Tonight was the night that I broke it to my parents that I bought a scooter. Really what I bought was an automatic motorcycle but the reaction I have gotten from my family has been less than overwhelming. I knew it would be but I thought I would here SOMETHING positive.
My Wife- My wife has been the most supportive. She does not get why I want a scooter or motorcycle in the first place. She road them as a child a few times and did not like it. She did say that if I wanted it that badly I should go and get it and move on down the road.
My Parents- Are not crazy about it at all. They are concerned about the possibility of an accident.
My sister-in-law- She was just confused. She thought hey ..... what about the motorcycle?
Mother- in - law- I have not heard from yet.
My sister- She likes the bike but she too is concerned. She has not said it but I know she thinks it.
Their Concern- And I admit it has validity- In the past 24 months I have gone through TWO bone marrow transplants. If I were injured would my body be able to handle it? They were okay with me getting a motorcycle 2 or 3 years down the road. Well okay is pushing it. They were more able to handle it.
My Thoughts- This idea has always been in my "one of these days" list of things I would like to have. Well in the past 24 months I have had the opportunity to spend extensive periods of time in the hospital going through chemo wondering if "this is it." Will I get to go home again? Will this work? When you are by yourself for many hours with nothing to do or that you can do other than sit there your mind begins to ask you these tough questions. Then you start the "when I get out of here I am going to....." situations.
So my "One Day" list has been put on the front burner because unlike most people I don't have the piece of mind that "one day" will be 5 to 10 years from now. I won't have that until I am declared cured in 3 to 5 years. I don't want to sit around and do nothing because if I do end up on my death bed I don't want to be laying there thinking of all of the things I wish I had done. It is kind of like Tim McGraw's song LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYING. Well I am not dying, I am in remission but until I get the green light from my doctors I am living life in a different light than most people.
Today I was riding the scooter with my son and he said, "Dad, I love spending daddy-son time on this scooter and being with you." If I died tomorrow that memory would carry me to meet with God.
Everyone listen and I mean really listen to the song my Tim McGraw. Then put yourself in my shoes. Would you do it? Or would you let this opportunity pass?
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Home Made Icecream Flavors
This time of year can be a bit of a beating here in Texas. At 9:00 this morning it was 84 degrees and that is MUCH cooler than it has been the past couple of weeks. One thing that I LOVE about this time of year is HOME MADE ICE CREAM. My family usually makes one batch almost each weekend. The flavors we have had so far are:
Vanilla
Banana
Peach = This evening
Still need to have Strawberry
I have had HM ice cream with cherry 7 up before. That is pretty darn good. A friend of the family brought over that one. Never would have thought of that.
Does anyone have any unique flavors that I can try?
Vanilla
Banana
Peach = This evening
Still need to have Strawberry
I have had HM ice cream with cherry 7 up before. That is pretty darn good. A friend of the family brought over that one. Never would have thought of that.
Does anyone have any unique flavors that I can try?
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Showing Appreciation
Today I was traveling down a road in my city that is heavily monitored by radar by the local police. They need to monitor it because people regularly travel down the 40 mph speed limit at 60 mph. As I came down the hill sure enough there was a police officer radaring the road. I looked at guy sitting in the squad car and I thought dude that has got to be HOT. I looked at my cars temp gage and it said 102. So I went straight to the closest convenience store and I bought a soft drink for the police officer. I then went back to were the cop was located and I pulled up into the parking lot by the cruiser. I got out of the car and I told the police officer how much I appreciated what he did and I new it was extremely hot so I hoped that he would accept this soft drink.
He was shocked. He thanked me like 3 times for the drink and as I pulled out of the parking lot he waved gratefully outside the cruiser.
I felt good for doing this and I know the police officer was grateful. That was the best $1.27 I think I have spent in a long time.
He was shocked. He thanked me like 3 times for the drink and as I pulled out of the parking lot he waved gratefully outside the cruiser.
I felt good for doing this and I know the police officer was grateful. That was the best $1.27 I think I have spent in a long time.
