Crossroads

I can relate to Garfield

2006-10-17T19:25:00.000-05:00

This morning I go into the bath room and look down, there I see a giant freaking spider. It was the size of two quarters. I took it outside and let it go. Following my beliefs in all things in nature should have an opportunity to live, especially spiders since they eat the insects I don't like, I let him live. Curious as to the type of spider it was, I went to identify it with the aid of the Internet. Scrolling through a series of images I found the spitting image of the spider I had just thrown out not more then 2 minutes ago. This is what I saw:

I about messed myself. I should have killed it when I had the chance. I know it is going to hunt me down and kill me now. Ugh.

Midterms? Already??

2006-10-12T18:40:00.000-05:00

It's midterm season already. I think it is crazy that after 9 weeks I am already half way through the course. I'm used to not being this far until December!

The fast pace has had a bit of a toll on me. Really long hours to do all the same prep work but in less time. I'm really tired and I don't get a real break until late November. Bleh.

This weekend my friend Ross is visiting from California, and our friend John is going to visit too before he goes back to Iraq as a contractor. They are both very funny. This should be a very fun weekend. Cheers!

And.........we're back!

2006-09-30T11:00:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile, but I'm back and things have finally slowed down a bit. I'm actually going to the Little Elm fall festival today and get acquainted with my new town's developing culture. I'm currently sitting in my office with boxes stacked everywhere and junk strewn all about. The picture is the same throughout the rest of the house. Before you start thinking that I'm really slow at unpacking (I am slow, but not THAT slow); the carpet that covered the vast majority of the floors in the house were soaked in old dog and cat urine and the place stunk bad. So, I tore out 88% of the floors in the house and installed new wood (laminate) floors. I'm about 99% done with the floors, I'm waiting for some transition I ordered to come in. Let me tell you, that was quite the educational experience. Now I feel like Mr. Fix-Anything-Build-Anything and I'm ready to take on the world! Anyone need a house built? I'll pour the foundation for free.

My new position is great. My war buddies at Lyles kept telling me I would be a better fit at high school, and they were so right. I'm enjoying this much more then where I was, plus it is great to have a real football team to cheer for. Not to say that middle school football isn't real, but you know what I mean. It really feels like I'm getting through to most of the kids here. I still have to deal with the students talking in class and sometimes challenging parents and I'm not nearly as tight with my co-workers here then at my old place but the advantages greatly out weigh that. I have all freshmen this semester, it's the new teacher induction right, but next semester I will get a class with juniors and seniors in a subject I am completely unfamiliar with, math models. I'm actually looking forward to the new experience.

On your marks. Get set...

2006-08-01T22:05:00.000-05:00

This might be my last post for awhile. I'm going to be a busy boy because we are closing on the house tomorrow and I need to start a base camp in the house so that I can report to my new school the following day. New house, new job...boom, boom; just like that. I've been selling my junk like crazy on ebay in anticipation for the move and finally I think I can honestly say that I'm ready and I'm excited to finally that it is the eve of my new life.

Visitor

2006-07-19T23:01:00.000-05:00

Leah's best friend Jo flew in from California today to visit for ten days. Tomorrow we plan on taking her to see the house we will be moving into eventually then we are going to head up to Lake Kiowa for the night to chill out by the lake, and give me another opportunity to go fishing. YAY.

Head Trouble

2006-07-18T23:14:00.000-05:00

Havn't been all that great recently. I have had a non-stop headache for almost 6 days now. It really sucks.

I give up my right to party

2006-07-06T09:22:00.000-05:00

Independence Day is more then just a day of celebration here; it's practically a whole week of celebration, and I celebrated every single day! Saturday, July 1st, I went to a friend's house warming party (right) and had a real good time. Sunday I went to Crossroads, TX for a little get together with another friend it was pretty nice we hung out till all hours of the night and various people dropped by to socialize. At the end of the evening we were invited to a block party there the following day. The homeowners were going to block off an entire block and throw one big party. So that's what we did on Monday and into early Tuesday. It was just awesome, food, friends, fireworks, and strangers passing shots out to everyone. Tuesday evening, July 4th, was the tamest of the days. We went out to Firewheel to watch the fireworks in the rain in a muddy field. It was kind of cool we watched the show from the back of the Subaru and then went mudding afterwards. They were all great times but now I think I'm ready to give up my rights to party. At least till next year.

