More Jordan Valley News

1. Last week my student Matt returned to school. It is amazing that just 3 months after his stroke he is back at school. Getting around is not a big problem. He has a cane that he will use some of time but he does not need it all the time. His arm is still not used much. I noticed that when he sits he will stretch out his hand. He is at school 2 days a week and then he go to physical therapy the other 3 days. His biggest problem is still talking. He knows what he wants to say but it is hard for his to say or write it. He does have a word book and he will show me what he wants to say. Today for the first time he used the computer. He played a game but at least he was using the mouse and keyboard. It is amazing how people can recover.

2. In Personal Finance the students were to do a worksheet on simple interest. However the conservation centered around Big Foot, Spider Bears, and other creatures of the real or unreal world.

3. A student was telling me today that when a cow has not feed her calf you can tell because it looks like her bag is going to burst. I guess this student has a cow like this during the weekend. He looked in the field for the calf to no success. The next day he was ridding his four wheeler and found the calf. It had fallen in a badger hole and all he could see was the calf's head. He got the calf out of the hole and took him back to his mother. Everything was doing good however this morning he again notice that the cow's bag was full and the calf was no where to be found. The kids tell me that cows are dumb. I am thinking that they may be right.

4. The middle kids won their ball game this weekend against Harper. The high school also won. They even got to eat at Subway on the way home. If you live in a town with no fast food this really is a treat.

5. The kids are on the mend. However some are still sick with colds. I have them all sit as far from me as possible.

6. We had snow this morning. Last week we had lost of sunshine. I guess it still is winter but.....

7. Health is learning about eating right. We researched fad diets last week. The most interesting according to the kids was the tape worm diet. It is when you eat a tape worm so you will loose weight. Why anyone would go to this extreem is strange. The kids say it must be true because it is on the internet.

UPDATE

The cows that were stuck on the island have been saved. The water went down enough that they were able to walk off the island. No cows were hurt!

TIDBITS FROM JORDAN VALLEY

It has been a long time since I have blogged so I decided to catch you up with some tidbits of what has been going on in the big town of Jordan Valley, Oregon.

1. Everyone is sick. I was out all last week witht he flu and now the students are starting to fall. Yesterday 1/3 of our students were gone. With only 35 students in the school that does not leave many students in classs.

2. We have had some flooding around the area. On of my students has 8 cows that are stranded on an island that was created when the field flooded. There is about 8 feet of rushing water around the island. The cows are not able to get off the island (I guess they are not good swimmers) and there is no way to get food to them. My student thinks that they can last a week or so without food. On the bright side, he does not have to worry about hauling water to them.

3. My student Matt that had a stroke is now out of the hospital. He was at our last basketball game which was a very welcome site. He is able to walk with a cane but he still is only able to say a few words.

4. I bought gas at the local Shell station at lunch today. When I got back to school I had several students mention that I bought gas in town. (I usually do ot buy gas in town). I did not realize how quick the rumor mill worked in Jordan Valley.

5. Progress reports go out on Monday so students are rusing to get all of their assignments in so they will not be ground from basketball. Basketball is a very big motivator in this town. This year we do not have enough girls in the high school to have a team so the girls have been playing with the JV Boys team. We have two girls with black eyes and one with stitches in her lip. I guess it is safe to say that the girls are learning to play aggressive basketball.

6. My across the street neighbor got a new cow dog puppy. He is a little butterball so of course his name is Slim. Turkey was also suggested as a possible name.

7. This weekend (Friday and Saturday) we have two home basketball games. These games are the only social event in Jordan Valley. The little kids start at noon, and the high school games start at 4:00. In between a potluck. What better way to spend the weekend.

8. In personal finance class today we were talking about home mortages. One of my students said he was going to build a home of mud and sticks and he would not have a home mortage. I reminded him that most women now a days usually wanted a home with running water. He advised me that the creek could run through the house to provide running water. Think how nice this would be she would not even have to go out of the house to fetch the water. I hope he never marries.

9. Love is not in the air. So far today we have two breakups. This is hard to take for the guys when there are only 5 girls in the high school. I guess the girls have a bigger choice on a replacement.

10. The school year is more than half over. January and February are the worst months for school in Jordan Valley. The students are busy with school work and basketball six days a week. Practice is over at 6 and for some they have more than an hour to drive home or ride on the bus. Like a large family that is locked up in the house together the kids start to fight over little things. Drama is at a high among the students and staff. Maybe this world of mine would make a good soap opera!

So Does She Look Like Anyone On the Ellis Side?

Recently Michelle posted this picture of Johonna. This started me wondering if our little Johonna looks like any of her Ellis relatives. Check out the pictures below.

Jessica age 2, Sean age 1 1/2 , Great Grandad Ellis holding Grammy and Uncle Eric, Sara

Meagan age 2, Aunt Laurie and Brianna, Trisha age 2

Mom, Michelle age 2 Uncle Jack age 2 1/2 and Aunt Ashley age 2

What do you think?

Update on my student Matt

This morning we got a call from Matt's mother. The last CAT Scan showed that Matt's brain is swelling. They were going to do an MRI this afternoon and if the swelling is bad enough then they will do surgey to relieve the swelling.

