John and Kathy Maldonado's Blog

A great 4 years!

2010-08-07T08:15:00.004-04:00

We got Shadow four years ago yesterday. I can hardly believe it's only been four years. He's been super fun to have around and has become an important part of our family.

Next time, on time...please.

2010-08-04T22:56:00.002-04:00

There is nothing I like more than when a plumber, cable man, air conditioning guy, (it really does not matter who), tells you they will be there between 10 and 12, and then shows up at 2. I like it even better when they do not call when they are going to be late, even when he asked you for the phone number you can be reached specifically to call in case he was not going to show up on time. Yeah, a great way to spend my day. I am extra annoyed because I missed Kathy's show today because he was late. If he called, me, not that upset. Him not calling, me, upset. Oh well. What are you gonna do?

Yeah, it's been a while.

2010-07-31T20:02:00.002-04:00

So I have been thinking about updating our blog for a while and since Kathy has come into possession of a couple of 5 hour long movies that, to put it politely, I have absolutely no interest in watching, I figured I would take advantage of this time and update.

There is not much to say. Vacation has been pretty good. We are slowly but surely putting our bathroom back together. The insurance company is taking its time in letting us know what they are going to cover, if anything. I am going to have to make another phone call on Monday. It’s not pretty, but it is functional.

I started and stopped tutoring a kid after a week and a half. Apparently lowering my price and picking up her kid from football practice is not enough for the family. I drive forty minutes to meet the kid at school, he’s not there, so I drive to the house, only to find out that he is sick and does not want a tutoring session that day and I ask to get paid anyway because no one could bother calling me and letting me know is not enough for the mom. Oh well. Mind you, I never met the mom. This was all done via e-mail.

Anyway, ever since we went to Paris and London, I have been getting kind of excited about taking pictures. I uploaded a couple of pictures I took of our lilies when a butterfly decided to land on them. Oh, and one of Shadow hanging out our front window.

Enjoy!

Our Dream Vacation!

2010-05-13T18:02:00.020-04:00

We're back! Ok, we've been back for a month but still! Here's the run down on our trip:

Day 1: Arrive in London, take a train, two subways, and a 1/2 mile walk to get to fancy schmancy hotel (I love cheaptickets!). Crash for 2 hours. Take a bus tour and walk around Buckingham Palace, Parliament and Big Ben. Take another two subways and make it back to the hotel in one piece. Total jet lag crash.

Day 2: London Eye--super cool. Tower of London--I LOVED IT!!! We spent 4 1/2 hours walking around the castle and taking a billion pictures. Walked along the Thames and up onto Tower Bridge. So much fun!

Day 3: Quick trip to Westminster Abbey, wasted 36 pounds touring Kensington Palace (they did some weird modern art exhibit inside, it was dumb), walked through Hyde Park (lonnnnngggg walk), checked out of the fancy schmancy hotel, caught a taxi to King's Cross Station....found Platform 9 3/4's (and yes I was the only adult in line to get their picture taken but I had fun!), and then took the Eurostar train to Paris. We were instantly pegged as tourists and accosted by a kid who kept trying to get us to pay him to get us a taxi. We dodged him and had a gourmet meal at McDonald's and then found our own taxi. Got to our not so fancy schmancy hotel and hit the hay.

Day 4: Eiffel Tower! Dream come true! Went up to the second level (the line was HUGE!!) and enjoyed every minute of it. Went to the Arc de Triomphe (it's very big), hopped onto the metro and went to Sacre Couer--beautiful. It was sunset so the atmosphere was relaxed and peaceful. We took the elevator up (Sacre Couer sits on top of a hill about the height of Hill Cumorah and it's just as steep), and walked back down. Dinner on Champs de Elysees (sp) and spent $17.00 on two tiny bottles of soda--eek!

Day 5: Notre Dame, St. Chapelle (cool medieval church with stained glass windows all around), went to Pont Neuf (first bridge in Paris), spent an hour looking for a bathroom, saw the outside of the Louvre because contrary to what was in our tour guide book, the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays. Visited Jardin de Palais Royal and Jardin de Tuileries, ice cream in the park and laughing at the snotty waiter, Palace de la Concorde (and yes we actually survived crossing the street), hopped the bus to the Trocadero (a building across the river from the Eiffel Tower), got dinner at an Italian Bistro next to the hotel and went to sleep.

Day 6: Boat ride down the Seine. Visited the Louvre--Mona Lisa is just a picture, I didn't find anything remarkable about it, went to Pont Alexander (another cool bridge), went back to the Eiffel Tower and went to the tippy top. It was freezing!!!! but I loved every minute of it. Came down, ate an ice cream crepe and sat and watched the carousel. It was magical.

Day 7: Versailles. A-MAZ-ING. Huge and grandious and just absolutely stunning.
I love the view from behind Apollo's fountain looking towards the palace. It's easy to see why Marie Antoinette got her head chopped off. Everything at Versailles is bigger than life--absolutely breath-taking. Came back to the Eiffel Tower and took pictures of it all lit up and glittering.

I had a fantastic time and loved everything about London and Paris. The time flew by, I'm already thinking about where we'll go on our next vacation. What'cha think about an Alaskan cruise? Of course, this will be on our 15th or 20th anniversary but you can never plan too early right?

Au Revoir!

2010-03-31T22:03:00.002-04:00

See you in a week, with tons of pictures to scrapbook and fun stories to tell!

The Smell of Spring

2010-03-02T11:59:00.002-05:00

It happened. A wonderful thing that has quite possibly changed my attitude for the entire day.

Today, it smells like Spring.

I couldn't tell you exactly what Spring smells like, just like I can't tell you how I know what snow smells like--but I can smell it and for the first time in my life I'm so happy to say goodbye to winter and HELLO! to spring.

Take a whiff, you'll smell it too...