"I hurt myself today" -T. Reznor

2006-06-27T13:46:00.000-05:00

Today I finally felt like I had enough energy and enough free time on my schedule to get back into my rollerblades. Unfortunately, I could not find my wrist guards so I figured that I could skate in the park without them as long as I didn't crash, again. The last time I skated without pads I tried to jump a speed bump in a parking lot and ended up fracturing my right wrist. This time I would not be jumping anything. It has been a good year or longer since I've skated so the first time I got on them in the park I was a little shaky, and for the first time I was really feeling that this was not a good idea. But like any good dimwit I decided to tally forth with it, and I was doing pretty good. It was a great work out but my lungs were screaming at me the first few miles. Then it happened on the return trip, there was this awesome downhill slope with 3 or 4 curves. I figured just keep low, lean forward and everything will be okay, and it was for the first couple turns. The last turn was too sharp and I had too much speed, I could forget about slowing down using my breaks they are originals from 1992! Next thing I know I hit the grass and I was going head over heels on the ground. After I stopped rolling I did a damage assessment. The first thing I noticed was pain radiating from my right knee. I looked down at it to see the first layer of skin missing from it, then I got worried. The next thing that started to hurt was my right wrist, the one I fractured before. I moved it around and it was feeling pretty stiff, but I didn't notice any grinding feeling so that was good. Luckily I just strained it a bit but that's all. So really I just got away with just a scraped up knee....cool. I can't wait to do it again.

In other news, we won the bid on the house last Saturday! YAY! We are scheduled to close on August 2nd, and I can't wait to be living in my own home. It's going to need a little work. The carpets may need to be replaced and the previous owners kept a dog or a cat in a room and it reeks of animal urine so I will have to take care of that, but everything else looks great!! I'm very excited.

Contracts

2006-06-23T21:06:00.000-05:00

It has been a fun filled week of driving between Lewisville, Little Elm, and Garland and I'm sure my car's odometer is ready to scream at me. Wednesday I officially signed my contract with Lewisville ISD and resigned from Garland ISD. It was actually more fulfilling for me to resign from Garland then sign the contract with Lewisville. I walked out of Garlands HQ with the biggest grin on my face, it was just awesome.

When I signed my contract with Lewisville I had to attend a mandatory 4 hour workshop over teacher evaluations. It was an extreme bore, but I did my best to get something out of it. Luckily I was sitting at the rowdy table with the male coaches the silliness that ensued really helped me get through that workshop. I noticed that including myself and the three coaches, there were only 3 other guys in this meeting of 40 or so new hires. The women were the definite majority in that room and most of them were young. I felt I was in a casting call for the Young and the Restless. I guess Lewisville has a thing for young females, but who doesn't? ;-)

While this was going on I spent the rest of my free time house hunting. As I was looking at houses I learned something about myself; I don't like house hunting. It's a real pain in the ass, and I'm just not really excited about it. It may have been just the houses we looked at but I doubt it. We did, however, find a house that we really like in Little Elm and we are going to put in a bid for it tomorrow, but my agent tells me that there are other bids for it now and there will probably be more bids to come. That is not encouraging. Leah and I are not optimistic about getting the house but we remain somewhat hopeful. It really is a nice place with 1515 sqft. It includes a large kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, an office space, 2 car garage, and built in surround sound in the living room. I really hope we get it.

Wolverine!

2006-06-18T01:03:00.000-05:00

Which X-Men Are You??

