My Week

Brrr it's cold.  Sure it was colder the first week of January with below zero temps but now we have 9 degrees and lots of wind makes it feel just as bad if not worse.  Really hard to leave the house in weather like this.  That is the benefit to retirement.  The dread of having to leave in snow and cold.  However, I still must.  Erands cannot wait and the class I had enrolled in demands it.  I am grateful for whomever pulled my trash bin toward the house in the wind.  I pulled one out of the road while walking my dogs.  I wasn't sure who's it was so I leaned it near a tree.

As part of a NAI certification class, I was invited to this optional pre-course evening Wednesday:
 

A Slave Owner’s Story:  Interpreting Uncomfortable History

Helping people understand the complexities of a less than comfortable story involves some careful planning. Nothing is ever a simple matter of black and white…not even the institution of slavery and the war fought to end it.  Hear a unique presentation and the other side of the story from a slave owner. Afterwards, be a part of the discussion with the interpreter and explore the power of telling the whole story.

Instructor: Grady Manus, Certified Interpretive Trainer (CIT)

Grady did an excellent job with his impression of Jed Hancock from Jackson, MO.  He described in depth the that as God would take care of his needs, just as a slave owner he was responsible for Henry whom he grew up with, Betty, Jim and Moses.  He told us that the constitution protected his "property" rights.  Regarding slavery, "we have the wolf by the ear and feel the danger of either holding or letting him loose."
- Thomas Jefferson 
He even He surprised audiences telling them that Daniel Boone had slaves and it was the norm.  We tend to picture Daniel Boone in the Disney role without slaves.
 He would give a different response if asked the question "did you ever force yourself on a slave girl?" vs "did you ever have sex with her?"
Many of the post-war slave interviews were that they found "freedom" to be difficult.  Many did not even understand the word, "Free".  
In conclusion, Grady said it best:  If he asked a classroom the pros and cons of abortion and that he would leave the room for 10 minutes for their solution, how would our descendants judge us and will they be as kind to them as we are to our ancestors? The point of historical interpreting is INTEGRITY.  A little girl asked "Why would anybody want to kill Lincoln?"  The story needs to be told.

The class began on Thursday and started out with information about speaking that I already knew but the test questions were not.  However, that familiarity did not last long.  Lynn and Grady were so very clear in making their points that I wished I was as patient getting the message across as they had been.  Then the stress of our 50 question open book test and a 10 minute presentation and outline caused a very sleepless night.  
de-stressing with some wine. My presentation was called "Love Letters and Onions". I did really well but forgot to mention my theme in the opener partly because of the double introduction requirement throwing me off. One to set the stage and one on the clock. I did a perfect time of 10 minutes and 4 seconds. Now the wait for the NAI board.  Those questions were very tricky with double negatives and answers that were definitely not word for word.

A classmate was commuting from Normal to Springfield for this class and taking a toll on her so I invited her to my house Friday night.  Saturday night she had to go home for her presentation props but that one night helped a lot.  She told me she was at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum when the Central IL Civil War dancers performed.  I told her "so was I!".  In fact I was there wearing the same dress that I had worn for my presentation on Sunday.  Amazing that we crossed paths. 
 
Since I had to turn in an outline, the added stress of getting my printer to work led me to run over to Kinkos late Saturday night.  I plugged in my jump drive into the machine and it said "please wait.  This may take awhile".  NO SHIT!  I waited and waited.  Later the clerk asked if he could help.  He got the machine to eject my debit card and printed it on his big copier.  He explained that the machines were running on Windows ME and often had problems like that with newer versions of MS Word.  ALDI was nearby.  Knowing that my Sunday presentation will be stressful enough, I picked up some berries and yogurt for my lunch.  I also got some sweet onions for my presentation.  I had cut them up and put them in my blue antique-like sugar bowl for my punch line - "If you were laid up in a Civil War infirmary, which would do you more: a get well card, or an onion?"

I did miss church because of this class but there was no way around that.  

I had my house measured for carpeting on Tuesday.  Not sure which direction I'll go with that but this old lament needs replaced because it is separating.   I am publishing my blog premature of that answer in order that I can put part of this "weekly blog" in letter format to send to my soldier serving in harms way.
 



