Hanky

On Sept 1st , we wound up having our dog, Hank, put to sleep. I waited a bit to honor his memory so that I wouldn’t be a blubbering mess while writing about him. Hank was probably 13 years old, a huge mastiff/lab mix. We owned him for ten years.

We knew Hank before we owned him, he belonged to friends of ours. We liked him then and thought he was a sweet and funny dog. When our friends moved and needed a new home for Hank, we volunteered and got a new member of the family. We already had Mariah, and it was the two of them for several years before Laura’s dog Lars came along. He belonged to the family, but somehow he became “mine”.

Hank had a presence that I just can’t explain. He had quite the personality. I bet you that he wanted to talk to us. He was this huge goofball dog. He was always making us laugh. He liked to play and let me tease him, even as an older dog. He was a good sport. He was our protector- he always slept in front of the door, which none of our other dogs really ever did. He could look scary to protect us if he wanted to, but he was a wiggly puppy in an old dog’s body. We don’t know what he looked like as a puppy, but I bet he was real cute. I called him Flopdoodle cause if he was on his stomach and I was petting him, he’d flop over on his side, really hard and make this loud smack on the floor. It was so funny. If anytime he was standing next to you, he’d lean on you- all hundred pounds of him!

Hank was tall- you didn’t have to bend over to pet this dog. He could set his head on the kitchen table- look out, dinner! One time Mom made banana bread and had it sitting on the edge of the counter to cool- it was taller than the table, right? She left for a second and came back to Hank licking his chops! Um, thanks Mom, you made that for me, right? Anytime you said the word “bone”, he perked up and got excited. He was smart. He loved food.

I was the one to walk Hank the majority of the time. He would jump and dance around, so happy when we were walking. He liked to roll in the grass, too. But he was so good on a leash, especially considering he could’ve dragged me around if he’d wanted to. And we didn’t teach him that, he came that way. If he was in his pen and you came to the gate, he would jump straight up like 3 feet in the air! I don’t know how he didn’t figure out that he could probably jump over the gate!

Over the last few months, his health had gone downhill. He got real skinny and we started feeding him a rich midday meal in an attempt to put some meat on his bones. This was a dog that hoovered his food but now was losing interest in eating. His back end wore out too. He often couldn’t stand up fully but crouched. We started giving him doggie pain medication. We put a rug down for him cause he couldn’t get up on the slick floor. But then he’d go outside and jump and dance around like always- he was so silly. We didn’t want to admit it, but our Hanky was wearing out.

Hank was able to walk the Sunday morning before he passed, but when we got home from church he couldn’t get up or walk. He was this crumpled heap. For the next few days, when we needed to get him outside, it would take at least two people to heft his backend around, slung on a towel, while he moved his front legs. It broke my heart to see him sprawled on the front lawn, his back legs paralyzed- this was a dog that would escape and run and run and run if given the slightest chance- and here he was, untethered and unable to go anywhere. We had to feed him with a wooden spoon because he couldn’t eat very well while lying down.

We knew if this kept up (one time his back end went out but it came back) that we’d have to take him to the vet’s- and that the outcome would probably not be good. We had prayed for him but his back end would not come back. I came home from student teaching and we got Hank ready. Mom directed him while Laura and I hefted his back end around so that he could go to the bathroom before the car ride. It felt like being a pall bearer. It’s really awkward doing things when you know it’s probably going to be their last.

Hank went out with his boots on- we had hefted him over to the rear of the Jeep and were debating how to get this big dog inside the back (which is high off the ground) and Hank surprised us by somehow taking this flying leap and getting his front half in the car. I don’t know how he did this considering his back feet were paralyzed and not even touching the ground. Laura and I hefted the rest of him in and off we went. I sat in the back seat so I could pet him during the trip.

The vet came out to the car so that we wouldn’t have to heft Hank all the way in the vet’s office. She agreed that it was his time to go- there was nothing that could be done for his back legs and he couldn’t even feel it if you pinched his feet. Somehow he could still wag his tail, I guess that’s a different nerve. When the vet went back inside for her things, I found myself alone with Hank. I tried to make the most of the precious time we had left and I told him how much I loved him and how special he was to our family. Then they put him to sleep, I felt bad that it took several pokes to find a vein. I stayed in the back seat and patted him as he went. It’s really strange watching something die. I wore my big sunglasses in an attempt to hide my tears.

