Esquire Coffinberry's Great-Grand-Niece

Once upon a time, Memorial Day was called "Decoration Day", because that was the day that the town turned out to decorate the graves of those who had given their lives for our freedom (and while there, decorating the graves of other family members, too). So, that's why we were up in Scottsbluff yesterday, because that's the nearest cemetery with kinfolk, including Aunt Jeanie, whose life was shortened by her service as an Army Nurse in VietNam. But cemeteries aren't all that exciting for the younger set, so we usually combine the visit with something fun, like climbing (racing) up the Monument. But it was rainy and wet and little visibility, so there wasn't much point to a three-mile hike. Instead, we went Geo-Caching . We found " The Legend of Chinook ," " The Olive Pit ," and " Reflections #4 ." Lots of rain, but still fun.

I want to first say "THANKS!" to all who have, do, and surely yet will offer advice to the rising crop of 0Ls. One of the topics of recent discussion has been whether the summer before 1L should be used to study or to mentally relax. Some say do, a little. Some say, whatever you do DON'T. I imagine that which to choose would vary from individual to individual; a little gunnerishness, a little fear, a little stress, a little curiosity, a little exhaustion all play into that decision. And it's great to give and receive advice, as long as nobody minds if anybody listens or not. True confession time - I'm a gunner at heart - not that I intend to be, that is. When I watch Harry Potter movies I just so identify with Hermione. Books are cool. Ideas are cool. Histories are cool. Like water on parched earth. I mean, I even spent the first couple months here (more than a dozen years ago) reading histories of Longmont, learning all about how come Gay Street jig-jags throug...

As Michelle noted, the fat packet of CU information included a 'suggested reading list', that supposedly somebody (somebodies?) had requested. So, I logged on to the Longmont Public Library's online catalog, to see which ones I could read for free (or at least, for the cost of the overdue fines I seem to always incur). A total of three books were in the collection, and two were already checked out. So when I went to the library to return the biography Thomas More, there was but Jurismania to accompany The Cat who Went Bananas in my book bag (along with the new The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers , which I actually plunked down cash for at Borders) that rides along in the van for those inevitable moments of hurry-up-and-wait that happen at karate, music lessons, concerts, etc. Now Bananas was not one of the best-written stories that Lillian Jackson Braun has produced, but it still was a page-turner... I'm never good at putting down a story until its over. Done with that...

Nights like tonight are my favorite kind, especially after days like today. The choir sang beautifully at church this morning (even my son, the one singing in the bass section, was impressed with our bunch of amateurs - and he is hard to impress, being as accustomed as he is to high-quality singing in the HS audition choir). The Sunday afternoon nap was lovely. The cool of the basement for a few family games - some playing dominoes, others chess or billiards; eggs and bacon for supper. A lovely walk, a little bit of catch, a glorious sunset and brilliant moonrise as the children play in the front lawn and us oldfolk rock on the front porch. Nice respite, before plunging into the last week of school (with its attendant "Mom! Help! I need... you to proofread my term paper... make me a sack lunch... drive me to the concert... find the sunscreen for the field trip... help me make a thank you gift for my teacher... you get the picture.).

Which is the name of the thread at the HP site, describing what my beloved laptop has been doing. Unfortunately, the above-named thread has been going on, non-stop, since 2002. Or in other words, an awful lot of folks with HP Pavilion laptops have this problem, not just me. Mine has had it before - we've gone through a whole mother-board already, but this time, it looks like I'm just gonna have to go ahead and get another laptop. Which I wasn't planning to do until later in the summer. Arrggh. Oddly enough, CU was for once timely, and I got the thick packet in the mail this week that included the information about computing requirements. Between those requirements (what's with the 'approved' wLAN list; will other 802.11 a,b/g cards not work? My live-in tech support rolls his eyes at that...) and the fact that I just don't want to lug a huge weight around, the replacement candidates are Ex-Pen-Sive. Front-runner right now, the Fujitsu S7010d Lifebook, (14.1...

Engel v. Vitale was decided some time before I was born, declaring that requiring students to participate in the recitation of a non-denominational prayer at a government-owned public school violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. I personally agree with the basic principle of that decision; it is wrong to require someone to pray in a way that would violate their conscience. As I grew, I observed that the understanding of this Supreme Court decision varied considerably, as people struggled with what it meant in terms of personal and local practice. I remember folks bewailing the 'removal of God' from our Schools. This attitude was something I didn't understand - nobody took God out of our school, because those of us who wanted Him (or Her or It or Them) brought Him/Her/It/Them with us anyway. Others insisted that Engel demanded that there be no evidence of God or religion at all in school. This seemed just as strange to me - religion was just as integra...