I Am A Scooter Owner
Well I got one! I bought a 150cc Lance Touring Scooter. This thing is not little. It is a pretty nice size. The color I got was Black. I did this because that is the only color they had and the black looked pretty sharp. On the way home I had no problem reaching 45, I took it on the service road and got it up to 55. There was room for more but I did not want to push considering it had one mile on it when I bought it. At 55 it was riding very smoothly. I was not scared at all. It was funny in that I was passing a Dodge Charger until he hit passing gear to get on the highway.
I got it home and got into the neighborhood. I have to go get the licence for the scooter this week. I also have to go get a helmet. I tried on the helmets at the place where I got this scooter but they had a small selection and none of them fit. I thought....DANG is my head that darn big? Then I saw they were all mediums. I have a gift card to a local motorcycle shop. I will go there this week and pick a helmet up. Also need to get a pair of glasses.
I do have to go get my motorcycles license as well. I am not look forward to this. The DMV is such a beating to deal with. However, the law is the law so I will go ahead and do it.
I took my kids for rides in the neigborhood. Never went over 20 so they were good. They spent most of their time giggling and laughing so they really enjoyed it. This brings back fond memories of spending time with my dad riding on the back of his motorcycle. I LOVED IT!
Good times were had by all this afternoon.
I got it home and got into the neighborhood. I have to go get the licence for the scooter this week. I also have to go get a helmet. I tried on the helmets at the place where I got this scooter but they had a small selection and none of them fit. I thought....DANG is my head that darn big? Then I saw they were all mediums. I have a gift card to a local motorcycle shop. I will go there this week and pick a helmet up. Also need to get a pair of glasses.
I do have to go get my motorcycles license as well. I am not look forward to this. The DMV is such a beating to deal with. However, the law is the law so I will go ahead and do it.
I took my kids for rides in the neigborhood. Never went over 20 so they were good. They spent most of their time giggling and laughing so they really enjoyed it. This brings back fond memories of spending time with my dad riding on the back of his motorcycle. I LOVED IT!
Good times were had by all this afternoon.
Friday, June 27, 2008
The North Pole Will Be Gone In A Year?!?!
Read on cnn.com today that scientist are predicting the north pole will be gone in a year.This brings up a very important question.
Who is working on the relocation program for Santa and the Elves?
We need to get on this people. Christmas Eve is only about 6 months away.
Who is working on the relocation program for Santa and the Elves?
We need to get on this people. Christmas Eve is only about 6 months away.
Umm Honey We Might Need To Watch This Kid
My son plays with four boys that live on or around our street on a regular basis. All of the kids are good kids but one is a little different. Occasionally we will find him in another room in our house away from the other boys. Mainly we find him in my son's room just looking around. My wife is a little freaked out at times. She said, "It's like he is casing out the joint." When we notice he has wondered off from the crowd we just go to my sons room and get him and tell him to join the other boys.
When I was a kid we had a neighbor whose son would just walk into our house. Never knock or ring the doorbell. He would just walk in and find my mom and ask her if I could come out to play. It used to scare the tar out of her.
Did you have any friends growing up that were a little different?
When I was a kid we had a neighbor whose son would just walk into our house. Never knock or ring the doorbell. He would just walk in and find my mom and ask her if I could come out to play. It used to scare the tar out of her.
Did you have any friends growing up that were a little different?
Someone Getting What They Had Coming
Yesterday evening I was traveling with my sister down the highway when I looked in the review mirrir and saw this car approaching very fast. I could not get over due to the spacing between myself and the car next to me. As this person continued to get closer I noticed it was a woman in a new LEXUS. It still had the paper tags on it. The safe thing would have been to slow down and fall in behind the car that passing me on my left. She sped up and swerved into the lane in front of the car as it was getting near my car. I was prepared to get clipped in the back but she just missed my car. As she continued on you could see break lights going off everywhere.
A few miles down the road I saw a cloud of dust and some car parts flying. Everyone began slowing down immediately. My first thought was well that woman finally tried to squeeze into a space to small. As we approached SURE ENOUGH that lady in the LEXUS had managed a way to figure out how to get the front end of her car completely removed from the rest of the car.