We took him back home and spent some time digging a really big hole next to Laura’s cat’s grave. Their graves are in a nice little spot in the woods by the pond. We wrapped him in a big off-white blanket and lowered him in. I went and cut four sunflowers, to represent our family of four and also to represent the sunshine he brought into our lives. I placed the sunflowers in the grave with him. Laura has the foresight to remove his collar, I was glad for us to have the memento. We said a prayer at his graveside.

Even in death, Hank was funny as always. When he died, his ear was straight up in the air like so often it was in real life when he was sleeping on his side. And it wouldn’t go back down either. When we got back home I looked out at our back sidewalk- and was surprised that Hank had left a big poop there when we had him out the last time. None of us realized he’d done that! We laughed at Hank’s Last Present.

Hank, thank you for being part of our family and giving us so much love and laughs. Thank you for putting up with us when we fell short. Thank you for being patient and kind. Thank you for being our protector. You were a noble creature. Thank you for being our gentle giant.

I feel guilty that we had to put him to sleep, but I also realize that there really wasn’t an alternative. He was probably in pain and deserved some relief. I picture him in Doggie Heaven just running and running for all he’s worth, with no fences to hold him back. I picture him being able to jump so high in the air again. That brings me some comfort.

Someday I’ll see him again.

In the meantime, it’s weird not to have him around. It’s weird not to walk him at night. It’s weird not to have him in front of the island and see him when you walk in the door- that was where he always was. When a hundred pound dog is gone from a 900 sq foot house, it’s pretty noticeable. He left a big imprint on us.

I walked him the night before his legs stopped working. Something told me to enjoy that time.

Waiting didn’t work, I’m still blubbering while writing this.

Bye for now Hank, we love you.

Hank was a regal creature:

My aunt sent me a matching coat:

Hank always crossed his paws ;)

Hank always smiled ;)

Hank, you were so funny.

Like hoovering your food:

And spinning around to lay down...and resting just your bum on the pillow:

Needing my slipper to rest your tail:

Hank, you were a good sport ;)

Hmm...why did we always trip over you?

Hank, you were a good friend.

Love you, Hank

Shuffle Off to Buffalo

Mid June I met up with some of my friends and we shuffled off to Buffalo for a YSA dance. We decided to have some fun and ate at Cheesecake Factory in Buffalo beforehand. We purposely dawdled at the mall so that we’d miss the contra dancing part of the night. Contra dancing is like what you see in Jane Austen movies. We caught the end of them dancing and it was neat to see but I didn’t feel like participating. It was a fun night to dance and hang out. Our friend Jason moved up to Buffalo so it was nice to see him and he debuted his signature jig dance (done to “I Would Walk 500 Miles”) to the Buffalo peeps.

Raelena at Cheesecake Factory:

Fun, funky store decor at Forever 21 (Ten years ago I wanted to have my own funky store like this! I am ahead of my time!):

 Laura, Raelena, Kaitlyn, me, and our Canadian friend Jason!

And two weeks after the 18 year old danced with me in Kirtland, yet another cute 18 year old asked me to dance! I made a point just to talk about college, maybe he thought I was like 24? Two 18 year olds in two weeks? I’m going to get a cougar reputation!

Buffalo is 2.5 hours from my house- that’s how far I have to go to get to dances and have fun! Arrgh!

Kirtland Conference

I spent Memorial Day Weekend at the Kirtland conference in Ohio, also known as Zion’s Camp. I wound up with three other girls in my car there- Kaitlyn, Briana, and my sister Laura. It was a pretty full car with all our stuff! We stayed at a hotel this year- it was nice to know your roommates and amenities as opposed to staying at a stranger’s house- but it’s a pricey alternative.

Friday was spent at the church building- there was food and games going on. You could play raffle games and win tickets towards prizes- and these were good prizes like iPods and gift cards. Is this where my pricey ticket went? I helped my friend Anne (who is now married but a saint to help out. I don’t know if you could get me back at a conference if I got married!) run her game- getting three balloons to stay up in the air for 30 seconds won you a ticket. It was my only chance to see her over the weekend so we got caught up in between people playing.

