Bobby in the City!

Yummy Cookbook - I want! I want!

2011-09-12T23:23:00.001-04:00

The Edible Brooklyn Cookbook!

Brooklyn, even though not Manhattan, has some really great places to eat! I wonder what type of recipes made it into this book that is moving right up the top seller lists!

I'm Losing My Mind.. SLOWLY

2011-09-12T22:59:00.000-04:00

Today was the first real day of school...Last Thursday and Friday were warm ups!

Several more kids showed up today, and two still have not shown up. I think that means that my class will end up with 28 students if no more show up. 28! All the other ELA classes are "split" at a cap of 20. I get an extra 8 students because they are the scholars.

Scholars or not, I did a lesson on taking Cornell Notes today. We practiced it. Then we did an exercise where we looked at a powerpoint slide on The Mirabal Sisters from DR. We went slowly, slide by slide, discussed important information. When I did a notebook check, 5 or 6 of them didn't use Cornell Notes. 2-3 of them barely took any notes. LORD!

So I worked on my "hanging transition words" today. It takes so long to do the arts and crafts stuff when people keep coming in the room. I hung up a bunch of posters around the school. I got my binder situated and feel like I am one step closer to getting things going in the right direction.

I rushed out of school at 3:15 because Fresh Direct was coming between 4 and 6. I stopped by McDonald's and picked up a late breakfast and lunch and early dinner because I was starving. All I had all day was half a coke and wheat thins.

I ate my dinner and waited for Fresh Direct. And waited.. And waited...

Turns out I never hit the final "confirm" so no delivery. I rescheduled it for tomorrow between 8 and 10. I have my first meeting for my NYIT class from 5-7, so tomorrow will be a busy day of jumping around from place to place!

Tonight I worked on several things for work, including setting up a new Wiki for my teachers. I can pull a lot of stuff off my old Wiki, but I didn't want to use it with them. Starting new! I also made a really cool PPT about Literary Genres! Lastly, I am also in the process of moving over 40G of files from my AP's external hard drive to mine. It has all the files from the previous 2 literacy coaches on it. They had 2.. now they have me. FUN!

Not going to stress....Can only do my best...There is so much to do, but my priority is my students - not the Literacy Coach job. If they don't like it, they can replace me next year.

Show Off!

2011-09-10T00:07:00.000-04:00

It was not a very crowded train... I noticed that a guy in Yellow was standing in front of a lady who was trying not to look at him. I was wondering why he was standing when the train was pretty much empty and he could sit anywhere... Oh.. I see.. he was showing off....

He pulled the bag up to hide it when I walked over... I think he was upset with me, or upset that she wasn't interested... either way.. ha ha..

There was a hot guy sitting there acting like he didn't see any of it.. but I sure saw him.. HOT!!

Things will be fine... I think...

2011-09-09T23:42:00.001-04:00

Friday was better at work...

Better.. not great!

I had my kids first and second periods. The teacher who has them for homeroom doesn't seem to like me. She was snippy and I think she doesn't like that the kids like me already. I hate coming into a new school as the Literacy Coach when the last one was so well liked. I hate to tell people that I could really care less if you like me or are nice to me... the only things I care about are making sure my students are learning, that they are enjoying their education, and that my boss likes my job performance. I am not at work to make friends.

Over the next few periods I worked on a PPT to share with the staff about the person our school was named after. I learned all about the Mirabal Sister of the Dominican Republic.

I met with the AP to discuss different points of interest and expectations. We ended up meeting with the man who is our contact for AR and it turns out his wife was my contact at my former school. We then went downstairs and all of us met with the principal and arranged for him to come back on Thursday to do a training for all the new teachers. I guess Thursday I will be staying from 3-5 to see what I can learn about AR that I don't already know.

I moved 4 more tables and chairs into my room since my class numbers are going up up up....

I left school around 4 and was in the hot shower by 4:15. I love working just 4 stops from my house. It is a good thing!

Oh, there was a really cute guy on the subway on the way home... reading Water for Elephants... I mean seriously - look at the size of his hands and feet... WOWSERS!

Kids are Back

2011-09-08T23:17:00.002-04:00

Thursday was the first day with the students. All last week I was freezing in the building, of course the first day with the kids the AC isn't working correctly. I met the kids sweating like a pig.

I have the sweetest 7th graders. I can tell there are a few of the boys who think they will get away with being middle schoolers.. not bad kids, just looking to play a bit. I can honestly say these kids are Sweet!! I don't think I will have any problems at all.

I am teaching the scholars group that happens to be bilingual. I don't speak Spanish, but the kids are taught ELA in English anyway. All the other ELA classes are split so they only have 20 kids.. I am up to 26... hmmm, just one more way in which I get to deal with a new school... I have not a clue what to do at this school as Literacy Coach.. they do things so differently. LEARNING CURVE has begun!

But again, the positive point is I have my babies and I like them already. That is what I am going to focus on!

I start my NYIT class next Tuesday so that will be ANOTHER thing on my plate. I also sent in my application to be a part of the Teaching American History Grant - American Dream program so that will be a few more things to do.

Otherwise, I am going to concentrate on teaching my 7th graders, being a great coach to my teachers - working my 8-3 work day, and ONLY working late if I get paid for it. Otherwise, I am going to concentrate on getting my rear end to the gym and getting my hotness back.

I am already counting the days down until summer 2012 in Sunny Isles.....

Hottie in the City

2011-09-02T22:50:00.001-04:00

The other day I was coming home from work. I was exhausted. When I got on the A train at 168 I immediately pepped up when I saw this amazingly hot man sitting across from me. I knew I knew him from somewhere - turns out it was Grindr. He lives right around the corner from me. So hot! So very hot!

HOT MOVER ALERT!

2011-09-01T22:49:00.001-04:00

I had to get all my teaching supplies from my storage units to my new school....

I could have rented a uhaul and did it myself, but due to BOOTCAMP, I just didn't have the time and I really wasn't feeling it.

So I hired these Russian movers to pick up my stuff, load it, move it, and unload it in my room.

All of them were hot, but the youngest one was WAY hot!

Well worth the $300. Not just because they were HOT, but because it saved me a lot of time and wear and tear on my body!

Back to School

2011-08-31T22:59:00.001-04:00

This is what my classroom looked like when I was able to get into it on Tuesday of last week. This is before I had all my stuff moved in on Thursday. I will take picture of what it looks like on Monday after I finish hanging everything. It was a mess! What you can't see are the boxes of books that were plopped in the room, and the two teachers desk, computer tables, and plants all over the place...

Back to School - Bootcamp

2011-08-31T22:06:00.001-04:00

18 teachers reported a week early for BOOTCAMP at our new school. It was a week of 8-4 meetings where they gave us tons and tons of training, some of it interesting, some of it confusing, some of it not necessary... On the second day, the number was up to 21 teachers. That is how many new teachers were starting this year at my new school.

As it turns out, almost that many teachers left my new school.

Each day we had a different "theme" for lunch.

It was a LONG week!

The room I was given was the former Lit Coach's room... it was supposed to be the model classroom - but somehow over summer it became the depository for all things... I am NOT real thrilled with having to clean the room and start from scratch... err!

Summer - Haulover Beach

2011-08-28T20:30:00.003-04:00

Show all

Summer - Miami

2011-08-27T20:09:00.004-04:00

Summer - Melbourne

2011-08-26T20:08:00.000-04:00

Summer - Orlando

2011-08-25T19:58:00.000-04:00

FTL - First Names Only

2011-08-15T00:05:00.000-04:00

Last night we went to Fort Lauderdale for dinner. There is a very loud and very gay restaurant called Rosie's. It is a lot like Hamburger Mary's. We decided to drive all the way to drive all the up there because we were both craving the fried pickles. They are soo good!

Top down, best friend driving, sun starting to set we took off down the highway. I am really getting old because John was going between 70-90 the entire time on the highway. When I drive Helga, his metallic azure blue Saab convertible, I keep her around 35/40.

The night started off nicely! We had a good dinner and talked to the waiter who seemed quite interested in chatting. He told us where he was going to be after he got off work. Hmm....

We decided that tonight was going to be "first names only" night. We started the day at Denny's for breakfast - We were having dinner at Rosie's. Now we were heading over to Matty's across the street from Rosie's. John had been talking to a guy on Grindr who came and joined us. BUZZ KILL! He was nice enough I guess, but it definitely put a damper on BFF night. I did what I do best - shut off!

Next the three of us walked down to George's. As soon as you walked in it smelled of sour water and that turned me off immediately. I jumped on Grindr and was chatting with a guy who worked at a dance club down the road. He kept asking me to come over, but I was no longer in the mood because of the klingon that John invited along.

Then we went across the street to Bill's. It was a small little place and they were getting ready for a drag show. Luckily it was boring enough so we decided to walk back to Rosie's and pick up our car. We dropped the klingon off on the way back. Again, he was nice enough and under different circumstances, I am sure I wouldn't have been so anti-social. Once I get an idea in my head, it is hard for me to make quick turns. That is a fault I have. I hate when things don't work out as I planned. It takes me awhile to come back to normal after something I wasn't expecting happens. Oh well, I deleted the guy off my Grindr so I can't apologize for being so quiet.

The last stop of the night was a place called Johnny's. I thought it would be fun to check in on Four Square at Johnny's with John. I had never been there and wasn't sure why John was so excited about going here. It was FULL of stripper/dancers. It took all of 2 minutes before a cute little Swedish boy named Sasha was all over me, rubbing his knee and hand over my crotch. Minutes later we were in a private room and getting a neck rub. After a few minutes and some behaviors that I was not expecting, I was out of there... John was no where to be found. Turns out he was in a room with his own personal Jesus. He came out what seemed like forever later, and we headed back to Sunny Isles.

As we shared stories, John and Jesus seemed to have a better time, but I left with Sasha's phone number. It seems I reminded him of his ex.

So much for our First Names Only night. I definitely ran the entire range of emotions. OMG - too much! Too Much.. and to think, all because I wanted the fried pickles from Rosie's. Who knew!!

2011-08-05T19:50:00.002-04:00

Success! Seems like the plug has been released....literally!!

2011-08-05T15:55:00.000-04:00

It is really sad that it is gorgeous outside and due to too much sun yesterday - I am inside watching Avatar, playing Words with Friends, and waiting for my excretory system to get back on track.

My friend John's boyfriend didn't think it was too hot. He was sitting in the living room wearing his speedo watching avatar, then got up, put on shorts and a long sleeve shirt, shoes and wnt for a jog. He must be crazy! I know 23 is different than 41, but I would never go out running at 3PM on a sunny, hot, august Miami day. And with no water. Crazy!!!

He has been gone for 45 minutes already... I hope he is ok!

Sun City

2011-08-05T14:06:00.000-04:00

What can I say...I am burnt. Right now I am sitting outside, towel wrapped wound my shoulders and trying to make phone calls and play words with friends.

I woke up around 9:30/9:45 and tried to do some business. Hmmm, I hate when I can't if you know what I mean. I have a half a public Italian sub, two shrimp tacos waiting to come out.

I got up and talked to John while I watched TV, played Words with Friends, and ate two more shrimp tacos for brunch. Dang, I really need to go to the bathroom and release this building pressure. This is normally not a problem for me, it is usually the other way around where my stomach gets upset for no apparent reason. Oh well.

I was trying to get some sun on my legs, but it is just too hot. I tried to do some business again and no such luck. I did take a nice long cold shower to cool off my sun kissed (burnt) skin. At least my tummy can do this today since I can't really get any sun today. Hopefully I can go back out tomorrow!

John gets off at 7 and I think we are going to see a movie tonight. That should be fun. There are so many good movies out right now. You know how I love the movies.

Beach Day

2011-08-04T23:18:00.000-04:00

Today was a good day! I didn't sleep well, but when you are on vacation and you don't really have to do anything, who cares. I slept with a little house guest named cookie. She is one of those toy dogs that looks like a cute rat. Anyway, I rolled over into a wet spot, and not the good kind. She had peed on the bed. So I started the day washing sheets, cleaning the bed and then taking two dogs for a walk. Good times!

Later Corbin (John's latest) and I walked to Publix, got a sub to split and some waters, and headed to the beach. Wow, the boys are out and they are hot! We frolicked in the water while our eyes scanned the miles of beautiful sand for hotties walking back and forth. It was very rare to here English, or English without a hot accent.... Yes, for those who know me, that is a very good thing.

Corbin got stung by the smallest of Jellyfish, but then we started seeing bigger and bigger ones. We did some sunbathing and soon felt like we were going to just combust so we headed back to John's pad. It is absolutely the perfect apartment. It has the coolest terrace. A place like this in NYC would cost you 20K a month or more. I almost laughed when Corbin said that THEY only pay 2500 a month for it. They were going to get one right on the beach but they didn't know if they could afford 4000 a month. I sorta tuned out after that because it was all just too ridiculous for words.

On the walk back home we stopped at 7-11 where I introduced Corbin to the joys of a ice cold slurpee on a warm summers day. We went to the pool on the roof and hung out until it was time to head to the store to get stuff for dinner.

We went to Publix and bought the fixings for Tres Tacos night. We also bought some sweet tea and lemonade so we could make Arnold Palmers. The bill came to 70 bucks and Corbin handed me the 40 that John left for dinner. I told him to give it back to John , dinner was my treat tonight for their hospitality.

We went to the liquor store and got a bottle of Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka and a bottle of Jose Cuervo Silver. I guess that cost over $40 because Corbin came back to the car to get a few dollars for the purchase.

I made dinner for John and Corbin. Beef, chicken, and shrimp tacos. I have a new favorite topping which is pineapple. I had two wonderful shrimp tacos with onions, pineapple, cheese, and sour cream. I also bad the best glass of coke ever. I made John and Corbin several Arnold Palmers.

After dinner John and I cleaned the kitchen and put the dishes in the washer. Corbin was on the terrace talking to his friends back in Orlando. I guess I hurt his feelings over dinner, saying what I have no idea. We were joking with each other, laughing... I still don't know what I said but it upset him. I downloaded the pictures from the day and put them on John's computer. We started watching First Wives Club and then Project Runway. I seriously wanted it to be over because John and Corbin were getting very touchy feely and whispering on the couch and I felt like I should leave them alone. I didn't want to be rude so I played my Words with Friends and the second Project Runway was over jump up and said goodnight. awkward!!!

It is days like these that make me want to move back to Florida. The beach... The sun... Friends....

Road Trip - South Florida or Bust

2011-08-03T23:59:00.000-04:00

It can never be said that when you get Christy and I together that you will be bored. Heck no! So when she offered to drive me to John's on their way to a long weekend with Deb, I jumped on it.

They picked me up at like 2:30 and we were off. John (her husband) was in the third row knocked out after working a 12 hour shift at the hospital. The kids were in the middle row watching DVD's quietly, and Christy and I were up front watching the road, singing songs from our past, and laughing at stories about everything and nothing.

We decided to meet my John at the Aventura Mall at the Five Guys to drop me off and have dinner. That mall is full of really good looking tourists! We had dinner and then went our separate ways. Christy and crew were off to Deb and Peter's. They are going back to Orlando on Sunday. I'm probably going to go back home with them on Sunday; if not I will go back sometime next week either by bus or with John when he returns to check on his house and affairs in Orlando.

The secin we got in the car and I couldn't escape, John informed me that Corbin lived with him and was at the apartment, and. Friend from Orlando, Frankie, was also there. Didn't know he was living with Corbin. Suck it up... Make the most of it... I mean, I teach middle school should be able to get along with guys half my age. Oh boy! Wish me luck!

PS - I also find out there is a roomie who is out of town until Monday named Jason. There is also two dogs, two cats, and a fish. The one good thing is the cool Sony flat screen Google TV (and the pool and the beach). I think it really make sense for me to ride home Sunday with Christy and John.

Road Trip - Melbourne Beach

2011-07-31T23:21:00.000-04:00

I arrived in Orlando with no travel issues at all. That is a new experience for me and Jetblue. It was no time at all before I was at home with my mom and dad - and a house under reconstruction.

My parents are doing some much needed touch-ups around the house. They have removed the paneling in the living room and bathrooms, stripped the wall paper from the kitchen and hallway, removed the flooring in the entire house, had tile put in some parts, berber in the rest, repaiting, new fixtures, new ceiling fans.... It is smelly, dusty, and crazy up in there...

Mom and I escaped Friday, Saturday,and Sunday by driving down to Melbourne Beach to visit my broth and his famlky for his birthday. We stopped at my favorite place "Cracker Barrel" for breakfast so I was in a good mood. We had fried seafood baskets for lunch. Dinner was a miss due to t he fact that my berother had the entire neighborhood downstairs celebrating his special day.

Saturday was nice. We had Texas Roadhouse for lunch. Dinner was leftovers. The best part was that night we went out and watched sea turtles come ashore and lay their eggs. It was awesome.

The next day we went back to Orlando. I made mom stop at Juan Ponce De Leon Point. This is supposed to be the plae where he came ashore looking for the fountain of youth. That is petty cool!

Sunday in the City

2011-07-24T22:52:00.000-04:00

I had such a nice time on Saturday, I decided to pull another double feature movie day.

I saw Transformers 3 in 3D (the middle was boring, but the end was great!). I found myself drifting from the plot during the middle section. It dragged a bit, but once the action started toward the end, it was a wild ride! Now I want one of those suits so you can jump out of plane like a flying squirrel.

I then went upstairs to watch Horrible Bosses. My goodness, that movie should have been stupid, but it was so funny. The worst actor was Jason Sudeikis from SNL, and he was pretty good too. The rest of the cast was AMAZING. The guy who was being sexually harassed by Jen Aniston stole the movie! I would go see that one again as well!

Afterwards I walked down to Whole Foods and grabbed a whole lot of food from the hot bar. YUM!

Another good day!