1957. That's the year you had to have been born before (can I say it any more awkwardly?) to avoid the University of Colorado requirement to prove having had the MMR shot twice. The helpful little letter telling me this recommends contacting parents, high schools, etc., to get the records. Well, bummer. I'm born after that. But not by much. And no, my mom doesn't have my shot records. So I contacted my three high schools - and amazingly the school district I started in still had 'some' records. So thank you very much, Metropolitan School District of Perry Township; because of you, I now know that I got a smallpox shot in 1965. I had the DPT and polio vaccines in 1965 and again in 1970. I had measles when I was a toddler, and mumps when I was 5, but I was given a shot for rubella in 1970. My kindergarten vision was 20/30, and I weighed a wispy 46 lbs. And intelligence testing at kindergarten entrance was 99+ percentile (hmm). But no information on the second round o...

Tomorrow, the 5th grade is going on a field trip to the Denver Museum of Science and Nature... and somehow, I was volunteered to share the fun. Tonight, I'll prepare my expeditionary equipment : Peanut Butter and (homemade) jelly sandwiches on brown bread, carrot sticks and chocolate cake, in a paper sack; and my cell phone with the teacher's phone number programmed in. When we arrive, my son wants to go Elf Hunting. Yes, there are elves at the Denver Museum. I've only spotted one, so far. He is riding the back of a dinosaur in "Prehistoric Journey". My son tells me there are several more, and he's convinced several classmates to join him in finding them all. There's also a Yoda meditating by a mountain stream and the Millenium Falcon launching into space. I saw those last time, too, along with the angel floating in the clouds. They're in the Imax Theater waiting line room, hidden in the mural. But I didn't see Chewbacca. I'll have to have my ...

Mwitterone: Have fun at Disneyland! But once you arrive in Colorado, be sure to take your little one to the library, and start the summer reading program. The prize for all who read enough books (in this case, that mama and daddy read to her) is a free ticket to Lakeside ( http://www.lakesideamusementpark.com ). Most people know of Six Flags Elitch Gardens in downtown Denver (and yes, I confess we have season passes there... buy early and they're only $45/person!). But the secret gem is really Lakeside, especially on a sultry summer Tuesday evening. Cruise down I-70 west of the mousetrap and you'll notice this enormous wooden roller-coaster beside a lake; and electric lights like it was 1910. The place is still owned by the original owners, and Miss Rhoda is seen walking among the visitors of an evening, making sure all is well in her little magical kingdom. Run down, oh, definitely yes, but still great fun. We go every year with our free library passes... one time, when my old...

Should the law bring a person onto unequal grounds based on the disability of their parents? As a parent who coached a 15-year-old through his permit stage last year, and expecting to begin all over again in August (yes, coinciding with the start of 1L), I certainly understand the value of the rule - child puts in many many hours of practice driving with responsible adult (licensed instructor or parent/guardian, over age 21) supervising in the front passenger seat. Trust me. The role of responsible adult can be hair-raising. It's not the kid's driving, per se, but the biting the tongue that is so difficult (I still remember the first trip down to the Zoo with son in the driver's seat... I-25 to I-76 to I-270 to I-70 is not fun for me, and I had to calmly and quietly direct him???) So, naturally, the only persons who are willing to put out the inconvenience, time, and lost years of life in stress are the parents of these children. And this law is certainly better than how i...

I just saw Buffs' post expressing surprise and some concern that OLs have been following their blogs... and I just want to send a heartfelt "Thanks for letting me eavesdrop on the experience!" Accurate information... the Good the Bad and the Ugly... about Law School is so hard to find, and I think this is even more so true of CU. Your blogs have helped fill the gap (or at least the hunger for info of any kind). So please, don't worry about slamming the school occasionally; it helps me to know that sometimes, I'll feel that same way, and I'll not be alone - and I'll still love the school, as y'all do. Your blogs make me excited with anticipation to experience it myself. Even Professor Hill. I wish y'all godspeed on your exams (and to the extent they're already done and gone, a good mood on the prof when he/she scores it)!

Well, anyway I've conclusively determined I'm my own 1oth cousin, and have good evidence my mom and dad were 9th cousins. I'm also my own 9th cousin once removed, and my eighth twice removed. I've not yet proven that I'm related to my husband yet, but he is my sister-in-law's distant cousin (I think it was 6th or 7th cousins). And rooting around in my first cousin's website, I see he's already proven a Mayflower link on our common line. It was inevitable, given that we seem to be related to all the 17th century inhabitants of Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Anyway, everyone is related anyway. So play nice!

Spare moments this weekend (when I wasn't playing with the kids, going out with my husband, teaching music at church, editing a son's term paper, or cleaning house, that is) have been spent in search of the parents of one Keziah Edson, who in 1801 married Samuel W. Frost in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts. I'm already descended from Samuel Edson, deacon in Bridgewater Massachusetts in the mid 17th century, about 4 or 5 times on my dad's side. Keziah's on my mom's side, though. She is very likely also descended from Deacon Samuel, but the question is "how?" Ancestry.com turned up a highly useful "Edson Family History and Genealogy"; that with several trampings through the 1790 and 1800 censuses, and the extant christening records available online, have yielded a high probability that she is a granddaughter of Abijah Edson and his wife Susanna Snow. Perhaps through their son James Edson. I'd sure like to conjure up some less-circumstant...

