JDHTEACH

TodayHappy Birthday Duchess!

2011-09-07T20:14:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow is a big day in our house. Our Duchess is turning 8! She has been planning for weeks, well she and Grammy have been planning. They've been working during Jack's "Study Sessions" with Grammy and Pa. Caroline addressed her own birthday invitations and designed her own party theme. She's going to be a Rock Star.

She's been making progress this past year. She still misses her daddy something terrible, and has moments when she's jealous of other kids with their dads. She's struggled because she doesn't remember Jason healthy. She remembers him after the original diagnosis, and that really wasn't him. Not really.

We went camping this past weekend for her birthday. My kids amaze and puzzle me sometimes. She was really looking forward to it and was so excited, especially during the trip up there. But once we got there she was moody and argumentative with her brother. She had her moments of happiness with the trip, and I think thought it went over well. But I know she missed her daddy, and always will.

So tomorrow, we'll buy her class ice cream for her big day, we'll buy cupcakes and go out to the cemetery and share time with daddy, and then she'll go off to football practice (that's my girl!). Sunday will bring her family party, and I will probably be comfortable enough at school to plan a belated class party.

I can't believe it's been 8 years since she graced us with her presence, and charmed the pants off her dad. In 8 more years she'll be driving, and in 10 she'll be off to college. I'm not going to think about that tonight. I'm going to play a board game with her and enjoy her 8 year oldness.

Happy Birthday Duchess!

Dogs and Cats: The Revenge of Kitty Galore by Huffjackie and help from Baby G.

2010-08-11T17:11:00.000-05:00

A few nights ago I took my mom and sister to the movies. Thanks to my dad's poker group I had a movie gift card so we went to see Dogs and Cats: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. I promised I'd review it, so here it is. Caroline helped me out with the review.

The movie was really funny. Caroline liked it too. Here's the "plot" (as my mom called it): This cat, Kitty Galore, is trying to make dogs go crazy on their owners so that they all get put in cages. It's up to the ultra-secret dog organization, with the help of the ultra-secret cat organization, to make sure she doesn't do this (they used the term ultra-secret in the movie and my mom explained what that means). But, the problem is that the cats and dogs don't get along AT ALL. The key to what Kitty Galore is planning is being held by a pigeon. Caroline said the best way to describe the pigeon is "scatter brained". She heard the term used by one of her friend's parents. Kitty Galore tries very hard to get rid of the pigeon, but the bad guys never succeed and they finally fiugre out how she's going to make all dogs go crazy. Which then sets up the final showdown.

Caroline and I have to agree that the funniest character was the pigeon. He was just funny and "scatter brained" which made him funny. My mom said that way the character was shown in the movie is the exact impression she gets of pigeons in general. There were a couple of places that referred to adult topics that Caroline and I didn't get. For example, the characters in the movie have to go talk to the worst criminal mind in the world somewhere called Alcatraz. Mom had to explain that one to me. The criminal mastermind, Mr. Tinkles (a white, fluffy cat), was strapped to a platform behind glass and he had a mask over his mouth. Mom said that was like some character named Hannibal Lector from an adult movie she has never seen and will never see in her life (those were her words exactly). She described the character from the rated-R movie and he sounded pretty bad. But Mr. Tinkles was funny and smart and not really scary (which is good because it's a children's movie).

There were several lessons on getting along with each other even though we're different in many ways. The kittens weren't afraid of the big dog, which surprised Diggs (the dog)because most cats were. So I guess the message is, we can all get along we just have to accept the differences which are makes us all special.

I would recommend the movie to anybody who likes a good movie. I'd give it an A because there was no kissing. However, I didn't give an A+ because I just don't like hairless cats. They could have picked a different cat for the bad person.

My experiment by Huffjackie

2010-08-06T10:44:00.000-05:00

My materials included 5 books. I used the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and 1 39 clues. A metal spoon and a rubber ball (meidum sized). The purpose of the experiment was to see if I could toss the ball up in the air and if it landed on the books, roll straight. I did my experiment 20 times and the ball rolled straight once out of the 20 times. The other times it rolled over to the left or right. I deemed my experiment a failure in that it did not go straight enough times, but it was a success because it annoyed my mom. :)

The Sorcerer's Apprentice by HuffJackie

2010-07-25T20:17:00.000-05:00

So M'Kirsten and Caroline went to see "Beauty and the Beast" at the Winspear. Mom and I decided to spend the Mom-and-Son time by going to see The Sorcerer's Apprentice at the Studio Movie Grill. We got there a little early, but didn't have to wait too long. My mom had never been to the movie theater grill, so it was fun showing her the ropes.

The food was fine. She ordered the chicken quesadillas, but there were too many peppers and so I didn't eat much. The best part of it were the chips and hot sauce. They came with the quesadillas (go figure). I had a Dr. Pepper and my mom had a Diet Dr. Pepper. She let me get as many refills as I wanted (for the price we paid for the drinks, according to her, I could have as many as I wanted. )

The movie started with the previews and there's one I'm really looking forward to now, but that's another blog. When the movie started I was really excited. My mom had given me some things to look for during the movie (always the teacher)so that I could review the movie afterwards. So I'll go down the list she gave me:

*Bad guys - He was funny. You knew he was bad because he did mean things. He's the same guy that was in Prince of Persia (the ostrich guy). He was a very convincing bad guy. He had the apperance of being a very "cultured (as my mom said)" look and spoke good. He didn't talk like his apprentice, and he required everyone else to speak correctly as well. I think this is what made him a good bad guy. You know, he could be very nice but then next minute kill somebody. It was very unexpected. SPOILER ALERT(my mom made me put this in): I'm not very sure if he got away in the end or was killed. The way they ended it made it possible, based on if the bad guy lived or died, for another movie. So I'd give the bad guy (who really was just a helper of the main bad girl--but you didn't see her at all except for the beginning and the very end).

Main good characters: There are several so here it goes:

*Balthazaar - I liked him because he was funny in not a clown way. He could do some really cool magic and his main job was to train the "Prime Merlinian". Turns out to be this geeky guy who's in love with this pretty blond girl. He meets the kid when the kid's ten, but things got scary really fast and Balthazaar and the bad guy got trapped for 10 years. He was funny, but took his job seriously.

*David (Dave) was the Sorcerer's apprentice (the Prime Merlinian). He was geeky and kids made fun of him. He liked this girl named Becky. He ended up being a science major (I didn't recognize the type of physics he was in to, but my mom said it's kind of higher stuff). He decides to train to be a sorcerer because he realizes it's what he's supposed to do and if he doesn't the world will end as he knows it (why does it always have to be that bad in the movies?). Anyway, he trains and the whole point is that he can do magic only with the ring of Merlin on until he becomes the true "Prime Merlinian" and then he can do the magic without it.

*We'll call her the "Love Interest". I hope I don't get as sappy about girls as this guy was about Becky. She was a really cool girl. She looked past his geekyness to see what was inside. She gave him a chance and was open to his Sorcerer gig (plus he was smart in physics which she was not). She was really good and strong (not physically but mentally).

Lesson learned: I think, after talking to mom that there were several lessons. 1) If you believe in yourself you can do just about whatever. It may be hard, and it may be hard to understand, but if you believe in yourself you can do it. I learned that from the main character. 2) You can do anything you set your mind to. With the "end of the world as we know it" on the line, Becky got over her fear of heights to help Dave defeat Morgana. That took some guts.

Grade: I'd give it an A-. It should have gotten a B+ on Jack Huffman's scale of movies. They kissed 3 times. Balthazaar and Victoria kissed once (it was kinda long) and then BOOM! right after that Dave and Becky kissed--Twice! That moved it to a B+. It did move up on the scale because the effects were AWESOME! I wish I could change my car into a different one, that was cool. The really cool magic that kept showing up was the metal eagle that came from the Empire State building. That was kind of a funny touch through the whole movie. Just when you didn't expect it, the bird would show up.

I would recommend it to just about anyone. I think Caroline would have enjoyed the movie, but it was kind of scary at the beginning.

I liked it, despite the kissing.

Book Review by Caroline -- Ten Apples Up On Top!

2010-06-11T22:42:00.003-05:00

The book was about a lion, and a dog, and a tiger and they all had 10 apples on top. They took some apples out of a bear's refrigerator and the bear came with a mop and tried to make their apples fall on the floor. Everybody in town was chasing the lion, dog, and tiger to try and get their apples to fall. The lion and his friends got an umbrella and scooped the bears to get away from them. The lion and company got onto a bike and had to get off the bike before they ran into an apple carriage. They then went "Kablooey" into the apple carriage. Then everybody had 10 apples on top of their head.

I liked the book. It was a good book to read, and it was fun. If you just practice long enough you can get good at reading the words. Some words were hard, and they were nonsense and real words. The rhyming words made it kind of easy to read. I would recommend the book to my friends. It will go on my Summer Reading list.

Prince of Persia Movie Review by HuffJackie

2010-05-29T22:57:00.002-05:00

Tonight my mom surprised me by taking me to dinner and the movie, "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time". I was really excited and had to choose between doing that or playing in the sprinklers with my friends. I chose the movie. My sister had been asked at the last minute to sleep over with a friend of hers, so my mom surprised me with the outing. We came up with the review on the way home from the movie.

I really liked the movie. It was kind of slow at first, but my mom told me it was a video game first so I was glad they gave us some information. There was a lot of action, which I liked. There were also these bad guys that were nasty mean, but like most good movies they got what they deserved in the end. My mom thought there was one scene that would be really scary for me (she saw it with my aunt yesterday)but it wasn't really that bad because I knew it wasn't real. People (mainly adults) laughed at the ostrich races, and I think there was some meaning that I didn't get because I'm only 9. But that part of the movie was funny to watch. People rode the ostriches like horses, so that was funny to watch.

There were only a few places where my mom had to help me understand what was going on but it was because I couldn't hear what they said. It was a pretty easy movie to follow. I was really glad they did more than one time travel scene because that made the end easier to understand. I'm glad the main, really mean guy got what he deserved in the end. I was surprised it was him, but I kinda thought it would be somebody you didn't expect and boy I didn't expect him.

I'm giving the movie 2 thumbs up because of the action in the story and the sword fighting. It is also good because it is easy to follow. My mom asked if I should give it a letter grade based on my two thumbs up and I said I'd give it an A-. She asked why the A- and I said because the main guy and the main girl kissed once. It would have been a B if they'd kissed more than once. They almost kissed two times before the actual fake, movie kiss but some more action happened which was good.

Review of the lunch my mom packed

2010-04-16T22:21:00.002-05:00

Today I took my lunch, but my mom came and ate with me. Here's the review of the lunch she packed for me.

The chips she packed were Fritos. They were kinda spicy. They were thin chips and were a little too salty. I almost had a heart attach (literally)when I read how many grams of sodium there were in that one serving. But, they did have a nice taste. It's a good thing she packed me some water because all of the sodium made me thirsty.
The bread for my sandwich was soft and peanut buttery. The jelly was grape and gooey. There was just a hint of raspberry, but mainly it tasted like grape.
My brownie was chocolatey with a hint of peanut butter. There were nuts on the inside (good thing I'm not allergic!). It was crunchy at the edges but chewy in the middle. The pudding however, was smooth and smushy. It was very chocolatey and creamy.
The fruit salad had strawberries, grapes, apples and blueberries. It had a nice sauce that added just the right sweetness. I only ate the apples because the strawberries were smushy. The blueberries were not yet ripe because they were too tart. The berry flavor was a little overpowering.
Overall I'd say my mom packs a mean lunch. I'll give her an A-.

Food Critique by HuffJackie (Huffdaddy's son)

2010-04-09T21:55:00.000-05:00

Tonight we had dinner at On the Border.

The tacos were really meaty. The lettuce really made it crunchy, and the cheese had a lot of cheesiness in it. The meat was really juicy and it had a kick to it. It was really spicy. The tomatoes got in there, too; they exploded with flavor.

M'Sara's salad had a peach flavor with a really good taste. You could taste the lettuce; it was really, really crunchy. I could taste the tomatoes and the meat, too. The meat was the same as in my tacos, very juicy and spicy.

As for Mom's quesadillas, they really had a cheesy flavor. The cheese was creamy. The chicken was chunky and it exploded with flavor.

The chips with the queso, I could taste most of the queso because it was cheesy and meaty at the same time, but I could also taste a little bit of corn with the chips.

The waitress got my order right, and I had my Coke, so that was good. She offered to get me another Coke before I asked. She was really nice.

And that is my review. Satisfied.

PA PA

2010-03-03T16:36:00.002-06:00

My sister lost Pa Pa today. She stuck by him when everyone else thought he was a goner. He always bounced back and was never in any pain. Today..this morning at 6:15 his heart finally stopped in his sleep. This is the email that my sister sent out today. We all love you PA PA

About 5 years ago I was at the city animal shelter registering my pets. The shelter staff walked an old dog by. I asked about him and they said he was a stray. However, he had a collar with a tag. The tag had a non-working phone number and the name "Sampson." I told them I would take the old dog. They discouraged me saying "Take another one. Something is wrong with this one. He walks in circles." I sat with him a while and then took him home anyway.

I kept Sampson's name because it fit him. Even though his face was already gray, with his barrel chest and big black nose, I knew he was something. He was a fighter - a street dog - the "John Wayne" of dogs. Sampson and I have worked though is physical disabilities, seizures, Cushings Disease, geriatric vestibular disease a heart murmur and a herniated disc. We have been to the dog ER too many times to count. His partially home cooked meals had more supplements than an Olympic athlete - and he was okay with that.

People thought Sampson was old and feeble. While he was on some accounts (15 years old best guess), he loved short walks, he was deceptively fast, and could run when he wanted. Just 12 months ago, he got out with all the other dogs, ran fast/far, and came home in the dog catcher truck.

A stroke this week was more than my tough Sampson could handle. I lost my big strong boy today. I trust he knows I did my best for him. True to his sweet personality, he made it easy on me in the end.

People say Sampson was lucky to have me....I say I was lucky to have Sampson. He made me laugh and smile. I love him and I will miss him.

TO SAMPSON: Run fast big man on four good legs and in a straight line! I love you and miss you.

It's Been A While

2010-02-15T17:12:00.001-06:00

I have been lacking in my bloggoshpere here lately. There are many reasons I guess. Lack of time being one of them and the other...just tired.

This past week was a little rough on me. I did not feel really that great. For whatever reason it seemed like everything hurt. My feet, hands, back and hips all hurt. Hurt like if I dropped something it was a major ordeal to bend over and pick it up.
The kids were edgy and got on each others nerves and the dogs were going in the house constantly because they would not go outside to do their business.

This (AND I DON"T BLAME HER A BIT)made Tracey edgy. Why? because 95% of needed to be done she had to do it.

I don't blame her at all for being tired or short with me and the kids. All she wants to do is get some rest. I know it appears that I am sitting on my duff doing nothing but in this case appearances do not tell the whole story.

I mentioned earlier that everything "hurts". The main issue I am dealing with now is the skin on my back, hips, and upper legs. It's the darn GvH. What is or has in a lot of places happened is the skin hardens and loses its ability to move. When you move sometimes it is so dry it cracks and starts to bleed.

It is really hard to describe but you would be amazed at how debilitating that is and how extremely painful that is to deal with.

To make it through the day I usually take some light pain killers given to me by the doctors.

I try to be careful and not cry wolf. Meaning I try to keep my mouth shut about needing help unless I really need it or I make sure I am not overselling the pain issue. I know Tracey get's tired of hearing about it...again who wouldn't.

But then the other day the doctors took a look at my back, hips, and legs and they wanted to know if I was still working? I asked them what do you mean? And my doctor said, How are you able to keep working 8-4 while dealing with this stuff? I told him well to be honest if it were not for my wife I would be in pretty bad shape. Each morning she puts lotion on my back to give it some elasticity. She then pretty much has to dress me and then on some mornings she has to open my pill bottles so I can take my meds because my hands don't do buttons at all and pill bottles are tough for a normal person.

So then I think....well maybe I am not overselling this pain issue. If they are surprised I am able to work.

The doctors want to do a new "experimental" treatment for my GVH but I am REALLY not excited about it. I would have to get another port put in my chest AND there is only a 40% chance of it working. And you don't even want to know the treatment schedule....it's over 3 FREAKING months. Not to mention lost revenue from work and the medical bill I am going to get. Just got one for over $1,000 for the last experimental treatment and it did not work..if anything it got worse. whatever happened to "maximum out of pocket?" I am ready for that to take effect.

Just venting there. The people at UTsouthwestern are awesome and with out them I would be below ground instead of above it.

It's just frustrating. I have what I would consider pretty good days all considering and then I will have one or two days where I am in PAIN. I tried to trace it down as to WHY but I don't have an answer yet. On the outside looking in I know that has to be frustrating to my family. Hey look daddy is moving and shaking everything is going good and then BAM!!!! Two days where it hurts to BLINK!!

So to my family I apologize when I am short with you. Please keep sticking with me. I love you Tracey. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I want you know that without you I am a nothing.

Someone here is "Special" Can you see who?

2010-02-01T17:00:00.000-06:00

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Hit the BENCH!!

2010-01-28T16:47:00.001-06:00

Where is time going? Did we not just say HAPPY NEW YEAR!?!?!? Now we are staring down the barrel of Valentine’s Day.
Work has been going okay I guess. I have started working on the realignment of the Science TEKS that go into effect next year with our Scope and Sequence…..easy everyone…….I know that is exciting stuff.
Just to cover my bases for next year I did get my resume together and got my application in to two larger school districts that are around my home. If I do get a job at either place CHA CHING!!!
I realize I am going to sound REAL bad here BUT….I am tired of hearing about Haiti. There….I said it. It’s out there. I feel horrible for feeling that way but come on! Does it have to lead off every news cast? Yesterday afternoon I flipped through 4 networks in about an hour’s time of watching TV. One network did not say something about Haiti….guesses? That would be the FOOD NETWORK.
Jack has been testing it a bit lately….The boy just turned 9….with luck he will live to see 10. Seriously though it is starting to bleed into other areas. Last night at BB practice he just decided to ignore what I was telling him to do and do what he wanted to do. PROBLEM!! I am the coach. So I called time called his name and pointed to the bench. Well we were scrimmaging and Tracey was in there with the boys and I was on the outside perimeter barking orders. Well Jack sat there for a couple of minutes and then he got up to stand by me. I asked him what he was doing and his response was…”I am ready to go back in now.” I told him I thought that was nice but that it was not about HIM it was about the team. As long as he was going to ignore me and do what he wanted to do I could not put HIM in the game. I told him I would rather have a less talented team that LISTENED than a talented individual who blew me off. So you see Jack…It does not matter what YOU are ready for…..have seat on the bench.
OH THAT WAS PAINFUL FOR HIM…..

FASCINATING!

