Just Plain Lazy

I read. I WANT to write. And a blog is a wonderful outlet. But I still don't. So for all you viewers out there, this is my life in a nutshell since last November:
- I survived my first year teaching English in a local junior high school. I even got hired a second time and start again on Tuesday!
- I chaperoned a number of students on a trip to Washington, D.C. to visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum and other spots. It was awesome. Pics to be posted soon.
- Another year of playing rec sports (ball and ice hockey and softball) to stay in shape
- watching my neice Ava grow. Lots of pics. She's cute, and trouble.
- going back to da gym. I even paid for a personal trainer to guide/punish me. It has been going well this summer. I lot a couple of pounds and feel better. Hopefully when school starts, I won't find any excuses to stop going. I bought enough "pretty" workout clothes so I should use them! ha

later
Chris

It's been too long...!

First up, I have a job teaching English at a local jr high school. The first month was rough, learning to teach teenagers instead of younger kids, but now things are better.

I still need more hours in the day though!

On the house front, our home is a mess. Carpet has been removed (oh, the dirt!), walls painted, and hardwood put into the living room. Doggy is having a hard time jumping onto furniture, but it is cleaner!

Laminate, finally selected by my better half, will be installed in the bedrooms...soon? Less carpet, colder toes, but less sneezing!

Wife and I gutted walk-in closet. Redesigned and installed new shelving myself. Yes, it is still standing.

But the biggest headache for me is sharing my bathroom with my wife. After getting her bathroom painted, she decided it didn't match the $$ shower curtain. So she is getting it painted again - so her mirror is not going back up. Now I have a daily obstacle course just brushing my teeth!

On the family front, my little neice Ava is growing like a weed. Here is a recent picture:

Leaving Good Enough Alone

Herrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeee horsey, horsey, horsey!
(Was I nuts doing this?)

A Windy Day

Sometimes taking scenic pictures doesn't do justice to the real thing! So maybe a short video will do!

A Summer in Pictures #1

I had a decent summer. Read papers, played softball, watched sports on the telly. Went by slowly, but once I got hired to teach at a local junior high, end came quite quickly! Here are a few snaps of my summer.

Ava. What can I say? Cute kid, even with all the farts and burps. I'll see her again this upcoming weekend at the christening. I'm 'da godfather.'


Mmmmmmmmmmmm, I drank a few of these....



...which led to a few of these....!



During wife's holidays we went out to visit her mother. Pulling into the driveway, I felt that I was in Hitchcock's 'Birds' movie. Lucky for us they didn't attack! ha


We went for a drive to Bonavista and it's surrounding areas. A beautiful, but windy day! Creatures that have the same mindset as me: relax.


Don't get too close to the edge!

Creature of Habit

We all have our routines, from how we get ready in the mornings to how we get ready to go to bed at night.

But then there are times a monkey wrench is thrown into your routine, and you want to say, "What the f*ck?"

Walmart and Dominion are renovating their stores, and this is giving many people headaches. Today I dropped into both and noticed the dazed looks in faces, as people were forced out of their usual routine. It was frustrating, and a bit funny - until it took me over 10 minutes to find Ranch dressing!

I don't know why Walmart is 'improving' their stores - it is the Mecca of consumerism: if you open it, people will come. As for Dominion, they are getting out of the electronics business (good) but putting in more clothing. Really, am I thinking about socks when I buying fruit and eggs? No.

One stop shopping. One massive headache.

tsktsk

I've been a very bad blogger. No entries in almost two months. Well dear readers, (all 6 of you) I will make a much better effort to write for the rest of this summer.

I know that you are chomping at the bit just to read my latest whim, mmm?

Video of Ava

Here is a short video!

My Trip out to Gander

First, where are ALL those people who are building new houses on Gander Bay road coming from? Is the entire community of Appleton moving in? I thought I was driving through a poor man's Southlands for a minute...! Now on to pictures of Ava, my little neice. Cute thing, dead ringer for her mother, but I won't hold that against her! ha

Life changing Moments...!

Sunday was a big day for me and my family.

My sister Charlene gave birth to a little girl. Her name is Ava. She is the first grand kid for both families and I am an uncle at 35!

Peaceful moment:


Not so peaceful moment:


I am headed out to Gander on Saturday to see the little mat of black hair and chubby cheeks. I won't be changing diapers!

On Sunday I also saw a performer I never thought I would see - Leonard Cohen. Introduced to his words and music at 18, I have lover of his craftsmanship since. What did I expect for a man who is 74? Not a mind-blowing experience, but that is what the crowd received. My wife was so-so about going, but later she used the words 'amazing' and 'fantastic' to describe it. Now I just need to see U2!


