YELL 2015 QUARTERS 709 B

We have returned to Quarters 709B! Lake in view! Oh, the joy! Last year we were in Quarters 707A and a bunch of nice people made sure we got back to 709B and WOW! It is such a happier feeling to have the meadow out the back door again and 9 windows rather than 4. The space! Oodles and oodles of space compared to last year. Wow.

The first pic is on the back porch. Maintenance boards up all the windows every fall to protect the place from snow. K wishes they would leave the boards over the bedroom windows, but fire code won't allow for it. Turns out Bev and Mickey will NOT be our neighbors in Unit C this year--they are traveling in their retirement. We still get Eric in Unit A who is Mr. Bear Management. Kaitlyn will be in Unit D and Paramedic Pam is in Unit H. Not sure who will be in the other spots, but we're looking forward to the social life.

I now know why rodents have so many burrows and escape hatches--you just never know when a two thousand pound bison will step on your complex and close a passageway off...

The grass will grow, rather tall actually, but for now...this is spring. The snow sticks are at the front doors to help maintenance know where to start digging snow so that rangers can move in. The snow isn't as much as it was the last two years.

We met up with four other returning rangers yesterday afternoon. How I've missed Mike. He is a MASTER at Word Choice. The rest of us refer to park police (Law Enforcement Rangers) as "LE's." You know, pronounced, "El ease." Mike refers to them as "Crime Fighters" and it cracks me up every time.

I mean, sure, sometimes there is that crime stuff, but when I visualize the LE's making grunting noises into their patrol vehicle microphones to get the bison out of the road, the term "Crime Fighters" seems too hysterical. I love Mike. His evening program is full of humor as well.

K turned down tons of other really great jobs at Yosemite, Sequoia, Mesa Verde, Arches, and other cool parks. I'm so glad we get at least one more summer in YELL.

Mother's Day Wrapping

I ADORE watching my students wrap their Mother's Day gifts each year! I love the child who signed their name, "Your Favorite!" I was touched by the child who wrote, "To My Beloved Mother." Ah, these kids.

This Just FROSTS Me (or...This Just BURNS me)!

My mom used to exclaim, "This just FROSTS me!" She said it when she was pretty much beside herself with anger or surprise or something like that. Or sometimes she would substitute the word "BURNS" for "FROSTS." She had quite a few little sayings and this one comes to mind today.

Why, you ask? The local news station ran a story about educators being overpaid. The online story has garnered about 200 comments. Every comment that says teachers have "a pretty nice schedule" or "the whole summer off" or "they only work 8 or 9 months out of the year" just...FROSTS/BURNS me.

So I am going to vent. Just a little. I think my hilarious Facebook posts and the other positive words I record here about the amazing children with whom I work testify that I love my chosen profession and all it entails. I also want to say that I don't know much about the downside of other professions. Everyone has it hard. I get that. Nothing is a walk in the park. I haven't BEEN to law school, so I don't know how hard it was to finish and I don't know how much a lawyer deserves. I also understand that I CHOSE my profession, so I shouldn't complain. But I do feel the need to clarify.

I guess it does seem like "a pretty nice schedule." But looks can be deceiving. I think my realtor friend has a pretty nice schedule in that she gets to arrange it. If she needs to go out of town, she can arrange that without penalty. If her mom is in the hospital, she can arrange that. If she's tied up, her partner can show the house for her (without making lesson plans for the substitute). I was a National Park Ranger for a decade of my life and THAT was indeed a pretty nice schedule. I could't believe it was only 40 hours a week! Cut and dried! WOW!! ONLY 40 hours a week! AND...if they needed you to work overtime, they PAID you EXTRA for overtime! Not only that, if you worked past 6:00 p.m., they paid you for this kind little thought called "Night Differential." And if you worked on the Sabbath Day, the federal government gave you even more compensation called "Sunday Differential!" It was a whole new world to think you could actually be "on duty" and "off duty." Wow.

