If you are a long-time reader of the Old School, you may recall the Damsel has mentioned the family dog, calling him “The Dog-Shaped Horse” because he’s so big. He’s been the most exasperating, loving, crazy, huge, wonderful pet this family’s ever had.

He reigned over our large backyard by galloping happily around it, hoping, always hoping, there’d be something to fetch. He endured the invasion of his kingdom by a bunch of idjit chickens with about as much grace as you could ask for. The Damsel won’t say he loved them, but he tolerated them.

Last night Hyrum (for that’s his name) died. We think he ate something bad for him, possibly a bunch of raw potatoes from our garden. A lot of raw potatoes would not be a good thing.

We’re devastated, but we’ll always remember how much happiness he brought us. We named him Hyrum when he was just a bitty thing, because to us, that name means friendship and loyalty. He grew into that name with perfection. If a dog can be an example to a human, then he was one for us. Especially of that trait dogs seem to excel at: unconditional love.

We’ll miss you, Hyrum.

Re: Absences

Dear Damsel,

It’s come to our attention that your attendance at the Old School has been spotty of late. The administration is concerned. As our head instructor, we’re sure you realize you need to set a proper example for your students. Continued absences of this magnititude cannot continue. If you feel you won’t be able to improve your attendance record, please contact us.

In light of your long-standing position with us, we want to help rather than punish. Can you let us know the nature of the problem causing your absence?

Best,

Old School Administration

Reply: The Damsel in Dis Dress

Re: Absences
Dear Administrator,

The Damsel would like to apologize for her poor attendance. You asked for a reason–well, there was this:

and then this happened:

The Damsel was pretty much blindsided.

And then from out of nowhere, this happened:

The Damsel was rendered virtually helpless.

She apologizes again and promises to improve her attendance.

Thank you for you understanding,

The Damsel in Dis Dress, headmistress, The New Old School

**snicker**

Have a great evening! Enjoy the season.

This isn’t a typical Old School post, because there’s nothing here about doing things the old fashioned way. Not today.

Instead:

Today is the Damsel’s five year anniversary of being cancer free. This is a big, fat, ginormous landmark for her and she’s just gotta post it here.

Five years ago this day was a blur of panic and pain. Typical for the Damsel and her tendency to be an overachiever, she had to get an especially nasty type of cancer. (although there are no nice kinds)

Feelings are all over the place about this. Lots of memories, some bad, some scary, some the Damsel would like to forget forever. But mostly, there’s feelings of thanksgiving. The Damsel is well again. Tomorrow the sprogs and grandsprogs will gather and there will be so, so much to be thankful for.

And thanks to you, dear readers, for helping make the days pass so pleasantly.

must. finish. stupid. book.

She’ll be back at the chalkboard next week.

Aww! Look! A strong, brave, and handsome knight indeed. Here he sits waiting for one of their many performances to begin.

It will probably also help to know that he is the tallest guy in the choir. That means for effective knight-spotting, you’ll do best to check out the back row. He gets moved around now and then, but he hangs out on the back row most of the time.

(The Damsel also likes to brag that her Knight has the lowest voice in the choir. This has not been officially established but she welcomes all challenges and has no fear of losing any such dispute.)

Here’s a link to info on where and when you can watch the choir on TV or Internet. Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Anyone observing the tracks of her sliding windows will quickly see her obsession isn’t deep cleaning. *ahem.

Today she got some news she’s been waiting for, for ever so long. Because she’s a tease, the Damsel asks you to click over to her author website to read about it.

Inklings

Not another of her own, oh no. The Damsel is done propagating for now. But you simply must click over to see Perfectly Lazy. The Damsel is beside herself with excitement about this new blog. She’s known it was coming for quite some time, and frankly, it was nearly impossible to keep from blabbing about it. But The Perfectly Lazy One has flipped the on switch, so it’s time, people. It’s time.

Here’s Cheryl, the proud new mother. Maybe you met her at the Casual Bloggers Conference. She’s neato. So go see. Get her button. Leave her a housewarming comment. Get to know her. Then come back and tell the Damsel what you think. This is her wish.

She apologizes that despite the fact she lugged around a huge camera bag, she took No. Pictures. Whatsoever. She cannot explain this phenomenon.

The Damsel learned a lot about how to make the Old School better. She learned stuff about search engine optimization and commenting and html and WordPress. She heard the term “niche blogging” and reaffirmed to herself that from the very start, the Old School has been intended to be thus.

But as she sat listening to keynote speaker CJane, she felt a little sad inside that the how-to nature of this blog has prevented the posts from being as heart-felt as they might be. Yes, perhaps the Old School is missing a sophisticated banner or fancy coding, but it’s missing something more–a truer connection with its “students.”

The Damsel loves the Old School’s niche of preserving old skills and teaching self reliance. She’s passionate about it. But she looks forward to connecting to you, dear students, with more heart and spirit. Thanks for coming to class.

Sprog #3 got married. It happened! No one died!

First we had this:

Which became this:

Weddings are full of busyness which sadly kept the Damsel away from her duties as the Old Schoolmarm. But the wedding was full of sweet moments as well, so it was a good thing. A very good thing. And life is slowly getting back to normal at the Cottage by the Mountains. A real post is coming soon.

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