Snow Days Rule! Day 2!

2010-02-11T07:12:00.002-05:00

Well, the powers at be have decided that the kids needed to have another day off, so we are at home again. The funny thing is I had already been approved for a personal day for Friday because Kathy and I are going to the temple for the Stake Temple day. I will not be back at work until Tuesday. Yeah, I am all broken up about it too.

Snow Days Rule!

2010-02-10T10:28:00.003-05:00

My superintendent closed schools before we left yesterday for today, so I’ve known since about 2:15 that I would not be going to school today. Kathy had to wait until yesterday around 6 or 7, I think. Anyway, I am enjoying my day off, although some of my coworkers are predicting tomorrow we will either be off or delayed as well. We will see what happens. I am going to wait a little longer until I proceed with round one of shoveling the driveway. Anyway, here are some pictures I took around 10am this morning. Enjoy!

Good ridden 2009! Hello 2010!

2010-01-02T12:14:00.007-05:00

I wanted to share with you all a few pictures from Christmas with Kathy’s family.

This is Kathy's Birthday present. Memories of a Christmas tradition with the Cornman family.

This is Kathy's neice, Morgan. She is showing off her unicorn she got for Christmas.

This is Kathy posing with the fireplace/heater her Dad got for us.

I say good ridden to 2009 because there were many ups and downs, although toward the end it felt like more downs than ups. Kathy’s mother passed away toward the end of June and everyone is trying to get adjusted to what will be the new normal in the family. Fortunately she was very much about keeping the family together, so that is what is we are doing, sticking together. As if that was not enough, in December we found out that Kathy’s father has cancer in his bladder. His treatments are going well, and the prognosis is very positive, so that is a good thing.

Still, let’s hope the bad news goes away with the year 2009.

We booked plane tickets for London and Paris the other day for our spring break in April. We have about 11 days off all together so we are planning on spending most of it in another continent. We are busy making plans to take advantage of every second we have there.

Welcome 2010.

Happy (uneventful) Halloween!

2009-10-31T15:57:00.004-04:00

So my Halloween started on Thursday...and is blissfully close to an end.

The kids at school were wired all day Thursday and that culminated with a Halloween parade where, as usual, I'm the M.C. I don't mind, it's actually kind of fun and I can blabber on and be my cooky self. The only downfall is the sore throat afterwards but that is quickly rectified by endless amounts of cupcakes and candy--supplied of course by every student in the school.

Yesterday was the ward Halloween party and although it was not fun for me...most of it is actually a blur or chili, bowling pins, and endless amounts of yummy goodness...I think it went well. Not fantastic, but well. I don't think I spoke to anyone, I was too busy running around making sure everything was going relatively smoothly.

And now, we sit and wait for Shadow to bark like a maniac which means that 'strangers' aka 'trick or treaters' are coming to the door. But I am actually ok with that. I like seeing the kids in their costumes and I like that I have any excuse to sit around.

WAIT!!!! A major surprise! Lela, Linda, Scott, and Spencer just made a surprise visit and I am STILL giddy about it! We took Shadow with us while we went trick-or-treating up and down Kate Terrace and I have to say I had a great time. Yeah for great surprises!

Fun with animals! But not fun for the animals!

2009-09-22T20:58:00.002-04:00

The stage was set perfectly. It was a great Sabbath day, very spiritual. I had been at church for most of the day. Kathy was with her sister and friends scrap booking. I came home late and was greeted by Kathy and Shadow. Always great. Around 9pm, we let Shadow out to use the potty and we started smelling an awful odor that seemed to envelope the house. Yup, Shadow got sprayed by a skunk.

We bathed him in tomato juice, and then in a peroxide, soap, and baking soda mixture to get the smell off. Then we cleaned up after the mess we made. We got to bed around 11:30.

Monday we went to PetSmart in Bridgewater to get some other stuff to clean him with because he still smelled a little bit. We wound up staying up until 11 o’clock with that as well. Also because it was the season premier of Heroes. Shadow is getting better smelling, though. And the house is getting better smelling.

With all the fuss about Shadow, we did not realize until Tuesday morning that we had locked one of our cats upstairs in one of the bedrooms. On Saturday. Poor cat was locked in the bedroom for three days with no food, water, or litter box.

Yeah, its been a bit nutty around here.

Happy Anniversary?

2009-09-03T20:19:00.000-04:00

So today is Kathy and my 10th wedding anniversary. Yes, I cannot believe it has been 10 years. Today is also the day both of us went back to work and had students. Not much to celebrate.

My school day was some what uneventful. The student teacher I am supposed to be working with did not have his background check done so he cannot be in the school. He cannot be my student teacher if he cannot come in the school. I am also mentoring a new teacher this year and her computer (which is my old computer, by the way) decided to crash 15 minutes before school started.

None of this really affected my school day, though until they called me to the main office at the end of the day. Kathy was on the phone. She left her school to go buy lunch, only about a mile and a half away. When she tried to start her car to return to school, she heard a bang from under the hood and smoke came out. Turns out the battery over heated, popped one of the caps, and the car would not start. She called her school, but no one picked up to drive her back, so she walked back to her school, arriving five minutes late for a class.

Long story short, for her tenth wedding anniversary, Kathy got a new car battery. Only the best for my girl!

Wet Dog!

2009-08-20T19:32:00.003-04:00

We went to Kathy's sister's house the other Sunday for her younger brother's birthday.

They have a pool.

We brought the dog.

Yeah, he was soaked! It is about 90 seconds long if you want to watch.

Shadow is kind of a chicken when it comes to going into the pool. He likes the water but he has to be able to feel the ground with his feet so it cannot be too deep.

...but I did it.

2009-08-20T19:20:00.002-04:00

So I have been thinking about this a lot and I finally am posting this.