 

My Week

Wednesday I went to Peoria to look at homes with my son.  Those lower end houses can be real competitive for rental investors vs those that really want to live in them.  Often the online tour is different in person.  The house that I liked that was really reasonable had a sign on the door that said "Do not resuscitate".  Alan didn't like the metal roof that was coated and the air conditioning unit was installed in the wall.  I thought it was nice and maintained well otherwise.  We looked at 4 houses.

Friday evening I looked at more houses with my son again and he placed an offer on a house.  I learned that my son's offer on a house in Peoria was accepted.    Here's what it looks like: 

Saturday I went to a mission for a fallen ride captain of the Patriot Guard Riders, Terry Riva, in Staunton, IL.  It was pretty cold so I tried to minimize the outdoor portion of the ceremony as much as possible.

Sunday morning I read the second reading at Mass followed by our pancake breakfast. During Mass, there was a medical emergency and the parish nurses came to Jack's aid as the paramedics arrived.  I came home briefly and started a skillet lasagne and then back to church to help take money for the breakfast fund raiser.

Later I went to the library for a group that meets to discuss genealogy.   I hope to find the one missing link that will grant my son's admission to the SAR.
Sunday evening I went to the Commander's Banquet for the 114th Illinois Infantry and Soldiers Aid Society at the Chesapeake Seafood House.  General Grant was our guest speaker.  He spoke for 38 minutes which I recorded.  Servers were serving cake so it is not the greatest.  Here is just a small portion of that video where Grant describes his youth and business savvy buying a horse.

Monday I went to Camp Butler to see if there were any unclaimed artificial Christmas wreaths that I can collect and re-use for next year's Wreaths Across America.  Many of the decorations had already been cleared by staff but I was able to retrieve a box of them.  I cleaned my house knowing that my financial adviser, Jill, from First Command Financial would be visiting me at my home to assist with some transitional budgeting details from my retirement changes.  She doesn't get into town that often so I have to be available. 
After she left I went to a VFW meeting.  State service officers came to announce that a new service officer from Danville will make a weekly visit to our area (setting up office at Post 755) every Wednesday starting in March.   Now to hunker down for another cold snap coming through.

My Week

On Wednesday, I left the house after to severe cold snap and cabin fever.  I went to JoAnn Fabrics for some trim and tried to price lenses for my historic glasses.   I stopped at a few thrift stores since Wednesday is senior discount day.  I picked up my artificial wreaths that were at Camp Butler left for Wreaths Across America along the entrance that I recycle for next year.  On Jan 20th the staff will discard any remaining Christmas decorations so I don't want to be presumptuous and take any other wreaths should the families want them back between now and then.  In the evening I went to an AmVets meeting.  I asked Sean to stop by to pick up his birthday present early since it was heavy.  I got him an Amplifier that he had picked out.  It is trimmed in snake skin.You would not believe how Bentley stared at the door when you left. He thought you'd come back in.  I popped a cork on a bottle of  Cherry-Honey wine.  I don't recommend it.

I have been watching "Reign" online at CW TV.

Did you ever have a dream that felt real?  I dreamt that I went to bed with braids and one was cut off in the morning so I had to even things up.  

Friday evening I went to see "Lone Survivor" with my sons since Alan was in town.  Just got home from seeing the movie.  I do recall a man in the theater telling someone else in the theater "turn off the cell phone and show a little respect".  I wasn't expecting the tribute but credits at that moment. I was numb looking at the tributes.  They are real to me now.  Thank you.  This was not Hollywood, not a documentary, not reality TV but reality plain and simple. God bless all involved even the villagers that provided a semi-safe haven for transition.  WELCOME HOME MARCUS.

Saturday I went to a commissioning ceremony at the Illinois War Memorials at Oakridge Cemetery.  Afterward there was pizza at the Brickhouse Pub.  Congratulations Lt Devon.

I felt naked without my cell phone so I came home.  Later I joined Sean for his birthday with friends to Fire and Ale in Sherman.  It was crowded and we took the hint that they needed the tables so we moved over to Franny's bar.  That too was crowded but we watched the rest of the game.  Sean and I just wanted to stay until the game ended but then Alan put in more money in the juke box and Alan, Doug, Christine and Joe ordered another bucket. The bar got a little roudy and a couple danced on the bar.  There was even a man in desert cammies that seemed to be a major in the rangers.  Since we were with veterans we joked at the stolen valor outfit. As it was after 11 PM and the bar was walking distance, I drove Sean home and we slithered into bed.

