June 29, 2007

I won! I won! Can you believe it? I actually won! What did I win, you ask? I won a pair of martini glasses from an internet radio station. Remember, on June 8, I mentioned a website, Martini in the Morning, that plays American standards, from Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, and so on? Well, they had a simple little contest about members on their website. I answered correctly, and won! They said my name several times on the air for my request, for my winning the contest, and about how many teachers listen. And what was a bit weird was my sister was listening at home in New York. She called me when she heard my name. Cool!

But, about the internet radio station, and all internet radio in general, please listen up and help. If you value choice and diversity in music, if you value choice, please go to SaveNetRadio.org and support their effort to protcet internet radio. It seems that recent rulings have set rates for broadcasters too high for small broadcasters, such as those on the internet, to be able to afford. Congress is looking at a bill, the (H.R. 2060 & S. 1353) Internet Radio Equality Act, that will keep these royalty rates affordable and hence keep diversity in the music available to the listeners. I hope you will help! Thanks.

June 28, 2007

OK, I hope you had enough time to digest the moral of my experience yesterday, because it could be applied elsewhere. I was driving home from dropping Evan off at school and thought, "Gee, think of how much more international political clout the US could gain by applying the same idea: helping others helps us too!" I then thought about the book The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill, by Ron Suskind. O'Neill, Bush's first secretary of the treasury goes to Africa with Bono. When he sees the squalor that many people live in he asks (and I paraphrase) "Why are they living like this?" And Bono responds (again paraphrasing) "One of the biggest problems is water, there just isn't enough water." So, O'Neill says, that wouldn't be a problem. It is rather inexpensive to drop a well into the ground and pump up some water. When he returned to the states and proposed the idea to the administration, they responded by saying, "If we give water to some people, then everyone will want it." Well, yeah! It's water! You need it to survive. And think of how much better US relations would be if we helped people gain fresh supplies of water?

Decided last minute to see Evan sing at the 5th grade "graduation" today. It was sweet, each of the three kindergarten classes sang a little something for the 5th graders as a sort of farewell. The 5th graders and the kindergartners form a sort of bond as the fifth grade students are "book buddies" for their kindergarten counterparts. It was really sweet. But I had a hard time not thinking of Michelle's mom. She was a 5th grade teacher - she lived for teaching. It was hard to see these kids and not think of all the kids whose life she touched and enriched. Although she retired a few years ago, it is still sad to think of what the kids at Atkinson School will be missing.

June 27, 2007

Why is it that a good deed cheers me up? Let me explain. I was a crabby b!tch this evening. Can't explain it, just was. I wasn't happy with Evan's swim lessons. While driving to dinner I had good cause to wonder where all the intelligent life on the planet went. So I was in a pissy mood. At dinner, if I didn't ignore the kids, who were spread out over at least 3 tables, I would have probably had a coronary. Needless to say, I was maxed (strange, since I am on vacation and shouldn't have any stress).

After dinner, I went to Target to get Michelle's prescriptions. On ewas out of stock until tomorrow. Great, so I have to go back tomorrow to get it. And then, there was a woman dragging down the main aisle a box with a filing cabinet, not that big, a two drawer, but big enough for her to struggle a little. So I offered to help her with it to the register. We carried it together, each of us holding one of the handles. When we got to the register and while she was being rung up, I got her a shopping cart and loaded the filing cabinet into it. She said she didn't need any help out to the car (which was fine, she probably didn't want to take any chance with me being some kind of psycho-killer or something). But that was enough to make me feel not quite as grumpy. In fact, I might have even had a smile on my face. Funny how by helping someone else out, I ended up helping myself. (Are real life stories still allowed to have a moral in the 21st century?)

June 26, 2007

Evan did great at swim lessons today! He even let the instructor partially dunk him! That's right, you heard me: dunk him! Evan trusts this guy more than he trusts me, I don't know what that really says, but I don't plan on analyzing that, I am just glad he is getting more out of his swim lessons this year than last.

Didin't really accomplish much today, I didn't even move books from my office to the coffee table to say I accomplished something. I wonder what tomorrow will hold? Will I actually get something done? What a boring episode of the Truman Show.