2010-01-22T17:48:00.000-06:00

There has been a ton of things going on and I have been slipping in my obligation to blog so that you are in the know about what is going on in my life! Because let’s face it people. My life is that interesting…..as a matter of fact it’s darn right fascinating!
Well what all has been going on?
Well we started off the week with Tracey’s car being put in the shop. Why? Because it had a cracked (Now Broke) sub frame. That’s right…the frame of the car is broke. How? Not real sure….for something of that nature to happen usually the car has to have been in some type of accident. At this time we don’t remember being in an accident. The history report does not show any accidents on the car. But frames to cars do not just BREAK as you are backing out of the garage.
ALL STATE INSURANCE! Thank goodness for them. They have been taking care of us so far. Nice car replacement! I did not know that we pay for premium service but since we do my deductable was only $200. Beats the $2500.00 tab I would have to pay.
In the HAPPY NEW YEAR department- Opened up an envelope from UT Southwestern this week (always exciting) to find a bill for $1,000 that we owe for an experimental treatment (that did not work) to control my graph vs. host issues. As much as this stinks at least I don’t have to pay the entire $250,000. They want to try another one sometime soon. My “excitement meter” is pegged in the red zone.
This weekend is all about Jack! He turns 9 on Monday!
Friday Night- Pine Wood Derby with the boy scouts- The whole family goes to this. In addition to us my parents and my sister always show up for this event. Some people take this WAY TOO seriously so that is always fun to watch. Jack and my dad (PA) built his car. It should be a lot of fun. Jack designed it and my dad cut the wood for him. The car looks great!
Saturday- Basketball Game and Birthday Party at Main Event- Jack can hardly wait. Bowling and Laser Tag! Two of his most favorite things to do in this world.
Sunday- Family party- Everyone coming over to the house to adore Jack! Always fun.

Caroline NEWS! I had my first parent conference with Caroline’s teacher yesterday. She did awesome. She got perfect scores across the board. She is the model little student. She basically is the teacher’s aide. She takes papers to the copy lady in the front office. She escorts children to the front office for clinic visits. She gets supplies for the teacher when needed. Her teacher told me that she just LOVES Caroline and she is such a huge help. She is truly wise beyond her years….teachers words..not mine.
Jack is doing MUCH BETTER in school. Grades and behavior marks are much improved. Math continues to be our area of focus. He LOVES math but Jack speeds through his work and often makes errors because of his haste. The other night we spent about an hour redoing work that he declared “finished”. Every question where he did not show his work he missed it. He started to get frustrated with me but I put back on him. He understood and took it quite well. He told me as we were finishing that he would start to show his work.
Monday of this week marked the two year anniversary of my transplant. To celebrate Tracey and I took the family (us, my sister, Tracey’s sister, my parents, and Tracey’s mom and stepdad) to dinner. We went to Dunston’s Steakhouse on Inwood….right across from the Inwood Theater. It was a wonderful evening with wonderful (and very affordable) food.
Tracey’s birthday is in a couple of weeks. I want to take her and the kids somewhere special for dinner…perhaps a return trip to Dunstons? This place is awesome!
Finally got my scanner set up. Think I will upload some pictures for Facebook. I was looking at some pictures the other night that I want to upload. What a wonderful time in life (high school and college) you have the freedom to do and for the most part no major responsibility.
Good Times!
See what I mean….FASCINATING PEOPLE!!

Writing My Obituary Before I Die

2010-01-19T16:52:00.001-06:00

That is what it feels like I am doing. You see my current position with the school district runs out at the end of my current contract. At the moment there are no promises as to what I will be doing with the district next year. So I have to update the resume and start applying in other districts to cover my basis. In many ways I feel like I am writing my obituary before I die. I really don’t want to leave my district. I love it here and I love who I work with on a daily basis. At the same time my family likes to eat as well so I have to be prepared to leave.

WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR

2010-01-17T18:06:00.002-06:00

Well all good things come to an end I suppose. At least I know we are on the up swing. Once Farve retires....again....what is Minnisota going to do?

HOW I FEEL

2010-01-12T18:21:00.000-06:00

That's Right..He said EIGHT Purple Hearts

2010-01-11T12:16:00.001-06:00

I Dont Get This Hire

2010-01-11T11:40:00.000-06:00

Are We Too Accessible?

2010-01-08T17:07:00.000-06:00

I think we as a society have become accustomed to someone we know being too accessible. I am guilty of it and I hate it. You call someone at home and they are not there. You leave a message. You then try to reach them on their cell phone. They don’t pick up. You leave message there too. Then you think….where the heck are they?
I think I get a bit miffed when I am on the other side of this argument as well. I hate it when I call my dad and he says…I have been trying to reach you but you don’t pick up your home phone or your cell.
Unlike my dad I don’t carry my cell phone EVERYWHERE! I have called him on his cell only to find out he is sitting in his recliner.
I think it is stupid to be in your home with your cell phone on sitting right beside you….yet I am guilty.
Yesterday I was laying in bed reading and I had the land line and my cell phone sitting right by me….guilty
I think if you call me on my cell or at the house and I don’t pick it up leave a message. I will return the call.
I think if you call and don’t leave a message don’t expect a call back.
Over the Christmas break I broke free from my cell phone so to speak. Rarely had it with me or had it on period. It was very nice.
AND TO THINK I REMEMBER WHEN THERE WAS NO ANSWERING SERVICE. IF THE PERSON DID NOT PICK UP IT JUST RANG AND RANG!!!!

News From My Doctor

2010-01-04T21:26:00.001-06:00

Morning Everyone! Last week I went to the doctor for my monthly check up. As many of you have known I have been battling different ailments that have to deal with graf vs. host. Things your body deals with after having a transplant from a non-related donor.

Most notably I have been dealing with extreme pain in my feet and extremely dry skin. Well I have been on medication for about three weeks and my feet feel GREAT! As for the skin...well I am the poster boy for vaseline intensive care....I have it at all times.

Oh...and my eyes....I developed cataracts in both eyes due to the steroid I have been on for three years. I had my second surgery over the break and I am now seeing 20-25 overall.......It's like seeing in high def! AWESOME!!

I tell you all of this that brings me to this. January 18th marks YEAR NUMBER 2 from my transplant date. I have heard my doctors say anywhere from 3 to 5 years being cancer free and you are in the clear. So I asked Dr. Collins...WHICH IS IT? 3 years or 5 years?!?!

Dr. Collins is very non committal....as they have to be I understand...nothing is guaranteed....but here is what he had to say.

Mr. Huffman your counts have looked great for quite some time. If you had any cancer cells in your body the graf vs. host that you have going on would literally eat it. I am convinced that the cancer is COMPLETELY GONE! All we are going to do is control your graf vs. host and make sure you are comfortable. If you did not have any graf vs. host we would give you medication that would create graf vs. host. Studies have shown Mr. Huffman that if the patient with your type of cancer makes it to the 3rd year the cancer RARELY comes back...and 5 years it is almost nonexistent.

It did not hit me until I was in the car on the way home that for the first time EVER Dr. Collins told me what he was really thinking. He has NEVER committed one way or the other (which again I understand) on the possibilities of survival because I am a rare case. There are not a lot of statistics for him to research. Usually the patients are much older or are children and the patients cannot handle the treatment therefore they fall to the treatment before the disease. Therefore I am a lab rat! I am providing all kinds of information for their studies.

I just wanted you to know because all of you have been on this very long journey that started on May 25, 2006 and for the FIRST TIME the docter said..."CANCER COMPLETELY GONE" While it is not a guarantee if Dr. Collins is saying it I like the odds.....maybe I should hit the poker tables in Oklahoma while I am on a roll....

Pure GREATNESS in Advertising

2010-01-03T03:35:00.001-06:00

I AM CALLING "BS" ON THIS ADVERTISEMENT

2010-01-02T15:31:00.002-06:00

Have you seen the taco bell commercial where the girl lost a ton of weight while eating taco bell fresh items?

The before and after shots are amazing....but I have a few questions.

I wanted to lose weight but did not want to give up my fast food.......

Ummmm...then how did you think you could lose the weight? Cutting back only gets you so far.

These results are not typical........... no kidding....you either had surgery or did something drastic and throwing some pico on your taco aint it.

What does that mean?

2010-01-02T15:22:00.002-06:00

My wife said the other day..."Like it makes a sh%ts bit of difference?"

What does that mean? No matter what bit you have it's still sh%t?

INPUT PLEASE

The Good The Bad The Ugly

2009-12-30T00:15:00.002-06:00

The time off from work- good
Christmas with the family- good
Learning that my sister in law is moving home- good
white christmas - good
Hearing my docter say- The cancer is gone! good
Hearing my foot docter say- lets go non weight baring for a couple of weeks- bad
Learning that while your wife is away for a bit and you are supposed to be watching the kids your daughter gives herself a haircut- bad
Realizing you got nothing in defense- UGLY

I am a baby...I admit it.

2009-12-18T16:24:00.002-06:00

Last week my superintendant announced that he was leaving the district. This news has hit everyone in the administration very emotional. It's not often that a large group of people feel this way toward their boss. I am going to admit this. I have cried on more than one occassion over this. Each time I think to myself .... GET OVER THIS.....it's just this man went out of his way to take care of me during my illness. I also have learned SO MUCH from him over the past years.

Today I met with him privately for probably the last time. I gave him an envelope with a letter and a family portrai enclosed. Here is my letter. AND YES I TEARED UP JUST HANDING IT TO HIM

Mr. Murray,
I wanted to take an opportunity to thank you for everything you have done for me and my family. I struggle writing this letter because as I think about everything you have done for me I have to stop and take a break because I start to tear up. I have truly been blessed to be here in Little Elm working under your guidance. Please understand that I speak for my whole family in thanking you for taking care of me during my serious illness. You always wanted to take care of me and lift any fears I may have had in making sure that my teachers and students were being taken care of at all times.
I still remember when I was first diagnosed and was in stable condition in the hospital. You took time out of your day to drive all the way to Zale Lipshey just to see me and spend about 30 minutes just to talk with me. Any time I wanted to talk about work you would shut it down and want to talk about my family and what you could do for them. How is Tracey? Are Jack and Caroline doing okay? My favorite visit and most memorable took place about 3 weeks later. School was out and everyone was gone. I was feeling better and was actually up and moving around. I was sitting in the family visitation room and the door opens and here comes someone who looks at me. He is wearing flip flops, shorts, sun glasses, and a baseball cap. He looks at me and says, “for someone so sick you sure are hard as hell to find.” I looked up and I realized it was you! I just started laughing. You spent over an hour talking with me just to check up on me. At the end of the visit you mentioned you needed to get going because your wife and daughter were down stairs waiting for you. I was shocked! You took time out of your summer to come down to see me with your family and I knew the hospital was NOT on your way to anything.
I want you to know Mr. Murray that the impact you have had on my life cannot be expressed in words. I will be grateful for the rest of my life. I know in my heart that part of the reason I am alive today is in direct relation to what you and this district have done to take care of me and my family. On behalf of my whole family I wish you nothing but the best. I will always cherish the time I spent under your guidance. You will be missed but never forgotten.
Sincerely,

Jason Huffman

Fire!

2009-12-11T09:37:00.000-06:00

A fire starts inside a chemical plant and the alarm goes out to fire departments miles around.

After crews have been fighting the fire for over an hour, the chemical company president approached the fire chief and said, "All of our secret formulas are in the vault in the center of the plant. They must be saved! I will give $100,000 to the engine company that brings them out safely!"

The crews try, but no one can get through. Then another fire truck, filled with a volunteer fire company of men over 65, comes roaring down the road and drives straight into the middle of the inferno. The other men watch unbelieving as the old timers hop off of their rig and heroically extinguish the fire, saving the secret formulas.

The company president walks over to reward the volunteers.

"What do you guys plan to do with the money?" the president asks the group.

The firetruck driver looks him right in the eye and answers, "Well, the first thing we're going to do is fix the darn brakes on that truck."

I'm Just Sayin'

2009-12-09T10:34:00.000-06:00

If you could go back and talk to yourself at the age of say 15 for 30 minutes. Would your conversation deal with financial advice or relationships. Mine would be financial. Relationship wise I would not trade anything. I learned from each one. And when I met Tracey I knew after the first date she was it!
The past few evenings I have made an effort to help more with Tracey. The evenings have been much nicer. Must keep it up no matter what. Tracey deserves it.
Funny thing happened this morning- My dad installed a new shower head in our shower last week. It’s one of those that you can take in your hand and move around. This morning Tracey was in the shower and I hear a loud CLANK and Tracey says…What the hell? Then she starts laughing. She opens the door with the shower head in her hand and says….I AM GOING TO GET ONTO MY PLUMBER!!
Jack is doing so good on his multiplication tables. Jack has a big Math test today and he probably is not going to do very well on it and he is worried. But ya know….he knows the processes. He just makes mental math mistakes. We can work on that. He is not failing so we are going to be okay.
I have an appointment with a foot doctor on the 17th. Hopefully relief is on the horizon.

A letter to God

2009-12-08T15:02:00.001-06:00

There was a man who worked for the Post Office whose job was to process all the mail that had illegible addresses.

One day, a letter came addressed in a shaky handwriting to God with no actual address. He thought he should open it to see what it was about. The letter read:

Dear God,

I am an 83 year old widow, living on a very small pension.

Yesterday someone stole my purse. It had $100 in it, which was all the money I had until my next pension payment.

Next Sunday is Christmas, and I had invited two of my friends over for dinner. Without that money, I have nothing to buy food with, have no family to turn to, and you are my only hope. Can you please help me?

Sincerely, Edna

The postal worker was touched. He showed the letter to all the other workers. Each one dug into his or her wallet and came up with a few dollars.

By the time he made the rounds, he had collected $96, which they put into an envelope and sent to the woman.

The rest of the day, all the workers felt a warm glow thinking of Edna and the dinner she would be able to share with her friends.

Christmas came and went.

A few days later, another letter came from the same old lady to God.

All the workers gathered around while the letter was opened. It read:

Dear God,

How can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me?

Because of your gift of love, I was able to fix a glorious dinner for my friends. We had a very nice day and I told my friends of your wonderful gift.

By the way, there was $4 missing.

I think it might have been those bastards at the post office.

Sincerely, Edna

And Boom Goes The Dynamite

2009-12-07T11:07:00.001-06:00

And Boom! Goes the dynamite! That is what happened last night. There is plenty of blame to go around. I have more than my share to stand up and accept. The kids had their share to take as well.
Issue #1- is that neither I nor Tracey like for our house to be messy. We don’t expect party clean but we want things to be picked up. There are two problems. It is extremely painful for me to walk on my feet. More this topic in a moment. The kids are old enough to pick up after themselves. The problem is they have yet to do it without us getting on to them. Every night it seems it is an issue. When we tell them it is time to clean up both of the kids start giving Tracey and I lip. More so Jack than Caroline.
Issue #2- My Feet- The heels of my feet are so sensitive that when I walk on them it is like knives stabbing into my foot. This has been going on since September but this past month has been the worst. It takes everything I got to make it through the day. Some days are better than others. Some days by the end of the day I am basically limited to walking with a cane and even that is labored. I wear tennis shoes to work because dress shoes are not an option. Weekends- I spend most of my time in my recliner only getting up if I have to so that my feet will be improved enough for walking by Monday.
Issue #3- Cataract Surgery- For three more days I can’t pick up anything more than 5 lbs or bend over. BUT I CAN SEE VERY WELL!!!
Issue #4- My hands- These hurt like hell as well. The tips of my fingers are very sensitive. There are many things I struggle to do. The list is long.
Because of these issues I am about as useful around the house as broken lamp. This means that too many things fall on Tracey to do and she (as anyone would) gets overwhelmed and short with me…the kids…..even the dogs at times must tread lightly. I could not do what she does.
At times I get down on myself. My whole physical situation is a beating to deal with on a daily basis. That is no lie. What I must work on is not letting this affect my mental state of mind. I get down on myself and then when the kids or Tracey snip at me for something I roar back. It goes downhill from that point as you can imagine.
Example:
Yesterday I wanted to be productive and fix lunch for the family and perhaps make some brownies for everyone to snack on the next few days. My feet were hurting but not as much as they had so I was going to make a go of it. The problem was I knew I had limited steps that I could take before my feet were done. Every time I tried to put something somewhere to work in the kitchen I found that something was already there and needed to either be put up or loaded into the dishwasher. I became more and more frustrated as I was trying work and I started banging some things as I was working in the kitchen. Tracey comes in to see what the problem is and asks me if anything is the problem? I said, “Yes, I am trying to make lunch for everyone but I can’t work in here because there is crap everywhere in here.” COULD HAVE HANDLED THAT ONE BETTER I ADMIT THAT! Tracey said, “I am only one person and I am not getting any help.” We refocused and Tracey helped me get the kitchen in order.

Last night Tracey was working with Jack on multiplication tables and Jack started getting a little difficult because he wanted to do something else. I chimed in with my thoughts and Jack yelled at me. Big mistake on his part and boom went the dynamite. Tracey got on to me for getting on to Jack and snapped back at Tracey.
So here is my vow!
Vow #1= I have got to get help on my feet. I am going to talk to my doctors today.
Vow #2- Pain or Not- I have got to get up and help Tracey with the kids more.

Cortizone Shot?

To Believe Or Not To Believe

2009-12-01T11:26:00.001-06:00

That is the question that keeps going through Jack’s head. He desperately wants to believe that Santa Clause is real. The problem is he has some friends (two of which I am not fond of to begin with that live down the street) that are telling him there is no Santa Clause and his parents do everything. They even eat the cookies!
I am ready when the time comes to talk to Jack about the “Spirit of Santa Clause” and the joy of giving. But as long as he wants to believe in the “The Man” I am not going to crush his world of innocence. I know others are out there who think that Tracey and I should just come clean and tell him. But why do it until we have too? You don’t keep this view of the world very long so why shorten it? Also, his sister is only 6 and I don’t want him ruining it for her.
The conflict in Jacks world right now was never more evident than this past Sunday. As has become tradition my mother takes the kids for their Christmas picture then they go see Santa. On the way to see Santa Jack told Grammy that he did not need to go sit on Santa’s lap because he was going to write Santa a letter of what he wanted for Christmas.
My mother handled it beautifully. She said that was okay with her but that he needed to stay where she could see him while she went through the line with Caroline. This was a great relief to Jack. He stood back by the elevators with his head on a constant look out for anyone who might know him. He hung out looking cool.
The next morning Jack crawled into bed with me for a few moments of Daddy Time and he asked if it was okay that he chose not to sit in Santa’s lap. I told him sure! What if Santa misses my letter…there are thousands of them for him to read you know. True, but that is why Santa has all of the helpers. They keep Santa “In the know.”
I hope you’re right dad!

Now I ask you….WHY would you want to end this prematurely?

BRAVO MOMMA!

2009-11-20T11:32:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was the big day for our parent conference. Tracey went for both of us. I was tied up at work and was not able to attend. In the past has always wanted either me to handle the meeting or at least go with her. This time however, she was ready to go and if I had gone I doubt I would have got a word in. The woman was ready to go!
She gets to the meeting and of course it is her, the principal and the teacher. I don’t want to go into great specifics but it is safe to say that the school did not come off looking very good. You can read my previous post to read the email I sent them to give them a list of our questions.
I am not sure where to start. It is not often that a parent will set up a meeting and give you much information regarding their concern because they don’t want you to have a prepared statement to their concern.
Jacks teacher is in her first year in a regular classroom. She has education experience but nothing to this level. She is going up against a mother who has 16 years of classroom experience and a father with 15 years of educational experience with 7 of those years being a campus administrator. To say that she is at a disadvantage here is an understatement. The last parent meeting we had the best defense she had was “that is how they do it here.”
So to be fair I sent her and the principal an email (you can read it below) to give them a heads up. They had four days to get ready for this meeting. IF a parent conference involved me and the teacher there was obviously a problem. I would always go in ahead of time and talk with the teacher about what was going on. If we screwed up…we screwed up. The important thing is to not make excuses to the parent in the conference. Admit our wrong doing.. Privately, before the conference, I would coach the teacher on how to handle the situation in the future so that they can learn and be better! We all make mistakes. The important thing to remember is that we learn from them. In the meeting with the parents we tell them what we are going to do in the future. I usually figure out a way to take the heat for the mistake so that the teacher feels as though they are supported and not being left out to dry. It is a win-win situation. The parent has been heard and their concerns are validated. The teacher learns how not to get in that situation again.
This did NOT happen here. As a matter of fact I don’t think the principal even talked to the teacher AT ALL before the conference. If he had he would have coached them a bit better.
This is the funniest part: In regards to how is the campus monitoring the effectiveness of tutoring and what is done if it is found to not be effective? Example: Jack makes good grades on stuff we work with him on but consistently makes 70’s and 60’s on work covered in class and tutoring.
This was actually said by Jack’s tutoring teacher who joined the meeting:
Another teacher in the third grade (who plans math for the grade level) gives the tutoring teacher a packet of work to give to the kids. If the kid needs help the tutor try’s to help the kid.
Question by us: what strategy are you using when you are working with Jack?
Tutor: Strategy?
Tracey: Yes what problem solving strategy are you using to help the kids ?
Tutor: All I get is a bunch of packets and I hand them out to the kids.