Sunday morning I went to Mass with the Catholic War Veterans at the cathedral.  It was the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus.  The children were called forward for "Share the Word" and the deacon asked if they remembered their baptism.  A few raised their hands.  Knowing that many of us adults may not remember because we were baptized as babies, the deacon asked if we could remember the date of our baptism. He ended the homily with his own date and I had to come home and look up my own.
I couldn't find mine but my husband was baptized on 2/15/1976, Sean on 1/30/1977, and Alan on 11/19/1978.

I started up the motorcycle and of course Buck started on the second attempt. Wheezer didn't start and will need a trickle attached which I didn't do.

Monday I went to Camp Butler to look up a lost member of our AmVets Post that did not show up on an internet search (without charging a fee).   So I created my own memorial here: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=123361632
I had a call from work about a batch job that was really not available to train on in December.  I believe I explained it over the phone but just in case.  Michael was using my kiosk-like desk with headphones and even though it was facing forward he didn't see or hear me come in.  I had to throw pennies at him.  Bob was on crutches and Dave could hardly talk from his cold.  He did not come to work on Tuesday so Dennis had to pick up the task and I came in to help him.

I watched The Awakening Land Part 1 thru part 3 on YouTube.  Sure beat daytime TV.

I stopped by Aldi on the way home.  I went in for almond milk and vanilla flavoring.  Also got yogurt, ham, fruit and fish.  I tried the coconut water since it has a lot of potassium but tastes gross.  I did like the goat cheese with tomatoes.  I also picked up some marked down Christmas chocolate truffles for the soldiers boxes (if it last that long and I don't get tempted).

As with most people after the New Year, I tried to get back into healthy eating.  After a fun birthday bash weekend, I had sauteed green pepper for breakfast and lentils and ham for dinner. 

If ever I can't ride my motorcycle I was thinking about getting an Elio.  This may be a few years down the road because I'm not an experimental buyer

Tuesday morning I noticed that the dark clouds were drifting in while walking the dogs.  It't not going to be as nice as Monday.  I heard that there was more snow in down than here.  I stopped by the office to show Dennis how to set up a new ebatch user.  Then I had lunch with the Womens Overseas Service League. 
At 3PM I went to "members only" preview of the costumes worn in the Lincoln movie over at Union Station across from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum.  This exhibit will be open to the public for 4 years starting on Friday.

They said I could take photos without flash but not of the original artifacts in the case.

 I stopped at the VFW and had chicken wings at the bar.  I didn't want a full, all you can eat, meal.  It was nice to see Trevor Baird there.  He is also from Chatham.  Then I went to meet with our Soldiers Aid Society at 6PM.  It was nearby the VFW anyway.  I introduced John whom I fixed up a gentleman's outfit so he could join.  If his membership gets approved, he'd be the third man in the Soldiers Aid Society which is mostly ladies.  However, the advantage is that after 2015, Springfield will go back to the way things were before Lincoln became president and there was no Civil War.  We started to discuss our summer events and calenders were being loaded

~ till next week

My Week

New Years eve I worked.  I shadowed those who would be doing my duties and had my keys and badge picked up. I Here is my farewell email to my coworkers:

I guess it would be rude of me not to say goodbye.  I wanted to just slip out quietly.  I have very little to say that wasn’t said during that little farewell you gave me.  For that I was grateful.

Keep an eye on Michael and tease him often

Don’t fight over the furniture.

I don’t believe I left owing anyone. (Dave and Kent, don’t start making stuff up now)

Rosemary Connolly

Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation

Division of Professional Regulation

I had forgotten that I had a bottle of champagne.  I opened it on New Years Eve.  I had an achy back partially brought on by the cold. 

New Years day I went to Mass for the Solemnity of Mary.  I got to meet Denny who is a member of our Catholic War Veterans.  He brought his dad to Mass who recently moved to the new senior housing here.   Later, about 5:30PM, Bentley just came in (through the doggie flap) and I was looking for him earlier. I hugged him and he was damp. The snow is starting.  According to friends on Facebook, the north was already having snow.  Well I cant really call this my first day of retirement since it is a holiday.  tomorrow retirement really sets in.  
I posted the following on Facebook concerned about our society.  I think the truth needs shared.

It's official: Pope has not abolished sin, says Vatican  We are all sinners. Forgiveness is not automatic either. It is ONLY though our confession of sins and forgiveness has been delegated to be forgiven by Jesus through his apostles. John 20:23 Matthew 16:19

We had 2.4 inches of snow by Thursday morning and still snowing lightly.  Since it was my first official day off on my retirement (New Years Day would have been a holiday anyway), I decided not to go out.