June 25, 2007

Wow! What a day! Ok, utter sarcasm. Let's see, how exciting was today.... ho hum.. oh yes, I woke up (always a good thing!), Got Evan ready for school. Took Evan to school. Went to Home Depot to buy a few things to help fix the rails on Rae and Jeff's porch (it was pretty expensive, I broke out the plastic for the $5.00 it cost!), oh and while I was there, I dropped off a business card so I could win some tools - that's what Mr. Bill from Home Depot told the fathers to do at Evan's "Book, Bite & Build" event they had at school last Tuesday. Then I came home and mowed the lawn - an added benfit is that I didn't lose any fingers of mow over any of Michelle's award winning flower beds (see, that was actually pretty easy since Michelle doesn't have any award winning flower beds!) Then I wasted a lot of time doing nothing in the office. But the good news was that when I noticed that I was wasting time, I decided to take all the books off the shelves in order to say that I am accomplishing something! See, so now instead of having over a hundred books on shelves in my office, they are on the coffee table in the living room, I accomplished something!

I did manage to pick Evan up from school on time today (I am always on time, fortunately!) Got Evan to swim lessons, on time. Had dinner at Bear Rock cafe. Went to Borders to buy a gift card, went home and gave Evan a bath, and now I am here wasting time on the computer again. Another productive day!

We do like Evan's swim instructor, Mack. He got Evan to do things in the lesson that his instructor last year, Nina, couldn't get him to do. Unfortunately for Evan, he is repeating the level 1 class because he didn't feel comfortable doing many of the things he was asked to do. Maybe this year he will be recommended for level 2!

June 23, 2007

Let's see... ah yes, nothing out of the ordinary, just the customary yearly purging of my office. Too many books, no where to but them. I will probably be able to add two more boxes of books to the garage. I sure wish I had a library to keep my books in. I want to build shelves into the office here but Michelle keeps saying that if we ever want to sell the house it might hurt us when we want to bill the room as a bedroom. Maybe so, but does that mean if we live here for 15 more years I won't have anywhere to keep all those books?

Mercer and Keith came over for dinner (hot dogs and sausages on the grill and corn on the cob). George, Wendy and the girls came over for desert. Evan and Tai are playing very well together. Tai agreed to play the games Evan wanted too, and I am not so sure that they would be games she would have chosen. In the past the two of them would have a difficult time finding something to agree upon. I hope Evan remembers this next time they have the chance to play (if not, I will remind him).

We used Evan's new telescope tonight. It was cool but difficult to line up with anything but the moon, which was mostly obscured by the trees. The glimpse of it we did see was quite detailed. The craters jumped right out, it was pretty cool. I am going to have to keep trying to see the planets though. They are pretty small and difficult to line up on the telescope.

June 22, 2007

Just an average day: took Evan to school, ran errands, did laundry, tinkered around on the computer and the internet. Nothing special there. I was inspired to create a MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/mattcaggia It is a work in progress. We were discouraged at work to go to MySpace because there are "predators" on the internet and the last thing a teacher wants is to be seen as such. But I have decided that I just have to be careful. It is a personal site for me and my friends. That does not include students. Plain and simple. No students, period. Nor will I visit a student's MySpace page. Done and Done.

Michelle and I went to see Harry Connick, Jr. tonight at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary. Dan got us tickets and VIP parking passes - I must say VIP parking is quite nice, no waiting to leave, they held the traffic for us! The concert was cool, his band was awesome, all very talented musicians, he was good too, but you kinda know what you are getting with the headliner. Michelle was a little worried because we saw him in New York, at Jones Beach theatre more than 10 years ago. Harry Connick had began his foray into funk, but when he got on stage, and much of the crowd was expecting his jazz/blues and standards, he told them that if that is what they were looking for that they should go home because he wasn't going to do it (he did do a set of it anyway, but the most was his "funk"). He was funny to watch on stage, I didn't think he danced well, and he was a distraction from the musicians because while they played and were spotlighted, he would dance. The women all swooned over him (neither Michelle or myself can see why), so they missed out on the the music. Oh well, most of them were only there to see Harry Connick, not listen to the music.

