I Actually Took Tracey to SEE THIS ARTIST LIVE in 96.

If this was not a sign that she was in for the long hall I don't know what is. I remember we were one of the few not wearing black...or a trench coat in 97 degree weather.

We were outside. The guy behind us kept taking off parts of his clothes and lighting them on fire.

By the end of the concert he was down to his underwear-(sponge bob style) and he was wearing a cape. I remember thinking...dude if there is a long encore you are screwed!

Here is to THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS!!

Time To Shift Gears in Music

When I hear these songs I get pumped! I am dating myself but I used to listen to them before any kind of physical activity. Way back in the days of football sure but hell I listened to these before intramural stuff in college. It did not matter...racket ball, basketball, or a game of checkers...it did not matter.

It took a while but Tracey actually likes these songs now. The orchestra softens it up for her a bit. These are great versions of the songs.



This one waste no time to getting to the point!

When I listen to this just stay away from me. I might get so excited I punch myself. I CRANK this one.

Nothing like a song about cocaine to get you going.

Admit it...you like this one...

You can deny it to me if you want...but I know you are like me. When this comes on the radio in your car you crank it up and sing along. I know you do! Especially the backup vocals....HEEEYYYOOO MAAAAMMMMAAA YEAH....

I Have Several Question's about this Video

I am going to start with this one.

Why is he dealing cards to people playing Roulette?

I would love to hear your questions.

I Can't Believe I Like This...Someone HELP ME!!

I don't know why I still like this song. Half of it I can't even tell what the hell they Falco is saying...seriously...what the hell is he saying....all I got is some ooohh's mixed with some Ahhs...with Amadeus, Rock Me Amadeus.....

Why the hell do I like this people????

I Never Get Tired Of This One

There are songs that I like. There are songs that I really like. Then there are songs that are in a special category for me. These songs I seem to never get tired of listening to. When I hear them on the radio I truely get lost in the song. Which I guess can be scary if you are driving. HA! These songs hit this category for me. Both of these are live but for me beautiful versions of their songs.



and

Hook Line and Sinker

Tracey and I have been wondering how much longer Jack would truly believe in Santa. We thought that maybe he was having second thoughts just by some earlier conversations we have had since Thanksgiving. But when the night came there was no question he was hooked.

When we put everthing out for Santa and everyone was going to bed Jack said, "WAIT A MINUTE" He noticed we had a few items by the fireplace. He said we had to move those to give Santa plenty of room to get out of the chimney.

Aha---Good Idea Jack

Then after the kids are in bed Tracey and I are in our room organizing Santa- Well Tracey was I was loafing and just talking...Hey I was tired.

Anyway, there was a knock on our door and it was Jack!

He told us we had to turn our light off NOW and go to bed or Santa might miss us!

yeah...he is hooked

Movie Review TIME!

Okay I wanted to watch a movie today and I wanted something where I did not have think. I wanted to check out mentally and watch a comedy that was easy going. Not stupid funny just funny.

I give you.....FRED CLAUS....now before you laugh at me please let me explain.

This movie was spot on for what I was looking for.

Had some funny parts
Had some cute parts

I cracked up at how disfunctional the Clauses were.

My favorite part of the movie....The Siblings Support Grop.

This scene was full of people who have famous siblings. THAT was a funny to me. I laughed out loud.

Overall I would give it a 3 out of five. It was exactly what I was looking for today. A very cute movie.

That is PATHETIC

That is the most pathetic offensive effort and game plan I have seen in quite some time from the Cowboys.

What a shame to waste that defense.

Oh you have got to be JOKING!!

Okay if you have a pet you will understand this.

We have 3 dogs.

Lilly- 11 years old- Miniature Dachshund
Max- 9 years old- Miniature Dachshund
Maggie 2 years old- Rodesian Ridge Back- Big Dog- 85 pounds. Loves her home and
God help the poor bastard that trys to enter that she does not
know.

Anyway,when we leave for the day we gate the dogs to a certain part of the house. They have access to one living area and one smaller living area that we use as an office. The dogs have access to a doggy door to go outside if they want or they can lounge in the house on cold or hot days and if they want they can take a nap in their pen's where they sleep at night.

I think they have it pretty good.

With all of this rain we have had we have a few muddy spots in our back yard. I came home the other day and there was muddy paw prints all over the floor. This I expected and it is rather easy to clean. You just have to mop the floor. We have wood floors for one of these exact reasons. But in addition to this they climbed up on the coach. The couch is leather but all over the leather couch was muddy paw prints.

I was not happy about that. I got all three of them together and I told them that this was not acceptable and if they had muddy feet to not get on the couch. I know you are giggling at me but they do UNDERSTAND.

So the next morning comes and it is still muddy outside. As I am letting them out for the day before I leave I remind all three of them (Really 2 of them..Lilly is too short in the pants to get on the couch) about not getting on the couch.

I come home that afternoon and I immediately look at the couch. No dogs are greating me at the door.....not a good sign. They are hanging in the back of the backyard.

The COUCH!- There is nothing on it! The dogs did it! AWESO....oh YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!

In the corner I see one of our pumkins from Thanksgiving decorations....let me restate that...what USED to be a pumkin. The pumkin met a very violent and grissly death that day.

Well they did what I said...they stayed off the couch but I said nothing about chewing crap up!

So now who did it?!?!?

I opened the door and in rushes LILLY and MAX- Okay they are innocent

Where is Maggie- MMMMAAAAGGGIIIIEEEEE...I call. She peers around the corner looking me .....ummm you called? was the look I got.

Come on girl I am not mad get in the house!

She walks in but when she gets to the room that locates the scene of the crime she stops. She won't move an inch.

She even plastered to the floor so I could not move her. Finally she got up and I was able to convince her that she was not in trouble.

Lost one pumpkin...but the couch is clean.

Christmas Shopping With Jack

I went shopping with Jack the other day. I bought Tracey's Christmas present along with some other presents that we needed.

Jack asked me this...Daddy, who are we buying presents for again?

My Answer: Well Jack we are buying a present for Mommy from Daddy and another present for Mommy from you and Caroline. We need to get a present for Pa an Grammy from you and Caroline as well.

Jack: Um...Do you see a problem here!

Me: No

Jack: Um we are buying presents for everyone except Jack!

Was that a SWAT Helecopter That Just Flew Over?

As I mentioned before when I was growing up from the time I was born until I was in 5th grade my mom was a stay at home mom. To make extra money my dad did extra jobs with a buddy of his. Eventually they went in together and began building houses together and selling them. My dad took those profits and began building small houses (1000sq. ft.) and renting them. Mom and Dad built up quite a little empire and those houses paid for not only my sister’s education but mine as well.

The FUN part was they were not exactly in the best neighborhoods. It was nothing for building materials to “walk off” in the middle of the night. You live and you learn. My dad started having stuff delivered THE DAY he was putting it on the house. When we sheet rocked he literally took it out of the back of his truck and we carried to the room we would sheet rock and put it on the wall.

On day we were putting siding on the house. I remember I was 13 or 14 years old. I was now getting big enough and strong enough to actually do something other than clean. As we were working I noticed a police car turn off of the main road onto the road that we were building on. The road we were on my dad built 3 houses on and I noticed the police car was turning on the road that ran into ours. My dad had 2 houses on that street.

Dad said nothing and kept going so I did as well. Then a second police car fly’s by. Dad kept going. The third came by. Dad did nothing. When the POLICE HELICOPTER flew over I could not keep my mouth shut. I asked my dad…you think we ought to get out of here? Dad said, why? My thought was …. Oh I don’t know dad….Maybe the SWAT HELICOPTER was a clue.

Then you hear these words that always let you know here is a couple that truly love one another…. “THAT’S RIGHT PIGS!!! COME IN AND I WILL KILL HER!

Dad – Um…maybe we should take a break and go get a burger.

SOUNDS GREAT DAD!!!

Am I a Junky?

I think I am becoming a face book junky! I joined face book a while back because a friend of mine was talking to me about some things they had heard regarding our 20 year reunion coming up in a couple of years. I wondered how they had that information because I knew nothing! The answer was???? Face book. He went on about the groups they have and there was a group about our high school reunion.

I decided to take the plunge and get it set up. Then I find all of these groups that I am interested in joining. It is amazing how many people that I have not talked to in YEARS are on this thing.

