PhD 3

What was your father's profession?  My dad was an appliance repairman for Sears.  He fixed washers, dryers, refrigerators, microwaves, ovens and sewing machines.  Around the house he could fix any appliance we had.  I remember that our clothes dryer was getting really old and he was able to put a new part in and fix it.  We joked that he could resurrect any appliance.  We had the green washer and dryer set for a long, long time.

My dad's salary was modest, putting us in the lower end of the middle-class.  We qualified for reduced lunch aid. We couldn't afford name-brand clothes or lavish vacations, but we never went hungry or naked and managed to go on several family vacations.  My father's salary didn't bother me until I was in Jr. High school.  The way the school boundaries were at that time, I went to school with the part of Murray that had a lot of doctors and lawyers (an area referred to as the Dairy).  That was really my first time realizing that we didn't have a lot of money.  We weren't poor, but we couldn't afford to do the things that a lot of my friends did.  I am not bitter about that, it was just a fact of life that I remember learning.

My father had a respectable job and he worked hard at it.  He retired a few years early because his health was declining.  His knees, back and elbows were really sore.  I remember him hobbling up the driveway after work most evenings.  It was a great decision for him to retire when he did.  He had worked for Sears for over 30 years.

My mom didn't work until I went to college.  She worked at the elementary school as a teacher's aide for a while.  After a break, she took a job at White Elegance, a clothing store for LDS temple ceremonies.  She works there just one day a week now.

I remember being up in Idaho during my freshman year of college and I was having a rough day.  I called home to talk to my mom and she wasn't there because she was at work.  It was weird because I suddenly felt abandoned.  I was spoiled to have her not working when I was living at home.

Where did you live?  I grew up in Murray, Utah.  I lived in the same house my entire childhood.  In fact, my parents have been living in that house for over 40 years.  They moved in when my oldest brother was a toddler and stayed.  They bought their house for $15,000.  I'm not sure on the square footage, but I guess that it is around 1800 square feet.  It is a split-level home with three bedrooms and a bathroom on the top floor, a half-bath, living room and kitchen on the entry level and a , 3/4 bath, family room, a nice sized laundry/utility room and a bedroom in the basement.

I had my own room until the twins were born, then I shared a room with Kim.  When Dan was born, my oldest brother was getting ready to go on a mission for the church, so for a few years we had Randy in the basement bedroom, Kim and I in one room and Debbie, Denise and Dan in the other room.

My older three siblings all got married within an 18-month period, so once they were out, I had the basement bedroom, Debbie and Denise shared my old room and Dan finally got his own room.

Describe your neighborhood.  My neighborhood consisted of many one-level, rambler, and split-level homes.  There were a few two-story homes and they always seemed so big and extravagant next to the smaller homes.  It seems that the neighborhood had three main floor plans.  Two of my friends had the same floor plan as my house.  I didn't realize that they were the same until I was about 12 years old.  Each house had the basement finished off differently, and minor differences with door placement and such, but it was fun to go through the houses when I realized that they were the same basic floor plan.

We had a large condominium complex and apartment complex a few blocks south of our house.  We had a lot of kids move in and out because of the transient nature of condominiums and apartments.  I had three girls (Lib Remington, Heidi Dellinger and Tennelle Wanlass) and two boys in my neighborhood (Mark Ogden and Klint Davis) who were in the same grade as me.  I had several other friends who were just younger than me.     
What is your first memory? I vaguely remember talking to a nurse at the hospital in front of some elevators when I went to see my little sisters for the first time.  I would have been just shy of 4 years old (3 years, 9 months old, to be exact!)

Are there any other vivid memories from your early childhood?  My parents had a mint green van.  I didn't know anyone else who had a mint green van.  We had a lot of mint green things; our van, the washer and dryer, the vacuum and my dad's work van.  The funny thing is that my dad doesn't like mint flavored things! 

Kelly, Randy, Sherron and Kim in front of the van.

 I remember playing with a large wooden spool.  I don't know where my dad found it, but it was a lot of fun to play with.  He would bring one home occasionally and we would use it until it fell apart.

Kelly, Ronald (my dad), Randy, Sherron and Kim in the backyard with the large spool.

 Wallpaper.  Oh the wallpaper.  The kitchen had a large floral wallpaper that was yellow and blue.  It was never my favorite.  We had it for years.  My dad built a booth to accommodate our large family at the kitchen table.  He was very fashion savvy and matched the manogahide to the wallpaper!  The counter tops were yellow, too.  When I was in high school, the wallpaper started to peel away from the wall and I remember tearing it off of the wall, which kind of forced my parents to do something about it. I remember decorating the wall with pieces of paper that we had written quotations and silly thoughts on.  My parents have removed the booth (and the half-wall between the living room and the kitchen). 

