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.