What does this observation tell you about how everyone was feeling about this woman. Three cars stopped to call 911. All three drivers went to the other car to check on the person that lady hit. No one was checking on the lady in the Lexus.
I found myself torn. I hope the lady was not hurt but I found myself glad that she had gotten what she had coming.
A few miles down the road I saw a cloud of dust and some car parts flying. Everyone began slowing down immediately. My first thought was well that woman finally tried to squeeze into a space to small. As we approached SURE ENOUGH that lady in the LEXUS had managed a way to figure out how to get the front end of her car completely removed from the rest of the car.
What does this observation tell you about how everyone was feeling about this woman. Three cars stopped to call 911. All three drivers went to the other car to check on the person that lady hit. No one was checking on the lady in the Lexus.
I found myself torn. I hope the lady was not hurt but I found myself glad that she had gotten what she had coming.
Scooter Bug
Okay- I rode my uncles scooter the other day. I had a BLAST! Feeling weak.....want one badly.
This is just to ride around town! I road around with the kids on it and had fun! It was a blast! The kids loved it. It would be fun for just riding around town.
There is a used one for sale up the road........feeling weak
This is just to ride around town! I road around with the kids on it and had fun! It was a blast! The kids loved it. It would be fun for just riding around town.
There is a used one for sale up the road........feeling weak
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
College Graduates and Their Expectations
I want to start off by saying I realize I am talking about a small group of people. In my position each year I interview for open teaching positions. I always run into a few people who are fresh out of college. Every now and then I run across some "kid" who ends up turning us down based on salary. Hey I understand picking one district over another for a difference in salary that you can feel but choosing one district over another for a grand? When you are traveling an extra 30 miles round trip? You are going to blow through that 1.000 dollars in about 3 months there chief!
All districts are pretty close when it comes to starting salaries. What is amazing to me is their expectations of their starting salary. I am wondering if they are told what to expect when they get into the real world. Teacher salaries are not that bad. There is an old wives tale that teachers are not paid well. A new teacher right out of college in my district will make $46,500 next year. I know of a husband and wife that are new to teaching in our district and they are right out of college. Their combined salary next year will be $103,000 dollars. That is pretty darn good. Their "starter" home is pretty impressive.
Before you rag on teacher salaries also think about this. There are no coporate take overs with layoffs...no down sizing with layoffs...they don't close down the district. It is not that bad. Maybe I am being stupid but in the coporate world you may start off a little higher depending on your job but with lay offs and down periods of no work I think you come out ahead being in education. I can't tell you the exact number but there is a HUGE raise in the number of applicants who have been in the business world and now have gone through certification for teaching. I had ONE teaching position open and over 230 applicants. It is getting tough to get a job teaching.
All districts are pretty close when it comes to starting salaries. What is amazing to me is their expectations of their starting salary. I am wondering if they are told what to expect when they get into the real world. Teacher salaries are not that bad. There is an old wives tale that teachers are not paid well. A new teacher right out of college in my district will make $46,500 next year. I know of a husband and wife that are new to teaching in our district and they are right out of college. Their combined salary next year will be $103,000 dollars. That is pretty darn good. Their "starter" home is pretty impressive.
Before you rag on teacher salaries also think about this. There are no coporate take overs with layoffs...no down sizing with layoffs...they don't close down the district. It is not that bad. Maybe I am being stupid but in the coporate world you may start off a little higher depending on your job but with lay offs and down periods of no work I think you come out ahead being in education. I can't tell you the exact number but there is a HUGE raise in the number of applicants who have been in the business world and now have gone through certification for teaching. I had ONE teaching position open and over 230 applicants. It is getting tough to get a job teaching.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Deon Sanders and His Reality Show
Okay I don't know how long this show is going to be online because I think me, Deon Sanders and maybe Michael Irvin are the only people watching it so catch this quick. This show is kind of set for failure for a couple of reasons.
1. The show is on the OXYGEN channel- Next to Lifetime there is no bigger chick station than OXYGEN. The people who would be interested in this.....DEON SANDERS FANS aka MEN don't usually run by this channel.
