The Rusty Remains

They opened the car time capsule in Tulsa yesterday.

Her's an update before it was unveiled:

And, the final unveiling:


Here's a CNN article about it, too.

All told, I kninda wish Id been there!

I have ALWAYS been cool

My mom and I have bee playing with our genealogy stuff this week, using Geni, a way-cool, free genealogy site. I've been scanning an uploading lots of family photos as well, which is how I happened to come across this pic of me at age two (which means this was taken in late 1976 or early 1977). if you look carefully, you can just make out that Winnie the Pooh is all over the dress.

Tulsa, 50 Years later

This New York Times article is about a time capsule buried 50 years ago in Tulsa, OK. As you may or may not know, I grew up there, so when they open it up on Friday, I'll be looking forward to seeing how the things in it have held up.

Scary, but true

Some of my classes had rough drafts of their final papers due last week. ONe student didn't submit hers, so I sent her a note reminding her it was due (something I am required to do, but really loathe). So, she wrote back with a list of "updated labor law poster kits" contents. Her paper is not on labor law.

What is this, Student? I asked.

I don't know, she replied.

WTF? Who submits something when they don't even know what it is?

And she wonders why she isn't passing my class.

My pirate name

My pirate name is:

Captain Jenny Cash

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

The pool is open!

We had Dale, jane, & Amanda here for Memorial Day weekend, and the kids got to open the neighborhood pool of the year. Luckily, ethan and Amanda are evenly matched in he water - neither is Greg Louganis or the Thorpedo, but they are both happy enough to paddle around and splash each other in the 3 ft area without feeling like they have to have an adult to grab onto at all times.

I think I know how my remaining NC afternoons will be spent once school is out...

Let's go shopping!

My mom has a new shop up on Cafe Press - it's got her watercolors and a few pencil and colored pencil pieces up for sale. You can get cards, postcards, prints, posters, T-shirts, mugs, aprons, tiles, you name it, it's there. So, what are you waiting for? Visit her shop HERE!

But what about MY needs?

My friend, Gillian, turned me onto the needs meme in her blog, so now I must do it. All you do it go to Google and type your first name followed by "needs." Hi-jinx ensue! Here's what I've learned about myself this morning:

Nanci needs to calm the hell down. - Probably true...

Nanci needs to remember that we only get to be in college once. And thank God for that! ;-)

Nanci needs to score her rental skis before we leave. Nanci has had some experience skiing, and has chosen to stick with the sure thing rather than brave a new sport.

Nanci needs to find guys that have more honor. Nah, Mitch has plenty :-)

Nanci needs to send out minutes from special meeting of August 23rd for review by Directors and approval at next board meeting. Oh God, one more thing I've forgotten to do!

Nanci needs to come home and find out what is going on with Iran. So long as the Shrub is around, i shudder to find out what may be going on there soon.

Nanci needs us! Duh.

Whoever said Nanci needs a stronger guitarist should hear this guy play. No, really, Edge is just fine!

Nanci needs some help with pre-made scrapbook pages.

And last, but certainly not least: Nanci needs our prayers for financial blessing. So, get those checks, PayPal transfers, etc in the mail ASAP, OK?

Drop dead gorgeous

What's the point of having kids if you can't brag about them now and then? Ethan's spring school pics just came back and I am SO pleased with them. He's a knockout (esp. in the closeup head shot), if I do say so myself :-) Now onder he's the Ladies Man (apols to Tim Meadows) of his kindergarten class!

From scarf to shining sea

The need to have a dress code at schools is a national issue for what I had found is a very important issue in the different school of our nation, from coats to coast.

Yes, it's grading time again! Oy.

Where I've been

It's been forever since I've blogged - gads, I hate to look and see just how long, but I've been busy!

I've got a full load of classes (6), and only a few people managing to pass, so students are taking up loads of time. The "main" house is on the market, and we are almost ready to list the old one. God I'll be happy when this move is over.

In the past few days, though, I've been consumed with getting all my genealogy stuff entered on a way cool new site Mitch turned me onto, Geni. I've got 10 generations of my mom's family entered so far, and we are still all from freaking North America. This is maddening! The crest you see at the left is the Mx family shield (Mx referring to Mullennix, Molyneaux, Mullinax, etc), Here's some interesting info on the family's possible origins in the US.:

The Mullinax line has been traced back to three brothers, however if this is true then the migration of the father of the three brothers was very unusual. The eldest, Ammannuel was born in upcountry South Carolina at a time (1730) when that was still Indian country. It was 25 years before the area was first settled by Europeans (the area was ceded to the "whites" by the 1755 treaty and large scale settlement of Scotch-Irish and Germans began pouring into the piedmont from the Shenandoah valley between 1765 & 1770). Then, the middle child John was born “about” 1737 in Tidewater Virginia, and the youngest Matthew was born circa 1755 in Dublin, Ireland. While the age difference is unusual (albeit possible), what is particularly questionable was the direction of travel. From Indian country, SC to Coastal Virginia and then to Ireland? If it was the other way around it would be believable but this direction of travel makes me very suspicious.

