The Way They Were

We went to the basketball game last night. It was the first game of we’ve gone to this year. Quite different than when we were teaching and went to all the home games or when the kids were playing and we went to every game. It was snowing like crazy when we left home and usually we wouldn’t have ventured out. But last night was the big game honoring McKenzie and the 1989 team that won third place in the state that year. They were the first Clark County team to make it to state and it was a big deal then and last night proved it is still a big deal...at least to those of us who remember.

To honor the team, the game was played in the middle school gym. Which was nice for us old folks who remember games there. It’s much smaller than the present high school gym. But it’s also much louder and more exciting. The fans are right there on the court. The players sit on the first row of the bleachers and the fans are right behind them on the second row. They can hear what the fans are saying–both good and bad. I want to talk to some of the players and see what they thought. Whitney played her first three years in that gym and then played her senior year at the present gym. About midway through the season, she said that the fans just don’t care anymore. I told her we still care; the gym is just bigger and they are physically removed and it’s just different.

Anyway. Coach John McKenzie was back. He’s pretty much the same talking a mile a minute and joking one minute and serious the next. The biggest change is his hair, what he has left, is totally white.



He and Betty are divorced-five years ago- and he’s remarried. Betty, Emily, Johnny and Sarah were there too. Betty is in the KC area working an administrator in charge of special programs in a school there. Emily works in Overland Park, KS with a staffing company. Johnny and his wife and little girl live in Liberty, MO. He works in a bank. It was the first basketball game his 2 year old had ever been to! Wonder how many Johnny had been to by the time he was 2? Sarah and her husband and 4 year old daughter were there too. I can’t remember where they are. It was the first time the kids had been back since they left in 1990. Emily said Kahoka was much smaller than she remembered! It was great to see all of them and get caught up. We spent a lot of time together at each other’s houses while they were here.

Between the games they introduced the team, the coaches, Johnny the ball boy, the statistician, Chief Stomp ‘Em, and the administrators. Players there were Jason Church, Jason Harper, Todd Saxton, Travis Riney, Matt Nimmo, Roger Daniels, Bill Bryant, Daniel Boatman. Emmett St. Clair has died and was represented by his sister and mother. Megan Church Karr and Harper stood in for her dad. The team had a lot less hair over all. Todd Saxton looked just like he did 20 years ago. For some reason the cheerleaders weren’t represented.

In the commons were photos and newspaper articles and a video tape of the games and the medal ceremony. One of the comments heard was how short the uniforms were! This was back in the day when basketball uniforms were form fitting and short instead of baggy and knee length.

The game was in Springfield, MO. A major trip for us at the time. David and Jackie kept our kids and we stayed on Laura Derrick’s floor for the weekend. And that’s about all I remember from the event.

I had several former students come up and introduce their spouses and children during the evening. I had just told a new teacher, who is having a hard time this year, that she’s reaching more students than she thinks is this year. And that she may not find out about it this year or even next year. And last night proved that when I had a former student come up and tell me I had been her favorite teacher. And I’d had no idea then or any time since.

Clark County has had three teams go to state. The 1989 boys team, the 1995 girls team and the 2008 football team. And since high school sports and band are big deals at Clark County, I’m sure the girls will be honored in a few years too. So get ready Whitney.

The Quilt

Since I haven’t done anything on my quilt for a week, I thought I’d tell you the process I’m using to turn six pieces of material into a work of art. Or at least that’s how I see it.
I’ve wanted to make a quilt for years. I have bought books and magazines for years. I started hand piecing a wedding ring quilt when I was in my twenties that sets in a drawer. It’s made from scraps of clothing I’ve made over the years and has a lot of sentimental value, but may never be finished.

The pattern is called the broken star. It is a diamond pattern made from straight lines. So each of my material pieces has a curve in it. I have a paisley, a poke-a-dot, a random teardrop, a fleur de lis, a tulip with a curving stem, and a solid. All of the pieces are in shades of blue. The patchwork diamonds will be set together with white. I found out that picking material for a quilt is quite different from picking material for a dress or a decorating project. You have to look at the patterns and the colors and how they blend together.

The first step is to cut the material into 2 inch strips. You use a rotary cutter, which looks like a pizza cutter, and a quilting ruler. I’d never used a rotary cutter before, so it took some experimenting to find the right angle to hold it and the right pressure to use. But after cutting 4 yards of material into 2 inch strips I feel pretty confident now.

After you have cut the strips, you sew one of each strip together side by side. There are three sequences for placing which piece of material next to which piece. To me this has been the easiest step! Just zipping along sewing straight pieces of material together in straight lines.

The third step is to cut 64 sections of each set of the sewn together strips into two inch sections. You use the ruler again to cut them at a 45 degree angle. My ruler is 6 inches wide and 12 inches long with one inch lines marked down the length of it. It has a 45 degree angle marked on one end and a 60 degree angle on the other end. It’s made from clear plastic so you can see where it is on the material.

Once the sections are cut, they are sewn together making a diamond pattern. This step has been the hardest for me. The seams have to match perfectly! So that means a lot of matching and pinning, and I usually don’t pin the material together when I sew. The problem is the seams you are matching go at 45 degree angles opposite each other. I’m not for sure this makes sense, because it’s a geometry thing, and the only way I got through geometry was thanks to Harry Leopold. Just take my word for it, it’s hard. Plus the material stretches because it’s cut on the bias. And some pieces stretch more than others because of the material.

Once you have diamonds, they are sewn onto white squares. And this is as far as I’ve gotten. I’ve learned a lot and had a lot of fun. Most of the women in the class knew each other from other classes. It’s been good to meet them. While I’d never say we’ve become best friends, it’s been good to share in "the sisterhood." I can see how quilting bees would be therapeutic–your hands are busy but your mind is free to wander and so thoughts and feelings would be shared.
The plan is to hit the quilt hard this weekend and have a fourth of it done by Wednesday. I’ll let you know how it all works out.

(I apologize for the weird justification of this blog. But it's the first time I've done pictures and so I don't know what I'm doing. And not knowing how to do it on SLOW dial up is terrible. So I'm taking what I can get and giving it to you.)

The Flu

The flu bug has flown through us. I subbed on Wednesday and everyone I talked to felt crappy or was recovering from it. I came home and fell asleep and woke up thinking “I think I better get to the bathroom NOW.”

But it wasn’t as bad as some tales I’ve heard. My sister-in-law was struck at the mall and threw up for 10 minutes in Penney’s. No, not in the Penney’s restroom. In the actual store. She was mortified, but praises the employees who offered her help.

Why is it that when people are sick, they have to go into all the gory details about what their symptoms? I have one friend who also tries to top any detail I relate with one of her own. Like if I complain of chilling, she has been so cold she had to drink hot fluids, get out the heating pad, and lie under two blankets. I don’t need a blow by blow description of your illness. I just need a little sympathy. A little motherly stewing over me.

Monte came down with the stomach rumblings yesterday. So we spent the day feeling crappy and feeling sorry for ourselves.

But today is a new day and I feel fine. No chills, no headache, no stomach distress. The plan for today is to get out of my pajamas, take a shower, and wash the sheets. I even feel so good I may shave my legs and put on some makeup.