I went on trek this year as the water guy. I drove my truck around and made sure everyone had water. No one drank anything without me getting it for them. Well at one point, a couple of the adult leaders that were trekking needed a ride with a couple kids that were trekking and they shared a story with me.

One young lady was really concerned about hiking up a pretty steep hill with the handcart. She was tired and doubted her ability. Well, she made it to the top. After arriving at the top she told this leader, "It was hard, but I did it."

What a wonderful declaration! What a great thing to be able to feel, and to say! It made me excited to be there. Her excitement and exclamation made me feel like I too can overcome my trials. I want to say, "It was hard, but I did it."

More Outdoor Projects

2009-08-08T18:34:00.007-04:00

Wahoo!! Outdoor projects are almost done! The past two weeks we've torn down the walls of the deck, painted the floor, beams, and steps red, the base black, and hung up cedar colored lattice. It is a MAJOR improvement from what was there...it's funny how you don't see how bad something is until you see it in a picture. Anyway, here's a picture of the ugly deck, and then the new deck.

Today we tore down the ugly red shed...it was a little harder than I thought it would be, John's Dad made a very sturdy shed back in the day! Scott had his trusty sledge hammer though and down that eyesore came! The yard looks huge now! Here's some pictures!

I'm so excited that the backyard is starting to look so good!

Pictures of Lilies!

2009-07-16T11:35:00.002-04:00

Kathy and I planted these lilies last year and have been super excited to see them come back this year. They are bigger than when we planted them. I am not sure why I was so anxious to see them but I am. Enjoy!

Done! (almost) Part 2

2009-07-14T11:57:00.007-04:00

Here are Kathy’s dad and brother helping with the shed.

Another with us. I am not amused.

Kathy MUST get herself on camera.

Shed done! Almost.

I say almost because we did not realize until later in the day that they shorted us four skylights. Yes, as it stands, right now, we have four holes in the roof of our new shed. Kathy called the company and they are shipping them out. We should have them by the end of the week, just in time for the rain.

This project is nearly complete. We have one other shed coming down. I am going to plan with the Teacher's Quorum when they want to come over the house and tear down our other old shed. Not this weekend, though, we are planning on having a garage sale this weekend. If anyone wants to come by the house on Saturday and give me money for some of our old stuff we don't want any more, come on over. I will gladly take your money.

Done! (almost) Part 1

2009-07-14T11:41:00.009-04:00

Project tear down two sheds, construct one officially started a while ago. We tore down an old metal shed a few weeks ago. It came down super easy. I had to extend the concrete foundation it was sitting on because the shed going up is larger than the old one. I poured the concrete last week and Kathy’s father and brother came down to help me build the new shed. Here are a few pictures.

Preparations for the concrete are under way!

Concrete is done and dry. Fortunately it has met Shadow's strictest quality control standards.

While I was waiting for Kathy’s dad and brother to come, I decided to empty all of the boxes and set all the parts out. They drove an hour and a half to help me out, I did not want to waste their time. That’s a lot of parts.

Impromptu day at the beach!

2009-07-10T21:06:00.004-04:00

So Kathy says to me at ten o’clock this morning, I want to go to the beach, a phrase she has never uttered in her life. At eleven o’clock this morning we pulled out of the drive way headed towards Point Pleasant. At twelve thirty we parked and headed toward the sand. At four o’clock, we left the beach about 60 dollars poorer but 3 pictures richer. Enjoy!

I am playing a game on my iPod! Super fun!

Kathy holding the life saver of the day. Good thing she thinks about these things, 'cause I sure don't.

This last one is just a random seagull.

Algebra Angels

2009-07-03T16:05:00.003-04:00

I have been holding on to this picture for some time now and decided that I had a few minutes to post it. I think it is funny. You'll have to click on the picture to read the caption.

Transform and Bark!

2009-07-02T20:15:00.004-04:00

I realize Kathy and I have not posted in a while, but such is life. Kathy made these funny pictures of Shadow that I wanted to share with the world. Linda gave us the idea and Kathy excecuted the plan to perfection.

We took down a 30 year old shed from the back yard and we are building a new one in its place. I have to mix and poor concrete to make the foundation big enough to hold the new shed. I am kind of excited to do it because it is something I have not done before and it seems pretty easy. I know I just screwed up the whole operation by even thinking it but I am still hoping for the best. I will be sure to post some pictures when things go further along.

Lets hope it won't be another month before I post again. We are on summer vacation after all.

Good News and Bad News by John and Kathy

2009-04-28T21:29:00.006-04:00

Ok, so if you don't recognize the title as being an old SNL skit...well ok, but you missed a funny joke. Anyway...

Bad News: Apparently me even being in the presence of poison ivy means I'm going to get it. Poison Ivy is my nemesis...oh and John's got it too. Grr.

Good News: Went to the Auto Show and got our picture taken with Bumblebee!

Scooby dooby do...

2009-03-21T19:12:00.006-04:00

I found him!

At least I found the Mystery Machine. We were coming home from Kathy's niece’s 4th birthday party and happened upon this.

I also posted a picture of the original for those of you who would like to compare.

2009-03-19T12:55:00.003-04:00

I just want a few things to be clear:

Kathy DID post that message. I showed her the school's website so she could see what the district had done. I did not know she was going to show the world. I do not mind, but, I am not one to show off my own accomplishments like that. I am grateful for a wife who knows that I don't and is willing to share good news with all of you.

I did not know I was even nominated for the award until I won the award. I was nominated without being told. I did not know the award even existed until I won it. Our school has a couple math contests throughout the school year and apparently our school did well enough to be in the running for the award.

The $100 is NOT coming from any federal stimulus money. It is a private organization with members donating and has its own resources, so no one should demand their tax money back, no one needs to tax it 100%. I earned it fair and square. I think it is going toward a new iPod touch, so, hands off my money.