Saturday in the City

2011-07-23T22:49:00.000-04:00

It was hot as crap this week, so instead of fighting the temp, I decided to beat it at its own game! I went to the movies! I went to see Friends with Benefits and then used my pair of 3D glasses to sneak in and see Captain America. Friends with Benefits was very funny. I laughed, I cried... I would see it again! Captain America was good in parts and definitely set up the sequel really well. Let's just hope that enough people like the first one for there to be a sequel.

Afterward I went to Apple and bought myself a new iphone 3GS cover (harder and harder to find) and a new Ipad2 navy blue cover.

I then walked down to Best Buy and bought 3 Blu-Ray DVD's.

It was a pretty good Saturday!

Last Pictures of McSmarty

2011-07-22T22:57:00.001-04:00

McSmarty using Instagram

2011-07-21T18:21:00.000-04:00

Painfully Boring...

2011-07-20T21:34:00.000-04:00

today was painfully boring as the title says...
we had literally an hour this morning for "reflection journals"
and then we spent 4 hours talking about formative assessment

lunch was ok - monday was italian, tuesday was mexican, today was mediterranean...
the spinach wrap things were tasty!

No pictures of McSmarty or the classmates today...
Just wasn't in the mood...

TWO MORE DAYS OF TREES!

In Honor of Hump Day

Some Hotties!

Too old for this...

2011-07-20T10:47:00.000-04:00

I didn't go to sleep until 2:30 this morning....
Woke up at 6:30....

I'm a walking zombie!

McSmarty

2011-07-19T21:26:00.000-04:00

TREES - Day 7

2011-07-19T21:21:00.000-04:00

Today was a pretty fun day in terms of sitting in a building from 8:30 - 5:30....

I arrived at Columbia around 8AM to finish my reading for today's Role Playing on Hydraulic Fracking. I was asked to be a conveyor for some odd reason. I thought to myself, ok, I can do this, but I had to know all the information that the people were bringing (everyone's readings) and I had to move the conversations and keep the peace.

The day was planned out to the minute, but the visitor from NSF (National Science Foundation) was running late so it messed up our day. Then she wanted to interview the participants without the directors to get feedback since NSF funds the program. Oh well, roll with the punches!

Lunch was OK. I think I am the only one who liked the boxed lunches better (sandwich, pasta, cookie)... Yesterday we had Italian (I just ate chicken parm), today we had mexican (I just ate chicken quesadilla). I think the sandwiches were more filling or I ate more.. who knows...

After lunch we broke into two groups and did our role playing. It was pretty fun! My team was good.

We got to leave at 4:30 so that was even better! Woo Hoo!

TREES - Role Playing

2011-07-19T21:14:00.000-04:00

Trees Summer Institute - Gallery Walk

2011-07-19T20:59:00.004-04:00

We're Having a Heat Wave....

2011-07-19T07:20:00.002-04:00

LONG ONE

2011-07-18T19:10:00.000-04:00

Today was day 6 of the TREES Summer Institute.

We read a 39 page case study on Hydraulic Fracturing and then broke it down into key stake holders and points of view. Tomorrow we will do a activity where each person takes the point of view an assigned character and has to "stay true" to their point of view.

The premise is that President Obama has called a committee to discuss the pro's and con's on this issue. He has sent his trusted advisor to oversee the discussion and report back. Each person had to pick their character out of a bag. Well, Nancy, the lady in charge of CERC asked Stacy and Myself to be the advisors who run the meetings. My character is, get this,"A fiscally conservative republican who cares deeply about the environment and supports small business and local communities." Hmm, not much of a stretch!

Ok, who watched True Blood last night. Last night was the night of getting naked for the men. Erick looked amazing.. but when Alcide dropped his pants to turn into a werewolf - I thought I was going to have a stroke... that man is HOT!

McSmarty....

2011-07-18T18:42:00.001-04:00

When did I get here...

2011-07-18T08:36:00.000-04:00

Holy Hades Batman!

I knew I was going there, but honestly it is hot as he'll today..

Did I really do something that bad?

Ok, I am starting to cool off a bit now...

Maybe it was just the morning commute on the subway....

He really is bi-polar

2011-07-18T07:27:00.001-04:00

Your friend Erick has invited you to a sneak preview of Forecast. To access your early invitation, please download Forecast for free from the AppStore.

Download Forecast: http://foreca.st/download/
Forecast is a fun and simple way for friends to share where they're going. It's social networking that's actually social.

Thanks,
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--------------------
http://foreca.st

I mean really - you tell me that you and your wife are no longer my friend - you delete me on Facebook... But you circle me on Google+ and now want to Foreca.St me.

BIPOLAR MUCH?

To Short...

2011-07-18T07:18:00.002-04:00

Last night came and went way to fast...

I am still wanting to be in bed sleeping...

I turned the AC down to 72 and slept like a baby from 12:30 - 6:30...

Why is it that during the school year 6 hours is plenty of sleep, but during summer break I want 8-10 hours?

Ok, get ready for the day - five more days of TREES!

Sounds like we have a heat wave starting... 100... really...

Gaga Free!

2011-07-17T19:05:00.000-04:00

J.K. knows her stuff....

2011-07-17T16:44:00.000-04:00

I thought I would be let down in some way... that the final chapter in the Harry Potter movie series would not live up to the hype....

I was wrong! I have to give it to J.K., the script writers, the producers, the directors, and mostly the actors... You did the franchise proud. This was probably the best 'ending' to a series I have seen. It didn't leave you wanting more.. it didn't leave any unanswered questions (well, a few), and it didn't leave you feeling cheated.

In fact, I left feeling quite uplifted and positive. I also left thinking there might be a spin-off series. I wont give away the ending, but it was a good movie. I will say this, I couldn't get into the last film (part 1), and I don't think I knew how it ended really.. I need to watch/rewatch it so I can better understand the beginning of this movie.

It was nice seeing my little one today too. She ran up to me while I was getting my number 1 (popcorn and coke) and showed me her stuffed animal. I got her a kids pack and we went and found her mom and the kids from school who came to the movies with her. She did pretty good during the movies. I thought it would be to dark for her, but it wasn't until the last 30 minutes she wanted to crawl into her mom's arms. I think that is pretty good for a five year old. Speaking of which, that was the shorted 2 hour and 5 minute movie ever. I was not looking forward to that long of a movie, and it zipped by real quick...that is the sign of a good movie.

After the movie I gave Elaine and Ela a kiss and a hug and then took off walking up the street to Harlem's main strip 125th street for the walk to the A train. I have been wanting a bright watch and when I found this ORANGE Puma I was interested instantly. I asked how much and he said 2 for $20, so I am sure they will last a week or two, but I bought them anyway. I got this bright orange and a bright yellow as well. To tell you the truth, I sorta want to go back and get the navy blue and also the red one. I think I am going to see Captain American next weekend, so if the guy is out, and the watches are there, and I have an extra $20...why not!

I strolled along 125 looking at all the things it had to offer. I ran into Gamestop hoping to find the Wii version of Harry Potter that was advertised in the window. No such luck! They had it for XBox 360 and PSP, but all out of the Wii. They didn't even have Green Lantern. I will wait until they get marked down or in the previously owned section to save money and be cost efficient.

I decided to go into Popeye's and get some lunch. I waited in a god awful line that didn't move very fast. I don't know why I thought it would be fast. It is hard to rush black folk when it comes to their chicken. I kept watching in disbelief as this little boy kept putting his hand down his pants. I was like, man, this must be conditioned learning from birth. His mom didn't even notice, she just looked forward and concentrated on her upcoming chicken purchase.

When I finally got up to the front of the line, I couldn't decide what I wanted. I hate that in other people, but it happened to me. So not to take up too much time, I decided to get two things. I ordered my regular chicken meal, wings and thighs only, side of mashed potatoes, no drink, and no biscuit. I also ordered a shrimp tackle box with no sides or drink. I put them in my bag and headed off to the A train.

When I got off the train I decided to walk down to the pharmacy on a hunt for BioFreeze for my mom. I went to Duane Reade first, then CVS. I used to buy it here and now we can't seem to find it. I did find "PERFORM" from the makers of BioFreeze so I bought that and some of the knock off Maxi-Freeze. I will give them a try and see if they work as well. I guess BioFreeze can't sell over the counter anymore because it is still in production. I must do more research. I also went crazy and bought a new hair product to try - Bed Head "Manipulator". It smells really yummy and must be good, I mean, it cost almost $20 bucks.

I went to the Gamestop near the chemist and looked for my games there as well. No luck! So I enjoyed my walk home, looking at the shops, the people, the smells, the perfect summer blue sky and warm rays of sunshine... I came home and ate my shrimp, deciding to save the chicken for dinner later. All in all, I think I have had a pretty good day!

Ready for the Final Chapter...

2011-07-17T11:03:00.002-04:00

All night long I knew I would have a sinus headache this morning. I woke up at 3AM and could feel it starting. I got up to pee and I should have taken an Allegra then. I mean, my body was telling me with the pressure build up. Why I didn't, I have no idea.

It was probably from sleeping with the windows open, AC off, and fan gently blowing that allowed all that unfiltered allergy rich clean air to settle in my upper respiratory system.

So I am up, shaved, showered, dressed, and medicated. I am on the A train headed to AMC Magic Johnson to see Harry Potter. I am actually looking forward to seeing it and some time with Elaine and group! I have to admit I am also looking forward to an ice cold Coke and buttery popcorn!

To be cont....

Nothing left to give...

2011-07-16T18:48:00.001-04:00

My former roomie showed up today to give me back my keys and pick up the case.

He was supposed to be here at 11AM.

He showed up at 11:25AM.

I opened the door, handed him the package, took the keys, shut the door and locked it.

Btw - the cost of being a good friend and nice person:

Con Ed Bill - $175 bucks
New Air Mattress - $60 bucks

6 Weeks of being uncomfortable and seeing behind the mask... priceless!

Day 5 of TREES

2011-07-15T16:16:00.000-04:00

Today was all about research, finalizing report, and creating the poster! Our team was done before Noon! We were supposed to be there until 4. We got to leave early!

I went to Target and bought a new air mattress since the roomie broke the old one and didn't feel the need to replace it. I wanted to get it while it was on sale just in case anyone wants to come visit so I would have it. I also got some stuff for the house and then headed back home on the BX7.

Was nice to have an easy day.. and nice to get out early... and nice to get home early....

Our Group Research Project - Science Poster

Day 4 of TREES

2011-07-14T20:13:00.000-04:00

Today was about coming up with research questions, looking at DATA, and deciding on groups.

Today was pretty blah! I think everyone was feeling tired from the past three days out in the heat wave!

We are doing how does water quality effect the abundance of fish in the marsh?

Spent the morning discussing research, breaking into groups, talking about what to do, etc. At lunch time I went with Anne Marie and we took pictures and got our Columbia ID's. Our ID's don't say student though, they say EMPLOYEE. Did you hear that!

Day 3 of TREES - Urban Environment City Walk

2011-07-13T19:43:00.001-04:00

Today was about talking about what we had done so far, and then taking a walk around the Morningside Heights to look at this ecosystem. I was glad I was able to share in the morning about how grateful I was about the kindness and compassion that the group showed for me on the marsh. I was very out of my element and everyone looked out for each other and it just reassured me and made me feel better.

The city walk was interesting. It was hot as Hates, but fun!

After the first walk from Morningside Park down to Riverside Park, the professor told us what our task was and broke us up even further into groups. My group of five walked from 109 and Riverside down to CPW taking not of how many trees were in front of each building, how many floor each building had, what type of building, and how many AC's they had.

Was nice to see how you could collect data about the urban environment just as much as going to a marsh or forest and having expensive data collecting equipment. All we needed was pen, paper, walking shoes and our keen senses.

Trying to do the right thing...

2011-07-13T06:42:00.001-04:00

On July 12, 2011 3:10:08 PM PDT, Bobby McDougall wrote:

I picked up the package yesterday...
What's your address, I will mail it to you
-Bobby

On July 13, 2011 7:46:53 AM PDT, Mandy Gilstrap Bauman wrote:

We dont want you to mail it to Spain. It would be expensive, and, also, there is only one Apple store in Madrid, and it isn't easy to get to without a car.

Erick said he would come to your apartment at 11am on Saturday to pick it up and to bring you your keys. Please be there (or let me know now if it's a bad time) so we can be done with all of this.

Thanks.

On July 13, 2011 9:46:42 AM PDT, Bobby McDougall wrote:

That's fine.

I am so not understanding the anger here. I told Erick I am at Columbia and we could meet there and he just told me to keep it and mail the keys. That is why I contacted you. The 'be done with this' comment just makes me sad.

On July 13, 2011 9:51:46 AM PDT, Mandy Gilstrap Bauman wrote:

that comment was simply referring to this cover issue. although the fact is, Bobby, I don´t see how the Bauman/Bobby relationship can be recovered after how you´ve treated Erick this summer.

On July 13, 2011 1:07:07 PM PDT, Bobby McDougall wrote:

I am still in disbelief in the perception Erick has on how he was treated. That is the big disconnect. I felt like after the first week he was looking for argument and I basically retreated to my room to avoid them. I can tell you - the things Erick said to me, the things he said you said - I was hurt.

I understand that Erick is your husband - but the fact that you believe all this about how I treated erick - without asking my point of view - it is odd. But that's fine. I'm not angry. I'm hurt about things that were said - I guess you shouldn't find out what your friends think of you. I made a lot of excuses for Erick's behavior - missing you, working hard, not having his own space (his room was shared apace). I think had we had our own rooms we would have had a better experience.

On July 14, 2011 4:48:06 AM PDT, Mandy Gilstrap Bauman wrote:

Bobby. Please don't try to play more games with me. It's old. You’ve said some AWFUL things to and about my husband. There is nothing that I would put above him in this world. For you to think that you can tattle on him to me is utterly ridiculous. I am never going to take your side against him after the things you have said. It's part of being in a committed, adult relationship; I’m on his team. I do know what Erick has said to you as well, both in writing and verbally. I will not apologize for him because he is an adult and those are things between you and him.

I am sorry if the things said hurt your feelings, and maybe the tone and anger they were said with affected that more than anything, but the truth is, I think you need to grow up as a person. I don't say that lightly, or to hurt you, but for your own benefit. I've personally witnessed, and heard plenty of stories (many from your own mouth) about how much you complain, blame others, and are self-centered. Throughout our relationship you’ve proved that – if you didn’t like something, then you weren’t going to be part of it, there was little compromise. On several occasions before this you’ve let us know your true self – when we left New York and you wouldn’t show up for anything we invited you to, the Spring Break issue, and when we visited NYC in April and you were too busy sitting at home watching tv (according to your tweets) to hang out with us except for one lunch - are just three.

You said that you’ve made a lot of excuses for how Erick acted while living with you. What excuses have you given yourself? Have you honestly asked yourself if you were a good host/roommate? Erick’s behavior aside, were you a good person and a good friend in how you treated him? Knowing that he was going to have a really hard time, most of all being away from Hoover and I for ten weeks, did you treat him the way you would have wanted him to treat you if the roles had been reversed. Would your mother be proud of how you treated another human, much less someone you called a friend?

Erick and I have always cared about you. We have had a mantra for many years as a couple, and as individuals: We care more about seeing people we love become better people than about retaining their friendship. That means sometimes saying really hard things. Sometimes people do not take them well; sometimes people really take what we have said to heart.

Bobby, here is my biggest piece of advice for you. Go out in the city, whether in NYC, Orlando, or wherever you decide to go, and create a life for yourself where you are surrounded by people who care for you and who want you to be a better person, who don’t allow you to wallow in Bobby-pity, but who encourage you to make changes that you can to make life better, and help you to not dwell on negativity and how others behave. Stop living life only for work. Find friends to hang out with often – and lots of different ones. Get a hobby. Join a meetup group. Find stuff that you enjoy doing outside of your apartment that isn’t related to work. Life is too short to spend by yourself. In the end, how much money you made doing overtime won’t have mattered, being caught up on tv shows won’t have mattered, relationships are what matter. Spend your time developing authentic relationships and realize that it may not be people from work who can provide these kinds of friendships – and that people from work can never provide them just from 8am-3pm.

We find you to be a really great person to be around when you are in a good mood. You are kind, generous, and funny. To see this other side of your during this situation was a shock to us.

Please do not immediately respond to this email. Take some time to think over it. I’ve taken time to write it and think through it, which is why I didn’t respond to you last night. You can, of course, choose to respond or not.

I really do wish the best for you.
Mandy

More Pics from Day 2

2011-07-12T22:41:00.000-04:00

We Are Doing What?

2011-07-12T21:32:00.000-04:00

Day 2 - Piermont Marsh

So today we were going to Piermont Marsh to take stem counts, water samples, and core samples. We were warned to wear clothes and shoes that we wouldn't mind getting wet and muddy. Ok! We were off! We loaded into shuttles and took the 45-60 minute trip from Columbia to the marsh to do our field experiments.

I sat with Anne Marie, across from the two cute film students. The rest of the class took vans, we took the shuttle bus.

We sat through some interesting (ok, that was not true) lectures and had our lunch. We then took vans to the marsh. We loaded into a canoe (that was interesting in it's own right), and paddled to the Marsh. As soon as I got out my foot went waist deep in the mud. I lost my shoe but was able to pull it out. I crawled the 4 feet up the bank onto the marsh and the excitement started. Only a couple more times did the floor give way and I went to my hip in muck. I will say this, the group was so thoughtful and really took care of me. Not only am I the tallest in the group, but I am the biggest. All these little peeps totally took care of me.

After all the fun in the Marsh, Adam and Drew took control and paddled Anne Marie and myself back to camp. Adam and Drew also steadied the canoe so I could get out with incident. God Bless! These guys are so nice!

We returned to Manhattan on the 4PM shuttle, getting into the city around 5PM, and home around 5:30! I was totally and utterly exhausted. But the fun wasn't over! My same leg that went waist deep many times during the day decided to cramp up. I hate when I get these cramps.... Err!