YOU ARE WOLVERINE!!!You have a really short temper, and tend to be extremely sarcastic at times. Also, you are known for being very unpredictable, especially in battle. Your adamentium claws are your main weapon, and you have the ability to regenerate and heal very fast. And most importantly, you are the coolest X-Men!!! You rock!!!
Take this quiz!

House hunting, money, and such

2006-06-17T17:41:00.000-05:00

Well we toured our first house and I think I'm going to have to start going to therapy for the trauma. This house was scary, an absolute dump. I wanted to start running away when we got there and I spotted a tin bucket half full of cigarette butts floating in water on the front porch. It looked like it was partially under construction and the place reeked of wet animal. I really don't want to say anymore, I'd rather just try to forget about it. ugh.

We decided to tour the area looking for better prospects. We saw a few homes that my hold some promise but I'm starting to realize that when you are on a teacher's income your options are limited, and your standards must drop a few notches. I'm starting to have some real anxiety about buying a house now. I'm not sure if we can even afford it with all the additional costs that come with a house like, property taxes, insurance, maintenance, higher electric bills. By my calculations we'll start owing more then we make. Eeeek, I don't see how other teachers can do it other then they have a spouse in the cooperate world that makes a lot more. I'm totally wigging about it now. I hate financial stress.

On a brighter note, when we got back we tore through the apartment with rags, brooms, and mops and finally got this place cleaned up. YAY! Only the office I'm sitting in remains a mess, which I'll deal with later. The reason for all this cleaning is because BOTH our parents are coming over for Father's Day brunch. I'm going to make strawberry cream filled crepes and Leah is going to make breakfast tacos with hash browns all of which shall be made from scratch. We both love the home cookin'.

It's been a bit of an emotional day for me, and as my dad says, "Time for a tall refreshing adult beverage." Cheers!

Busy, busy, busy

2006-06-15T17:46:00.000-05:00

I have been busy as a bee. Yesterday I hung out with my brother while he was on leave we went to see X-Men 3 and we had also attended another one of Cheri's pool parties. Everyone had a good time, except for Becca I think. Let's just say she partied a little too hard. He should be shipping out to Norfolk, VA Saturday to get ready for his first cruise with the USS Enterprise.

Today I've been working on getting the house hunt underway. I've spoken to a real estate agent who seems decent enough and a second lender. On the job front I have been working on getting all my documentation sent from Garland to Lewisville. So I've been keeping myself occupied with this stuff, and I have a ton of other paperwork to work on tomorrow. It kinda sucks I'm feeling a little stressed, especially about not cleaning the apartment yet. I'll feel like a crappy house husband until I get this apartment cleaned.

Honkey Tonk Krunk, Y'all

2006-06-11T08:11:00.000-05:00

Since when has country been fused with R&B and techno? I was flipping channels this morning and I ran across this video:

I sat there dumbfounded as I watched club lights flashing and glittering booties flying across the screen like in some p. diddy video that we've all come to know and love.

Yesturday Leah took her content test for her teaching certification. She was very frustrated and irritable when she got back, but taking a test for three hours will do that to just about anybody. Meanwhile I called a bunch of my old coworkers to tell them the news about me moving to Hebron. I told one of our councilors the news and he insisted that we go out to watch the Mavs tonight. So it looks like I'll be doing that this eve.

I have just been so excited about the new job. I've constantly thinking about what my new classes are going to be like and how will I teach them. I really don't want to because there will be plenty of time for me to do that later, I really just want to keep my summer school free as much as possible. Besides, I really need to start getting on the ball as far as the house hunt goes. I need to schedule appointments with some lenders and get myself a realtor. I have had a few referrals from friends about who they used and very appreciative of it. It narrows the field down for me and provides me with reliable references. Leah wants me to use her boss' husband as our lender; her boss is also a realtor. That just sounds like trouble waiting to happen to me. I'm sure they are nice enough but I am not comfortable involving Leah's boss in our biggest financial decision. There is one upside if we do use her boss, she has a great rack, and she likes to show it off. It would help me keep my mind off of how intimidating this whole house buying process is. Boobies make it all better. Always.

