Save the date...

I have discovered a new TV show that you must watch! My Big Fat Redneck Wedding on CMT is a wonderful look into the wedding preparations for some interesting folk. It has inspired Alice and myself to think about renewing our wedding vows on the farm. Picture it now...we both ride in on horseback(I'm wearing a camo tuxedo and Alice has on chaps and 10 gallon cowboy hat), Doug is the ring bearer (riding on a pig, of course) and all of our guests fire a shotgun into the air to signal the start of the ceremony. The possibilities are quite endless, really. Feel free to send me any suggestions. We were thinking of our 10th anniversary which is still 5 years away. That should be enough time to prepare.

Stay Tuned...

The new look is almost done and the new content is coming......I wish I could create some mystery video footage like Y2J....

The Summer Wind...

...came blowing in, from across the sea. Ahh yes....I can hardly believe that summer is nearing it's end. I had many intentions to do some posting but it seems that I've been away since May. Well, for anyone interested here is a quick update of my summer...started with more family "fun"...taught summer school for 4 weeks...celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary...saw the Mets beat the Reds.....saw Testament at the Chance....took the family camping (an experiment for our 2 year old that didn't work)..painted the bathroom...
Overall it has been a fun time. I did have a surprise last week when I found out very last minute that I wasn't going to be working at the fair. For those of you who don't know I have spent the last 11 years selling fudge at the Dutchess County Fair. The folks I work for called last minute and they cancelled. No more fudge! The bad news...money I was counting on and didn't get (I don't even want to think about money)...the good news...I got to actually go to the fair with Alice, Doug and my mom. Doug got to try his first 4H milkshake, some cotton candy, meet a pig face to face and go on some rides. He had such a good time, I am so happy I didn't miss it. Now as I start to get ready for school to restart we are heading up to Vermont for our annual end of summer relaxation. I am really looking forward to getting away. I do have some ideas for some other post...so perhaps after school gets back in swing.

Out with the old...in with the "certified pre-owned"

This past Monday was a day of sadness and great joy. On March 17, 1998 I bought my very first new car. It was a Saturn and I managed to drive it 161,000 miles in just over 9 years. On Monday I left it at the car dealership. A sadness came over me. The memories....I have lived 4 different places with that car. I took Alice out on our first date in that car. I drove Doug home from the hospital in that car. The list goes on and on. The concerts, camping trips, vacations, etc. It is amazing how much time a person can spend sitting in one place. Now it is time to get over the sadness. It didn't take me too long. Now, we didn't get another new car, we got a used one, but we are quite pleased. We now have a 2003 Jeep Liberty Limited Edition. Yes, Limited Edition! That means that we have a sunroof, heated leather seats and a little readout that tells us if we are going north or south. It is nice to have a little more room and my mind is at ease about dependability. My Saturn had become less reliable and I was always nervous traveling any distance with the family. Now I can enjoy the ride. I am greatly enjoying having power windows. That is a first for me. Yes, it is the simple things that I truly enjoy.
See you on the road!

A thought to ponder: "If you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you because, hey, free dummy".-Jack Handey

Out of the Ordinary

I'm about to do something rare. Politics is a topic you won't find me discussing. I feel that if I disagree with someone our conversation will be frustrating and no one will change an opinion. I tend to avoid these discussions. Before I continue I do want to mention that I do not belong to either political party. I vote for individuals, not a party. Being a teacher, education is a big part of my decisions. I read a quote the other day that infuriated me. I decided to post....

We are all familiar with the entire Don Imus situation. Clearly an ignorant man making an ignorant statement. I was glad to see Russell Simmons call out to rappers about leaving certain words out of their lyrics. Don Imus, however, is not the situation. Rush Limbaugh is. I have spent some time listening to the likes of Rush and even Bill O'Reilly. The discussions are interesting, also frequently based on ignorance. Time magazine published a quote from Rush regarding the massacre at Virginia Tech. (I cannot imagine what this must have been like for the students, faculty and families. A truly sad day in America.) This is the statement from Mr. Limbaugh "If this Virginia Tech shooter had an ideology, what do you think it was? This guy had to be a liberal." Are you serious? You are going to blame this horrible situation on a person's political beliefs? I cannot believe that anyone listens to this man and takes him seriously. Don Imus was fired for ignorant racial slurs against a basketball team. Mr. Limbaugh makes a statement like this and still has a job? Sometimes I don't understand.....

