Everyone's A Little Bit Racist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbud8rLejLM

I'm not one to endorse the musical Avenue Q, but I've always thought this song was pretty funny, and it reminds me of of my 3rd graders at Edith Bowen.  Let me explain...

Every week in class we have a "Secret Agent of the Week".  They fill out a paper that is full of questions about them.  Then on Friday they read each question and the students get a chance to guess what the student of the week wrote for each answer.  Now, Edith Bowen isn't really....ethnically diverse.  The only diversity we have is one little boy who is of Chinese decent. (Trying to be PC here)  Anyway, this is how things went when it was his turn to be student of the week.

Question 1.
Student of the week: My favorite food is....
Student A: Sushi!
Student of the week: No...
Student B: Tiny spicy chicken!
Student of the week: No...pizza!!

Question 2:
Student of the week: If I could go anywhere on my secret mission I would go to...
Student C: Hong Kong!
Student of the week: No...
Student D: Japan!
Student of the week: No...Lego Land!

Question 3:
Student of the week: If I could learn more about one subject in school it would be...
Student E: Chinese!
Student of the week: Nope...
Student F: Oragami!
Student of the week: No...science!

Anyway, that is just a sample of the responses we got.  Such a funny conversation.  Guess it's true...everyone's a little bit racist!

Am I still alive?

Am I still alive?  You tell me.  I feel like student teaching is the most exhausting thing I have ever done in my life.  I have a great sleep schedule and eat a healthy breakfast every morning...and yet I am falling asleep walking by 9 am.  Exhausting.

So far things are going well.  I really like my teacher, and we get along well.  However, I had a rough week last week.  My teacher has been leaving a lot and putting me in charge, which is great, except that I rarely get any notice before she does this.  It's usually goes something like this "Oh, I have a doctor's appointment in 20 minutes so I'm going to have you teach math" or "I have a workshop to go to and didn't get a sub, so you'll be in charge after lunch".  Exciting right?  Anyone who knows me knows I love being in charge.  The problem is, she expects me to know exactly what to teach.  Like with math, she said "We'll be doing a post-test on rounding."  Great.  I spent all of recess looking for the post-test, couldn't find it and had to make up an impromptu math lesson.  It is definitely teaching me to think on my feet.  Everything goes well until my teacher comes back and realizes that I didn't do things exactly how she had in mind and I get chewed out for it.  *sigh*  I do have a good laugh every time beginning ELED students come in to observe my seasoned teacher and I'm scrambling around trying to teach something worthwhile on two minutes notice.

Did I mention I love my students?  They are a constant reminder of why I have chosen the career path I have.  11 more weeks and I am DONE!  :)

Here's a cute pic of my cute husband and my cute dogs.

Peaches

One of the most fun activities of my summer was canning peaches with my sister, Ester.  We spent an afternoon driving around Brigham looking for the best peaches.  We finally picked some out and bought half a bushel each.  We spent the rest of the day canning (and eating) the beauties!  We ended up with 8 jars each (we canned some for Vanessa as well, so 24 total).  We were proud of ourselves for completing the task without any help from our mom!

UFOMT 2012

Another great season at UFOMT has come and gone.  It is amazing how quickly the summer goes when I am having so much fun performing with the company.  This year I was in the ensemble for My Fair Lady, Kiss Me Kate, Girl Crazy, and Faust.  I didn't really take many pictures, but I did snap a few. An orchestra member also took a few photos during a dress rehearsal for us.

I played a flower seller and a maid in My Fair Lady

I was in the chorus for Kiss Me Kate.  I got to wear a super pretty long, red wig and a not-so-pretty 1930's style black wig.

I didn't take any pictures in my Faust costume.  Unfortunately my Girl Crazy costume/wig was documented.  It is definitely the ugliest I have ever looked in my whole life (I hope!)  I took a picture of the wig on the form to show how much better it looked there than on my head!

Overall it was a great summer, with great friends!

We Didn't Start the Fire!

Summer was so busy, I didn't have a chance to update on really anything.  Hopefully I can catch up a little bit before school starts next Monday!  Anyway, the most exciting/terrible thing that happened this summer was the fire that "hit" our house.  We had only been in our house two months when our neighbor across the street shot off a firework that "malfunctioned" and shot sideways into our bush.  (I have a feeling it just tipped over before it shot off).  It went straight into a huge juniper bush that we have (had) right up against the front of the house.  It immediately went up in flames.  A few neighbors saw it happened and ran to help.  They pulled out our hose but couldn't get the flames down.  I was at the theater and John was in the basement.  One of the neighbors pounded on our door yelling to John that the house was on fire.  You can imagine he lost his calm.  The firefighters were called and showed up pretty quickly.  They hosed off the bush, but had to chainsaw it down to make sure they had taken care of all of the burning.