Many of the old neighborhood kids that I have not seen in 20 or more years are contacting me or I am contacting them. It is pretty neat to see what they are doing.

Things I like?
Some of the games they have on Face book I find addicting…Mob Wars and Poker!
I like the ease of the lay out.
Easy to find people and groups.

One thing that is annoying at times-
All of the updates of what your friends are doing.- Now let me explain….Do I need to know that a friend of mine just bought “bling” or is friends with someone I have no clue is?

I am sure these people hate getting all of my MOB WAR updates. I wonder if I can turn that off?

Bringing Grandpa Home

With all of the stories about my grandfather Jdhteach sounding kind of bad I thought I needed to throw in a different one. I don’t remember the exact year but I think it was the late 80’s. Grandpa had open heart surgery and we were picking him up from the hospital and he was coming home to live with us for a while so that he could fully recoup. We were on our way home and Grandpa was clearly still uncomfortable.

Coming home Dad hit a bad patch in the road and it was very rough. Clearly this was hurting Grandpa. When my dad got off the road my grandfather had this to say.

“ I think I saw one or two pot holes on the right that you missed if you want to go back and try and hit them.”

I started laughing…couldn’t help it. My dad never said a word and just kept driving. Probably was best.

Would Everyone Shut The #$%$# Up! I Can't Hear Him SING!!

Do You See Me? I Am In The Back Row!!

One of My Favorites

This is a beautiful version of this song

Check out The Hair!!

T-Lady Poll

Tracey has a poll on her blogg. 80's Rock Bands...check it out.

Her Link is to the left.

Being a former Principal I Giggle At THIS!!

Umm....Does Anyone Else See This is Wrong?

Man We Took One In The SHORTS!!

So I have been doing my job and making sure we are eating in all week. Tracey and I have really been doing well about not going out so much. So last night we decide to go out to eat as a family. We try to support the locals around our house. We have some very good privately owned places to eat.

Well, last night we went to a place that was pretty good. I will leave it at pretty good. They seem to nickel and dime you (Entree..oh you want a salad? 4.95 more please) The food was okay so I did not complain.

But then came the bill.

3 BUCKS for a COKE?????

Total with tip....over 50 BUCKS!!! Won't go back.

Where are the BANDS?

Saturday morning Tracey and went to see our towns Christmas parade. I have been to the parade probably a half a dozen times since I graduated highschool 18 years ago. I have fond memories of the Christmas parade. In highschool we always had fun marching in the parade.

The song our band director wanted us to play was a little lame and we were known to play other things when we got tired of playing the SAME christmas song. But after the first 15 times you play "Step Along with SANTA" and you still have two miles to go...Sorry Mr. Band Director we are moving on to something else. The funny thing was we knew what song to play by the cadance of the drum line.

The band directors would get pissed but there was nothing they could do about it so they just smiled and waved to the crowd as we did our thing. Trombones would do some head chops...Tuba's would swing around...drumline would get fancy with some moves....

The important thing was the crowd LOVED IT!!!

Each year all of the highschool band, cheerleaders, and drill teams march in the parade.

Two years ago (my last trip) that was still the case. Then the other day we kept waiting...and waiting...and waiting...No bands.

My kids LOVE the bands. They hear the music and the drums and they start getting excited. They know Daddy and Aunt Dana did band in high school and have even watched some old performance tapes I have.

This year there was a combined band of ALL 4 highschools. A grand total of about 60 kids. My highschool band had 300 kids in it and that was 18 years ago. It has grown since then. WTF????

Not only that but when the band was playing Rudolph about 1/3 of them were not playing and were just talking. AGAIN I SAY WTF????

All four of this towns highschool bands are EXCELLENT. There is a history of excellent bands in my town. When I was in highschool we placed 9th out of over 400 5A bands in the state of TEXAS. We were (*&E@#'in good! My sister was in the band and they were just as good as we are.

People like to hear the bands at parades.....I am not even going to mention that only ONE of the highschools drill teams showed up. And one highschool did not have ANYONE SHOW except for the handful of kids that marched with the band. No drill team, cheerleaders nothing.

WTF HAPPENED? My wife still works in our hometown district so she did some investigating. It seems that the Christmas parade has become OPTIONAL.

That to me is sad.

Dad Stands Up To Grandpa- The Series Continues

Christmas of 78 or 79 I got a new remote controlled Trans Am AND a remote control Semi-Truck. The truck even came with cones so you could steer it through an obstacle course. I was so stoked! Now I could play SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT!! The day after Christmas dad was going over to see Grandpa H. (From the bar story). Dad asked me if I wanted to go and show Grandpa my new remote controlled truck. Grandpa being a truck driver in his younger days my dad thought my grandpa might enjoy it.

Now I have to describe my Grandpa H. MJP remember's him well. In his later years (last 5 to 7 years)grandpa was very nice. Growing up the only way I can describe him is "rough" I knew he loved me and my sister but he had a very hard time showing it. Now put a six pack of beer in him and he became sweeter.

So we get to Grandpa's house and he is not there. My dad tells me to take my truck and set it up in the bar. When Grandpa gets home he will come and see it.

Now I need to describe the bar- This was an addition onto the back of the house. It was was a large room with a fireplace, a couch, a record player that was as big and long as the couch, a large space for dancing, and a bar that sat eight people. The keg was set up in the fridge and a spout came off the side of the fridge. All you had to do is get your glass and you had beer on the tap!

THE BAR- was my grandfathers SACRED area. Kids were not allowed in there without Grandpa being in there. This was an established law. So maybe you can understand my questioning look to my dad when he told me to go set up in the bar. But I did as my dad said.

So I get set up and am having the time of my life playing with my truck. Grandpa enters the house and he goes into the kitchen and is talking with my dad. Dad tells grandpa to go into the bar because JDHTEACH has something he wants to show me.

My grandfather realizing I was in the bar without supervision got PISSED and marched into the bar. As he enters the room my truck is rounding the corner and grandpa stepped on my truck and crushed it. It was an accident he did not mean to do it but the damage was done. I was just speechless. I said nothing and just ran into the den. Dad seeing this entered the bar to see what happened. He sees my truck and he LIGHTS INTO my grandfather.

It was the first time I ever saw my dad stand up to my grandfathers behavior. He basically told my grandfather what an ASS he was. For the first time in my life and the only time in my life did I see my grandfather get chewed up. My grandfather new he had screwed up so he said absolutely nothing while my dad chewed on him. To this day it is the most upset I have ever seen my dad. I think if my grandfather would have said a word my dad would have punched him. I am not making that up.

When my dad was done with my grandfather he was just sitting in a chair with his head down. My dad walked out of the kitchen and as he opened the door he said, "Get in the truck son." I just got up and did what my dad said. I did not say a word.

On the way home dad stopped off at Toy's R Us and bought me a new truck. I was so amazed at what I had seen. I had a new sence of pride in my dad. From that day on my grandfather was different towards me and my sister. Sure he could still be an ASS to people but when it came to the grandkids he KNEW....THE KIDS WERE OFF LIMITS.

Top Rock Band of All Time?

If you say Led Zepplin or Beatles or Roling Stones..(GAG( you are OUT!!!! LZ was good and I do like them but I think that they are OOOVVVEEERRR RAATTTEEEDDD!!

Crappieraider started me thinking with a post on his blog. Who would be the TOP. Not your favorite...there is a differance here.

You have to consider bands that move across decades.

My favorite band is Queensryche. I love all of their stuff. Their lead singer is as strong vocally as he ever has been. But I am not going to consider them for this category. Why? Because you have think globally. Sure QR was huge in the late 80's and early 90's but now they play 6,000 seat places tops!

I present to you this band for consideration. They have been doing this a long time and can still put 80,000 in a stadium

RUSH! Pull them up on Youtube....Type in Rush Rio Look at that and tell me what you think.

A Day That Will Live In Infamy

I hope you take a moment today to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Please take a moment and click on the link below. I would like to thank my Great Uncle Dallas who was at Pearl Harbor on that day. Thanks "Curly"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0EIJ5q_reM

Ah, To Be Productive Again!

For quite some time when it comes to doing extensive work around the house I have either been to tired to do anything because of work or I can't do anything for very long.

Well yesterday I worked with Tracey cleaning out the garage. We needed to do that because for about a month we had not been able to get both cars in the garage. I know it sounds like we are junk people but we are not. We have been moving things around and actually cleaning out the house....kind of a spring cleaning in the fall and we needed to do the same thing in the garage! We took literally EVERYTHING out of the garage and made a keep , donate, and a trash pile. Then we swept out the garage, reorganized the keep the stuff and moved forward.