2. Time Slot- I have yet to figure out the day and time this show is on. I have seen it all over the time slots on different days of the week.
3. Fan Base- I am not sure who exactly would be watching this across the country. Maybe people in Dallas or San Francisco but who else?
I am sure this show is short lived and I think it is sad. I don't stop my world to watch it but when I run across it I find myself stuck to the show. Mainly because I think Deon's take on the world is pretty funny. His wife is pretty funny and she has an interesting take on life but then again all she has to do in this world is shop and look good for Deon...something she takes seriously. She is a former model and is pretty sharp. She keeps Deon wrapped around her finger. Back to Deon's take on the world.
His house is in a near by town here in Texas. I have seen his house and it is something else. It is just HUGE!! The house itself sits on about 200 acres not far from Bill Bates ranch. Anyway in a recent show the Sanders family was sitting down for breakfast when all of the sudden out their windows were these bulls and cows walking on their lawn and looking in the window watching the family. Deon's wife had a fit. Get these cows out of here now DEON was the wife's words. Deon looked up at the cows and continued to eat his breakfast as if nothing was the problem. Here was Deon's words to his wife.
Baby, the problem here is you see 3 cows when you look out the window. When I look out the window I see One, Two, Three.......TAX EXEMPTIONS. Baby, when you have over 150 acres of land you gotta claim agricultural exemptions. With the money those cows are saving us I can replant the backyard EVERYDAY!!!
FUNNY!!!!!!
Watch it if you can
1. The show is on the OXYGEN channel- Next to Lifetime there is no bigger chick station than OXYGEN. The people who would be interested in this.....DEON SANDERS FANS aka MEN don't usually run by this channel.
2. Time Slot- I have yet to figure out the day and time this show is on. I have seen it all over the time slots on different days of the week.
3. Fan Base- I am not sure who exactly would be watching this across the country. Maybe people in Dallas or San Francisco but who else?
I am sure this show is short lived and I think it is sad. I don't stop my world to watch it but when I run across it I find myself stuck to the show. Mainly because I think Deon's take on the world is pretty funny. His wife is pretty funny and she has an interesting take on life but then again all she has to do in this world is shop and look good for Deon...something she takes seriously. She is a former model and is pretty sharp. She keeps Deon wrapped around her finger. Back to Deon's take on the world.
His house is in a near by town here in Texas. I have seen his house and it is something else. It is just HUGE!! The house itself sits on about 200 acres not far from Bill Bates ranch. Anyway in a recent show the Sanders family was sitting down for breakfast when all of the sudden out their windows were these bulls and cows walking on their lawn and looking in the window watching the family. Deon's wife had a fit. Get these cows out of here now DEON was the wife's words. Deon looked up at the cows and continued to eat his breakfast as if nothing was the problem. Here was Deon's words to his wife.
Baby, the problem here is you see 3 cows when you look out the window. When I look out the window I see One, Two, Three.......TAX EXEMPTIONS. Baby, when you have over 150 acres of land you gotta claim agricultural exemptions. With the money those cows are saving us I can replant the backyard EVERYDAY!!!
FUNNY!!!!!!
Watch it if you can
At The Movies With JDHTEACH
Hello and welcome to At the Movies with JDHTEACH. I am your host JDHTEACH. Tonight I want to review 3 movies. Yesterday I had a quiet afternoon so I had an opportunity to put in some quality movie time. I watched 3 movies yesterday.