I don't get to arrange my schedule. I don't get to take "a longer lunch today." I don't get a "coffee break." Sometimes I get a recess break, but I don't go to the faculty room to sit down with a beverage and put my feet up, rather, I think to myself, "I have time to make copies/correct papers/email parents/etc." Because here's the thing...when there are children in the room, you're in charge. When you work with adults, I'd venture a guess that the adults are mostly managing themselves. Oh sure, there's Facebook and Candy Crush and other distractions, but adults are usually in charge of themselves even when supervised. Not so with children. Do adult coworkers come up to you and ask for a Band-aid? Do they ask if they can call their mom? Do they ask if they can go to the restroom? Do they tell you they don't get it? I know, I know, in some cases, yes...adults need your attention. But do you gather your adult workers several times a day and say, "Okay, we are going to learn how to do this math thing or science thing or writing thing and first I want you to watch me do it and then we're going to do it together to practice and then you're going to do it on your own." Oh, I'm getting out of control here.

Do you arrange to be at work for free in the evening because it will be such a great experience for your coworkers? Wax Museum=Voluntary Unpaid Overtime. Hope of America=Voluntary Unpaid Overtime. Clear Creek=Voluntary Unpaid Overtime (overnight, no cell service, no shower, no family time, no television...WHAT?!? You don't do that regularly at your workplace?!?). Lesson planning=Voluntary Unpaid Overtime. Correcting papers=Voluntary Unpaid Overtime. If you want to use the whole "salary" argument then why do we have official contract times? Our contract time is 7:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. daily. But the EXPECTATION is that you put in loads and loads of unpaid overtime.

The whole summer off. No such thing, my friend. Complete lie. Does not exist. The kids get out on the 29th. I'm not free until the 5th. I say "free" but I'm taking 20 books to YELL with me so I'll be reading daily to prepare for my responsibilities in the fall (ahem, that would be DAILY unpaid overtime all summer long). If you could just hear teachers saying things like, "Once the kids are gone, I'll be able to organize my classroom or plan this unit or create this activity or take this class or write this paper or apply for this grant or concentrate on this..." You should really talk to the family members of teachers to see about this whole facade of "whole summer off." They can tell you that their teacher-spouse or teacher-mom never stops preparing, even during the summer. I walk into a Visitor Center Gift Shop and my first thought is, "What can I use to help me be a better teacher? Is there something I should buy for my classroom?"

If teachers get paid enough, then why was I a park ranger for a decade? Why does so-and-so work nights and weekends at Wal-Mart? Why does so-and-so work at Target? Why does so-and-so do hair on the side? Why did it take me until now to purchase my first home? Do you shop at the bread outlet and freeze several loaves ahead? Yes, we stayed at the Zermatt last weekend, but we only had to pay the $30 cleaning fee because we know someone. It was a real treat for us, but it's not like we splurged big time. Otherwise, we wouldn't have gone.

I think of the stay-at-home moms who work so hard without any monetary compensation. I'm not saying my job is the hardest in the world or the worst paying job in the world, I just don't understand why it's so bullied.

So I think I'm done whining for now. My first impulse was to vow to post on Facebook after doing any unpaid overtime for my job, but I will be living without internet access this summer and I really don't think I would have time to post that much--it would get in the way of all my lesson planning and professional development.

Bottom line is...we should all respect what we all do. When I went to the Physical Therapist, I found myself filled with gratitude that someone had studied in order to help a patient like me. Do they run news stories about how dentists are so overpaid? Do they talk about how cushy the job of a realtor is? Do they report about how overpaid lawyers are? No, they seem to just pick on educators. I don't understand it. Just last night I picked up photos from Walgreens ($12.50) for my students' journals. Out of pocket. There is NO budget for that kind of thing. Do you regularly spend money on your job out of pocket? No, you expect "the company" to pay for it. My team decided today that we need to ask each child to bring $1 for the dance festival (so we can have some colorful ribbons), but I don't think I can ask another thing from these families. I will just take care of it, out of pocket. Because, you know, we're so rich and all, living in separate states trying to make ends meet with my husband driving a vehicle that we hope lasts through another summer with 216,000 miles on it.

Zermatt Resort

My Darling planned a get-away for us last evening and it was just what we needed! We stayed at the Zermatt in Midway and enjoyed a little dinner, swimming, and hot-tubbing. The hot tub featured a waterfall with warm water splashing down. It was so relaxing. I even got to start reading a brand new book! We totally slept in...rather than waking at my usual 4:30 a.m., I slept until 8:58 a.m. WOW! We had breakfast at the bakery. K ordered a Spumoni Tart and I had a Diamond Fruit and Cheese pastry. We sat on a bench outside and a guy on a Harley pulled up with his dog, Duke, riding on the back. Such a photo!