I then helped Tracey with getting the outside Christmas stuff set up and our house looks GREAT!!!

I even mixed in a run to HOME DEPOT. I only needed one 5 or 10 minute break.

I still had energy to go out to eat with the family and we went to go look at Christmas lights.

It was a red letter day.

A Family Reunion at the Pokey!

I don’t remember exactly how old I was when this story took place. I think I was in about 2nd grade. Late one night or early in the morning you might say my dad comes into my room and says, “Big Fella, I need to go pick up your Grandpa. (My dad’s dad). Do you want to go with me?” I said, sure! Groggily.

Jump in the truck and off we go! I did not understand exactly where we were going to pick Grandpa up at 3:30 in the morning but who cares…I am with dad. We make a lot of small talk and I remember pulling in front of a building in downtown Dallas. It had police cars parked in front of it. We go in and my dad goes to the “receptionist” and tells them that he is there to pick James H up.

Here is how that conversation went.

D- I am here to pick up James H.
R- Looks through her files- (before computers I guess). She can’t find James H. She
Finds a Jimmy H.
D- That is my brother. I will take him.
R.- I have a Jackson H.
D- That is my cousin I will take him
R- I have a Jerry H.
D- (Obviously getting upset) That is my cousin. I will take him
R- Ah, Here he is James H.
D- You would think they were having a family reunion!

Officer escorting a guy in the back in cuffs-CAN I BE YOUR COUSIN??

My dad pulled out a large sum of cash and gave it to the lady. Shortly there after an officer comes out with my dad’s side of the family and hands them over. My dad makes all of them get in the back of the truck and he and I ride in the cab.

Why is that such a big deal? It is January and it was snowing. I remember looking back into the bed of the truck and they were all asleep. That is a serious drunk with it is snowing outside and you are sitting in a wind chill of about 20 below zero and you are sleeping like a baby.

How did this happen? At the time my uncle owned a small bar somewhere in Dallas. At 2:00 they closed the bar and sent everyone home. My uncle shut the door locked it and then the party began. It seems the “family” decided to keep the good times flowing. While this was going on my uncle got into a disagreement with his girlfriend at the time who was also the waitress in the bar and he sent her home. She got mad at him and called the police to inform them that she knew of a bar that was selling alcohol after hours.

The police show up and sure enough drinks are “ a flowin”. They arrest everyone in the bar. This is obviously a bogus arrest. The police are arresting everyone who is drinking after the 2:00am shut off. This is obviously PROFILING!

My dad dropped them all off at my grandpa’s and we go home. Now before you think…why would my dad bring me? Remember what I said in my opening….I cherished getting to spend time with dad. I had no idea of the reality of what was happening. In my world we were picking up Grandpa and others as it turned out from some building where they were obviously sleepy and the police were kind enough to look after them. Had no clue why dad was giving them money. Turns out that little trip cost dad about $1,000. I am sure he never saw that money paid back.

Father and Son Bonding....THE SERIES

I am going to start a new “series” for my blog. It is a series that centers on some of the father and son time that I shared with my dad that led to some pretty interesting stories. I have told some of these stories to people before and they just shake their head. This is not the only thing I am going to blog about but I will sprinkle in the stories.

When I was growing up my parents made the decision that my mother would be a stay at home mom. This meant that if my dad was not a school function in the evenings he was doing some spare job to make extra money. So there were many times I saw dad at breakfast and that was it until the next breakfast. So ANY time I got to spend with dad I took it. It did not matter really what we were doing or the time of day we were doing it. Many times I was too young to really understand what or why we were doing it but who cared…I was with dad.

I say this so that when you read about some of these stories you don’t think that my childhood was scarred in any way!

I hope you enjoy the stories.

NEW BLOG IN LINKS

CRAPPIERAIDER- Check this blog. This is one that I check out on a regular basis. I know this person and I know you will enjoy it.

ALSO-

ajbprin1.blogspot.com

Another one of my friends. She just started blogging Life and Times of an Educator

Flying Trash Magnet

My car has become a flying crap magnet! I spend probably a total of an hour and a half to two hours on the highway a day. Grand total of about 55 miles a day round trip. With my new position I drive probably an additional 10 miles running from school to school. Not every day but most days.

It seems over the last month as I am traveling on the road my car has become a magnet for flying crap to land on or hit and fly by. For instance:

1. I was driving down the highway last week and a truck that was ahead of me and in another lane hit something in the road and it kicked up ….flew OVER the car in front of me and it my car right on the passenger headlight. HARD! So hard that I was convinced I just got my front head light busted out. When I got to work I looked over my car and it (whatever it was…it looked like chunks of concrete) did not bust out my headlight but it scraped the paint pretty good- to the point that it was down to the medal in two parts. I might be able to buff out most of the scratches but the two biggies are there to stay.

2. I got out of my car yesterday and noticed I have a noticeable white scuff mark on the passenger side mirror. I don’t know if this is from a different instance or more damage from the flying chunk of mystery material from last week.

3. Today, I am traveling to another campus and the road is made up of very small gravel. The speed limit is 25 miles an hour. I get to the stop sign and stop. I start to go and I see a county sheriff is behind me. No big deal. He then TAKES OFF from the stop sign. He passes me (ON A ONE LANE ROAD) and as he is passing me here comes another car coming down the road……DECISION TIME!!! This sheriff’s car is a Dodge Charger. V8 Hemi engine. He has many horse power and he FLOORS IT to get past me….not hard considering I have 4 cylinder Camry . As he passes me he hits the gravel and yes…SPRAYS IT ALL OVER MY CAR!!!

I am not going to say what I said but I had some choice words for ROSCOE P. COLETRAIN!!!

Sure enough I got to where I was going and there I had some marks on the grill of my car from the sheriff.

I would not mind this if he were going to an emergency as bad but come to find out I was just moving slowly when he was breaking the law and needed to get passed me so he could go HOME!!!

I have had my car for 2 and ½ years. I like to keep my cars looking nice. I only have 40K on it and I would like to keep it until at least 100K….The engine will make it…the body may be beat all to you what by the time I get there.

So if you hit crap in the road would you please quit hitting me!!!!

James Bond Gadgets That Don't Work!

There is Language...beware...just a little

CAKE OR DEATH!!!

Who Knew That R2 D2 Was Such A Clutz?

Star Wars Humor

You Go Girl!

Well Tracey jumped out there on Friday. She left the house at 4:30 and met me and the kids at McDonalds for Breakfast at 9:00. She got some really good deals. Even picked up a TV and DVD player for our bedroom. Watched a movie in our room yesterday....it was NICE!!

Another Thanksgiving Dinner

Well tonight we have another TGD over at my brother-in-laws house. It is his side of the family and his wifes side of the family. Good visiting and always good food. One of the nephews is going to cooking college! Never disappoints. Watch a little football. Go Oklahoma! It is the only way TEXAS stands a chance.

That would be COST- CO Jack

A while back Jack was with my sister traveling down the highway. I don't remember where they were comming from. I think it was a golf store....

ANYWAY

Jack has been really reading everything he can. He tries sounding out ANY WORD he sees.

They past by a store and sounded this..... CCCCC...OOOO..NNNN...DD..OOO...MMMSSS TTToooo....GOOO.....Condoms to GO???/

OOOhhhhh...Jack told my sister....Pa takes me there all the time!!!

My sister nearly swerved into the curb.... I don't think so Jack....

Uh HUH...was his answer...We go there and get a HOTDOG all the TIME!!!!

My sister....Ummm Jack that's COSTCO.....

Well isn't that it? was Jack's response....

No...No Jack they sell other items at that store....

Recipe's That Let's You KNOW it's THANKSGIVING

For me it is my mother's CHEESY CORN BAKE. This is something that my sister and I were talking yesterday about it and wondering when it was "introduced" into the family. We think around 84 or 85.

Basically it is CORN, melted down Philadelphia Cream Cheese and several cans of green chilis. IT IS SOOOOOO YUMMY!!!

What recipe's let you know it's the holiday's?

What Was With The Half-Time Shows??