We also had a speaker that night that was great. He spoke about the hardships in his life and how he was thankful for them because they lead him to the church. He was really inspirational and the spirit was strong there.

Saturday was spent getting breakfast and listening to Brad Wilcox, who is a great speaker. I’d never heard of him before but now I’m a fan. He’s funny and spiritual. He spent time talking about our birthright and he explained the whole process using volunteers from the audience to stand in as Israel and all his family. We had classes, I enjoyed mine. I went to one on careers and I feel pretty good about myself and my skills. I also went to one on dating, it was funny and had the usual info.

We also did service, this year I did something different and wound up sorting clothes for a charity. For the most part it was fine, but some bags were a bit scary (and really, who donates lingerie?) or moldy. And sometimes it was really hard to tell if something was a small woman’s or a bigger girl’s size. We got a lot done in a relatively short amount of time and the guy in charge was really thankful. He said he likes working with us Mormons because we get to work and don’t argue with each other like other churches! It was a very nice compliment from him- he said he’d work with us anytime.

Bell bottoms!

Bags of sorted clothes:

We tried to find the old school ice cream parlor but I couldn’t this time. I couldn’t remember where it was.

Dinner was good and afterwards was the dance. It was pretty fun and pretty funny because a cute 18 year old guy asked me to dance! I’m such a cougar! Even funnier he was saying he had graduated the day before and on Sunday he made a point of telling us that his tie was the one he wore to prom. Too funny!

Sunday was Sacrament meeting in the Kirtland temple, which is always nice. Brad Wilcox spoke again, mostly about Joseph Smith and it was great. It was also nice to hear the testimonies from other YSA. It amazes me how many young people are joining the church, it’s great.

It was a beautiful sunny day. We made it back to the college and got a really great catered meal. That's half the reason I go! We were then turned loose to see the sites in Kirtland. We spent some time at the quarry, I haven’t been there for awhile. We also saw a neat photographic exhibit in the visitor’s center of photographs taken of church sites in the early 1900’s. I enjoyed the photographs, they were great. We also walked around the sites there. In the evening Brad Wilcox spoke again and it was great. There was also a speaker who for whatever reason, mentioned our fhe leader by name even though it was his wife that knew him forever ago, not him! Totally random.

We made it back home that night after I dropped people off at the Erie building. Overall it was a nice weekend and I was glad I could go. It was my last YSA conference (hosted by another stake, that is) before I turned into a pumpkin, aka turned 31.

Update

I really am alive, really! I hope to update and share what all I've been up to this summer. I've been busy with a lot, as well as spending June on my couch due to bronchitis. I was robbed of a whole month! Arrgh!

Stay tuned for YSA conferences, Girls Camp, crafty things, antiquing and more of my farmgirl life!

A Walk With Mom

Not long after I got out of school for the summer, Mom and I wound up exploring the back part of the property. With 70 acres, there’s parts I haven’t seen. We knew of a path but hadn’t walked it and decided to find it.

It was cool and overcast out and threatening to rain, which is my favorite kind of weather. What can I say? I’m a Washingtonian.

But first we walked up the driveway and saw the neighbor’s lilac bush. It was lovely and had a heavenly scent. We also admired the other neighbor’s pond and ducks.

Mom discovered a bird’s nest in the grass, it was neat to see. We’ve never seen that before here.

And then we made it over the stone bridge and through the hidden field- you would never know that a field lies behind the trees.

We then continued down along the treeline.

We reached the stream and made it over a ‘bridge’ made of a big sheet of metal. It’s pretty fun to fjord a stream like that.

Then there’s a smaller stream too further on as well.

The path connects to our big field…and then you walk through and back up to the house via the driveway.


It’s a nice flat walk and a nice length. Long enough for a nice walk but not too long to wear you out. It’s very peaceful.

And a nice way to spend time with Mom.

We saw deer tracks in the mud.

The other thing that I like about it is that you can’t rush the process. You can’t zip along this path. You have to pay attention to your surroundings. You have to take it all in and really experience it. You have to watch your footing most of the way. There’s holes in the rock bridge. The hidden field likes to trip you with weeds. There’s rocks and muddy spots in the grass path. There are trees down in a spot that you have to step over. The waist high grass in the big field slows you down too and its resistance is a good workout.


