Good times...

It's been a good afternoon. The fact that it's Friday and I don't have to teach for 2 days definitely doesn't hurt.

After school today I was asked (or volunteered... or was asked to volunteer... I dunno) to help plan out the school-wide remediation plan and schedule for the next two weeks. So I spent a couple hours after school sitting with the principal and then I've been firing email back and forth with her all evening.

I realize that doing extra work is not normally cause for a good mood, but I've felt a little out-on-an-island for a good part of this year and having the principal ask for my help and then run not only logistical info (my strength) but also curriculum for gifted 3rd- through 5th- graders by me has been VERY validating.

Also, I think I'm gonna be teaching a bunch of kids to play chess and, possibly, Strat-o-matic baseball for the next two weeks. This could be very cool.

Laterz.

Question of the day- I just brought Sugar-Free Amp energy drink for 79 cents. I understand that that's a loss leader and the store's not making any money off me today, but given that price, how can anyone justify 3 damn dollars for that tomato-paste-sized can of Red Bull? Does it contain liquid gold? I don't get it...

For those of you who think my ego is doubt-proof...

I've spent a lot of time this year doubting myself. I know I spend a TON of time trying to do my job well, but I'm gotten very little feedback of any kind about the work I'm doing.

For this reason I'd like to thank my Curriculum for Gifted Students prof. She offered to write me a letter of recommendation any time I need one. And she based the offer on spending the last 8 weeks looking at my lesson plans and the projects and work that my students are doing.

For the first time in months, I feel like I actually know what the hell I'm doing. Of course now, if I tell my administrators to take a walk if they question anything, I may need that letter...

Laterz.

Hey. I can post from my phone! Cool.

Let's try this again...

I haven't blogged in almost 3 years. This is primarily due to the fact that I determined that no-one actually cared. I think I'm gonna start again. I assume that it's still true that no-one cares.

A quickie update/intro for anybody who's tuning in.

My fam and I live in the armpit of America. Armyville, NC. The fam is myself, my wife S.A., and my 2 boys- Sam and Pete.

S.A. and I are both teachers. She works with not-quite-middle-schoolers. I work with boogers-over-broccoli-eaters.

We always hold down a few extra jobs on the side and I'm perpetually enrolled in college classes. (A function of coming to teaching later-in-life with a degree that has nothing to do with education.)

For me, this blog is about to become my opportunity to vent, share stories, etc. It's my journal, just with an opportunity for feedback.

And truly, that's about it. Feel free to post comments and questions as the need grabs you.

We're about ready to take off...

Hey all...

I realize it's been a long time since I blogged, but I really do plan to do better for the next while.

We're about ready to move. For those of you who don't already know, S.A. and I have both accepted jobs in Raeford, NC. Our stuff is actually on it's way there as we speak. We take off Tuesday morning and will be in our new house on Wednesday night.

Though we're bummed that we're moving so far from our families (900 miles, give or take.) we both really believe that this is the best thing for us. It enables S.A. to start teaching and, since we're both working for schools, we'll (hopefully) be able to come back to Michigan for summers.

I'm really thinking of the move as a reset button for our lives. And after years of drama, money troubles, job issues, school, etc... I'm ready for it.


We'll be starting a flickr group so no-one will miss out on any pictures of the Samster growing up. And I promise I'll do better with this blog. (I did find it amazing that people checked in over 200 times since my last post. To those of you who kept checking in, hoping against hope that there'd be a new posting, I have but one thing to say - Google Reader.)

Anyway, I just wanted to take a second to say thanks to everyone who's been supportive of us through this whole process.

Special Thanks to-
Both our families for being a huge help through the moving process.

Matt, Kev, and Casey for helping move that damn piano again.

All my peeps at Stepping Stones for pretending to miss me when I left and for taking such great care of my boyo.

And to everybody else that I'm forgetting to mention because I'm too worked up now.

We love you all.

Laterz

Sick Day

As a parent, you find that rules become the most important part of your life. Whether it's things you MUST do, like read his 10 favorite books before bed every night, or thinks you MUST NOT do, like give him nuts or Diet Coke, it often feels like you don't really have to think very often when you're dealing with your child because there's probably a very definite rule established for whatever situation you face - so just do it.

A brief side note- The other day, a parent of a three-year-old told me that when their child misbehaves, Their punishment of choice is that their child doesn't get to have a book read to them before bed. My question to them was, "What does your child do that makes you want to turn them into an illiterate for the rest of his/her life?" Honestly, parents can be pretty stupid.

Anyway, as i said, my life is now based on rules. Except today. Today, my son is sick. Mr. Sam has been running a 102-degree temp for most of the last 24 hours. He's just kind of miserable. He has been unwilling to do much of anything but sit an whimper. To that end, my genius wife (and I say that with absolutely no sarcasm)decided that we were going to have dinner while sitting in the tub because he's been unwilling to eat all day and he was finally in a decent mood. Then, when he got out of the tub, even though we're WELL past his bed-time (between 6:30 and 7 pm) he was allowed to watch his new favorite Baby Einstein video. Understand that Sam's less that 15 months old. He is not, as a general rule, allowed to watch any TV at all. We're really trying to keep him away from the TV until he's at least 2, but there are times when he's really grumpy and I guess watch household animals interspersed with weird pet puppets once a month probably won't scar him to badly. Anyway, it certainly has been the ticket tonight.

Pictures of our evening follow-

Laterz.

Cop OD's on Pot Brownies

This cop should have just called Sam's Godfather. He could have eased his mind...

Picture Day

Sam just had his pictures taken for his first birthday. Just thought I'd share-