Friday I woke up and the temperature was -5.  Brrr!  I was going to go to a PGR Mission in Quincy but the road conditions didn't look too favorable and then there's that cold.  I knew I had to get out though because I had two packages to ship:  a box for my soldier and a box for my sister's birthday.  I shopped at the Salvation Army next to the post office and found a nice wool shawl for reenacting that was half off.   Also on the agenda was to have the "low tire" indicator light taken care of at Discount Tire.  However, it was 1PM and I was hungry.  I went to Applebees.  I tried their  Quesadilla burger and it was love at first bite .  In fact it made me forget about the tires when I left heading home so I had to turn around.  I told the desk that the tires hadn't been rotated since I got them.  He looked them up in his computer and said I had 30K on them and they should be rotated at 5K.  Opps.  But, they didn't show any imbalanced wear for it.  Then he told me it would be an hour and a half.  I thought I should put my head down but I was restless.  He suggested I go shopping to walk around.  That I did.  I went to Pets Mart, 5 Below and TJ Max.  I'm sure it's better to be out longer than shorter.  I did get some discounted boots at TJ Max which were being marked down on the spot.  People were flocking to the sale. When I got back to Discount Tires, my car was still on the lift so I sat down.  Lady next to me had been there 2 hours.  There was no charge to rotate my tires. 

I came home and started a fire in the fireplace.  I was so proud of myself for attaching the new baseboard diffuser vent in the bathroom that I picked up at Menards.

I had a nice hot bath in Calgon Ocean Breeze Bath Salts.  I feel relaxed and limp.  I got it at Big Lots for only $1.

Saturday the snow was supposed to start at 8PM, then backed to 2AM Sunday morning.  I got up at 6AM and nothing. 15 min later it started.   I went to church and had to brush off the snow.  I have a nice full fleece hood.  Taking the hoot off was like finding my inner self.  There were few at Mass because of the Saturday evening confirmation and those that went earlier to avoid the morning snow.  Funny thing, I turn off the volume on my cell phone for church and afterward turned it on.  2 min later I got a call from Sharon in Belleville to let me know that the Dixon Civil War Ball for Jan 25th will be postponed to Mar 29th.

Sunday's Gospel was about the Epiphany.  The pastor started by telling of a cave tour in Missouri where the tour guide decided to show the visitors what total darkness was like.  It was so dark that he wondered what life would be like had he never seen light again.  He said he put his and in front of him and couldn't see it.  Meanwhile, Michael, who sits in front of me and who happens to be blind, put his hand in front of him and shook his head.  Jackie nudged him with her elbow.  Point was that the Maggi had gone to King Herod first looking for the new King baby that was born and Herod put on a show of interest of paying false homage too.  The Majji were told, in a dream,  to continue to follow the true light and returned by another route.  Their path was changed by seeing the King.  There are many lights out there but only one to follow.

As for the snow, the pastor mentioned that there were many that showed up at the Saturday evening service partly because of Confirmation and some that didn't want to get out in the morning snow.  He said we were the brave few that had the heart to do so.  He knows it's the season to have a heart because his neighbor has Valentine decorations up already.

I just started the fireplace and put my electric blanket in the living room by the TV and laptop.

I made some home made hot chocolate with coco, vanilla, stevia, a little fiber, and half N half. Mixed hot half n have with ingredients in the blender and it was so good

Effingham (Effingham County) - 11.5"
Pana (Christian County) 8.6"
Riverton (Sangamon County) - 7.8"
Danville (Vermilion County - 7.5"
Mout Zion (Macon County - 7.9"
Jerome (Sangamon County) - 6.4"
Lincoln (Logan County) - 6.5"
Chatham (Sangamon County) - 6.0"


I haven't been out of the house since Mass on Sunday.  Stepped out for mail and wood for the fireplace. 


Well Illinois has finally passed concealed carry and I have an error trying to complete my application online.   I finally got through for a ticket number for the Conceal Carry error in my profile. I had mistook the example for a prompt for a response on mother's maiden name but it was asking to write your own question, Now I have 'g....' as my question and I'm supposed to figure out the question. It was really a field to write your own question and used a sample question.  It was really a faux pas on my part.  Apparently I was not the first according to the help desk.