Vickie Fleming Ashby

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Vickie Fleming Ashby replied to John Richeson's discussion Closing The Way Corps Site

"Thank you, John, for your devotion to the family and the love that we all shared together, back in the day. Your heart for people made the site into a wonderful reunion. I hope someone steps up to take it over, but even if not, you've changed us for…"

Vickie Fleming Ashby left a comment for Lynda Kazee Cook

"Hey, Roomie! Remember Olson Hall? (Was that the name of the building?) Quite a long list of memories has been made since that first year we were in residence, but I will never forget Lynda Kazee. It was precious to know you. Have fun finding…"

Vickie Fleming Ashby left a comment for Hayward H. Chappell Jr.

"Hello, Hayward! How are you this fine Late Summer? I must say that the photos of your beautiful family are endearing, and that I hope you are having a wonderful year. Love, Vickie"

Vickie Fleming Ashby commented on Peter R. Doliber's blog post Update from 2008

"John, thanks! It will all work out. I am about to go out into my just-rained-on (finally!) back yard and have a preliminary reunion toast in your honor. And Peter's. As for being a complex being, wow - if you weren't, after some of the - let's say…"

Vickie Fleming Ashby commented on Peter R. Doliber's blog post Update from 2008

"Peter, you're a sweetie. I remember you gently explaining to me, years ago, why you charged people at HQ for the wedding cakes you made for them. You felt badly about not donating everything, including your time. Your heart for the brides was…"

Vickie Fleming Ashby left a comment for Hayward H. Chappell Jr.

"Hayward:
Thank you very much for your kind words; I'm warmed by happy memories of you and our 9th Corps buddies. Where do you go to do your birding? Your pictures are wonderful - how long have you been sailing those boats? And who was graduating…"

Vickie Fleming Ashby commented on John Richeson's video

"Wow! Great song; thanks!"

Vickie Fleming Ashby commented on Lonnell Johnson's blog post My True Identity Kit

"Thank you. This was beautiful, and beautifully said."

Vickie Fleming Ashby left a comment for David Bailey

"Thanks for the shout out, David! It's almost Autumn; do you have all of your firewood stacked for winter? Just sayin'. Love, Vickie"

Vickie Fleming Ashby left a comment for Mary Windham Monk

"Love you, sweetie. Busy as a bee. Missed our time together this year."

Vickie Fleming Ashby replied to Steve Morrison's discussion Does anybody know where ________________ is?

"Crae is on Facebook."

Vickie Fleming Ashby commented on John Richeson's video

"Makes me think - Steve Tully was just grinning for the camera; it was a momentary thing, and he went on with his day, and probably forgot about it. He had no idea that he would so soon be gone, and that this one moment in his life would the moment…"

Vickie Fleming Ashby commented on John Richeson's video

"Thank you, John. We're lucky to be able to see their sweet faces again."

Vickie Fleming Ashby replied to Jack and Tina (Abrell) Wilson's discussion LEAD

"Wow. Great photos, happy kids. That is my very favorite chimney of all time. I can smell the campfires from here. Thanks."

Vickie Fleming Ashby left a comment for Ted Ferrell

"Happy Birthday, Ted! Many happy returns of the day! Love, Vickie"

Vickie Fleming Ashby left a comment for Peter R. Doliber

"Happy, happy birthday, Peter!
My love to Jean. I have also grown (word used deliberately) more liberal as the days and years have passed. Birthdays are interesting; I sincerely hope that yours is fantastic. Are you still baking cakes, at least for…"

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Gender

Female

Location

Norman, Oklahoma

Way Corp group(s) I was in

9th Corps

Where I live

Oklahoma

Married or Single

Single

Maiden Name

Fleming

About Me

Update:divorced, 63, retired, 4 huge rescue dogs, planning a garden, enjoying a peaceful life. (My husband’s midlife crisis and his 2/3-my-age home wrecker were a bit of a roadblock.) I’ll update the rest of the personal information eventually! I went to Burning Man alone, knowing absolutely nobody, at age 60, because I needed a jumpstart. I’ll go every year that I can, to enjoy fellowship with sweet people who want to leave the world better than they found it. Older Information: I'm 56 and am enjoying the ride! I'm a wife, mother, and university professor in Oklahoma. I'm fortunate enough to be married (for 17 years) to the absolute love of my life, and am sorry that more of you haven't met him (he was never in the ministry). Michael is a Chemistry professor / fisherman / artist / rock climber, and an extremely nice person. We both feel very fortunate to be involved with shaping young minds and careers. We try to stay healthy, but it gets pretty busy around here. Those of you who are triathletes and runners have my undying admiration. We have four children, the oldest two of whom are my stepchildren. They range from 14 to 27. We have two finished with college, one in high school, and one in middle school. I haven't been involved with TWI for over twenty years, and the first order of business was to finish college. I worked full-time in an office during the day, typing ad specialty orders, while going to school full-time at night. Those were busy days. I taught college composition for a year as a grad student, then three years of middle school English (because of those three years, nothing scares me any more), two years of high school English, and then adjuncted at The University of Oklahoma, teaching First-Year Composition, while my babies were small. When the kids were big enough, I began full-time teaching, and held a term faculty position at The University of Oklahoma for five years. I am now in my last-ever job, as tenure-track faculty at Oklahoma State University's Oklahoma City branch campus, which basically functions as an inner-city technical school and community college. I'm the lead instructor for Developmental Writing and Developmental Reading, and am delighted to join the dedicated educators at OSU-OKC; we are devoted to the mission of lifting people up.