What's left for me this week? Tomorrow I am suppose to convocate - the big ceremony for my Masters of Education. But I am not going. It may sound cheesy, but I'd rather be in the class with the kids and have a pint with my colleagues after work. And not make sub plans!

I'll get my degree in the mail. And add to my collection. I'm finished with putting letters after my name!

Play Ball

It took 35 years but I finally got drafted...by a men's slow pitch softball league. Ok, I DIDN'T get drafted, but my name was picked out of a hat after a couple of guys dropped out.

I even got a uniform. It's grey. Fits my personality, as certain people may say.

Tonight was our first game. All arms and legs were rusty. I managed to reach base 2 for 3 and only make one error - which resulted in a nasty bruise on my chest. Better than a broken face!

Time for bed. Legs already sore!

Me Mudder

Well, one would think with the extra time I have now that my studies are over, I would be bloggin' me little heart out. Alas, no.



But today is mother's day. As my father repeatedly said growing up, "Every day should be mother's day." He has a point. They put up with a lot. Especially certain sons who never call.......but today he was the first of the three kids!

My mom was/is pretty quiet. Compared to dad and the rest of us, she is mute! ha I think the phrase she uttered most was, "Wait until your father gets home!" It was pretty effective.

Even through I get compared to dad because of my voice, height, mannerisms, etc, I look like mom. Which ain't bad, considering she is youthful and cute. Plus, I am a LOT quieter than my father and sisters.



Loves ya mother. See you this upcoming weekend. Gonna bake bread?

Free Time

I have finished my Masters of Education!!

This week I found out I received 90 and 91 percent on my last two courses. I kicked ass, metaphorically speaking. Family and friends are happy for me. This week I will do the certification paperwork to GET MORE $$!

But what do I do now? Besides spending more time with wifey (who was super supportive the past 5 semesters) and walking the dog, I am already a bit bored. Ice hockey is over, and I don't think one game of ball hockey a week will cut it.

So today I went to the (gasp) gym. Felt good. Maybe I'll go tomorrow after work. Maybe.

Wife thinks I'll end up trying to do my PhD. Uh, no. I already have three degrees and one diploma from MUN (it will always be MUN, not MU to me) so if I WERE to think about a PhD, I would need to leave this rock and my wife.

No.

So for the rest of Spring I'll walk the dog (and eventually pick up the vast amount of sh*t in our back yard), watch sports, hang out with wife, and teach half time.

I'm free.

Play off Season has Arrived

My wife sometimes tells the story, 'When I first met Chris, he said he plays sports but don't watch it on tv........"

hehehehe

I rely that I would rather play sports than watch it, but it hasn't worked out that way.

So with my Masters almost out of the way (one last paper to finish today) and my wife working evenings, I have LOTS of time to watch Ron & Don on CBC or anything else I want:
-NHL playoffs
-basketball playoffs start soon
-baseball (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)
-sport shows
- etc

This past week I got into 2 hockey pools. One on Sportsnet with some ball hockey guys. Other with teacher team. I basically need Nasville and Washington to pull off some upsets for me to win.

Here's to holding my breath!

A Busy Week

Easter break ended and it was back to school to work with the kids for the last three months of the school year.

No, I didn't miss them. And they didn't miss me. But we still like each other. ha

Monday I finished my second-last Masters paper. Had to interview a classmate and write a short story or analyze 'meanings.' Naturally I wrote the story - my first! It was like pulling teeth. Only one more paper left!

Tuesday I had ball hockey. Tried out me new sneaks. Been playing with running shoes for the past year. Legs burning after each game. Finally, the rubber starting peeling off the bottom. So off to Sport Check! When I told sales girl that I was playing ball hockey with running shoes, she looked at me funny. Then smiled. So now I am wearing cross-trainers.

Funny thing. Legs didn't burn after game. But it certainly didn't improve my game!

Wednesday was our last ice hockey game in the teacher league. Another cut lip and stitches, but it wasn't me this time! During the game my left skate felt 'off.' At the end of the game I noticed a nasty crack in the mold which holds the blade. Gee, I replaced the right mold last year for the same reason.

So do I go out and buy a $40 new mold or get new skates? Will either help me put the puck in the net? Alas, no. I was given the skates back in 2003. With the technology today, I don't have a clue on what is considered a 'good' skate.