Whenever I see yellow floral prints I think of the wallpaper!

The lovely wallpaper and booth.  I am amazed at how much my little Jane looks like me in this photo.

Jane 8 months old

My Favorite Things PhD2

What is your favorite type of movie? I enjoy romantic comedies, clean comedies and inspirational movies.  I really like watching a movie and feeling uplifted at the end or having a smile on my face because it was a fun movie.  Most action movies do not inspire or excite me.  The level of violence in a lot of movies really turns me off.  I do not watch movies about war.  I know that war is real and that it is historical and the stories and events surrounding wartime can be really inspiring and beautiful.  I really just can't get over the violence and hate that surrounds war.  I literally get sick with a headache and a sore pit in my stomach when I think about men fighting.  Mankind shouldn't hate so deeply.  I understand the need for change and that sometimes war is the only or last avenue to pursue, but I don't enjoy learning about the details of war.  Soldiers who witness things first-hand are scarred for life because of the events.  I get nightmares just thinking about the horrors they witness and I don't care to use my free time to watch war movies.

What are your favorite movies?  From the titles of this week's and last week's posts, one would be inclined to guess that The Sound of Music is one of my favorite movies.  That would be only partly true because I only like the first 2/3 of The Sound of Music.  I like the movie up to the point where the VonTrapp family is playing cat and mouse with the Nazis.  Suddenly this fun, happy musical is a war movie, and I don't feel safe or happy with it anymore.  Sure, they get away, but have you ever thought about what happens after the movie ends?  That family is stuck trying to cross a mountain with no supplies.  Since the movie is roughly based on real events, I know that the family survives, but I would rather have seen the movie end where they are truly safe, not heading into a treacherous escape into a new country.

Movies that are my favorites (in no particular order) include It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World, Oscar, An Affair to Remember, Sleepless in Seattle, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life (yes, that one takes place during a war, but it doesn't take place on the war field), My Neighbor Totoro, Radio, Sneakers, Ponyo, Pride and Prejudice (the BBC version), No Reservations, Singin' in the Rain.

What is your favorite theater play? I don't really have a favorite play, but the plays that I enjoy most are comedies. I don't think that I have gone to many dramatic plays (I saw Jane Eyre it was a musical- I didn't enjoy it much).  Daniel and I went to a play on our first date.  We saw Kiss and Tell. If I ever have to opportunity to see that again, I'd love to go.  It was witty and a lot of fun to watch.

I use to work at Desert Star Theatre as a waitress and in the box office, so I saw a lot of comedic plays while I was a teen. 

Who is your favorite actor?  I am not a big fan of movie stars.  While I enjoy movies, I don't get hung up over any actor.  I don't read People magazine or follow the awards shows.  In fact, I feel sorry for a lot of the movie stars because fans won't leave them alone.  I certainly wouldn't want the amount of attention that a lot of the stars get, so I try to leave them alone.

I do have several favorite actors though.  My favorite actor is Tom Hanks.  He has played many different rolls and I am amazed at how well he takes on the characteristics and mannerisms of each unique character.  I just find it amazing that the actor who played Forest Gump is the same actor who played Cast Away.  Philadelphia is another movie that made me appreciate his ability to portray his roles so convincingly.  

I am a sucker for Jimmy Stewart.  I think that he was a handsome, down to earth man.  I have read a biography of Jimmy Stewart and I enjoyed reading about how the cinema world worked when he first started making movies.  (Is it hypocritical to loath fan magazines, but to read a biography?)  I love watching James Stewart in the movie called Mr. Kruegers Christmas.  He was a delightful old man in that movie.  

Who is your favorite actress?  This one is a tough one because I don't really have a favorite.  I really liked Meryl Streep in Julie and Julia because she really put on a great show.  I'm not sure why, but there isn't a female actress right now or really ever who I gravitate toward.  I use to really like Meg Ryan because of her role in Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail, but I haven't enjoyed much from her since then.