Nearly May, and there's 4 inches of snow on the ground. The radio says it's messed up in Boulder. Bummer for those taking finals today. Hopefully it will melt off by evening - we've got a reservation at the Broker for tonight, with two other couples, friends of ours, whose 19th anniversaries are, like ours, in April. Two more couples we know are likewise celebrating their 19ths this month, but couldn't make it out to dinner.

There’s a quote that’s been rattling through my head for a month now… “Teach…, not so plain that they can just understand, but you must teach… so plainly that no one can misunderstand .” (Harold B. Lee) What an enormous task. The other night, my daughter was reading aloud to me Amelia Bedelia . For those who don’t remember this elementary school staple, the plot line of every book (and there are several), is that Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have an unusual housekeeper: Amelia Bedelia. And every instruction they give to her is misunderstood – all dictionary correct, mind you, but still not what Mrs. Rogers intended. For example, Mrs. Rogers’ instructions are: “Draw the drapes when the sun comes in.” So Amelia Bedelia takes out pad and pencil, and draws a picture of the drapes. Or Mrs. Rogers’ says “Change the towels in the green bathroom.” And Amelia Bedelia cuts the towels up, to make them different. But always in the end Amelia Bedelia’s fantastic (and non-verbally expressed) cooking skills...

I was perusing the online version of the latest Clark Memorandum, and found this quote attributed to Sir Thomas More: "Lord, grant that I may be able in argument, accurate in analysis, strict in study, candid with clients, and honest with adversaries. Sit with me at my desk and listen with me to my client's plaints, read with me in my library, and stand beside me in court, so that today I shall not, in order to win a point, lose my soul." And another quote, from the same article, this time attributed to Dorothy L. Sayers: The church's approach to an intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours, and to come to church on Sundays. WHat the church should be telling him is this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables. Church by all means, and decent forms of amusement, certainly -- but what use is al lthat if in the very center of his life and occupa...

For some reason, my littlest one likes to watch "Fear Factor". Not me. No way. Not my cup of tea. They lost me when they had the ladies fishing plums out of a tub of water with their faces... no big deal, like bobbing for apples, only there were scores of garden snakes likewise swimming in the tub. Nope. Unh-huh. No thanks. Anyhow, I've lurked a long while, like some snot-nosed kid sister, at the various blogs authored by Colorado Law students. Jaded is nearly done now. Buffslaw (that always made me think about a side dish... but I digress) Moop Poin and BolderLaw and the now awol CULaw, and the fascinating (!) recent addition, Legally Intoxicated - it's like listening to older siblings moan about high school over the phone, and wonder what school will be like when I get there. Not that I would know, though... I was the oldest kid in my family. (And we didn't have a phone when I was in hs, but that's neither here nor there.) So Mwitterone and I read the blogs,...

Actually, I don't know what possesses me to think I need a blog, too. But they just seem so... cool. And a handy place to vent those things that get on the mind and under the skin. So why Coffinberry? Way back in the long-time-ago, there was a pioneering family in Ohio. This was so long ago that Johnny Appleseed, the real-life-person, was a regular visitor to their home. One of the sons in this family was Andrew Coffinberry, who grew up to be the first County Prosecutor in Lucas County, Ohio. Known not only for his legal prowess but also his sartorial detail, he was long remembered as "not only an excellent lawyer, an honest, honorable man, but a great hearted, genial gentleman as well." (Lucas County History: http://www.co.lucas.oh.us/Prosecutor/ACCoffinberry.asp ). So, have I ever lived in Lucas County, Ohio? No. Did I ever go to an elementary school named for Andrew Coffinberry? No. Do I admire the band from the Cleveland area that has adopted this name. No, I've n...

We sat on the waiting chairs at Fantastic Sam's, while her older brother got a desperately needed haircut before going on tour with his choir, and talked about names for the kitten we'd seen at the shelter. The temporary name the shelter gave him was "Professor". But that name wouldn't make much sense once he was separated from his litter-mates "Bubbles," "Blossom," and "Buttercup." And besides,I didn't want to accidentally confuse anyone at Law School by talking about the antics of my Cat and them thinking I was describing Paul Campos. She began by thinking about the kitty: "He's black and white, like Tom. Or we could call him Jerry." "Or Sylvester," I suggested. She looked at me as if to say, Who's Sylvester? Of course, I remembered, Cartoon Network features Hanna-Barbera, not Warner Brothers. "He has white paws. How about Mittens,or Puss-in-boots?" "Mo-o-om!" she laughed, as if I ...