Car Update

After having three people try to help me jump poor Jimmy, Chris had to drive out to my school to look at what was wrong. It turns out it was just the battery--I felt so bad that I dragged him all the way out there just for that. Even worse when I found out he had been rear ended on his way out! Will the car problems ever end?

I'm done with cars! I'll just bike everywhere!

In my not-so-smart about cars lingo, here are the many car problems we have had within the last month or so:

• Something was wrong with poor Jimmy costing $500
• Some plastic thing hanging down scraping against the road on the Camry
  
• Tire blowout on the Camry
  
• Had to replace all four tires on the Camry--another couple hundred dollars
  
• What we thought was just the plastic thing continuing to scrape against the road turns out to be something else which prevented us from taking the Camry to Montana
• Poor Jimmy won't start even after trying to jump start it, and the long-term Spanish sub guy says it's probably more serious than the battery.
  

Grrr...

Madame Taylor est chouette!

My kids got kick of me trying on these glasses. They all pulled out their camera phones for a quick photo shoot. I should have put on my mean face for the pose (Quoi?! Mme Taylor est mechante? C'est pas possible!)

One Step Closer

We made a quick trip up to Dillon, Montana Sunday night till Monday to meet with the franchise. We spent the day meeting with representatives from all the departments and learning their roles in helping bakery owners. It all ended with a big round-table interview with everyone we had met throughout the day. It wasn't supposed to be scary, but it was kind of intimidating knowing that our future was contingent on this meeting. We just got a call from the franchise this afternoon saying that we've been approved. So we're one step closer to owning our own bakery!

My Drive to Work

Speaking of scary driving experiences, I have one of my own to tell. Last Saturday we noticed a weird noise coming from the bottom of our car. I don't know the technical terms, but some sort of protective piece had come unscrewed and was hanging down dragging on the street. So Chris just unscrewed the rest of it and put it in the trunk. Also, the front driver-side tire had been getting a little low, so last Friday I filled it up with some more air. No problems there.

Well, this morning I was driving down the freeway and I noticed a funny sound. I pulled off of the freeway to check my tires, but all four tires seemed to be just fine. I figured it was probably just the sound of not having that protective piece on the bottom any more, so I kept driving. The roads were pretty slick this morning, but as I continued south, they improved, so I increased my speed thinking it was safe. But then I started to swerve and loose control, so I slowed down and got out of the fast lane. I swerved again (luckily no cars were close to me) and just thought all the other cars passing me handled the snow better. I figured it was the snowy roads. I continued driving and took my exit, all the while my car was still making weird noises. I pulled over, and realized that I had blown-out my tire. Though of all the tires, I would have thought that it would have been my front driver-side tire since it had been losing air. Luckily I was close enough to work that my mentor, the Spanish teacher, was able to come pick me up.

Well now I know what it feels like to have a tire blowout, so I'll know what to do better next time. I just hope I haven't hurt the car too much.

Quick Trip to Texas

The weekend so many of us decided to skip town, we decided (or perhaps fate decided) that we too ought to leave as well. Chris' grandpa passed away after years of sickness. In fact, I had never met Grandpa Brannock in a well condition in the 3 1/2 years I had known him. So thanks to Delta Skymiles we were able to fly down to the Dallas area for the funeral.

Both our flights coming and going were during Sam's nap time, so we were worried that he'd be cranky. On the way there, he did a little bit of flirting with the young girls the row ahead of us, cried and screamed for about five minutes, and then slept the rest of the way there. Coming home was a little better: he only cried and screamed for a couple minutes and then fell asleep.

It was great to see all of Chris' relatives, especially the many aunts, uncles, cousins, and both sets of grandparents who live down there who we don't get to see too often. The funeral was nice, though the weather was very dreary. Grandpa Brannock's body was buried under an oak tree on some family-owned property in the country--a very peaceful resting place.

While there, we were also able to celebrate Chris' birthday. Man is he old or what! We celebrated with some good ol' fashioned southern cooking (which isn't actually something I like too much. It's a good thing we're probably moving up north!).

The 18 month visit

Here are the most recent stats:

Weight: 24 lbs 8 oz (35th percentile)
Length: 31 in (20th percentile)
Head circumference: 48.5 in (75th percentile)

They had to poke his toe for a hemoglobin test (I think). First toe they poked didn't give enough blood, so they poked a second toe, and the bleeding wouldn't stop! The girl kept saying things like, "I'm so confused! I don't know why it's bleeding so much! I have never had anyone bleed like that before for this kind of test!" That didn't make me feel so great, but eventually his toe stopped bleeding and he's fine now. Anyway, overall his health is great and is continuing to catch up from being so scrawny his first year of life.