NORBIT- Starring Eddie Murphey- 131 minutes- I mention that because there is about 2 minutes of this movie that was funny. I was looking forward to this because the reviews I was reading online were mentioning that this was one of Eddie Murphey's best movies. My thought was I have seen this type of movie before. It was called Coming to America and it was about 20 years ago. I guess Eddie Murphey will always have a cult following but this act has grown tiresome. Make Eddie Murphey play 3 or 4 people including some old white guy...again SEEN IT and add in fart humor. I think Eddie Murphey needs to retire this type of humor. He has done it and his repeat attempts to strike gold are getting worse and worse...Nutty Professor...Nutty Professor II. MOVE ON!!! I really like Eddie Murphey. I think he is hilarious in many of his co-starring roles. During this movie I actually got up and started cleaning the house while it was playing. I could miss 15 minutes of this movie and not have a problem keeping up. I guess money talks but they should have been able to read the script and know that this movie was crap. Cuba Gooding Junior has a small role. I would be willing to bet that he is not putting this movie on his resume'.- If he is I bet it is listed after his starring role in underwear commercials with Michael Jordon.
Overall Rating 1/2 a star out of 5.
Semi Pro- Starring Will Ferral- I went into this movie thinking ANYTHING was an improvement from Norbut. I found that most of the funny parts were covered in the theatrical trailer. I am a huge Will Ferral fan so I hung in there with this movie. Definitely a rental. I did not think it was as funny as Blades of Glory but this was an okay movie for a lazy Saturday afternoon. I will say that I thought it was hilarious that Will Ferrell wrestled a bear to get attendance. That scene was pretty funny...again, to me it was funny.
Overall Rating 2 and 1/2 stars out of 5
Chalie Wilson's War- Starring Tom Hanks- This of course is the movie based on Congressman's Charlie Wilson role in supporting Afghanistan during the Cold War with Russia. I won't go into the details of the movie but I was so glad I saved this movie for the last of the day. I was GLUED to the TV during this show. I thought it was great. There were a few areas I wished they would have gone into more detail to help explain a few items but I guess in the interest of time they just glossed over it. Phillip Seymore Hoffman was GREAT! His character was funny and very knowledgeable. I found myself wanting this movie to last longer.
Overall Rating- 4 1/2 stars out of 5
NORBIT- Starring Eddie Murphey- 131 minutes- I mention that because there is about 2 minutes of this movie that was funny. I was looking forward to this because the reviews I was reading online were mentioning that this was one of Eddie Murphey's best movies. My thought was I have seen this type of movie before. It was called Coming to America and it was about 20 years ago. I guess Eddie Murphey will always have a cult following but this act has grown tiresome. Make Eddie Murphey play 3 or 4 people including some old white guy...again SEEN IT and add in fart humor. I think Eddie Murphey needs to retire this type of humor. He has done it and his repeat attempts to strike gold are getting worse and worse...Nutty Professor...Nutty Professor II. MOVE ON!!! I really like Eddie Murphey. I think he is hilarious in many of his co-starring roles. During this movie I actually got up and started cleaning the house while it was playing. I could miss 15 minutes of this movie and not have a problem keeping up. I guess money talks but they should have been able to read the script and know that this movie was crap. Cuba Gooding Junior has a small role. I would be willing to bet that he is not putting this movie on his resume'.- If he is I bet it is listed after his starring role in underwear commercials with Michael Jordon.
Overall Rating 1/2 a star out of 5.
Semi Pro- Starring Will Ferral- I went into this movie thinking ANYTHING was an improvement from Norbut. I found that most of the funny parts were covered in the theatrical trailer. I am a huge Will Ferral fan so I hung in there with this movie. Definitely a rental. I did not think it was as funny as Blades of Glory but this was an okay movie for a lazy Saturday afternoon. I will say that I thought it was hilarious that Will Ferrell wrestled a bear to get attendance. That scene was pretty funny...again, to me it was funny.
Overall Rating 2 and 1/2 stars out of 5
Chalie Wilson's War- Starring Tom Hanks- This of course is the movie based on Congressman's Charlie Wilson role in supporting Afghanistan during the Cold War with Russia. I won't go into the details of the movie but I was so glad I saved this movie for the last of the day. I was GLUED to the TV during this show. I thought it was great. There were a few areas I wished they would have gone into more detail to help explain a few items but I guess in the interest of time they just glossed over it. Phillip Seymore Hoffman was GREAT! His character was funny and very knowledgeable. I found myself wanting this movie to last longer.
Overall Rating- 4 1/2 stars out of 5
Thursday, June 19, 2008
DID YOU SEE THAT ???
