August 25, 2008: Back to School

Today was the first day of school, the day I most dislike. It is the day where I have to do ALL the talking, go over rules, procedures, grading, what to expect, and so on. It drives me crazy and by the end of the day, I am a bit horse. I usually have a good first day of school, and today was no exception. I have 1st period planning, which gives me an extra hour-and-a-half to get ready. Then I teach AP Economics. This class is challenging because of the content and the calibre of the students. They will be certain to ask me challenging questions that I may not know the answer to right away. The I have lunch, at 10:40am. It is more like brunch, but since I eat breakfast before 5am, it isn't a problem. Next is honors Civics & Economics. Another good class: intelligent and conscientious. And finally, I end the day with an average Civics & Economics. Another good class: polite and courteous. So this will most likely amount to a good semester. I will have to stay on top of some of the average students each day to keep them on task and caught up, but that is typical of an average class.

You may be asking why am I eating breakfast before 5am. Simple, I am going to the gym BEFORE school. As I previously mentioned, last week was an experiment to see if I could do it. It was pretty successful, so this week is the real challenge: to go to the gym and then be ready to teach. Today was OK, but by the time I got home, I was tired. Sitting in carpool for Evan doesn't help. I really get tired there. Another thing, my feet are killing me, already. I hope it gets better or else I am going to need to find more comfortable shoes!

August 24, 2008: Away We Go

This is it. Tomorrow the students arrive. Will I be ready? All that matters is if the students think so. Appearances are everything. There are two important bits of information I remind myself at the beginning of the year (and along the way too, of course):

1) The truth isn't important, it is what you can get them to believe that matters.
2) Teaching is 80-90% acting.

If I am not prepared but the students think I am, then I am prepared, and that is a good thing. On the other hand, even if I have the best laid plans, they sometimes do not work and it comes off as though I am not prepared. If they believe I am not prepared, then I am not. Plain and simple. Therefore, no matter what I must act as though I am prepared. I must act as though I am ready for the next situation, no matter what it may be. The students must have confidence in my abilities, if they do not, then it will be an up hill battle from then on.

So tomorrow, I must be ready when the students arrive. I must have an agenda ready to go once the bell rings. I must be prepared to handle the students who arrive tardy, and those who ask to use the rest room. If I do not have all these things, then my ship is already sinking. The tone must be set minute one of day one.

Am I ready? Mostly. Will the students believe I am prepared? Absolutely.

August 21, 2008: Adjustment Period

On Monday I mentioned how this week was going to be a trial period. As of this morning I have successfully arrived to work at the time I desired, 6:45. I will admit, I am getting pretty tired. All of this up at 4:30am is starting to catch up. I am trying to get to bed earlier since I am waking up earlier, and I have been somewhat successful in that, but I am still pretty tired. The difficult thing about it is that I am unable to tell if I am tired because I am getting up so early or because I am back to work (albeit, without students). But if you think about it, I am not up all that much earlier than I will be next week when the students arrive. Last semester my alarm was set for 4:51, not it is 4:30. 21 minutes should not make that much difference. But I guess if I am at a gym working out in the meantime, then that could account for it too. The other thing is food. I get up and eat a bowl of cereal by 5am. I get to work around 7. And by 8:30 I am hungry. I am not going to eat another meal, I am going to have to find a sensible yet filling snack. The good thing there is that I have 'A' lunch, meaning I eat lunch around 10:30. So the morning isn't too bad that way. The long stretch will be after lunch. I won't get home until 4:15-4:30 each day, I will definitely need something before that to tide me over enough that I will not binge until I get home.

August 18, 2008: Trial Period

I now have a would be scheduling conflict, gym or work. Well, obviously I can't skip work to go to the gym. Sure, I could go in the evening, but I am reserving that time for Michelle to go since she does not have the "luxury" of going before work. I, on the other hand, do have the time to go before work. That is, if I want to wake up and get there around 5am. So this week is my trial period. I am trying to get to work at the normal school time (6:45am for me) and still go to the gym before hand. If I can successfully pull it off, then I will continue to do it next week when the students come back to school. I will have to make few adjustments such as better planning in the evenings and going to bed earlier. I will have to do my school work right away once I get home instead of after Evan goes to bed since I will likely be going to bed at about the same time. Breakfast may be a bit of a challenge. When should I eat? Before I go to the gym or once I get to school? This will all work itself out. Another concern is that the workout I am attempting is six days, Monday through Saturday. What happens when I have softball the night before? Even worse, what if it is a 8:45pm game that won't end until 10pm? I imagine the next day I will be pretty tired.