We then drove around and found ourselves stopping at a little cheese factory with actual black and white cows grazing just outside--so charming. We completely splurged and bought ice cream! Yesterday I worked out at the rec center in the early morning and then had two separate Zumba classes with my fifth graders (to prepare for the dance festival) and then when we went swimming at the resort I was moving in the water the entire time, so...all those calories burned came back to me this morning!

It was grand being with my Sweetie and driving through the canyon enjoying the sun and scenery. It's always grand.

We talked with his parents and wrote our shopping list when we returned home. We did our errands and found some dinner (or "linner" as he likes to say). We cleaned and dusted and washed and dried and folded and put away and took out the trash. Lots of kisses as we accomplished many tasks in our home this afternoon and evening. Our time together is so precious. Zermatt this weekend and the Wyoming Ghetto next!

Wyoming Ghetto is an affectionate term coined by National Park Rangers in reference to government housing (or park housing). We're actually SUPER grateful for the very affordable park housing we enjoy at YELL and for the wonderful maintenance rangers who keep those apartments in the best shape they can. You'd be surprised at how many park employees live up in there behind the trees as you drive by admiring the scenery. We're so excited to see what all shows up in the meadow behind our housing and we know we'll have fabulous neighbors with Eric from Bear Management on one side and Bev and Mickey from Maintenance on the other. Some of the rangers aren't coming back but we're happy for their progress elsewhere. And some rangers are coming back so we look forward to reuniting with them. Hopefully, Harlan will once again be in charge of the Greater Northern Caldera Social Committee (or whatever it is that he calls it)! So, Zermatt this weekend and Park Housing the next. Domestic cows this weekend and Bison the next.

CAN'T WAIT to see my Yellowstone again after another winter away! We are so fortunate to be able to say we've lived IN a National Park, we've lived IN Yellowstone National Park, and we've lived IN a volcano!!! Yes, our bear spray is ready!

The Gospel Makes Me Happy

Living the Gospel of Jesus Christ, keeping the commandments, and spending time doing things of an eternal nature makes me happy.

The first time we attended our new ward, we felt like we were being given a lot of church homework. We were asked to read a chapter of scripture in preparation for the following week's meeting, we were asked to fast for a little boy in the ward afflicted with cancer, and we were asked to bring our own ancestor's names to the temple 25 April for Ward Temple Day. We were also asked to meet with the ward council directly after the block of meetings so they could get to know us and I was asked to be visited by a couple of sisters from the Relief Society in our new home after that. We don't always follow through on all such requests, but we answered to each one of those. And it feels great!

My husband is the best! He sits by my side at the computer while we watch tutorial videos for Family Search. We started a week ago yesterday and attended the temple yesterday to complete his grandmother's work (some stranger seems to have already done his grandfather's work) and to have his grandparents sealed together for time and all eternity! We called K's dad to ask for permission to do temple ordinances. His words were, "Thank you, Jody! Of course you can do those things. I'm honored that you would even think about and remember my ancestors." Big Smiley Face about that! I just hope that we can keep going with family history research, but when you live deep in Yellowstone National Park all summer with no internet access, it's really tough.

This morning I attended stake council. Our training focused on Sabbath Day Observance. It was a revelatory experience for me! Throughout the meeting while the stake presidency instructed, I kept feeling the Holy Ghost reminding me of things. I started making a list. The list is a list of the things that we are doing or that my husband is especially good at doing to help us keep the Sabbath Day a Holy Day. We are far from perfect, but the spiritual promptings are still making me so happy that I thought I would share them here with the whole world:

My husband always asks me about the Relief Society lesson. We attend Sacrament Meeting and Gospel Doctrine together, but then he goes to Priesthood and I go to RS. Another sister in the stake council meeting said her family calls it "Sunday Breakdown" as they discuss things with their children at the dinner table. I am so pleased that my husband even cares and I am also pleased that he shares the many wonderful things he learns during Priesthood Meeting.