So yesterday was football intensive to say the least. The games turned out to be blowouts but usually you get some good halftime entertainment. That was until yesterday. I will say this.... the kids that performed had some talent but I spent most of the half time trying to figure out who these people were. I have at least HEARD of the Jonas Borthers but have not heard any of their music. They were off yesterday as far as I was concerned. To give them a benefit I will say that they tried to sing LIVE to piped in music. This caused some delays. The lead singer though....his style....it sounds like he is about to cry after each lyric. Each lyric ended in a...MMMMyyyyuhhh or a mmmmmmmmmmhuhhh..... Oh the pain that 19 year old has seen.....I could FFFFEEEEEEELLLLL ITTTTT

At both half times yesterday we had about 15 people pay attention for ABOUT 2 minutes. Then we put the TV on MUTE and went on about our business of visiting.

Looking at the crowd at Texas Stadium on TV they did the same thing.

The local sports radio station here said that there was MASSIVE CHECK OUT during the first 5 minutes of half-time. He said it looked like they were having an emergency evacuation drill.

I think there was talent there in my honest opinion but I think the NFL needs to relook at their AUDIENCE and think a bit about what they throw out there for entertainment. 40 year old guys don't GET the Jona's Brothers.

Go Ahead...Tell Your Momma....HAVE HER CALL ME!!

Okay this is a funny one! Yesterday I was watching the Cowboy game and the kids were playing in their room. Tracey was in bed sick and the kids were struggling on being quiet. All I wanted to do was watch the game in some quiet so when the kids asked me if they could go next door and see if their friend could play I was so happy to say SUUUURRREEEE.

Well, the next door kid came over to our house. No big deal because they went into another area of the house and watched TV ....QUIETLY.....

Then two more friends showed up at the door. Come on in! Into the room they went and watched TV.

Then another one showed up at our door.....sure come on in.

Jack came in to ask me if he, Caroline and the four friends could go into our back yard and play in the fort. Of course Jack, was my answer....that is what it is for. Off they went. It got a little loud out there but I did not care. They were outside....if you cant scream there where can you? Besides...I had every kid within two blocks in my backyard.

It did not take long before Jack came in and asked if they could get drinks. No problem was my thought. He took a diet drink out to each kid.

This is where it went down hill.

My dad came over to do a little honey do at my house and he asked if I could help him for a minute. No problem. We were done in maybe 10 minutes. Then I had to make one small run to meet someone who was buying a bookshelf from me. Dad, said...go ahead I will stay here.

I got back and he said you might want to go check on the kids in the back yard. I go out there and there are about TWELVE SODA CANS in my back yard and all the kids are WET!!!! The twin boys showed the other kids how to shake up the cans and open them up to where they would shoot out at other people. Basically like a roman candle fight only with SODA's.

I calmly got a trash bag and went outside and told the kids. Well you had fun with that now CLEAN IT UP! I am more than happy to provide a drink to you but I did not buy a twelve pack of drinks for you to POOR ON EACH OTHER!

I went back in. A few minutes later Jack comes in and says....WE CANT OPEN THE BAG!!! Figure it out! Was my answer.

A few minutes later I go out and they still cannot open the bag. I told the kids. I am going to clean this up but now you all have to go home. You are not welcome here for the rest of the day. Goodbye! You may go over to and play at one of your houses and you can trash up YOUR house but you are done here.

One of the twin boys had the guts to say...that is not a trash bag. I looked at him and I popped it open and I said WELL WHAT DO YOU KNOW I GUESS THE BOX I GOT IT OUT OF THAT SAYS TRASH BAGS WAS NOT LYING TO US AFTER ALL!!!

The kids just looked at me....and I said...GO AHEAD....GO PLAY AT SOMEONE ESLES HOUSE...TRASH IT UP. ..... IF YOU THINK I AM BEING UNFAIR AND YOU TELL YOUR PARENTS THAT I AM MEAN ....HAVE THEM CALL ME....I WILL TELL THEM WHAT YOU DID!!!! AS A MATTER OF FACT PLEASE TELL YOUR PARENTS...I WELCOME THE PHONE CALL....

The kids disappeared so fast...they cleared out in a matter of seconds.....and I am still waiting for my phone call.

Daddy is UP but now Mommy is DOWN!

Well, I think I can say I am on the upward bound physically. I still have some coughing fits but overall my energy is doing pretty good. That's the good news. The bad news is now Tracey is sick. Fever is the main issue but there is also others. We worked our yard sale all day Saturday (FROZE OUR BUTTS OFF). Went to church and after that lunch. That was the last time we saw Tracey (aka Momma) yesterday. She was freezing! Which I thought was odd because it was in the mid 60's yesterday. She took a shower and went to bed. That was it. She skipped dinner and went to the store for one item. Then back to bed.

She balked when I told her to get a sub for today but I insisted and she did not put up much of an argument. So she is in bed again today. Good news is no fever. Bad news achy. Might be home tomorrow too.

No biggy...now it is my turn to do everything while she rests.

I am off for the week so I had honey do's anyway. Now all I do is add...check on Tracey about every two hours. Most of the time it is just get her meds because I don't think she moves!!!

My Story

My story is a detailed one. I am not going to break it up into parts because I want to get this out and move forward. My story began at the beginning of the year. I was very excited in my professional life because my campus had reached “recognized” status in my third year of leadership. Of course I did not do this alone and with my health requiring me to be gone for long periods of time obviously I had great people working with me. I had a lot of pride in what we had accomplished. When I stepped into my campus 3 years ago there were several areas that needed to be addressed. It does not matter what areas for this story just know that it required ATTENTION. I hired a young lady, A as my counselor. I had worked with A in a previous district and she was exactly what I was looking for. Someone young, beautiful, energetic, great with kids, but if she had to she could work with anyone in any area of instruction. We spent a lot of time together and she and I were on the same page. Year two I was allowed to hire an AP and I knew who I wanted there as well. I interviewed others but the person I hired was on my campus as a teacher. Her name was E. She had the same characteristics as A. Put the two of them together and you have a very powerful leadership team. All I had to do is tell them what I wanted to have happen and they just did it. Mistakes were made, don’t get me wrong but the second year went pretty darn good. Then year 3 started. All I had to do was point them in the right direction and they just did it. It was AWESOME!!! My job was easy. I had to leave due to a relapse but these two ladies NEVER MISSED A BEAT! I was involved in decisions but these ladies did all of the hard work.

Then this year started. Almost everyone in my office staff was promoted. First, A to AP in another campus. Then I found out E had to leave because her husband got transferred. No problem I thought. I can do this. I can train new people. I will find good people again and guide them just as I had before. In the back of my mind I knew that my doctor had told me 15 to 24 months before my energy level would come close to normal after my second transplant and I was 4 months out at the time. But I felt good and I was ready to roll. I found good people to fill all of my vacancies and while I was putting in some pretty long hours 60-70 a week I knew once school started things would slow down.

It is here that I started to see cracks in my foundation. For some reason I was seeing people that had slid back into some habits that were not good. Not bad mind you but they had slipped. My experienced teachers, ones that I had gone into battle with, were not stepping up and taking charge and guiding the new folks. This fell to me. Then my new administrative team who are good at what they do I realized could not guide the new teachers as well because they were afraid they would lead them in the wrong direction. So I found myself spending more time with them because they always wanted to run their decision my me before they did something. 99 percent of the time I agreed with them but still it took time to do it.

Then this year a group of parents came in who are very high maintenance. Their kids are a challenge and for the most part these parents refuse to address the fact that MAYBE just MAYBE some of the blame rest with their kid. At the moment it is all us. I was warned by their outgoing principal at their elementary but wow she could not do these people justice. I can’t count using both hands and both feet how many times I walked into the building at 7:15 to 7:30 (we start at 8:30) and I would have multiple parents wanting to see me.

I started spending more and more hours at work just to keep my head above water. As I have mentioned before Tracey was pretty much a single mom and doing everything at the house because I was doing everything I could to keep things going at work. The problem was it did not seem to make a difference. So I put in more time. Still, no difference. It got to where my energy was getting exhausted each day and my immune system started to be affected. I started having Stomach problems and then the infamous cough. It became such a beating to get through the day that I literally had nothing else to give when I got home. I would come home, eat, play with the kids for a little bit and then off to bed I would go. My thought was that I would get refreshed and get a good nights sleep and hit it again tomorrow. It would be better tomorrow. The problem was it never got better…it got worse. I started spending more time at work trying to take care of everyone and I began getting more run down. I started going to bed earlier. Getting dark earlier did not make it seem so bad. Going to bed at 6:30 sounded good to me. It was dark for an hour already.