One Dozen

Yesterday our family celebrated its 12 birthday!  Daniel and I have been married for 12 years!  We have made our anniversary a family event and we had a fun celebration with the kids last night.  Since we were celebrating number 12, I made a Dozen Dinner.  We had one dozen types of food and one dozen of each food.  Our menu included one dozen carrots, olives, apple slices, orange slices, rolls, turkey slices, pickles, deviled eggs, jello cups and cheese sticks.  We had a dozen brownie bites and ice cream rolls for dessert.  We lit one dozen candles and ate by candle light.  It was a fun little celebration!  I really love my family!

I was trying to think of a catchy title for this blog that used the word 'dozen', but all I could think of was "cheaper by the dozen" and that is not quite what I wanted to say about my marriage! 

It kind of seems unreal that I have been married for 12 years.  I feel so blessed to be married to Daniel.  We are a great team together and I know that we will continue to work well together.  I was thinking back to our wedding day and I cannot believe how naive we were about marriage and life.  We have had some good life lessons and we are a stronger couple because of them.  I'll write more about the life lessons during some of my personal history posts.

After dinner I checked my email.  My sister-in-law sent notice that my brother (Randy) had been in a rappelling accident in Moab.  He was life-flighted to the U of U hospital last night. He has two breaks in his back, a broken tailbone, he broke both legs and both feet.  He seems to be out of risk of nerve damage, but he has a long, painful road to recovery.

I hate how helpless I feel right now about this.  I know that his family is struggling with emotions and trying to spend time with him.  I don't want to bother them but I struggle with knowing how to be involved if they need me.  Facebook and emails are good.  I won't call them unless there is something specific and urgent that they need from me.  I don't want to act like I don't care, but right now I don't know that there is much that I can do.  I really hope that Randy has a smooth recovery.

This is scary.  My post last week about close calls is hitting home again.  (Jane fell down the stairs last week and seemed more scared than hurt.  It was scary and I only had myself to blame as I didn't latch the stair gate but thought that I had.  Crisis averted, but seriously that was a close call) 

Randy and Wendy, I love you.

Let's Start From the Very Beginning

A very good place to start.  When you read you begin with.... Man that song is stuck in my head now.  I thought that I would start my PhD series with some of the basic information about me.  So here we go!

When and where were you born?
It was a dark and stormy night.  Well, it was dark, but not stormy.  I was born on September 23, 1976 at 4:46 am.  I was 8 pounds 6 ounces and 20 inches long.  I was born in the Cottonwood Hospital in Murray, Utah.  My first two children were also born in that hospital.


Any information about your delivery?
My mom had really quick labors.  She woke up only about 1 hour before I was born and realized that she was in labor.  We lived only a few miles away from the hospital, so they got there in time for me to be born about 20 minutes later.  The nurse said that since I was in the posterior position (when the baby's head or rather,  face, is facing up during deliver instead of facing down) my delivery occurred at the hospital.  I most likely would have been a home or car birth if I hadn't been posterior.  The nurse also chided my mother for not coming in sooner because they didn't have a chance to 'prep' her (shave her lady parts and give her an enema).  I say good for my mom for missing out on that archaic labor prep. 

How old were your parents when you were born and what is your birth order?  My dad was 32 years old and my mom was 29 (and turned 30 the next month).  They had been married for just over 10 years (married in January of 1966).  Come to think of it, I was probably the product of their wedding anniversary celebrations.  I was their fourth child, second girl.  Kelly was 8, Kimberlee was 6,  Randy was 4.  My parents had three more children after me.  Debbie and Denise were born when I was 4 and Daniel was born when I was 11.  If you do the math, that makes me the middle child.  

Do a dear, a female dear, ray a drop of golden sun..  I seriously cannot get that song out of my head, and now you probably can't either, sorry.

Me a name I call myself: What is your full name and why were you named it?  Where there other names considered?  My given name is Sherron Kaye Willes.  (pronounced Shur-Ron, Kae, Will-Us) My mom babysat a girl named Sherron, liked it and used it.  Sherron is an unusual name because it is kind of a made-up name.  The girl who my mom babysat had an uncle named Sherlyn and an uncle named Ron.  They combined the name to make Sherron.  My dad's name is Ron and he liked the name Ronnie, but my mom didn't.  They used the name Sherron because it was kind of a compromise with Ronnie.  So my name is kind of hijacked from a different family group of names.  My mom's name (LuJane) is a made-up name from her grandma Louie and her grandma Jane.  So I'll take the name made up from people I am not related to over a combination of my parent's name.  Sherron wins hands-down over LuRon.

In full disclosure, I don't know that they ever considered LuRon, I am making that name up and hating every bit of it. They did consider naming me Marcy and obviously decided not to.  My sister Kim named her first daughter Marcy (actually, her name is Marciella, but they call her Marcy).