Friday and today we had workdays at school. That is no students, only teachers getting prepared for next week when the students come. It is cool to talk to my colleagues, but at the same time, I am finding myself less productive. Not to mention the meetings that, let's face it, must be conducted. I find myself in the same bind as I usually do, starting out the year. It is the first unit that baffles me, but after that I roll. So this week I am having a difficult time actually planning the first week. Tomorrow will be a "big" day for that. I would like to have the first week of all my classes planned and copies turned in before I leave tomorrow. Even better, I will have the first two weeks all planned and copied before I leave work on Friday. That is my goal. It can be done, but will it?

August 14, 2008: Bittersweet

Today was bittersweet. It was my last day before going back to work (for which I am not at all prepared). I passed on going to the gym today for two reasons, 1) I had a softball game this evening and I didn't want to get too tight, and 2) Evan had early release and I wanted a little time to myself at home. It was nice to hang with Evan most of today before I go back to work tomorrow, but it didn't go as planned. I spoke with Evan last night about going to lunch after school. He did not want to today, instead he just wanted to go home. I was a little disappointed. Then the day dragged on a bit. We finally finished putting together some Legos that we began last year sometime (it all got put away and we never thought about finishing it until Evan asked today). This evening, Michelle was going to take Evan to soccer practice for 6pm while I had a softball game for which I had to arrive at 6:15. Well, Michelle got held up at work so I got Evan all dressed and ready to go so Michelle could just pick him up and go, and I got myself ready for softball. I arrived at about 6:30. One important note here, Cary is too damn big! Tuesday I had a game all the way at one end of town (Middle Creek), about a 25 minute drive, and today I had a game at the other end of town (Thomas Brooks Park - USA Baseball Center), about a 20 minute drive. Cary keeps growing and it is getting on my nerves. By the way, we lost our game tonight in extra innings, 14-13. Oh well, it was a good game any way. I have been splitting time with other guys out in Right-Center field. I made a diving stop today that I thought might have been a catch but the umpire ruled it a trap. Its OK, the ball didn't get past me and they said it looked good - that's what is important, right?

I also found out today that the 6th Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be opening July 17, 2009 instead of this coming November. Their reason was to take advantage of an open weekend in the summer schedule. I could understand if it was being put off because they were not finished or if it was only a week or two, but eight months?!?! This is ridiculous. It sounds just like NBC's coverage of the Olympics, think of themselves and their bottom line first before the fans. I am really getting sick of corporate America. Read the article:

http://www.wral.com/entertainment/story/3382426/

August 13, 2008: Much of Nothing

Another busy day. As with every morning, I took Evan to school and like most, went to the gym. I added a couple of things more to my workout and am starting to feel like I am actually accomplishing something again. After the gym, I came home and had enough time to eat lunch before my dermatologist appointment. I was glad to receive a clean bill of health and the doctor removed what amounted to a skin tag from the knuckle of my big toe, weird spot, I know. After getting a haircut, I went to pick Evan up from school. We headed over to the book store, then home, then to dinner. And here I am. Not too much really. A busy day but one without excitement.

Today I worked out with Aaron Ward, former Carolina Hurricane, now Boston Bruin. It was cool. Of course I am making it sound like more than it is. He always seemed to need the machine next to where I was already working. That is cool if he thinks my workout is good enough to copy, him being a professional athlete and all. Just kidding. But we were working next to each other a lot. It makes me feel more important if I believe we were working out together. So do me a favor, don't tell me otherwise. Thanks.

August 12, 2008: Now Batting....

It sure was good to get back onto the field today. We had our first softball game of the season tonight, and I had a few jitters. It has been two years since I last played ad I was worried about making a mistake now with a new team. I was flattered to find out that they had me batting lead-off when I have never played with them before. I guess Katie put in a good enough word that she convinced them I am good. A few things went my way, no one hit the ball to me, and both of my at bats I reached on errors by the second baseman (and I ended up scoring both times too). They did get to see that I can be an aggressive base runner and that I do have some speed. But most of all, the good news is that I think I am over the jitters and next game I should be able to go out and play instead of worrying that I will mess up. Another good thing was that since no one hit the ball to me I didn't have to throw the ball. If I had, I think they would have known my shoulder is still in bad shape. I am going to try and play through it and see if it will get better.

The weather was beautiful today. This afternoon I went out in the back to diagram the deck in the hopes of getting a permit. I discovered, much to my disappointment, that the deck, as is, is not up to code. My concrete footings are not big enough. Which means that in order to make it right, I will have to re-pour new footings. In order to do that, I will have to prop up the deck in order to replace some of the footings. I am not looking forward to that task. (I will add some deck pictures soon).