No thought to ponder this post......something funny doesn't seem right.

E.T. Phone Home

Exciting news from some European scientists today....they have discovered a planet about 120 trillion miles away that is similar to Earth! They predict that the temperature on the surface is between 34 and 104 degrees. It appears that the planet doesn't rotate and that it could actually have water on it. This discovery leads to the discussion...is there life "out there"? This is a step in the direction of answering yes. I have discussed this topic with friends, family and students. My friend Dan is probably the only person I know that says that it is totally impossible for any other life to exist. My feeling is that the universe is so large, we don't even know how large, there has to be something living somewhere. Of course, I like to pick on him and point out any time a person sees a UFO or Roswell is discussed. So what do you think? Have you seen a UFO? Do you believe there could be other living "beings". Let me know.

Finally...a thought to ponder:
"Better not take a dog on the Space Shuttle, because if he sticks his head out when you're coming home his face might burn up."-Jack Handey

Blogs that are actually updated....frequently

I wanted to take a moment to share two new blogs with you that I have recently been enjoying. Our local paper, the Poughkeepsie Journal, recently added a blog section and people in the area are the authors. Unlike my blog, these blogs are actually updated a few times a week.
For those of you with young children, or thinking about getting some:
Daddy Diary
http://runhed246.blogspot.com/
For those of you who follow the world of professional wrestling:
Under the Ring
http://pojoslam.blogspot.com/

A thought to ponder:
"Sometimes I think the world has gone completely mad. And then I think,"Aw, who cares?" And then I think, "Hey, what's for supper?"-Jack Handey

Sometimes the Snow Comes Down in June

I am confused as to what season it is. Baseball is on tv, the barbeque is out, Easter has come and gone....yet today I had a 2 hour delay for school. I wish that the seasons would work themselves out. This past Christmas was warm, Easter was cold. I wonder if we'll have snow during the 4th of July events.
On to other topics.
Has anyone seen "Survivor Man"? I recently discovered this show on the Discovery channel and it has me hooked. Les Stroud is the star of the show....check out his blog from the following link:
http://www.survivorman.ca/
Les tries to survive a week in some remote location (desert, arctic, jungle etc.) without food and water. He has a few small items and has to create a shelter, find food and water and beat the elements. It reminded of the Gary Paulson book "Hatchet". (A great book, yes it is a kids book, but a wonderful quick read.) As I watch the show I wonder how I might do. I think I could definitely start a fire and create a shelter. I'm not sure what would be worse though....extreme cold or extreme heat. If you get a chance check out the show.
Now....the anticipated thought to ponder.
"If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying". And if he asks why God is crying another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did.""-Jack Handey

I'm Not Really That Old...Am I?

In my classroom the other day we had a discussion about remote controls. I forget how the topic came up but I mentioned how when I was a 3rd grader "I" was the remote control. I remember sitting in front of the TV and changing the channel and volume to my parents delight. Of course, we only had channels 2 through 13 so there wasn't much choice. This brief comment lead to a discussion on technology and I got to thinking about how many things my son Douglas will have that weren't around when I was a boy. It is truly amazing. We did have the color TV, however, the only way to see a recent movie was to watch it on HBO. If you had HBO. It was a little pricey and the only movie station. Our kitchen had no microwave, popcorn was made in a pan with actual oil. All condiments came in glass jars, no squeezing! As far as music goes I lived with my record player and would go to Caldors every Friday to pick up the latest song on 45. I was so excited when in 1980 I got a cassette recorder. I would hold it up to the TV to record theme songs. We did have an 8-track player in the car! Oh yeah....who needs satellite radio and an I-pod when you have Barry Manilow Live on 8-track! There were no airbags, heck, we didn't even have shoulder belts. Power windows and door locks....nope. I won't even discuss computers and video games except to mention that Pac Man RULED and I just loved to type my name on the TV screen with my Commodor Vic-20!
I think about how much I enjoy all of the current technology, even though I am a bit behind with it. I have yet to upgrade to HD TV, my TV isn't a flat panel and my games systems aren't any of the new ones. I love having an I-pod and my cell phone and XM radio and a laptop. I just wonder what Doug will have in about 20 or 30 years. Will all of these things I just mentioned seem as old as 8-tracks and Vic-20's? It should be exciting.
Now for a thought to ponder....."To me, clowns aren't funny. In fact, they're kinda scary. I've wondered where this started, and I think it goes back to the time I went to the circus and a clown killed my dad." -Jack Handey

A New VH1 Reality Show...