Did you have any nicknames?  My sister called me Sherny and I have had a few close friends call me that as well.  Close friends have called me Shern, a name that my husband doesn't like.  My neighbor Laurette Davis called me She-Ra (you know, He-Man's twin sister!)

Elementary school kids called me Shrimpy Sherron because I was the one of the shortest kids in the grade. That only lasted up through the 3rd grade.  In junior and high school I had a lot of nicknames that were generated from teachers and substitutes mispronouncing my first and/or last name.  The guys picked up on the names and called me some of them.  So names like Sharon, Sheerun, Willys, Wills were used.  In my 9th grade typing class my teacher couldn't figure out how to say my name.  She called me Sherroon one day (rhymes with maroon) and my friend Jeff Nelson called me that for the next 4 years.  I didn't mind because he wasn't doing it to be mean, it became a fun nickname from him. In college guys would hear my name and start singing the song "My Sharona" by the Knack.  (Great, now I can't get that song out of my head!) Some of my roommates called me Ronnie which is how I found out that my dad wanted to name me Ronnie. 

When I met Daniel (my husband, not my brother), we were talking about nicknames and he started calling out nicknames for my name.  He was trying to say one that I had never heard before, but he wasn't able to come up with one that was new to me.  Every once in a while he would say a name and I would tell him that I had heard that one before.  In December he was telling me about Adam Sandler's Hanukkah song when he came up with a nickname that I had never heard and it has stuck.  Daniel's nickname for me is Sherronica.  When Mark was little he thought that my name was Sherronica!  Daniel is the only person who can call me Sherronica, though.  He made it up and has eternal dibbs on it. 

Close Calls

This week I have had two experiences that could have had traumatic results, but didn't.  I still get a little shaken up when I think about them, but I am relieved that the outcomes of them were as benign as they were.

The first experience happened to me while I was driving to the gym.  It was around 8:30 at night and I was traveling east on 11400th south approaching the intersection at 2700 west.  The light turned green while I was about 30 or 40 yards away and the car waiting at the intersection turned left.  I was going to go straight across the intersection and there was a car behind me.  As I was approaching, I saw a truck traveling north on 27th west.  It was going really fast and I realized as I was entering the intersection that it wasn't stopping at the red light.  The truck not only ran the red light, but it turned at the intersection right in front of me.  I slammed on my breaks (and laid on my horn) while hoping that the vehicle behind me was paying attention.  Thankfully they were and they slowed down and swerved to the right.  My heart was racing and I was terrified because of what just took place.

The thing that made me really mad was seeing the driver of the truck.  I expected to see a bit of shock or a frightened face as the truck passed by me, but instead I saw three teenage girls laughing. They were laughing.  Ha ha.  Yah, really funny you stupid girls.  I don't think that they understood what could have happened.  I was in jeopardy with the truck and with the car behind me.  Someone could have been seriously hurt or even killed because of their actions and they were LAUGHING.

The second close call we had last week happened with Seth.  We were cleaning up dinner.  I had just finished loading the dishwasher, but hadn't put the detergent in, so the door was still open.  Daniel, Seth and I were teasing each other and having a fun time.  Seth playfully pinched my leg and turned around to run away from me, but he ran straight into the dishwasher door (it was open and the bottom rack was still pulled out).  He fell kind of belly-flop style into the dishwasher.  He started to scream and I started to panic when I saw where he landed.  He was on top of the silverware bin.  I had just placed the paring knife in the bin.  It was pointy side up and Seth was on top of it.  I picked Seth up and laid him on the ground to see how far the knife had gone into his stomach.  The knife only went in about 1/4 inch.  The only reason it didn't go in further was because the handle to the silverware bin was just slightly taller than the paring knife and his body weight fell more to the right where the handle was.  If he had been a few inches to the left, that knife would have gone about 3 inches into his little abdomen.

I was really shaken up by this.  I ran through what I would have done and what could have happened all night long.  I am grateful that he wasn't hurt badly and that we didn't have to spend time in the emergency room.

I have thought about these experiences a lot this week.  I have learned that what I have can be changed or taken away in an instant.  We can't always control what happens to us.  We shouldn't take what we have for granted.  I am very grateful for what I have.  I am grateful that the close calls we had were just close calls and not traumatic accidents.  But we were so close.  So very close... and I wasn't laughing.