My Famous Hubby!!

2009-03-18T10:02:00.002-04:00

Watch out for Winston!

2009-03-15T07:37:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was real nice out, so Kathy and I took Shadow to a local dog park. We've never gone to one before, so neither of us really knew what to expect. Shadow had a blast, though. At first, it was obvious that he had a sensory overload, but he got acclamated after a short while.

There was a small Terrier named Winston who was VERY interested in Shadow and just would not leave him alone. I thought it was kinda funny. The owner was very appologetic and got him off of Shadow. It was fine. Another dog, a yellow lab, I think, stole one of Shadow's toys and was running around and playing with it for a while. We eventually got it back. All in all we had fun, Shadow had fun and after only an hour, he was exhausted and slept like a baby for a couple hours afterward. Next time we will bring the camera, promise.

Last night, the whole fam got together over Scott & Linda's house for cookies, pudding pies, and games. We had fun their, too. All in all, it was a good day.

Ode to Simpler Times

2009-03-08T10:25:00.002-04:00

*Riding the 'Kit' Big Wheel on the front sidewalk.
*Putting up this huge tent in the back yard and playing for hours, never actually getting the courage to sleep in it overnight.
*These brown and white striped cushions that we would jump on and play with in various ways for most of my childhood.
* Making forts with the couch cushions and blankets.
*Playing Barbies and using the encyclopedias to make her house (ok, her manshion).
*My Mom breaking the chair when she was pregnant with Jamie.
*The Scoobie Doo camera.
*Bandit and Laddie.
*Watching Elvis Presley on the TV while eating M&M's and my tooth fell out.
*Going to the Mennen Picnics.
*Having a flute glued to my face and dreaming of being in an orchestra.
*Mrs. Green (the math teacher) letting us make Mickey Mouse faces using the compass.
*Moving into my first college dorm room.
*How beautiful the day was when I went to orientation and the excitement that we all felt starting our new adventure of college life.
*Practically living in the practice room.
*The house on Seaman street with the dogwood tree outside my window.
*Spring Break 1996.
*May 11, 1996.
*Freshness, newness, exciting, happiness.
*Sept 3, 1999
*First apartment together, the colors and borders in the dining room--laughing that the color was called coffee and making stupid mormon jokes about it.
*Disney World and the bats
*Driving to Mt. Rushmore, the music museums, the ghetto pioneer car museum, the corn palace, taking pictures of random mileage markers whie driving.
*Re-doing the kitchen, washing dishes in the bathroom sink, the elders arguing about how to lay the tile, the granite people almost dropping the countertop, Tommy putting in the cabinets with us.
*Driving around and looking at the Christmas lights.
*August 5, 2006.

Oh how I wish that things felt fresh and new, exciting and unencumbered. Free, carefree, and without a worry in the world.

Mamma...

2009-01-28T05:41:00.002-05:00

..don't wanna go to school today. I think I'm gonna go outside and play.

You thought you liked snow days as a kid. Ten times as fun as an adult.

My crazy leg, over saturation, and invading the Holiest of Holies.

2009-01-19T14:19:00.004-05:00

I appologize for the rant, but I need to get stuff off my chest.

Since after Christmas my right leg has swollen and gotten red. Kathy took me to the ER and after waiting 5 hours to get an ultrasound on my leg, they sent me home and told me to return the following day. It was diagnosed as a simple infection and I am treating it with antibiotics. No worries. I guess ultrasound operators have more of a life than I do.

I understand some of you voted for the guy, but I am so tired of hearing about our next president. The media is doing a fine job of shoving him down my throat. I fear they are setting him up for failure. People have such high expectations for him and his tenure as the president(king, god, take your pick, he's being treated like all of these), I don't know if anyone could live up to what they are wanting. I have an honest fear that he will not survive four years as president. Some idiot will haul off and shoot the guy. Just what we need, this guy becoming a "martyr for the cause".

And if it is not enough that he is on every tv channel, website, magazine, and newspaper, he is invading the Holiest of Holies. Yes, that is correct. Marvel comics is including Barrack Obama in the next Spider-man comic book. Is nothing sacred?

Dreams Update

2009-01-17T08:28:00.002-05:00

So I didn't dream that I won 10 billion dollars..... *pout*

But I did dream that Ewan McGregor was the manager of the dollar store by my house *runs to the dollar store just in case*

Hey, everyone needs an autograph of Obi Wan Kenobi!

I've stepped into Bizarro World

2009-01-16T21:22:00.002-05:00

You know how you wake up in the middle of the night and then go back to sleep...well for me my dreams get REALLY weird after that happens. Last night I woke up (well Shadow woke me up...well, John yelling at Shadow woke me up) and I fell back asleep and I dreamed that the boiler in the basement of the school (next to my classroom) exploded and flooded the basement with water. Not a majorly weird dream...not like my crazy chicken dream. Anyway, I get to school, open the basement door and see water all over the floor--probably 1/2 an inch deep or more. So, here's the bizarro-ness that just fits perfectly into my wack-o week. The boiler actually did explode and flooded the basement. How weird is that?

Tonight I plan on dreaming that I win 10 billion dollars...we'll see how that works out. :-)

Knowing

2009-01-12T16:39:00.003-05:00

So, if you knew that something was going to happen---for sure, no if, and's, or but's about it, you knew that something was going to happen and all you had to do were four simple things that you do (or should be doing) already....wouldn't you want to make sure that you were ready?

Here's my frustration....I teach in a school that was visited by the Superintendent (and his croonies) in September and on a scale of 0-4, rated our school a 1.9. Why such a low score? 4 reasons: 1. Lesson plans were not done using the district template. 2. No one had Data Binders (or they weren't in a visible location). 3. Objectives and essential questions were not written on the board. 4. Bulletin Boards did not have current student work on them.