The other day the wife, kids, and myself packed into the car to go to the airport to pick up my sister in law. I was cruising down the highway when I caught out of the corner of my eye something heading right for us. This happened pretty quickly because I was traveling about 75 miles an hour. But For a good second I could see that I had a pretty large bird...pigeon size heading right for us. It flew right into our windshield and POOF it was gone. All that was left was some feathers and bird poop on my windshield. I instantly looked in my review mirror to see where it landed but I could not see anything. It was like the bird was on a mission to kill itself. What could be SO BAD in a birds life that they just decide to end it all ?
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Movie Review Time
I just watched two movies and I thought I would give my opinion of both.
Mr. 3000- Staring Bernie Mac- I must start off by saying I am a Bernie Mac Fan. So I had high hopes for this movie. While I did laugh in several parts of the movie I did not laugh out loud at anything. Basically you have a guy who has is ego somewhere up in the atmosphere. He gets his 3000 hits and retires....on the spot. Only to find out 9 years later (and still not in the hall of fame) that he is in reality 3 hits short based on a calculation error. He decides to come back and get those three hits. The funny part is watching him try to get into shape and him work with his new team mates.
Overall pretty funny- You don't have to think while watching this movie. I give it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.
Eastern Promises- Staring Viggo Mortenson- This movie I remember seeing previews for but I kind of forgot about it. A friend of mine reminded me about it and I put it on my netflix list. This movie is very detailed. The first 30 minutes I found myself trying to figure out what the hell was going on. But once I put all of the people in place I really got into the movie. It is bloody. Very detailed throat cutting....seems to be the choice of killing someone in the Russian mafia. Still very good. I found myself very focused while watching the movie. You have to because there is a lot of Russian being spoken and you have to read the subtitles. Normally I am out on a movie like that because I hate to read while I am watching a movie. I perfectly fine with the Russians speaking English. But I did not mind it so much here for some reason. It really helped the realism of the movie and drew me in more. Very intense movie. Viggo did a great job in this movie.
I give it a 4.25 out of 5
Next up I have a couple of no brainers and some good box office movies.
Norbit
Semi Pro
Charlie Wilson's War
The Kingdom
Lions For Lambs
Walk Hard
The Bucket List
John Adams
Mr. 3000- Staring Bernie Mac- I must start off by saying I am a Bernie Mac Fan. So I had high hopes for this movie. While I did laugh in several parts of the movie I did not laugh out loud at anything. Basically you have a guy who has is ego somewhere up in the atmosphere. He gets his 3000 hits and retires....on the spot. Only to find out 9 years later (and still not in the hall of fame) that he is in reality 3 hits short based on a calculation error. He decides to come back and get those three hits. The funny part is watching him try to get into shape and him work with his new team mates.
Overall pretty funny- You don't have to think while watching this movie. I give it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.
Eastern Promises- Staring Viggo Mortenson- This movie I remember seeing previews for but I kind of forgot about it. A friend of mine reminded me about it and I put it on my netflix list. This movie is very detailed. The first 30 minutes I found myself trying to figure out what the hell was going on. But once I put all of the people in place I really got into the movie. It is bloody. Very detailed throat cutting....seems to be the choice of killing someone in the Russian mafia. Still very good. I found myself very focused while watching the movie. You have to because there is a lot of Russian being spoken and you have to read the subtitles. Normally I am out on a movie like that because I hate to read while I am watching a movie. I perfectly fine with the Russians speaking English. But I did not mind it so much here for some reason. It really helped the realism of the movie and drew me in more. Very intense movie. Viggo did a great job in this movie.
I give it a 4.25 out of 5
Next up I have a couple of no brainers and some good box office movies.
Norbit
Semi Pro
Charlie Wilson's War
The Kingdom
Lions For Lambs
Walk Hard
The Bucket List
John Adams
Hall Of Fame Here I Come!!
I have made mention to my family over the past two years that one day I wanted to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I wanted to go with my dad. I asked him a couple of years ago if that was something he would be interested in doing and he was all over it. Because of my health issues the past two years we have not been able to continue that conversation.