Bobby, Anne Marie, and Adam

Adam and Drew

Anne Marie, Me, Helen, and our HS Student Guide

Truly exhausting day, but fun at the same time. I really am thankful for all the compassion and friendship bestowed on me today. There are good people left out in the world, and luckily for society they are teachers!

The Saga Continues...

2011-07-12T18:39:00.002-04:00

On July 10, 2011 1:43:14 PM PDT, Bobby McDougall wrote:

Dude - I just got back - went through all my mail - nothing for you in the form of the birthday card you were looking for...

On July 10, 2011 6:06:47 PM PDT, Erick Bauman wrote:

ok, let me know when you get the iPad cover from the post office and I'll meet you for the exchange.

On July 10, 2011 6:09:04 PM PDT, Bobby McDougall wrote:

It is still there? I thought Mandy had it re-routed...

are you sure your grandma sent the card here?

I hope they will let me pick it up without the little paper... after I gave mandy the info, I tossed it.

On July 10, 2011 6:13:21 PM PDT, Erick Bauman wrote:

mandy told you they wouldn't let us pick it up. we called them before you even got back to us that evening. This is getting ridiculous.

On July 10, 2011 6:14:14 PM PDT, Bobby McDougall wrote:

Erick - she told me if they had the numbers she could re-route it. That was the last thing she told me. I sent her pics of the front and back. ASK HER! She never told me anything else.

On July 10, 2011 6:16:18 PM PDT, Erick Bauman wrote:

well, we can't get it because you're name is on it. So, if you can get it, it would be great. Let me know when you do.

On July 11, 2011 2:38:32 PM PDT, Bobby McDougall wrote:

Walked to the Post Office after my TREES workshop
picked up the package

The Con Ed bill was $175 and a new Coleman Mattress is $59.
Not sure if you wanted to contribute/pay for any of the above.

I have to Class at Columbia at 8:30AM all week if you want to meet before.

If not, we can catch a movie this weekend.

On July 11, 2011 5:05:36 PM PDT, Erick Bauman wrote:

I can meet the upcoming weekend.

On July 11, 2011 5:22:03 PM PDT, Erick Bauman wrote:

I'm going to buy you a new blowup mattress, it's being shipped your address. But, you have to realize I didn't pop your mattress. Would you have your mom replace your blowup mattress if it happened to get a whole in it while see was a guest with you? I would think not. As for the A/C, I'm not chipping in for it. You said I didn't have to pay for anything when I arrived in May and only brought that up after I moved out a month later. I'm not going to act like this never happened Bobby. I bought you several meals when I was there, I think that more than compensated for the $75. I'm saying this all here because I know that if we meet this weekend you wouldn't respond during the meeting and would just be passive aggressive later.... That's whats up with the things you posted.

On July 11, 2011 6:19:22 PM PDT, Bobby McDougall wrote:

Erick -

We just don't see things eye to eye. I told you before you came I didn't want any rent, if you want to chip in for electricity, buy me a meal from time to time, that would be fine. I really do appreciate the SUBWAY and Thai Food, cookie, and soda you bought me. I know money is tight for you... Well, I guess it isn't that tight with all the great restaurants you are going to and trips that Mandy is taking.

And honestly Erick, I guess we were just raised different. If I break something of someone's... I replace it. If I stay with someone rent free, I offer to pick up things. I told you not to worry about rent because I pay that anyway... same thing for cable... I said if you want to chip in on Electricity you could. But your right, I never said you had to.

As for the mattress - remember when I told you NOT to put the mattress close to the empty wall because the picture fell on the floor, and I swept, vacuumed, and used the swiffer, but you never know with little shards of glass (i am sure you do because you said you thought you had on in your foot. A day or two later you started putting the mattress right where I told you NOT to put it.

Would I expect my mom to buy a new one.. I wouldn't have to expect, she would have done it as soon as it got a hole. I was in Orlando and we went grocery shopping and I paid for the groceries because I was a guest at my parents house and they shouldn't have to pay for the increase in cost because I am staying with them. Again, this is obviously just a difference in the way we were raised.

Yesterday when you jumped down my throat about the package that I had NO idea wasn't rerouted... The day you left you said you were having it all rerouted, even offered to bring my keys to me a few days later after you calmed down...Heck, I have been checking for your birthday card for weeks... Your accusation that I would try to "fuck with you just to be spiteful"... Calling me a hermit... calling my apartment filthy... You say the meanest things to me and I really just don't care anymore. I have been waiting for you say something about the timing of my dad's heart catherization and my grandma falling to break her hip...

I TRULY think that if you were staying in an extra bedroom and not a blow up mattress in the living room we wouldn't have had a single argument... I think wanting to use my TV to watch shows I wanted to watch wasn't unreasonable... You will realize that I had NO WHERE to put my feet that day when you said I had my foot in your face...even though I asked if we could move the mattress over so I could sit on the couch...

You have hurt my feelings with the accusations you have made and the expectations you had... I said one mean thing to you... and that was after you jumped off the couch, yelling at me in my own apartment.. I asked you repeated to just shut up and you wouldn't.. you kept berating me... how many times did I just ask you to shut up... you wouldn't... you kept telling me how horrible I was as a person... and I said I had no idea how Mandy could be married to you... and I apologized hours later because that was mean...

And you said I ditched the trip to Madrid...NOT ONCE was the offer made for you two to stay in Madrid and me to come.. I said I didn't want to go to Italy... I went back and read all the messages between Mandy and I.. NOT ONCE was it said.. "You are right, we planned on you coming to here...we can do Italy some other time..." It was said to me that you had the same break and wanted to go to Italy instead.. I would have LOVED to come to Madrid.. I had been telling people about it all school year... I didn't ditch you.. plans were changed...

Actually, I think I would rather meet before my classes at Columbia one day this week. Which day can you be at 116 and broadway around 8:15AM?

On July 11, 2011 8:18:21 PM PDT, Erick Bauman wrote:

I can't meet at 8:15 this week.

Bobby, I think you should just do whatever you want with the package. I'll drop your keys in the mail tomorrow.

Also, Mandy and I are going to stop communicating with you because it's unhealthy to have a relationship like this for both parties.

A couple things I'd like to address from above before we go our separate ways:

- I didn't put the hole in your mattress, nor did I lay it in a place that could have made the hole (as stated before, I think you placed it there yourself to get rid of me.) I'm sure you can remember that before the new couch, there was plenty of room for it on the rug, but after (when the hole happened) it couldn't fit that way. There was nothing I could do, I wasn't permitted on the couch or did I have another sleeping option other than the rug. Because of your reasoning and inability to consider that your expectations that a blow-up mattress fails because you can't clean a floor and there was literally nowhere for that mattress to go in the first place, I am withdrawing my offer to purchase a replacement. It's clearly you're fault for the hole due to negligence of not cleaning thoroughly or insufficient space. I was simply sleeping in the only place you made available and if it weren't me it would have been someone else.

- You are right about being raised differently. When it comes to guest, I was taught to bend over backwards, make them comfortable (not wishing for them to be hot at night, lay any body part on their bed while their in town, dominate the living room or tell them directly to do something as though they owed me and get upset when they didn't follow orders, i.e. "didn't i just say to keep the bathroom door closed?", blowup vacuum discussion and numerous others). It's apparent to the number of people that have lived with Mandy and I that we know what hospitality is and looks like. Guests, Bobby, should be treated the way you would dream of being treated at their place and expect nothing in return. Building on that, if it were a "friend" that was planning to visit, then I would have prepared for their visit, rather than saying they should go away for a few days after they arrived to ready for them then and not do so... you catch my drift, right? You're bathroom was horrendously unsanitary. Your meager cleaning methods simply stirred dust rather than removed it. I did a far superior cleaning the one Saturday of the 3 I was there by I sweeping and vacuuming. Far more than I saw the entire time I was there by you. But then again, I was never there... you were.

- We did have some amazing meals when Mandy was here and, true, she was able to buy a 40€ roundtrip ticket to Bologna, Italy and pay 100€ for a weeks lodging in some village with 6 other women. One meal, at Colicchio & Sons, we celebrated 6yrs with birthday money my dad and her parents sent in cards. Most of our other meals were at the expense of our friends, minus a shack shake here or there, as was the yankee game after from my brother over the weekend.

Lastly, it's really none of your business how we allocate our money. You offered to host me and I accepted. I never should have and would have been better heeding Mandy's wishes to not even interact with you. But, as I have said to you before, I thought you were a different person than what I've seen. Unfortunately, I was misguided and should have realized you were this way when you stood us up for doughnut plant on Saturday in April after not having seen us in 8 months and when you gave me a hard time about seeing a movie with Kory, who is as close to me as family.

To just reiterate to you how ridiculously middle-school like you are, you still think we could see a movie together. Bobby, we're no longer friends after how you have treated me and Mandy. It's hard for us to do that, but we realize that this is probably a pattern for you and there's probably a reason you interact very little with society and sit in your house all day on the weekend. Which is another reason I'm not paying the electricity bill. You sat there on the weekends in two rooms with fans blowing, tv & cable box on, two computers, ipad, iphone (all which need charging at some point.) I ran the a/c in the evenings from 9 to 6 on efficiency and temp set at 74, where it would kick on and off and it did... it would have stayed off longer had the apartment windows been closed, unlike your way of leaving the bathroom window open at all times.

I think I've responded sufficiently and hope this is loud and clear for you. Feel at liberty to tell on me to Mandy or run this by her. I'm sure she'll say things in a nicer tone, but don't be deceived... we're done with this relationship.

TREES Summer Institute - Day 1

2011-07-11T20:51:00.001-04:00

Today was the first day of our TREES program at Columbia. I was looking forward to seeing Anne Marie. To my surprise the most interesting thing to see was actually this gorgeous man named Andrew Collins. He was new to the group and I have to admit, I was instantly in love... well at least crushing on this beautiful man. I have nicknamed him McSmarty!

Needless to say, I didn't hear much for the first half of the day since he was literally sitting right in front of me. I stared at his perfect hair and dress. I listened to his nice voice as he asked questions. I immediately thought it would be a great two weeks of Andrew watching.

During the activities I got to hang out and know another cute guy named Michael. He isn't really my type but he is cool.

There were a few other cute guys, but probably the cutest were the boys from NYU who were there to film the events of the next two days for Film Class. They were funny. The taller one almost caused me to fall out of my seat when he pulled his shirt up to scratch his belly during the lecture. And they wonder why I couldn't pay attention to the talks.

After lunch we went to Inwood Hill Park to take a look at the Salt Marsh and forest. We did tree measurements, soil core samples, and leaf rot distribution. It would have been fun if we were not in the middle of a heat wave. It was horribly hot out! We spent a few hours in the muggy forest collecting data. The professor was very funny so that made it better!

Endings

2011-07-05T14:50:00.000-04:00

This school year will be the last one for me at IS195. The sad fact is that IS195 will only be around one more year anyway, so being one of the first round to leave is probably a good thing. I knew things were going down hill fast, but I truly thought they would just remove the administrator who was running the school into the ground and help save our school.

The year got worse and worse. The only thing that made the school year good was the fact that I had a great home room class. I also had a great co-teacher who shared the room with me. I also was lucky enough to have a small group of co-workers who I admire and respect to work with.

Ms. T, Ms. C, Ms. R, Mr. M, Mr. L, Mr. R, and Mr. A really were the small team I needed to make sure that this school year was as good for my students and myself as it could be under the stress that was pressure from my administration. I don't entirely blame her. I mean, she wasn't ready to be a school building leader. I blame the system that put her in place just so the school could fail so they could move more charter schools into the building. It is all about money and KIPP has money. At some point the facade will fail and people will see that Charter Schools are good at cherry picking students, not teaching "ALL" students, and promoting themselves. When parents start to realize that their students are not wanted at Charter Schools because it will ruin their data set, then, and only then, will people really see what is going on.

My school year was good. 92% of my sixth and seventh graders passed the state test. Three of those students have IEP's and only had to pass a small percent of the state test, so really they passed even though they didn't "pass". Considering more than 50% of my class is special ed, I think they did pretty good. Of the other students, one was kicked out of a charter school and came to me a month before the test. I can't really be held responsible for his year. Two of my seventh graders were hold overs from last year and missed more than half of the year due to skipping or absences. So, after all that, I had a 98% pass rate. One girl, she showed up, did the work, participated in class, and still didn't pass. I felt bad for her. We made sure her portfolio was strong so hopefully she will pass as well.

I rented two storage units and moved all my "stuff" into them. 14 years of teaching really adds up. With all the regular things that one collects - teaching materials, books, supplies, videos, magazines, paper, reading library.... I also accumulated a lot of other things you might not think about.. A mini-fridge, a microwave, an air purifier, a xerox machine, a color printer... It all takes up a lot of room. I can't tell you how much I got rid of and I still filled up a 4'x5'x10' storage unit and part of a 4'x5'x5'. When I start at my new school in the fall I plan on REALLY editing what I keep. I am feeling the need to let go again.

Oh, I forgot to mention that as the school year came to a close, my principal was acting more and more hostile toward me. I made it worse by acting like I could care less and just doing my job. I enjoyed my job, my co-workers, and my students.

I worked really hard this school year and saved a lot of money. I got a job at an A school farther uptown. The principal called me two days after our school was listed as a possible closure. That was in February. I sat quietly all school year knowing that I was leaving one way or another. When it came time, not only was I going to that school, but six other teachers as well. Mr. R, Mr. A, Mr. T, Mr. D, Ms. H, and Ms. T are all making the move as well.

The last few days of school were bitter-sweet. Packing up.. saying goodbye...

After school was over I flew to Orlando to surprise my mom and dad. My dad had to have a heart cath put in and my grandma had fallen and broken her hip. I also don't deal well with goodbyes so flying out of NYC and not dealing was a good thing.

While I was home I got a phone call that my principal was called to the district office the day before school was over and told she would be released from duty on July 14th. In today's economy I don't wish anyone out of a job, but she was not an effective leader. I hope she finds a position that she suits her talent set better and that she is fulfilled and happy. I am excited about my new school and the challenges that are on the horizon.

Post Exit

2011-06-24T18:14:00.001-04:00

After he moved out, to God knows where... he refused to give me my keys since he was expecting a birthday card from his rich grandmother, and because his wife had asked to have an Ipad 2 and cover delivered to my place so she could take it back to Madrid for a friend when she visited. He said that my keys were collateral to make sure I wouldn't be a douche and not give them the stuff that was coming. That is how it is going to work. The never of him. He then went on to call my place a dump... to talk about it not being clean (mind you, he did nothing and I stopped when he didn't do anything), and that I was a horrible person and hobbit.

The worst part is he has been telling his wife all these stories with such a slant. I know he is on medication for ADD, but I think he actually needs medication for paranoid schizophrenia. He accused me of so many things... even for sabotaging the AC when it wouldn't start one night (the reset button needed to be hit on the power cord form what I found out).

Wow, I have learned a lot about people who claim to be Christians. At least I know that I tried. I told one of my friends that I seriously think he was looking for fights.. to blame me... I don't think he liked me handing out with his wife. Who knows why...

I should just be like "F YOU! Keep the keys. I will just change the locks!" Everyone at work who had been hearing the stories of my roomie adventures was like... "I know his wife is your friend, but throw that @sshole out...he doesn't respect you, your apartment, or what you are doing for him.. throw him out!"

I thought May was Long...

2011-06-23T17:05:00.001-04:00

It started before it started! The roomie asked before he got here if he could borrow a laptop for two days of school that had excel. If I didn't have one, he would have to buy one for a couple days and he was on a budget. I agreed and life went on.

I was so busy before he got here with all the 12 hour days, no days off for 20 days.. that I had no time to really prepare the apartment for guests. He said he understood but I did my best about getting the living room and bathroom clean by moving everything into my room. Upon arriving, the roomie and I went and got dinner at Subway which he paid for ($5 dollar foot longs!). We went over ground rules and he said he was going to go visit his family for the memorial day weekend instead of the july 4th weekend. I said that would be good because it would give me time to regroup and clean. I should have known issues would be coming because he said to me "trip to Nashville booked since you said give me the the weekend to regroup"... I said "no, I said I would use it to regroup".. to which he replied "SAME THING!" Well, it isn't... one said I asked for you to go, one said I would use it productively. This should have been my first clue that this man had issues with communication and hearing what is actually being said. (May 24)

A few days later, I got this message on my phone "Would have been nice with the AC left on since you knew I was on my way back. I'm sure it was just habit." I explained that I turn off the AC when I am not in the room due to cost. I close curtains, keep doors closed, etc. I refuse to cool the entire apartment when I can cool just one room. (May 29)

June 3rd the roomie had to do community service and work at habitat for humanity in brooklyn and build houses. He asked to borrow socks and I said sure. I had sold my couch a few days before this so we had been living with just a chair awaiting the arrive today of my new $1500 dollar Lazy Boy couch. Well, the elevator went out and the delivery men wouldn't carry it up so they took it back and I was told to reschedule when the elevator was working. I was in the middle of washing clothes too so I had to carry clothes up 5 flights of stairs from the basement. NOT in a good mood. In the time it took me to go down to the basement, fold clothes, and come back up, the roomie had blew up his air mattress and was snoring on the bed. I guess i was supposed to go to leave the living room at 8PM since he was tired. (June 3).