So at the moment, all of you are thinking--well duh just do those four things! Exactly. EXACTLY! 4 little things that would ensure that we received a 3 point something. My principal has given extensive training on the first three (last one is really a no brainer) and has checked over and over again to make sure we are doing them. Today we get a notice from her stating that people are still NOT writing their objectives and essential questions on the board. YOU'RE KIDDING ME!!! We all know that the Super' is coming back sometime this month---we know it...in fact the principal said that he's coming THIS WEEK!! THIS WEEK and people still aren't doing their job???????? Come on...where is your school pride? Do you want us to get another failing report? Do you want people to think that our school stinks? I'm so mad. I actually went off at the faculty meeting about it (little embarrassed about that) but I'm so incredibly dumb founded that we know what we have to do to get a good report and we're not doing it. That's pathetic. I could never be an administrator, it would kill me to see people not doing what I've told them to do over and over and over and over again.

Christmas Day part 2!

2008-12-30T12:08:00.002-05:00

Just some more Christmas pictures. The tree, all of Kevin and half of Kyle, Uncle Tommy, Leo, Josh, and Morgan on the piano, Jamie, and then a bunch of us playing Uno. I think I won that round.

Christmas Day Part 1!

2008-12-30T11:55:00.004-05:00

These pictures were taken on Christmas Day. Kathy's family comes over then and we celebrate together. The last picture is of Kathy and her mom. Next to last is Leo and Josh playing with the toy train. Previous to that is a gingerbread train that Kathy and some of the nephews did together. And no post is complete without a couple great pictures of Shadow. He joined us for a round of Uno.(I think he won that round) The top picture might be my favorite one of him yet. He's so cute!

Christmas Eve!

2008-12-30T11:44:00.004-05:00

Chronologically speaking, these pictures are backwards, but that's OK. This was a great year for Christmas. Michael and Mandy flew my folks in for the holidays. Their pictures are later. We all got together at M&M's for Christmas eve right as Mom and Dad got there from the airport. It was fun but I was exhauted. Not too exhausted to not open presents between Kathy and myself when we got home, though. You can see I am still very much a kid at heart. I got my 25th anniversary Optimus Prime figure. One of my students gave me a sweater for Shadow this year. We left it on him for all of Christmas day, but after that, he wanted nothing to do with it. It was fun while it lasted.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T18:40:00.001-05:00

We will post more tomorrow, however we just wanted to wish everyone a merry Christmas. We are both trying to post pictures and Blogger was timing out on us. I guess many people have the same idea that we have.

We'll see all of you later!

Total Blog Slackers!

2008-12-14T20:39:00.002-05:00

So it's been a long time since we've blogged about anything but we've been uber busy!! Thanksgiving was yummy, we had a great time at my sisters house on Turkey Day and then we got to celebrate again on the 29th with John's family! Double the yummy food and double the fun people!

Last night we saw the conclusion of the 'International Christmas' party at church. It went really well, (if I do say so myself) and I've already started thinking about what to do at next year's Christmas party! (I know, I'm crazy)

Now onto my school concert....it's been a crazy couple of months!

New found respect for computer tech guys

2008-11-16T21:07:00.003-05:00

So, we've all been there...the computer acts up and call the computer gurus at Dell. They talk you through all the annoying steps and processes that could possibly fix your computer, sometimes they can even hack into your computer and you can watch the mystery man open files etc...and viola or poof (whichever you prefer)...you computer is magically fixed.

Well, my computer guru has been on the phone for 90 minutes now trying to help his mom, who lives in Puerto Rico, somehow fix whatever is wrong with her computer. It has not been an easy 90 minutes. It sounds like he's almost done talking her through this last ditch attempt so *cross your fingers* that he will finally be able to hang up the guru hat and get ready to come to bed. Nope, it didn't work--he's fried.

They really should pay those tech guys some buko-bucks for all the trouble they go through.

How do you spell buko? boko? bouko? idk.

Veteran's Day

2008-11-11T18:25:00.006-05:00

I feel the need to say something regarding this holiday.

During the morning announcements, our principal read a short message written by President Bush regarding Veteran's Day. It added to the length of the announcements and meant that we had a few more minutes of homeroom and a few less minutes of our first period. Later, in the copy room, one of the teachers was complaining that the message was read to interrupt 1st period. My only comment back to her was that I was glad we acknowledged the celebration. Kathy's school did not even mention it.

I was shocked. Not for nothing, and its not like I wore red, white and blue, or walked around looking to thank a veteran but you know, people gave up there lives for a country and freedoms they never got to enjoy themselves. Not to mention, they were doing something that I would never in a million years want to do, nor do I think I am courageous enough to do. A few things in life are more important than being able to get my whole lesson in a 50 minute period.

Here is a video that one of the social studies teachers sent to the staff in memory of Veteran's Day. It is a Canadian video so the uniforms are a bit different however the sentiment is the same.

Nothing to really blog about...

2008-11-10T18:23:00.002-05:00

Well it was back to work today and I was looking forward to it--no really, I was tired of wallowing in self-pity so work is a great way to shut away those feelings. It was a normal day, broken violin strings, fallen bridges, annoying 1st graders who never shut up. Came home and realized that I locked poor Bella in the bedroom for the entire day---poor Bella! She's still mad at me, she won't come anywhere near me. Poor little pretty kitty! So, I'm not really saying anything...just yammering.

Happy Valentines day?

2008-11-05T14:34:00.002-05:00

So, I promised Kathy that we would get her piano tuned for Valentines Day. Well, the piano tuner left about 15 minutes ago. No, it did not take 9 months for him to tune the piano, it took 9 months for me to call. Now her piano palying sounds even better than before.

Vacation!