Last week the idea popped back into my head and I started looking at the school calendar for next year seeing when SPRING BREAK would be. I thought it would be a great Christmas present for my dad.
Well my mom beat me to the punch. For fathers day she gave me a trip with my dad to go to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. We have two full days to spend at the PFHOF. I am so excited. We leave July 12 and come back on the 16th. This is GREAT!!!!
I am taking request for souvenir shopping.
Last week the idea popped back into my head and I started looking at the school calendar for next year seeing when SPRING BREAK would be. I thought it would be a great Christmas present for my dad.
Well my mom beat me to the punch. For fathers day she gave me a trip with my dad to go to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. We have two full days to spend at the PFHOF. I am so excited. We leave July 12 and come back on the 16th. This is GREAT!!!!
I am taking request for souvenir shopping.
Recognition For Our Success
Monday night our Preliminary TAKS scores were shared with the board. All of the principals were asked to share their results to the school board and share their successes and their plans for intervention. Well I was lucky in that we have some great success stories to share. Our interventions are to just enhance what we are doing. We have some new programs started this year that I think were HUGE in our success so my plan is just to tweak it to involve more people. IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON"T FIX IT.....TWEAK IT!!
Anyway, what made it a little bit sweeter is that I got to go after the other intermediate principal. They did not do as well as we did. I think they will get there. She has been in her building for two years and she is still trying to clean out some of the dead weight.
It was nice because I did mention that we will be recognized but I left it at that. When I was done my Superintendent made mention to the board that this was the first time in the schools 8 year history to achieve this rating and the first time for an intermediate campus to achieve this goal in the history of the district. He also mentioned the gains the school has made since my leadership at the building. I got a very nice round of applause from the school board and my colleagues.
I did mention in my report the importance of my counselor and my AP. In my absence this year due to health reasons these ladies were my voice. I told them what we needed to do and these ladies made it happen. I love them both dearly and will miss working with them on a daily basis. My AP is going to be a principal and my counselor is going to be an AP.
It was nice to be recognized on behalf of my leadership abilities and the level of teaching at my campus.
Anyway, what made it a little bit sweeter is that I got to go after the other intermediate principal. They did not do as well as we did. I think they will get there. She has been in her building for two years and she is still trying to clean out some of the dead weight.
It was nice because I did mention that we will be recognized but I left it at that. When I was done my Superintendent made mention to the board that this was the first time in the schools 8 year history to achieve this rating and the first time for an intermediate campus to achieve this goal in the history of the district. He also mentioned the gains the school has made since my leadership at the building. I got a very nice round of applause from the school board and my colleagues.
I did mention in my report the importance of my counselor and my AP. In my absence this year due to health reasons these ladies were my voice. I told them what we needed to do and these ladies made it happen. I love them both dearly and will miss working with them on a daily basis. My AP is going to be a principal and my counselor is going to be an AP.
It was nice to be recognized on behalf of my leadership abilities and the level of teaching at my campus.
Swamped!
Well I had a lot of fun at my conference. A few meetings followed by a lot of down time and get togethers at night. It was nice having my wife at the conference with me. We really enjoyed having relaxing dinners and adult conversations. Having said that we both missed our kids and were ready to see them when we got home.
Now because of all of that free time last week I am paying for my sins this week. I am in the process of hiring key positions in my school. It has taken me three years but a great culture has been established in my building and I really want the "good times" to continue so the decisions I make are very important to our continued success. I have many people who are qualified to consider but not everyone is the perfect fit. The good news is I have lead candidates in all of the positions. By the end of this week I will know what direction I am going to take.