A few days later, I get a message that he is going to watch THOR that I picked up on bootleg. I responded that it was somewhere in my room, not sure where, and I would find it for him when I got home. He said no biggie, that he already found it. I could not believe he went through my room. I know it sounds odd, but I felt violated. I was also a bit embarrassed because I knew where I left it. I left it on my dresser mixed with all my "other" dvd's. For him to get it, he would have to walk around in my room (still very messy for making room for him in the living room), and even walk over my 'rag'. When I said "WOW" that he went through my room, he said "Do you want to make a big deal out of this?" I would have NEVER gone through someone's room if I was staying with them. I would never have done that, unless they asked me to look for something. yes, I guess I think this is a big deal. (June 4)

June 11th I wake up early as usual but stay in my room as long as I possibly can. At 10:30 I finally come into the living room and Erick is laying in the room texting. I ask him if he can move the bed so I can sit down and he said "Im sleeping...can you wait"... I admit to getting a bit pissy because it is 10:30 on a saturday and I want to watch TV. I push my way between the couch and bed and finally sit down. I have no where to put my legs since he wouldn't move the bed so I put my feet up on the corner of the mattress. He gets upset when I turn on a light and actually tells me to turn down the TV because he is sleeping. Mind you, he is laying in bed texting. He was out late the night before celebrating his anniversary (without his wife who is in Madrid). But it is Saturday and I want to watch TV. 20 minutes later, his wife is ready to Skype so he jumps out of bed, sit on the couch with his feet on the bed too, and turns on the overhead light and tells me to turn the TV down, he has to talk to his wife. Am I really being treated like this in my own home. It gets better, after talking for awhile, he tells her he has to go because he is meeting friends for lunch. I decide to start cleaning in hopes he would get the hint that he should be doing something. He was leaving and started to get the trash out to take it out. I told him to leave it because when you clean, the last thing you do is trash because all the stuff you clean needs to be thrown away. After calling me "Typical" he leaves.

That night he comes home and it is 60 degrees out. Seriously, 60 degrees. I have my windows open and I have a light blanket. He comes in and turns the AC on. When I ask him about it, he tells me I am a rude host to question him, that he should be able to turn on the AC if he is hot. He even said that I should take the fan out of my room and leave it in the living room for him to use because he is a guest. And that I should blow up his bed when I am done with the living room since he is the guest. WTF? This man has no idea about gratitude. I mean, he is living rent free. Because he is, his wife is able to fly over and visit him and her family. Heck, she can even travel to back to Italy and to Paris.

June 12th is the worst. I don't even remember where it came from, but he yelled at me for 10-15 minutes. I mean really yelled and blamed all of this tension on me; that I was a unthoughtful; that I didn't know how to be a good host; that I had my feet in his face when he was trying to sleep; that I'm a hobbit who like to work and stay at home and watch tv and don't do anything. I kept telling him to just shut up but he wouldn't. I finally said I couldn't believe his wife could be married to him and he exploded. Told me I was responsible for him not being able to sleep or enjoy his time in NYC. That he was actively looking for somewhere else to stay. He went on and on and on until he had to leave to go meet up for lunch with a friend. He actually told me that he shouldn't have to put up with my mood just because school was ending, and I had to do report cards, pack my room, move and leave my job.. that it wasn't his problem and I shouldn't make him deal with my emotions. IN MY OWN HOME! I can't believe that I didn't deck his fat ass right then and there.

I come home June 14th to find a great surprise. There is a brand new fridge sitting in the living room. Erick was there and watching TV. He was eating his dinner, watching TV. He watched me as I moved the old one out of the corner, move his bed, move the new one, and move all the stuff from one to the other. Didn't even offer to help. Sat there and ate his dinner! The bad part... I was majorly buzzing fro a great dinner and drinks with Elaine. He didn't lift a single finger to help. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, he hadn't done anything for the apartment. He took out trash ONCE! Didn't do laundry, vacuum, wash dishes.. nothing. He drank 3 half gallons of milk, ate two boxes of my special K, and a half case of of my Arnold Palmer canned drinks. But I am the unthoughtful one.

He put a hole in the air mattress and slept on the new couch, after I asked him not to sleep on the couch since it cost so much and I want to keep it nice for as long as I can. He apologized and explained that the mattress sprung a leak during the night and that he would get a patch and fix it after work.

The patch worked for a few days. On the night of June 19th I heard him put air in the mattress several times. I knew it was leaking slowly and thought he would handle it since he popped it. On June 20th he got home and it was losing air. He asked me if I had duct tape and I said no, but the corner store might have some and if not the drug store was open till 11. I said, "I hope you can fix it I hope that you don't have to sleep on the couch because it is new".... He got really upset and said, "Just to be clear, you want me to sleep on the floor if I can't fix the blowup? I said "Of course not, I just hope you can fix it"... in other words - handle the situation, don't wait for someone else to handle it. He knew he popped it, he knew it was leaking... fix it or better yet, buy a knew one to replace what you broke.

He went on a diatribe about he is a human and the couch is just a couch and I value it more than him and all this crap. I ended it with I am sure you will fix the problem and went to bed. When I woke up the next day he was asleep on a half deflated mattress. When I got out of the shower and went to my room, I was surprised to see him up and dressed and moving about. When I came out of my room from dressing he was gone. All of his stuff was gone, as were my keys. He sent me an email saying I was impossible to live with. (June 21st)

My Living.. well, Shared Living Space

2011-06-15T23:04:00.000-04:00

Sold!

new couch

Shared Living Space...

All Good Deeds...

2011-06-15T16:19:00.001-04:00

May was probably the longest month of my life! My students had State Testing the first part of the month in both ELA and Math. I was scheduled to grade ELA state tests every day after school and weekends for 10 days or so.. which turned into doing MATH too. 20 days of working 12 hour days. The money is one thing, the level of irritability and tiredness that I felt was another. It was a lot! Not to mention that toward the end of this 20 day run, I also got a roommate for a few months.

I should have known better.

Months before I had plans to go to Madrid to stay for a week with a former co-worker and her husband. I started seeing messages on her Facebook Account checking out when her husbands school was on spring break. Turned out to be the same week I was supposed to come for my visit. They tried to talk me into going to Italy with them instead of me going to Madrid, but instead I just backed out. I didn't want to go to Italy with a couple for a couple of reasons.. one, I think that is a romantic trip, and two, it would have been a lot more money than I wanted to spend. I was a little upset about not not being able to go to Madrid, but I totally wanted them to have fun in Italy while they were able to travel Europe. I figured I would just go to Madrid in the summer and everyone would be happy.

The husband sent an email out to all his NYC friends. He was going to do his summer internship in the city and wanted to know if they had a room, bed, couch, floor for him to rent/stay on for a week or two between the end of May and the end of July. I waited and waited to respond figuring he would have a bunch of offers and that way he wouldn't need to stay with me. We hadn't talked much post 'springbreakgate'. I told him that he could stay at my place for a week, two weeks, the entire time if he didn't mind sleeping in the living room on a blow up mattress.

To my shock he decided to take me up on it. I told him that he didn't have to pay rent since I had to pay rent anyway. He didn't have to pay for the cable bill since I paid it already. I told him he could pitch in on electricity and buy his own food, and treat me to dinner from time to time.

And so begins the great roommate drama of 2011.

Spring Break was FUN!

2010-04-12T10:23:00.002-04:00

Wow...

This year is really going by FAST!

We are back at work after a short week (Wed - Fri) after having a long spring break!

I took my mom on a tour of Paris, Provence, and Barcelona! Paris was very rushed (only 2 days) and mom wasn't feel well. She didn't see much of Paris. The tour group moves a lot, so she stayed put in the room and I did the rushed tours of Paris. I have to say my favorite part was either the Guided Bus Tour of the city or the 11PM cruise on the Seine. AMAZING!

Provence was BEAUTIFUL! We stayed in Orange, but traveled to Avignon, Pont du Gard, Nimmes, AIX de Provence... all over! My favorite stop was a coastal village called CASSIS where we took a tour of the coast by boat and shopped in the village center. The village was AMAZING. You went from vendor to vendor to pick up anything and everything you needed. The fish people were right by the water. AMAZING! We spent 3.5 days in Provence and I really could have stayed longer!

Barcelona as fun too! The weather was perfect and I could have had a LOT of fun had I not been on a school tour and with my mom. Read between the lines of that one! We were only in Barcelona for 2.5 days, so I definitely want to be back. Next time I go back though, I go SOLO!

Ok, that was the bell. I have to go to lunch duty! After that I teach fifth and sixth periods. C ya!

The Madness of it All

2010-01-22T08:21:00.002-05:00

I can't believe that we are already 3 weeks into 2010!

I had an idea that the 2009-2010 school year would be crappy. For the most part I have been wrong. I am actually pretty happy teaching the two classes I teach. I have not been a classroom teacher for two years, and in those two years I have seen a huge drop in the students willingness to learn and work. They just don't care. That is the problem with America today. Parents have worked hard to give their kids so much that they are spoiled and unmotivated.

Ok, enough of that...

This week has flown by, thanks in part to the fact that we were off Monday for MLK, JR day and the fact that Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we had "midterms" and the kids stayed in one room for three periods which means one of my groups got no work all week. In my other class we played catch up and I gave the students access to their online grade book. I have 23 students and 10 of them are FAILING. I still don't see them caring so much. I finally got ahold of ONE parent yesterday and she is coming in today.

I have been talking to a nice guy for over a week on "loopt". He is a 32 year old aspiring actor who has like 14 jobs. He sent me a text this morning at 7AM and wished me a "happy friday" and asked if maybe we could do something tonight. WHAT? I thought he was going to be my BFF, but I think I just got asked out on a date....

I have to tell you, 2:30 cannot come fast enough... SERIOUSLY!

Ok, I need to get back to work. Just letting you know I am good and things are good. Have a good weekend.

2010 is Rocking Out already...

2010-01-12T13:46:00.002-05:00

So....

This year has been a whirlwind already...

Work is crazy... and I am so up for the challenge! I think the craziest student is just no competition for me.. I told them the other day.. hey, it is a crap shoot with me.. I have 17 voices in my head at all times.. whichever one makes it out.. that is the Mr. McDougall you get... GOOD LUCK! They now think their teacher has multiple personalities... GREAT! It explains how I can go from tired, to angry, to smiling and happy in the period of 33 seconds!

I will say this.. the entire 6th grade team loves to give me hugs throughout the day. I guess when you are a 6'3" teddy bear in the hood... the kids want to hug ya!

I had my first disappointment, I mean date of the new year. I should have not said yes because I could tell this fella had issues, but he was my age, employed, 6'3" and Cuban. I thought... who knows... ignore the warning signs and give it a try. Well, he is an art instructor and artist and nah, it wasn't working.

My kids that I have been teaching now for 5 weeks are NO WHERE near the quality of students I want, but I heard from the other ELA teacher who had to do a coverage the other day that she was TOTALLY impressed with their story openings. She said they totally "got it" when it came to writing a hook. She said the grammar and sentence structure, not so much, but the content was great. That is my class... all substance, no style. I will say this... they have the most personality of the group. A true reflection of their teacher.

I have my book club meeting tonight. I didn't read this book because it looked BORING!

My knee has been "GOOD" since Christmas break... last night it starting KILLING ME.... I have been back on the juice for a day now. I was in the middle of teaching, my pal came in and was like you ok.. I looked at him after fussing at students for NOT LISTENING to directions.. and then did a "IN MY BAG, IN THE BLUE CONTAINER, I NEED A WHITE PILL WITH A 3 ON IT..." He laughed and walked out... I WAS SERIOUS.

You know what makes me happy these days.... Pepsi Throwback! I love the old Pepsi colors so much better than the new!

I also love the rich pink color of my new Nautica t-shirt and polo shirt.

I am also really excited that Simon is leaving American Idol after this year. Simon, if YOU DO hire Paula Abdul for X-Factor, I will watch. I will NOT be watching American Idol when it starts tonight. I don't like Ellen... I am pissed about Paula... I am a lot of things.. but most of all I am LOYAL. Ask 90210... I stopped watching when they wrote Brenda off.... Idol... I'M DONE!

I have made some new local friends online. I plan on keeping warm this winter the old fashioned way. I also plan on dropping a few extra pounds in the process. I know this sounds almost childish, but I can literally feel a change taking place.. not just in me, but in the world. Things are going to be ok! They really are!

In the famous words of Miley, "put my hands up, their playing my song, I know I'm gonna be ok... It's a Party in the USA!"

TGIF - seriously...TG

2010-01-08T12:59:00.003-05:00

I don't know what happened today...

Was it the snow falling?

Was it the first Friday of school of the New Year?

Was it the fact that one of the AP's with the WORST kids decided not to come to school today?

Who knows what the real story is, but the students, all over the school... were absolutely crazy!

Thursday - Post Holiday Madness

2010-01-07T14:54:00.002-05:00

One thing that is different about Middle School as opposed to Elem. School, especially in NYC is how long it takes students to get back in the swing of things...

Yesterday I literally went A-bomb mental on my sixth grade ELA class. There are only 22 of them, and after giving them 3 extra days to get all their homework from the holidays together, only 3 of them turned it all in. They were full of excuses and full of stories and I verbally vomited all over them. I was HOT! I was livid! I was really really done!!!

Today, we had a working day and it was better! Much better!

I will say that I am getting to the kids, but I have to.. I mean seriously have to get motivated to start grading papers each day as we do it. I have such a stack to grade and I don't want to do any of it. This is my new goal for 2010. I will get caught up THIS WEEKEND and then, from now on... USE MY PREPS!

Ok, it is 3PM and I am feeling run down and need to go home. I think this week, once it is over, will be ok. I just hate how long it takes this hood rats to get back in the swing. Thank goodness it is cold, because if it was warm out, the kids would be running around like crazy... spring is bitter-sweet when it comes to students...

Happy New Year

2010-01-05T09:41:00.003-05:00

So it is five days into the new year already...

Can you believe it?

I ended 2009 in the best of all possible ways. I left NYC on December 23rd around 2:45 and landed in Orlando just after 5PM. My parents picked me up with my 12 year old nephew in tow and we went and grabbed dinner. I haven't seen them since July. My parents look the same, but my nephew is shooting up. He has all the signs of puberty. It makes you feel old!

December 24th was one big shopping morning... I thought it would take longer than it did, but I accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. After dropping me off at home, the parents and nephew went to Five Guys to grab us lunch so I could stay home and wrap gifts. That night my brother and sister in law got there. I wouldn't really have known because my brother stayed over at my uncles most of the afternoon and night drinking. Yes, he was drinking!

December 25th... MERRY CHRISTMAS! At 8:30, my dad finally got pissed enough at my brother to go drag his hung over @ss out of bed. He totally ruined it for my mom who was upset. Imagine how you would feel, you barely see your child, and they spend the night around the corner getting drunk, coming home after 1AM to pass out. It was a total flashback to when I was 12 or 13 when my brother went out Christmas Eve and got arrested (DUI). It ruined my Christmas way back then, and he was doing his best to ruin my Christmas today. That is what I grew up with... if it wasn't my great uncle or my real uncle being drunk around the house, it was my older brother. It is surprising that I grew up not really liking to drink. I drink on rare occasion. But I guess we all have our problems in life... I eat my feelings.

We finally opened gifts and I was very happy that my nephew had a good Christmas. I think it is sad, but right now the only family I feel I have is my Mom, my Dad, and my Nephew. I made sure that I bought them nice gifts because with my dad losing his job and my brother never having one, I was worried what Christmas might be like. I got my mom a nice Coach purse and change purse. I also got her a gold and diamond necklace in the shape of an Eiffel Tower. I bought her all sorts of books as well. I got my dad a Gator Snuggie, a new Gator Wallet with $100 spending cash in it, and a Gator ceramic cereal bowl. I bought my nephew some new pumas, some long sleeve shirts, and a new gap hoodie. I got him a Wii game and a Proactive skin care system. I got him a gamer publication he wanted as well. He knows that all he has to do is ask Uncle Bobby and he can have it.

I don't feel connected or close to my brother anymore. I worry about my nephew tremendously and hope that he doesn't look at his parents and make the same poor decisions they do. He is at that stage now where he is either going to make good decisions or bad decisions due to peer pressure, and if he looks to his parents as examples of normal, I am worried!

Christmas dinner was.... T-Bones and NY Strips on the grill! Baked Potatoes and fixings. I made my Waldorf Salad and my mom made her dip and something else she cooked. There was corn on the cob and rolls. We had a cookout for Christmas. Oh, btw... It rained the entire time. It wasn't my idea of Christmas Dinner... we didn't have left overs to pick at.... oh well!

December 26th - After Christmas Shopping! I bought a bunch of DVD's, five packs of Christmas Cards, and some books for myself, my mom, and my nephew. We did some look around shopping at Barnes and Nobles, Best Buy, Target.

December 27th my bother and sister in law came in late at night as my nephew and I were watching Transformers 2. They were loud, obnoxious, and drunk. After five minutes of my sister in law trying to talk to us while we watched the movie I snapped. My brother came into the living room, sat on the floor and cracked and ate crab legs. With the movie over, we went to bed. My brother threw the crab legs in the trash. I told him to take it out so the house wouldn't smell. He rolled over on the couch and said, "Tell Dad to do it!" (Yeah.. Merry Christmas!)

December 28th - the family left and life was getting back to normal.

December 29th - mom and I had appointments to get our hair done. I got my hair cut and colored. I had highlights from the summer and I wanted it covered. I told him I wanted darker and richer. We went with a European dark that looks pretty good on me if I say so myself! It was nice seeing my hair guy and just having time alone with mom. We picked up Subs and headed home for an early night in.

December 30th I did a bunch of quick shopping and then John picked me up to head out to meet Christy and John and the kids. We had a great lunch and then went and got ice cream. Afterwards we went back to their place and had a good time opening gifts and hanging out. John was so good with the kids. It made me smile to have my best friends in one place. We had to run out to the mall for some things and then after we were done, we went to a pizza place in Dr. Phillips that had really good pizza.

December 31st - Woke up early to have Christy pick me up to go watch "The Little Drummer Boy" puppet show at the Altamonte Mall with the kids. The kids love being with Uncle Bobby. Uncle Bobby loved the hot dad's at the puppet show and in the padded playground in the mall. We then went to Five Guys for lunch and I was home at a reasonable hour for the kids to see my mom and hang out a little.