ASL signs Sam uses

1. more
2. please
3. thank you
4. milk
5. drink
6. all gone/done
7. food
8. hot
   

Words Sam can say at 18 months

1. I wan my nana (I want my banana)
2. I wan up--bphew (I want up--with some spitting after)
3. I wan dat (I want that)
4. dada
5. mama
6. no
7. peek-a-boo
8. doggan (doggy)
9. diaper
10. bible
11. scriptures
12. amen
13. two
14. all gone
15. ooh, ohh, ah, ah (monkey sounds)
16. pig sounds
17. hi
18. hello
19. bye
20. on
21. up
22. pleeh (please)
23. cheese
24. Anna
25. Peter
26. Hyruh (Hyrum)
27. head
28. juice
29. hot
30. all duh (all done)
31. shoes
32. hat
33. brr
34. uh-oh
35. baby
36. fish
    

Update on Everett

Here is an update on our potential purchase of the Everett, Washington Great Harvest. For weeks, we went back and forth deciding first of all if we wanted to take this deal. It has been such an emotional roller coaster trying to figure if we could make this thing work. Some days we had accepted that it probably wouldn't be possible and tried to move on planning Chris' Spring semester. And then within the same day, something would change, and we would be back to trying to do everything to allow this to happen. Basically it's been stressful and exhausting.

The most current update is that we have decided that we do want to buy the bakery. From the very beginning, we've felt like this is what our family needs. We decided to drop Chris' classes at the U with the faith that this is the direction we're supposed to go in. It's a great deal, we'll probably never see a deal this good again, and this is something Chris is really excited about--and for those of you who know how hard it's been for Chris to find something he's really passionate about to choose as a career, this is really a big thing. Anyway, so we think we've got the financial stuff all squared away, we had a phone interview with the franchise yesterday, and we are planning a mandatory trip up to Dillon, Montana for the final interviews at the franchise within the next week or two. After that, the franchise will let us know if we can go ahead with the transfer and buy the bakery.

So that's where we're at for now. I hope it all works out. I just want Chris to enjoy his work. We'll keep you all posted.

Leaving my kids

I was absent from school for the first time yesterday for a training class at the district offices (it was about incorporating writing in all content areas--very interesting and useful stuff!). My goal is to not miss too many days of teaching; for one, I get a big bonus at the end of the year if I don't use too many sick days, and two, it's a pain to prepare lesson plans that substitutes who don't necessarily know anything about French can follow. So anyway, I left my kids for the first time in the hands of a substitute teacher, and it felt similar to the first time we left Sam with a babysitter. I was nervous they wouldn't be good for the sub and cause trouble. Today upon my return, I read from the sub that my students had behaved well, and my students said they were happy I was back. When I told them I would have to miss another day in two weeks (for the second and last day of training on the same topic), one of my girls said, "Ah, Madame Taylor, we're going to miss you!" I sure like my job! What fun kids!

Still a possibility

As many of you know, Chris flew up to Washington a few weeks ago to check out a Great Harvest that is for sale. It's a pretty amazing deal as far as the price of the bakery, so we're looking into this pretty seriously. The current owners have offered to finance it under some generous terms. Now we're just looking at the numbers and seeing if we could pay it off and make a living up there. So for now, it is still a possibility, but we haven't made a final decision yet. We may need to make another trip up there. We do need to know pretty soon, however, so we know whether or not to keep Chris registered for his classes. At this moment, I'm not sure which decision we'll make. If only I had that crystal ball...

Royal India

Last night we decided to splurge a little since it has been awhile since we've gone out to eat. We went to one of our favorite restaurants in Bountiful: Royal India. We've introduced several family members to it--some have been more open to it than others. If you haven't yet eaten there, you have to try it! My favorite dish is the Chicken Saag, and Chris' is the Chicken Coconut Kurma. Yummm...I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

Here comes Santa Claus

He wasn't scared--just tired.

La Caille

Yesterday I went to La Caille restaurant with my 9th grade French students along with a couple foods and teen living classes. My students are pretty well-behaved, however, I still had this fear that they would get there and tear the place down. We did have a few problems, but overall I think the kids had a good experience.