The next time we walked it, there were speckled eggs in the ground nest.

I was told that the older lady who used to live here would walk that path every day- sunshine or snow. Dedication! And she gets around well.

I’ve walked it now a few times by myself, it’s a nice way to get some exercise and relax at the same time. I enjoy being out in nature. I love all the green and the fresh smells. I really love our property here.

I really love this path, it’s a bit magical.

If you come visit me, I’ll take you for a walk.

Jr Field: Part Deux

So on to the rest of the semester...

Our next assignment was to do some printmaking. The question was, how to make it safe? We didn’t want to use sharp carving tools, especially with Jr High #2! My partner C found an assignment online where they used styrofoam (like the flat part of a meat tray from the grocery store) and carved into it with a pencil or orange stick. Perfect! This was one of my favorite assignments- the students understood it and really loved it. Some mess but not too bad.


After they carved their “block” (our group theme was Spring), they then used a brayer to ink up their styrofoam and stamp their paper. The students did very well and created some great stuff. It was a good assignment because it satisfied the students who love to draw and the students who like to be busy.

Next came my baby during the semester- the quilts. I taught the students about quilts and their construction. We also talked about art quilts and fiber arts in general and how art can be collaborative. Art can foster a sense of community. We had students draw their favorite Erie landmark on a white square of fabric using Crayola fabric markers. We had photos for reference if they got stuck. I assembled the squares into a wallhanging for each school. This assignment fulfilled our “service learning” aspect because we donated the wallhangings to the schools. Junior High #1 is getting a new building soon and we thought they could use some art for it.

I did a lot for this project, but that was okay. I got the markers and fabric and cut the squares in advance. I taught and explained it all. I ironed the squares to set the marker. I assembled the wallhangings. Phew! We unveiled each wallhanging at a parent night and everyone, including the ladies from CHAMPS, loved them. The students were excited to see their work and were amazed at the final result. I think we won big points from everyone because hey, this isn’t something that everyone does. I doubt many of my fellow Art Ed students sew. I think the best part was proving our teacher wrong- he showed up and totally poo poo-ed the assignment right before I was going to teach it because he didn’t think that the students would relate to the Erie landmarks. Yes, these are students who probably haven’t seen many of these landmarks, but I figured they could still have some pride for them. I haven’t been to the Space Needle or Pike Place market more than twice in my life, but I still have Seattle pride, right? And it turned out I was right. They did the assignment just fine, though Jr High #2 needed some coaching, but what else is new? When my teacher saw the final result at Parent Night, I got a fist bump from him, he was so pleased. Take that!

In reality I was inspired by church for this assignment- we did something like this in Primary years ago where each kid drew on a square and assembled it into a quilt for humanitarian aid. Currently in YW we’re working on a quilt for aid as well.

We then moved on to sculpture in the form of “Mimbre” bowls. We taught about coil building in clay and had the students make their own coil- built bowl using air dry clay. I’d never used the stuff before and I’m not really a fan- it’s so fragile. Most of the projects broke or had chips. We spent one week making the bowls and the next week painting them. My partners and I had to make extra bowls in case there were students who were absent during bowl-making but showed up the next week. And good thing- I think we used up most of our extra bowls. We let them make whatever they wanted with their leftover clay. This was one assignment that showed the differences in ability- most slopped on paint and in contrast there were a few who did amazing work.

The dragon was amazing! I was really amazed it didn’t break, especially with everyone and their dog wanting to touch it at Parent Night!

We then had an experience with each school group at the Erie Art Museum, which went about as expected. Junior High #1 was calm and behaved well, as expected. Pretty easy day being a chaperone. Junior High #2 was WILD as expected! I don’t think the museum knew what they were getting into! They were divided into two groups, but they were still too large in my opinion. I wound up chaperoning the group that had the younger kids in it- and all the rambunctious troublemakers! My Mom Nag Voice was worn out, I was such a broken record…”Don’t touch that.” “Get back in the group.” “Be quiet and listen to the lady from the museum.” “I SAID don’t touch that!” And on and on.