Around 9:30 John and his friend Jordan picked me up. We were supposed to have a low key new years at SIP (wine bar). Jordan and his BF had an argument so Jason was not joining us. Some 19 year old little gay showed up and he was nice enough. Of course, they ended up wanting to go to P House. John told me that if I wanted to, we could stay and they could leave, but I know he wanted to go to P, so I agreed.

I ran into all the old gays I used to chum around with. It was really nice seeing them and catching up. Omar was telling me that he was for sure going to move to NYC this year if at all possible. He told me on Facebook just yesterday that his partner Steve has a job interview this week for a long term contract in the city. FINGERS CROSSED. We had too much to drink and lots of fun. I even got John on the dance floor when "Million Dollar Bill" came on. Around 1AM John asks me "Are you ready to go?" and I almost screamed YES... We went to get a cab, but none to be found. Alan, an old gay was leaving and I said, Alan, you are giving us a ride to my house! From there, I gave John a ride home dropping him off around 1:30AM. This is his first New Year's in 15 years without his partner. They broke up late summer so John was in a funk. I hope having his BFF by his side made things better. I miss him!

Jan 1 - wasted day! Stayed home, vegged, ate home cooked food! That night John and I went to grab dinner. We ended up at IHOP because John had been sick all day. He was a little sloppy after all the shots, drinks, and beer. I was smart and stopped just before midnight drinking. I switched to Canada Dry Ginger Ale! Anyway, we had greasy food at IHOP and just talked and spent time together. I can honestly say that I love that kid. He is my BFF! Oh wait, we called it GBFF (Gay Best Friend Forever) and Christy was my BBFF (Blond Best Friend Forever). They laugh because I have a lot of BFF's.

Jan 2 - Much of the same! My cousin came over with her husband and kid and had left overs from the home cooked "real holiday" meal my mom made for us. I think the best gift I had this Christmas was catching up with her. I finally picked up my watch from Sam's in the mall. I had brought my favorite watch, my Fendi, to get repaired. It was rusted inside and needed to have things replaced. I almost didn't do it because the watch was 9 years old. Then I thought of how much it cost ($500), and why I bought it (break up from the Brazilian) and thought why not. For just $125 dollars, I have my FENDI back! It was like getting three new watches for Christmas... the Orange faced Fossil, the silver on silver Swiss Army dressy watch, and my nice silver on silver FENDI that I had fixed. Good thing Christy got me a watch holder for Christmas.

Jan 3 - back to NYC. We left the house around 4:50 AM. The dropped me off at Delta Curbside at 5:20AM. I was sitting at my gate before 6AM. The flight left just after 7AM and landed in NYC at 9:09. It was just over 2 hours and it was a great flight.. UNTIL LANDING! The weather was a bit funky with patches of snow.... and I guess only one runway was open and they had to circle to get to it. I had never been in a plane that made such sharp turns to bank around and land. It was unsettling because I was sitting at the wing and could see how much we were banking to make the turns. Crazy! I was off the plane by 9:15, at baggage by 9:20, in a cab by 9:30 and in my apartment before 10AM. After some quick unpacking, mail checking, clothes washing and drying.. I sat my @ss on the couch and stayed there the rest of the day and night.

I am a little addicted to Grindr on my iphone. I have been chatting on it non-stop for a week. I had trouble syncing my iphone and ended up having to wipe and restore it and start from scratch. That is how I spent most of my Jan. 3rd night and Jan. 4 morning.

Jan 4- back to work! I was running late due to my phone and I called Elaine who picked me up. We got to work at five minutes before we had to. The day was ok. I had my two classes and right around 1:30 Mr. Abreu and I took off to buy some stuff for a wedding shower at work on Wednesday. We went to Columbus Circle and did the purchase, and then grabbed our lunch. He dropped me off at my place uptown a little after 3PM. I have to tell you, I never eat lunch at work because I am so busy so it was nice to have lunch.

I sat at home, on the couch from 4 till I went to bed around 11:30. I got up, got to work today, and this is what I am doing after teaching my 612 Special Ed kids math this morning. It is about time for lunch so I have to run and do lunch duty. It as nice catching up with my blog. I promise to make at least one entry a week this year!

Happy 2010!

Facebook Did It...

2009-12-13T11:36:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine asked why I don't blog anymore....

I thought about it and I guess the answer is FACEBOOK. I do status updates constantly, so those are like micro blogs I guess.

Ok...

Catching up on my life..

SINGLE (the Greek and I ended about 10 months ago, and honestly, I just haven't felt like getting back in the game.) I have had random hookups here and there, but honestly, not like I used to. I used to be pretty much free and easy, but since the Greek, and being committed for more than six months, the idea of hooking up just doesn't appeal to me that much. I admit, I do it from time to time, but it is few and far between these days. I don't go to clubs or to "gay" things, so I don't meet a lot of men... but even without one, I am pretty happy for the most part.

HEALTH - good! The doctor said that even though my blood work is good, my cholesterol is a little odd. I am in the healthy ranges, but the RATIO of good to bad is off. So, even though I am in the OK range, he wants me to work on getting the RATIO of good to bad better. I have taken to eating either Instant Oatmeal or Quaker Oatmeal Squares for breakfast and have limited my intake of fried food to treats once or twice a week. I have also tried to limit my red meat. But other than that, I am not taking drastic measures (yet). We will see how the blood work comes back after my checkup in January.

FINANCE- not bad! I have been running a balance on my credit card ever since Summer. I spent too much money over the summer and I just haven't caught up. Mind you, over the next few months that will take care of itself. I have been paying $400 a month on the trip to Paris/Barcelona that mom and I are taking with my school for Spring Break. It is $2400 a piece and I have just 2 more payments and it is done. I also bought myself a new laptop and mom a new desktop over summer. I did that on 6 months interest free and I am making my last payment on that THIS MONTH! So that will be an extra $300 a month to pay off my credit card. Don't feel bad for me, if I wanted to, I could just pull my money out of savings, which I have managed to do even with the recession. I put half of my "over time per session" money paychecks into savings no matter. Also, I think I am the only person who looks forward to Tax Season because I have an excellent tax guy and I get good refunds!

I resigned my lease on my apartment for two more years this summer. They wanted to raise me up to $1180 but I talked them down to $1070 so that is good too! So my rent only went from $1033 up to $1070 for two years. Since I have been here in 2005 my rent has gone from $975 up to $1070... Not even $100 bucks, so I can't complain to much. I have noticed an increase in how much power cost (thanks Con Ed) and my cable/Internet (Time Warner), but let's not talk about that.

FRIENDS - I have reconnected with some friends back in Orlando and for the first time in a long time, I miss Orlando. I will admit that I have made a few friends in NYC, but I don't have FRIENDS like I had back in Orlando. People in NYC are way to worried about themselves and too busy for anyone else on a deep level. Still, I am lucky. I have a few close friends who I can count on. I don't see them a lot because people in NYC don't always live so close. Sean lives in Central Brooklyn, DJ lives in the Bronx, Wanda lives on the LES, Bobby lives in Queens, Christine lives in Queens, Elaine lives in the Bronx, Ramon lives in NJ, Mary Anne lives in on the UWS, but works downtown and is expecting a baby, Melody lives in Brooklyn, and Amanda lives close, but again.. we are all busy and it is just hard to hang out... And honestly, half the time when I am done with work, I just want to go home and chill.

Not to mention, NYC is a very transient town. Michael who was one of my best friends moved to Mexico to teach for a year. Karen moved to CA to get her Doctorate. I think the surest way to get someone to move across the country is to become best friends with them. Heck, while dating the Greek he moved out of his place on 178th down to 150th... I should take the hint huh...

WORK - This has been the biggest change. The year started off rocky to say the least. KIPP HS moved in and displaced a bunch of people, me being one. I have finally settled into an office on the first floor with Ramon as my office mate. SO MUCH BETTER than the hell of sharing with Karen last year. She hated me and made no attempts to talk to me or be nice. I finally gave up trying and just did my thing. This year started with me teaching two math classes, 610 (a CTT class) and 612 (a special ed 12:1:1 class). I am not licenses for either of them, but math is math and kids are kids so I did it. Well, due to a shortfall in enrollment, 603 and 610 merged and I lost them to the other math teacher who was teaching 603. So I was doing just the one math class (12:1:1) which had kids doing Pre-K up to 6th grade work.

A few weeks ago, the Asst. Principal approached me to tell me that she was relieving the teacher of 610 of his teaching duties because he was just too sick and the kids needed more than he could give. She was going to give it to the pregnant teacher and Ramon would have to pick up one of her SS classes. Come February when she went out for maternity, I would take over the 610 ELA class and Ramon all of her SS classes. I said it didn't make sense for those kids to have 3 teachers this year, so I decided that I would take over the class now instead of in February. So, for the past two weeks I have been teaching 610 ELA for the CTT class and 612 Math for Special Ed.

The room I teach in was a dump. The teacher was real sick and had done nothing. In two weeks I have started to turn it around and it is looking good. The kids are starting to pick up the pace and work, but there are few kids who are way to used to doing nothing for 3 months. I will have to break them and break them fast! The room has a water leak and it drives my sinuses crazy, but I have asked for an air purifier. I think I will ask for a dehumidifier too! They are letting me buy a rug too for the room that they will pay for. Actually, they have been very generous to me for taking over the class.

I should say this too, I hope the teacher, Mr. B who I took over for, gets better real soon. He is only like 25 and has to have major surgery due to blood clots and such. It isn't good and we want him back. He is a great teacher and the kids miss him. They don't like that I have little patience when it comes to fooling around and my bar is set way high.

I have been working with the after school program Achieve Now on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I have split the Saturdays with Mr. Rivera. I also have been in my TAHG Cohort for the third and final year. They had me start a WIKI for the group and that will mean a little extra money for me at the end of the year in my stipend check. That keeps me busy once or twice a month on Saturdays and a random Tuesday or Thursday here and there. I was also in both the Elementary and Middle School American History Movie Clubs. They finished their run a couple weeks ago. Turns out I was the only person who wrote the lessons to go with the movies and I got a free copy of the School House Rocks DVD's and since they like me, they gave me the first season of TRUE BLOOD and a bottle of TRUE BLOOD too! I had a lot of fun with the Movie Club. We have had our first meeting for the TAH Book Club too. (Teaching American History). It was on Lincoln, and btw, I am totally convinced that Lincoln was gay. Also, I have been busy once a month with the Foundations of American Democracy Grant group and that has been fun too. Finally, I attend the monthly History Lectures hosted by the Content and Continuity section of another History Grant. They are usually at the Gotham Center and are really good. I have a lot of work friends who I see at these events so that is nice too.

Starting in mid-January for 7 or 8 Tuesdays stretching over 3 months I will be hauling my cookies to Long Island City to teach Science and Technology night classes at Court Square. It should be pretty easy, but I need to sit down, write my agendas and plan out the nights. It is for beginners so I have to scale back, give simple instructions and modeling, and give plenty of practice time. I am glad Christine trusts me enough to hire me over and over. She is funny, she sent me an email saying.. NEW SHOWS PAPA! That is what I used to say when she asked me to work Over Time... SURE! Papa needs new shoes!

WEIGHT - I have lost 8 pounds since Thanksgiving. I want to lose another 8 before returning to Orlando, but that means I have to really be present. I want to lose a lot more, but small goals seem to work better for me right now. I have joined PLANET FITNESS for a whopping $10 a month, but have not gone yet. I hope that I can start finding time in my daily schedule to go and just DO IT. I think my knee would feel better and I know I would feel better. Right now I am just using "LOSE IT" on my iPhone, keeping track of calories, and I have stopped drinking soda, accept for the occasional Ginger Ale. I will have to start going to the gym. That is actually on my "Secret List" of things.

OK, I really do have to get back to cleaning my apartment, but this has been a great way to pause and regroup before heading back to the very messy apartment. I have washed clothes, cleaned the bathroom and dusted. Now I have to finish cleaning the living room, vacuum, straighten the bedroom, swiffer wet mop the floors, take out trash and recycling, and then go mail some extra Christmas cards and deposit three checks! Woo! Then I get to come home and grade a huge stack of papers, make math lesson plans for the week, and get ready for DEXTER tonight. Man, it is only noon... I will be done by five.. bet!

Welcome Back

2009-09-25T08:28:00.002-04:00

Well, the school year is back with a bang...

I do mean bang too! We are sending blocks of ELA teachers out for four day trainings on a new program we will be starting called "SpringBoard" based on preparing students for the SAT's. It is by the College Board and seems to be a good fit for our school. This year it is completely "paid for" by the DOE, next year we have to eat the cost. We will see how far that goes!

I have been teaching my two classes a day, and covering for one of the ELA classes. So I have been teaching between 4-6 class periods a day, and with lunch and my prep, as you can see, not much free time to be had. Today I only teach 3 periods, but I have 6th Grade "Auditorium" period where we can either do a program, study hall, performance, whatever... (every Friday, 3rd) and I have a 6th Grade "GRADE LEVEL" meeting 4th period. Right now I am on Prep, then I have to do stuff for the ELA Department. Being a part time coach and part time teacher is HARD! I am tired all the time!

Anyway, the cops were up in the building yesterday. I haven't got the full details just yet, but one girl had a warrant because she was a runaway. In another situation, one kid was beating kids up due to a "intimation" thing for a gang. The cops too kids out in handcuffs. HOLLA!

Who know I was living in a Gangsta Paradise.

I had my first meeting for the 09-10 TAH Cohort last night in Park Slope. It was so hot and muggy out I hated it. I made my way all the way over by 4:10. After the 3 hours, I headed with this cute little black lady to the F train (She calls it the Stairway to Heaven stop) and took the F to Hoyt and then the A home. It only took an hour which was NICE!

I am dead tired. TIRED TIRED TIRED. I am glad it is a 3 day weekend.

1) Karen is coming in from Bermuda for one night and leaving tomorrow to go somewhere else in her one month all you can fly Jet Blue trip. She is staying with me and I don't know what we are doing.

2) I am going to the Farmer's Market tomorrow near my house and buying GOOD FOOD!

3) I MUST CLEAN MY ROOM this weekend.

4) I must grade papers and set up my "grade book" and do progress reports.

5) LESSON PLANS FOR THE WEEK!

That's my quick update! Holla atcha boy!!!

Lesson Learned

2009-07-07T22:18:00.005-04:00

This trip cost me too much! But it is a lesson learned...

My mom and I drove over on Sunday. We called them to meet us for lunch. The bill came and I planned on paying for me and mom but ended up paying for everyone. My brother looked at the bill and didn't offer any money. So that was my first $70 bucks spent.

They had already planned this great dinner, but mom stopped by the store and bought more of everything since they were not expecting us (more crab legs, more shrimp, more corn).

We went back to school shopping and somehow, I ended up buying not just the two outfits I had picked out for him, but the other outfits that were picked out as well. His mom said she would pay me back since she didn't have a Macy's card. So $$180 bucks at Macy's and another $90 at The Gap and my nephew had back to school clothes.. ON ME!

I left when we were shopping for shoes because if I had not, I would have ended up buying those as well.

I ended up buying him two Wii games as well (another $75).

I also bought myself two shirts at Macy's ($80), two pair of shoes at Finishline ($85), two more pair on finishline.com ($75), and one game at Gamestop for Wii ($50).

Mom has bought lunch the last two days and I bought dinner last night. Tonight my sister n law stopped by KFC and picked up a bucket of chicken (I think 8 pieces mixed) with two sides and 4 biscuits which I think was on sale for $12.99 or so. Mom tried to give her the money for it but she wouldn't take it, since my mom has paid for so much since we have been down.

70 80
190 85
90 75
75 50
20
----- ------
$430 $310

In the past 3 days I have spent almost $750 dollars. I am sorta trying to figure out why I bought my nephews school clothes. If I hadn't, my mom would have and she can't afford it with my dad losing his job over a year ago. They are living on just her salary.

Oh well, lesson finally learned. I am completely scaling back when it comes to spending on the family. I over spent on Christmas as well. I think I need to start spending what people spend on me or learn to let it go and not get upset about it. This Christmas I am going to ask people who much they want to spend on each other and leave it at that. That way I know what to expect.

OMG, I just realized that I have been in Florida for under a week and have already spent $1000 dollars... I forgot about the $110 I spent on books for my mom and myself at Barns and Nobles...and another $350 if you consider the flight and taxi. WOW! Going home is supposed to be a cheap vacation....

Tuesday in the City

2009-06-23T12:44:00.002-04:00

Well well well....

This week is going by fast....

Today I have moved 2/3 of my office from the third floor to the closet on the first floor....
I am not moving my desk or my fridge or my cabinet quite yet..
All the materials though.. GONE!

I met with the sixth grade team to discuss next years roll out....

I met with the principal, math coach, and LSO leader about this and that...
and now I am taking another load to my locked closet from way back when...

Tomorrow I will then come upstairs and tackle my bookcase! I am tossing crap! I just don't have the energy for it... TOSS TOSS TOSS!

I will ask the custodians to move my table and cabinet on Friday.

Then... I will make the most of the 5-6 days before I head to Florida for vacation to REALLY clean my apartment... get rid of extra clothes... and CLEAN. I can't wait to come back from vacation to a CLEAN and ORGANIZED apartment... that is fun!

Ok, off to take another load down...

FUN FUN!

Bobby

Hit the Ground Running

2009-06-22T13:55:00.003-04:00

Today was kinda fun....

I went and met with all the 6th graders, who are now "sitting" in their 7th grade class for next year for the next two days.

I gave them their summer reading packet, assignment, and MY expectations for them next year.

I put it all on the line and I think they believed me.

Good Times!