Here are a few of the unfortunate things that happened. Apparently the teacher in charge of planning everything didn't give the restaurant an accurate count of people planning on coming, so they didn't have enough room for us. They had to squeeze people on already full tables and squish in one more table in the corner. The room was already kind of small, and the acoustics caused a lot of echoing, so we sounded a lot louder than we really were. They waitresses had to keep the door shut so that other customers wouldn't be disturbed. We had a table of students who had to be sent back to the bus during the meal because they played a practical joke on the neighboring table while they were in the restroom (they poured salt in everyone's glasses) and lied to us teachers about. And to top it all off, the women's restroom toilets overflowed (I hope hope hope that wasn't from my kids! There was another school there too!).

On the good side, the kids looked so nice! Some of the girls went way out and wore very fancy dresses. They had a lot of fun taking pictures outside of La Caille with all the peacocks and pretty landscaping. They had the opportunity to try escargot (I passed this time since I've already had it before). The food was great and the ambiance was perfect! We're planning on going again next spring; I just hope our students' behavior won't prevent us from returning!

Halloween

Here are a few pictures describing this year's Halloween.
We went to an old high school friend's Halloween party. They provided the costumes for everyone. Chris was Rambo Bunny, and I was...well, I'm not quite sure...I had a camouflage witch hat, a dragon tail (which you obviously can't see), and a couple scarves tied in random places. We got to do each other's makeup. Chris got a little excited about painting my face black!

Sam was a pioneer for Halloween. We bought this hat in Nauvoo back in May--now it's almost too small for his 85th percentile head!

Trick or Treat!

Happy Anniversary!

While I was on my mission, I made a list of characteristics that I needed in a future eternal companion based on my interactions and relationships with guys I dated and mission companions. Here is what I came up with:

• Returned missionary
• Strong testimony
• Temple worthy
• Optimistic
• Appreciates good music
• Doesn't get angry easily
• Listens when I talk
• Loves to laugh--good sense of humor
• Knows how to comfort me when I'm sad
• Expresses clearly his feelings
• Hard worker
• Confident
• Enjoys children
• Allows me to be myself

Three years ago tomorrow I was sealed in the temple for time and all eternity to my best friend--one who had every single characteristic and quality from my list. I snatched up the perfect guy for me who has made me so happy! Happy anniversary!

What I like about teaching junior high students

• They still enjoy coloring pictures.
• They still think cartoons are funny; they actually enjoy watching Beauty and the Beast in French and those silly Telefrancais videos I make them watch.
  
• They enjoy singing silly songs.
• They think it's funny when I act silly and goofy while telling them stories or acting out vocabulary.
• Many of them still want to please their teachers.
• They are beginning to discover who they are. I make sure to be so careful of what I say to my students because even the smallest things can really change their attitude about themselves and their abilities.
  
• They have a lot of crazy drama in their lives: I love to read their notes to friends that they leave on my floor. A lot of them use a lot of curse words, and my favorite part is that sometimes they don't even make sense in the context! I love that "going out" with someone doesn't really mean much and it changes weekly.
  
• They are dealing with a lot of changes in their lives. Puberty can be rough! And to add to that, many are dealing with their parents divorcing and new step-parents. I love the fact that when they enter my classroom, they can feel safe and secure and just enjoy learning.
  
• I love that because French is an elective, it isn't critical that they leave my class speaking French fluently(however, I do hope that they leave my class knowing how to say some things in French). My goal for them is that they leave my classroom with a broader understanding of the world around them and with a curiosity to explore and experience!
• I love that I can share my passion, give a smile and some extra attention to these fun kids whose lives are still so impressionable.
  

Oh, the joys of junior high!

Here are a few examples of what I experience everyday at work:

A boy from my advisory class: "Mrs. Taylor, what does a rectangle look like? Is it the one that looks like a box?"

Me: "Okay class, on section C you can write your answers in English."
A 9th grade girl: "So we have to write it all in French?"
A few members of the class and me: (frustrated sigh)

An 8th grade boy from French I:"Madame Taylor, can I move seats. The boy I sit next to smells bad."

The 15 Month Visit

Sam went to his 15 month visit today. Here are his stats:

Weight: 22 lbs (18th percentile)
Length: 30 1/4 inches (25th percentile)
Head Circumference: 48 1/4 cm (85th percentile)

We are so excited that he is no longer under the 5th percentile! Woot! Go Sam!