June 21, 2007

First Day of Summer, it doesn't seem any different than yesterday. I feel a little refreshed after an early departure to bed last night - so I attacked the bee hive in the front yard!

We had meet the teacher for Evan today. His 1st grade teacher's name is Mrs. Marquard, she earned her Masters' Degress from UB, go figure! Evan is a bit relieved to see that some of his classmates from Kindergarten will be in his 1st grade class, quite frankly, I am relieved too!

I spent a good part of today moving pictures from the Imagstation Website back to MyPhotoAlbum. Sorry Joe, I know you like Imagestation better, but I like the look and feel of MyPhotoAlbum better. If you want to see what I was up to today, and want to see any pics from the past visit: mandmcaggia.myphotoalbum.com

Another feature I like is the ability to add videos right into the albums! Something I could not do with Imagestation.

June 20, 2007

So summer break is in full swing. And I should be loving it, but, really, what is there to love about it? Sure, I don't have to go to work, I get to sit around in my underwear all day (if I desire - it can really get hot in North Carolina), I can read (trying to get through the Harry Potter series again before book 7 comes out in month!) But that's about it.

On the other hand, I get to walk around in denial of all the things that I could do around the house (I don't mean everyday chores, but what about that skylight that will leak a few drops once a year? or that toilet that runs sometimes?) Yeah, but that is work, I am off from work, right? But the absolute worst part about summer break is all the time I get to sit around and think - I HATE IT!!! I have inherited a miserable trait - the ability to make myself miserable. I am so much happier when I am just unhappy with work and a busy schedule.

Sure, so now, here I am blogging, to keep myself distracted. Part of my problem is if I am given too much time, I over analyze. What's worse, is that when I do that, I am usually right - not a gift folks, a bloody curse! Ugh! This isn't going so well since now I am analyzing the fact that I over analyze things.... wait... is the room starting to spin? are the edges getting fuzzy?

I can't possibly be entering...

into....

the....

Oh, wait... I just haven't had lunch yet. Whew. Ok, everything is coming back into focus.

June 19, 2007

I had a great opportunity Saturday night after the NY memorial celebration for Michelle's mom to meet someone I had known for years. (You are asking yourself, "how do you meet someone you have already known for years?") The plan was to meet Michelle's friend, Rebecca, at a bar on Woodcleft Ave. Not knowing the exact arrangements, I showed up a little bit late and caught up with Rebecca and Joanna. I was very glad to see them both (it also didn't hurt that I was at a table with the two most attractive women in the place!). It was nice to sit and have drinks with people I don't usually get to see.

But what I got was more than I expected, I actually got to meet Rebecca, really, for the first time. That is to say, I have known Rebecca for quite some time, since high school, but never really had the chance to sit and talk with her until that night. What I discovered was that I had missed out on knowing this intelligent, radient, and confident person. But not any more. Her personality is contagious and I am grateful for being able to have spent that time getting to know her.

Oh, if you haven't noticed (and I don't suppose you did!) I was advised to change my profile pic, so I did!

June 14, 2007

Flag Day! That's right, it's Flag Day!!! How many people out there knew that? You know why I know that? 1) I am a social studies teacher, I'm supposed to know useless information like that; 2) it is the day I proposed to Michelle, in 1997 - 10 years ago. After months of harassing her, I finally proposed, and boy was she surprised! After she finished cursing me out (yeah, that's how surprised she was) I had to ask her for an answer. (Rumor has it that she said "yes"). Now I'd like to say the the last 9 years (remember, we didn't actually get married until July of the following year), have been totally smooth and without incident, but you would see right through that. C'mon, whose marriage is totally bump-free? We have both grown (and I don't mean my pant size - and head size for that matter, I can't figure out how that happened), we have changed. Although we have lived our lives together we still have lives apart. There is still "Matt" and there is still "Michelle" and then there is "Us." Sometimes they get confused, or sometimes we forget one or the other, but the important thing is to try and find them when we realize that something is lost, or just misplaced. And sometimes, in the search for ourselves, we forget the "Us", heck, sometimes I've forgotten the "Michelle." Are we all guilty of that? I dunno, but the important thing is to wake up and realize that sometimes we are forgetting (how do you actually remember something you forgot?). Michelle, I love you. We have been apart for a short while now, but to some extent, I feel we have been apart for longer. I think I have spent a little too much time on "Matt" and maybe you a little too much time on "Michelle." It is time we remember "Us." It is time that we allow "Us" to grow again, so that "Matt" and "Michelle" can grow closer together and "Us" can grow stronger.