I also had a trip to the dentist today. Just a regular cleaning before we go back to school. And, as usual, a clean bill of health. It is nice going to the dentist because they always flatter me on how nice my teeth are, and how lucky I am to have inherited such strong teeth.

Tomorrow, on the other hand, I have a dermatologist appointment. I need to go because of the many spot I have developed over the years that should be looked at. I am anticipating at least a few being removed and biopsied. I am really not looking forward to it, on the other hand there are a few things I will be glad to be rid of.

August 11, 2008: Last Chance

This is it, the last week to get anything accomplished. Today was surprisingly busy,considering t was filled with nothing. Got up, took Evan to school, went to the gym, did some grocery shopping, came home around 1:30, left for the YMCA to enroll Evan in before school care, picked Evan up, went to an appointment, went to dinner, came home... and a couple of hours later, here I am. At the gym recently I have felt like I have not been doing enough. I have been doing the workout proscribed by the trainer but I feel I need more. So today, I added exercises that target specific muscle groups, today was arms. Tomorrow will be chest/back. The only problem is, I am kind of winging it. I am using the machines that are targeted for the designated muscle groups, but am I really doing what I should be? If anyone has any ideas of some useful information/websites, please post here and let me know. Thanks in advance.

While doing my grocery shopping, I bought Evan a new book: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. This is the second book in the series, so far. Evan enjoyed the first book so much, I had promised him that if he finished it, I would buy him the second. Well, he finished Diary of a Wimpy Kid last night, so as promised, I delivered. He has already been intently reading this volume. I am glad he is reading fiction for a change. He always wants to read books about a topic: dinosaurs, bugs, marine biology. I even tried to have him read fiction about the topics he enjoys, but he wasn't into it. For some reason, these books are clicking with him. Maybe because it is something that takes place in school? I don't know, but I am glad he is reading fiction.

Evan and I began watching National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets after we got home from Chik-fil-a tonight. We had to stop until tomorrow after school because it was getting late. He enjoys the National Treasure movies, but he has so many questions because he doesn't know enough about history yet. That is OK, I am a history teacher, so I should be able to explain these things for him.

August 10, 2008: Last Tune Up

Today was our last practice before the softball season officially starts. Our first game is Tuesday evening. My shoulder felt much better today. I was able to warm up with the heavy tennis ball, it really loosened up my shoulder. The heavy tennis ball is simply a normal tennis ball with a slit cut into it in order to fill it with pennies. It makes the ball much heavier than a softball so when you actually throw the softball it feels as light as a balloon. I also found out that I am the youngest male on the team. At 37 was surprised. What is worse, I feel the least in shape compared to the other men. I guess that is why I am going to the gym nearly everyday.

Michelle donated the day bed today. She gave it to a coworker. It isn't really sad, but it was Evan's first bed, and had been for such a long time. I remember tying the day bed and trundle together to make a gigantic sized bed for Evan early on. We thought that since he was so restless at night the huge bed would make it easier for him. I think we were mistaken. Eventually we shrunk the bed back down to size. I am really glad Evan likes his new bed. He loves the loft and plays up there whenever he can. He loves to show it off whenever someone new comes over. If he didn't like his new bed, I am sure we would hear about how he misses his old bed.

This is my last week of the summer coming up, and no, I am not looking for sympathy. I doubt I would get it from anyone who hasn't been off for the last eight weeks! I am not as disappointed as I have been with my summers in the past. In years past I have felt like I have not done enough with Evan, but this year it is different, I feel we did plenty. So I do not go back with any regrets. I hope that will make me better prepared, mentally to start the semester.

August 9, 2008: Just Another Saturday

Nothing all that spectacular today. Michelle had an appointment this morning with her trainer at the gym, Evan and I caught up with her about 11:30 at the pool. I proceeded to work out while they hung out poolside. For some reason, I feel as though it is taking me way too long to get through my routine. I probably shouldn't feel that way when you consider I spend about 20 minutes stretching to start, 25 minutes on the elliptical to wrap up, and about 20 minutes showering and getting dressed after. That is over an hour right there. Add in about an hour on the weights and such, and that adds up to 2 hours or more. If I am even contemplating going to the gym in the mornings before school (which means I'd have to be at the gym between 5 and 5:15 in the morning) I better make sure I speed things up and find a more efficient use of my time.

Next Evan had soccer practice from 3 until 4. The humidity wasn't too bad today so sitting in the sun was bearable. Evan is getting a little better I think. He is definitely showing signs of more strength in his kicks, but he is still a bit timid. That is OK, when the time comes he will step it up. Until then, as long as he is having fun. His first game is a week from today, he plays the Lizards, Chris' team.