Thursday I had parent-teacher interviews. The first 2 attempts were cancelled by bad weather. Isn't it funny that the parents you really want to see don't show up? We even went as far as sending notes home, requesting to see certain parents, and telling other parents that don't need to come. But the opposite basically happened. With three months left, some of the kids are already starting to coast. And they are only in grade 5!

Lastly, I went to my FINAL MASTERS class last night! It has been an intense 5 semesters. But it is over. I won't be going back to get my PHD. But I will miss the intellectual challenge.

On a side note, I have set up a blog on wordpress.com. I am planning to transfer the content of this blog to my new one soon. Wordpress has more options.

Driving

To the guy I accidentally cut off on the outer ring road on Thursday while driving home from school - sorry.

But was there any need to keep pressing on your horn, raising both middle fingers in a frantic gesture (tsktsk, no hands on wheel) and cursing on me? (I couldn't exactly read your lips, but I strongly doubt you were wishing me a happy Easter)

But then you tail-gated the next vehicle, a little blue truck. Once again you pressed down on the horn and waved your hands while your rap music boomed. I think you are lucky the guy in the blue truck did not slam his breaks. You would have been f**ked.

So you continued on, swerving in and out among the cars in both lanes at high speed. Did you need to pee really bad? Was your favourite show about to start?

A word of advice - relax. I know the word out there is that Sin John's is booming with oil $$, but there is no reason to drive around town like we have a 401.

Kid's lyrics to rock songs

I was surfing among the NL Blogroll and came across this video on 'Missing the Rock.' Very funny.

Teachers vs Society

This week is Education Week. The theme is 'Learn...Respect...Grow.'

That is a kettle of fish, for sure. With that theme in mind, go to VOCM's website (www.vocm.com) and click on question of the week and do the survey about teachers doing duty.

Then read the comments posted by adults. Nasty.

Personally, I don't mind doing lunch duty. And being involved with kids. But the misconception that 'teachers don't work' and 'get paid in the summer for nothing' really bothers me.

And I don't see a change a comin' soon in attitudes.

A Teacher Rants

It is an interesting time, to say the least, to be a teacher.

In the past couple of weeks, Education Minister has compared teachers to police and correction officers after a study on school violence was released. Her justification was that we (teachers) deal with the public. Ah, yes. BUT we deal with some children who are treating like sh*t and our hands are tied. Not ‘lifers’ in the pen.

The question is, “What is mommy and daddy going to do about it?”

A local lawyer stated that an alternative school is needed for all the dropouts in the city – students who can’t handle traditional schools. He also complained that his clients can’t read or write and socially promoting them is wrong.

Yes, socially promoting kids is wrong. It gives a false sense of security to both kids and their parents. If little Johnny can’t read in the warm and fuzzy years of elementary school, and the parents don’t take him to get tested (yes, it is their responsibility, not teachers – once again our hands are tied and we can only suggest testing), how do you think the junior high years are going to be?

Johnny is going to be frustrated, angry, and probably act out and quit. And the parents may say, “I don’t know what to do with him.” He is in Grade 8, but reading at a Grade 4 level. Why stop now. Let’s promote him to Grade 9.

I am not saying that teachers are blameless. It is the time of year that teachers think about who may not pass. I have a couple in my class who probably won’t, but the final say comes down to the parents – once again my hands are tied.

Boat Building & Poetry

In the Sunday editon of The Telegram there was a good article on older men (and women) on Fogo Island keeping their traditions alive, epecially the tradition of boat building.

I am not related (that I know of) to the Combdens named in the article, but I still feel a kinship to them, remembering my days as a young child visiting pop and nan in Barr'd Islands and other relatives in Joe Batt's Arm.

I think it is great the old are showing the young 'ways' of the past before it is too late. Each time I visit Fogo Island (and that's not enough) I see less and less punts floating in the little harbours. I hope the program at the local school is a success.

Here is a poem I wrote many years ago; a boy with his grandfather and his punt:

In The Harbour

old man
boy
in the boat
“It’s me punt”
rowing
about in the harbour
oars cutting water
slow
fluid motion

gulls
screaming overhead
diving
to the water
“d’ere eatin’ fish guts”
trying
to count them
but
too many

water
cold and black
“how deep is the water `ere pop?”
“over our heads me son, over our heads”
sees reflection
rippling
over the side

waves
rocking them side to side
“do ya want to row?”
small hands
ready
for instructions
fears
to let go

boy
old man
in the punt
“take yer time, you’ll git it me son”
punt
drifting in the harbour
oars
splashing
with the sound of their laughter