It was an interesting night for me, since I arrived at the scene of the crime as the firefighters were spraying off the house.  The road in front of the house was blocked off so I parked down the street and ran to see what was happening.  I don't think I've ever been so panicked in my life!  However, since almost all of River Heights came to see what was happening, I was able to meet many of my new neighbors. :)

When things calmed down that night and we were able to look at the damage it didn't seem that bad.  However, when the sun came up we noticed a lot more problems.  The brick and siding on the front of the house is burned pretty badly.  The awning above the window is toast (pun).  The heat from the flames put huge cracks in our large, front window.  The railing by the door is charred and the front step needs to be sandblasted.  ARS has come to give us an estimate and they are thinking it will be about $2,600 to fix everything.  We have to pay a $1,000 deposit, which is supposed to be returned to us when the neighbor's insurance reimburses our insurance.

Overall it was a scary experience, but we are very grateful that no one was harmed, and the flames didn't make it inside our cute little house.  We are also grateful that we have great home owner's insurance!

Tennessee

Yesterday was a tough one. We had to say goodbye to our sweet dog, Tennessee. She had been with us for
14 years. Always a huge part of my day. I always knew she'd be waiting by the door to greet me when I got home from school or work, or stopped by to visit. Even when she was too old to stand she would open her eyes and lift her head in welcome

My last memory of Tenny happened Sunday when Ben was set apart as an Elder. When the blessing started she feebly stood up and came into the room. She walked over to the circle and stuck her face between the legs of the brothers to look at Ben. She circled around til the prayer was over, then returned to her rug to finish her nap.

I am so happy that I had her in my life for the last 14 years and will miss her dearly!

Belonging

Life is busy, especially in the summer. I am currently working at UFOMT again this summer. As usual, it has been a great experience. I have been struggling lately to find a place where I feel like I belong. Being young and married I feel like I gave up my friends for my husband (not a bad deal) but I've found it hard to find new married people friends that I can relate to and have fun with. Of course I do have a new family of in-laws, but feel the most out of place around them. Adjusting to a new home and neighborhood doesn't help.

This makes me even more thankful for my job at UFOMT where I can spend every day with people who "get" me. I don't know why I feel so understood when I'm working in the theater but I'm glad I do. It's a relief to not have to explain what I do and that performing actually IS a job to these people. It's nice to have people understand my jokes. It's nice to have people who support me and know me well enough to tell when I am having a bad day. So here's to you UFOMT! Thank you for providing a place where I can feel accepted 3 months out of the year!

Weekend Fun

This past weekend was extremely fun and eventful for the Ballam/Blairs.  My little brother Ben received his mission call to serve at the PCC in Hawaii a few weeks ago, and we had the opportunity to go with him to the temple on Saturday.  It was such a great experience, especially since most of my siblings were able to attend.  We had a nice lunch in the temple cafeteria afterwards.

Sunday was another great day.  My sisters and I had been planning an anniversary party for my parents for a few weeks since they celebrated their 40th this year!  We felt bad that we hadn't really done much to acknowledge their anniversary in the past and thought we'd better not overlook such a milestone this year!  We planned it as a surprise and told them to meet us all at Ester's house to have family pictures.  They had NO idea they would be going to a party for them!  It was so fun to see their reactions!

I spent the last week sneakily making a little video of pictures of my parents to show at the party.  It was almost impossible to find photos of their wedding at their house, so I borrowed a few photo albums from my grandma.  (Sidenote: My uncle, who was supposed to take photos at my parents wedding forgot to put film in the camera, so mostly all of their photos are staged post-honeymoon) We watched the video together.

We took some family photos at Merlin Olsen Park, across the street from Ester's.  Here are a couple un-edited takes.

After the party we went to a blessing for my new nephew, Grant Nicholas.  It was such a sweet blessing and so fun to visit with my family and the Packham family. Ester especially enjoyed the fruit pizzas.

This week has been full of rehearsing, basketball games and watching Nick and John play NBA Jam (the reason I am up so late blogging)  Love having family in town!

Home Sweet Home

Ok, now that I have calmed down about the moving process, here are a few pictures of our "new" place.  First, I will give you a little background on the house.  It was built in the 50's by my Ballam grandparents and is the home in which my dad grew up.  It has had two owners since that time and we are excited to have it back in the family.  It is in really good condition, considering it is 60 years old, but it has some work to do (mostly paint and carpet issues).  And now....for your virtual tour. (High definition photos taken from my cell phone :))

This is the front of the house.  As soon as the weather warms up that bush in front is the first thing to go!