This evening, we watch Chris and Brendan while Peter and Katie went out to dinner for their anniversary. Evan was very excited, and has been all week. Everyday he was counting down the days until Saturday. While they were here they spent a good amount of time playing in Evan's room. Now that he has his new bed, his room has become infinitely cooler!

August 8, 2008: No Chance Now

Just in case John Edwards ever had a chance of working in the White House, I am pretty sure he blew it. Edwards admitted today to having an extramarital affair while his wife is battling breast cancer. Not good for the image there John, not good.

Edwards Admits to Affair, Denies Fathering Child (Yahoo! News)

In case you haven't noticed, I have been watching a lot of movies this summer. Today, on HBO, I watched The Reaping with Hilary Swank. That is, Hilary Swank is in the movie, she wasn't at my house watching the movie with me (but that sure would have been nice!). It is confirmed, Hilary Swank is hot! She has played a lot of roles which required her to be very different people, she played girl who wanted to be a boy in Boys Don't Cry, a boxer in Million Dollar Baby, an inner-city high school teacher in Freedom Writers, and an ordained minister who lost her faith and becomes a college professor who sets out to debunk would-be miracle in The Reaping. The movie, 3.5 out of 5 stars for me, but 5 out of 5 for looking at Swank!


I have found that each weekday flies right by me. I get up and get Evan to school, take my time at the gym, to get home sometime between 11:30 and noon. About 1 or 1:30 I eat lunch and watch a movie, then it is time to pick Evan up at 3. I have been leaving myself about an hour to an hour-and-a-half to get anything done around the house (between the gym and lunch). With just 4 weekdays left until I go back, I may want to lay off the movies and get some more done around the house.

August 7, 2008: Java Stinks!

Last night, before I went to bed, I ran some updates on my computer from Microsoft. One of the reasons was that web browsers keep crashing (yes, I did say browserS - both Internet Explorer and Firefox). All seemed to go well, that is to say, they all installed fine, and of course, I would need to restart Windows in order for them all to go in to effect. But, since it was already late, I figured I could just shut down and they would complete the process in the morning when I start up the computer. Well, once that video driver kicked into effect, my display went hay wire. OK, maybe not hay wire, but it altered my resolution (all the way down to 640x480 with low colors), and every time I tried to fix it, it would not take. I tried to restore my PC to the last restore point, Windows said it could not do that. I ran the PC in Safe Mode to try and alter the settings there, I tried to log in to Evan's profile and change the settings from there, nothing would work. So Mercer got a phone call at work, where I told him, "You are coming over tonight to fix my computer." And he did, by installing my video drivers, and reinstalling. So here I am, after all day, finally back on my computer. So what does this have to do with Java? I set out to correct a problem in my browsers with Java.

Other than that, not much. I watched a movie today, Trade. A VERY good movie, but I will mention more of that on "Matt's Meandering Meditations."

August 5, 2008: Did I Need that Wall?

Yay! Evan's bed came today. The same delivery men brought the bed and again, they did not want to bring the big section (the stairs) up the stairs. The odd turn on the stairs makes it difficult to bring large objects/furniture upstairs. So I told them to leave that piece downstairs and I will get it up there. Dan, myself, and my neighbor Josh gave it a good effort but with the same result. It would not fit. And now we were stuck with the bed since it was out of the box. Basically, come hell or high water, that stair section was making it upstairs. So logically, we did what any clear thinking individual would do and knocked down a wall. Now we would have a straight shot up the stairs. It was no problem whatsoever. Just add another project to the long list - who ever said it is better to own a house?

As a result of this new project, I did not have time to get to the gym today. In reality, I could go now, but after all that today, I think it will wait until tomorrow morning after I drop Evan off at school. Believe it or not, after those seven straight day, I am already seeing a difference. I am very excited, by the time we go to Disney in October I will need all new shorts! Other than that, well, wasn't that enough for one day?

Wasn't there a wall here?

Who is crooked, Evan or the house?

Evan likes his new bed!

I would swear that just this morning there was a wall there.

Did I need that wall?

August 4, 2008: Time Out!

I took a time out today from the gym. My shoulder was really hurting me this morning when I woke up, and my quads are feeling tired. So I decided to skip a day. So if I hit the gym 7 out of 8 days, it is pretty good track record. In fact, I even took a time out from softball today. I decided that I just needed a day of rest and hopefully tomorrow I will be back up and ready to go.

I watched The Good Shepherd on HBO this afternoon. It is a long movie, and sad too. I won't get into it in case you want to see it, but I got fixated on the whole family aspect of the film. I felt that it earned 3.5 out of 5 stars.