LLLLLLOOOONNNNNGGGG SILENCE as Tracey let’s this INCREDIBLE DUMB statement sink in.
She looks over at the principal he is not reacting. Tracey handled that beautifully. She gave them rope and they hung themselves.
This is too easy!
Then the principal says this: What you have to understand Mrs. Huffman is that you and your husband are much more knowledgeable than the typical parent. You are asking questions that the typical would not know to ask..
What the hell does that mean? Excuse my staff for being idiots….I got nothin’
Dude! If you are going into a parent conference and you have seen their concerns and you got a first year teacher and you are facing parents with over 30 years of experience and one of the parents was a campus administrator you better get in there and find out what the hell is going on.
NOT SMART!
And I loved how Tracey handled this statement to the principal. Any parent Mr…….. is going to come into this situation and what to know what the school is doing to ensure their child is learning.
BRAVO MOMMA! BRAVO

It Must Be Magic

2009-11-16T21:00:00.003-06:00

So Tracey and I have been trying to set up a teacher conference with Jacks teacher for about two weeks. Our first challenge was she kept trying to set it up during the day. She knows we both work but it was worth it so Tracey was going to take a personal day and go during the teachers 45 minute conference period. HENCE THE NAME...CONFERENCE PERIOD. Then we were informed that she could only give us about 20-30 minutes. When we told her we needed more time and that we would need to meet before or after school we were informed that she does not get to school until 7:45 and she leaves at 3:45. Again a 15 minute conference.

So I sent her an email listing our questions and a little detail on each question to give her a heads up on her answers so that we could meet HER time contraints. Because in a profession where you serve the public ITS ALL ABOUT YOU!!

We contacted the principal of the campus trying to get him to help us set up a longer conference. We needed 45 minutes to an hour.

Again we were stonewalled. He would not help us at all.

So we decided that many of our questions he could answeer since HE IS THE INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER of the campus. So I sent him the exact same email we sent Tracey's teacher.

We got a call today and SOMEHOW peoples schedules opened up at Jacks school and LIKE MAGIC we got a parent conference set up on OUR TIME SCHEDULE.... What was in this magic email???? Read below.

Good Morning! I understand that you and Tracey are in the process of setting up a time to sit down and talk regarding Jack’s grades in math. I also understand there are some time constraints to being able to meet so I am emailing you to let you know ahead of time what our questions are at this time. As we were monitoring his grades in the on line grading system we had a few questions.

Grade Input- We noticed that Jack had a mid C average in math. For quite some time that is where he has been performing. In one day (this past Monday November 9th) we noticed his average dropped 5 points to a 70. When we looked at his grades several grades had been entered with obvious low grades being earned by Jack. We did get a couple but not all of the assignments that were recently added to the grade book. They said "Re Do" across the top of the paper. In the past we have noticed that when we do this with Jack and he turns it in to you his grade improves. Our concern here is with the cut off for grades being due (Thursday November 12th) do we have time to work with Jack at home and get this turned back into you to show Jack’s mastery of learning on these concepts? When we turn in a "re do" paper is a new grade given on that paper or is an alternative assignment given to Jack and a new grade based on what he earned on that assignment put into the grade book? Again, in the past we have noticed some improvement in Jack’s grades after we work with him but we are not clear on how his grade improved. Of course we have tried getting information from Jack but he is not sure either.

Grade Input Guidelines- I know there is nothing district wide mandated but at your campus is there a guideline as to getting grades into the computer prior to grades being due for report cards and progress reports? I ask this because with some of Jack’s grades that were recently put into the grade book Tracey and I fear that we don't have time to help Jack understand the concepts prior to testing. What is happening to us is we think Jack is doing well because he is rocking along working with us. Then in one day we see 5 grades being entered that are not good and we are backed up to either a report card or a test being given in a matter of days.

Please understand Tracey and I know the demands being placed on you as a classroom teacher. We just want to make sure that when we are notified of Jack’s grades that we have enough time to help Jack.

Graded Work Coming Home- There are some grades in the grade book that we do not see coming home in Jacks folder. On the other side of that we are seeing papers come home with grades on them but they are not entered into the grade book. This is causing some confusion on our part.

Monitoring the Effectiveness of Tutoring: In talking with Jack I became aware that Jack is not being tutored by you in math. Here we have a student who is not performing well consistently in math and he is being tutored by someone who is not his math teacher. My concern with this system being in place is that with Jack’s grades being what they are he is obviously not learning what he needs to. This could be for several reasons. What procedure is in place to monitor the effectiveness of tutoring? If it is determined to not be effective what procedures are in place to correct the problem? Is is possible for Jack to tutor with you? If this will not work then Tracey and I will be pulling Jack from math tutoring and he will work with us. That might be the easiest thing to do for you and Jack.

Mastery Learning- What procedures are taken as a campus when a student does not perform well on a given assignment?
• Does the student simply correct the problems missed?
• Is there a reteach of the concepts being missed by either small group instruction or whole class given the circumstances of how well the class did on the assignment.
• Is there a reteach of the concept being missed by the student and an alternative assessment being given for major grades such as test?
• Have you been given direction from either your grade level or campus administration as to the guidelines for mastery learning or is it up to the individual teacher to determine what to do when facing this situation? In talking with parents with kids in other classes it seems to us that each teacher is doing something different. While that is not optimal, if that is the system in place so be it. We are just confused as to what the procedure in place looks like at this time.
I know there is a lot of information here so you can see why I am sending this to you now. I was not sure you and Tracey could cover this much information in 15 to 30 minutes.
So in review:
• Timelines for getting grades put into the computer in a timely manner for parents so that averages don't drop 5-10 points in a day.
• How does the "Re Do" policy actually affect Jack's grade?
• Tutoring- How is it being monitored for effectiveness.
• Tutoring Part 2- If it is determined to not be effective what procedures are in place to make it effective?
• Mastery Learning- As a grade level, campus, or individual teacher, what procedure is in place to ensure mastery learning?
• Thank you for your time. I look forward to speaking with Tracey at the conclusion of your conference.

Do I Need A Shrink?

2009-11-11T15:20:00.001-06:00

Last night we were winding down for the evening. Tracey and I were lying in bed talking. We were discussing how I was doing. For quite some time now I have been having problems with my feet and hands. I won’t go into a lot of detail but I will say both can be extremely painful. Add to this about a week ago I started having some vision problems. I see pretty clearly but it is like I am looking through fog at all times. I mentioned that I wish God would give me some relief in one area. You know…if you are going to mess with my vision then let my feet be pain free.
I have good days and bad days. Some days I function pretty well. Then again some days it is all I can do to make through my work day. When I get home I make it to my recliner and prop my feet up and there I am.
I mentioned to Tracey that I try to stay upbeat but sometimes I get a little depressed at my physical condition. She then asked me if I considered going to a counselor. Well no why would I need to do that? …. Was my thought. Because you have changed was her answer.
WOW…WOW….WOW….What do you mean I have changed?
DO I REALLY WANT TO HEAR THIS?
This led into about a 45 minute conversation of some deep soul searching. As our conversation ended and Tracey fell asleep I sat there and stared at the ceiling for about a hour. You know when everyone is asleep and you are alone with your thoughts it is amazing how much self therapy you can cover in such a short amount of time. While there are areas that I have handled very well there are areas that I have let slip as a father, a husband, a partner, and a friend.
This blog entry is my witness. From this time forward I am going to be better.

Thanks Sweety for everything.

Going To The Symphony

2009-11-11T14:39:00.002-06:00

Jack's class went to the symphony last week. As you can tell he was dressed to impress.

Coach Huffdaddy Starts The Season Strong! WIN 51-21

2009-11-04T17:06:00.000-06:00

I want to thank everyone for being here today. Obviously I am very pleased with today's outcome. We do have some areas we need to work on but overall I can't complain for this being our first game. Do you guys have questions?

We noticed that you altered your schedule to include Duke as your opener. Why did you go in that direction?
Well if you want to win in football you need to schedule a school that is good in basketball...he he ya know what I am saying? Seriously, I just wanted to schedule a team that appeared equal to my team talent wise. Of course that did not to turn out to be true because we beat the heck out of them. What did we have a little over 600 yards in offense?

Tell us about your defense? Overall they did well today. I wish we held them a bit more but when we were up 48-7 all of the sudden the refs started finding personal fouls to help them get down the field.

Why did you go for two when you were up 48-7. I don't like the number 49. I would rather stay at 48 or move up to 50.

You were seen eating peanuts on the sideline during the game do you have a comment on that? We were up 48-7 and I got the munchies. I just missed the hotdog guy and the cotton candy dude was nowhere to be found. Peanuts won!

Listen, it was a good start for us. I am happy with how we looked for it being our first game. I look forward to opening it up a bit more on both sides of the ball. We have a lot of work to do to get ready for UAB. Whoever that is...they have a dragon on their helmet. Hopefully with a little luck we can start out 2-0.

This is Incredible!

2009-11-04T14:37:00.000-06:00

The Puppy Whisperer - Watch more Funny Videos

I LOVE These Types of Video Clips

2009-11-04T14:27:00.001-06:00

Maybe its because I have been in a situation where I might not see my kids again but I choke up EVERY TIME I see a video like this one.

Tricked On Halloween - Watch more Funny Videos

No Shame In Crying After THAT!!

2009-11-04T11:36:00.003-06:00

You
Hardest Pop Warner Football Hit Ever - Watch more Funny Videoshave got to keep your head up!

Coach Huffdaddy Accepts A Coaching Job!

2009-11-02T18:22:00.002-06:00

Edit Note- Read Coaches Interviews Useless First

Coach Huffdaddy Approaches the Podium To Make His Coaching Decision Public

Coach HD- I would like to thank all of you for being here today. I know this is an exciting day for everyone. My record speaks for itself in that where ever I go I win so someone is going to have their furtunes turn dramatically with my decision. A lot went into this decision. Once I had this idea I must have thought about which team I was going to take over for a good 10 minutes. In the end it was a hard decision and an easy decision at the same time. Hard in that both of these teams have a history of being bad. Easy in that one of these teams is located in the North and that means cold. Huffdaddy don't do the cold anymore. Besides that university is located in Philadelphia. What a Sh#t Hole. Who wants to live there? So my decision is that I will be taking over the coaching and play calling duties on offense and defense for The SMU MUSTANGS!

Wait for applause and the flash of bulbs as I put on my SMU HAT and hold up a JERSEY with HUFFDADDY #1 for pictures.

At this time I will take questions

Can you go into a bit more detail about why you were looking at schools with the history of SMU? Sure! I was looking for a school that has a losing history. And I think we will agree that SMU fits this tradition since they came back from the death penalty.

Why a school with a losing history? Well I did this for a couple reasons. I have taken over at big schools before and quite frankly there was no challenge. They have the athletes and the recruiting pipelines are set. Year after year I was trying to decide what 5 star recuit to accept. After building up a record of 130-2and 9 National Chanmpionships with 7 of those in a row I decided to step away because it got boring. Here I can build up a school into national prominance and once again show I am a genius and at the same time get SMU to a bigger more respectable conference.

Can you go into more detail about Respectable Conference- Well yeah what are they in CONFERENCE USA? What the hell is that? Have you seen some of these teams. With the exception of Houston these teams would have a hard time beating some of the best HIGHSCHOOL teams in Texas...Anyone here seen Euless Trinity play? They got some mean Tongons! If I can recruit some of those Tongans I figure we can get that TONGAN DANCE tradition going and freak some teams out before we ever hit the field to actually play.

So what is your first step in turning things around? The first step has been taken. That is I am taking over their program. My name alone should be good for a couple of wins anyway. Next I am going to be looking at the schedule. My plan is to search real hard and find some teams worse than us? If I have dig down to division two schools I will. This give us the opportunity build confidence and for the players to get used to my calls both offensively and defensively so we will be ready to roll when conference time starts. After a couple of successful seasons we will start scheduling bigger fish to build up our quality of schedule and get us into a bigger conference.

What conference are you shooting for? The Big XII would be a natural fit.

What if the Big XII does not want to expand? Well they can either become the Big XIII or if they don't like that they can do a little trade. We move to the Big XII and one of their crappy teams like Baylor can move to our smaller conference. I think that would be a natural move. Baylor is awful and needs to admit they have not been competitive in the Big XII in the sports that matter and are not going to be for some time, Seriously, how are you going to recuit at Baylor? Come to Baylor and get the crap beat out of you by Texas, Texas Tech and Okalahoma yearly! Plus who wants to wear Gold and Green. Have you seen some of their uniform combinations? Gold on Gold with Gold Helmits? Barf. SMU is Red White and Blue...you don't get more American than that...and that mustang is pretty cool too.

Any more questions? No?

Well guys I want to thank you for coming out today and the next time we will talk will be before our first game. After that I will be doing post conferences after the games with a build up to our next game.

I hope you enjoyed this and look forward to Coach Huffdaddy's Conferences. It should be a fun season.

Coaching Interviews Are Useless

2009-11-02T17:39:00.002-06:00

I have just about had it with coaching interviews. Why? because you get no information out of them. You either get Mack Brown version of interviews. In these interviews you hear how it's going to be a heck of a game and TEXAS is going to have to be at their best to beat this team. Then Texas goes out and beats the team 68-10.....

What happened to this was going to a ball game? Do you honestly think a team like this stood a chance against you? I mean really..call it what it is....in college you have no PRESEASON games so you schedule these lambs for slaughter so that you know what you have when you start conference games. In the mean time these schools gladly accept the game because you pay them more in that one game (say 500,000) then they can make in 5 years with their home schedule.

Then you get the coach of the Dallas Cowboys- Who is the MASTER OF SAYING A LOT AND NOTHING AT THE SAME TIME! Honest the man never answers a question. And what is worse is the media knows this and still asks the same questions. I think the media needs to revolt and agree one day to all have the same list of questions. And keep asking the same question until you get an answer. Reporter One- Why do you think Marion Barber had a hard time running the ball today when other running backs where successful and how much does his injury play into his performance? Coach answers in his traditional way of talking for five minutes and saying nothing. Reporter Two- Um yes since you really did not answer that question and it was a good question I have the same question. Repeat the process until you get something out of him. Beat him into submission.

I like Mike Leacdes interviews..say what you want about him but he does not believe in protecting players ego's. His FAT GIRLFRIENDS interview was awesome!!! He holds people accountable and if they suck he tells the whole world they sucked.

I would be this way. For fun I am going to do a little experiment that you might think is stupid but I want to put myself in that position. Am I going to go out and get a coaching job? Ummmm NO!!

I am going to Use NCAA FOOTBALL 10 and I am going to take on the team as their coach and play through a season. I am going to do a post on this blog and it will read like a pregame or post game conference and I am going to answer the questions as I wished the coaches would answer it should be kind of funny to read about. I goal is to go through an entire season. We shall see what happens.

Funny

2009-11-01T10:33:00.001-06:00

One for the guys and one for the girls

My wife and I were watching "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" while we were in bed. I turned to her and said, "Do you want to have sex?"

"No," she answered.

I then said, "Is that your final answer?"

She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying, "Yes."

So I said, "Then I'd like to phone a friend."

And then the fight started....

After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to apply for Social Security. The woman behind the counter asked me for my driver's License to verify my age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home. I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come back later.

The woman said, 'Unbutton your shirt'.

So I opened my shirt revealing my curly silver hair. She said, 'That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me' and she processed my Social Security application.

When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the Social Security office. She said, 'You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability, too.'

And then the fight started...

The Next Play There Would Be A 15 Yard Roughing The Passer Penalty If It Where Me

2009-10-28T07:48:00.001-05:00

Campers!!

2009-10-26T15:21:00.000-05:00

This past weekend has been circled on the calendar in the JDHTEACH house hold for 6 months. This past weekend was Pack 817 Fall Camp Out! Why was this so important to our family? Because it was going to be the first time EVER that we were going camping as a family. This is a journey that began back in April of this year. The SPRING camp out I missed due to recovery from pneumonia. This greatly upset Jack but he understood. Caroline did not go as well. She stayed with other family members. Tracey was not to gung ho about it because neither she nor I had grown up camping. Bugs…staying in the elements…um not so much.
The start up cost for camping can be expensive. We had no idea if Jack would even like camping so as far as we knew back in April this could be a ONE AND DONE kind of deal. So we borrowed just about EVERYTHING from some friends of ours that are seasoned campers.
Tracey and Jack came home and Jack could NOT STOP talking about all of the fun he had. In talking with Tracey she said, You know…we actually had a lot of fun! So now we were committed. We knew the next camping trip with the pack was in October so we started purchasing camping gear at special occasions. Through Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, and my birth day we had purchased blow up mattresses, battery powered lanterns, and a huge tent! We had the essentials.
This time we were all going. Tracey, Jack, Caroline and ME! We had an absolute blast. We knew our camping site buddy family very well so we enjoyed getting to sit around and talk with them.
Here is what I really enjoyed about the trip!
- Everyone helped one another- We helped each other set up and take down the camp site. This makes is go by so much easier.
- The kids could run and play- Everyone watched out after the kids. You did not have to worry about where your kid was at all times. Somebody was always with them.
- Caroline had many kids to play with. There were a ton of younger siblings there and Caroline had a nice crowd to hang with.
- Jack let Caroline hang with him quite a bit. He was not bothered at all that she tagged along at times. Usually this is the case but we thought with his Boy Scout troop he would want to be “with the guys” more but he looked after Caroline very well.
- Jacks pack is a great group of boys and their parents are great. I enjoyed visiting with everyone.
- Everyone was so nice to me because they knew I had had to lay low due to exposure so they were all very welcoming.
- I enjoyed going from camp site to camp site seeing all the neat set ups people had.
- I guess since we were in tents we were camping but we were not what you would call roughing it.
Things I did not enjoy about the trip
- Restroom was 75 yards through the woods.

Things we learned this camping trip.
- Christmas Lights- Everyone puts up Christmas lights at their camp site. If offers a soft light so that at night you can see your way around the camp site.
- Mesquite Wood- Made some very good smelling and long lasting fire wood.
- We are going to get another tent the same size as the one we have. This way we can have a boy tent and girl tent with some ROOM to move. The way it was at night we were butt cheek to butt cheek.
- Packing- we are going to purchase more storage bens. No more fights putting the tent back in its tiny bag. We can also categorize stuff- Sleeping Geer, Battery Powered, Electrical. In the future when it is time to go we won’t have to search multiple crates.
- With my deep dish skillet I can cook up quite a meal at the camp site in the future.
Overall we all had a great time and we created a family memory that will last forever! I can’t wait for our next trip! We are officially CAMPERS!!