Another thing that came to mind was the Crockpot. Ken does most of the cooking on Sundays and we do a lot of Crockpot meals because it's so easy to throw the food in and let it do the work for us. We don't have huge, elaborate dinners on Sunday. It's something simple that's ready for us when we return from Church. Dishes are minimal. Easy peasy.

Another thing K is good at is sharing Church videos and Mormon Messages with me from lds.org. He finds a good one to share "just because" or he uses them for Family Home Evening lessons. For some reason, I never watch those so I love it when he teaches me in this way!

We have always avoided shopping and eating out on the Sabbath Day. However, once I wanted to order something on the internet (clothing or something) and K said, "On Sunday?!?" Wow. It hadn't even crossed my radar that buying something on the internet on Sunday is really no different than buying something at the mall on Sunday. He's such a good guy and I cherish his perspective on things. That's why we are Team Kyburz.

Sleep. We sleep in on Sunday (unless I have a 7:00 a.m. stake council meeting which only happens once every three months). The Sabbath really is a day of rest--physically and mentally. K encourages it. Sometimes he says, "Just rest." Because he is not a demanding soul and believes in doing things for me, I get naps and relaxation time. He is so mindful of those things when it comes to me. I can also thank his parents for raising him right to allow for things like this in our marriage.

We prepare for the Sabbath Day and K is especially mindful of this. After the temple last night, we went out to dinner rationalizing that if Grandma and Grandpa were still alive and got sealed in the temple, there would be a dinner celebration afterward, so why not? :) After dinner, we went to the grocery store (so we don't have to buy food on Sunday) and then we filled up his tank with gas. These are just our normal habits and of course, they are the habits of many, many people (not trying to pat ourselves on the back for originality), but how grateful I am for these good habits to help keep us on the straight and narrow. If we needed to jump in the car right now and drive to Idaho, we could with no stops!

Family History Research is more fun with K! He is interested and more intuitive with the computer software than I am, so together we are able to make things work. I am so pleased that he really doesn't want me doing his family's research without his involvement. He is a GEM, I tell ya.

Another thing we do well is attend all three meetings in the church block of meetings. And we do this while traveling also. We can be in some podunk branch in the middle of nowhere and we stay for all of the meetings. The locals are usually surprised, but we've been enriched so much by doing this. Whether it's struggling folks in Colorado or the Navajo members down on the res, or the aloha saints of Hawai'i, we go to Church! I feel so grateful that I am married to someone that believes in doing this.
.
K helps out when he can. He's not the loudest volunteer in the group, but he quietly serves on a steady basis. He often passes the Sacrament when it looks like nobody's headed that way. He's been a great home teacher, ward librarian, finance clerk, and Sunday School president. He's really good about listening to church stuff he downloads on his phone and/or iPod. No, it's nothing fanatical, but he quietly moves forward with a lot of balance in his life.

The Sabbath has been a Delight (Isaiah) in our home and I hope we can possibly do some one thing better to improve further. I believe that Sabbath Day Observance is like getting a vaccination to ward off disease. It is medicine by which we can be inoculated.

All the Love...and Other Stuff

This boy I'm married to...

We finished doing our finances this evening and he stood up from the computer, stepped over to where I was seated at a small table and before kissing me said, "Thank you for everything you do. You are the most sweet, kind, and gentle girl."

Of course, I brightened up and said, "Thanks, Sweetie!"

And then he whispered in my ear, "But I've also experienced your wrath."

Laughed SO hard! He means well...

I'm Not Very Good at Drinking

So one of the things I hear a lot about is women in my area drinking. I'm not talking about alcohol. I'm talking about the legal for minors stuff--sugar, caffeine, and carbonation. For years I've understood that my entire school district subsists primarily on Diet Coke. Well, everyone except me. And now there's this craze (I asked the relatives from the Midwest if there's a similar craze out there and they couldn't think of anything) to get certain drinks with certain flavors and if you get it a certain way it's called "dirty" and another way is called "jacked up" or possibly just "jacked." See? I don't even know what I'm talking about. So out of it.