Now because of all of that free time last week I am paying for my sins this week. I am in the process of hiring key positions in my school. It has taken me three years but a great culture has been established in my building and I really want the "good times" to continue so the decisions I make are very important to our continued success. I have many people who are qualified to consider but not everyone is the perfect fit. The good news is I have lead candidates in all of the positions. By the end of this week I will know what direction I am going to take.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Heading Out Of Town
Well I am working a half day tomorrow and then it is off to a hard work week at a Principal's conference. Meetings during the day and parties to attend put on by vendor's. Man that is going to stink.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Jack and his Tummy
Wednesday night about 2 o'clock in the morning Jack came into our bedroom complaining of tummy problems. We tried to get him to go to the bathroom but he would have no part of it. I figured this was a ploy to sleep in our room but at 2 o'clock in the morning I did not care. I set up his blanket on the floor with a pillow and off to lala land I went. Then about 30 minutes later I am awaken by Jack running into our bathroom. He did not make it as he vomited twice in the bathroom before making it to the toilet for a third round. Of course he began to cry when he saw the mess and saw that it was all over him. I got him cleaned up while the wife cleaned up the bathroom.....I think I got the easier job. When all was said and done and we were going back to sleep Jack said, "Ya know dad. I feel a whole lot better now."
Fast Forward To Last Night- Jack bust out of his room and I hear him running to his bathroom. Then you hear the sound.......Tracey and I came down the hall and when you turned the corner.....OH MY! It was everywhere.......on the floor....the walls....somehow in the bathtub....and in the toilet. Oddly, nothing was on Jack. He saw me and Tracey and just said....Hey! Again I got him cleaned up while Tracey tackled the bathroom.
Not sure what is going on but there is a bug somewhere.
Fast Forward To Last Night- Jack bust out of his room and I hear him running to his bathroom. Then you hear the sound.......Tracey and I came down the hall and when you turned the corner.....OH MY! It was everywhere.......on the floor....the walls....somehow in the bathtub....and in the toilet. Oddly, nothing was on Jack. He saw me and Tracey and just said....Hey! Again I got him cleaned up while Tracey tackled the bathroom.
Not sure what is going on but there is a bug somewhere.
Let's Try This Again
Well today is the big day. The oven is supposed to be delivered......again. We won't have time to dig into it today but at least it will be HERE! Everyone pray that the GE people are CAREFUL!!!
Monday, June 2, 2008
Are We Done Here Dad?
Sunday morning I got up a little early and started working on breakfast. Everyone was beat because Jack had a golf tournament Saturday afternoon and we did not get home till after 10:00. The smell of thickly sliced peppered bacon with vanilla pancakes was making its way through the house. The first to stir about 8:00 was Jack. As he was making his way to the kitchen he was observing our work in the kitchen from the day before. He loooked over the new dishwasher and admired it and then moved over to the new microwave and the shelf that we built for it so that it will sit over our new (yet to be delivered) oven. Then he saw the huge hole where the oven will be along with the electrical wires that we have capped off and the hole in the sheet rock for the electrical. Here is how our conversation went from there...
Jack- Dad that sure is a nice new dishwasher.
Me- Yeah Jack it is. It's very quite too.
Jack- I really like our new microwave oven dad.
Me- Yeah Jack it is nice isn't it.
Jack- (Observing the huge whole that was described above)- Um...Dad....ARE WE DONE HERE?
No....No Jack we are not done!
Jack- I was wonderin'
Jack- Dad that sure is a nice new dishwasher.
Me- Yeah Jack it is. It's very quite too.
Jack- I really like our new microwave oven dad.
Me- Yeah Jack it is nice isn't it.
Jack- (Observing the huge whole that was described above)- Um...Dad....ARE WE DONE HERE?
No....No Jack we are not done!
Jack- I was wonderin'
Delivery Fiasco
Well Saturday was supposed to be the day that we got our new kitchen appliances. The only problem is the MAIN thing we were excited about was delivered to us in parts. That's right. The oven was broken in shipping.
All is not lost though. We did get the new dishwasher installed and the microwave is installed. The new oven has been ordered and should be delivered sometime this week. We shall see. I will be glad when we can get everything put into place.
Now where is that phone call telling me when they will be here.
All is not lost though. We did get the new dishwasher installed and the microwave is installed. The new oven has been ordered and should be delivered sometime this week. We shall see. I will be glad when we can get everything put into place.
Now where is that phone call telling me when they will be here.
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