Random Thoughts My JDHTEACH

2009-10-22T17:26:00.000-05:00

I have a bunch of randomness here.
Update about the child I referenced in my previous post. He is having one of those days today. We have no other choice but to shut the door when he is like that. I am now convinced this is not where this kid needs to be. He can’t be learning anything in this setting. Same goes for the other students in that class with him.
Jack has been doing very well handling his feelings. He still can push it but he is so much better. He sees the anger lady for a second time next week. He is looking forward to it.
I am not sure “anger lady” is the best name for her. What about the “worry lady”. That is really what she works with Jack on. How to handle his worries.
Jack is a worrier. I wish we could get him to be less of a worrier but then again he has had to face some serious situations in his 8 short years.
Jack passed his Math Benchmark….he made a 70. Man did we pump him up. Especially since the class average was not that great.
Jacks teacher makes me shake my head sometimes but I have to give her props when she deserves it. We are seeing evidence that the two other teachers are doing things differently than Jacks teacher. We have recently found out through our connections that the other two teachers have been together for many years and they don’t exactly go out of their way to help anyone new to the team. So Jack has a teacher who is in a new grade level and a new school and she is having to survive on her own. THAT….pisses me off. I HATE teachers that do that.
Obviously the principal is either unaware of this or he does not want to rock the boat.
There was a teacher at Tracey’s campus last year that was “untouchable” The principal left that grade level alone because she did not want to rock the boat.
As an administrator I don’t get this line of thinking. If you asked the teachers who worked for me I would confidently tell you they felt I valued their opinion when making decisions as to what I thought was best for kids. That does not mean they always liked my decision but they had to respect it. If something goes wrong it’s my job that is on the line. So I can’t have teachers personalities effect my decision making. Having two teachers run together and leave the other one out to dry is unacceptable and I would address it immediately.
When I got my principal job I had a group of teachers that were in my office almost daily that summer. Most of them were there to honestly help me get settled but some were there to kiss butt and to figure me out as far as what type of person I was going to be. I remember one teacher who was very vocal about how things are here at JDHTEACH Intermediate and she sure let me know how important she was to how things run. She forgot one important detail. I don’t care. Sure enough on her first walk through she was horrible. We agreed to reschedule and do it again. She sucked again and I let her know about it. We scheduled it AGAIN and it sucked again. I told her I was going to send her to classroom management classes. You would have thought I suggested she got caught stealing. She was “offended”. I told her I really did not care that she was offended. My job was to make her the best teacher she could be and to do what is best for kids. She hinted that if I was not careful she would resign. This was Friday morning. I told her I needed her resignation on my desk by 8:00 Monday morning.
Everyone was shocked that I got rid of her when others have tried.
My ship …. My rules…..if you think you can do better go get you a degree and get a job….you are in luck ….many universities offer a masters in education administration.

In other news…. The Halloween costume party we had last Saturday was a very big success. Loved all of the costumes. Everyone really got into it. We already have plans for next year.
I am seriously thinking about doing a FALL tree this year. It’s like a Christmas tree only it’s decorated in fall items…ribbons orange and gold and pumpkins ….. just thinking.
Anyone ever done a Fall Tree? I saw one the other day and it was really a beautiful tree.

Steve McNair = Sorriness

2009-10-22T14:29:00.000-05:00

So the police reports are coming out now about text messages between Steve McNair and the young lady that killed him on July 4th. I want to say that I really feel that this is a very sad situation and that Steve McNair did not deserve to die in this way. Having said this I have a couple of questions.
Steve McNair was married and a father of four. Why is no one mentioning the word affair in their reports? They say he was dating or seeing the girl.
Why is Steve McNair getting a free pass on the fact that he cheated on his wife? I know the argument what good does it do the man is dead. I understand that but no one even uses the word AFFAIR. He was dating….seeing outside of his marriage…everything but affair. And no one is raking him over the coals just a little bit. A politician has an affair and it ruins his career. A former athlete…eh…not so much.
Police now know that McNair was seeing AT LEAST one other lady in addition to the 20 year old that killed him. Good LORD…..AT LEAST??? So that means they have evidence of more?
Is this situation just accepted? Rich man is going to have a woman on the side. What about the woman that was with you when you had nothing?
How can his wife declare she knew nothing this situation. He left his house at 12:30 in the morning. Um Steveo----where are you going at this time of night big guy and leaving me at home with the kids? I just don’t buy that she knew nothing. He is transferring money to pay this girls bills for crying out loud. I think she knew something was up but as long as she was being taken care of she kept quiet.
Then there is the He is 36 and she is 20. He is college educated and she works as a waitress with a history of “issues”. What could you possibly talk about? She was 8 when you were a rookie in the NFL. Have you read some of the text she was sending him? Whatcha doing? Where are you? I need some money to pay some bills. I am losing my mind about these bills.
WHAT A FREAKING WHIP to deal with….and what does he do? Pays it. Oh that will teach her. Obviously she must have met his physical desires but I am so sorry…. NOT WORTH IT!!!

I feel there is a percentage of SORRINESS that was Steve McNair and sense no one else will say anything I will. McNair you are sorry for doing what you did to your family.

Is This Such A Good Idea?

2009-10-14T08:28:00.002-05:00

My office is housed in a school. In this school the class for students with major handicaps is housed. This class is about 4 doors down from my office. We also house the districts staff development center in this wing. For the most part the kids in this class are awesome. They love coming to school and they are so sweet.

Occassionally there is a student that qualifies for the class and I am not sure their placement is the best placement. There is a student that has recently joined the class that fits this discription.

On the days the student shows up for school it seems all they do is scream.... and scream A LOT! To the point that we have to close doors to try and conduct business. I cannot imagine being in the classroom and trying to teach the other kids while that is going on.

I feel for the parents of this child but as a parent of the other kids in the classroom I would want to know how in the world they can meet the special needs of my child with that amount of disruption going on in the classroom.

What can these teachers possibly provide this child that they cannot get at home? I don't have an answer. Do you keep the child at home..... go to a special school. I just don't know if this child is in the right placement.

Good Parenting or Parent Give Up?

2009-10-06T17:30:00.002-05:00

Overall I feel Tracey and I are very good parents. Sure we have our flaws and we admit them to ourselves and we work at getting better so that when situations arise in the future we handle them appropriately. Occassionally we resort to "old school" ways but for the most part stay away from it.

Did your parents ever say "when your my age you will understand!"

Well there is one thing that would land me in the dog house with my dad faster than anything and at the time I did not understand it. Do you want to guess what it was?

That is right...disrespecting my mother. My dad would handle a lot of things but if I so much as looked at mom wrong I was toast. My sister got it too but it seemed like I had a much shorter leash.

Well now that I am a dad I get it. Nothing gets me more upset than when Jack gets disrespectful to Tracey. It's because I know NO ONE and I mean NO ONE loves that boy more than Tracey. He is her first baby. Till the day she dies that boy will be protected by her. Tracey tears up just talking about some of the stuff he says or does because it is so sweet for crying out loud.

So Jack has been having some problems handling disappointment or a challenge. He goes from being happy to pissed in the blink of an eye. We have been working with him on problem solving and how to appropriately handle disappointment with marginal success but for the most part with Jack it seems the world is coming to an end if he does not get his way.

So we have run up the white flag and admitted we need some help. So starting this month we are having Jack meet with a counselor once a month. We have done this in the past when I was sick and it seemed to really help. We shall see...financially it is impacting but I will pay whatever for the emotional security of my son.

So Good Parenting or Parent Give Up?

The RAIDERS

2009-09-27T07:58:00.001-05:00

The other night was Jacks flag football practice. Jack loves everything about flag football. He chose practice over a school picnic for crying out loud. Jack moved over to another team this year. The good news is this team has some boys on it that he has gone to school with in the past. The bad news is the talent level is not…… well…. The boys have fun. Let’s just leave it at that.
Last year Jack’s team I think lost one game. The team he is on now did not win a game last year and got THROTTLED our first game. So we have been working with Jack on his attitude toward the game. We are here to have fun….yada yada yada.
Low and behold they WON their second game!
Now I have coached in the UPWARD program before so I get to criticize what the coach is doing.
- Just a suggestion but you should find out what your team does well and concentrate on perfecting that!
- We have some speed on the team and run the ball well. But for SOME REASON we try and throw the ball 3 out of 4 downs. I have a theory as to why but more on that in a moment.
- UPWARD provides you with a “coach’s book”. This is an awesome book. It breaks your season up into weeks and provides you with wonderful guidance on how to run a successful practice. There are tons of activities for you to choose from to help teach your team the skills they need to learn the game. Heck I know very little about teaching basketball and I used it religiously when I coached basketball last year. We went 10-0 and the boys looked GREAT toward the end of the season. They were LEARNING from those drills.

So last night I am sitting there watching practice with my dad. Dad comes by and watches Jacks practice every Thursday. We are sitting there and it’s the same thing every week.
- We start off practice some passing the football practice. What is the point when only ONE KID gets to play QB? More on that in a moment.
- We then scrimmage each other. This is not very organized. We are not practicing certain plays or anything. And it shows!
- Then they have to run a lap. Again…PURPOSE??? We are not getting gassed in games here. What are you doing?
- This is the classic- THEY PLAY FREEZE TAG!!
- This prompted my dad to look over at me and say…. I am thankful for this guy giving up his time to work with the kids but he does not know much about “TEACHING” the game.
- MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY DAD!!!
- He said didn’t I see you working with those kids on the fundamentals of basketball like “hand placement” and positioning on passes?
- This guy runs practice like a bunch of monkeys trying to hump a bowling ball?
- Who has been teaching Jack about proper technique in being a center? Lower your butt…straighten your back…head up…bend your knees! That would be ME!!! At the first game I saw Jack just bend over and basically hand the ball to the QB. What the heck? You gotta POP it in there JACK! NOW the boy is doing it right.
- We watched the kids run all over the place chasing the kid with the ball.
- I told Tracey just in passing about pursuit angles and it’s not about chasing the ball … you run to where the ball is going to be based on where the ball carrier is going. I swear all I did was just mention it.
- Next thing I know who has Jack in our living room running mini-pursuit drills. JACKS MOMMA!! YOU GO GIRL!!
Now as to my theory as to why we throw the ball so much. Would anyone like to guess who our QB is related to? That would be the coach! One of the important skills you need to be QB is arm strength. This kid does NOT have it AND THAT’S OKAY! Hey, growing up I wanted to be QB. In junior high they asked…who wants to be a QB? Heck I ran to get in line. The first drill the kid in front of me threw the ball WITH ZIP 40 YARDS! Then it was my turn. Mine had ZIP for about 20 yards hit the ground at 30 yards and rolled to a stop at 35 yards. That was the END of my career in organized football as a quarterback. BUT I was big and took up space and could MOVE! LEFT TACKLE!!!! It’s all about your skill set.
This kid can’t throw a football to save his life.
Back during the skills assessment a high school kid was taking Jack through the skills. When it got to throwing the ball Jack was not only hitting the target the ball had so much zip to it that the target started moving when it got hit. He told Jack …You have got a serious arm there! That made Jack grin!
So last night they are doing these passing drills. Jack, Will, Jacks buddy, and two other boys are ZIPPING the ball across to one another.
And then there is our quarterback….most of the time the ball never makes it to the other kid. I don’t say anything but my then my dad pipes in….
Isn’t that the kid who plays quarter back for Jacks team? (Dad looking over at the boys throwing the ball)
Yeah dad it is.
Dad….I see…..Why?
My guess is he is the coach’s son.
Dad…. A HA!!

Uncomfortable Commercials

2009-09-22T12:01:00.002-05:00

The other night we are sitting in the den watching the Cowboy game when it came time for a commerical. Sure enough here comes a commercial for Erectile Disfunction. I look over and notice Jack paying very close attention to the commericial. Oh heck...here we go. He is hearing words like SEXUAL ACTIVITY...ERECTION..4 HOUR ERECTION...WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT....I am prepared for a ton of questions. It goes to the next commericial and ...

Jack: Dad?

Yeah Jack

Jack: Do you have to take that medicine?

NO Jack I don't

Jack: Well I was just wonderin because of all the other stuff you have to take.

No Jack that is not one of them.

TRACEY IS DIEING NOT TO LAUGH

Things Are Looking Up....Maybe

2009-09-16T23:54:00.002-05:00

Well Jack seems to be getting a handle on the do's and don'ts in his new school. Today my mother asked him how his day was and this is how the conversation went:

Mom- How was your day Jack?

Jack: Really good Grammy I finally got another star. When I fill my star chart up I get to pick from the treasure box!

Mom- Well that is great Jack how many stars do you have?

Jack: I have TWO STARS Grammy!

Mom- Well that is great Jack. How many stars do you need to fill up your chart?

Jack: TWENTY!! (as happy as he could be!)

Mom: Well that is great news Jack!

At this rate he will pick from the treasure box some time around SPRING BREAK!!

Building Relationships

2009-09-09T18:19:00.000-05:00

Well my blogging has slowed down a lot since the start of school. It is not due to a lack of material. It’s more like what I have been dealing with I could not organize my thoughts because it hurt too much to talk about.
It’s about Jack. I don’t want to go into all of details nor do I need to. All you have to do is read Tracey’s blog. She went into great detail. If you have not read it go to T-lady’s blog. Link is to the left. I think I did a very good job of handling it both professionally and personally. I did not show really how upset I was in how Jack was being handled by his new teacher. To her defense Jack was not exactly being an angel.
There are two major issues that I feel were at the front of the problem. First, communication…there is not communication log between the parents or the teachers for Jack’s grade level. The expectation is that if a child gets into trouble he is expected to inform the parents. In theory I guess this works but in reality it does not work. Sure enough Jack had a major issue in that he was pushing and shoving with another student. This resulted in him being sent to the office and the principal put Jack in ISS for one day. When I got the phone call from the teacher she explained to me that not only had Jack had this issue but that he had exhibited some other behaviors that were not acceptable according to me. The PROBLEM I had was that this was the first time that I was hearing about the issues. I understood that Jack had to go to the principal’s office. I did not agree with the ISS assignment but I UNDERSTOOD why the principal was doing it. I explained to the principal and the teacher that while I did not have a crystal ball I think that possibly had I or his mother known about Jack’s previous behavior perhaps we could have addressed it and we would not have been sitting there talking about my son going to ISS. The principal I think reluctantly agreed. The only sound I heard from him was an “Uh huh” when I finished my thought.
That whole situation was tough on all of us. My son was going to ISS the second week of school. At his previous school he had NEVER been to the principal’s office. He was NOT an angel. But his teachers both in first and in second grade knew what made Jack tick. This brings me to my second major issue.
Building relationships with children is critical. Before you start to withdraw (do discipline) with a child you need to have 3 or 4 deposits (note good things) with kids. It’s smiling at the door and shaking their hand or giving them a hug as they enter the classroom. If you capture a kids heart you have his mind (Flip Flippen). This is so true. If you have Jack’s heart. If he knows you love him. He will move mountains for you. We are in the third week of school and I have not heard one positive thing from the teacher about Jack. She did mention that he is honest when he screws up. He does not lie to them. Right now that is all I have to grasp on to. Jack’s teacher is a first year teacher and there are some instances where she has handled Jack well and I have made note of that in conversations and meetings. The problem I have is it is inconsistent. All I want her to do is give Jack some space and learn what makes him tick so that she can better handle him. Take the information I have given her. Call or email his teacher last year. Call the counselor at his previous school.
Some of the behaviors Jack is exhibiting he did last year. But why in one school does Jack never get to the office and in the other school he is in the office 3 times in the first 9 days of school? RELATIONSHIPS! His teachers took the time to work with Jack. They took into consideration what was going on in Jack’s life when they were dealing with some of his behaviors. The boy has issues that he deals with. Not many kids in his school have had to deal with the possible loss of their father with two additional serious hospital stays and a cancer scare with his mother before he turned 8. Jack handled it very well and kept his grades up but behavior wise sometimes he would act up. When Jack gets frustrated or feels cornered he often yells out. For instance: If he feels attention is being drawn to him he will blurt out. STOP LOOKING AT ME! His school this year calls that inappropriate behavior and disrespectful toward the teacher… result office referral. His school last year saw this as an inappropriate behavior and his teacher and the counselor would work with him on appropriately handling those situations and would note when he did handle those situations correctly….result decrease in behavior to the point it no longer existed.
The difference: One school is deal with the problem. The other school tries to understand WHY there is a problem. In other words if there is a fire at one school we use water to put the fire out. At the other school we use water to put the fire out and then we try to find out what caused the fire in the hopes that a fire does not reappear.
Jack is a little complicated boy when dealing with his emotions. He has been really down about school so far this year. This has been difficult to deal with as a parent. I have done a very good job of handling it professionally and by that I mean dealing with the school professionally and keeping my emotions in check. Tracey wants to keep talking about it and while I listen there are times I don’t want to talk about or hear about it because I get too depressed about it. I know what I need to know. I am going to talk to them about it at my assigned time. Can we please not rehash the facts over and over. I understand Tracey’s view in that she wants to talk about it because it is her baby and she wants to make sure I cover everything.
The other night was a dagger in the heart. I go into Jacks room and there he is with his momma and I have to hear from him about how his teacher does not like him and he is having trouble making friends and he is probably going to have to go back to ISS and he does not want to go back to ISS.
After me reassuring him that he was not going to ISS and that daddy was going to be meeting with the principal and the teacher and that everything was going to be okay he seemed to relax. I am not sure how much of it he actually believed.
Well yesterday was our meeting and I felt it was very productive for a couple of reasons. I had the opportunity to voice my opinion on the importance of building relationships with children and that discipline plans are there to act as a guide. It does not mean you HAVE to do anything. All I wanted them to do is start building a relationship with Jack. Take into account WHY Jack is misbehaving before we start making decisions on WHAT we are going to do now. I also got the ball rolling on a communication log between parent and teacher. This way we can deal with Jack appropriately on a day to day basis.
As a result of our behavior folder Jack had a very good day yesterday. Hopefully it was the first of many.
Wish us luck!
What did you say? How is Caroline? Please….that girl has been waiting for kindergarten for two years. She is off like a rocket!

I Am So Sorry

2009-09-06T10:25:00.002-05:00

So on Friday I had a doctor's appointment. You see Friday was the second week of four that I am going in and getting a new drug that will help me with my Graf vs. Host issues. You see up till now they have been handling it with steriods. And I have been doing GREAT! The problem is as they decrease my steriod I get to a point where the GvH stuff starts showing up. The goal is to get me OFF of steriods. That is what this new drug hopefully is going to do.

So the treatment plan is this.

Week One- 6 hour drip through an IV. (DONE)
Week Two- 3 Hour drip
Week Three 3 Hour Drip
Week Four 3 hour drip

Friday was week two.

I have a nurse that normally tends to me. I love her! She is awesome!! She really takes good care of me. The problem was she was out yesterday so I had a substitute nurse.

Substitute nurses are REAL hit and miss. There does not seem to be an in between.

So yesterday I was supposed to be there at 12. There is an hour of premeds and then the 3 hour drip. So I was prepared to be out of there between 4 and 5 oclock.

Well I sign in and they almost immediately get me back to the nursing station. It's Friday before a long weekend so the place is PACKED. There is no rooms available so they are going to set me up in a recliner in the common area. This is an area where 6-8 recliners are set up. No big deal....I can hang and there are other people I can talk to.

Well I get in my chair and I wait...and wait...and wait...and wait.

Finally the sub nurse comes to me and says...I am so sorry they did not tell me you were here. Lets get you back and get your IV in.

This nurse SUCKED at putting an IV in. First she argued with me in a polite way of where she should put the IV in. She wanted to go into my wrist or hand. I finally had to tell her. Look, if you go into my hand or wrist my hand is going to blow up like a blow fish. You are not going into my hand.

So she goes into my arm. And she misses the vein. So she is digging around trying to hit it. This hurts like a son of a bitch. As I am trying to remain still she says..Do you always squirm this much? Gee lady I don't know...do you always gasp for air when someone is chocking the crap out you.