The lady from the museum who lead our tour did what I thought was a great thing- she had this bin of random little objects and each student got one to hold while looking at the Spring Show. The idea was that they could touch the object since they couldn’t touch the art itself. They were to find a work of art in the Spring Show that they felt related to their object in some way. I even got to participate, I had a little metal car with Bollywood images on it. Other students had a ceramic apple or a carved spoon, things like that. I need to go back and look at the Spring Show in more depth- I didn’t get to see much due to the kids!

The lesson that the people at the museum taught was about “magic” art, or art that fools your eye. We looked at various pieces that did that and discussed them. The students enjoyed it, and I thought it was a great lesson.

Each group had an artmaking session as well. We made thaumatropes, which is where you spin two images (one on each side) and they become one image. Everyone enjoyed making their own “magic” art and it was a simple but effective project. You traced and cut out two circles of cardstock, and drew your two things that would line up and become one. Then you taped/glued them on either side of a wooden skewer and as you spin it in your hands, the images become one. It was a lot of fun, though some students took awhile to catch on to the concept.

Here you can kindof see the effect- this student did a dark cloud on one side and a yellow lightning bolt on the other.

We did a few other assignments too, like comic strips and some other fun assignments this semester.

The end of the semester was spent preparing for Parent Nights, we had one at each school to show the artwork that the students had done. It was a bit crazy trying to get things set up but overall things went well. With Junior High #2, we were part of their multi-cultural night, which was fun but we were a little out of place. It was neat to see some of the students do dances from their homelands. We were asked to do a PowerPoint that showed images and artwork from countries where the students came from. It was surprising that people from all over had come to Erie- there are students from Nepal, Bhutan, Iraq, Ukraine, Russia, Somalia, Puerto Rico, Congo, Burundi and Tanzania. I think it is pretty neat to have a diverse school like that.

I thought this picture of Nepal was amazing:

I suppose I have a bias towards Nepal, we worked with some little Nepalese children who were I think the sweetest children I’ve ever met. They just exuded love and they were so happy to see us! It felt great.

Here are our art displays at the two schools:

Overall, it was a challenging, but rewarding semester. I probably had the most experience with teaching children out of our group (thank you Primary and YW!) but I learned a lot here. It was good to see that I can do this, I can teach art to kids and succeed. It was good to have the two schools as a comparison. Junior High #2 sure kept us on our toes! It was great to see the students “get it” and create great stuff. I was amazed by a few of the students who very good at art. We had a lot of great students, and some definite characters. I think we had the best assignment being at the jr highs- we saw reports about what the other groups had done and it looked like many of the high schools were really difficult. I was blessed to have two great partners, we worked very well together and each brought good stuff to the group. The teachers who helped us out were great, too.

I miss my jr high kids! Even the rambunctious ones. ;) I’m excited for student teaching in the Fall!

Jr Field

So what did I do for the majority of this semester? Jr Field! Let’s just say it was a good thing I didn’t have any studio classes this semester- I don’t know how my classmates who did survived! Basically this was my studio class this semester!

Basically, this was a class that was preparatory for student teaching. I was assigned to work with 2 partners and we taught lessons at two jr highs (inner city schools located in Erie) each week as part of an after school program named CHAMPS. Other groups were assigned to one high school, they visited their schools twice a week. Overall it was a busy, crazy semester, but it went well and I was thankful for the experience.

Junior High #1 was a class composed of mostly girls and one boy who has Downs Syndrome. We didn’t really have to adapt much of our assignments for him, he could do most stuff. Everyone was pretty much the same age and overall they were the easier, more responsible group. It was pretty much the same group each week. You could trust them with more. Overall they were more dependable. You get the picture.

Junior High #2 was the opposite, and provided a great challenge. It was much harder to teach and motivate this group. The numbers of students fluctuated wildly, there was a much wider age range (some were elementary students), more boys, bratty girls, some students were siblings and had petty fights, more students had behavioral issues. There were just a lot of factors that interacted and created CHAOS. They were great kids, but overall it was much harder to gain their attention and keep them on task. Let’s just say they were really good at making messes!

And don’t forget that we were trying to teach kids that had already been in school all day. Challenge accepted!