This is when I started getting depressed about my situation. I got so run down that I ended up in the hospital for two days. I started to think…what am I going to do? I can’t give any more than I am giving. I am literally killing myself. I started thinking….how do I approach the district and let them know that I am not meeting my own set standards as principal? If this does not get addressed the school will digress. I can’t seem to get this ship righted completely. We were taking on water…fast.

I had to address my health. I needed something less stressful and with less time commitment . I needed to take care of the school but my health had to come first. What can I do? Many things ran through my head. Finish out the year and resign. Ask to be reassigned in another capacity. Go into another line of work where I had little pressure. I had to do something to get my health in order.

While all of this is going on Tracey has growing resentment towards me on multiple fronts.. She is getting fed up with her doing everything at the house but she realizes that I am physically breaking down in front of her so she lets me gets my rest and does not say anything. She is however resentful that I am breaking down and the doctors are not giving us any answers as to why.

Luckily the district stepped in and approached me about this new opportunity I have now. I LOVE it. I am still getting to do what I love to do and the hours are WAY LESS. Sure there will be busy times but the stress level I have is WAY LESS. I am getting better sleep and my energy level is getting better each day. I am actually starting to help out a little in the home front and this eases things for Tracey.

I feel like I was caught in a fog for 5 months and I am just now coming into the clearing and things are looking much brighter. My job is better, my home life is better, and my doctors actually have a plan to get me over this lung issue. Things are looking up.

Depression- It can happen to anyone

And it has happened to me. I am still dealing with all of the details and how I got there but after a wonderful (and I am not kidding) hour discussion with Tracey I have been able to discuss for the first time the personal hell I have been putting myself through. I will blog details later after I all of my thoughts are together.

The great news is I have turned a page and for the first time in about 3 months I feel good about me.

I will tell my story soon.

Take care everyone!

JDHTEACH

Adjusting To My New Position

As the title says I am adjusting to my new position. Right now I am not doing anything exciting and I won't go into detail because some of you would probably laugh at me and say BORING! as a local radio show does here. But I actually like it. It is not what I would want to do every day but it is something that needs to be fixed and I am helping fix it for the district. Once that is done I will be moving on to other items that deal with working with Principals and teachers.

Right now I am adjusting to ...

1. Not having an office- I don't have a place right now that I call home. I guess I am homeless. I just call in to my boss each morning and tell her where I will be and she says...OKAY...

2. Not having HUGE responsibility- When I was a teacher I WAS RESPONSIBLE for those kids. As an ADMINISTRATOR - I WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SCHOOL. In this position I am a facilitator. Which means I get to share my knowledge but there is no student score or school score that says...you are doing your job. I have accountability but I am adjusting to the fact that my accountability is shared with other people and multiple campuses. So it is a big responsibility but then again for the first time in 14 years I am not the one in the hot seat.

3. No one really keeps track of me.- By that I mean I am the master of my schedule for the most part. Unless I am sent to training I go where I need to go. Nothing really gets in the way of that. No mad parents or kids. This is not a bad thing I am just adjusting to it.

4. I am liking looking at the district view now. It is yet another mindset. The mindset as teacher is different from campus principal....now my view is widened again as a district curriculum facilitator.

Another Doctor Visit

Went to the doctor yesterday because the cough won't go away. They started with the "lets just keep a handle on it and wait and see."

Now I have been super nice during all of this. But I have been dealing with this for over 6 weeks now. I had a stay in the hospital over this. So to tell me "lets see" is not going to work for me.

So I told the nurse I don't think you see to understand. When I have a coughing fit it last for a good 2 to 3 minutes. In those three minutes my eyes turn dark read and water as though I am crying. Out of my mouth comes tons of spit the stringy kind that does not break and gobs of flem from my chest. When that is done my sinus' are full and I have to blow by nose. Again there is enough stuff coming out of my head that rivals afterbirth!!

You have taken test after test and nothing serious has come back but its like if its not serious then you don;t know what to do.

How about this....give me something that will dry out my head then NOTHING can drain!!

They did that....Last night was the best night of sleep I have had in 4 weeks.

Change Is Good!

Well it was finally announced this week that I would be stepping aside as principal of my campus and be moving into curriculum and instruction. This is a HUGE move for me in many ways. Mainly, this position PROVIDES a FRACTION of the stress and time commitment of principal. This week I will be working on the transition with the new principal and start after Thanksgiving in my new role. My family is so excited and so am I I will have new funny stories dealing with teachers.In my new role one of my responsibilities will be meeting with teachers across the district and working with them on how to improve certain areas of instruction. I also get to report to all of the campus principals who are my friends. Tracey is excited in that my hours are WAAAYYYY shorter. Unless I am getting ready for a presentation the norm seems to be gettting out of work about 4-4:30 every day with no late night meetings. And perhaps the best part. My last day is June 30th and I don't report back until JULY 27th. During that time I don't do squat!!!! As an administrator you are always working though your vacation. Not ANY MORE MY FRIEND!!!

I am so excited.

My Baby Girl Is Growing Up

I am just going to say it. My little girl is BEAUTIFUL!!!

Even Santa Feels The Recession

The other day Jack wanted something and he thought we "should just go and get it." I told him that we were saving for Christmas and that if he wanted it he could ask Santa for it. His response to this was...What's the big deal. Stuff we get from Santa is free. Quickly I responded. In past maybe so but this year Santa is sending all of the parents a bill to cover rising feeding cost.

Jack thought for a moment and said....huhhh...okay.

Feeling Better Butttt......

Man I STILL have a congestive cough. It is better...probably much better but I cannot seem to get rid of it completely. Changes are coming that will be a big relief to me. I will tell you more about it when everything is in line. I am sleeping better and feeling rested in the mornings.

Blogger Hall Of Fame?

I have reached 3,000 hits! In baseball this would be my ticket into the hall of fame. What about blogging?

Drill Team Camp?!?!?

The girl is FIVE and the drill team bill is already starting????

I Just Think This Is Cute!!

Does that boy look happy or what?!?

Kind of a bummer when....

Your hometown sports teams are not doing well.

Rangers- Give me a break.

Stars- Starting out slow

Mavs- The WEST is too tough so they are probably a 7,8,9 seed....MAYBE

Cowboys- Ship is taking on water...many key players hurt.

Cleared to Play

The doctors still don't know what exactly I have that is making me cough and hack. When I have an "attack" it is not pretty. It is hard to describe but it is like I am trying to cough up stuff but can't breath. Hopefully they will have the full results of my biopsy on Monday. Then a course of action to get rid of this stuff for good will be laid out. I am told that more than likely it will mean adding or changing up my meds.

I have been cleared to return to work . WHOOHOO

ummm....PIE

Went over to mom and dad's last night. Had HOT homemade pumpkin pie with a big scoop of icecream on top. YUM!!! Favorite pies?

A Hard Lesson

About 3 weeks ago I developed a small cough. I tried treating it with home remedies but nothing worked. I was getting no sleep due to the cough. I have been this way my whole life. If I get little or no sleep I will get sick. I gave the home remedies too long and by the time I called the doctor I was pretty bad off. High fevers a couple of times a day and a cough that was horrible. All the while Tracey is pleading with me to cut back at work but right now there are 100 things to fix and due to lack of experience of my new office teams noone knows what I would do to fix it. And no one wants to make a decision without first running it by me. So therefore I am in meeting after meeting with groups of people. Trying to mentor my AP and my counselor..take care of my new teachers..and experienced teachers and get everything back on track. Meanwhile, I have a group of parents that DEMAND to speak with me on a regular basis it seems because of their concerns. They are mostly from the same grade level and the principal that these parents came from warned me but holy crap. GO TO PRIVATE SCHOOL!!! They want to live in a smaller community with affordable housing but they demand HIGHLAND PARK type education.

Highland Park is where the PARENTS of a school did not think that the teachers salary raises were high enough so they raised over A MILLION DOLLARS and gave it to the district to raise salaries.

My school is a very good school. We have some great things going on and great kids. We are a Title ONE school. What this means is because our free and reduced lunch percentage is over 40% we get extra federal money to do special programs and provide extra materials for our teachers and students to use.

I have a couple of parents that are very concerned because they moved into the area and now their children are having problems that they have never had before and they think it's because of "those Title One Kids".