Weekend Fun

2009-06-22T10:20:00.002-04:00

Saturday was pretty cool! I went to bed Friday at like 730PM. I was so tired from only get 4 hours sleep the night before, my body just gave out! I got up Saturday at 530AM and watched TV in bed until 630. The digital converter box that I got for like $20 bucks (after a government funded $40 off) allows me to watch tv in the bedroom now.

I got up, washed clothes, had some breakfast (Ritz crackers and iced tea) and watched stuff on my DVR. At 10:15 my principal picked me up, drove me the 11 minutes into the Bronx to FedEx where I picked up my brand new 32G White iPhone 3GS. By 10:50 we were back at my place and I was upstairs playing with my new phone. By 1 I had it all set up and I was back in business.

I walked to McDonald's for lunch and got a quarter pounder and fries and sweet iced tea. For dinner I grilled a nice rib eye on the stove. I went to bed around 10PM feeling accomplished and happy.

Sunday was fun! After calling and wishing my dad a Happy Father's Day, I headed out to meet Melody for a movie and brunch. We met at 42nd Street at the Regal and watched "The Proposal" which was SO GOOD! GO see it! After that we walked down to 10th Ave and 39th and had brunch at HK. I had the Eggs Benedict and she ahd eggs and spinach on a croissant. We also got the all you could drink special which meant for an extra $15 bucks, unlimited brunch drinks. I think I had 5 bellinis.

I got off the train around 530 back uptown. I called and ordered an Italian pizza and calamari from Il Sole as I went to pick up some basics at the grocery. I got my two small bags of stuff, dropped in on Il Sole to get my dinner, and was home before 6PM.

I watched TV, hung out, and was in bed by 10PM again. Bellinis and a half a calm pill really make for an easy and restful sleep. I slept until my alarm went off at 615AM. I didn't wake up ONE TIME! I usually toss and turn all night.. not last night! I slept!

Today is already muggy and is expected to go up to 80. It is still damp and rainy, but today the heat comes too. Ok, I have to run. I have to go cover some classes.

The Week Goes By....

2009-06-20T08:00:00.002-04:00

I am feeling the need to do a quick "update" while my clothes are in the dryer..

Work has been busy with a lot of "getting ready for next year" business for me... funny considering that I have NO idea what I am really doing next year... the budget was cut from 7 million dollars to 5 million dollars, and we are gaining almost 150 students.. more students with LESS $! Welcome to a recession in NYC. Don't forget, I have been working hard for the past two years as Literacy Coach.. and in doing that, I have gotten our school to make AYP for the first time in over 7 years... so we lost the "extra" money we got for being a school in need... CRAZY!

Saturday was my last day of "Saturday" work for the year. I don't mind Saturday work because I get paid for it, and it is actually time to work and not be disturbed by coverages, teachers, administration needing this and that... it is honest WORK time.

Monday we were supposed to go to a high school in the Bronx to view their Portfolio Day. We were supposed to view the 11th graders to get ideas of what to bring back for our 8th graders. We got there (the math coach and I) to find out that we were not "watching", but they wanted us to be panel members and do interviews based on the portfolios. These interviews were supposed to simulate a college admissions interview. That wasn't what we thought so we gave our apologies and headed back to West Harlem. I was not feeling well at all, so interviewing kids I didn't know was not an option for me. After a lunch that I didn't get to have we had an ADVISOR/ADVISORY workshop. We are starting this for 6th grade next year, trying to work on behavior and emotions from a more proactive point of view.

Tuesday I went to a training downtown hosted by the DOE with Karen Caine. It was how to write a curriculum map for ELA for the year. It was downtown at St. Johns which is always fun. I LOVE the construction workers downtown. For lunch I went walking around and ended up at Whole Foods which is lunchtime hottie fest! I got all sorts of phone calls from people at work. I guess I was out the day that things hit the fan. People were getting excessed, people were being bitchy... and for once, I was not in the mix.

Wednesday I had to be at work at 7AM for a meeting. Then the day was pretty normal. I got the summer school reading lists complete, a letter to the schools written (great letter btw) and met with the AP. The afternoon was spent typing lists up for next years 7th and 8th grades. The person who started was doing first name then last... and the list was out of order, so I had to retype last name first and then sort. They had kids in multiple classes... it was a pain. I left at 3:30 and headed downtown to 19th and 10th Ave for a 3 hour seminar hosted by McGraw Hill and the DOE. Kevin Colleary is a professor at Hunter College and his lecture was amazing. He talked about the loss of CONTENT in schools preparing students for testing. He talked about building comprehension through vocabulary, context, and most important CONTENT. He was really good, and kinda cute! The best part, McGraw Hill sponsored so we had a buffet dinner, wine, and dessert. Was very nice! In fact, they held the meeting at Moran's Restaurant. It is located downtown and when you walk out, you see the High Line they turned into a park. They used to have a raised train track that was just sitting.. the city made it a raised HIGH LINE park which is awesome. Nice to look up and see green and people walking over the city.

Thursday was a LONG day. I did some work in the morning and then around 10 we left for 8th grade graduation. We traveled to Lehman College in the Bronx. We were having like our 11th day straight of moderate constant rain. The kids starting arriving and it was nice to see my former 6th graders all dressed up and ready to graduate. I went as official photographer.

The ceremony started at noon and yes, there were still students late, even though they were told to be there by 11. I have to tell you, it was nice, but it was the LONGEST DAMN GRADUATION I have ever been to. I don't know if it is growing up in Orlando, but I felt like this was a lot of stupid for graduating 8th grade. I think that we need to change the way that students think about finishing middle school. They shouldn't "graduate" until they are done with school. 12th grade is graduation... not pre-school, not 5th grade... not 8th... It is High School and college.

Afterward I went out to lunch with the people I drove with (Mr. Abreu, Ms. Menon(science), Mrs. Jean (principal)). We went to some latin place in the Bronx. It was ok, but not my thing. The best part was that my boss paid for lunch. I paid for the tip though!

Back at school, I worked with the math coach for an hour on class lists. Afterward the group went to our LAST meeting at McKinsey and Company. We had our last meeting and it started with an OK dinner. I enjoyed the wheat berry Salad and the wine. I was FINALLY starting to feel better. The antibiotics I started on Monday were kicking in. That means I was also being a little more mouthy than normal after weeks and weeks of suffering from allergies and sinus crap. I did get to know one of the McKinsey people that night. We sat together and talked all night. It wasn't someone I had talked to hardly at all the entire 6 months. The guy I started the year off flirting with I ended the 6 months not very interested in. In fact, when he would come over to talk, I just sorta smiled and didn't buy into it. Michael on the other hand is a married guy who has a dry sense of humor and we talked all night. Arpit is another guy I talked to a lot who is actually leaving the firm to go to Law School at Yale. We promised to stay in touch, but you never know. I will email him this week with my regular email if he wants to stay in touch. I got home around 10 that night after a long day!!!

Friday I woke up feeling GREAT! I bopped into work and was in a good mood. Heck, I had a coverage third period with 7th graders and I didn't even care. I played chess with them and worked on keeping them CONTAINED and in one room. It was a fun period actually! I then went downstairs to find out a bunch of gossip. There is a STRONG possibility I will not be teaching Honors World History to one class next year, but will be teaching a full program of ELA and being a grade leader next year. Then I heard that I might teach ONE ELA class (10 periods) and then be Lit Coach and Grade Leader. I have a feeling I will be working way hard next year. There just isn't any money in the budget and we all have to pull together. I am just happy to have a job and have a great boss.

At 11:30 the parent coordinator picked me and the UFT rep up and we headed to the district 5 office for a "Father's Day Luncheon". I know, I am not a father, but they are thinking more that in District 5, men in education are surrogate fathers and we are needed and "THANKED". It was a good luncheon. We played games, danced, and ate. It was down home Harlem food. We got back to work around 2 and I had tons to do. I wanted to go home because my new 32G white iPhone was being delivered. I finally left work at 4:30 after running 500 copies of the summer assignment and 240 7th grade reading list packets (3 pages front and back, stapled) and 275 8th grade reading list packets. My boss gave me a ride home which is always nice. It is our little time to talk.

My cell phone came, and left! Because I was not here, Fed Ex took it back. I called and they don't deliver on Saturdays so I could pick it up (IN THE BRONX), or wait until Monday. I was online looking at bus and subway routes and getting psyched up to take the hour trip to the south bronx to pick up my iphone (after 6 when it was back in the building) when my boss called to ask how I liked my phone. I told her the story and she said... "I am going to be in the city tomorrow, I will take you to get it in the Bronx..." That is the type of boss I have. So she is picking me up Saturday at 11 to take me to the South Bronx to get my phone. I LOVE HER!

I didn't sleep well Thursday to Friday.. I mean, the last time I saw my clock was after 2AM and I woke up at 6AM. Well, Friday night after getting the news about my trip to the Bronx, I relaxed... and by 7PM I was in bed!

I woke up today at 6AM when my alarm went off. I was actually already awake in bed and watching a little tv. I got up around 630, washed two loads of clothes too. I have washed dishes, and I am finishing uploading like 350 pictures on Facebook. I am getting my new iPhone today, and hopefully meeting up with a friend for lunch and a movie. WHO KNOWS! Oh, we are expecting rain again this afternoon turning into heavy thunderstorms tonight. We will have rain all week. The good news - it has been a NO AC summer so far!

Thursday in the City

2009-06-11T16:50:00.002-04:00

Ok, I am going to say it....

I have been doing a lot of coverages and at the onset, that usually upsets me.. but today I just came into work realizing that we have just two weeks left really.. I can do anything for two weeks...

Today I still feel crappy.. NOT SO SICK I need to stay home, but NOT WELL ENOUGH that I feel good. My throat is sore, my head hurts... I know it is allergies, but come on... something has to give! All the rain might be causing some mold/mildew type stuff that just isn't sitting well with me and my body.

I finished the June newsletter yesterday. I started it on Monday putting it together 2 period here, 1 period there... gathering story ideas, typing, editing, taking pictures..... My boss told me that I had to done each month next year... and I said (yes, my committee I started with turned into me, and we have done one since April.... April, May, June... They are quite nice actually! I wish we could do them in color. So yesterday I finished, then spent most of the day in the copy room running 650 copies on 11 x 17 and then turning it over and running the other side. Quite a process actually. Then I had a letter that President Obama sent to the kids after we sent him 650 letters after his inauguration. I did it front and back on mint green as an INSERT with his autographed photo on the other side. Very nice!

Today I worked with the 6th graders upstairs and it made me MISS teaching. I am really excited about teaching 6th grade SS next year, even if it is just one class a day. I will teaching the honors SS for 6th grade - 5 periods a week. I will running meetings 2 periods a week. I will be coaching 12 periods a week. I will be doing administrative work 6 periods a week. That is 25 periods right. That is what my life is going to be like it seems. I think It will be more like 5 periods teaching, 5 periods for lunch, 7 periods prepping, meetings 3 periods, coaching 14, and admin 6 for a total of my 40 total for the week. I will just remember (In at 8, out at 3)!

I still have not heard about Summer School. I think it is going to be a NO! I just have a feeling. I am actually not real upset about it because I am TIRED! I have a paid workshop on August 18 and 19th and I am teaching the day 3 of it. I also have to come back into work 3 days early which means I come back August 31st for a coaches retreat on August 31-Sept 2, and we have pre-planning on Sept 3 and 4th. I will also be doing SpringBoard training this summer for an ELA program that is coming in.

I DID IT! I went and pre-ordered my WHITE 32G iPhone 3GS. 2 times faster than the 3G. Twice as much storage as the 3G. But the great part is, I still have the 2G, the original iPhone. I have 8G and slow speeds (unless on a server). Now, I will have super fast speed, enough storage to hold my music and movies. It shoots video, has a 3MP camera that has autofocus, it has a screen that is smudge resistant, has MMS and video messaging.. all sorts of stuff. It cost $299 but with all I have been doing this year, it was my splurge. Well, my splurge is taking Mom and myself to Paris and Barcelona next spring break, but that gets charged to my visa each month, so it doesn't hurt when it is $400 a month as opposed to $4000 in one chunck. Mom sent me an email today that she wants to go on a cruise. With no summer school, I will be able to do that. I might be able to go spend a week in PR at Mr. Burgos house too!

One thing is for sure - NEXT YEAR will be a lean year in the city for budgets, which means any per session offered, TAKE IT. There will not be extra!

Ok, I am going to change my shirt, put on a tie, and head downstairs to take pictures of the kids as they come in for PROM. I am not staying late because I feel like crap, but I want to see my babies!

I'M TIRED!

2009-06-08T09:07:00.003-04:00

Wednesday I had to go to Brooklyn after work for the last meeting of the Teaching American History Grant Cohort group. I got off the train at 4PM at Brooklyn Museum. I took some pictures around the exterior and inside of interesting things (mostly boys). I walked around back to the educator entrance and went to sign in. The meeting wasn't there... Oh crap! I jumped on the subway and headed 3-4 stops to downtown Brooklyn and hurried over to Brooklyn Historical Society.

We took our end of the year test, ate, had a lecture, and finished by "rapping" or in my case singing a song about the year. I did a satire of "Proud Mary" called "Rolling Cross the East River" since I constantly have to go to Brooklyn for the meetings. I went first and tore it up! No one wanted to follow me. EY told me that I should have gone last... and I knew it. I had the whole group clapping and my table of girls doing the backup and Tina dancing.. it was hot! Very comical and very entertaining.

Upon leaving we got two more bags of resources, including bound copies of lesson plans. We had to turn in 8 for the cohort. People are lucky if they get 1 published. People told me last year that they did all of them and didn't get published. They only put the very best in. I got two published in the Elem/Middle School section. WOO HOO! I also received a stipend check for $1000 for all the weekend, after school, and other events I attended as part of it. Next year they are increasing the stipend to $1200 dollars. I also got a $100 check for being a judge at History Day. I would have done it for free, but thanks! When I went home I went right to the ATM and deposited three checks... $1000, $100, and $10. It was cute $1110!

Thursday I had to go across town to MCNY for the last meeting of the Foundations of American Democracy cohort. We took our post test for the year and did our evaluations. We had dinner and were given resources that we found and created. She had people share their documents and lesson. My documents were of children working in factories in 1910... IN SOUTH CAROLINA. I also found a song about Factory Children. It was a nice night. We have a 2 day summer workshop at ELLIS ISLAND in mid August. I am very excited about that!

Friday I was at Penn Station at 7:30 waiting for the 8th graders and teachers to arrive from the school. It was just easier for me to meet there since Penn Station is a straight shot on the A line. They got there, and at 8AM we were being loaded onto the Amtrak train and by 8:10 we were off to Philly.

A short train ride later and we were there! It was a cold rainy day. 58-60 with light steady rain. First thing we did was go to The US Mint. I stayed outside with umbrellas and cell phones since cell phones are not allowed. The bag was SO heavy from all the electronics. I was amazed how many of these kids had not just one, but multiple devices.

Next we walked to the bus stop and waited forever for the bus. We decided to walk the 8 blocks in the rain to get the FAMOUS Jim's Philly Cheese Steaks on 4th and South Street. We found out that they didn't take credit cards, and my principal, unwilling to use the ATM at the place decided her and I would go look for a bank. We walked a few blocks and found one. We came back in time to put in our order and pay the $180 bill for lunch.

Afterward we walked to the bus stop. While waiting we went into this famous hat shop. My boss bought a nice maroon and pink hat, and I bought one of those hats that Brad Pitt and Guy Richie wear all the time by Kangaroo Hats. Mine is light blue with a blue argyle stitch down the side. Very nice and only $48 bucks! We jumped on the bus and made it back to Market Street. We walked down to the Visitor's Center where the kids had 45 minutes to explore, see a movie, and shop. I did some shopping myself! My boss' son goes to Temple, so he came over and said hello.

We got on the Duck Boat (Quack Tour) of the city. It is a boat/vehicle that takes you around Philly, goes into the Delaware River, and back around the city while telling you the sights, sounds, and history of the city. Great fun! They played music, I had the crowd going! I was leading the YMCA, dancing about. There are actually videos that I am sure will be on YouTube soon!

After that we went back to the visitor's center to use the bathroom before returning to the train station to head back to NYC. We had dinner at the station. The kids opted for McDonald's. I had this Southern Food from one place. I had fried catfish, greens, mac n cheese, and sweet iced tea. For dessert I got Ben and Jerry's. SPOILED I AM! While eating, Sean McKean who we used to work with walked up. He was in Philly for business and we chatted until his 5:10 train left. Our train was at 5:45.

We got back into the city around 7:45, and I got home at 8:30PM.

Saturday I had to work from 8:30 - 1:30. It was hard to get up and going... I was tired!
I had made plans to hang out with Michael Saturday afternoon, and was seriously hoping he would cancel on me. He didn't!

I got on the bus at 1:45ish and headed downtown to meet him. The bus let me off at 42nd and 9th at 2:20ish and I found him around 2:30ish. We decided to go right into see "Drag Me to Hell" even though I was starving. I got nachos and a icee, he got popcorn, and off we went. The movie was predictable but good. He was laughing how I could predict dialogue and actions. It was still good.

We then walked from 8th Ave all the way down to the water. We ended up playing 3 games of bowling at LUCKY STRIKE. It was SO MUCH FUN! We also had a few drinks. Michael had beer, I had two French Martinis. Game one - 119 to 113 in my favor. Game two - 101 to 104 in his favor. Game three - 153 to 113 in my favor. Best two out of three and I won (373 to 330). The guy working the desk caught me a couple times dancing to Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and Britney Spear's "Piece of Me". He was very flirty with both Michael and me. I think he wanted a 3 way.

In fact, that seemed to be how the day went. All the boys must have been horny because Michael and I were getting smiles and stares and "hey fellas" from quite a few people. We walked over to the Intrepid and took pictures and boy watched. It was FUN! We then walked over to 48th and 9th and had a great Dinner at Delta. Michael ordered "Deep Fried Cheese Grits" and some Chicken/Sausage Jambalaya. I had the Popcorn Crawfish and a Fried Shrimp Po Boy (which became lunch on Sunday!).