I recently realized that I no longer watch any sitcoms. TV for me seems to revolve around sports and reality television. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, it is just a switch. After watching a number of reality shows I have decided that I have an interesting idea for a reality show. Actually, I guess it really isn't an idea, just a desire to unite some interesting folks. So here goes....let's put Danny Bonaduce, Gary Busey and Ted Nugent in a house and just see what happens. There doesn't need to be a goal, just sit back and watch. I am hoping for your sake you know who these three individuals are. If not...check out "Surviving Nugent" "Super Group" "Breaking Bonaduce" & Season 2 of "Celebrity Fit Club". Each of these individuals added quite a unique flavor to the show they were on and would be an awesome trio. Any further suggestions? Leave me a post!
Now...for a thought to ponder (keep this in mind Corey):
"When you go for a job interview, I think a good thing to ask is if they ever press charges." -Jack Handey

Shufflin' Along

I recently read a magazine article where celebrities were asked to put their I-Pods on shuffle and tell something about the first 3 songs that came on. This sounded like fun so I thought I'd give it a try. I am a bit nervous about what might come up, but here goes:
1. Divertimento No. 17 by Mozart (Wow! I don't think I've ever played this and I don't recall putting Mozart on here)
2. Angel of Harlem by U2 (A cool song, not my favorite of theirs. I really enjoy "One" and the entire How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb album. We saw that tour and it was awesome!)
3. Hyde by Savatage (Again, a song I have never heard before. Alice's friend Jessie is a huge Savatage fan and let me burn all of their Cd's. I have some favorite tunes "Hall of the Mountain King" but "Hyde" is unfamiliar.
Okay...I'm curious....here are the next few songs..
4. Think About an End by Anthrax
5. The Black Halo by Kamelot
6. Once Upon a Dream on the Jekyll & Hyde soundtrack
7. Me & Julio Down by the School Yard by Me First and the Gimmee Gimmees
8. Your Horoscope for Today by Weird Al Yankovic
9. City of Blinding Lights by U2
10. The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota by Weird Al Yankovic

There you have it. Not bad. You should give this a try and let me know what you got. Feel free to post it here.
Now for my thought to ponder:
"It's not good to let any kid near a container that has a skull and crossbones on it, because there might be a skeleton costume inside and the kid could put it on and really scare you."-Jack Handy

Reinventing the BLOG!

A warm welcome to my new readers and welcome back to those who have been waiting patiently for me to do something with my blog. I decided it was time to redesign things and invite some new readers. Take a moment to read some of my entries from last year. I'm sure you'll find something amusing.
I have decided to add a new blog entry on a weekly basis. Yes, I am going to do this. I have a list of things I have been wanting to blog about for a while now. I am hoping to get all of you involved. Please take a moment and leave a comment when stop by to visit. I will try to include some thoughts to ponder in my blog that you can respond to.
The year 2007 is off to a great start for the family. Douglas is getting ready to turn 2 and keeps us on our toes. He is such a happy little man, his smile is contagious! Alice is doing well. She has been taking a fencing course and has yet to injure me with her foil! Joslin is preparing to be spayed. She was scheduled to have this done 2 weeks ago but she went into heat a few days before. I won't go into what occurred, just be glad you weren't here. She will now go in at the end of March. I am doing well also. I have been eating better and exercising more. I have lost 17 pounds since New Year's and I feel great. I am getting excited about baseball season. I just signed up for a fantasy baseball league and can't wait for April.
I have been doing some work learning about podcasting. I am hoping to have a podcast up and running in my classroom sometime in April. Perhaps I will find a way to add a podcast to my blog. For those of you interested in an interesting podcast check out my link for Grammar Girl. You can go directly to her site or listen at i-tunes. I have to admit I feel a little bit like a geek but grammar is quite interesting. Her blog about lay and lie is priceless. Enjoy!
I'll be posting again in a few days. Until then here is a thought to ponder:
"The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face."-Jack Handey

Cooking, Singing & Dancing?