So we get the IV in and we get the premeds started. The premeds knock me loopy.

I fall asleep and when I wake up I notice that I am not hooked up to my medicine. I call to find out what is going on and sub nurse FORGOT ABOUT ME!!! She checked a couple of times for my meds and then got busy working with other patients and forgot about me. I lost TWO FREAKING HOURS RIGHT THERE!!!

I finally got unhooked at SEVEN. All I heard was I am so sorry....I am so sorry...

Yeah right lady....DON'T TOUCH ME!!!

You should see the bruise on my arm where she blew out the vien. YUCK

I'm Just Sayin

2009-08-30T19:48:00.003-05:00

Opened up our AT and T bill today. They screwed us over AGAIN. For the second month in a row we have had several charges for downloads that we have not done. I lost my phone back in June and I diactivated the phone. Before I could deactivate it there was about 100 dollars of fees for downloads. At first they were giving us the heisman but they relented and took those fees off.

At and T part II- For the second month in a row they tell us they did not get our payment. We have the account electronically taken from our account. We have been doing this for as long as I can remember. Well two months ago we got rid of the bundle because their TV coverage was CRAP...we had nothing but problems. When you know the service guy by name and he knows the names of your dogs....he has been to your house too much. Well all of the sudden when we dropped them for TV they can't seem to keep track of our account. We even showed them where the money was deducted....didn't matter....they still did not show that we paid so we had to go toe to toe with them about the late fees. So they got rid of the late fees. Well this month the bill came and we got a penalty fee for not paying the late fee last month that we were told they took off the account. DID YOU FOLLOW THAT ONE?

So I don't give a crap anymore....I am paying the fee to disconnect from them and I went out and got T-mobil. I can't wait till they ask me why I am disconnecting them.

Answer- Your customer service- SUCKS and your billing department SUCKS

Why are my kids total angels around my parents? Makes me feel like a failure as a parent sometimes....example:

My son gets up from the table and does not take his plate to the sink at meal time at my parents- My Dad- Big Jack did you forget something? Jack turns around APOLOGIZES and gets the plate to the sink.

I ask Jack to clean his room before dinner and with all of the complaining I hear you would have thought I told him to build a V-8 hemi and install it into my car.

This happened to me TWICE this week- Traveling down the highway at 70+ on the tollway and a driver in the far left lane realizes he and or she was about to miss their exit. So they cross all three lanes of traffic and cause the rest of us to hit the brakes and almost run into one another and we fight to not hit them.

NOW I ASK YOU? WHY DOES THIS PERSON NOT JUST GOT THE MILE DOWN THE ROAD IF THAT AND EXIT AND TURN AROUND?

Funny line from Jack today when I asked him to clean his room?
WHAT? YOU CAN'T EXPECT ME TO CLEAN ALL OF THIS?
Me-Um...yeah I can. Your room...your mess.
Jack- YOUR THE MEANEST DAD ALIVE
Me- Probably so Jack....I tell you what...I will look it up and see if I am. While I am doing that....clean your room.

Editors Note- I did see on CNN where some parents were being put in jail for denying their child food. I think this qualifies as meaner than me.

The picture up top is of Caroline on her first day of Kindergarten. I LOVE this picture. Caroline got an awesome teacher. She is ON IT.

Jack has a first year teacher this year. Tracey is ready to take her to task. I am going to suggest and let her hang herself. Give them enough rope and they will hang themselves. On the other side....maybe she will figure it out? I have seen first year teachers are GREAT! This one....time will tell but the boat is leaking. They deserve an opportunity to figure out. Thinking back to my first year....WOW...not sure but I might owe all those kids an apology.

We did ask about a behavior communication folder or system because we did not see anything come home.

ANSWER? We expect the kids to tell their parents if they got in trouble at school.

Um- excuse me? Can I see a show of hands of how many kids are going to do that?

Thank You Dad For Being You

2009-08-30T15:58:00.002-05:00

Dad,

I wanted to take this time to thank you for being you. I am who I am because of you. Your life lessons did not fall on deaf ears dad. I really did listen. Even during those hard learned lessons. I listened to everything you said. I wanted to show you how much I cared for you. That is why my son is named after you.

My whole mission in life is to pass on those lessons you taught me on how to be a good son, brother, young man and one day....a man of his own.

Today I saw how much you mean to my son. As I watched him sink into your grasp and grab your arm to put around himself I could tell that he knew that as long as he was there he felt safe. You could see his whole body just relax as he buried himself into you.

Jack loves his Pa.

I love you dad....and thanks for just being you.

This Song Hits Me

2009-08-26T19:24:00.001-05:00

It Ain't Braggin' If You Can Back IT UP

2009-08-23T15:40:00.003-05:00

The other day Jack was running around with his Pa doing errands. This is one thing Jack absolutely LOVES to do. Dad aka Pa was going to have coffee with his buddies at a local McDonalds and Jack went with him. I have been to these coffee's before. Basically it's a bunch of guys that are retired now and they sit around and talk about what all their grown kids and grand kids are doing.

Dad mentioned that one individual in particular was always bragging about his grandson. How big he is and what a little stud he is. He is about a year older than Jack. Neither dad nor I know how big this kid actually is because you can't tell by the pictures this guy has.

Well the other day Jack was sitting next to his Pa having a Mocha and he was sitting across from the guy who brags alot. He asked Jack..So son how old are you? Jack replied: I am 8 sir.

The guy did a double take and then looked over at my Dad.
Good Lord Jack what the hell are you feeding him?

My dad got a big giggle out of that.

Humble

2009-08-22T11:01:00.000-05:00

Today was our districts’ convocation to officially kick off our school year. I truly believe that I am in a unique situation here in my district. I have been on campuses in other districts where everyone supports one another and everyone does whatever is asked of them. However, it is not that way across the board. This is the only district that I have been in where across the board EVERYONE supports one another and that is awesome.
I will be honest about something. I feel a bit out of place at this time. For the first time in six years I am not in charge of a campus building. I feel like a Captain with no ship. It is part of the “first” that I have been dealing with in my new position. The first spring where I am not a campus administrator, the first summer where I am not a campus administrator, now the first start of school where I am not a campus administrator.
There are many parts of the job I don’t miss. This is not one of them. The start of school is always an exciting time of year. The teachers are ready to go, the school is all clean, and everyone is excited to get the year going.
Today I had a bit of an emotional experience in that the campuses were being recognized and given banners for their testing performance at convocation. These banners will be placed on the buildings and are a huge source of pride. For the first time ever our district will be a recognized district. This is huge! If I could tell you where we were just 6 years ago….wow!
It came time to give my former campus their RECOGNIZED banner for a job well done. I am so proud of the staff. You see I had to step down for health reasons at Thanksgiving of last year. To say the campus had challenges is an understatement. Any time you change leadership of a campus it’s big. When you do it DURING the school year….HOLY COW.
Well Mr. Murray, our superintendant, starts out by saying something about the challenges this campus faced and let nothing get in their way….and he calls down the principal and staff of BRENT INTERMEDIATE. The staff comes to the stage and everyone his hooting it up. I go and stand at the bottom of the stage to congratulate everyone as they are going up the stairs to get on the stage. Then when they are all up on stage I stand off to the side and applaud and give them a thumb’s up signal. Then Mr. Murray get’s back to the microphone and he says this.
I want to recognize someone who is near and dear to all of us and without him this campus could not have done what it has done please help me recognize Mr. JDHTEACH.
I was stunned….it’s the first time I have ever been recognized like that. The staff at Brent went nuts and all of the people in the audience were clapping. All I could do was clap back and just wipe a tear that began running down my cheek.

My Son

2009-08-16T12:58:00.001-05:00

I never want this to go unsaid,
So here in this poem, is for it to be said.
There are no words to express how much you mean to me,
A son like you, I thought could never be.
Because the day you were born, I just knew,
God sent me a blessing- and that was you.
For this I thank Him everyday,
You are the true definition of a son, in everyway.
It is because of you that my life has meaning,
Being a DAD has shown me a new sense of being.
I want you to know that you were the purpose of my life,
Out of everything I did- it was you that I did right.
Always remember that I know how much you care,
I can tell by the relationship that we share.
For a son like you there could be no other,
And whether we are together or apart,
Please do not ever forget-
You will always have a piece of my heart.

My Little Girl

2009-08-16T12:26:00.002-05:00

Gotta hold on easy as I let you go.
Gonna tell you how much I love you though you think you already know.
I remember I thought you looked like an angel wrapped in pink so soft and warm.
You've had me wrapped around your finger since the day you were born.
You're a beautiful baby from the outside in.
Now go take on the world and remember you will always be.....

My Little Girl.

I love you Caroline.

Daddy

EEEEAAAAASSSYYYYY GIRL

2009-08-13T08:57:00.002-05:00

Okay so Hilary seems a bit edgy here. Her butt is in the CONGO for crying out loud while her husband Bill is throwing himself a birthday party in VEGAS!!!

Bill Clinton Voice: Don't worry about sweety....she is in the CONGO! Man I love Obama.

Anyway, I think there was a mistake in the translation in that they wanted to know what OBAMA thinks.

BUT LETS SAY THERE WAS NO MISTAKE.....

She could have handled that much better and should have considering she IS the Secretary of State.

Not one of her finer moments.

A Sign Summer Is Over

2009-08-13T08:51:00.002-05:00

Went up to QT the other day and I had my 53 cents out ready to pay for my 32 oz diet Dr. Pepper. I got to the register and the guy said, $1.03.

WHAT????

Sure enough...no more 49 cent drinks.....good bye summer

Are They Paying For That?

2009-08-13T08:43:00.002-05:00

One or two mornings a week (depending on how my week is going) I stop off by my locat QT and get a frozen drink that I really like. The mornings at a QT are very busy. I think almost every lawn crew in North Richardson and South Plano come to this QT to load up for the day.

What I am about to describe I have seen on multiple occasions.

Four or five hispanic guys are crowed around the fountain drink station. They have their little ice chest loaded down with ice and they are filling up their ice chest with a beverage from the fountain drink station.

So is this a big deal?

How does QT charge them?

They get a drink as well?

I would not think anything of it except they cover one another so you can't see what they are doing AND they are always looking around as if to see if anyone is coming?

Observations From The Poker Tables of Shreveport

2009-08-10T19:13:00.002-05:00

Here are my observations from this past weekends poker trip.
- I was lucky enough to be on a very kind table.
- It bugs me big time when people stay in and end up getting the cards they needed. Why does it bug me? Because they think they are a skilled poker player when all they really are is lucky.
- If it bugged me that much I guess I could have left the 4-8 Holdem and moved to either the 20-40 or no limit hold'em.
- What is the purpose of 1-2 no limit? Noone ever just post a 2 dollar big blind.
- The table I was on was great. If you showed respect to other players it was returned. Noone was out to hurt anyone. Raises were appropriate (minus lucky lady)and noone raised to just raise the pot.
- Example of respect- I got to talking to the guy next to me and I liked him. I had the hand won on the flop. He bet into me and I just called. On the turn he bet into me again! and I just called. Finally on the river he checked and I checked. After he saw my hand he said, WOw...you let me off easy. I told him I was there to have fun and not take anyones lunch money. That simpled act right there saved me at least a couple of hundred as the night progressed where he checked out to me.
= In Oklahoma Casino's the ASIAN is a big player in the poker rooms. Specifically the older AISAN.
-In Shreveport....not so much.
-The African American Male is a big player in the Shreveport poker rooms.
-The AA male dresses to the nines to go to the poker table. Very dapper.

Line of the night ( One gentleman was taking a long time to decide if he wanted to call an 8 dollar bet...like a real long time) This was the last bet and the guy had about 40 dollars invested in the pot.

After the long pause the guy next to me said, "DANG MAN MAKE A DECISION...YOU GOT 40 IN THERE WHAT'S ANOTHER EIGHT?"

Have Some Sence People!

2009-08-06T19:41:00.002-05:00

I called home as I was leaving work today and I asked Tracey what was for dinner. I was pretty hungry. She mentioned that time had got away from her and she would have something getting started by the time I went home. It was a doozy of a day for her so she was pretty whipped.

We decided to go out. We get the eating establishment and they put us in an area where it was us and a large group of about 10 who was obviously there for happy hour. I almost said something right there but I didn't.

Well it did not take long and they started getting LOUD. It was hard for us to hear each other at our table but other than that we were fine.

Then someone let out an F-bomb and a couple B-bombs. There is no way they could not see us and I turned and glanced over at them trying to make eye contact with someone over there so they could tone down the language a bit around my kids.

I told Tracey if it continued I would talk to someone. Jack looked over at me and said, Man dad they are using some bad words over there.

Then this happened.

Lady in Group- So I am standing there in the bathroom and she looks over at me. Grabs me and we start MAKING OUT BIG TIME!!! And then LADY 2 came in and caught us but we just kept GOING AT IT!

Jack: WWWWHHHHHAAAAAAA???? Did she say she was kissing another girl???

ME: EVERYBODY UP...WE ARE MOVING!!!

Caroline: Why?

Tracey- Caroline...just get your stuff and lets go!

I went and talked to the waitress and told her why we were moving....she said, I am going to go get the manager to talk to them that is not acceptable.

I told her not to worry about it that they were having a good time but that I did not want my kids hearing their choice of topics or words. We would move and everything would be fine.

But come on.....how drunk do you have to be to cuss around little kids

His Calling?

2009-08-04T17:26:00.001-05:00

When I was growing up I BEGGED my parents to let me play football. They refused. Their reasoning for their hard stance? They did not want me doing a contact sport such as football until my body was ready. I remember my dad telling me that if football was my calling I would catch up quickly to anyone who has been playing. Seventh grade started and sure enough I was on third string. Eighth grade stared and I moved up to second string. Then I GREW between my 8th and 9th grade year. I was 6 foot 2 inches tall and I was 175lbs. That is a human string bean but by those standards I was a beast. During summer workouts I beat the living hell out of everyone. When line ups were announced I was a starter. FINALLY!
In addition to football I was also in the band. So when high school approached I had a decision to make. Get beat up for 3 hours a day for a team that has a history of being bad OR I could concentrate on the band. A band that has a history of being great! I had the opportunity to see my sister in the band and see how much FUN they had. So my decision was very easy. BAND IT IS!!! And my mother was so happy!
My mother is hoping this is going to happen with my son. Well mom you still have time so keep hoping away. You see we took Jack to his skills assessment for his upcoming Flag Football season. It looks like the boy was born to play the game. He did great! And He LOVED IT. He talked about his experience the entire way home. He wants to cut everything out of his schedule so he can concentrate on football. He obviously is built for it but we shall see how the cutting everything else is going to go. Watching him play you can tell he just loves. He loves everything about it. The only thing we need to work on is his attitude. He becomes MACHO MAN when he plays but he does not turn it off. We usually have to knock him down a peg or two.
Practices start in two weeks…wish us luck.

Satellite Radio

2009-08-01T11:34:00.003-05:00

So my care has satelite radio. I am loving it! One of the staions I have is ELVIS. I love Elvis. I don't live on the station but I glance by it at least once a day. One of the songs I have been dieing to hear is this one. I danced with Tracey to this at our wedding. I can't help but falling in love with you sweety.

Kindergarten Here We Come!

2009-08-01T10:50:00.002-05:00

So with my new job I am working with Elementary Math K-4. I was looking over the Math exams for each grade level at the end of each grading period. I looked at the first Kindergarten test that will be given at the end of the first grading period in my district.

We gave the test to Caroline. It took her all of 3 mintutes and she made 100% We are ready to go!

What is THAT all about?

2009-08-01T10:41:00.003-05:00

It seems Caroline has entered a new phase. It's the "I am going to throw a huge fit when I leave Nanna's" phase. The first time it happened was when Tracey picked the kids up earlier this week. I called home that day to check and see how things were going and Tracey was just about in tears when she got through telling me about it. I had never seen Caroline do this before so I could not grasp the true nature of what was going on.

Then I got to see the "watered down" version of it later in the week. Let's just say it was not pretty.

For several minutes I tried the Love and Logic way and it was getting no where. Then I jumped into "Old School" parenting. It sounded something like this.

This crying a squawcking because you are leaving Nanna's is a bunch of crap. You sit down in that seat with your seatbelt on and I better not hear a sound from you until we get home is that understood Caroline McKenna Huffman? (Tracey is just looking straight ahead as she is driving down the street.)

Yes daddy..

You make a peep and I will give you something to cry about!

Does any of this sound familiar to you as you were growing up?

So somem times you gotta kick it OLD SCHOOL....word..or snap...or whatever

I'm Just Sayin'

2009-07-28T16:01:00.000-05:00

- I cannot come up with a name for my car and it bugs me. The one I want my wife has vetoed and nothing else sounds good.
- I have a serious crush on my car and I don’t know why….Like first car crush. Do you remember that feeling?
- I ate lunch today at a Mexican Restaurant and they had Mexican Soap Opera’s playing on the TV.
- Even though it was in another language I could follow what was going on.
- Soap Opera Plot- Man and Woman are sitting in a coffee shop explaining to their daughter why she needs to go to this all girls prep school. Daughter does not want to go. Even though daughter refers to the man and woman and “Momma” and “Pappi” the girl does not know that “Pappi” is really not her father. “Pappi” lives with the mom but he is not romantically involved with her because he is GAY…..DUNNNN DUHHHH. Daughter goes to prep school and befriends another girl about her age. The girl she befriends……is her unknown HALF- SISTER….DUNNN DUHHHHH. Seems mom was a little tramp about 15 years ago and she gave up a little girl for adoption. Then she met the love of her life and had another little girl about 11 months later. Then at some she divorced the love of her life.
- I could not figure out how the guy who the girl thought was her pappi but was really gay hooked up with the momma.
- When Spanish people argue their language goes even FASTER!
- There is some SERIOUS over acting on a Spanish Soap Opera.
- The actor’s facial expressions are hilarious when it is supposed to be serious.
- Many of the Spanish actresses are very well endowed and they show it off on the TV.
- The sets don’t look real.
- I am achy today. My feet, back, and knees hurt today. I might have over did it picking up the house. There was a lot of getting up and down.
- My left eye is watering like crazy today…..I wonder what that is all about? Just one eye?
- My finger tips hurt as well. It is hard to grip on to something. (I know this is related to GVH)
- Tracey comes home tonight and I am very excited. 4 days is a long time to be apart for us.
- How long is “long” for you and your significant other to be apart?
- The kids seem to be having fun over at their Nanna’s. I did not get the whole story but Caroline was riding around on a chair with wheels and fell. Somehow she bloodied her mouth up pretty good. She does still have all of her teeth so all is well. She may get a black eye but who knows right now.
- That is about all I got right now

How Did I Get So Lucky?