What a DUMP statement. Because a kid is poor you think he is a bad influence? Have you ever heard of a kid from a wealthy homelife who is just an ASS!! Hell yes they are everywhere.

Money does not make the difference in how a kid behaves. It is how involved the parents or family are in their upbringing .

So I got that going on with all of this nagging cough and fever stuff.

So Tracey and I go to the doctor and I get a chest x-ray. They tell me everything looks good but the radiologist will look at it and they will give me a call when they know something. Well Friday comes and we have Ram for a Night (previous blog) to go to and I feel like royal dog pooh. I have fever...coughing...hacking up crap...it aint pretty folks.

We get a call Friday afternoon from the doctors office that the radiologist sees something in two spots and will get with me the early part of next week )that's this week) to come in and have a CT scan. I call Monday morning and they want me to come in immediately (not a good sign). So I go in have the CT scan and the results are that I have to admitted into the hospital immediately. So by Monday afternoon I am sitting in the hospital room.

More to come.

Jack And Pa

I have stated on more than one occassion that Pa (my dad) is very important to Jack. Jack is named after his Pa and he is proud of that. Each morning Tracey drops the kids off at my parents house and they feed, bathe, dress, and take our kids to school. Well every morning the kids have their house shoes sitting in their breakfast chair. They put their house shoes on and have breakfast. After breakfast they have time to read or watch a little cartoon before they get ready for school. When they get ready the rule is that they return their house shoes to their chair so they will be there the following morning. Well today Jack ran into my parents bathroom to start getting ready and he saw PA brushing his teeth at the sink and he noticed that Pa had slipped off his house shoes just under the sink. So as Jack was getting into the bathtub he shucked off his house shoes. This picture shows you were he decided to put his house shoes. Now how important is Pa to Jack????

Never say..I wouldn't go back

Last Friday Night Jack got to be recognized as "Ram For A Night" for his elementary school. What this is is all of the feeder schools into the high school that Jack will eventually go to get the opportunity at each home game to recognize one student.

This was a special night because as a family we were treated to a pizza dinner by the school and then the students and a parent or teacher got to go on the field and be recognized over the loud speaker. Jack went out on the field with Tracey and I went along on the field and tried to take pictures on the sideline.

What was kind of neat for me was for the first time in eighteen years I got to get back on the field that I and MJP spent many nights on during high school band. Those were some FUN times. I looked around the stadium and I got to see a lot of improvements that were made to the stadium and see that many of my dad's improvements to the stadium 10 years ago looked great. My son has no idea what his Pa did for a living other that principal. But dad's influence in the RISD is much bigger than that. Dad's last position be in central office as director of maintenance had a lot of influence on the improvement of RISD's aging schools and stadiums. Many of the upgrades to the stadium dad implemented. By looking around the stadium you would be shocked to hear that it was 35 years old.

I have said before that I would not want to GO BACK to any part of my life. I enjoyed each stage but I love where I am. My theory was tested last Friday night.

It was nice to get on the field and look up in the stands and see all the people. This night was for Jack and we made sure to take Lot's of pictures. But just for a second it was nice to watch the band kids, the cheerleaders, and the football team and be right there with them and see how much fun each group was having.

As I was walking back off the field I stopped and glanced back for just a moment and looked up in the stands and I thought....I wish I could do this one more time.

Look At The Big Boy Go!!

Throughout Jacks first year of flag football he has played many positions in practice. QB-Center-WR- and Running Back. However, during games Jack has been center or the coach has used Jack as his pass rusher on Defense. Well the other day Jack got to play running back. He took the ball and he started churning his little tree stump legs.

Big Boy actually had some speed. He was not very agile but he did cut back against the grain and ran for a 35 yard gain. Considering the field is only 40 yards long that was quite a run. The parents from both of the teams were cheering for Jack as THE BIG BOY was rumbling down the field. He was so proud of himself!

That led to him getting the ball again this week. While his gain was for only 15 yards he did have a couple of squiggly moves to make the other team miss. He really enjoyed getting to run with the ball. He probably is destined for line play but it is nice to see THE BIG BOY get the ball .

Emotional Roller Coaster

Sometimes my job is emotionally draining. I have made a commitment to get my school on the right track. I have many new people so I have been putting in many long days the past few weeks plus working at least one day on the weekend to take care of everyone. I would say that when it comes to the teachers and my office staff I am starting to see the fruits of my labor.

During this time Tracey has basically been a single mom. I have been leaving before the sun comes up and getting home sometimes after nine o'clock. I went 3 days without seeing my kids awake. I am putting more preasure on myself because last year we were a recognized campus and I don't want to be a one and done. Through all of this Tracey has not said one word about me needing to cut back the hours because she knows how important this is to me. At the same time I know when we talk she is doing everything she can not to say it.

The thing that really hurts is what I had to do Friday. There is a boy that I had to send to an alternative educational setting for 15 days. The thing that really sucks about this is it is a boy who I have been trying to bond with and have made strides in the right direction. Given the propper home environment he could make it. He is smart but I honestly don't think his mom or step dad give a flip about him. I called them about two weeks ago but the only reason I got ahold of them was because the student knew their number. None of the numbers they gave us work. Well when I tried to call them yesterday the number that did work two weeks ago is no longer in service. If something serious happened to this child we would have no way of being able to get ahold of these people. THAT IS NEGLECT!! PLAIN AND SIMPLE. It pisses me off to no end that here is a kid that could make it but probably will not. Due to the nature of what he did I had to do what I did. I did not have a choice. But here is the situation. I am the only male figure in his life that has shown any kind of interest in his well being. I check his homework every morning. I check to make sure he has all of his stuff when he goes home. And now I am the one that has to send him away. After he left my office yesterday I just felt like I had been punched in the gut. I just sat in my chair with my head in my hands. Sometimes my job is hard.

A Coversation that started off innocent and then???

A while back Caroline was having a conversation with my mother but to Caroline she is Grammy.

Caroline: You know grammy I can't wait until I grow up!

Grammy: Well that is exciting Caroline why is that? (Innocent follow up question)

Caroline: Because when I grow up I am going to have BIG BOOBIES like my mommy.

Grammy....Grammy...are you okay? Grammy are you awake now? Grammy

A Shout Out for A NEW BLOG in my links section

I have a friend who is doing her own blog. I will call her Mo. Check her blog out. She is a girl who is not afraid to speak her mind. It is very entertaining reading.

In Their Element!

Caroline LOVES to go shopping with her momma. She loves it even more when they go to CHICO'S

Two Things Caroline Loves

Spending time with Pa and COOKING!!!

When Will His Feet STOP??

Seriously!!! Look at those things! Can we start passing the collection plate now for his shoes when he is 16!?!?

Happy Birthday Pa! I brought you some HOT SAUCE

This is Jack and "His PA!" or my dad. Pa is very important to Jack. Jack knows that he is named after my dad and is proud that he is named after both of his grandfathers.

Today is my dad's birthday. Happy 66 dad! We had a gathering yesterday and adored on him. Well this morning as the kids were leaving for Grammy and Pa's Jack stopped and got really worried. He asked Tracey....What are we going to give PA this morning? Tracey tried to explain to Jack that we gave him his present yesterday. Jack would not hear it. He said....we HAVE TO GIVE HIM SOMETHING>....It's is ACTUAL BIRTHDAY.

Then Jack ran back into the house and pulled out some hotsauce that he and I bought on Saturday. He told Tracey...PA LOVES HOT STUFF...WE CAN GIVE HIM THIS!!!

So happy birthday Pa. I hope you enjoy your newly opened Hotsauce.

Yes She Is LEGAL!!

You can see from this picture the reason why every team we face questions Carolines age. Here is a cute picture of her team. You can see the size of the other kids.

I

It is all in the motivation. It was a little warm Saturday and the kids interest in playing soccer began to drop off drastically. At half the coach had a VERY INSPIRING pep talk that inspired this picture.

LET ME SEE BY SHOW OF HANDS WHO WANTS A SNACK AND SOME JUICE AT THE END OF THE GAME???? THEN LETS PLAY SOCCER

Go Lightning

Soccer is in full swing. Caroline is really enjoying it. The kids seem to be working well together. Here she is "IN ACTION"

A Step of Freedom

Well yesterday was a special day in Carolines world. She wants to ride a horse. We have a stable close to our house. Every day Caroline sees the horses. To ride a horse she was told by the manager of the stable that she has to be able to ride her bike without training wheels. So what did she do? She went and found some of daddy's tools and took one of the training wheels off of all by herself before mommy saw what she was doing and helped her get the other wheel off. From there she was riding her bike without training wheels in about five minutes. That is motivation at its best.

