8th Graders and the Nursing Home

I LOVE my class. And lets be real, my students do, too. I get to make up my own curriculum and teach whatever I think is appropriate for young teenagers to know to be good people and responsible adults and citizens. Our first unit followed Sean Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. This second unit that we're on right now is about qualities of good leaders. We've spent a lot of time on bullying, cyber-bullying, being smart and safe online, manners and etiquette, picking a leader and writing an acrostic poem about their qualities as a good leader, and most recently, we have been talking about serving others. Our school baseball field backs up to the local Nursing Home, so it was a perfect opportunity for a convenient service trip. So I got in contact with their activities coordinator a couple weeks ago and set up a couple visits.

So on Wednesday (our first day back after 4 snow days) I took my 3rd hour class over and we hung Christmas stockings on the doors of the residents. The activities coordinator was so excited to have us and gave each of my students a hug and thanked them for coming. The administrator even came over and thanked us for coming. She told the kids that lots of people don't come because they're scared to be around the old people or worried they'll get sick, but that stuff is not true.

On Friday I was able to take my 2nd and 7th hours. 2nd hour has a lot of kids in it, so one of the kids played the piano for the residents to enjoy with a couple of other students. One of them has a grandmother living there, so he (yes, HE) and some of his friends painted her nails in his room. That was really sweet. He's a good boy that I've talked about before. (All the girls were talking about him on the way back. "Did you see him with his grandma? He is so sweet. I can't believe he painted her nails. Whoever gets to be his girlfriend is so lucky. Etc..." And then the rest of 2nd hour just continued to hang stockings. We came to one room, though, and the activities coordinator came running over, "Oh no, no, not that door." And then she mouthed to me, "Jehovah's Witness."

7th hour had the best experience though. We were supposed to help with Bingo at that time, but an older gentleman had showed up unannounced and offered to play the guitar and sing for them, so that took the place of Bingo. So the activities lady said, "If you're willing, I have an idea that I think would mean a lot to our residents. Some of them don't have any family or get very many visitors. Would you like to visit them and just talk a little bit?" So of course we said yes, but I was a little worried about how my students would react. Would they be awkward? Would they even talk? But man, they stepped up and I was so impressed. They stuck together in groups of 2 or 3 and visited lots of people. I went around and checked on each group and chimed in when I needed to, but they did so great and the residents just loved it. This one man, for example, had them pull a blanket out of a christmas bag with pictures of his great-grandkids on it and he just went on and on about it and my kids were able to ask questions and be interested and supportive. The activities coordinator got a little teary-eyed watching that because she said she visits him everyday and he's never shared that with her.

When we were leaving the class to head over there, I said, "Leave all your stuff, we'll be back." A couple of them were holding little clay things, so I asked what they were and apparently they had made fossils earlier that day in Science. So I let them bring them to the nursing home and they turned out to be good conversation starters. As we were leaving, the kids were so excited and sharing stories of different experiences they'd had and asking if we could come back. I think next semester I'd like to bring my classes once a month - it'd be enjoyable and special for the residents, appreciated by the staff, a growing and unique service experience for my students, and one day a month that I don't have to prepare a lesson. I was supposed to be at the high school pep rally during 7th hour on Friday, but I skipped it to take my class to the nursing home and it was the right decision.

"Anything Can Happen on a Snow Day!"

Growing up in Florida, we never got snow days. We did have a couple of Hurricane days, but thats not the same. I remember watching the movie Snow Day and I've always remembered that line, "It's a snow day, {whatever that girls brothers name was}! Anything can happen on a snow day!" We lived in Provo for 6 years and we NEVER ONCE got a snow day. Sure, freshman year you designate your own unofficial snow days, but we never got excused from school.