This is the living room and my favorite room in the house.  It originally had carpet when my grandparents built it, but the last owner ripped it up and found these beautiful hard wood floors.  I loved the red wall above the fireplace, but it didn't really match my salmon colored couches so it had to go. (For those of you thinking of painting a wall dark red...you will regret it if you ever have to paint it back.  I'm on my 3rd coat of paint with primer and think it needs one more!)

This is the kitchen.  Not sure what color the walls are.  Peach?  Anyway, though we are mostly moved in, we do not have a fridge or oven so I am off the hook for cooking!

The last owner used this room as her bedroom.  We will use it as a guest room for now.

This is our room . We were surprised to see that the last owner left us some sort of futon-bunk-bed.  We moved it to the guest room for now.  John was excited to see that there is a built in cupboard to hold a tv (which we do not have ;))

Here we have our master bath, painted a crazy chocolate brown color (on my list).  There is a tub and laundry shoot to the right that you can't quite see.

This beauty is an office in the basement.  As you can see, it has the original carpet :)  The closet used to have sliding doors but no one seems to know what happened to them.  John has claimed one desk for his computer and I get the other for my sewing machine!

We were also surprised to see the last owner left this bed in the basement bedroom.  (Pretty sure she just didn't want to lug it up the stairs)  

You may be surprised to hear that this is actually considered a "full bath".  This TINY bathroom has a shower (not tall enough for John to stand up in), a toilet and a sink.  Amazing!  Not sure who decided to put the brown tile with the bright blue but....oh well.

John has claimed this room as his "man cave".  We now have our tv and new couch down here and it is nice and cozy.  His ping pong table will also find a home here once we find someone strong enough to carry it down. (Izzy likes it too)

And last but not least, the patio/backyard.  We are excited about this, as are our dogs!  We aren't sure if the waterfall in the pond works but will figure that out once the rain stops!

There is also a nice big pantry in the basement where our washer and dryer will go.  Hope you have enjoyed your tour!  I will post "after" pictures soon!

Times when moving is stressful

Here are a few things I have come up with today

• When it takes multiple days to load and unload boxes even though you packed all week
• When you arrive at your new home only to find it smells like smoke
• When you open the drawers in the bathroom and find mold
• When you only have one small car and have to borrow
• When your new home has no fridge or oven so you have no food
• When your gas won't be turned on for three days and you have no hot water
• When you have a huge stack of homework to do, but can't find it in the rubble
• When you go to use the bathroom and the toilet won't flush
• When you realize the previous owner left a nasty broken fridge for you to dispose of
• When you realize she also left a nasty queen size bed 
• When you have to change the locks on the doors
• When you have to help your husband carry his plasma tv down a flight of stairs (no pressure)
• When you take your puppy over to see her new home and she immediately poops on the floor
• When the power goes out when you are unpacking
• When the rain prevents you from moving anything else and you have to just blog about it

I know you are all jealous now.

I will post pictures as soon as I have a chance!
Here is a picture we took when we first arrived

Sunday Drive

Today John and I decided to take a little drive to Brigham to see the new temple. It is beautiful! (much more so than this picture)

Me Time

I have been super stressed lately and I may have figured out why.  I have been trying so hard to be a good wife; cleaning the apartment, cooking dinner, doing laundry etc.  I have had this mentality that if I can just take care of my family everything will be perfect.  Well, last night I began thinking about myself and how little I am taking care of myself these days.  For example, I am about 9 months overdue for a visit to the dentist, 3 months over due for getting my hair done (it's scary), I've cancelled my last diabetes doctor visit and my last two gynecologist visits, and I've needed to go to the chiropractor for the last 2 months or so.  Now these things seem pretty unimportant right?  Well...I think it's time I do something for myself before I go bald, my teeth fall out and I can't walk.  :)  I think I'll start with a hair cut.  Here is a picture of me after one of the 3 times I have gotten my hair done since I got married.  

One of those days

Today has been one of those days. You know, where you wear your gym pants inside out all day. Or you clean your carpet and the dog runs in and pees on it. Or when you clean out your fridge (your least favorite job) and the garbage bag has a leak and drips nastiness all over. Or when you are excited to have your husband finally home, then remember he is going to dinner without you and all you have to eat is ramen noodles, which you had for lunch. *sigh* Yep. One of THOSE days

Refinish Fun

This weekend I did a fun little project. John and I got this honey colored coffee table from his grandma when we got married. We have enjoyed it, but the finish had issues and it didn't match our other furniture so I decided to paint it. I used a special primer do I wouldn't have to sand it so that saved me some time and stress!

Baby J

I think I need one of these in my life.