2009-07-27T19:06:00.002-05:00

This past Saturday Tracey and her older sister Kirsten took off for a four day vacation to Toronto. I am so happy that Tracey is getting this opportunity. If anyone in this world deserves this opportunity it would be her. Over the past year alone she has made many sacrifices to take care of her home, children, her job and me. I am happy that she gets some time (even though it is only 4 days) to not have to worry about being a mommy or a wife. She gets to be Tracey the sister as they explore Toronto and other parts of Canada.
That means that I have 24 hour kid duty. Since our kids are getting to the age where they are pretty self sufficient I was not really worried one bit. My mother started out planning our days Saturday and Sunday and I told her to not worry about it. I am a big boy and my health and energy are pretty good right now. I will take care of it. I after all…..had a plan.
Saturday morning comes around and it is time to take Tracey over to her sisters so they can go to the airport. Everything is fine. The kids get a little teary eyed when mom actually leaves and I have to admit I was a bit teary eyed myself. But I was teary for two reasons. Yes, I was going to miss my wife. But I was teary because I was so excited for Tracey to have this opportunity.
After Tracey left I and the kids stayed and visited for about 30 minutes with Tracey’s younger sister who was in town visiting from Los Angeles. Then into the car we went to head home for the day. I knew we had a party to go to that evening that the kids were going to absolutely love so I really only was on my own for about 7 hours. As we are leaving the neighborhood the disk in the DVD player begins to skip. I hear from the back of the car this: DAAADDD….the disk is skipping make it STOP! Caroline I am driving I can’t do anything right now. Caroline: Man, mom is so better at this than you. Don’t you think so Jack. Jack: What? Caroline: Mom, Don’t you think mom is better than dad? Jack: You are nuts if you think I am going to answer that. Shortly thereafter the disk began to work again. Problem solved.
The kids were watching a good movie so I took the LONG way home and they did not either notice or care. Normally if you alter from your route Jack notices it and calls you on it. Hey I thought we were going….. where are you heading? But I heard none of this so I knew I was in the clear.
I pulled into the parking lot of Target (which the kids love) and Jack started griping….What are we doing here? I want to stay in the car and watch the movie. Caroline: Yeah me too! Me: Well okay I was going to look for a new Lego kit and some coloring posters but I guess we can just go home. Kids: NEVER MIND….I WILL GO..ME TOO…ME TOO. Off into Target we went for our treasures. After a short while we return to the car with our treasures. I look at my watch and it is about lunch time. As we are getting settled in the car I said, WHO WANTS TO GO EAT AT LUBY’S? Kids: IDO I DO I DO! Man, I am going for dad of the day here! So off to Luby’s we went. We had a GREAT lunch as we talked about many different topics. I really enjoyed the time with the kids. They love Luby’s and know their way around so they are very self sufficient.
We get home and the kids get into their treasures. And I don’t hear a thing for 2 and a half hours. No arguments…no yelling… I am able to clean the house a bit and relax and do some Face Book. I clearly scored on this one! Daddy -1 Pressure to Live Up To Mommy – 0.
Then our next door neighbor’s grandson came over to play. Off into Jacks room they went. Well Caroline grew tired of coloring and wanted to go see what the boys were doing. I will be so glad when Caroline meets some girlfriends in school. Jack does extremely well with Caroline butting in but sometimes you just want to be with the guys and today was a day that Jack wanted to be with the guys. This is when I started having to parent. After a brief discussion with Jack he agreed to let Caroline play with the lego’s . We agreed on the terms of play and off they went. We had an additional couple of hours of quiet play after that. From there Caroline began getting bored and returned to her coloring. The boys went next door to play and I returned to cleaning.
The time quickly approached to go to our party so I went over to get Jack and we got in the car and off we went to my parent’s house to pick them up. The party was for a friend of my dad’s. Growing up we went to their house many weekends. You see they lived out in the country. They had 3 kids so I have many memories of going off and doing things that I would NEVER let my kids do. For instance…I remember at the age of 8 or 9 hopping on a dirt bike with a fishing pole on one side and a Bee Bee gun on the other side. I would crank that baby up and off into the woods the five of us would ride. With some sandwiches and drinks in tow we would not return till dinner. We would have a blast and return around dark thirty on Sunday. Many times we crashed in the car on the way because we were so exhausted. The party was going to be at the daughters house of my dad’s friend. I was very excited because while I had kept up with what was going on in their lives through mom and dad I had not seen them in at least 20 years.
The daughter lives very close to where they grew up so I knew it would be in the country as well. All of us have grown up and have children of our own around the same age so I knew there would be many kids there for Jack and Caroline to play with. We get there and it is PERFECT. The house is HUGE and beautiful. It sits on about 10 acres. Complete with two ponds for fishing, a chicken coop, and a fenced in area for the kids to play and a saltwater pool. I am officially OFF DUTY!! The kids are in HEAVEN. Tiffany, the host…takes Caroline off to see the chickens and collect eggs for the evening. Jack is in the pool in a matter of minutes with the boys. I am sitting there visiting with Greg and Justin the two sons like I just spoke with them yesterday. Shortly thereafter Tiffany returns with Caroline. She gets into her suit and off to the pool she goes. Tiffany joins in on the conversation and we visited and talked about not only what we are all doing now but some of the “activities” we used to do as kids. On more than one occasion you would hear “ CAN YOU BELIEVE WE DID THAT AND DID NOT KILL OURSELVES?!?”
The time comes to go home and as I am driving home I look back and the kids are past out. I just smiled as I remember what seemed not that long ago where I was the one passed out in the back as my dad drove us home.
We get home and Jack goes into his room and Caroline into hers and I go to get ready for bed. I return to find Caroline getting her PJ’s on (check) and I go to check on Jack. He has his PJ’s on and is on his bed covered up by a blanket….OUT COLD. I tuck him in and turn out the lights. Caroline appears from her room and asks if she can sleep in my room. No problem. Then she climbs into our bed. I normally don’t allow this (the kids sleep on the floor in our room if they need to) but I did not stop her because I did not have the heart to do so and I thought this might help me sleep as I usually do not sleep well when Tracey is not next to me. As Caroline was getting situated she said, “Okay Dad…don’t take the covers and if you have to poot face the other way. WOW…YOU ARE JUST LIKE YOUR MOTHER!!! At least that is what I thought.
Sunday morning arrives and Jack sleeps till 8:30. This is a RECORD! Caroline sleeps until 9:45. As Caroline gets out of bed her PJ’s are all bunched up. Her hair is going in a thousand different directions and she says this: Wow Dad, That was SOOOMMMEEE Party. What’s for breakfast? The girl is 5 and already sounds like a senior in college. We load up in the car and off to MCD’s we go for breakfast. After some much needed pancakes we return home. I make the declaration that after a 30 minute movie we will begin Operation CLEAN UP where our goal is to clean our rooms. The kids HATE this. I knew I was in for a battle but Tracey and I are determined that the kids will keep up their rooms. I was determined and ready for battle…..and a battle it was.
You see we have had many discussions on what is clean and what is not. Everything has a place and we must put things up BEFORE we get something else out. The kids have been doing a pretty good job of this when they are playing with things in communal areas such as the living room or movie room. Their room? Not so much.
After 4 hours and MANY….MANY…MANY discussions that sounded something like this…. No, that is not where that goes try it again. We were done. I did discover that under my daughters bed and behind her bed had become a black hole. This black hole had sucked in many pairs of “lost” toys, shoes, and clothes. I found myself totally reorganizing her room and closet. I did much of the same thing to Jacks room. And they HATED it. It would have been easier to send them off and me do it but they needed to be held responsible. So I just kept repeating the same thing. “Your mother and I work hard to provide you a very nice house and very nice things. We all work together to keep our home nice and neat. Your room is your responsibility. You can do this the right way and be done with it. Or you can try to take short cuts and we will clean the room 3 or 4 times. The decision is yours.” Man they HATE THAT. They know that either way they are cleaning their rooms. To add extra pressure one of Jacks friends rang the door bell and I had to tell him that Jack could not play right now but that he would be over as soon as his room was clean. The biggest obstacle for Jack was his lego’s. Fortunately for him my mother bought him a carrying case to help him organize. The other obstacle was his closet. It appeared to me he was just throwing stuff in there and hoping for the best. I had to pull it all out just to see what was in there. We got that done and his room was ready to go. He had an hour and half before it was dinner time at my parents. Off he went with I am sure a new found LOVE of freedom.
I return to the kitchen and continue my cleaning out of the fridge. As I am cleaning out the fridge I am basking in my own glory of what all I have accomplished. I was so proud that Tracey was going to come home to a clean reorganized home with kids who were thankful for their rooms. Daddy was on a role! I am expecting my dad to come over to drop something off so when I hear the front door open and shut I yell out…HEY DAD!!! But I don’t hear anything…..hummm…..DAD???? In comes Caroline with a half empty glass of water and an EMPTY sack of Blue Bonnet seeds. Tracey had recently purchased some wildflower seeds and wanted to plant them next spring in different spots in our flower beds. As Caroline drops these items off and turns to go back to her room I said, “WOW!” What is up with the seeds Caroline? Caroline: Oh, I planted them outside in front of my bedroom window.
Well I THOUGHT I had everything under control. Who knows if those seeds will take. It is the wrong time of year to plant.
Overall I have enjoyed the time I have spent by myself with the kids. I have learned a couple of things along the way. I have learned that my kids are very self sufficient when they want to be. Daddy is too lazy to be at their every beck and call so they only involve me when they have too. I have learned while playing with Lego’s with Jack that this is WAY better than any video game we can play together. The problem solving and creativity that Jack has with lego’s is amazing. You can almost SEE his mind racing as he creates his next vehicle or plane. He is really good at creating stuff. I enjoy our conversations as we build stuff together. I have learned that Caroline is a very good coloring artist. I learned that Caroline can turn anything into a song.
Me: Caroline go clean your room.
Caroline: I am oooooonnnnnnn mmmyyyy WAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYHEEEEEEEE to clean MYYYYYY ROOM.
Me: Caroline bring Daddy the phone.
Caroline: Gonna getcha….Gonna Getcha…..GOOONNNAAA GETTTTTCHHHAAAA MR. PHONE!!
I enjoyed watching Caroline in deep sleep as she lay next to me knowing that her daddy was right next to her and would protect her from the scary lightning and loud thunder. You could see on her face how at ease she was.
I was reaffirmed that by his writing the tooth fairy to split his loot with his sister that my son has a heart of gold and he loves his sister very much and as she grabbed his hand to walk out together this morning to the car and his acceptance that she loves him that much more. As Jack shot out of the car and retrieved his bag from the trunk I got to hear “Jackie…wait for me!” as Jack patiently waited for his sister to get her bag. As I walked passed him I asked “How come she gets to call you Jackie?” This is a question that he has been asked many times and as of today he has not answered. He does not even acknowledge that you asked the question!
As I am leaving and giving good bye hugs to the kids and watching them return to Nana’s house for a full day of fun I realize that Tracey will be home in one more day. It is then that I find myself asking…..

How did I get so lucky?

We Are SO DOING THIS When We Renew our Vow's at Year 15.

2009-07-24T16:14:00.000-05:00

A Much Needed and Deserved Break

2009-07-24T15:48:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow morning Tracey embarks on a four day trip to Toronto Canada with her sister. I will be honest. I am jealous as all get out that she is getting to do this. Not jealous as in I wish it were me and not her. I just wish I could fit in the luggage. After all of the time she has spent over this past year taking care of the kids, her job and ME she deserves this break. Have fun sweetheart. You deserve it. And don't worry about me I will be al---

HEY...PUT THAT DOWN....DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT....,.right.

Love Me Sum 80's

2009-07-24T15:26:00.003-05:00

Okay I have really become stuck on satelite radio. I love it. My main stations that I listen to are 80's music all the time and hair nation. Here are two songs that brought back a lot of memories.

I will be honest with you on this second one. I used to BLARE this one out of my truck. Big tires.....dual exhaust...windows rolled down... not a care in the world...probably on my way over to pick up MJP so we could go cruise around or do whatever.....good times.

I'M Just Sayin' Part Dou

2009-07-22T14:54:00.003-05:00

I was at working at a college campus today and I have a few observations about the whole "college" culture.

It was fun watching the different groups or types of students as they came and went about their business.

First- I want to applaud them for furthering their education to be a productive part of society.

Now on to my observations:

Saw one guy who obviously was the shisnit with his croney's. Which is a higher ranking wanker? The guy who everyone follows in HIGH SCHOOL or the guy who everyone follows at your local JUNIOR COLLEGE? This guy was flocking around like he was the starting QB at UT. I had to check the marquee again...yep we are at a junior college.

Art Students Are Hilarious- They come out of their class and walk by me as I am on the phone conducting school business. There are two guys and one girl. Nothing they are wearing goes together. I guess that was the plan. They all are wearing sunglasses that look great.... ON JACKIE KENNEDY. Their hair is going all over the place as if they have not seen a comb in years. As they pass they look over at me as if I AM THE WEIRD ONE?!?

I saw MANY gorgeous girls today and VERY FEW good looking guys. Wonder why?

The people who work in the library REALLY take their job of keeping the silence seriously. I got a soft drink today and as my purchase was released the machine shot my change out like a rocket and on to the floor. As I am picking my change up the lady at the reference desk was looking at me obviously upset that I upset the balance of her universe.

A. Don't look at me your machine shot my change out like it was being shot out of a 4-10 bolt action rifle.

B. Knowing that your university was the one who put this machine here not me?

C. There is no one within 50 yards of me.

D. This is an open hallway. The study area is on the other side of the GLASSED IN wall.

So chill oh KEEPER OF THE SILENCE

In the realm of (I TAKE MY JOB SERIOUSLY TOO) we had 5 people late to our training today because the University Roscoe P. Coletrain pulled them over for speeding on the campus. They set their speed limit to 20mph. He gave all of them warnings.

I'm Just Sayin'

2009-07-19T08:43:00.003-05:00

I freaking LOVE my new car. It has been a LONG TIME since I have had a car that sounded cool just starting! No offense to the Camry but you just did not get that feel. I mean just look at the grill. That even looks cool to me.

I liked the Camry and was not looking to get rid of it. I used the equity of the camry to get rid of medical bills and debt occured during the 3 months I got about 1/2 of my paycheck. Yes I just signed up for 3 additional (total of 5)car payments but even sending a large amount to Discover was not going to get rid of the debt for quite some time and that is if you did not charge anything. I know A LOT of people who live off of their credit cards....meaning they always have credit debt. Tracey and I have NEVER lived that way. We pay off our credit card every month. We have for ever. I don't know how people do it. That way of living is not for me.

This gives us immediate debt relief and my medical bills will be gone shortly.

Why the Charger? Well I knew I was not going to do a truck. We have not missed having a truck. I wanted something FUN to drive and looked cool. I saw a Charger the other day and I thought that looked cool! Tinted windows...spoiler...
So I looked them up and they were surprisingly affordable....well most of them.

Spoiler and Tinted windows are coming this week.

You gotta pimp the ride out right?

My Ride

2009-07-17T18:20:00.002-05:00

TV of My Youth

2009-07-17T05:48:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine recently posted about the shows of her youth. I am dating myself but I remember sitting down and watching Happy Days and Threes Company...NEW EPISODES of Happy Days and Threes Company.

I am not sure when but at some point I pretty much dropped off when it comes to TV watching. By that I mean the "I CAN'T MISS THIS" television. I think if I had to guess when this happened I would say it was around year 3 of the Soprano's. Now that I think about it I would say that is the last time I remember being on LOCK DOWN for a show.

Oh I have tried but nothing really seems to stick. I get suckered into Dancing With The Stars but even that fizzled on me this past season.

This got me to thinking of TV Shows of my youth and the ones that I either RARELY missed or DID NOT MISS.

Friday Night-
Dukes of Hazzard- 7:00 on CBS
Dallas 8:00 CBS
Listen here! You could not PRY me away from the Duke Boys and J.R. on Friday nights. First I got to see Daisy Duke (those shorts and me being a preteen boy..WOW) and the ROSCOOOO PPEE COLETRAIN followed by the ruthless J.R.

Saturday Night-
SOLID GOLD 6:00 on CBS- Good stuff. Loved the music and the ladies were always HOT.
Sometimes I missed this show because it conflicted with dinner time. No TV durring dinner at my house except Sunday Night....I will explain.

HEHAW-7:00-8:00 CBS- This I hardly ever missed. Looking back on it now and seeing it on You Tube it was incredibly simplistic but we LOVED IT!!! Usually watched this as a family.

Love Boat- 8:00-9:00- NEVER MISSED THIS! This goes into the same category as the DUKES and J. R. It was always neat to see which star was going to try to restart their career by getting on the LOVE BOAT. Charo did it so many times hell you thought she was a member of the crew.

Fantasy Island-9:00-10:00- I gotta be honest. This show freaked me out sometimes and I had to bail on it for fear of having nightmares. But I tried to watch it every week.

What are some of the shows of your youth that you did NOT MISS?

In A Transition

2009-07-13T02:46:00.001-05:00

Well I have more thoughts of randomness. I kind of like the format. I get to touch on many topics over a period of time. Oh I still like to blog about my families funny moments or one specific topic but I am going to see about doing a weekly “Random Thoughts.” I will think up of a cute name or maybe I will leave it Random Thoughts.
So here we go.
It has been a tough month for celebrities. We have 3 people in the entertainment world and 2 athletes that have passed in what 6 weeks? Only one of those died of natural causes. The other varied and seemed to get crazier. First, we have natural causes. Second, we have anal cancer…side note can we please have another name for this disease? Third, we graduate to what appears to be a system shutdown due to the amount of pills someone was taking. Fourth, we have a crazy girlfriend who lost it. Fifth, we have a crazy marriage situation and the wife lost it. This leads me into another realm of thoughts.
The two retired athletes. Let’s just stop calling McNair a hero for crying out loud. I am sure the man did some good things while he was on this earth. I saw a great clip of him throwing a football to some kids at a football camp. Good…that’s ALL I have seen. The media seem to gloss over that here is a man that has two kids out of wedlock, two kids with his wife, he is not divorced, and the person who shot him was his 20 year old mistress whom he was having an affair. Something his wife supposedly knew nothing about. I am not sure I totally believe that but time will tell.
Aurturo Gatti- Supposedly killed by his 23 year old wife. Details are still coming out on this one.
My question is what are two guys who are in their late 30’s doing with 20-23 year olds? I hear the argument about age and these guys can get any woman. But why would you want to? What is the saying two birds of a feather flock together? I might have just butchered that saying. Hey don’t get me wrong. If I run across a beautiful woman I notice it. When I was younger and single I went out with a lot of girls. I even had the opportunity (if I wanted) to pursue someone who was 9 years older than me but was a beautiful woman. I chose NOT to go there. Why? Because we were looking for two different things. After the physical attraction you have to have something to sustain the relationship or it is doomed.
Michael Jackson- This is getting more and more like Elvis every day. Now I am reading where the family is looking at burying Jackson at Never Land Ranch. It’s the Graceland of the West. I know Mr. Jackson was a bit different but it’s just sad how his personal life was so messed up. His music was the music of my youth and I had forgotten so many of his songs. The sadness is going to continue as the weeks go by and results of his autopsy come to light. The family chose to have a private autopsy done. Great! Why with the amount of wealth they have did they chose 1-800-WE-AUTOPSY? Seems they could have done better.
Moving ON
I have really enjoyed the time off from work and spending time with Tracey and the kids. We have had a lot of fun over the past 7 days. I have a week left and I am looking forward to one last little road trip with Tracey and then I am going to ease back into work….meaning do some work from home.
Tracey and I are heading to Austin for an evening with the kids and then she and I are going to Fredericksburge . We visited here years ago and have been trying to get back there. We are capping the trip with a dinner date with a friend of mine. We are staying at the Driskill Hotel in Austin. We are very excited.
I thank my lucky stars that I am here above ground every day. Having said that when you are someone who is in remission of cancer there are times you feel like a lab rat. I went to my doctors appointment the other day they had a medical student with them. This happens from time to time. As they are looking me over and doing their thing the medical student is just writing as fast as they can as they struggle to keep up with the doctor and look at what he or she wants to show them.
“As you can see here on Mr. JDHTEACH blah blah blah.”
Another common one is this…..
“Now this is considered a mild form of this condition”
Well great…. Right when I was ready to complain about something I am told it is mild. Now I am a big wheeny if I complain and trust me…..this stuff is not mild.
It has been so hot outside our dogs go out for ONLY the emergencies. I have noticed that they pretty much just lay still wherever we are and don’t move. They lay wherever it is cool. Hardwood floors…tile.
104 degrees in the shade….bbbblllloooowwwwwsssss people. I am just sayin’
Hey….what if that is the name for this randomness…… I AM JUST SAYIN’

Peir 99

2009-07-08T09:25:00.002-05:00

Okay I gotta back out of dry dock because I did not want to forget anything.