My Interests

Not in this order: scouting (I was a Brownie leader, and can lead The Moose Song like nobody else!), politics (still have my champaigne cork from both of Obama's election nights), our children (all four of them!), my church (back to being a Methodist, but still not a Trinitarian), good books, loaded questions from the back of the classroom (because I asked so many when I sat there), and dating my husband.

Employment or Career

I teach Developmental Writing at the Oklahoma City campus of Oklahoma State University, and also coordinate the Developmental Writing and Developmental Reading programs. Prior to this, I taught First Year Composition at The University of Oklahoma (in Norman, Oklahoma) for eleven years. Before that, I taught middle school and high school English in Edmond, Oklahoma for five years.

Music I Like

Shameless Promotion: I like Broadcasting On All Frequencies; this is a jazz fusion band, and the bassist is my own sweet nephew. These guys are the real deal. You can find them on Youtube. Others: Leonard Cohen, Dave Mathews, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Elvis Costello, Adele, and too many others to sit here and type up the list. Because I have a twelve-year-old, I hear a lot of Taylor Swift. When I'm calling the shots, it's ecclectic: Dixie Chicks, Mozart, Dave Matthews, of COURSE Bob Dylan, various hymns, Dylan, Santana, anything by Aretha, the blues, jazz, The Sons of the Pioneers, Dropkick Murphys, and whatever my kids are singing in school. Oh - my favorite songs, and this is really corny, but I just don't care - are still things like How Great Thou Art and The Star Spangled Banner. I know; it's hopeless, and I'm okay with that. I also like the NPR desk concerts from my husband's Ipod. I haven't yet mastered the art of achieving "mother ears" while wearing earbuds, so I'm not in the habitual Ipod generation just yet. "Home" by "The Magnetic Zeroes" is my current favorite Little Desk Concert.

Books I Like

I've not had much time to read for fun lately, except short stuff. There are literally thousands of books here in our home, and in my office at work, and they're from a diverse crowd of authors. I pick one up for a drive-by whenever I'm headed for a chair, late at night. Sometimes that's just for a few minutes, and sometimes I'll look up, and it's 1:am, and I'm on the last chapter. Fiction, biographies, how-to's. I like action adventure. I recently purged the house of all of my romance and romantic adventure novels, having decided that they were "shallow." They're fun, though. My kids are exactly like I was, always with a book.

Television I like

Don't own a television. I spend my evenings talking with my husband over a small glass of wine and a nice snack. There is also a fair amount of transporting children to scouts, cross country practice and meets, tae kwon do, church choir, and such. I used to have a little 5-inch emergency T.V. set under the kitchen sink, back when Rumsfeld said that we needed duct tape and plastic sheeting. I thought we'd gotten rid of it sometime last year, but found it in the bottom of a closet last month. It's analog, so it's probably just a paperweight now.

Movies I like

Avatar is the most striking visual experience to hit movie theaters in years; some of the mercenary characters are a bit "stock," but other than that, it's a fantastic movie. Other favorites are: Up, State of Play, Crash, The International. 3:10 to Yuma, The Sound of Music, Casablanca, and Laura (from 1944). I tend to favor action adventure (Con Air, Armaggedon, The Professional), and also like taking the kids to see movies made from books they've read (Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter), when they're old enough. I like Bond, James Bond. Django Unchained, but I had to close my eyes at two spots (you know where they were). Flight.

Sports Teams I like

The Oklahoma Sooners. Any sport. I know, I know. I'm a 5th generation Texan. I cheer for Texas when they're not playing us. I've come to accept a certain amount of conflictedness during OU/Texas weekend every year. By the way, this year: we won! Now that I work for our main in-state rival, OSU, I have an additional team to support. My favorite Rugby team is the All Blacks, from Wellington, New Zealand. My favorite cross country track team is Norman High.

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Comments

John Krasowski September 29, 2008 at 6:18am

Thank you for remembering me, I will always have fond memories of the chats we had in residence. I trust you and your famly are well... John
Rick Felty September 1, 2008 at 2:22pm

Vickie,
I am so glad you are doing exactly what you are and loving it. It certainly sounds like you've gotten smart with your years! (Just kidding. You always were.)

Aren't kids a blast?

And you deserve such a great husband.

I look forward to more updates.
Rick Felty August 29, 2008 at 4:57pm

Van Wert? Upper Sandusky? Should I remember that? Are those places or what?

