1/14/16 It's not easy being mean

     First of all here is a pic of the "new" couch. Heidi has already started taking the cushions on the love seat apart so too late for a "before" picture there. Anyhow, comfy but worn is how I would describe them at this point. I've already fallen asleep on the couch once. 

      Today was the first quiz day in my classes and I had to practice being mean. "Is this a group quiz?" No. "Can I use my notes? No. "But you didn't cover the whole lesson last time" me "you wouldn't stop talking. The other section did finish" (we did finish before I gave the quiz out). It was hard but I'm getting to know my students. Some are working hard and coming prepared, some seem to expect a free ride. While some kids see this as "mean" it is also "mean" to give the same grade to the unprepared kids that the ones who worked hard got. I still have much to learn. Part of the chit chatting is because the kids aren't understanding me and they're hoping their neighbors can explain it better. Challenging since, so far what's been easy for me has not been for them. In addition some stuff that was hard for me they just covered and is now easy for them. It's hard to know how much time to spend on things. On the bright side I finally had kids take me up on the offer of help after school. At least I'm not terrifying all of them. Sigh. 

1/13/16 "New" Leather Couches

     On Monday our friends the Glenn's asked us if we would be interested in there old leather couch and love seat. We checked them out. They are well worn (Heidi likes the phrase "well loved"). There are some small tears and one 6 inch one on the love seat. Heidi decided that she was up to the task of restoring them so we are now in possession of new (to us) couches. They are very comfy. This morning Heidi and I went to the fabric store to buy patch material. With some effort we found the needed supplies. Heidi discovered that one of the two packages had been opened and the brown color had been stolen. She made sure to let the store workers know. After all that Heidi discovered at home that the glue in the kit was all dried out. Bummer, we'll have to try again another time. I'll try to remember to get a before and after picture. 

       The other big-ish thing that happened today was with my tech calling. One of the connectors on an important cable was broken during the last time it was used. Brother Charlie Cluff has both the tools and the talent to repair such things. He kindly met me at the stake center. He replaced the end but for a while we still had connection problems. It was Brother Cluff who eventually discovered the culprit was a bad RF to RCA adapter. We tossed the offending device and should now be more ready for the upcoming conferences. 

1/12/16 Meanest Teacher Ever

      That's how I felt telling my students that if they did the math right but forgot to label the units it was wrong. I felt mean until I put the grades in on the homework. Average grade was like 39 out of 40 points possible. In other words they still aced it. The labels were there too. Maybe the graders were "kind" and added them. Hopefully they remember to label on the quiz. I'll be grading that. My reason for being "mean" is that I want to be fair to those who did get it completely right. They deserve to get a better grade than those who were sloppy. Man that was hard to say to the kids. Still, I'm probably being too nice. I mainly want them to learn. We'll see in two days when they take the quiz what is sinking in. 

      On the fun side we played Murphy Ball. A neat game Papa taught me to help the kids review. The kids seemed to have a good time and maybe learned something. We'll try it again sometime. 

1/11/16 Peter and Joseph

    Peter laughing, eating a banana

    Joseph insisted I also take his picture. He has taken to saying "banana" loudly and for no other apparent reason than that he likes saying it. 

     Today was filled with some of the usual meetings. I worked with Jenn Jones on getting the tax arm of our company ready to go. 

    This evening I got to set up a projector for the Young Single Adult Stake Family Home Evening fireside. Time for bed. 

1/10/16 Peter Helps with the Dishes

    We had lasagna for dinner tonight which , of course, means that Peter needed a bath afterwards. Heidi knocked out two birds with one stone getting some dishes washed at the same time. 

      We got some new microphones to test out today during Sunday School. They worked well. There's a training coming up we'll need them for. 

     This afternoon Heidi had a Cub Committee meeting. Time for annual planning. Much to do there. 

     This evening we went over to the Adobe FHC to trouble shoot the printer problems. The old stake tech guy even came to help. It looks like it's time for a new printer. After 2 hours no progress.

      One fun story from today. Peter and several other children were visiting Heidi and I in our room as we attempted to plan the week. Peter was fussy. Just as Heidi was getting ready to pick him up Rebecca left the room. He turned and followed her out. That was a first, Peter picked Rebecca when he could have had Mom. It just goes to show how good she's been with him. It's good to have a loving family. 

1/9/16 Seven, Ate, Nine

     Nine day into the year and it is going by fast. This morning I got to do an Endowment session at the Temple. It was nice to take some time to be in such a peaceful place. I spent most of the rest of the day preparing to teach math next week. It is one thing reminding myself how to do Trigonometry. It is quite another learning it well enough to make it make sense to a bunch of people who've never seen it before.

Rebecca continues her incredible reading pace. She earned another medal for reading at least one million words during one quarter. With all the books she read over Christmas break she is well on her way for the 3rd Quarter.

Sarah finished her first crochet project today, this beautiful hat. She plans to give it to a friend. We are proud of her for learning new skills and for being so kind. Nice work Sarah!

1/8/16 Emissions Check for Bigfoot

     This morning Papa and I headed to Bigfoot at about 9 AM. It was time to take care of the annual emissions check. The first big question was whether it would start after being in storage for so long. It did not. Fortunately, Heavenly Father blessed us. The RV that was parked immediately to the right of Bigfoot was moved since last time. That allowed Papa to park alongside with the Saturn and jump it. We believe we were being looked after. After that we had to turn the engine off and on several times and it worked each time. This was good since we left the Saturn at the storage place. There would have been trouble had we needed to jump it again. Bigfoot passed its tests with flying colors. When we got back Papa test ran the generator. It's had trouble in the past if not run regularly. It had to think about it but it too came online. 

        The best part of the trip for me today was getting to visit with my Dad about teaching. He shared a fun game with me called Murphy ball. It sounds like a good way to help the kids prepare for the next test. He told me a great story about a "half witted parrot". You should ask him to tell you, it's pretty great. The gist of the story is be respectful of the students. We had a fun chat. I look forward to asking more questions in the future.