2008-11-02T20:52:00.002-05:00

Well today's meltdown was averted, of course that meant skipping church but it had to be done. On a happier note both John and I have vacation this week, so maybe I can get my head on straight and push forward. I've got a million things to say but none that I want the world to read. Oh well, here's to a great week of doing nothing!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T19:38:00.002-04:00

I'm Bored!

2008-10-30T20:44:00.000-04:00

I'm Bored!

Aww....what a cute little puppy!

2008-10-28T18:53:00.003-04:00

Shadow was such a good puppy last week that we bought him a new toy and a rawhide bone. He walked around for days with that bone in his mouth, then he would bury it outside, bring it back in and carry it around--well yesterday he finally started to eat his bone and well, doesn't he look cute with all that rawhide smushed on his nose!

I love my puppy!

3, 2, 1......Meltdown!

2008-10-27T18:31:00.012-04:00

An unexpected meltdown today--5 days earlier than planned, yes planned.

At the moment this was the cure----------->

and it was uber yummy.

The Worst Case of Heebee Geebees Ever!

2008-10-22T22:59:00.002-04:00

So, this girl comes down for her trombone lesson and all was well...I say 'time to pack up'. We all get up and as my girl gets up we all see this giant bug on the seat of her chair. I don't know which one of us screamed louder or ran farther but BLECH! *shudder* It turns out it was a beetle from science class that must have climbed on her clothes and ick it was crawling all over her for 20 minutes! A boy came in and picked it up and took it back to science but still....eek! I was so scared that I was laughing hysterically, the girl was in tears she was so scared and even now when I think about it I still get the heebee geebees!

Hey....it's a donkey made out of hay!

2008-10-19T14:36:00.003-04:00

So there's this farm by the house where I grew up and every year they make some kind of animal out of hay. Last year was a pig and this year it's a donkey. John and I actually stopped the car to take a picture--you don't see a donkey made out of hay every day!

The Ceremonial Chair Throwing Ritual, Crying Kindergartners, and Continuous Motion

2008-10-17T11:27:00.004-04:00

8:53 am: Ah...what a perfect day for such a lovely ceremony. The Band played so-so today and at dismissal I was then treated to a trumpeteer and saxophonist exchanging the ritualistic curse words that usually preceed the chair throwing ceremony and they performed beautifully--such colorful language made me blush... So they throw a chair at each other and then tackle one another to the ground---oh what a glorious morning. Can you believe that I was stupid enough to try and stop the ceremony? How could I!

10:55 am: Every Friday I have my crier...yep every Friday. Why does he cry you ask? Because I'm so mean and rotten that he can't always go first--so basically he throws a crying tantrum. Well today was only slightly different in the fact that I did absolutely nothing that required people to go first, last etc... nothing and yet---he's a cryin'. Oy vey.

2:26 pm: After me running my last kindergarten class of the day like a non-stop train because they can't handle even a second of transition time one of my four discipline problems starts to meltdown. Ah...4 more minutes left to class--why, why, why!!! Grr. Can I call out on Fridays from 10:30-11:15 and 1:45-2:30?

Seriously, is it a full moon?

The Miracle of Ice Cream and Clean Puppies

2008-10-16T21:22:00.002-04:00

So on the extreme verge of a serious meltdown yesterday we took the Cub Scouts to Milltown Ice Cream Depot and I got this seriously huge chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cone---it was bigger than both my fists put together and I ate the whole thing. It was like I was eating my depression away and gosh it was so good.

We gave Shadow a bath and now he smells all purdy....it's funny how you get used to the smell of a stinky dog after awhile.

It's a nail-biter!

2008-10-15T14:41:00.002-04:00

So...after carrying the article for about an hour, going out to lunch with her and coming back into the school I finally got up the courage to give it to her. I wrote her a little card telling her how I didn't want to interfere and that I was just thinking of her so hopefully she won't hate me forever.

everyone... *cross your fingers* and your *toes*...now your *legs and your *nose hair*

Chicken Little, Excuses, and Rotten Odds

2008-10-14T15:42:00.002-04:00

So my excuse is that I was really busy this morning, that I just didn't have the time to print out that article and give it to her....the reality is that if I wasn't such a chicken little I would've had it printed out before I left the house and I could've just handed it to her when I saw her this morning. I'm a loser.

So in the grand scheme of things 4 million seems like a lot...I'd love to have 4 million dollars, 4 million lottery tickets, 4 million pieces of chocolate--a size 4 million pair of pants to put on after eating all that chocolate--4 millions a rather large number, but in certain aspects of life the number 4 million totally stinks. Make that number into a ratio of 4 million to 3 well than wow, a complete and utter waste of time and once again high hopes crushed into nothingness. I'm really trying to keep my chin, not to despair--follow the council of the prophets and continue to hope, hope in Christ and hope for the best but I have to say....this totally stinks.

A clean house, some awesome visiting teachers, and a perplexing movie

2008-10-13T20:04:00.002-04:00

Oh the joys of a day off from work--thank you Christopher Columbus, you've given me a much needed day off! After 4 loads of laundry and cleaning the spare room, which is really our junk room aka where we throw everything we don't know where to put--needless to say, we've got a lot of junk. Anyway, it's all spiffy clean and ready to take more of our endless junk for months to come---and I'm sure it'll come. My visiting teachers came by today and it was a welcome visit, didn't really talk to much about spiritual things--sometimes I get the feeling that they are (well one of them) is reluctant to speak about God, kind of embarrassed. Well, I can sort of understand that, if you are not comfortable in your own skin, speaking about spiritual things can kind of be like putting a giant spotlight on yourself. Anyway, their good and I'm good--trying to be a nice person and not bite everyone's head off. So I went to see The Duchess and it really perplexed me---is that really how people back in 18th century England behaved? I don't know...I usually walk out of chick flicks going 'whoopie! she got the guy and they lived happily every after' but boy, this was anything but happily ever after. Cookies are done and time for FHE---whoopie for cookies!