So Thursday morning I got the call saying that school was cancelled. I thought it was funny because there was no snow on the ground, but just hours later we got a good amount. Now, school wouldn't have been cancelled in Utah or any other winter weather prepared place. However, here in Oklahoma where snow is a rarity, they don't have the resources to handle it. So I have had snow days last Thursday, Friday, Monday, and today (Tuesday). So a 6 day weekend! I haven't felt too well and we haven't been able to leave the house because the roads are so icy, so I've just enjoyed sleeping in and watching Christmas movies and cuddling with Jake.

Blaine got snow days last Thursday and Friday, but he had to go back to school on Monday because it's finals week. He has 2 more to go and then he is home free! Him and a couple of his friends pulled an all-nighter (literally) at the library last night, so he is pooped. But he only has one on Thursday and one on Friday.

Jakey loves the snow. He puts his noes in it and plows through. He doesn't know whether to chase it or eat it or what. I feel bad because I don't want to stay outside with him when its 20 degrees, but I guess he doesn't get cold. I tried to upload a cute video of him but it didn't work.

And one day we were driving and there was a back up because these 3 cars couldn't get up this small icy hill (2 of which were 2-wheel drive trucks-- one of Blaine's pet peeves). So my sweet husband pulls over and goes and pushes the cars up the hill and around the corner and as soon as he started pushing, other people jumped out of their cars and helped. And I'm thinking, "why did they not think of this themselves or move sooner?" But I was proud of my strong Blainey.

Oh and for Blaine's birthday, my family gave him a couple gift cards to Cheesecake Factory, so we decided to try a couple new flavors. He got the white chocolate raspberry truffle and I got the s'mores.

Should've Gone to Hawaii...

The details are going to get me all worked up again, but here is the outline:

We went to the airport on Saturday night an hour and a half early since we were bringing our puppy Jake. When we got there, there was a couple people waiting at the Frontier desk and NO employees. Finally an employee came out and when I told her we were there to check in, she looked at me like I was an idiot and simply said, "The plane's gone. It left at 5:45." I WAS FUMING!!!
I guess what happened was that Frontier moved up the departure time by an hour and a half, but because we didn't buy our ticket from them directly, they chose not to notify us. So long story short, we had to pay extra money to fly out on the next available flight on Monday night. The lady was a jerk and  was neither helpful nor sympathetic. And what really got to me was had she been out at the desk doing her job when we arrived, she could have called down to the plane and we could've made it. We had to call my friend to come all the way back and pick us up, and right before we left, Jake went to the bathroom on the floor in front of Frontier :)

Then Monday we made our flight and had a layover in Denver. Jake was pretty good on the plane, just whimpered a little at take off, but we were able to let him out and hold him during the flight. In Denver we had lots of people coming up to us to pet Jake--including a woman and her toddler who recognized Blaine from when he was a missionary in her ward. We also met this sweet family with 3 little kids who LOVED Jake and Jake loved them. There was a cute 3 year old little girl that he just followed around.

On our flight from Denver to Spokane, someone was in our seats, so we just had to settle for the exit row :) That was nice because we didn't have to pay the extra fee but we got to enjoy the extra leg space. We arrived in Spokane at 10:30 Pacific time, which is 11:30 Montana time, and 12:30 Oklahoma time. We were already super tired and sick of traveling, but because Blaine's parents had already driven to Spokane and back on Saturday when we were SUPPOSED to arrive, we had to rent a car and make the 3 hour trip ourselves... Well, Blaine did the work. I tried to stay awake but was in and out for most of the trip. Jake was a trooper though--he couldn't have been better.

Blaine was able to go hunting only twice this year, but Wednesday, November 27th, was his 27th birthday! We had cake and ice cream and some family over to the house. I told everyone the deal was that we had to share 27 memories of Blaine or else they couldn't eat :) I think he enjoyed hearing those. His cousin Travis has a tiny dog that he brought over so we also enjoyed watching Jake chase her.