So last night we are going out for dinner. I ask the lady at the front desk where is some place close that has really good food and atmosphere. She informs me of two places. One is right next door. The other is about a 10 minute walk down by the Lexington. So I get online and look both places up. After reading the reviews online it seems to be a push as far as which place is better. We decide to go to Pier 99 down by the Lexington. We get there and I am going to do my best to describe this place.

Let's say you come upon a major city such as McKinney or Allen or Richardson. It has been deserted for say 10 years. You come upon an old restaurant that appears to have at one time been a Joes Crab Shack. The decor is there but it seems run down. THAT is Pier 99.

We get seated....well we are told to find our our own seats outside by the ocean. Cool! The seats were made from PVC pipe and wood planks. If it was possible to make a more uncomfortable chair I don't know but this thing hurt my ass. Now I read online that the service was slow but that with the live music and atmosphere it did not really matter. To a large extent that is true. My ratings:

1 being bad 5 being GREAT

Live Music: 4.5 - Sang all 60's 70's folk rock- Think Forest Gump Soundtrack and he
played it.
Food- 5.0 Tracey and I got the same thing- White fish, shrimp, and squid grilled with bell pepper. EXCELLENT....portions HUGE
WAIT STAFF- 2.5 S-L-O-W but that was part of their shtick. Being laid back...no worries
**** I did notice one coulple that got up and left after their drinks. I think they were upset with the service***

Would love to go back but not with small kids. This place would be perfect if you just wanted to go have some drinks and listen to music and eat some great food as you pass the night away.

MIXED DRINKS- 5.0 AWESOME...would of loved to have had MORE

Semi Dry Dock

2009-07-05T15:37:00.002-05:00

Well on Tuesday Tracey, the kids and I are heading to Corpus for four days. JDHTEACH during that time will be in dry dock. If something hits me while on vacation that I must blog about (and it just might) you could see me. Other than that Dry Dock it is till next weekend.

Have a good one

New Queensryche

2009-07-02T15:04:00.002-05:00

This is a uncover video. Go to YOOUTUBE and type in Queensryche If I Where King...for the album version....very good. I will go looking for this

Sweet Tea and A Thought On Music....More Randomness

2009-07-02T14:47:00.001-05:00

I have become quite an expert on where to go while you are out for sweet tea.
If you are looking for REALLY SWEET TEA here is my list of sweetness . Number one will be the sweetest…ready?
1. QT- Almost like you are drinking honey water. I have to be really in the mood for some sweet tea to get this. But the price is GREAT- 49 cents for 32 ounces. Beware..the ice melts quickly.
2. Racetrack- A notch down on the sweetness factor. Still very good. Price is good as well.
3. Sonic- Their sweet tea is probably my favorite. It is the most expensive even during happy hour but their tea is perfect for me. Sweet but not too sweet.
Another option you might look at is the flavored teas that all of these establishments offer. You have to be careful in that you know what you like. I am the kind of person that enjoys a flavored tea but it needs to be just a pinch of flavor. Almost like the flavor is an after taste. Many flavored teas feel they need to have so much flavor that I feel like I am sticking a straw IN the mango and sucking it dry. YUCK!
I discovered at QT this week the greatness of a yummy TEA and IT IS ON TAP!!! Sugar Free and NO Calories
It is a PEACH WHITE TEA. It is a light yellowish green color. Sure it looks like you are carrying a 44 oz urine sample to the counter but who cares…you know it’s TEA.

A THOUGHT I HAD ON CLASSIC ROCK
I was listening to some music this morning on the way to work and on came some HENDRIX – Hey Joe!
This got me to thinking. Hendrix, Zepplin , The Who, Pink FLoyd…. All of these bands or artist have a HUGE body of work. Why do the radio stations pick 5 of their songs to play and that is it? I mean I like the song Hey Joe and Stairway To Heaven but they DO HAVE OTHER SONGS! Especially Led Zepplin. Those songs are so long you gotta make a time commitment to listen to them.

Random Thoughts in a Random Sort of Presentation

2009-07-01T17:09:00.000-05:00

Random Thoughts of Randomness
- I have a friend who is a bit bummed by the fact that he did not get at least a consideration for a job prospect. I need to email him and tell him why that is NOT such a bad thing.
- I have another close friend that just bought his FIRST HOME- CONGRATS!
- Then this friend finds out his company is being sold- CRAP
- He finds this out AFTER he went to his boss to make sure everything was okay job security wise before he made this jump. He was assured everything was fine.
- I know I should not but I worry for my closest friend. He and his wife are the salt of the earth and they deserve EVERYTHING to happen for them. They have worked through major life issues to get to this point so his boss better not screw him over.
- It is times like this I am glad I am in the school business. They can’t shut down a school district.
- Can they shut down a school district? The answer is NO ……right? Crap
- Very good feedback from my Physically Handicapped Blog earlier this week. No one seems to be middle of the road on that topic. People lean heavily one side or the other.
- People seem to miss my main point on the PH blog…my main question was IF you are getting HC parking shouldn’t you be doing everything you can to HELP your situation? Not…look at that perfectly healthy person taking up a parking space.
- Pretty sure none of the people I mentioned getting HC parking for being WAY OBESE.
- Also pretty sure carrying an extra 200-300 POUNDS is not helping their physical condition.
- Is it possible to get a temporary HC parking permit. I would have loved to have had one of those during treatment.
- I am pretty sure that even though my school district is small we probably have the BEST financial superintendant in the state. HE IS AWESOME.
- Sometimes getting money from him was a challenge and you needed to be ready to hear NO. BUT our district continues to get OUTSTANDING ratings from the state on our records.
- We may not get the biggest raises every year BUT when the money is there my district has always poured that money back to people….and built a HUGE athletic complex but the rest came to us and hey…we NEEDED a new football field. Ya’ll the other one was OLD and TINY.
- I am glad to hear about the successes of other peoples kids.
- I just don’t need to hear about it EVERY………. SINGLE …………….FREAKING …………….DAY!
- I especially don’t need to hear about it when that is the ONLY thing we hear about. What about the siblings? What are they doing that is exiting? Do you realize that you are pushing the other kid off to the side of the road?
- My kids are good at multiple things. And I do brag but I don’t feel the need to tell everyone EVERY………………. SINGLE ………………FREAKING……………………… DAY!
- My son received a badge at Boy Scout Camp for Archery and Rifle Shooting. We got to keep the target. The boy did good….REAL GOOD…Like if he is aiming at it it is not a question of IF he is going to hit it but WHERE is he going to hit it.
- Two Bulls Eye’s on the targets. One in Archery and one in Rifle Shooting.
- My son also excels in Golf
- My son also excels in Football
- My son also excels in Basketball
- Are you tired of hearing about my son yet?
- Imagine getting an update EVERY…………………… SINGLE……………….. FREAKING ……………….DAY
- I need to make a bumper sticker that reads….My son can hit your honor student in the ASS or head with an arrow or a BEE BEE from 15 yards.
- How would you like that beat down? Ass with and arrow…ass with a BEE BEE or Head and BEE BEE or HEAD an Arrow…you take your pick.
- Good idea but probably too wordy for a bumper sticker.
- But wait….what about one of those digital rolling screens….I could create one of those to post in my back window….$$$$$$$$
- Tracey is finding out how addicting Farm Town is. I got home from work early and after a little peck on the cheek she said…good…I need you to go harvest my grapes so I can plant some more!
- Now multiple people in my family are doing Farm Town on Face Book. They too are getting addicted.
- Two more days until some extended vacation time….Life is good.
- I have a work friend whose husband is in the hospital with Acute Miloyd Leukemia. He is having a pretty rough go of it so far. But he is older and has other health issues as well.
- I am glad I have to deal with this Leukemia stuff NOW instead of when I am older.
- Looking forward to some time with the family in Corpus
- I think the construction crew working by my office is pretty funny.
- Some days are perfect and there is NO construction crew in sight.
- Yesterday it was raining like you would not believe and they were out there working like crazy.
- Some jobs of the construction crew seem pretty sweet- minus you dealing with the elements.
- Why is it on a construction crew ONE guy is digging like hell while 5 yes FIVE are standing their watching him. Did they draw straws to see who got to sit and who got to dig?
- My cabbage in Farm Town will be ready harvest in Farm Town this evening…can you say CHA-CHING!! Yeah I told you I was hooked.
- Our oldest dog Lilly- Weenie Dog…Got her for Tracey for Mothers Day the year we got married…she is enjoying her senior years. Can’t believe she is 12. At the moment she has not one physical problem but we know that can change ANY day. It is funny how she RULES the roost with the other two dogs. Maggie, our 2 year old HUGE puppy, lets Lilly do WHATEVER she wants.
- It is going to be a hard day for Tracey and I whenever we lose Lilly. She was our first “child” and has been with us through two child births and has laid by me on the bed through TWO bouts of cancer.
- We lost Susy 6 years this July 27. Suzy was with me for a few months prior to me meeting Tracey.
- Suzy was perfectly fine and one day she woke up and was in the process of having congestive heart failure.
- 48 hours later she was gone.
- July 27 is still a sad day for me and it has been six years.
- We have a little shrine to Suzy in our house. It is a cedar box. Inside the box is a baggy with her ashes. On top of the box is a picture of Suzy. Hanging around the picture is her collar.
- The neighbors on one side of me are very nice people. They are older but one of their sons lives with them and he helps take care of everything.
- Found out about 6 months ago the wife has throat cancer. Wife is declining treatment because it is a slow moving cancer and she will like die of something else. ????? Maybe if you are in your 80’s but this lady is not that old.
- Found out yesterday the husband is in STAGE ONE of Alzheimer’s
- This news saddened me greatly. If we see him trying to drive himself anywhere we are supposed to stop him. :>{
- How is that for Random Thoughts of Randomness?

Soccer GOD

2009-06-30T21:21:00.001-05:00

Reminds me of myself back in the early 80's on the TORNADO'S

50,000 Miles...My How Miles Fly

2009-06-30T17:02:00.002-05:00

On May 24, 2006 Tracey and I made probably our smartest vehicle purchase in our lives. We bought a Toyota Camry. This car has been awesome. It is comfortable for me and the family and with 4 cylinders gets great gas mileage. I can honestly say it is the first vehicle that Tracey and I are not figuring to unload after 3 years.

Well this week the Little Green Rocket hit 50,000 miles. I remember when we drove it off the lot with 4 miles on it. Sniff....our baby is growing up.

Here is to you Little Green Rocket! I hope the next 50,000 miles go by just as easily. Thank you for looking after me and my family

Define Physically Handicapped Please

2009-06-29T20:02:00.003-05:00

I do not follow the perfect diet by any means. I will say that I follow a more healthy diet after going through my cancer treatments. But an angel I am not. Having said that I have been observant of the diets of other people.
This past week I was in Austin with some fellow teachers and we all went out to eat each evening. On one evening we were out one of the teachers made mention that I eat like a bird. For whatever reason after going through my cancer treatments I can’t eat near as much as I could a couple of years ago…hence the maintaining of my weight loss.
So back to my topic of diet and overweight people. I went to the local QT this morning to pick up my 49 cent diet cola of my choice. It just so happen that the four people in front of me were HUGE. Like dear lord huge. It is 7:15-7:30 range. Here is what they were having for breakfast
Person One- Two Taquito’s (sp)
One Banana – healthy choice…
44oz Cola (could be diet)
1 chocolate milk
1 Regular Milk- Whole Milk
Person Two- 44 oz Drink is there a pattern here?
2 Hot Dogs- With six packets of Mayo- WTH?? Mayo on a hot dog?
1 Hostess Fruit pie
1 Hostess Ding Dong Package
Person Three- 44 oz Drink- Must be a club or something
4 hotdogs- Jalapeno variety- They are going to be fun to be around when those babies hit.
1 Serving of Nacho’s with the chili cheese already on the chips
1 ham and cheese sandwich from the heat lamp
So on person three I am confused…where are they going to go for lunch. I thought the hotdogs but then what about the nacho selection….already with the sauce on there those are going to have to be eaten pretty quickly. So then that would mean the FOUR hotdogs would be lunch…but where does the ham and cheese sandwich come in? Snack?

Person Four- 32oz drink….WOW they are cutting back!
4 Taquito’s- I guess they had to have one of every kind.
1 Ham Egg and Cheese Sandwich
1 Sausage Egg and Cheese Sandwich
1 Hostess Fruit Pie- Cherry (ah my personal favorite)

Here is another interesting note. Of these four VERY LARGE PEOPLE…THREE of them were parked in the handicapped parking. Why does this bother me? Because these people did not appear to be hindered in ANY WAY while making it to their vehicles. They walked right to their car and got in. I will admit that it took them a while to get into their car with all of their food purchases and adjusting of the seat and steering wheel. NOT E TO SELF…WHEN YOU HAVE TO MOVE THE STEERING WHEEL ALL THE WAY UP TO GET OUT??? YOU ARE TOO BIG. Are these not the people that need to walk the farthest to their vehicle?
Don’t get me wrong…I don’t hate fat people. I have a few in my family. But when did fat become a handicap? If they had a limp or a cane or SOMETHING I might understand. But these people walked right to their car and got in with the handicap sticker hanging from their rear view mirror. WTH? My father in law is handicapped. He has a scooter and everything.
I would have LOVED to have a handicapped sticker when I was going through cancer treatments. I was doing everything I could to make it to the door of the store I was going to. But I did it. Sometimes even dragging my chemo bag in a suitcase with me. Sometimes I had to sit down in the deli and rest for a few minutes so I could make my way around the store. But I did it. Why? Because my kids needed milk or my wife needed something for work and I was well enough to do it. Now if you are SO BIG that physically you cannot do it I understand. But if you can make it to your car with your truck load of food with no problem then do what is right and get rid of your handicap sticker so that someone who REALLY is handicapped can use it.

Before you start zinging me with hate mail just hold on.
Finally, let’s assume that something IS wrong with them and they have a “condition” that makes their body not process foods correctly…… Are any of these four people doing anything to HELP their condition??? Read over their food selections again….out of all of that crap they are eating I only saw ONE fruit…ONE BANANA…THAT’S IT…ONE…. FREAKING…..BANANA….fruit PIES DO NOT COUNT….
I WAS considered obese prior to my cancer. Then I started following a healthier diet…got some exercise….lost weight.
All I am saying is TRY TO HELP YOURSELF…if I have a sprained knee and the doctor tells me to stay off of it am I going to go out and play some basketball? Probably not. Why? Because that pounding is not good on my hurt knee.
I am just saying…… If you are in a handicap space because you are WAY OVERWEIGHT…then do something about it. You are paying TOO HIGH OF A PRICE to be able park close my friend.
JDHTEACH

The Week That Was

2009-06-27T19:20:00.002-05:00

So I was out of town all this week for a training session in Austin with a large group of teachers. I have a TON of thoughts on the week that was.

1. I love my district that I work in but sometimes I am reminded that we are still small. Case in Point- I arrive Monday morning to pick up the vehicles for the trip. Now these vehicles have been reserved for weeks. The vehicles were not ready to go when I showed up. KUDDOS to the maintenance department for stepping up and getting those vehicles ready.

2. We walked into the bank to cash our checks and (again being a small town) the people that work there froze for a moment.

3. I don't think any bank in LE EVER has 13 people in it at once. EVER

4. 5 hours to get there....3 and a half WITH a stop to get home. Think we were ready to be home?

5. I was reminded daily just how lucky I am....thank you Sweety...thank you mom and dad.

6. The van ride was lonely at times. It was just me and the luggage.

7. Training was great...one part of the training go a bit old but they did change it up on the last full day.

8. LOVE ALL THE CHANGES TO THE HOUSE while I was gone. Tracey worked her tail off.

8. Five days is too long to be away from home.

Ma And Pa Kettle Math

2009-06-25T15:20:00.000-05:00

Seems Easy Enough

The Importance of Cross Training

2009-06-23T15:47:00.003-05:00

My wife does a lot around the house. I do my fair share as well but I don't know if it is 50/50. Now that she is off work and I am still working she does more around the house but hey she is home and I am working.

Having said all of this my wife and I have "cross trained" one another so that we can fill in for each other when one of us is gone for a period of time.

When is this painful?
When she wants to show me anything about laundry Whats the difference in delicate and normal wash? (HATE IT)
When I try to teach her anything about a technique used in cooking,{SHE HATES TO COOK}. Well how do I know when it's done? Well LOOK AT IT. If it is still bleeding then its not done. Likes to bake but not cook....still trying to figure that one out.

The reason we cross train is so that when one is gone the home remains stable.

I am in Austin this week for a full week of training. I have brought with me 12 other teachers. 11 of those 12 are females who are married with children.

More than one of the ladies are having issues with the husband running the house.

One husband has I think total give up. The term that more accurately describes the situation is probably " I don't wanna". He has even told his wife....I don't know how to do that so I am not. Wife- SOOOOO that means you are going to let it sit for 5 days unitl I get home to deal with it....HUSBAND- Whatever..I am not doing it.

The other type of husband is the one who has questions. LOTS of questions...So he is calling constantly with how do I do this....How do I do that? and it is pulling the teachers out of training to answer the emergency phone calls.

So I have come to the conclusion that I may not be perfect but I am definately ahead of the curve.

Sleeping Issues

2009-06-21T04:49:00.002-05:00

One to three

That is the time in the morning that I have been up on a regular basis for about a week now. There is usually a lot of tossing and turning. Then my mind starts going about what all I have going on at work and I might as well get up and get dressed. I have tried battling this with staying up later. You see going to sleep is not the problem. I can conk out at 9:00 with no problem. This method of battle has failed. I tried staying up to TEN or ELEVEN...still I wake up between the dreaded ONE and THREE. SO WHY???

Well I think I have two major reasons. First, would be work. I do have a lot on my plate right now. Oh it is nothing compared to my previous position but still I have a lot riding on this I feel. You see I am working on setting up my FIRST staff development for our elementary campuses in August. Sure I have done staff development for a grade level and a campus...BUT A DISTRICT? Nope...never...I know I can do it and do it well it's just the preasure you put on yourself to get the job done right. I think that is a major part of it.

Next, Well I am getting ready to be in Austin for a week at a conference with a group of other teachers and we are going to be gone for a week. The conference is fine and working with and leading the teachers I don't have an issue with.
It's leaving my family for that long. I will miss Tracey and the kids terribly. I know...WEENIE...but I do. Tracey has activities planned and the kids are going to be spending time with my folks so I know Tracey is going to be getting some much deserved free time but I am going to miss everyone.

Lastly, I am READY for a vacation. I need a break from work. The schools have been shut down for a while now and slowly but surely the administrative department is starting to take their vacations. While that happens I get to step up and cover other events while they are gone in addition to try and get my stuff done. This is fine because in a few weeks the shoe will be on the other foot and they will be covering my responsibilities in my absence. I AM JUST READY TO GET THERE.

COME ON JULY 2NS

WWWAAAAYYYY TO INTO YOURSELF THERE BABE

2009-06-18T20:53:00.003-05:00

Funny...I did not hear her call him a FREAKING GENERAL!!! Let's...see .. what is harder to do....Senator or BRIGADIER GENERAL...