Tomorrow Evan's bed will be delivered, again. This time we will keep it. In fact, I think I will sign for it to be out of the box and then still have the delivery men take it upstairs and assemble it.

August 3, 2008: Seven

Seven days and going strong, mostly. My shoulder is beginning to hurt from the throwing motion in my workout and my legs are beginning to fatigue. I may take tomorrow off and allow myself to heal some. I want to make it 19 straight days (that would be everyday until I go back to work) but I don't think it is advisable to do so. Besides, I have softball practice tomorrow, so I will still be getting the exercise. While I was working out, Michelle and Evan were at the pool with Dan, Wendy, and Aidan. I arrived at the gym hours after them so I didn't spend hardly anytime with them. Instead I saw the new movie The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (as I mentioned yesterday). It was as I expected/predicted, action packed with good effects, but not very good. I would say it was "OK." 2.5 out of 5 stars.



This evening we went to Nicole and John's for Nicole's birthday. It was nice and relaxing. We grilled out, I'm sorry, since they are also New Yorkers I guess I should say "we had a barbecue." Either way was fine, there were chicken wings, hot dogs and hamburgers. Slaw, potato salad, and so on.

My dad also forwarded me a link to a news video that you should see. it is about automobile tires. I am sure after you watch it that you will go outside and check your tires right away. I did and on the van my tires had the code 2807, 3007, 0808, 0908. So the van is good. As for the Ford, the tires are a little older and must have the code printed on the backside of the tire. I will look under there tomorrow in the day light. You are just going to have to watch the video to find out what the numbers mean. And I highly encourage you to do so!

Aged Tires: A Driving Hazard? (ABCNews.com)

August 2, 2008: 6, and Counting!

Today makes 6 straight days! I am serious about this, I am going to lose this weight. I will continue to push myself, but I will do it. I have to remember to be patient. It took me many years to gain all this weight, so I can't expect to lose it over night. It will probably take years to shed it too. But that is a good thing, by that time, I will have crossed from the need/want to exercise and eating right stage to the habit of exercising and eating right. And once it becomes a habit, I will have changed my lifestyle, and hopefully it will stay that way. When I woke up this morning I thought I may have jinxed myself in yesterday's post. That is, I said how my work out routine put me on the edge of sore, yet this morning my muscles were feeling a little fatigued. Fortunately, once I got out of bed and ate breakfast, I felt much better. Apparently, it is not a good idea to exercise so intensely that late and go to sleep because I woke up famished! I felt that I NEEDED to eat first thing (and I did - a bagel and cream cheese).

Evan had his second soccer practice today. He enjoys soccer, he gets to run around and kick a ball some. It is good for him to get out and exercise too. I am not sure his team this year will have as much success as last year's team (undefeated) but regardless, I am sure he will have fun. His first game will be against Chris' team. It should be fun.

Today I received my information for the start of school: parking tag and agenda for the first week. I am looking forward to the year starting, yet, c'mon, let's be serious, who really wants to go back to work? All new textbooks this year will pose a bit of a challenge, but if the deal proposed to me goes through, I will not have more than one average class per semester. Now that is a pretty good deal! Sure, it will mean more work in prep, but will mean less struggle with each student. I am looking forward to that. I have already set up a separate blog and netvibes page specifically for the AP Economics class. Hopefully the students will notice it and participate some before the semester begins, it would be nice to get an advance idea of how these students will be thinking, kind of a "heads up" on what each student is capable of. But I still have to wait and see until someone actually reads and posts comments.

Tomorrow we are planning on seeing the latest installment of The Mummy, it is called Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. It is not getting great reviews, but I am sure the effects will be cool. We'll see.

August 1, 2008: 5 in a Row!

Five for Five this week... Monday - Friday, I hit the gym every day this week and I am teetering on the edge of sore, but making it. The workout the trainer gave me seems to be just right. It pushes me to be as the edge of my anaerobic threshold this way I do not burn all sugar and create a lactic acid build up in my muscles (it is the lactic acid that makes the muscle feel sore). The big question is do I try and go tomorrow or do I take a day off? My present goal, in addition to building lean muscle mass to more efficiently burn calories, especially from the stored fat, is to strengthen the muscles around my right shoulder. I continue to suffer from a football injury. Not that I played football, no, but when I coached, I really messed up the shoulder. As wide receivers coach, I had to throw between 100 and 200 passes each day. My arm was not up to the task. I am sure that if a doctor did an MRI on the shoulder I would see some ligament damage. It really only hurts when I play softball. This week from the out field I was having a difficult time throwing the ball to the infield, so I have to get the muscles there stronger. I am not going to let the pain stop me. As we get older we just have to exercise smarter.