Because we won't be with them for Christmas this year, we also exchanged presents early. Blaine got a new pair of binoculars and I got the light blue Kitchenaid Mixer I've been wanting!!! I can't wait till I can bring it home in December. It's so beautiful, though. My favorite present from his Grandma was a Christmas bread pan. As you can tell, lots of fun and festive cooking to be done. When we opened presents and played games at his Grandma's, we also watched an old home video from their family reunion in the early 90s. It was cute to see Blaine that young and hear his little voice when he was "6-and-a-half." <3

Saturday morning, we woke up at 2:30 IN THE MORNING and drove 3 hours back to Spokane for our 6:30AM flight. We flew from Spokane to Denver and were SOOO tired that Blaine and I just fell asleep as soon as we got on the plane and assumed Jake was asleep, too. As we were getting ready to land, though, the lady behind us said, "Excuse me, is this your dog?" Apparently Jake had gotten out of his little carrier and had been sleeping at her feet THE WHOLE TIME!

Anyways, at the Denver airport we take Jake into the family restroom to go to the bathroom just like we did on the way over, but this time he wouldn't go. We've been really trying to potty train him and I think he was just trying to be good. Anyways, I leave Blaine in the bathroom to try and get Jake to go and I go to the gate to see how much longer we have until final boarding, to give Jake as much time as possible to avoid an accident on the plane. I get to the gate and see no plane, so I ask the woman if the plane was coming in late and I missed the announcement or something since there was still 20 minutes to take off. Again, the employee didn't care and talked to me like I was an idiot and told me the plane already left. They said that they tried to page us, but I guess there must not be speakers in the family restroom. Once again, Frontier washed their hands of us and took zero responsibility for anything. They kept trying to hide behind the excuse of "we always close the doors 15 minutes prior to departure."

Well FIRST of all, the doors aren't closed, the plane is GONE. And there was still 20 MINUTES prior to take off. AND just that morning, we were still sitting on the airplane at 6:30AM (our take-off time) while the last people boarded the plane. I have been a frequent flyer my whole life, so I know perfectly well how things work.

So we go to the Frontier customer service desk and the same old story. They did nothing wrong and we have to come up with MORE money to get us home. Their next available flight was 4 days later. Since we couldn't wait that long, they said we could buy same-day tickets on another airline for $300+ each. So we chose the least expensive and most inconvenient option: rent a car and drive 10.5 hours. And once again, to show our displeasure, Jake finally couldn't hold his bladder any longer and relieved himself in front of the Frontier desk. I have written a letter to Frontier, but based on the customer service I've received this trip, I doubt they will do anything. But after all the money and time and headaches and tiredness and more money... we should've just gone to Hawaii...

Our only highlights (besides Thanksgiving food, of course) were Blaine's birthday and seeing Catching Fire. And here is also a virtual tour of some of Libby's highlights. While Blaine was hunting one day, I took Jake out to show him the sights :) Oh whatever, here's just a bunch of random pictures:

 airport bathroom floor

he jumped out of our cart on the way to get our first rental car

Blaine's Grandma and Jake

Blaine's sexy senior portraits

where we spent our Libby honeymoon night

where I worked as a hostess and cashier the summer that we lived there

seeing Catching Fire

Blaine's alma mater. We've lifting lots of weights and played lots of basketball and even ran lots of sprints here... and I may or may not have gone to the bathroom in the bushes outside the track

the Forest Service where Blaine worked for a couple summers and loved it

a park with a 1.5 mile walking path that me and his mom would circle twice everyday when we lived there

Jake loved the thick grass... and eating deer pellets

old fashioned Sears... but really. its up and running

movie theater

Blaine and his best friend after hunting on his birthday

took the simple route on his birthday cake this year. he's more of an ice cream boy anyways

going through our 27 memories

more 27 memories and birthday festivities

look at Jake in the background just watching

sweet baby Jake loves sleeping on his back

asleep under the table during Thanksgiving Dinner

I didn't feel well so I laid down in the shower and my sweet Jakey put his head right by mine outside the shower and took a nap

beginning our drive from Denver to OKC

LOOK AT THIS CUTE LITTLE BABY BOY! (and don't look at anything else)