I struggled in college because I felt that while I had gone to school, I hadn't really been educated. That's just me, and there are plenty of people who went to public schools and feel it was just fine. There are many great public schools, with passionate, dedicated teachers. As for private school teacher credentials, I would always do my research before enrolling as I know there aren't any mandated standards. For this particular school, all teachers have at least a BA in their topic. 20% have masters degrees and another 15% have PhD's in the subject that they are teaching, which I think is great for elementary school. I would much prefer teachers have degrees in specialized fields rather than general education degrees that are often seen in the elementary level. It's treated more like a high school where each subject is taught by someone with a degree in that field, instead of one teacher teaching every subject like most elementary schools. Of course having a degree doesn't assume someone can teach the subject to children but that's where I would rely upon the founder to ensure a good match. This type of approach really appeals to me, but that's not to say other approaches are bad.