Cooking, singing and dancing? My New Year's Resolutions? Nope....themes of new video games.
I have always enjoyed playing video games (even since my Atari 2600 and those afternoons of Pacman), now games seems to be changing, at least the ones I'm playing. I guess it started a little over a year ago when I got introduced to Katamari Damacy. If you have never played it (there are now two with a new one coming in 2007) you simply must give it a try. Basically you roll a ball around and collect things. For my birthday this past February I got Guitar Hero with an actual guitar controller. I am pleased to say that this time I have gotten some other people hooked on this game. For Christmas I got a game called Cooking Mama (where you have to chop, dice, slice and fry your way through recipes) and another called Elite Beat Agents (where you have to dance your way to saving the world). These two games are on the Nintendo DS and you do everything with a stylus instead of the tradition buttons and game pad. My friend Randy (another Guitar Hero!) recently got a Nintendo Wii and brought it over. We bowled, we boxed and played tennis. I was so impressed. Alice is now hooked on the Karaoke games which are also quite fun (unless you are someone having to listen to me sing through the TV). It seems that the games I have been playing are getting more and more fun. Less sitting down, more interesting controllers and overall more fun. I highly recommend that you try out any of the games I have mentioned. That is...if you want to have fun!

Cars (Not the Movie)

I love to drive. I always have. However, it is time to replace both of our cars. Alice's car is 13 years old and mine is 9. We both have about 160,000 on our vehicles. This last year we have spent quite a bit in repairs and there is quite a bit left to fix. We have been renting cars to travel and now my inlaws live 2 hours away in the mountains. I'm not too confident in taking our cars. Two weeks ago I couldn't get out of my car. The seat belt was stuck and when I finally got out it wouldn't go back in. This led to some interesting events at the garage (why is it that all car repair shops treat their customers like idiots and then charge outrageous prices to do repairs).
I am definately not an expert on cars, but I knew that I needed a new seatbelt receptacle (there were pieces rattling around inside of it). I called the garage and they said I needed to come in and pay for the part before they would order it. When I got there I had to wait 30 minutes for a technician to look at the car and tell me "the seat belt receptacle is broken and needs to be replaced". Really!?!?! Wow...what a sharp guy. Anyway, $175 and a few days later my seat belt was fixed. Good thing too because 2 days after I got it fixed I hit a deer. This time $2,300 in damage. I only have to spend $500 because insurance pays the rest. Like I said, I love to drive, but man this car stuff is really getting to be too much.

'Tis the Season

Merry Christmas everyone! Today is the 1st day of my 10 day break from school. It is always such a nice feeling at the start of a break. I do realize that these 10 days will be over with quickly, however, right now the break seems long. Things have been crazy and busy with us. The whole year has seemed that way. We are quite pleased that this year we are staying home for the entire holiday season. Nowhere to travel means we can do some relaxing and play with all of Doug's new toys. I have a number of things I would like to blog about before the New Year so I hope to add a few new blogs. I hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Yummy Smiley House of Meats

Tonight Alice, Doug and I ate at the Happy Seafood Buffet. When we first heard of this new dining establishment we were not quite sure what to think. The name is a bit odd. It ended up being a nice place to eat. The waitresses were very nice to Douglas and even made him a balloon animal. While we were eating there I noticed that most of the customers were the type of people that you would meet at Wal-Mart and then I had the greatest idea....why doesn't Wal-mart have a buffet? Couldn't you picture it now......The "All You Can Eat Wal-Mart Buffet for $3.00". On Sunday afternoons they could have the $0.99 NASCAR special.