We ate so much that afterward we walked from 28th and 9th down to 14th and 8th. Boys all over the place. Amazing looking boys too! We got lots of smiles. One guy was walking by after I took a picture of the Empire State Building. I showed it to Michael and said.. look, it is BU T FUL very exaggerated. The guy laughed and said "Hey Boys"... He was SO good looking. He turned and looked back as he crossed the street to see me turning and looking. After about 4 look backs he waved and I did. Had I not been with Michael, it would have been SEX IN THE CITY for sure! That is what I love about this city. You can literally get cruised walking around and within minutes be having hot anonymous sex. I LOVE NEW YORK!

I got home around 10:30 and was exhausted! Two days of being out and about and running around was hard on my old man body!

Sunday I slept until late. I woke up and my knee was so stiff I could barely walk. I did a lot of Advil and ice most of the day. I cleaned my bedroom because all the clutter was getting to me. I think I might have outgrown my apartment. I need to do something because the clothes, books, etc are piling up and I don't want to be one of those old men who can't walk around his apartment due to clutter. I guess I shouldn't have spent $92 bucks online at Old Navy buying new summer t-shirts and a bathing suit, not to mention a light hoodie zipper jacket that were insanely cheap (off season, but red is always in style!).

My knee feels better today, but still stiff. I am running a little fever too. I think I either have an ear infection or sinus infection or something. My throat is raw (probably from sinus drip). 14 more days after today. I CAN DO IT!

Wednesday Blahs

2009-06-03T13:31:00.004-04:00

Today is dreary out... again... You think Spring/Summer is here.. and then you get a gray rainy day and you just feel the blahs take over again...

I had to cover a special ed class today for 3rd and 4th period. It was SO nice just having 12 students. The one kid who I was working with (one on one) is usually the "in trouble" kid. The paraprofessional read the paper and played on the computer. I had the kids do a writing assignment with illustrations. We came up with a word bank, talked about what made a good paragraph, and then went to work. I made all of them stand up and share their work. They worked really hard. Maybe I could teach Special Ed after all.

I found out next year from the start of school until the end of October I will be working with a small group of 8th graders "cramming" for the specialized high school test. We want our "best" to make it into the "best" schools. I will be doing ELA stuff with them. We will basically be doing a crash course that is set up like an SAT or GRE review course. Lots of vocabulary, lots of breaking down reading, and lots of tight writing.

Next year is still up in the air for so much. The system is screwing over our new principal. KIPP High School is taking over our third floor for "ONE YEAR" and now they are trying to take over more room. It is wrong! I hope she fights. If not, I have a feeling they will take over more and more until I will be looking for a job elsewhere!

I have to go to Brooklyn today from 4:15-6:45 for the Share Fair night for the American History Cohort. It is the final night and we share and celebrate. We had to write a "rap" about the year since one of our trainings was sponsored by HISTORY RAPS. I didn't do a wrap, but I wrote a song to the tune of "PROUD MARY" and I think it is good.

I am tired and I am itching like crazy. I wish I had a benadryl. Ok, I have to run downstairs to find out what the meeting was about. Oh, I just got an email from the Mayor's photographer.

June Already.. Dang!

2009-06-02T09:14:00.002-04:00

Ok, I am just going to say it...

For the last two mornings I have stopped by the deli I frequent to get my breakfast. The regular short order guy has been gone. So I have been getting a fresh croissant. I love putting in the microwave and letting it heat for just 20 seconds. It gets very dense and when I pull it apart it releases steam and my fingers are covered with the slippery rich remains of butter.

My breakfast was divine, and I washed it down with Spring Water. I am going to try and remain soda free for June.

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. There are just 18 days of school left.

I just got back from the 7th grade fashion show. The kids will be wearing Khaki pants with a choice of five different polo shirts. The choices were Kelly Green, Royal Blue, Maroon, Navy Blue, and Black. I have a feeling the 7th graders (next year's 8th) will pick either Black or Navy. The current sixth graders will get a fashion show tomorrow and will get to decide on which color will be the 7th grade color for next year from the remaining four. The sixth grade for next year will get the color that is picked by the principal. I am hoping 6th grade gets either Royal Blue or Navy.

I have to cover three classes today, one 3rd, one 4th, and one 5th periods. YUK!

I am ready for summer, that is for sure!

Eb and Flow - today is better...

2009-05-28T12:16:00.009-04:00

Yesterday was an OK day. I spent three periods covering an 8th grade class, which turned into four because I didn't want to leave. A lot of the kids in the class are from my 6th grade. I enjoyed talking to them and just being around them. We also watched Hairspray so that was fun too!

I had a not so fun meeting with a group of parents and saw the ugly side of education. Parents think they are protecting their children, when really they are just enabling them. I had that moment yesterday when I thought about walking away from it and starting fresh someplace else. The timing isn't good with the economy the way it is, so the thought came and went. And then the anger came in and I thought, "One bad day is not going to ruin my love for teaching and this school that I so affectionately have nicknamed The Pride of West Harlem" I just wont let it.

I have to say, I am tired of being sick and tired. My allergies are just acting up like crazy. I think the sinus medicine is keeping me tired. My sleep patterns are way off. I just don't know how much more of this I can take. I haven't heard back about teaching summer school, so I am sorta kinda hoping I don't get it. I have also not heard back from my leasing company about either NOT raising my rent or letting out of my lease early so I can move. I think it is RUDE to increase the rent by $80 bucks during a recession, especially for a tenant who is good.

We had a Bridal Shower today for one of the science teachers. She hasn't made a big deal about it. My big contribution was the fresh flowers. I went and got some red carnations and some white with red veined carnations. So cute! They had music, food, drinks, and gifts.. it was nice!

Ok, I have to get back to work. My lunch break is just about done. Talk to you soon!

2009-05-27T08:10:00.003-04:00

Although you might feel the magical pull into other dimensions today, your dreams hide just beyond the reach of your senses. They are like music drifting over the hills; the song is familiar and comforting, but you cannot quite hear it clearly enough to know what it is. You could make yourself frustrated by grasping for the satisfaction of learning the truth. It's wiser to simply smile, knowing that the magic is out there.

So that is what my horoscope says today..... not sure what to make of it, but then again, it is just a bunch of words right...

This Memorial Day weekend was very very relaxing. It was the first year I didn't get invited to a cookout or something. Hmmm, maybe I need to make new friends or get a more exciting life. Actually, three days of ALONE time was nice. I rested A LOT. I did what I wanted to do. I went to the Farmer's Market. I went shopping. I cooked! It was nice.

I have to say, it is the end of May and still no AC! I usually make it to right around Memorial Day and then it comes on. This year it has been very nice actually.

Yesterday was Tuesday and the coaches and the principal met at PACE UNIVERSITY CONVENTION CENTER downtown off the Broadway/Nassua stop. We had a day of planning. One of the coaches (Ms. Bunbury) showed up because she was a coach. The principal got there and told her she could go back to school, she wasn't a coach, she was a staff developer. I thought that was very rude, but whatever.

The day was pretty much a waste. I did see exactly the pecking order at the school, and quite honestly, I am not as high at the top as I thought. It was pretty telling that the principal and the math coach came in together, sat together, and met over the weekend together. I saw a piece of paper that she had written proposed jobs for the future and his name was down for the Math/Science/Data AP.

Her plans for the future seem to have him moving up, and me doing the same job, but adding two more things to it. I would be coach for 6th and 7th and then also be a team leader for 6th grade and teach one class. YES, that is three jobs! I sorta stopped the flow and said, "But I asked to be a classroom teacher next year..." and everyone's face dropped. I am NOT going to do more than my fair share anymore, especially when I am getting paid the same as a teacher. Heck, put me back in the classroom full time. I know that way I only have 25 working periods and five "other" periods. I would for sure have 5 prep periods and 5 lunch periods. Now, I get what I get when I get it. I am being pulled daily to do coverages. If I were a teacher, they would be PAID. As a coach, not so much.

Oh, did I tell you that yesterday the high was like 60 degrees. I had to wear a light jacket at the end of May.

Ok, I have to cover 801 today from 2-4 periods. FUN! The math coach is covering a 7th grade math class JUST second. We are both on the same stream that created the interviews today, but I am less important it seems, so I will cover for three periods and he will cover for one. That is fair! I need to get back to my thinking.. IN at 8... OUT at 3!

The Upset Heard Round the World

2009-05-21T08:03:00.003-04:00

Ok.... So about half way through American Idol this season, something started happening to me. One, I got tired of all the judges just giving the show to Adam Lambert. Two, what I once thought was talent started to become annoying. I mean, it seemed that all his songs sounded exactly alike. More than that, his clothes got more and more bizarre as the show went along. I liked his Elvis look that one night, but other than that, I think the stuff he wore made him look wide, fat, draggish, or just plain odd.

What really got me going was how he would "scream" in all his songs, to the point that a few weeks ago, Danny Gookey felt it necessary to SCREAM in one of his rock songs to try and compete. I love that Kris Allen just sang his songs. Sometimes he sounded retro, sometimes like a pop star, and sometimes like an adult contemporary star.

I said this half way through... and again as it got closer... Kris Allen is commercial, Adam Lambert is Rocky Horror Picture Show. You notice they only show Rocky Horror at theaters at Midnight. It says a lot! Who are the current big artist touring and making happy songs.. John Mayer and Jason Mraz. That sound is selling right now and that is why Kris Allen won.

The judges looked shocked last night. Kris looked shocked. In fact, if you watch the show, the entire show last night was meant to be a CROWNING of the Glam Rock Gods... A full blow medley of KISS songs with pyrotechnics and a nice solo at the beginning. The final song was a big "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS" Freddy Mercury song which Adam Lambert was compared to. Even in the final Ford commercial, Kris was singing more back up to Adam.

Why did they seem so shocked. It was reported several times that Adam Lambert was outselling Kris Allen on Itunes. Adam was only in the bottom three one time. They thought he was a lock. What they forgot was the voting demographic. When Danny Gookey was out, who did his millions of votes go for... well, obviously Kris Allen. And after the show on Tuesday, I felt compelled to vote for the first time all season because the judges were telling Kris.. "Well, you should be proud you came this far..." and telling Adam... "We have found the winner.. no need for tallying the votes..." I don't think so.. I voted 3 times for Kris.. and I had never voted before. I didn't like the way the judges and producers were crowning a champ already. I am sure other people felt the same way.

ALSO... ALSO... Stop blaming Middle America for the vote and saying they didn't want Adam Lambert because he was gay. The outside of America has a denser population and thusly should be able to vote more. I have also heard that FOX is a republican run studio and would never let a gay win. Trust me, if it will make them money, they will let anyone win. This wasn't about gay/straight.. it was about who people liked and voted for. The little teen girls who voted for Kris would stay up all night and vote. The Glam Rockers who voted for Adam would vote on the way to the bar. It is just who is voting....

I will say this, this season the only itunes download of AI was for Kris Allen. Three different songs! He has a purity of heart and life that is refreshing. Adam is talented. I won't take that away from him. He can PERFORM. He will do well on Broadway and with his niche crowd. I don't think we have found the next superstar. If we had, we would have seen him long ago. I mean, Lady Gaga.. she never showed up on AI. Same with Jason Mraz and John Mayer. Talent rises to the top and you find them. American Idol finds talent and gives them a mic. Just remember.. Rueben Who? Fantasia What? So far the breakout stars of Idol have been Kelly Clarkson (who has already had a flop CD in her career) and Carrie Underwood who has done well in country. Clay Aiken has run his course. American Idol is about what American likes "AT THE MOMENT"... And America is a very fickle group!

Congrats to Kris Allen and to Adam Lambert. You will both do well and I had a good time this season, which is more than I can say for last! Btw.. did you know that about 130,000,000 people voted in the Obama vs. McCain election last year. Just under 100,000,000 voted for American Idol this week. Kinda scary that almost as many votes were cast for a TV show as a Presidential Election. EEK!

May 20th... Where has the Time Gone

2009-05-20T14:16:00.011-04:00

So much has gone by since I last updated my blog....

My first trip to Washington DC. Even though I went with 8th graders, it was still fun to take the Amtrak from Penn Station down to DC for the day. Left at 6:30 AM, got back at 10:30PM. Was nice to get home and have my mom visiting for a few days from Orlando.

Mom stayed for 4 or 5 days. It was a nice trip. She got to meet one of my friends DJ. We went to brunch at Tavern on the Green. I took her to see a live taping of Martha Stewart. We did a little of this and a little of that. We mostly just hung out and enjoyed being with each other.

I did a 3 day Spring Training on Civil Rights. Not only did I have a great time, heard a great speaker, took part in two break out sessions, got free breakfast and lunch, not to mention tons of books and supplies, I also got paid 15 hours of per session for it. I wrote a great lesson on using Songs and Primary Documents to teach Women's Suffrage.

We had Quality Review. The District 5 Superintendent did the QR and she was a hard nut to crack. What we thought was a WELL DEVELOPED, she said was a HIGHLY PROFICIENT with areas of Well Developed.

Test scores for ELA came back. We had great growth last year, my first year as Literacy Coach. This year, my second year we had even more growth. The school as a whole improved by 16%. Our sixth grade went up 26%. Our seventh grade went up 8%. Our eighth grade went up 17%. 97% of our school is now scoring a level 2, 3, or 4. We have level 4's for the first time ever at our school. We have 51% scoring level 3 or 4. More than half of our students are at standard or higher. That is great! My hard work, all the nagging, pushing, and arguing is paying off.

The Mayor and the Chancellor were at our building last week. They renamed our building the Terrence Tolbert Education Complex. We are still IS195 - Roberto Clemente School... we are just now in the TTEC. I wrote the press snipet for the Mayor's Office when they asked about our school. The press release that the Mayor's Office sent to the DOE was almost word for word what I wrote. After four years of working at IS195 and calling it "The Pride of West Harlem"... it finally was in print. My goal, before my time is done at this school, is for all the kids to know it, and the community to believe it. This school is THE PRIDE OF WEST HARLEM! That will be my legacy.

I am thinking of going back into the classroom next year. I wont miss all the stress, BS, and committee work. I will miss all the great Professional Development I have been going to. You name them, I have been to them this year. I have been to Tony Stead, Ralph Fletcher, Harvey "Smokey" Daniels, Janet Angellilo, Laura Robb, Sally Reis, Janet Allen, Karen Caine, Carl Anderson, Tim Ransinki. And those are just the people who are "NAMES" in education. I have been to UFT workshops, DOE Workshops, Teaching American History Cohort workshops, Foundations of American Democracy workshops, Content and Continuity Workshops, the list is endless. I have had so much training this year, I am full of knowledge!

If I go back in the classroom I will miss out on a lot of that, but oh well. I have already signed up for year 3 of the TAH Cohort, so that is for sure. Someone said she wouldn't let me go back in the classroom, I am too valuable where I am. I don't know, I just know I am tired and I would have to WORK LESS as a classroom teacher than I do now. I never found the classroom hard. The kids could be sometimes, but the planning, managing, grading, parent thing.. not so much. I am good at seeing the big picture, setting tasks, and completing them. We will see... not too worried at the moment.

The person who recruited me to work in NYC contacted me too. She wants me to talk to students at NYU and other local school who are preparing to be teachers. She wants them to hear about the trials and tribulations of working in NYC as a teacher. She wants them to hear me because I taught in Orlando, moved to NYC, and in two years went from classroom teacher to Literacy Coach and scores at my school are moving now. She wants them to see the impact one person can have, how you can move up within, and how you can make a difference. That is exciting.

Monday I was sick. I didn't feel like coming but I did. Around noon my principal, the data specialist and I were having a meeting. She told me to go home because I looked bad. A few minutes after she left, there was a scuffle outside in the hall. I went out and held a kid back who had been jumped and was off to get revenge. I talked him down and we decided the best thing to do was to go to the Dean, to write it up, and let the system handle it so he didn't get in trouble for fighting. On the way to the Dean, several of the kids who jumped him came around, started talking trash, he responded, I ended up in the middle and before you knew it, BAM, I got hit in the back of the head. He did apologize and I said I knew he wasn't trying to hit me but that wasn't the point. He didn't stand down after being told to, and he hit me. I could press charges with the police if I wanted to. Needless to say he is going to be suspended, for how long I don't know.

On Monday I taught a 6th grade science class. It was awesome to be working with the kids. Today I taught a 7th grade ELA class (not as much fun!).

Ok, it is about time to go home. I am feeling OK. I got a new 14.2 MP Kodak Easy Shot today. I bought it because Staples sent a coupon for a free hand held 3.2MP digital camcorder free with purchase ($89) value. Well, it isn't a great hand held, but will be good for using with students and I like my new Kodak. It is like my 8MP Kodak Easy Shot so that means learning to use it will be easy!

Union Power

2009-03-05T21:48:00.012-05:00

Ok, so as you know, not a huge union man here. I believe in strength in numbers and all that, but sometimes I think unions fight so hard for things that are not important.. I mean, honestly.. we have a 7 hour work day.. and from that, take away 90 minutes for a break and lunch.. that means 5.5 hours of work. I know we have a hard job and the stress is taxing.. but serious... no wonder kids are not moving much.. they are not in class enough, and when they are, they have no music, art, drama... we are only focusing on the core.. not the whole student.. but blah blah blah...

SO, today I went to my first UNION RALLY. I am a member of the UFT (United Federation of Teachers). I think over $80 a month is quite expensive for no real bonus other than they do fight for our contract, etc....... and they supply my prescription insurance. I went because my UFT rep asked me to and I thought... If I was going to expect my job to be secure, I would have to show my support.