Eh, why not?

2006-06-09T18:59:00.000-05:00

You Belong in 1968

If you scored...

1950 - 1959: You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

1960 - 1969: You are a free spirit with a huge heart. Love, peace, and happiness rule - oh, and drugs too.

1970 - 1979: Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all!

1980 - 1989: Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

1990 - 1999: With you anything goes! You're grunge one day, ghetto fabulous the next. It's all good!

What Year Do You Belong In?

"Cha-cha-cha-chaaanges...." -D. Bowie

2006-06-08T20:49:00.000-05:00

And the landscape changes as I pick my path continue my journey. I GOT A NEW JOB!!! Hebron HS made me an offer and I accepted. Woot! I'll finally be teaching in a high school, a new one at that. You should see this school it doesn't look like a school it more closely resembles a mall. Education in a shiney blue and black candy wrapper, I love it. Now that I'm moving on to a more affluent school I will miss that tiny twinge of pride I felt when I said, ' I work at and at risk school.', and the look of admiration I would get from other teachers. Hebron however, will be better for my sanity.

With that the other pieces to my puzzle can start falling into place. I now am going to seriously start my hunt for my very first house. There's so much I need to do. Find a lender I'm comfortable with, find a realtor I can trust, and get all the documentation I'll need together. Here I worried I might be bored this summer. It's amazing how everything in you life can change in the matter of minutes, or even seconds. I went from the microcosm of detailing my cars under a hot Texas sun for 7 hours to the slightly larger microcosm of changing the entire set to the stage that is my life. Crazy.

P.S. - Finals, game 1 vs Miami Heat. Go Mavs!!!

Numa Numa

2006-06-05T00:54:00.000-05:00

I have the biggest smile on my face right now. I can't get enough of the numa video and the 2000 other copycat videos. I especially like the one where all the students are doing the numa dance in class. I know it's old but it still tickles me. I got to figure out a way where I can get my classes to do the numa dance. HAHAHA!!!

Gone Fishing

2006-06-04T14:23:00.000-05:00

I just got back from Lake Kiowa and did a little fishing on the dock. I was out there for about 7 hours total and caught two baby perch, a stick, and a boat dock. I almost caught what looked like small mouth bass but I really think he was just mocking me, because as he spit the hook out he managed to tie the worm into a square knot. Little bugger.

I was also hit by a tornado while out there. Well it was more of a water spout since it was in the lake. I was standing on the dock throwing out my line, with the false hope of catching something with fins that wieghed more then 12 oz., when all of a sudden a strong wind picked up right where I was standing. It was pushing me on my back into the water then to the left. Then water started to spray me. I could see a vortex of air form on the surface of the water creating a water spout. It was really neat to watch the cone of air spinning around on the surface of the water and watch the contents of my tackle box be sprayed all over the lake. It lasted all of maybe a minute. Seeing my leaders and various other items from my tackle box floating out on the lake I grabed a net and started to retrieve it. So there I was wadeing waist deep in the water and ankle deep in muck with net in hand. Good times. The next day I told my wife the story and her response was, "Ewww, so I slept with sombody who had icky lake butt and didn't take a shower?" What can I say, I'm a heathen. So now it's off to the shower with me to wash my 'icky lake butt' and tend to my sunburns.

Frustration and fun

2006-06-02T22:54:00.000-05:00

I've been hanging out with work friends and hearing about how so-and-so managed to get a job at a new school and how everyone is happy that they managed to find somthing new. I'm really starting to feel frustration that I have yet to find anything despite my extensive search all across the metroplex. I really can't stand the thought of another year at the same place and now I'm hearing about all these horrible things that have happened at the school this past year. I'm not going to repeat it here but it's stuff that the 5'oclock news lives for. I need a new job, somthing to get me excited again.