Yeah, so I hear about "Happy Hour" at Sonic. I also hear about teachers going through the drive-thru at Sonic like at 6:00 a.m. or whatever (and stay-at-home moms later on) because the 367-ish ounce drink is "only $.99 at that time of day!" I don't know--I can't keep all of the wonderful details straight.

Then there's this place called Slurp. And another called Swig. And not only can you get a JACKED-UP-DIRTY-DIET-DR-PEPPER...you can also get some amazing sugar cookie with frosting to go with!

Let's not forget the usual places. For example, McDonald's lets you order any size of soda you wish and all of the sizes are the same price ($.99?) so of course, everyone gets the biggest one they possibly can because it's such a "deal." Some stop at Maverick, some stop at Holiday, and who knows where everyone else stops?

Such an industry! There's a soda machine in the faculty room and people bring their own cans and bottles from home. All the pregnant ladies talk about how they tried to give it up for their pregnancy but then they decided that going without it was MORE harmful to the baby than consuming it and their doctor said it was okay. And so forth.

My other opinion is that Mormons who choose to follow their religion are in a way limited in their chosen vices, so sugar is an easy thing to justify.

To be clear, I am not here to judge. A donut walks into the room and I eat it. I gobble up sugar in various forms. I have a life-long problem with overeating. But I am SO THANKFUL that I do not have this problem with sugary drinks. Honestly, my very favorite drink in the whole entire world is water. I love it so much!

The PTA has us fill out this little survey at the beginning of the year and it always asks for your favorite drink (because that's how most teachers make it through their day). I always write "water." But you know what? People can't STAND giving water as a gift. They give Gatorade or Powerade because they rationalize it's "the same as water?" Or they attach little mix-in powders (which I tried and can't stand--ah! the chemicals!). In other words, people don't believe me. So let me repeat: WATER is my favorite beverage in the entire world!!! I LOVE it SO much!!!

I have my father to thank for this. When I was young, there was some news report about cancer causing agents in carbonated beverages (who knows?) and my dad dumped all of the soda pop we had down the sink. When we went out to eat as a family (often since both parents worked--wasn't a special treat--to this day going out for my birthday isn't very special to me--but being with people I love IS special), Mom would always order coffee and Dad just let that go. But the rest of us? Water. That's it. On the way from the Suburban to the restaurant Dad would chant, "Girls, the only thing you can order to drink is water." Got it. And now I'm so grateful! I really don't like soda pop. When the relatives were here last week, we took them to JCW's for lunch and everyone ordered a soda except me. My MIL said, "You're so good!" I had to let her know, "I'm not being good. I just don't care for soda." And she exclaimed once again, "I know, but I don't understand it."

So the whole point I'm getting at is...we went to Sonic after the temple last night (K's idea). He ordered a cheeseburger with tots and a peanut butter fudge shake. It was 9:45 p.m. and he hadn't had dinner. I on the other hand CRASHED after school until he woke me up when he got home from work so I could change and get ready. I wolfed down a meat and cheese sandwich at 6:30 knowing it would literally be hours before I would have the chance to eat. I innocently asked, since the menu was in fine print on the driver's side, "Do they have salads?" He jabbed, "At a place like this? No, they don't." Nothing looked or sounded good to me, so I thought I would, you know, really go out on a limb and try to act grown up like all the other ladies. I did it. I ordered a Cherry Lime! Didn't really know what I was getting myself into, but it turns out it's just lemon-lime soda with cherry and lime flavors mixed in. And you know what? It wasn't anything to write home about. I shared it with K.

Well, you're never going to believe this (if you're even still reading), but today after trips to Lowe's and Costco, the mister asked about the place called Slurp. I was incredulous. He said he was super thirsty and wanted to try it. There was a long, LONG line at the drive-thru, but we persevered and because I just don't know what I'm doing at places like this, and because we've been living so wildly this weekend, throwing all caution to the wind, I ordered a...wait for it...a Cherry Lime! It was better than Sonic's, but in the end, it's just a drink. Shared that one with K as well!

I think I'm done with all the peer pressure and experimentation. I have other nutrition habits to which I must attend. I'm going to have to live as a beverage nerd for the remainder of my life. Oh, the friendships that could flourish if only I could be more normal! Thanks for inviting me to go on a "drink run" with you, but I guess I'll just stay here saving calories and pennies. So boring.