I was there for over an hour, and finally just called it quits when I couldn't feel my feet or ears.. it was FRIGGIN COLD. I was toward the front.. my co-workers were 4 streets back in the crowd. I don't know how I did it, but when I got there I just moved up and was like 15 rows back from the front stage. There were some really good speakers and I totally got into it. I didn't do much chanting, but I did get into the "When I Say Union, You Say Power... Union.. POWER...Union POWER. It was fun!

I went and found my team.. and Ashley and I went back uptown. We went to UNO's and her bf Chad met us. I flirted with the waiter Steven. It was a good time! After a couple hours of eating and chatting.. I said goodbye to Ashley and Chad and walked to the train. It was a nice ride home. My knee was killing me on the train so I took a pain pill and relaxed. I just finished watching IDOL (The winners were already picked before the show... it was obvious!). I am finishing watching Hell's Kitchen and then I am off to bed.

I have my portfolio day tomorrow for my Cohort group at MCNY. I have my four lessons written, printed, color copied, and ready to go. After it is over, I am meeting Sean to see THE WATCHMEN and grab dinner. I can't wait to see Sean. I didn't realize how much I missed people from home until we hung out a few weeks ago. It made me feel really good just knowing he was around. I am glad he is back in my life. :-)

Night Y'all!

We Fight We Break Up We Kiss We Make Up

2009-03-05T08:05:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I know I am a few months behind everyone else, but I love the Katy Perry Song - Hot N Cold. I have like 10 remixes and I listen to it constantly. I was a little upset yesterday when they Idol Singers did it for the warm up intro song. Don't mess up my girls song! I wasn't so thrilled with her first song "I Kissed a Girl" because I thought it was too campy. This song though, it is pop with a little rock edge. She reminds me of the Pat Benetar, the 2009 version.

Ok, Let me catch you up on my life...

Last week I went to visit a couple schools to see how they do their program. They have some things in place that I liked, but honestly, I love my school and my kids, so I don't get wowed very easy! I was happy that we went to Dallas BBQ two days in a row for lunch because the school was right near it. Holla!

Friday was a weird day. I got home a little early. I made amazing brownies, frosted them with chocolate frosting and sprinkles, and took a nap. Several hours later I rolled over to Keith's for a party. I will admit it, since ending things with the Greek, I have been in a funk. I haven't really wanted to hang with anyone. I have been good in my apartment, warm, with my TIVO. It helps that it has been cold too! My post break up diet is coming along nicely. I am feeling better in most terms, just don't want to be social much.

Well, I went to the party and had an OK time. There were several people I don't know, and if you know me, I hate parties. I hate big groups of people where you are expected to be social. Well, I did my best. I brought a huge thing of brownies, a bottle of Limoncello, and a bottle of champagne to the event. We had a good time, but I stuck to my corner. I talked to a few people, but didn't mingle. I did ask who the guy staying close to Keith was. My friends informed me he was a guy he went to college with and that he was single.

After a series of shots and a few glasses of fun, I was standing by the group who was watching funny YouTube clips on the tv, that was hooked up to a computer (I have to learn to do that). The tall (6'5") friend of Keith's came over and said, "We met, but we were not introduced...." and we started chatting. Nothing too deep, just the normal stuff. Ok, I will say it, he is so dorky cute it makes me smile. About five minutes later, he was back over with Keith, and I stayed in my zone.

Around 10:15 I asked Keith if he had a plate to put the last 6 brownies on because I was about to turn into a pumpkin. He grabbed a plate and while he was moving them, Chandler (6'5" dorky cute guy) comes over and grabs a brownie and wraps it up. I told him to take two, and he said nah, that he just wanted to take one home for later. I told him when he was ready to leave to let me know and I would walk him to the A train since I live that way.

Around 10:30 I walked him to the train, we talked, he showed me his dog pictures, and we had a nice hug and see ya later goodnight. If I would have been "on my game" I would have asked him if he wanted a drink at my place around the corner, but my heart has just not been in the game. I am one of those people who needs to shut down and reboot after a breakup. Oh well!

Saturday was a do nothing day. I slept in, I watched TV, I did nothing! I did eat the left over 3 brownies I had saved before going to Keith's. EEEK!

Sunday was a snow day! I watched the flurries and then the snow. Again, I did nothing. I did go totally off my diet though. I had a soda and candy bar for breakfast. I repeated that for lunch. Had an ok dinner and another candy bar. Surprisingly, I stayed in my calorie range, but with all the sugar, I was out of my fat burn phase.

Monday I woke up not feeling too hot. I was going to call in sick but decided to tough it out and make the snowy trek to work even with the bad wind and snow that was expected on Monday as well. I got up and checked Facebook and found out that NYC was having a SNOW DAY for the first time in over 5 years. I totally felt better all of a sudden. I did OK with my diet. I was determined to get back in fat burn. Easier said than done! Monday was no such happening, so by 8PM I said "Fuck It" and had pizza rolls while I watched TV!

Tuesday was a good day. Back on my diet and waiting to hit fat burn. By the end of the night I just barely got a small light pink on my strip. It was a start. I also manned up and asked Keith for Chandler's email. I went to my book club meeting and we had a good discussion. We got to go to the library in the NYHS and saw artifacts from the early 1900's. I don't know why it was so cool to me to hold things that were 100 years old.... but it was! They went with the book we were reading, "Ship Ablaze". They had sandwich wraps. I grabbed two halves, both this odd chicken salad that had pieces of chicken, romain leaves, and light mayo or dressing. I got rid of the wrap and just ate the filling (Low carb and loving it!). I even took two pieces of the roast beef home figuring I would take it to work for lunch the next day. I guess it was rare because when I checked it out later, all the juices were everywhere so I tossed them... yuk! I got home, watched TV, took two Advil PM, and was out by 10 PM.

Wednesday I woke up and wrote Chandler an email. I asked him if he wanted to hang out... maybe see a movie.. or grab dinner.... or maybe a drink sometime. I will admit, all through the day I kept checking my email for a reply. (I didn't get one!).... The day was uneventful. I was back to eating healthy, watching my intake.. waiting for a FATBURN to show. I kept getting the light pink which is ok, but I want the dark pink or purple burn!!! Lunch was a great treat. I had one of the people going to Dinosaur's pick me up some cooked on the BBQ chicken wings. Just 6 but they were so tasty because of being grilled. No sauce, just some blue cheese dressing. Yum! I worked 2.5 hours after school doing Curriculum planning so that was good! Toward the end of it my stomach got upset and I had to run to the bathroom, but I thought to myself - less calories! I got home, had a couple hot dogs minus the bun, watched TV, took my two Advil PM's and was again in bed around 10PM.

Thursday is going pretty good so far. I woke up on time, still a bit groggy. I got ready for work and as I was about to leave I got an email from Chandler. It was a really cute email and in regards to my query, he said, "I am interested in the entire trifecta and let's make plans!" So, I think I will do a few more emails and try to talk him into NEXT Friday meeting up after work for Dinner, Race to Witch Mountain, and then Drinks! He is a nice guy and totally cute, and it will be nice to have someone to just hang out with, no romance, no drama! I am leaving work around 11:15 to head downtown for an adolescent literacy seminar from 12-3 (Lunch provided), and then even further downtown for the UFT Union Rally letting NYCDOE know that they can't cut teachers next year! Me, at a union rally.. so NOT my belief system, but ya know, I got a cute white skully with the UFT logo on it.. and me being a sucker for free stuff.. I am going! Afterward I am going with Ashley to grab dinner and chat. She is turning out to be one of my better friends at work. Pilar is my best... Ashley and Breeanne are right up there. And don't forget my principal.... she really is my pal and would do anything for me. I Heart Her!

Friday is shaping up to be nice as well. I have my cohort meeting at MCNY from 8:30 - 3 so I wont have to go to work. I do have to do portfolio work and have a half day of seminars, but it will be a different form of work, so that is always nice. Then I am jumping on the bus and heading crosstown to meet Sean to see "THE WATCHMEN" and grab dinner. Should be great fun.

This weekend we are supposed to finally warm up a little and I am hearing 60 degrees! Today is in the 20's so that sounds SO WARM! Heck, I am taking my bike to the bike shop for my SPRING TUNE UP and I am determined to start riding my bike to school come Spring! I gave up my NYSC Gym Membership, so riding my bike will be my new exercise. I have no plans for this weekend and I am actually thankful for that. I need to clean my place. I need to make a trip to Target. I need to buy groceries. I need to get my bike fixed up for Spring. Other than that, I am free, white, and over 21! The world is my oyster! Holla at your boy!

Friday.. Thank God It's Friday!

2009-02-27T11:44:00.003-05:00

Today could not come fast enough!

After a LONG week, I am finally ready for the weekend!

I didn't get home last night until almost 9PM. That was a 13 hour workday! It was very rewarding though, talking to all the parents and finding out exactly what they liked, didn't like, wanted, and expected from our school. It was a great way to hear that they like what we are doing for their kids. In West Harlem, that means a lot!

Today was funny! I was running late so I walked down to the 1 train and ended up getting to work a few minutes early. It helps that my deli guy sees me in the morning and makes my scrambled eggs and bacon and like 1 minute! He rocks!

I had to write a testing memo for Monday. Return a bunch of emails. And then I had a conference call with the Principal and Math Coach and our rep at McKinsey for an hour. Then I went to my office to edit pictures for the Social Studies immigration unit. I had an 11 AM meeting with the Strategic Planning Team (Geraldine from McKinsey was there) and that went nice. I met the CLSO CED - a nice older Jewish Lady and the CLSO network leader (Dr. Young) and we talked. I bragged to Dr. Young about my first year as Lit Coach and we made AYP for the first time in 6 years which, if repeated this year, will have us officially off the SINI list and considered a SUCCESSFUL middle school. Trust me, there are not a lot of successful middle schools in ANY large urban city. I love that my hard work has paid off!

Ok, I have to go meet the Math Coach. He and I are going back to MS319 to observer how they do CLINICS. We are going to grab lunch and enjoy our afternoon. I get to leave from there, jump on the A train, and start my weekend!

Party at Keith's... I am going home to make brownies for it... Then the group is moving to Guadalupe for dinner and drinks and such until who knows how long. I will go to Keith's .. stay a bit.. and then walk the two blocks back to my place and just RELAX! Sunday is Candice's birthday and we are doing brunch downtown on 14th street to celebrate!

Ciao!

Thursday - Open School Day/Night

2009-02-26T16:06:00.003-05:00

Wow, the stuff is getting deep in Washington Heights! I shouldn't say that actually. I would actually have really liked to teach at the school we visited today, for one reason, and one reason only. DISCIPLINE! That is one aspect that can make or break a school. If you have a well disciplined classroom where students know rules, expectations, and CONSEQUENCES... you can teach!

We went to visit one of the best middle schools in Manhattan. They got an A on their school progress report and are very active in writing documents for the city. I am jealous. They are doing everything we are doing, but the key is the discipline and their approach! I can do this.. and I can do this better! That is how I left feeling. It was working, and working well. That is what I want to see at my school.

Anyway, we were given a tour of the school and I really liked the AP I was walking around with. I don't sugar coat it at all, I say it like it is... and I think he was very happy to see that it wasn't being fake. I am quite frank and I think that would have made me successful at that school.

After the 2 plus hours at the school, we (math coach, principal, and myself) went to Dallas BBQ for lunch. I got a big spinach salad with raisins, walnuts, and mushrooms with a raspberry vinaigrette. I also got a fried shrimp and crab cake side. It had 3 small balls shaped crab cakes and 5 five fried shrimp. All together my lunch was like 650 calories, but was GOOD! I had like 4 glasses of water! When it came time to pay up, the principal paid for the lunch. She is too generous. She gives me a ride home frequently too. I heart her!

So, I came to the conclusion that I was going to fall out of fat burn today since I had raisins on my salad and the raspberry vinaigrette was a little sweet. Too much sugar and NO FAT BURN! Maybe I will be ok. I will check when I get home tonight around 9PM. Wow, long days!

Tomorrow is meeting central! I have an 830 phone meeting with the math coach and our marketing partners at McKinsey. At 11 I am meeting with the LSO CEO and the LSO manager to discuss our school and the progress we have made. Then at noon we are heading back over to the other school to see how they doing their clinics. That way we can visit them a couple hours, and then head home! We get out of work at 2:20 on Fridays! We can tour the school, take notes, and then have lunch and head home. GOOD TIMES!

We just finished the open school AFTERNOON from 12:30 -3:30. I was doing parent surveys in the lobby with the other coaches. Somehow, they all cleared out at 3:30 and I was there until 4 getting the stragglers. That is ok! I am getting my face and name out to the parents so if I have to call them, they KNOW who I am. I was talking to one parent and she has such a great idea. She suggested contacting parents with ideas of where to go in the city for interesting events and ideas of things to help students. I could also put down interesting websites and books that they might want to read. I could start a monthly or quarterly ELA newsletter. It means more work, but if it gets parents reading with their kids... WHY NOT!

Ok, I have a few minutes, I am going to eat dinner and chill out. I have to be back downstairs at 4:45 to be ready for the next wave of parents. I AM READY FOR THE WEEKEND!

You take the Good... You take the bad...

2009-02-26T08:13:00.002-05:00

Wow...

The new year surely has been interesting so far...

1) The Greek and I are DNR (Do Not Resuscitate). He called his behavior "an obvious mid life crisis" and apologized for being flighty and distant. My response.... "Check back in with me when that is over..." Well, the final nail in the coffin came yesterday when he had a dinner date (that wasn't me!). We had never said we were exclusive, but after 6 months, I expected more. So, I removed him from my accounts, I deleted him from my cell... I am moving on without any drama or fuss... I am not ever sure that he knows I am done... but I am!

2) I have been using my iphone application "Lose It" for the past 3.5 weeks. In that time I have noticed a change in my body and I am out of my comfy clothes and into more fitted stuff. That is a good thing. I have also become a bit addicted to using Ketosis strips each time I go to the bathroom. Ketones are a major byproduct of burning fat. The more present in your urine, the more fat you are burning. The process of breaking down stored fat produces ketones. Well, I have pretty much been in fat burn for the past 3 weeks. I have dipped out twice, but was back in within a half day. Last night, for the first time since I have been tracking it, I went to the darkest level which means HIGH FAT BURN. That is great! I will say this though, my body fluids smell different now. That isn't always a good thing.

3) Had lunch with The Juggler last week. WOW! I am so glad we picked up just like old times and there wasn't any bad feelings. I thought I had done something bad because we hadn't talked in years.. and he had moved to NYC and not told me. Turns out, it was a simple situation and we both put it behind us. I didn't realize how much I missed him until I knew he moved to the City and hadn't told me. After spending 5-6 hours with him last week, I totally know why. I had so much fun... we went to this place in the Meat Packing. we went to Juniors for dessert. We went to Dave and Busters for FUN! It was a great day! I can't wait to see him again.

4) I had my taxes done yesterday. I had a lowered income last year for many reasons. One reason is because I didn't get my Teacher Grant which was an extra $3400 bucks.. GONE! I didn't work as much over summer.. Gone... I also started a retirement TDA. All of that pulled my income down. WAY DOWN. I shouldn't say that, it was like $7000 less. Well, I did my taxes and my return is just $270 dollars less. I am still getting back over $4000 bucks!

5) I have talked my mom into going on a trip to Paris - Barcelona next spring break. I can pay a little each month and have it paid off by next year. Woo hoo! March 29 - April 8th.

6) My boss asked me if I was interested in going with one of the groups to Washington DC one Saturday. What... HECK YA! I have never been to DC! I have always wanted to go! She said they are planning it and she wants me to go! COOL! We will take Amtrak down and spend the day and then Amtrak back home. FUN!

Ok, I have to run to another school. It will be a long day today since it is open school night. 8AM till 8:30 at work. FUN TIMES!

Thursday in the Windy City

2009-02-12T08:34:00.002-05:00

No, I am not talking about Chicago...

I woke up today to see my blinds billowing in the early morning...

We are having a little bit of a wind storm today...

For some reason I ended up getting on the 7:30 train. I usually get on the 7:15 train. I got off at the 137 station at 7:50. I stopped, got my breakfast and my water, and headed to work. I talked to one of the kids who is kinda "rough" as we walked. She was telling me this was the first day all year she was going to be early. She was also telling me she was moving in a month to Jersey. I guess when times get tough, people move to Jersey.

We approached the school and were directed to the back door since the scaffolding that surrounds our facade had blow all sorts of ways in the wind storm. Figures I would wear my hear today styled and with spray. Errr!

I did all this while carrying my cupcakes to work.

I have already sent out emails, delivered supplies, and now I am eating my breakfast real quick before delivering more supplies and heading to classrooms. I have to meet with my principal "anytime after 9AM" and then do my work.

I burned a copy of "TAKEN" to watch today between 3-5 as I wait to go to our McKinsey Marketing Strategic Planning Team from 6-9 crosstown in Midtown East. That is why I have the cupcakes..... see if Brandon appreciates them!

Ok, gotta run.

Oh... talked to the Greek last night. He wants to do something this weekend.. apologized for how he has been acting.. he is calling it a midlife crisis and feels bad that I have been caught up in it. I told him to call me this weekend without saying sure, let's do something. I am not sure I want to date him anymore. Maybe we can be friends. Who knows...

I know I have turned a corner in my life. I am feeling different about a lot of things and how I approach them. I just don't care about a lot of stuff I did before. I, for the first time in a long time, am thinking of what makes Bobby happy. I think almost two weeks of counting calories has made me realize this isn't hard, it is a game... and I can play the game. Watch what you eat, count calories, no simple sugars after 2pm, no complex sugars after 6pm. It is about intake, control, and being present. I can do that! Watch out waistline... you have been warned!

BTW - How nice is it to go into my deli in my the morning and have the cook call out my order before I get to the counter. He has my scrambled eggs and bacon ready for me in less than 2 minutes. It is a good thing!