Press Forward, Be Valiant, and Over-Blog

2008-10-12T23:29:00.003-04:00

So, I woke up with Press Forwards Saints stuck firmly in my head---funny how God works sometimes. It's a great hymn: Press forward Saints, with steadfast faith in Christ. Not always an easy thing to do but nonetheless it's the trying that really matters I suppose. I've come to realize that I'm a good person but not very valiant, although I think I'm getting better at that. There was a time when I would see an injustice and not have the courage to stand up and say 'dude, that is so wrong' but, maybe it comes with age, nowadays I speak my mind--I think more people need to speak their minds when things aren't going quite right. The world has conditioned us to be 'tolerant' and 'open-minded' etc...but those ideals have also stripped us of our courage to speak up for truth and righteousness. I'm not talking about homosexuality or anything like that--I'm talking about forgiveness. There are several people in my life that seriously need to forgive others for their offenses. I've tried to talk to them but I fear that my 'butting in' will damage my relationship with them--it's a fine line. I got the prompting (about 6 months ago) to give an article to my friend called 'The Peril of Wedges"...I'm going to bring it to work with me on Tuesday, I just hope that she doesn't get offended because lets face it, she's highly emotional and loses her temper quite often...so I think I'm right to be nervous but I just know that this article is going to strike a cord with her. So.....that's an attempt of mine to be valiant and courageous---to give her what she needs even though she might not want to hear it. (Yeah, I know 6 months late!) Eek! That's scary! I guess since I have to wait up until 1:30 to take my medication it's made me quite the chatty Kathy tonight. Well, if you can stand the randomness of my thoughts--and that one day they'll be all spiritual and the next I could be talking about John getting thrown up on again by the dog--well you can handle just about anything.

Look, We're gettin' all fancy!

2008-10-12T22:15:00.002-04:00

Wahoo...after months of envy....we've finally figured out how to make our blog all fancy schmancy! I know...ya'll are jealous of our coolness but hey...not everyone can be as cool as we are!

My thoughts about General Conference

2008-10-05T18:00:00.005-04:00

Well, for us on the east coast, conference just ended. I managed to watch all five sessions. For the most part. I am sure I nodded off a little and I was doing some school work and listening through another bit of it, but for the very most part, I watched all of it.

A couple things impressed me. I noticed during the first Saturday session, including Pres. Uchtdorf, there were four foreign born speakers. Also, Sundays second session had two foreign born speakers. That is six in total. I do not remember this happening before. I think that is cool. I know we are a world wide church. I know we have missions all over the world. It is really cool to see the foreign speakers. And they were not from all the same place. Maybe two from Brazil, one from France, one from Uruguay, Germany of course. Anyway, cool stuff.

Speaking of Uchtdorf, his talk on hope was awesome. I am not one to take notes during conference, however I am thinking I might change my ways after this because I cannot remember exactly what he said about things we hope in lead us to charity and things we hope for lead us to faith. Is that it? I am not sure. I liked his talk none-the-less.

M. Russel Ballard (I think) used a phrase that I am going to ponder for a while. Superficially righteous. That phrase has been ringing in my ears since he said it. I think it has been ringing in my ears because I am very critical of myself, always have been. First, I am trying to come up with a definition of that phrase that I am satisfied with. Second, I want to make sure that phrase does not describe me.

Pres. Monson rules. I truly enjoyed his talks. I cannot remember all of his talk from priesthood session but it was good. I remember liking it. I eagerly anticipate being able to get these talks in print and being able to review them again.

I do not remember feeling this way about a GC for a long time and I am pretty excited about it. Anyway, if any of you have thoughts to add about conference or can help me in my pursuit of understanding, please leave a comment or shoot an e-mail. I know I have some pretty smart friends and family and hope you can offer some of your insight to me.

My good boy! Usually.

2008-09-30T22:22:00.008-04:00

Here is the picture of my little buddy. His name is Shadow. Most people think that since his name is Shadow he must be black but not our boy. He earned his name by following us everywhere we went in the house. He's about 2 years old, only weighs about 20-25 pounds, and we've had him for about a year and a half.

When Kathy and I decided we wanted a dog in addition to the four cats I insisted that we get one from a rescue. We found out that Rawhide Rescue, a local NJ animal resue, was having an adoption day soon in a local Pet Smart. Kathy had seen a different dog online that she really liked from them so we went to look at her. Well that dog had kind of a tramatic past and with both of us working, we did not think that dog would be right for our lifestyle.

But I saw Shadow, or as he was named then, Fausto. He was real small, just a six month old puppy at the time and he was way cute! We spent some time with him that day and decided he would be right for us.

We later discovered that he came from Arkansas. Apparently the owners of the resue Shadow was in down south wanted to go on vacation and they were leaving soon. They spread the word that if the dogs they had were not taken before they left for vacation, they were going to put them all down. So Shadow was one of six dogs rescued from Arkansas. Rawhide Rescue named all of the six dogs "Lucky" in six different languages, so fausto apparently means lucky in some language. But we renamed him after a short time with us and we feel like we are the lucky ones.

New Week

2008-09-21T21:13:00.003-04:00

Well, not too much going on. This is going to be a crazy few weeks ahead of me. Tomorrow is a half day so we can have back to school night. I have to take a personal day on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday I will go to work and them Friday I have a mentor workshop. The following week we get two days off of school and then the following week we get another day off. Don't get me wrong, in no way am I complaining.

We finally got the king sized bed. It's nice. I like it a lot. Although the dog still manages to push into me in the middle of the night and try to push me off. He's such a little dog, but he wants a lot of room.

Well, I wish there was something more interesting to talk about, but, none-the-less, this will have to do.

Been a while

2008-09-12T18:40:00.002-04:00

I know it has been a while since I have posted so now is as good a time as any.