Did I Miss The Memo?

Here is a fashion trend that I noticed at the Cowboy game on Sunday. The Hoochy Mama look of A mini skirt that that stops right under the girls butt and then wear you choice of Cowboy Boots! This is usually topped off with your choice of TIGHT shirt with BREAST sticking out all over the place.

These girls spend most of the game going up and down the stares. One girl literally had to hold her skirt down because if she didn't each time she stepped up on the stairs you got a FREE view of.....you guessed it.

And this fashion trend was RAMPANT at the stadium.

The shame of it to me was there were some very beautiful woman who were just tramped up. That is a turn OFF for me.

Guys if this is your idea of Showing Off your lady then you are cheapening your girlfriend.

Another note there were several woman I noticed needed to get the memo that once you hit a certain age....let it go! The surgeon can do NO MORE!!!

That's Right Sweatheart...Soak It ALL In.

This is Mr. Groov E. Shooz. That's right ladies soak him in. Enjoy him....Fear him

Father Son Bonding

Thank you to MJP for providing me an opportunity to create a memory that Jack and I will have forever.

Observation 2 How to eat up a day...GO TO A COWBOY GAME

As I mentioned earlier I had the opportunity to go to the Cowboy game with Jack.

12:30 Met up at MJP's house6.

1:45- Arrived in the parking lot.

2:00- Find seats and feed Jack a pizza- small individual pizza.

2:00-6:00 Pregame Festivities and the Game

7:30 arrive back at MJP's house.

8:30- Arrive home with dinner for Jack and myself.

There went that day

The Greatness of the Coke Float

I took the kids out for a quick bite tonight. We ended up going to Wendy's. I went on the lighter side (or so I thought) with the taco salad. Definately not light. I ate half of it and stopped. The kids ate the kids meal of chicken and fries. The chicken actually looked pretty good.

I degress- for dessert we were planning on going and getting slurpee's but I saw with this big display that Wendy's does COKE FLOATS. Now I love coke floats. I don't get them very often. As a matter of fact the only time I get them is at home. This looked just way too yummy. So I asked the kids if they wanted one of those instead. I first had to explain what a CF was. After I explained it they agreed it sounded pretty darn good.

I must say as coke floats go that thing was GREAT! You get to choose what type of drink they put in it and the rest is soft serve.

So if you happen to go by a Wendy's....try their coke float. It is YUMMY

Will My 3% Raise Cover This?

Well yesterday I went to probably my last Cowboy game for a while. With the new stadium opening I am not sure my raise will cover it. I don't know what MJP's company pays for their tickets but they are on the 40 yard line 14 rows up. Here is what Mr. Jones want's for those same seats next year.

$35,000 license for each seat. X 4 = 150,000
$350 per seat X 4 = 1500
8 home games X 10= 15000 Don't forget Preseason
Parking 1000

Total= About $176,000 Maybe playoffs- Grand total about $225,000 to $250,000

Anyone want to go HALVSIES for next year?

Go Cowboys!

Jack and I went to the Cowboy game this past Sunday thanks to the company tickets provided by MJP. We piled into the car and off we went. We had a very nice time. I have several observations from this trip that I will be sharing throughout the week. Check back often...some of this stuff is interesting

Go Get'em Girl

Today was Caroline's first soccer game. The team is made up of girls and boys ages 4 to 5. Caroline turned five right at a month ago. We really did not know what to expect because last year she tried soccer and it did not go well. Rarely did she finish any of the games.

Well this year she is on a different team. She is the only girl on the team but she has done very well in practice. She has a real good understanding of what she is supposed to be doing.

I must say that for the first time I noticed that her playing with her brother, who out wieghs her by 40lbs really paid off. The boys from the other team would bump into her trying to get the ball. ALL LEGAL stuff and none of it fazed her. She got her elbows out there and really did well. She scored 3 or 4 goals and acording to her had a lot of fun.

Maybe Soccer will stick longer than we thought.

Right nowin order of importance we have

Dance/Ballet
Karate
Soccer

We shall see where this goes.

Hey...You Forgot SOMETHING!!

The other day I dropped into McDonalds for a quick bite on my way to work. I like to get the Egg McMuffin because it is about the healthiest thing on there. Anyway, I make my order and while I am waiting this older gentleman catches my attention because he is making his coffee. Nothing out of the ordinary I guess. He sets his large coffee on the counter. He opens up 4 creamers and pours them into his coffee. After he opens the containers he places the containers down on the counter. Then he opens up 3 packets of sugar and puts them in his coffee. Again he puts the empty sugar packets on the counter. He then grabs a stir stick and goes to town for about 3 seconds. He then starts to leave and as he does we make eye contact. He grins and says "Mornin'" as he starts to leave.

He left his entire MESS on the counter for someone else to come clean up. Is it just me or is that sorry?

It's All In the Wrist!

Well tonight I had to do one of MY "OFFICIAL" DUTIES as Dad. Pull a tooth. It really is not hard to do. I don't attempt to do it until the tooth is really ready. I follow the rules that my dad did when pulling mine and my sisters tooth when we were kids.

Get a paper cloth.
Grab tooth at base of gum.
Squeeze- I don't squeeze nearly as hard as my dad did but I do pinch a little.
Pull on tooth in small jerking motion.

My dad used to squeeze so darn hard you did not care about anything than just get him to let go of your gum. It was so uncomfortable that you did not notice he pulled your tooth.

When T-Lady was growing up she got scared by her dad watching him try to pull a tooth of her older sister KC. Basically he grabbed the tooth and then before he tried to pull the tooth as "legend" goes he hit her in the stomach thinking that would get her mind off of the tooth.

The result? KC is laying in the floor gasping for air AND still has a loose tooth.

I thought there was some exaggerated going on until her dad fessed up to the technique.

Some ways are better than others.

How did your parents pull teeth?

What Is THAT Look For?

So what do you think? Do you think he liked the answer to his question?

Genius...Pure Genius

The high school band in my district is selling pink flamingo's as a fund raiser. That is right....the pink flamingo's that go in your front yard. A few weeks ago a few of the campus administrator's bought 10 of the flamingo's and put them in the superentendant's yard. The town I am in is smaller...I think 8 campuses all together. Anyway, we have a great group of administrators so everyone had a good laugh. As this has gone on you see pink flamingo's in many yards.

One of the band directors came up with a way to make extra money-

Whistle Blower Fund- If you agree to pay this fee you can call up the band department
and find out who "flocked" you.

Shush Fund- If you agree to pay this fund then you will remain anonymous and noone can find out that you flocked them.

Today the band director was on my campus and he said....have you paid for your monthly protection Mr. Jdhteach? My response was...you don't know where I live. His response...your school could be flocked. My response...go ahead...I need some yard beautification art. His response....(dejected) I am getting the flock out of here.

HA!!

I am a lucky dude

I have been married to T-Lady for 11 going on 12 years now. In that time period we have had arguments sure. If anyone tells you they are married to someone and they never argue is lying! Besides...I am not easy to live with I know.

In my line of work I am around many woman. Many of these women are very beautiful woman.

The thing about T-Lady is I think she is the sexiest thing ever created by God! I don't know where I rate on the good looks scale but to me T-Lady is the cutest thing ever.

I know that if the good Lord lets me reach old age I am going to be chasing her with my walker and using a cane to catch her.

Well What Else Can I Do For YYYYOOOOOUUUU

Anyone who works with me knows that I will do whatever it takes to do what is best for kids. But there comes a time where I think parents need to be willing to work with the school just a bit. Let me explain.

I have a student who qualifies for a pull out program. This program is a PULL OUT program. It is a pull out program in ANY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM IN THE US! Here is the list of "demands" by the parent.

Demand Number ONE- My child be served by program X because they qualify-

My answer- Of course. We want what is best for the child and we want them to be successful.

Demand Number TWO- My child will NOT be PULLED from any classes to receive said services.

AND- The child cannot come before school or stay after school because they ride the bus.....

Anybody see a problem with this??? Am I the only one?

The Reason For Living

I Am In Real Trouble

\\Look at this beautiful little girl. I am going to have a very hard time letting her go one day. It's sad. She is only five and I am already worried about her getting married.

