Random Thoughts From Marybeth

Still Waiting...

Ten weeks ago I ordered furniture from Cherry House, Bassett, and Haverty's. I am ready to move into the new house but while I have received the deliveries from Bassett and Haverty's, I am still waiting on Cherry House.

I went to the Cherry House (the site is down now, if you want to see it try the cached page) in LaGrange, KY and ordered an armoire for my daughter and all of the furniture for my bedroom plus some home office furniture. I was told that it would be delivered in six to eight weeks. After nine weeks I called and asked when it would be delivered and was told that there had been a "problem" with shipping but it would be available on the 18th and they would call me then. She also said that because of the delay, they would refund my delivery charge...this is a whole 1% refund!

When I hadn't heard from them by 1:30 today I called and my salesperson seemed surprised that I hadn't heard from them yet. She said she would check on it and call me right back. It's 2:00 now, apparently we have different definitions of "right back".

Update: I got a call just before 3:00 and was told that all but a couple of items were there and ready for delivery. The nightstand and my armoire are somewhere between Los Angeles and here but the transport company hasn't replied to the messages that Cherry House has left them asking when they will arrive. (The stuff left LA on the 14th.) Cherry House will be delivering what they have on Saturday so at least I'll have a bed when I move in. I'm still not very happy with all of this but I'm closer to being satisfied.

After Two Weeks of Band Camp

This evening the south Oldham High School marching band performed for family and friends.

Local Freezing

On Monday the temperature was in the 80s. This is what it's like today.

The red and green of the azalea bush with the snow would be a festive holiday decoration...if it were almost Christmas instead of Easter.

30 Seconds Done, 14:30 To Go

The news feature that WHAS TV did on women and shooting is now online. I added a link to the article/video in my original post.

Snow!

We may have gotten a whole inch of snow last night. At least that's what some of the TV news stations are reporting. It doesn't look even that deep to me. Regardless of the amount, our schools are closed today.

Much of the county is rural so it really doesn't take much to close the schools. I would have loved this as a child. Now, not so much.

Not Your Usual Ribbon Cutting

Open Range Paintball Arena and Gun Range hosted an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony on September 19. Attendees included members of the Louisville Chamber of Commerce, Oldham County Chamber of Commerce, politicians and their representatives, and other area business people.

No scissors needed here. Instead, the ribbon cutters had their choice of pistols.

City of Crestwood Mayor Dennis Diebel with Open Range owners Barry, and Cynthia Laws (from left to right behing the ribbon target) and others who helped with the ribbon "cutting".

Barry and Cynthia with Kentucky State Senator Ernie Harris (center).

I also took a few pictures of the paintball arena -

I didn't shoot this video, I found it on YouTube. It will give you a better idea of what it's like than my still photos do.

Aiming to Please

In response to those who don't think that shooting is "feminine" I want to start the Crestwood Ladies' Gun Club and Recipe Exchange.

I went back to the gun range today. My results were only slightly better than last time but I felt more at ease shooting. (Not that I was uncomfortable the first time, it's just that it was a new experience.) I used the same gun that I had for my class but will be going back later this week to try a different one.

And now the recipe:

Apple Swirl Bread

1 pkg. yeast
1 cup warm water
2 Tbl. sugar
2 Tbl. shortening
1 egg
3/4 tsp. salt
3 to 3 1/2 cups flour, divided

Apple filling:
2 cups finely chopped, peeled apple
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbl. firmly packed brown sugar
1 Tbl. water
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped almonds, toasted
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, shortening, egg, salt, and 1 1/2 cups flour. Beat at low speed until smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough.

Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place for one hour or until dough doubles in bulk.

Combine apple, brown sugar, water, and cinnamon in a saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat for five minutes. Remove cover and continue to cook for ten minutes or until all liquid evaporates. Stir in almonds and vanilla.

Punch dough down; turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead four or five times. Roll dough into a 15" x 7" rectangle. Spread apple filling over dough. Roll up jellyroll fashion, starting at a short side. Pinch seams and ends together. Place roll, seam side down, in a greased 9" x 5" loaf pan.

Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes or until doubled in bulk. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pan; cool on wire rack.

1 loaf

OpenRange Day

OpenRange, a gun range and paintball reball arena has finally opened (I've been waiting for this since January 2005) and I went for my first class yesterday. It was a gun safety class for women and I would highly recommend it for any woman that is interested in learning to shoot. (They also have similar classes for children.) We spent the first couple of hours learning about the parts of guns, how to handle them safely, and how to shoot. Then we went to the firing range to try out our new knowledge. I think I did pretty well for my very first time with a handgun. Here's my target:

If I'm ever threatened by a giant bowling pin, that bowling pin better beware!

I plan on returning and renting a few different types of guns to see what I like the best. Our class used S&W .38 revolvers and I want to compare those with a few others before I decide what I want to buy.

All Homework Ever Taught Me Was That I Have to do Boring Stuff "Just Because"

Two schools in our district have stopped giving "D" grades. (Neither is a school my children attend.) In these schools, anything below a "C" is a failing grade. The idea is to encourage the students to put in more effort and to make the classroom grades align with those given for the Kentucky's Commonwealth Accountability Testing System.

Having the same expectations for classwork as for the standardized tests is reasonable but as for making the students want to work harder, good luck with that. Class grades are usually based on a combination of classwork, homework, and tests. A student can do well on all the tests but still receive a low grade if he or she doesn't do enough of the homework. The theory is that homework reinforces what was taught in class but if a student gets an A on the tests without doing the homework, is homework really necessary or just busy work?

If they want the class grades to align with the standardized test scores, the class tests should be the major part of the grade. It seems silly to insist that a four grade system better matches the four grade test score if you are measuring different things.

A Hot Time In LaGrange

The Oldham County Day Festival was held in LaGrange a couple of weekends ago. We went to see my son's high school band.

They do not look very happy but to be fair the temperature was in the 90s and it couldn't have been pleasant to be marching in that heat.

One participant in the parade had it worse because of both the discomfort and the irony of being dressed as an ice cream cone on one of the hotest days of the summer.