Finally I'm done with my workshops. Yaaaay! I will be officially certified to teach gifted and talented students. I really had a hard time going to these workshops but I did learn some very interesting things about G/T kids. One of the hardest things they have to deal with is the high expectations of adults to be perfect. Or how they are regularly treated like little adults themselves. Yet they are still just kids. Well, now that my training is over I really feel that my summer has begun, and I'm starting to loosen up just a bit. I would feel a whole lot better if I could find a new job though. Such is life.

2006-05-31T16:43:00.000-05:00

Random pic from my Chicago trip. "Object de art."

Remembering our soldiers past and present

2006-05-29T11:41:00.000-05:00

It's the first memorial day since my brother joined the service. So it holds more meaning for me this year. Over the past few years I've grown a greater apprication for our soldiers. So to our men and women in uniform, I salute you.

And now for some kick ass military videos.

MathCounts

2006-05-28T10:20:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling a bit sentimental this morning. I really do love what I do. Sometimes I complain about the money, or wonder how things would be different if the IT job market didn't fall out and I was engineering software for too much money. I would probably not be having the same buying a house debate I'm currently having with myself because I would already would be living in it. Not to mention all the other perks of having too much money. However that did not happen and the events of the world changed the landscape of choices for me. So I chose to teach. I reflect upon my experiences with the young savages and I can't help but feel that I am really making my life a lot more meaningful and enriching. I'm especially proud of my MathCounts program I established at my school. I feel particular pride in that we are the only "low socioeconomic school" competing against these more "prestigious schools". We were definitely the most diverse school there and we did pretty good this year in my opinion.

Well, I'm off to go see X-Men 3. I'm stoked but not as stoked as I thought I would be. Dunno why. This evening I'm looking forward to the Mavs game. Leah can't stand basketball; she's been a real trooper dealing with my playoff obsession this year given we only have one television. If I had a house we could have two televisions for these situations. Huh...

2006-05-27T07:22:00.000-05:00

My brother's graduation pic. He's currently in navel culinary school.

Where to now?

2006-05-26T18:50:00.001-05:00

Here I am standing at one of the most important crossroads of my life. School is over, I didn't graduate or anything but many of my students did, and now that summer is here I'm faced with what I want to write for the next chapter of my life. So I created this blog to verbalize the plethora of thoughts and emotions going through my head and help me sort through them.

I've spent the past 2 years teaching math at my middle school and boy it has been one crazy adventure. But now I'm ready to move on to another school, I've hit my limit as far as dealing with a school that eats teachers for lunch. I've helped many of the young savages become a bit more civil, but now I'm ready to move up in grade level and see what they have to offer. Plus my nomadic instincts are telling me to move on. But I wish it were so simple. See I have made a lot of war buddies, and it's really really hard to part with them especially they are guilting you from leaving. It's also hard to see other teachers I've bonded with throw in the towel each year as well. With the extremely high turnover rate this year I won't have as many people to lean on. I don't remember the song but the chorus rings loud in my head, "Do I stay, or do I go?"

I am also ready to wash my hands of apartment life and get a house. I'm not sure if I'm completely ready. Part of that is because I don't know where I'll be working next year, the other part is I have never bought a house before and to be honest, it's a really intimidating proposition to me. I'm in a decent position now to get a house, but I would be in almost a perfect position next year. The thing is I REALLY don't want to wait anymore, and neither does my wife despite her saying she can tolerate another year. I don't know it just seems like all my friends and co-workers have moved to that step in life where you get your first house and start pumping out the babies and I'm trailing behind as usual. One cannot help but think am I doing things right, did I screw up somewhere along the way? I know the answer to those questions it a definite 'maybe' or it could be 'maybe not'.

So as the sweltering summer heat slowly begins to roll in, I'm left looking at a sign post pointing in 6 different directions with each arrow denoted with a question mark. I have a great feeling that either everything about my life is going to change or nothing will change at all. At least one thing is certain, the young savages will be back next year and they are going to be hungry.