Halloween: Time for Cheese

Halloween has to be the 2nd best time of year for movies (Christmas has to come in #1 due to Christmas Vacation alone!). I have always been a fan of the horror movie genre. Now, there have been a slight few of these movies that actually were scary in parts, but most are just great comedies with a lot of blood. My favorite slasher is hands down....Jason Vorhees. I enjoy Freddy and Michael Myers as well, and hey what is Halloween without some zombies. This past week we have gotten some free movies from our satellite company in honor of the upcoming holiday. I have Tivo'd them all and invite you all to come over and watch. Here is the line up:
The Toxic Avenger
The Toxic Avenger Part 2 (trust me, they HAD to make a sequel to this classic)
The Class of Nuke'em High
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

Now I assume that you have probably seen or at least know about the tomato movie. But the one here that you all must see is The Toxic Avenger. This movie has the absolute worst acting, worst script, worst special effects and worst everything of any movie I have ever seen. The main "bad" character is named Bozo! I kid you not. Now, as to not ruin the story I must point out one other detail for you to watch out for. There is an 18 wheeler transporting liquid nuclear (toxic) waste. Please note that ALL of the containers have no lids! Of course this is crucial to the plot. If you do not spend the majority of this film laughing I would check for a pulse.
So, buy way more candy that you could ever give out, turn off all the lights and sit back and enjoy this classic cheesy film Halloween night. You'll thank me!

My apologies

I just realized that I haven't posted a blog in about 2 months. Yikes! I was doing well there for a while I had done 3 entries in 2 days. So why no blogs? Well, I guess you could say I've been busy. We have been back to school for a while now. I am pleased to say that I have a nice group of kids this year. Last year was quite a crew. The family is doing well. Alice has been blogging recently, but over at Live Journal. Douglas is doing great. Getting bigger everyday. Of course this has created some trouble with clothing. Joslin is also doing well. Still in the naughty puppy stage but she is getting better. We have all been trying to exercise more. Alice is able to exercise almost everyday. I get about 3 days a week in. There just seems to be no time. I wish I could be one of those morning people and work out really early and then go to work. I hear that it can be quite energizing. I just cling to every possible minute of sleep and can't imagine voluntarily getting up even earlier.
I guess that catches everyone up. I am going to try to blog a bit more. Perhaps if I shoot for once a week. I have been watching some really interesting TV shows recently and think there might be some interesting blogs in me.
Keep checking back.....I'll do my best!

Captain Feathersword

Being a dad is without a doubt the most amazing thing I have ever done in my life. No matter how tough a day is seeing Doug smile makes it all better. Now, I have many things that I could blog about that I have learned or experienced since becoming a dad, but this I feel is most important.

Have you ever heard of the Wiggles? They are a group of guys, each dressed in matching outfits of different colors. They play instruments and play overly happy songs. I guess they even go on tour. Doug does not watch the Wiggles. Sesame Street and Met's baseball are all he watches at the moment. Well, last week my cousin Jim visited us from Pennsylvania. He came with an awesome gift for Doug. It is a book of songs by the Wiggles and it includes a microphone that you can sing into and along with the song. (Doug actually just chews on the microphone, I however belt out the tunes). Since I have limited exposure to the Wiggles I am not familiar with most of the songs in the book. I have learned a few and am working on the rest. One song in particular jumps out at me as being a bit odd. It is about a pirate captain. Here are the words to the song, decide for yourself:

He can cook a birthday cake for a party you see
Ooh, it's Captain Feathersword
He can show you how to do a groovy pirate dance
Ooh, it's Captain Feathersword
He'll tickle you, he'll tickle me
He'll tickle everything that moves and everything he sees.

This pirate captain is actually dressed like a pirate with a sword that has feathers instead of a blade. I just did a Google search for the captain and discovered that they sell actual swords made of feathers. Yikes!

Wawa!

I have a new favorite convenience store chain. On our way home from Philadelphia we stopped at a Wawa in New Jersey (there were some in Pennsylvania as well, not New York). Now, the store has all of the basics....soda, chips, chewing tobacco etc. In addition to this they also have a most impressive coffee bar. There were about 10 different flavors of hot coffee, with a large variety of creams and milks to add to the flavor in your mouth! They have a large selection of Ben & Jerry's Ice cream (actually more flavors than most supermarkets). They have a huge selection of Tastee Cakes. (Think Hostess but with more variety). There are homemade baked goods such as donuts and muffins. The most fun part, however, was the sandwich bar. Basically you create your ideal sandwich on a touch screen. The order is sent back and within a few minutes your yummy creation is handed to you. The options are endless, more choices than a Subway. I was quite impressed with my experience. I think they would be smart to expand their chain to New York. If you have never been to a Wawa, do so when you get the chance!