We were given a surprising amount of freedom when it came to planning our lessons and curriculum. We had to write lesson plans for each assignment but we were pretty free to do what we wanted. Our teacher pushed having a “service learning” aspect in our curriculum, that was really the main requirement. Since we were only at each school once a week and you never knew if students would show up the following week, we mostly did projects that could be completed in one class period. We only did one project that lasted two weeks. We had 11 weeks of teaching classes, so we selected different mediums-drawing, painting, clay, etc- and devised projects that would give them experience with a variety of mediums. We wanted to give them a range. Plus, it was the best way to try and please everyone- not everyone likes drawing. We also tried to design projects that would build their confidence and where they could be successful regardless of ability.

The first week we had two class periods, 1) spent with our crazy teacher and 2) spent with the ladies from CHAMPS. We then got our partners assigned and had only a couple days to plan what we were doing with the students! It was crazy. We were totally thrown into things.

During our first class, our unique teacher had us chew gum and make a sculpture of the gum using a toothpick! And yes, we went around the room and talked about what we’d made and how we felt about the process. It was a bit of a gross assignment, but it broke the ice!
What we basically found ourselves doing was using Junior High #1 as guinea pigs and then adapting it for Junior High #2 since we knew things would be messier and more chaotic for that group.

The first week with students was totally a get to know you week- we played a decent get to know you game (I don’t play lame ones!)and had students fill out a survey about what they liked and read it out loud as part of the game. Us teachers filled one out too, so they could hear what we were like. The session was spent also seeing what these students could do- they’re neither kids nor teens so it’s hard to know where they fall as far as abilities go. We tried a paper cutting positive/negative activity that didn’t go so hot- our scissors from the college supply closet were totally crappy and probably wouldn’t cut butter, let alone paper. We also found that it was also a hard concept for them to grasp and that we needed to break things down into smaller, simpler steps.

For week one of our official unit we started our “real” lessons by drawing- we tried to teach the students how to draw faces and learn a little about proportion. We had the students try to draw their faces and do one side more realistic and one side more creatively or abstract. They did a good job but it was probably a bit too advanced for them. It was good to see them work through frustrations. What I didn’t really expect was so many self depreciating comments from students. They were more self conscious then we thought. Some girls fixed their hair for 20 minutes before drawing themselves, despite repeated nagging from us!

It was about in here that I went from having one partner to two- K had added the class late after our partner assignments were given out. Since we were the only group with two and not three, we were glad to get another person to help with the work! It was a bit of a challenge to get her caught up to speed with what we were doing, but she turned out to be a great asset. It was just one more thing to add to the chaos.

Week two was spent doing a “Picasso Dog” assignment. After giving the students a brief background about Picasso and Cubist art, we had them follow directions blindly and create their own cubist-style dog. You have them draw an eye anywhere and then turn the paper, then draw another eye, turn, then a snout, turn, then a tail and paw and connect it somehow and color it in. It was meant to get them experimenting and not worrying so much about being “perfect” in their art. There’s no way to be perfect in this assignment! The students used markers and did a pretty good job. It was pretty funny to see their reactions to Cubism.

Week three was spent having the students explore with watercolors. Our supply closet had some wonderful watercolor sets with lots of colors. We had the students explore with color and technique and then they could go back and draw a picture over it. We also had them create two little paintings that were woven together and matted. The students did well with it and liked painting. Once again, the assignment was focused on experimenting and not being “perfect”.

The next week was spent learning a bit about Pollock and how his drip style of painting was different. We were able to show them a clip from the movie Pollock where he explains why he painted like that and it also showed how Pollock intentionally flipped and splattered his paint onto the canvas on the floor, almost like a dance. The schools wouldn’t let us use You Tube, so we couldn’t show a video of the real thing and had to improvise. We then were really brave (or stupid) and had the students make splatter paintings of their own. The kids did well and everyone really liked the assignment, but Junior High #2 went wild and caused a big mess. They got paint all over themselves and the walls and floor! We even had a splatter box to try and keep it all contained, really we tried to make it less messy. It was a nice try. The other problem was that some kids did the paint WAY too thick. Both classes we had to leave the paintings behind to dry, even though we had brought hairdryers. That was a nice try. The kids did some good work, I loved the expression in each.

This is a long post, so I’ll stop here. Stay tuned for Part 2!

The saga continues…