Get over yourself lady

POKER... Foldem' Style

2009-06-16T18:47:00.000-05:00

It has been quite a few months but Dad and I were able to get a way and play a little poker up in Oklahoma last weekend. Dad has just started really playing Texas Hold’em. We were torn about playing on the same table because we did not want to hurt one another. In the end though we decided to go for it.
I was a bit anxious at first. The stakes were not high. It was 4-8 limit poker. So why be so anxious? The reason being I am in a considerable slump when it comes to poker. About a year ago I was playing pretty regular and I was doing quite well. I would come home with the money I took plus I would at least double it if not triple it or quadruple it. Then…IT STOPPED…. Some of it was just not getting cards but many times I was getting outplayed. By that I don’t mean I was getting out smarted I mean I was trying to make things happen to win pots and instead would get burned.
Well yesterday I did not get any GREAT starting hands…a pocket ACES or face cards in 3 hours of playing. But I did see some decent starting hands. I came home with 90% of the money I took. Oddly enough a dealer error cost me a hand that would have put me about 100 dollars up AT THAT TIME but I have been on the receiving end of a dealer screw up as well so …THAT’S POKER…. I was very proud of the way I played. Considering the cards I got I felt I got the most out of what I was dealt. Here is what I did well….
I WAS FOCUSED- I did a nice job of staying patient and not doing anything too aggressive because you get tired of just sitting there. If the odds say fold I folded.
YOU GOT TA KNOW WHEN TO FOLD’EM- And I did. There were quite a few times that I had a very strong hand but the way people were playing and betting I would lay down my hand. It is hard to lay down TRIPS and a STRIAGHT but I did both on more than one occasion. If I would have stayed in the hand I would have LOST each one of them AND A LOT MORE MONEY. Live to play another hand.
KNOW YOUR PLAYERS TENDANCIES- After about two times around the table I pretty much had everyone pegged on their style of play. When they would do certain things I did a pretty nice job of knowing what they had in their hand based on their betting or lack thereof. This information comes in VERY HANDY when you end up going head to head for a pot later.
I have been on tables before where I KNEW I was probably the weakest skilled card player there. When you go up against a skilled card player they usually know what you are going to do before you do. And getting money out of them is like getting blood from a turnip. They NEVER fall for a trap.
Well Sunday I got to be on the other side of it. I played probably the best poker I had played in over a year. And I KNOW I had the highest POKER IQ at that table. If I would have had a bit better cards I could have done some serious damage to some people.

It Ain't Easy..Bein' Green

2009-06-16T18:44:00.000-05:00

It has been hard being Jack over the past week. I can’t put my finger on it exactly but Jack has really been struggling with talking back to Tracey and I. It is like he HAS TO HAVE the last word. I do not like to parent this way but the only thing that would seem to get Jack to understand that we mean business is the threat of (and sometimes the carrying out of) a whoopin. My normal action taken with Love and Logic was not working.
Now let me explain whoopin…. We are not beating our kids. We never even leave a mark on the boy. It is more of the embarrassment of him getting spanked or if he smart mouths Tracey has been known to get a little dab of liquid soap and stick it in Jack’s mouth. He HATES that.
As I mentioned here lately it has been one “whoopin” after the other for Jack. He declared that it was obvious to him that neither his MOTHER nor I LOVED HIM ANYMORE. We had had it. I told him it was not that we did not love him. It was quite the opposite as a matter fact. The reason we stay on him was because we loved him. I did tell him though that when he acted this way it made him not fun to be around. I told him that I HATED having to parent him this way. It made me feel bad for having to do it and I knew he did not like being parented this way.
So how has it gone? Well Jack has actually been having some really great days. He is helping around the house and helping his mother.
Little Funny- The other day he lost track and he talked back to his mother. Before she could say anything Jack said …. WAIT….LET’S GO BACK AND DO THAT AGAIN….I SHOULD HAVE SAID…….
YOUR EXACTLY RIGHT JACK….GOOD BOY!!

Teaching Economics to an 8 Yr Old

2009-06-16T18:42:00.001-05:00

Jack has the biggest heart. He is such a sweet boy. Last week he had a friend have a birthday. Jack wanted to go to the store and have us spend 30-40 dollars on a toy for this child. I was against this for a couple of reasons. The first being money- We are extremely tight in that area right now due to me being docked the past couple of months repaying the district the time I owe them while I was in the hospital. That ends this month THANK GOODNESS. The second, I know the child and to throw any kind of money at this kid is a waste. The boy is nice and all but he does not exactly take care of his stuff. If this were a few other kids I know MAYBE but not this one.
So it was time to explain the economics of the situation to Jack. Tracey was getting a bit frustrated with Jack because anything she suggested as a gift that was less expensive he dismissed as LAME! So I decided to explain it in a way that Jack would appreciate. I thought I did pretty well and Jack seemed to really understand it. Here is where I went with it….
Okay Jack it is like this. We have the money to do whatever it is we want to do as a family. That does not mean that the money has no end. It means that we have a CHOICE of where to spend the money as a family Jack. If you want to spend the money we have on a very expensive birthday present for your friend we can do that. BUT…what that means now is that you will get to spend ONE LESS DAY on the beach next month in Corpus Christi. That means ONE LESS DAY exploring the LEXINGTON and going to the aquarium. You see Jack if we spend the money on your friend’s birthday present then there is no money to stay an extra day in Corpus. It is called a BUDGET Jack. Everyone has one. Mommy and Daddy have budgeted money to go on vacation. Because we moved our trip to next month we are getting to stay an EXTRA DAY because we will have more money in the budget. Now the choice is yours Jack. The money for the present is going to come from this budget. So what is it going to be? Are we going to buy an expensive toy from our vacation money and lose a day at the beach? OR do you want to get something for your friend within mom’s asking price and keep the extra day at the beach?
Now you and I both know that the present was not going to cost us a DAY of vacation but that is all I had that I knew Jack would see the sacrifice that would need to be made. He REALLY is excited about the beach and the USS Lexington.
So in about two minutes Jack made the decision. He approached Tracey and I and he held out his hand. In his hand was a Nintendo game that he never played. He made the announcement that he wanted his friend to have this game because he knew he would like it and Jack had grown tired of it. WELL ….. PROBLEM SOLVED….and it did not cost us a dime. Tracey wrapped it up and off we went to the party.

Jury Duty in Dallas County

2009-06-15T18:10:00.002-05:00

The names are changed to protect the innocent.

So I had jury duty today in down town Dallas. I had to report for duty at 8:30 AM. I had no idea what traffic would be like so I left the house early. Lucky for me I guess there was very little traffic.

My observations:
= The signs in the building telling you were to go are very small.
= The general jury room is a bit run down. Several rows of seats had broken chairs.
Many of the chairs had mystery stains...Now what could that be?
= Funny Line of the Day- The guy sitting next to me made this comment...I am a
minister. If we need this many people for jury's clearly I need to be doing a
better job.
= Don't look all annoyed when you can't find a seat to sit down in. You want a seat.
Get here early. It works in the movie theater...it works here as well.
= Clearly several people did not read the part on their summons about there being a
dress code. Hey I understand the jeans and a t-shirt I guess. The lady wearing a
Galveston t-shirt, capri jeans, and flip flops...WTH
= I am sitting there and the guy to my left falls asleep and is snoring..what the..
he is starting to lean on me....WTH...WTH...WTH...OFF .... OFF....OFF
= The guy to my right. Keeps coughing like THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG coughing. He is
covering his mouth with a rag but I am thinking TB here.
= The lady to right of the guy on my right. WOULD NOT SIT THE HELL DOWN. SHE GOT UP
SHE GOT DOWN...SHE GOT UP...SHE GOT DOWN...SHE GOT UP... SIT THE HELL DOWN WOMAN!!
= Civic Duty Video- It is old....so old that it is GRAINY...you can't read the
writing...time to upgrade.
= Juror number 2934- I am pretty safe..first pannel called 2-84. I AM REAL SAFE
= Second Juror Pannel- 85-675...WHAT THE??? Not so safe now.
= Did not get picked and got to leave at 11:30....THANK YOU

The UP charge

2009-06-12T14:48:00.002-05:00

I HATE the upcharge. What is the upcharge? It is when you take your car or whatever for routine maintenance and you get hit with all of the THINGS they want to do or your car DESPERATELY NEEDS or it won't make it another mile.

Two weeks ago I took Tracey's car in to get the oil changed. I knew we were getting close on the tires and I even told them that when I dropped the car off. If they could work me a deal we can talk when I pick the car up. HENCE DON'T CALL ME.

Sure enough...My phone rings...Mr. JDHTEACH did you know your tires.....blah blah

Good Lord..DOES NOONE TALK TO EACH OTHER UP THERE???? Yes Sir was my response....gripping the phone ever so tightly yet being polite on the phone...if you guys can work me a deal we can talk when I pick the car up.

So what was their deal? Oh that would be 4 new tires for $1,235 dollars....that was THEIR DEAL...

Needless to say that was a VERY short conversation.

I looked online for about an hour looking over different places. I got 3 sets of tires with the same tread life guarantee. All three stores offered the same perks.
I went with the store that was offering buy 3 tires get one free.

I had a great conversation over the phone and I made an appointment so that we could get Tracey's car in and out because it was needed for a small car trip this weekend by my sister.

So I have there for the appointment and I decide to leave it because we have other places to go and I am needed for kid duty while Tracey does some other things. They say they will call me when to come pick it up.

Now last month when I bought my tires at another store I had to stay there with it because I had no other option. I got in and out in 45 minutes.

I check my phone and it is alomost NOON when we are leaving our last stop and I still have no phone call. This upsets me because I made an appointment for a reason.

Tracey drops me off and I go into the store.

The service guy asks if he can help me and I say YES, I am here to pick up my car. It's the cadilac up on stilts.

Ummm Yes Sir that car needs to be alligned pretty badly did you get our phone call?

No- I have been out running errands.

Well we called your home.

Obviously if I am out running errands I am not going to get that message. That is why I asked you to call my cell. YOU even asked me to clarify what number to call and I gave YOU my cell and asked YOU to repeat MY CELL number back to me. Which YOU did. (Freaking MORON) was my thought.

Well we called your home....

GOT IT...

Listen, (As I am remaining very calm and NOT SARCASTIC AT ALL) The reason I made an appointment was so I could get in and out. I need this vehicle for a car trip this afternoon. I bought tires from another store last month and was in and out in 45 minutes. Because I knew if I left it you would put it on the backburner I MADE AN APPOINTMENT. Why would I make an appointment for you to keep my car for 3 hours to put 4 tires on it.

Now I am paying you over 600 dollars for these tires. I would THINK that if I am giving you 600 dollars I would have the allignment done for free.

Well sir we do the allignment check for free.

Sorry not good enough....I need the car and I will have it checked out by my mechanic.

The last time I was told YOU GOTTA DO THIS...it turns out my mechanic said WHATEVER DUDE THIS CAR IS FINE.

I just hate the UP CHARGE...... They make you feel like you were LUCKY to make it in.

I LOVE MY SERVICE DEPARTMENT WHERE I BOUGHT THE CAMRY. YOU DROP IT OFF FOR ROUTINE MAINTENANCE AND ANY LITTLE ADDITIONAL STUFF THEY JUST DO IT....NO CHARGE...ANYTHING SUBSTANCIAL THEY CALL ME AND USUALLY FIND A WAY TO SNEAK IT IN AT NO CHARGE OR MINIMAL CHARGE AT ALL.... THAT IS CUSTOMER SERVICE

A Little Taste of Summer Break

2009-06-12T07:58:00.002-05:00

Today is the first Friday off of the summer four day work week. Even though we don't have a whole lot planned for today other than errands I am excited.

On the list:
Get new tires for Tracey's car. (Hoped to put off to regroup cost from my tires. CAN"T)

Help Tracey sort supplies for Vacation Bible School

Lunch- From??? Subway, Jack is on a roasted chicken sandwhich trip. He order's a footlong and eats half and saves the other half for dinner. Economical and HEALTHY!! The boy has not even ASKED about McDonalds in over a week.

Free time with the family.

This evening a picnic with the family as part of the close out activities with Twilight Camp with the Bear Scouts.

So see a lot to do but not so much.

Next Friday and the rest of the Friday's in June will be Field Trip Fridays. I think next Friday is a day trip to Dinosaur Park.

What Is Running Through My Head

2009-06-09T01:47:00.003-05:00

It seems as though my blogs have taken a bit of a negative view of society lately. Good for comedic value at times but I really and not that negative....interesting.

The more things change the more they stay the same....I have stated before that I am really digging my new assignment. I am finding that the month of June is really one of my busiest times of the year. I have A LOT on my plate right now but it still is nothing compared to what all CAMPUS PRINCIPALS have going on. Just being honest. What I find interesting though "in the more they stay same department" is if I wake up and am up for any reasonable amount of time my mind starts racing and I can't go back to sleep.....which is why I am blogging at 2:00 in the morning.

I have said this before but my wife is SUPERWOMAN. She has the kids on a great schedule for summer. It is the perfect mixture of daily responsibilities for the kids with fun activities mixed in AND the activities are varied.

Each day when I get home from work I love sitting down and listening to all of the FUN things the kids have done for the day. Sometimes it can't wait till I get home and one of the kids will call me to tell me what they are doing. AWESOME

Gotta give props to my Mother-In-Law... I got home from work yesterday and I was getting things out to prepare dinner. I was tired (had to lead a staff development that morning) and it was hot to me yesterday as well. I just was not looking forward to being around a HOT oven and a HOT stove. My mother-in-law was at the house watching Caroline until I got home. Jack and Tracey were at a bear scout activity. She came into the kitchen and gave me money to go get something for dinner. I usually tell her no and insist on cooking. Yesterday it was like a gift from God. I did not argue at all. I said thank you so much and was out the door in 30 seconds.

The Dark Lord Dance Company

2009-06-07T15:05:00.002-05:00

The name of the dance company shall remain nameless. Most of what I am going to talk about are the observations that I have had over the past 3 years as Caroline has visited this dance company.

When Csroline began Dance and Tap a few years ago I was pretty shocked by the sticker price of doing business. But then again Jack's golf is not exactly cheap so I went with it.

Cost- The initial start up can get pretty expensive. Dance shoes, ballet shoes, a couple different dance outfits for practice. It gets up there quickly. Family and friends helped offset the cost by getting Caroline dance wear at Christmas and birthdays. The cost of the lessons is pretty surprising to me. Again, not knowing any different I went along with it thinking that this must be the price for DOIN' BIDNESS.

Business Atmosphere- There are no chairs in this place for you to sit in while you wait for your child to get out of class. There are only long benches with no backing to them. If I had to guess the age of the benches I could not tell you without using CARBON DATING!! Not comfortable!

Air Conditioning- This is a foreign concept to the Dark Lord. Usually you just sit there and sweat like you are in one of Kathy Lee Gifford's child work shops. I thought this was just a random occurrence but it seems that they either don't believe in air conditioning or the Dark Lord is too cheap to turn it on.

Recital- Tickets were I believe around 5 dollars this year. Down from 25 last year. Much better deal. However, why the hell am I being charged anything for the recital? The recital is for the PARENTS to SEE what they have been working on all year. You are paid WELL by us each month. WAY MORE than other dance companies who provide their recital for free in the same place you do it. That is like parents paying for private lessons in band and then CHARGING to see them perform a concert. Or in school your kid is in choir and we are going to charge you to come hear the choir. WTH.

Finished Product- With the little ones it was exactly what I expected....they are so cute and sure they are off but who cares?

Now the older participants....What the heck have ya ll been working on since Christmas. Spacing was off..they look around at each other as if to say...what are we doing? Now when I say older I mean high school age.Some of these girls are even in the high school drill team....(you want to talk about precision) and they are running around the stage with an occasional leap into the air...as if to say....I don't know what comes next so 1.2..3...what the hell..LLLEEEAAAPPPP..and land...now what...oh yeah...ROLE ON THE FLOOR.......I am just saying I was in band in high school. During marching season we were a finely tuned machine. You knew not only what you were doing but I was expected to know what others were doing as well. With what we invest I would expect a bit more of a polished finished product from the older kids.

I would like to say the oldest group of ballerina's were GREAT!
The Adult group is always GREAT
The African American young man who danced last night was AWESOME

Choreography- Rolling around on the floor seems to be a big player in whoever plans the dance moves of the older kids.- NOTE TO CHOREOGRAPHER= IF YOU HAVE A BIG BOY WHO HAS A HARD TIME GETTING UP YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO HAVE HIS DANCE GROUP TRY THAT MOVE FIVE TIMES IN ONE DANCE...JUST SAYING

I am glad to say that we are leaving The Dark Lord Dance Company. We (along with a few others) are moving to a dance company right across the street from my old high school. Nice sitting area for parents....along with air conditioning and heating. The cost is 40% LESS and the recital is FREE

Good Bye Darth Sandra...I am glad to be moving on.

A Family Secret is DISCOVERED- A Night To Remember Part III

2009-06-07T13:02:00.004-05:00

So last night we are all sitting in the audiance watching Caroline and the other dancers perform. Jack is in his Pa's (my dad) hip pocket. He wants to sit by his Pa and be with him constantly. If Pa got up from his chair Jack was right there with him. This was really cute to watch because Jack is a MINI ME of my dad. He is built just like my dad. During intermission my dad got up to go out into the foyer to get a break from sitting in the auditorium chairs. Jack did not notice that PA got up because he was talking to Tracey during the intermission. When they wrapped up their conversation he looked over and saw that PA was gone. He paniced a bit and looked over at Tracey....Where is PA?!? He is stretching his legs. Was Tracey's reply. Jack got up and went into the foyer looking for my dad. He came back and he was a bit worried. He told Tracey "I can't find Pa!" So Tracey got up and said, "Well I will help you find him." Maybe he is in the restroom? Was Tracey's thought. They go to the foyer and Jack sees my dad outside with his back to them. Jack RUNS outside and yells PA!! As my dad turns around. Tracey is thinking OH NO!!!!

Jack sees my dad put out a cigarette QUICKLY!! Jacks world has just had a MAJOR event take place.

Jack turns around and runs off back down to our seats. Tracey is right behind him walking briskly as if trying to catch him. Jack gets our seats and says with loud authority...

HOW LONG HAS PA BEEN SMOKING????

Oh Shhh.... was my thought.

Everyone is stunned and noone really knows how to answer that question...

JACK- SO IS ANYONE GOING TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION???

Tracey catches up and says quietly....By the time I saw you dad Jack was already running up to him.

You see we have never told our kids that my dad smokes. Dad NEVER smokes around them and he only smokes when he is outside. When he is around me he does not smoke in the car even. He waits until we get somewhere and he gets out of the car.

Another reason we were not telling Jack is he knows CANCER kills people. He knows that I have had CANCER and that I am in remission. He knows through his schooling in HEALTH that cigarettes cause CANCER. AND JACK IS A WORRIER. There are two men in this world that Jack loves more than anyone. Me and HIS PA!! If PA says something it is LAW!!! End of story.

For the rest of the night Jack was GRILLING my dad about his smoking.
Pa- Promise me you will quit smoking please.
Do you know Pa that smoking causes CANCER ?
Did you know that CANCER can KILL you?
Why would you smoke anything if you know it can kill you?

Then there were the questions for Tracey and I...
Why would Pa smoke if he knows it can kill him. I don't get it.
Is Pa going to die soon?
What if Pa gets sick?
I am worried about Pa's health.

Tracey is doing her best to answer all of these questions during the recital but at the same time she is doing her best not to just start balling!!

Maybe THIS is what my did needs to get off of cigarettes and onto the gum.

Everyone please pray for Big Jack. He is truly worried about his PA. Hopefully we can get through this soon.