It has been claimed that all 50-odd variations of the surname (collectively referred to as Mx) descend from branch's of the Molyneux noble family of Britain, and thus ultimately from Robert le Diable de Moulins, suspected bastard of the Spanish noble-descended priest Peter Abelard and a French nun Heloise (though other version's say Peter was from Normandy or Brittany and that the child of the affair was named Astrolabe). Robert's sons were captain's in William the Conqueror's army and the many descendants of the family hold titles in Lancastershire in England, in Ireland, and elsewhere, including the main branch which were Earls of Sefton until 1972. While there were many branches of this family in Ireland at the right time, and while many of this family did have to flee Britain at various times for various reasons (mostly choosing the losing side in wars or under prosecution for their Catholic faith) (--This sounds very much like the family members I have grown up hearing about - we never pick the winning sides of wars!) I have not seen this connection proven so I have very little faith in this story. Many a time I have seen similar claims disproved. Nonetheless, I include it here as a bit of interesting trivia.

(Taken from this site.)

How cool would it be to be descended from Heloise and Abelard? I will admit, I squealed like a little girl when I read that for the first time! :-)

I'm in Newsweek!

I've been published in Newsweek! LOL You can see my contribution here, in the Perspectives column.

Those of you wanting an autographed copy should send your copy of the mag, along with a SASE and $5 to...

Oh, the irony

Yesterday, I received a note from a student telling me she'd be unable to complete her (past-due) assignment for a while, as her computer had been confiscated by her state's Board of Probations and Paroles. Today, she has posted a very nice, albeit self-righteous, comment to our discussion of plagiarism, in which she says it all comes down to honesty. It's dishonest to plagiarize, and, because she is a very honest person, she never has to worry about plagiarism. The next thing you know, she'll tell us what a "good Christian" she is. Christians are fine, but we have to watch out for the "good" ones - it seems they are always the ones I catch doing something dishonest.

B'way bound

I can't believe it, but I am going to have to see Spider-Man when it opens on Broadway. Most likely, i'll even need to be there opening night, when the librettist will presumably be in da house.

What class are you?

In light of William and Kate's split and the snide comments about Mrs Meddleton ;-), The London Telegraph has devised this handy quiz to determine what class we all are. I came out in the third group, "You probably have a coat of arms." Not quite the Duke of Devonshire, but certainly not one of Onslow's lot, either. Whew!

Finally! A "good" phone tree

Check this out - The Don Imus Helpline (Courtesy of NPR). This made the carpool line at Ethan's school a fun place to be today.

Where to go...

Thanks to Gillian for this insightful travel info.

And for my next vacation...

I'm going to Dickens World!

Elizabethan Gardens, Manteo, NC

One of our favorite parts of the OBX trip was visiting The Elizabethan Gardens, at the site of the Lost Colony, in Manteo. Ethan, especially, enjoyed it, as he loves flowers and birds. I'm including a picture here of him with his activity sheet - a garden search game the ladies in the gift shop gave him. For someone visiting so early in the season, he managed to find quite a lot of the animals and plants on his "to find" list. We also enjoyed looking at the Elizabethan architecture (the ceiling photo is to die for - someday I must have a room with this ceiling!) and the views of Roanoke Sound from the gardens. The photo of the massive oak tree is one of my favorites - it is said that this very tree was living when the colonists first landed on Roanoke Island in 1588.

Illuminating times

I've finally got tie to finish blogging about our OBX trip over Spring Break. (I had 2 new classes start this week, intro to IT, which took up more time than i'd expected).

So, without further adieu, I give you, lighthouses of the NC Outer Banks!

First up, Bodie Island Lighthouse (pronounced "body"), on the Roanoke Sound side, north end of Hatteras Island. This was our first stop on the Grand Tour of Lighthouses.
























































































Next, the granddaddy of all NC lights, the Cape Hatteras Light - the quintessential American lighthouse (I think).













What is most impressive to me about the Cape Light is that it is now standing 2900 feet southwest of its original location (after being moved, intact, in 1999). This picture is taken from the site of the original 1903 foundation, looking towards its new home.


























Next, came the Ocracoke Lighthouse, on Ocracoke Island, one of the most remote areas I've been to in NC - as evidenced by the 13-mile drive from the ferry terminal to the first building on the island,























and the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, in Corolla.






















Last but not least, we visited the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse, overlooking the Roanoke Sound, in Manteo.