A few things are going on, actually. School is in full swing and Kathy and I, after nine years and a weeks worth of marrage, have purchased a king sized bed. So looking forward to that! We are actually sitting at home as I type awaiting its arrival. Also awaiting the arrival of chinese food, but we bought that many times in the last nine years.

Schools going well, so far. I hate to say it but I think I am enjoying this years group of kids more than last years. I think I was on guard the beginning of this year because last years group gave me such a hard time, but I feel like I can relax a bit more right now. A couple kids who are trying my patience, but that will always happen. What stinks is that we had a few kids last year who were really neat, but we also had a few who just seemed to take pleasure in getting under our skin. That is really anoying.

Well, anyway, such is the life of a school teacher. I do not want to dwell on the negative. I truly am enjoying this year so far and I am doing all i can to keep the trend going.

Batter up!

2008-08-28T17:39:00.002-04:00

Last night Kathy and I took the cub scouts to a Somerset Patriots baseball game. We only have three scouts and one of them could not come. Michael, my older brother, came with Nathaniel. We brought Jeffrey with us, so it was five of us. For ten dollars a ticket, we sat about eight rows behind home plate! Can't shake a stick at that. I think we all had a lot of fun. Plus, we won the game.

Another School year

2008-08-25T22:30:00.002-04:00

Kathy and I went to my classroom today to set it up. I am not sure why it takes me so long to do it. I have a lot of posters and junk to hang up. I am looking forward to this school year. I think it will be a good one.

I am mentoring a new teacher as well. There will be different challenges and opportunities with that also. All in all I am excited.

Bringing home a paycheck will be nice too.

3 years in the making!

2008-08-21T17:49:00.003-04:00

So, we gutted and redesigned our kitchen about three years ago. When we ordered the cabinets, we also ordered crown molding for the top of it. We were so burnt from the kitchen, we never installed the molding. Until today. Finally, we finished the kitchen. Well, we still need to get some stain for a little bit of touch up but its done, as far as I'm concerned.

Lazy Sunday!

2008-08-17T15:17:00.003-04:00

Well it is just that, a lazy Sunday afternoon. Church was nice. Lessons were all good.

I am having thoughts of going back to work. Summer vacation is nice, but I must admit I get a bit bored after a while. We pretty much finished all of our summer projects so we have not been doing much of anything lately.

The start of a new school year is a double edged sword. I love my job. I truly do. I usually get pretty good kids. But, some of my students this past year were very trying on me, though. Made life a little tough. Plus, it is nice not doing anything.

Even More Pictures from Philadelphia!

2008-08-09T08:57:00.003-04:00

Me in front of the DUKW.
Betsy Ross Grave stone. It is right next to her house.
Kathy in front of a house in Elfreth's Alley.
A picture of the center square in Philadelphia.
The Love statue at night. When the architect was asked why the "O" was on a slant when the other letters are upright he said "because love is not perfect".

More Pictures from Philadelphia!

2008-08-09T08:49:00.002-04:00

Kathy and I are waiting for an elevator in the hotel. They were broken so we had to call the front desk and someone would come get us every time. A couple times I just took the stairs. From the 7th floor.
Kathy in front of the Liberty Bell. No, the Liberty Bell does not actually have legs.
I think this is the Betsy Ross house taken from the DUKW.
Driving into the water on the DUKW.
In the water in the DUKW.

Trip to Philadelphia!

2008-08-09T08:29:00.005-04:00

Me in front of the US Mint!

What I would look like on a five dollar bill. Wouldn't you trust this face?

Kathy in front of the Constitution center.

A scene from the Lights of Liberty show.

The signing room in Independence Hall.

Well, we got back on Thursday from Philadelphia and it was pretty cool. I had been there before but a long time ago. We did a LOT of walking, especially on the first day.

We parked the car in the city and walked to get our Philly passes but the Hard Rock was not open yet, so we had to walk around and kill time. Then we got the passes but and started to go to the Mint. Kathy brought the camera. No cameras inside the mint. We walked back to the car, dropped off the camera, then walked back to the mint. It was neat, though. I liked it. Then we had lunch and did some general walking around. We wen to the constitution center, which is right next to the mint. Then we went to our hotel. We rested for a while then went back out for a Lights of Liberty show. It as a show they do by projecting different scenes from the signing of the constitution on the buildings in downtown Philadelphia. It was cool.

The next day we took a tour on what they call a DUKW(pronounced duck). It is an old military amphibious vehicle that takes you around the city but also takes you into the Delaware river there. That was cool. After we had lunch, we took another tour around the city as well as seeing the Liberty Bell, Independence hall, and Congress Hall. All cool.

The last day we went to see The Dark Knight(my third time seeing the movie) in the IMAX theater in the Franklin Institute. That was fun. We stayed afterward and took a look around the Institute. There are a lot of cool things to do inside. Great for kids but cool for adults too. All in all we had a fun time.

Philly!

2008-07-31T16:55:00.002-04:00

I am in a Barnes & Noble (this does not happen very often) where Kathy and I are planning a short trip to Philadelphia. I am pretty excited. Only going to be three days and two nights but we are trying to pack a lot into that short of a time span. I hope to post some cool pictures soon.

Orange County Choppers

2008-07-26T16:28:00.002-04:00

Kathy and I went to The Orange County Choppers building in New York a couple days ago. It was about an hour and a half away from us. It was cool inside. I saw a bunch of motorcycles I have seen them build on TV. There is a hallway you can go into and watch them work on the bikes right there. It was pretty cool. If you are a fan of the show or of motorcycles, I think you would enjoy the place.

Hot Air balloon festival

2008-07-26T13:46:00.006-04:00

Today we went to a hot air balloon festival. It was pretty cool. They say it was the first time the Darth Vader balloon flew in the US. They played the Imperial March when they launched it. It was cool.