Changes

I have been thinking a lot about my blog lately.  I really enjoy keeping a blog and documenting the things that I do with my family.  My fear is that I don't document many of my feelings or emotions about the events.  I would like for my blog to be more than just a travel-log of the Taylor family.  Before I started this blog, I wrote weekly emails and sent them to family members and friends who didn't live close by.  I found that I would edit out my feelings and thoughts to keep the content happy and politically correct.  Occasionally I would write about my emotions, but I wouldn't send that part of the email out. 

This is where I have struggled with the idea of a public journal.  I want to and need to put more about me in these posts, but I am afraid of exposing myself or offending someone for how I feel about something.  I am not a mean person, but sometimes I have emotions and thoughts about how people behave or about things that happen to me and I feel that by not writing about these emotions, my personality and personal history gets lost. 

I intend for my blog to be more about me from now on.  I want this to be more than a series of what I did and who went with me.  I won't stop posting about what I did, but now and again, I want to include why I did what I did, how I felt about it and possibly what I learned from the experience. 

 I want people who read my blog to understand and know me better.  When I print out this blog,  I intend for my children to read it and I want them to know more about me, not just where I took them.  To facilitate this, I am starting a series of my personal history and other things about me.  My goal is to answer around four to eight questions about myself weekly.  I hope to do this every Sunday and have it ready to post by Monday.  I will make it a point to not only answer the question, but to also explain my answer.  If the question is what my favorite color is, I want to explain why that color is my favorite, not just give a one word answer. 

A wonderful quotation gave me the energy to go forward with the idea of writing more about how I feel and being honest with my emotions.  Here it is:

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."  -Dr. Seuss

 I really struggle with voicing my thoughts sometimes.   I especially struggle expressing my thoughts in writing.  I know that I am not a wonderful writer, I've never sought out to be an author, but I do enjoy writing a journal.  I know that I struggle with grammatical rules and the sort, but I am going to work on this and not worry about how others might react to my ineptitude.  This will be a good exercise for me to find my voice and be able to express myself in writing better.  Hopefully the more I do this, the easier it will become.

By the end of one year, I will have answered around 250 questions about myself.  I think that not only will this exercise help others to understand a little bit more about me, but it will help me to understand more about myself.  I am in the process of writing out questions and I will have my first series of answers ready to read next Monday, January 17. 

I was trying to figure out if I should call these Q&A posts by a series name (like Q&A week 1) but I can't decide.  While saving the document with the questions, I titled it Personal History Document.  If you take the first letters from each of these words, it spells PhD.  I love funny little things like this, so I like thinking that this could be called Sherron's PhD. 

"Almost to the 40's"

Today is Daniel's birthday.  He is 38 years old.  When Seth heard how old Daniel was, he got really excited and said, "You are almost to the 40's!" 

We have had a running joke about the Emperor's New Clothes, so Seth and I put together a gift for Daniel based on our joke.  We made a logo that said "The Emperor's New World of Warcraft Tee Shirt" and attached it to a box.  We made a logo for some socks and some underwear.  The boxes were empty (but filled with the Emperor's new clothes) when we wrapped them. 

Seth was really anxious for Daniel to open the presents.  I was laughing so hard about these gifts before they were opened that I was crying.  Perhaps I should get more sleep!  Daniel was a really good sport and pretended to hold up the invisible clothes and admire them.  The boys got a kick out of the whole thing.  Daniel told Seth that it was a good thing that he opened his presents in the morning so that he could wear his new clothes to the bus stop.  Seth panicked for a second and told Daniel that he wasn't allowed to leave the house wearing his new clothes. 

We were planning on having dinner at home, but I forgot to get a few things, so we went out for dinner to Cafe Rio.  When Daniel was getting ready, he got dressed in everything but his shirt and came out saying that he was ready to go.  The boys laughed and told him that he couldn't wear his new shirt to the restaurant. 

We had a cheesecake after dinner. I bought one for the boys and I made a dairy-free, gluten-free one.  It turned out pretty good, but it will probably taste better when it is colder, so hopefully tomorrow I will enjoy another piece. 

Daniel's mom sent him some books for his birthday.  They arrived before Christmas and we didn't know it was a birthday present, so he opened it.  I have read one of them and I am working on the other. 

We had a quiet day here at home.  Jane took a longer nap than usual and the boys were in school, so Daniel and I had a chance to sit and talk about a lot of things.  We have such wonderful conversations.  It was fun to have the morning to ourselves.  

Happy Birthday Daniel!