June 13, 2007

School is Out! For me at least. The students finished last week on Thursday - last day of exams. Yesterday was to be the teachers' official last day but because I was out on Monday getting back from Maine, I needed an extra day to straighten up my room. So this morning I went in to work after dropping Evan off at school.

This afternoon I went Evan's school for a scheduled conference to update us on his progress through Kindergarten. Evan is doing extremely well. He is reading near second grade level, though he can do a little better on his retelling of stories. He writes very well, socializes well, is basically above grade level on all benchmarks. I couldn't be any more excited.

I have decided to reread the entire Harry Potter series before the final book is released in July. It will be a daunting task, but I read the first book in two-and-a-half days. At that rate I will clearly be finished with the series in time. I can't wait! I want to know what will happen to Harry, Hermoine, Ron. What about Snape, friend or foe? And I hope Draco Malfoy gets his, as well as his father!

June 8, 2007

We got into Maine last night, well, actually, this morning. The connection from Dulles to Portland, ME was delayed until 11:55, an extra 3 hours! We didn't get to Michelle's Dad's until 3am! Needless to say, we were pretty tired.

Yesterday I made sure to get everything deadline related for Monday completed, especially the entering of grades since report cards will be run on Monday. So the school year is all but over, thank goodness, it has seemes like a long one. I know after last year I have some improving to do. Personally I think I did a pretty lousy job, especially this last semester. I plan on improving.

If you are reading this blog, I have a small favor to ask. If you like to listen to the standards, like Frank Sinatra or Ell Fitzgerald, navigate over to Martini in the Morning. It is online music, click on "Listen Online." They play a variety of artists and renditions of the American standards. Head over and listen. If you like, click on the link to become a "Lounge Lizard in Exile." Just a brief profile and a picture. It takes about 5 minutes. I am asking because I enjoy the station and think you will too if you like that kind of music.

June 5, 2006

I had to take a little break from this blog. I haven't really been able to gather my thoughts into a meaningful post after the passing of Michelle's mom. Things have been different even though we are quite a physical distance from Maine. And that is part of the difficulty, Michelle has spent a lot of time with her father who is doing his best to adjust to life after Marsha, which is proving to be difficult task (as can be expected). But adjustments have to be made by all. I have to accept those changes, I can't deny them, I just have to be ready for whatever comes my way. We will be attending a memorial for Marsha in Maine this coming weekend and another one in New York the following weekend. I will be missing only one day of work since the school year will be done between the two memorials. Evan will be missing at least 3, maybe 4 days, as a result of the memorials. But that is neither here nor there, family comes first.

If you would like to leave a message regarding Marsha's passing, you may do so at the following link:
http://legacy.com/Newsday/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=88638214

Last week I spent nearly every afternoon getting ready for Evan's birthday party which was this past Saturday, June 2. He is now 6! I can't believe it, how time flies. We had a fun time and the weather held off until the end of the afternoon. The new deck was a success, the bounce house was in the back for the first time. It was nice to have most everyone outside in the back yard. I bought and connected speakers for the deck. Only one was working. I will have to fix that.

Exams are in full swing. In fact, 3rd period just finished their exam and are waiting for the bell ring to go to 4th period review before departing early for the day. I have to administer an EOC tomorrow, I am a little nervous because I don't want to mess something up. It is simple enough but there are many places to make a mistake. Not to mention that I don't feel the students are ready for the test. Oh boy, only time will tell.