When this news came across the PA system I had the middle school students in my room. They all looked so worried when they heard the word surgey. I tried my best to let them know that the doctors know what they are doing.

Please continue to say your prayers for Matt and his family.

"But Why Miss Ellis"

This past weekend and today at school has been some of the longest three days of my life. Friday during our last home football game one of our seniors passed out. At first the EMT's thought he may be suffering from heat stroke but then, the romor started among the students that Matt had taken some pain pills before the game. The decision was made to have life flight come to fly Matt to the hospital since it is a 90 mile drive. Time went by so slow as the game was delyed and we waited for life flight.

Saturday I got a call from my boss to update me on Matt's condition. The doctors were very sure that Matt had a massive stroke. My response was what? A 17 year boy in good health had a stroke. Who ever heard of this? Matt was in ICU and is at that time he was not able to move his right side. My boss asked that I call my my students in my guide class to update them on Matt's condition and to dispell the romors that Matt had taken pain pills. There were no drugs what so ever found in Matt's system. As you can guess my students were not only surprised but had lots of questions. Some I was able to answer but the question that they all asked that I could not answer was Why Miss Ellis? How do you answer this? There is no answer? I was as honest as I could be and told them that I don't know why bad things happen to good people.

Today in school we called the students together and updated them on Matt's condition. He is still in ICU and is being kept calm so that his brain does not swell. He is still not able to breathe on his own and he still can not move his right side. As the day went on students asked a variety of questions. Once again most I could answer but then one student ask "Why does life suck so much". Again I did not have an answer. I thought what my mom would say when life was in a down cycle which was "Well if you never had a bad day how would you ever know if you had a good day" Since I never really liked this statement I did not give my students this answer. I am sure I managed to say something but I have really do not remember what. I think this is one of those times when there is not an answer.

Please keep Matt and his family in your prayers.

Johanna Theresa Smith

My mom told me once that her mission in life was to be a wife and mother. She never dreamed of a career however being a wife and mother is one of the hardest jobs there is. My mom was born on the family farm in Lebanon, Oregon. (Near Crabtree) She was the 6th child of Peter and Gertrude Smith. There was about a 9 year gap between my mom and her brother, the next youngest. The doctor had told Gertrude that she should not have any more children but they so wanted more. My mom was named after her two grandmothers: Johanna Smith and Theresa Cliff. About a year and a half after my mom's birth her younger sister and best friend Toni was born. The two girls quickly were given the nickname of "The Twirps" by their older brothers and sisters. On the right is the only baby picture of my mother. It was taken at her first Strawberry fair. On the left and below are the twirps.

My mom's early years were spent living on the farm. They had walnuts and hazelnuts (filberts) as their main cash crop. To help support the family Peter worked at the local lumber mill during the day and ran the farm after work. My mom talked of her childhood often. She always felt loved by her parents. She loved school but she did not consider herself a good student. She and Toni help with the chores on the farm. She said that the walnut harvest was often in the rain and cold. By the end of the day her hands were covered black from the walnut casings. She once told me that she never wanted to marry a farmer.

My mom was raised Catholic. Sundays mornings were spent going to church and then having a BIG breakfast afterwards. Mom remembered always having to be at church early. Her father never wanted to be late. They would wait in the car until it was time to enter the church. After mass her dad, Peter, would read the paper while her mother was making breakfast. She would laugh as she talked about her brothers Don and Bob snitching bacon almost as fast as her mother could cook it. My mom always said that faith is a gift and like any gift it is up to us to use it to our benefit. She learned her faith from her parents and she taught her children her faith by her actions. Not just by going to mass but by saying the rosary and reading her prayer book every morning. She even had a prayer book in her car so she could read while she sat at red lights. She never talked bad of other religions, in fact she tried to understand their practices.

When she was 8 her older brother Don was killed when his ship the Liscomb Bay was sunk in the Pacific during WWII. My mom said that when the telegram came with the news her father cried. This was the only time that she recalled him crying. He felt such guilt because he had signed for Don to enter the Navy. This was a real tough time for the family. They were shaken and relied on their faith to understand WHY? As an 8 year old my mom did not fully grasp the entire situation. What 8 year old would? A couple years before my mom's death I found a book about the Liscomb Bay. After reading it my mom said that she felt closer to her brother. At last she understood what he went through. On the left is Don and the Twirps also known as his "Glamor Girls".

When my mom was in high school her parents sold the farm and moved to town. (Lebanon) They purchased a small house on C Street. Life was much easier in town with no farm to worry about. They did have enough yard to have a small vegetable and herb garden and lots of roses. My granny, Gertrude, loved her garden and took great pride in her roses. Living in town gave my mom more free time to enjoy her high school years. She was active with the youth group at church and was in choir at school. She enjoyed movies and music of the time. She loved going to dances with her family. I guess her parents were quite the dancers!

My mom loved her life. She was so proud of her family. Her children and grandchildren were her source of entertainment. When the grandchildren were little she could spend all day just watching them play. She may not of wanted a career but I am grateful that she was such a success in her career as a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. Mom thanks for being such a wonderful mother and friend!!