My Baby Girl

This is probably one of my favorite pictures. This was taken by my wife back when I was recovering from my transplant. Caroline climbed up into bed with her daddy and took advangtage of some "daddy time."

Some Years You Just Shake Your Heads

Okay we all know that I am in education. Some years you get a group of kids and AS A GROUP they just don't seem to get it. I have a grade level in my building that just does not understand or seem to care about following directions. One group...you tell them how to do something...model it...and they got it.

Then there is THIS group. Seriously, I am litterally walking them down the hall MYSELF between classes because if I don't they go NUTS in the hallway. Picture a kindergarten teacher walking down the hall. Walking backwards...slowly...with their hand in the air as a signal to pay attention to what they are doing. You have to stay on them EVERY minute because if you don't they lose it. Someone gets hit, tripped or falls down. We had a group of kids like this a few years ago. They are now sophmores in high school and are setting all kinds of records for stupidity.

Whats even more fun is when you get on them they are looking at you like
A. This is the first time they have ever heard of this rule you have called NO TALKING.
B. They seem confused by this thing called A F#$%KING LINE!!

They want to hang on one another constantly. And...they don't move. They just get in a big blob of kids and just stand. It's like herding cattle...and the whole time they are looking the same way they look at you when talking about example A.

So they don't like coming into the gym in the mornings because they have to come in and sit and not talk. So they get the bright idea that they are going to beat me and show up early so they can play out in front of the school.

So I show up earlier...now they are coming in an hour before school trying to beat me. So I keep getting there earlier and earlier. What about breakfast...I am hungry.....Breakfast starts in one hour. AN HOUR??? BUT I AM HUNGRY NOW....Well it sounds like you have a choice to make....STAY HOME AND COME TO SCHOOL CLOSER TO BREAKFAST or I SUGGEST YOU INVEST IN POP TARTS!

So today they show up at 7:15. The numbers are greatly reduced....(at least some of them are getting the point) I got to work at 7:00. So I was there waiting for them. You could see the WTF look in their face. Good Morning! Come into the gym. No talking and sit in your assigned line. As one kid passed he said...Man....how long are you gonna do this.....My answer...about 160 more days!

I love VICTORY!!!

The Family Curse

Jack went over to play at a friends house yesterday. The friends mother was fixing the boys a snack when she herd her son say...Jack, sometimes I just don't like you. Jacks response was...But it's not my fault. The friends mother admonished her son for saying that to Jack and here was his reponse.

But MMMOOOOMMMM all the girls like Jack! None of them like me. He is a CHICK MAGNET Mom!!!!

Jack said...But it's not my fault!!!

I was hoping the curse would have died with me.....but I guess it has been passed on to my son. It is really hard growing up good looking.

Hit A Wall

Well I have been fighting a low grade fever off and on for about 2 weeks. Last nighr I had a low grade fever but nothing major. I woke up this morning again with the fever and I was very tired. I decided to not fight it anymore. I called in and took meds and went back to bed. I slept off and on for the better part of the day. My fever broke late this afternoon. I feel MUCH MUCH better. I guess I just really needed to sleep.

That;s Alright....I got it..I am fine..It;s just a shot to my KNEECAP!

This week I had the opportunity to work with one of our students who is having a hard time adjusting. This student is VERY smart. He just has a lot of change in his life going on right now both in his personal life and in school. When he gets upset he begins to cry and gets into a type of trance. You can talk to him. He hears you but does not respond to anything you say. My assistant principal has delt with the student a couple of times this school year but her answer is to send him home. She has done this twice. I asked her if that had worked? Did it stop the behavior in other words. Her answer was...well no . Do you think he might be doing it because he WANTS to go home? The only place that is kind of what he is used to? Dad's girlfriend just moved in...with her son.....NOT GOING OVER TO WELL.

So back to my story. It is about 11:45 and I bring the child in and he is upset and he sits in a chair and does the crying trance game. I fall back on my experiences of working with students in the transition unit and start using those skills.

I am not going to bore you with a play by play of this but there is actually some funny parts to this story. Through out the day this student varied in his intensity in trying to get me to react to him. The problem is he is not a bad kid. He is very compliant normally. He tried to get me to react to him by crying in my office for over an hour.I just sat there and took notes on observations of his behavior. I never interacted with him. I did tell him I would talk to him about what made him upset but that I needed him to stop crying. After an hour he stopped crying but refused to talk to me. Fine...I took the chairs out of my office and I would let him stand. Let's see how long he will last now. After another hour he moved over to the corner and he stared leaning on the wall. Ahhhhh he is getting tired. Are you ready to talk? I only got grunts. He started kicking the wall. He started kicking the wall HARD. So I told him I could not let him do that because he could hurt himself. This is when he turned around and kicked me in the knee like he was kicking a 57 yard field goal! The pain shot through my leg and I left foot went numb for about 2 seconds. It's like I took what they call a stinger in football. I see the student is about to take another shot to me and I react quickly and get him in a restraint so that he can't kick me again. This now has many peoples attention in the office. My secretary jumps up and starts taking notes. This is to cover my bases. Make I am doing everything properly. I don't know if you have ever had to restrain someone but it takes alot of energy. This is something that is precious to me. I had a bone marrow transplant in January of this year. Now I am in a restraint. I had several people walk by and look at me but noone was coming in to help me. Where the Hell is my AP? I thought....I asked my secretary....Where is MRS... We have some kids texting during class so she is working getting all the kids involved in that. She knows you are here working with.......

Let me get this straight.....I have been with this kid since 11:45....it is now 2:30. I am sweating like a pig...I am taking shots to the kneecap and my back up is working on FINDING THE TEXTING BANDIT?!?!?!?!

I let the student out of the restraint and took his shoes off with the understanding that if he started kicking me again I would restrain him. I let him go. He kicked my desk HARD..ONCE..then he backed off...with a limp. Lesson learned I figured. I finally find someone to relieve me and I go out to use the restroom and regain myself.

I see my new AP coming down the hall into the office area. I ask her how she is doing. I am getting to the bottom of this texting Mr. JDHTeach....Hey I am glad that you are Mrs. AP. Are you okay Mr. Jdhteach....you look tired......hey I got it..you take care of those cell phones...thats important

Mental Note To Self.....talk to AP about PRIORITIES---- When I am taking shots to the kneecap texting on cell phones can probably wait

Daddy...When Can I Do THAT?!? Soon Jack

I watched the movie Friday Night Lights a while back. I thought Jack would like the football aspect of the movie but he did not get into. Until he walked through the room and this scene was on. The boy was GLUED! Only in football will you pray to God and literally go out and run through your mother if she has the football.

What Jack did to that other kid last week is what #90 did to the running back. When Jack saw the kid fly through the air and land on that quarterback Jack looked over at me and said...Daddy When Can I Do That???? In time son....in time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0z9vdGoghU

I Found My Song For the School Talent Show

We are working on organizing a talent show at the end of the school. I found this one about beautiful people. What do you think? Too Edgy? I am also trying to figure out my costume.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY0536g_6Wc

Teaching Sunday School

Well I did not have to have my arm twisted too hard but I am teaching 2nd grade Sunday School with Tracey. It is Jack's class so that is good. Tracey and I kind of got quilted into doing it. If we did not do it then every other week there would be no one else to do it. People think....you guys are teachers you like kids...PPPPLLLLEEEEAAAASSSSSEEEEEEE!

Here is the deal. We deal with kids all week. That is what we do for a profession. We love children and want to make a difference or we would not have chosen that field. But you need a break from it. You especially need a break from those type of children that are "special." Now don't kid yourself...Tracey is doing the teaching and I am the materials guy and crowd control man. I did take over and do the closure activity last week but all the prep work fell to Tracey.

Think of it this way....you are a data entry person for your career. You spend anywhere from 45 to 55 hours a week working on data entry. Not only that but you spend about 3 hours on the weekend getting ready for your data entry next week. ARE YOU GOING TO BE STOKED TO DO DATA ENTRY FOR YOUR CHURCH FOR COUPLE OF HOURS EVERY OTHER WEEK???? Probably not.

But since no one else is jumping in there out of the more than 4,000 active members here we are....

I like spending time with Jack. The girls in the class are great. Most of the boys are fine. We have two boys that need attitude realignment therapy. The part of the alphabet we had had 14 kids in it while the other class had 7. Hopefully we can balance that out a bit.