Just kidding. What a wild and fun time that was! I'll have to send you the pictures I have of that year. Dick Worthington. Greg Greutman. The Scotts. The Moores. Joyful Noise, Dr. Wierwille, and all that gang from the Corps Night in Van Wert. And, of course, Julianne!
Never did get any pictures of Chuck Searfoss (remember him?)

Incidentally, I am STILL at HQ doing lighting in the auditorium. I do run around with a local guy that works with me in the local youth baseball league who is from Van Wert. We never witnessed to him or his wife when we were there, but they remember Chuck. Funny how some stuff just keeps going!

Michele is doing great. We have quite a good time raising our brood - nearly-sixteen-year-old twins (Richie & Sara) and 13-year-old Lydia (who is close to being twins all by herself.)
We live in New Knoxville (the village itself) and are pretty active in the community. In fact, most anything in town that requires lots of organizational ability without much accolade is run by "outsiders" (people not native to NK.) The locals seem to only want high profile positions, primarily ones that include a stipend - school board, town council, etc. The truly volunteer jobs (Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, baseball board, soccer board) are all non-locals. But it's fun.

Richie is in the final stages of work on his Eagle Scout rank and will probably finish it by the end of summer. He also plays on the school soccer team and is in the high school band (trumpet and baritone.) He's the older twin. They will start 10th grade in a week or so.

Sara is the only 4.0 student in their class. (Richie finished last year at 3.92.) She plays volleyball for the school and also is in the band (bass clarinet and clarinet.) She (along with Lydia) is in the Girl Scout troop here (which Michele runs.) She will be taking a college Psychology class on line as part of her high school curriculum this year. It should be a good challenge for her and the credits count later, too.

Lydia is 13 but seems to be 30. We have to keep the reins rather tight on her or she'd be trying to take over everything! She plays club soccer (which I coach) and is also in the band (trombone.) And a 4.0 student. And taking college English 111 online this year in school. The school guidance counselor was not very happy about it, but she also knows their English program wouldn't be enough of a challenge for her. She'd drive the whole class crazy.
And us. This will keep her busy.

There. That's the last load of years in a capsule (that I not say "nutshell".)

Your turn. And THANKS for the shout out!
Bonnie Loyd August 7, 2008 at 11:03am

Gosh Vickie you look the same.
Mike Burke August 5, 2008 at 4:28am

Hi Vicki, Yes we are so blessed with Ethan. He is just a load of fun. He is not in school at the moment. There is an issue we are dealing with but I dont want to leave it on the open comments page. I dont know if this site has a private e-mail connection but when I figure it out I will fill you in on what's happening. It's been years since we have talked with much of the Way Corps. It's great to hear from people that we have missed so much. Its funny but in the past 6 month's we have reconnected with several old ministry friends.Anyway we will keep in touch an I will fill you in with the details on Ethan when I figure this site out. Bless your heart, Love, Mike & Connie
Mike Burke August 4, 2008 at 4:03am

Hi Vickie, God Bless You. Yes your WOW family was at our wedding, July 1977. We just celebrated our 31st anniversary. Great to hear from you. Connie and I are doing well. We have one son, Ethan he will be 6 in September. You look great, just the same as the pictures from our wedding. This is the first time using this site so I hope I'm getting this message to you. Hey do you hear from Eddie or Bonnie? God Bless, keep in touch, Love Mike and Connie
Janet Gause(Orlando) August 2, 2008 at 10:44am

God Bless you Vickie!

Just wondering if your husband's name is "Michael". I was a WOW with Michael Ashby from Virginia. Just curious!

Love, Janet
Frank Abissi August 2, 2008 at 6:52am

Hi Vickie: Thanks for the recall notice on Maxim/NE ropes. I have been sponsored by Sterling Ropes so the recall doesn't affect me, however it does affect some of my customers.
Frank Abissi June 6, 2008 at 9:07am

Hi Vickie: God bless you. I wanted to touch base and say hi. I am currently training 2 hours a day for a climb next May, Gee I wish there was a transmogrifying machine that would give me chiseled Abs and a perfect bone structure. But until someone invents one I have to do everything the old fashioned way. By the way, I do have a chiseled six pack and I keep them well insulated inside the case. Oh the things the last fifty years has done to me. Well, love you. Frank
Mary Coons May 24, 2008 at 6:19am

Dear Vickie--thanks. You look gorgeous. Mine is a fortuitous picture: I look OK and the dog is so adorable it really doesn't matter.
You wrote a romance? Good for you!
Your interests remind me so much of me! This site is like the old proverb about the mosquito in the nudist colony. I just don't know where to begin...
I understand your comment about thankfulness, although I don't have the same reason as you to be thankful. But I have learned, in these last few years, that I build my life with my words, and that thankfulness is crucial. Sometimes I feel such gratitude for my blessings, I can scarce contain myself.
What else have you been reading and watching? You will like Stranger Than Fiction, I feel certain. Tonight, I'm looking forward to a chick flick, The Wedding Date. Have you seen the Pride & Prejudice w/ Colin Firth?? OMG.
I notice myself rambling--will end now.
Love & blessings--
Mary

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