Merry Christmas!!

Since I'm five hours ahead of most of you, my Christmas Eve is well underway. I've baked a pie, set the table, and I'm considering cracking open a bottle of something. Santa will visit my house before you guys have even gone to bed (I know this because we're tracking him on the NORAD website!).

I think it's very interesting that El Presidente and I are the only ones around here today!

Merry Christmas!

PSU - watch out Vols

Here is a video that will inspire all the PSU fans out there and help you remember that there is ONE MORE game this season. January, 1, 2007 at 11:00 AM, I can't wait, it will start off my new year with some early football. Penn State at 8-4 goes up against Tennessee at 9-3. Lions, let's bring home the victory for the team, the fans, and the BIG TEN.
We Are . . . Penn State

Crazy Frog Christmas

I love Crazy Frog (that's what having kids does, I guess). I found this video and thought I'd share with the group. More to come. We teachers are off for the entire next week and I for one am going to waste as much time as I can (when everyone else is still sleeping, that is).

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6151396685316242215&q=crazy+frog+christmas

The Christmas Kangaroo

Has anyone heard of this unusual Australian Christmas character? No wonder it's called 'the land down under'! This tidbit of useless knowledge is also brought to us by SNL.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo4RIvw4B54

Holiday Gift Idea for all you guys out there...

In case any of you GUYS are getting tired of dealing with all the crowds, traffic, the Malls and the general Holiday B.S. - I have an alternative and Simple Gift Idea (that I'm sure all the ladies will appreciate).

Sorry Ladies - I Saw this on SAT Night Live and had to post it....I haven't laughed so hard in ages!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkKyn1tHpqs

Holiday get-togethers and Poker

Has anyone thought about getting together over the holidays? Maybe we can make something happen over the 2 weekends of 22nd/23rd or 29th/30th.

I'm hoping there's some interest in a poker night, too. Can anyone host a poker gathering? Robb and I have even mentioned a possible trip to Atlantic City. Who would be interested? We could consider driving or taking a bus trip. What are the bus services? Longy, does your brother have anything planned?

It looks like I'm arriving up North this Friday, but going to my wife's parents near WilkesBarre first until Tue/Wed 26/27, then to Catty until Jan 2. I could still make a trip back from WB if something is going on, but maybe we can aim for an event on Fri/Sat 29/30.

Thoughts?

Poodolf

we needed a Christmas post for Friday.

Six Weeks Old

John Matteo is six weeks old today so I figured it's about time I post some pictures. Hey Sonia...hopefully these will be easier to look at!

Hey Muller!

Mike, Is this how you prepare for a Steeler's game? EEEEEEEWWWWWWW! I know the Steelers haven't done well this season, but seriously, don't turn around.

Real Life Heat Miser

Thought it was time to let the cat out of the bag. I have been hiding the REAL Heat Miser for years now. Just one of my dirty little secrets. The pressure has been way too much and revealing his true identity is just the relief I have been looking for after all these years. I credit the blogmasters for this wonderful form of counseling and Steve for broaching the subject and making me realize the time has come to come clean.

Favorite?

Which is your favorite Christmas "movie/special"?

Mine are "The Year Without A Santa Claus" because of the Miser Brothers and I like Yukon Cornelius in "Rudolph" - Yukon says "The fog is as thick as peanut butter", Herbie says "Don't you mean pea soup", and Yukon replies, "You eat what you like and I'll eat what I like".

Yo Robb

This is for you, captured it as it happened. What do you say happened? The Vi"queens" season gets worse than it already was. SAFETY -- Chicago 23 - Minnesota - 6 (should have been a TD, the RB fumbled, but it was not challenged).

Happy Holidays - 86ers!

Happy Holidays to all in the class of '86 (I am naming US, the 86ers) from the 'Prez'

Let's try to have a get together over the Christmas holidays.
I will try to get out.
Who wants to take charge of this "mini-reunion"? Anyone? Bueller, Bueller . . .

Pictures of Thanksgiving

I only got to see 9 of the 15 classmates who said they were going to show but others showed up to take their places. It was great seeing everyone and I think we need to do more activities as a group in the future.

These aren't the best pictures but they'll do. The group picture didn't turn out that well, but we didn't have much time before we got in trouble for standing in front of the doors that lead to the kitchen.

Can't wait to see others again AND have more classmates attend.

Toga! Toga!

Watched Animal House tonight and laughed like I haven't laughed in ages. So grab a brew. Don't cost nothin'.

Well........

Anything new to post from the Thanksgiving gatherings? I thought you guys would have posted how it went by now. Any pictures??? Gotta post something to keep this blog alive.

For all you Happy Hunters

Here is a picture of my husbands big buck he got it a few weeks ago during archery season and is quite proud. It's an 8 pointer and it weighed near 180 pounds dressed.

Happy Thanksgiving

so sorry Steve (and all you other Eagle fans) - hope you can manage to "choke" down some of the scrumptious bird you are being served. and to those of you who find yourselves in the hometown for this holiday i hope you thoroughly enjoy some time with old friends - cheers.

But wait, there's more...

The Pilgrim Fathers came from Yorkshire too.

Okay, technically they didn't. They came from a village called Scrooby which is in North Nottinghamshire, but it's so far north in Nottinghamshire it might as well be part of Yorkshire anyway.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

No! Not Another History Lesson! Aaarrrgh!!

Oh yes. As long as I have to celebrate Thanksgiving vicariously through this blog, you're going to have more English history. Well actually, this is American history. Ready?

The American Revolution began in Yorkshire.

It's true. It's a little known fact (at least to most Americans I know - maybe I don't hang around with enough history buffs). I didn't actually learn this until I moved to Yorkshire. George Washington's family were Yorkshiremen.

There are some people who would dispute this, because the family originally came from Northeast England. County Durham to be specific, from a town which is now called - you guessed it - Washington. However, at some point the family moved south to Yorkshire, and there is evidence of this in a couple of places. The first is Selby Abbey, just down the road, where the Stars and Stripes hangs below the de Wessington Window. Another is in the church where my daughter was christened, the (12th century!) Church of St. Lawrence at Adwick-le-Street (the next village over). It contains the Washington Family crypt, as well as their coat of arms carved into the wood above the main door.

So, there you have it. The First President, one of our Founding Fathers, was a Yorkshireman.

But then, as my husband likes to remind me, God is a Yorkshireman.

Who's to blame? (Passing the political buck.)

Doing some garage cleaning, came across an old T-shirt.

Plans for Thanksgiving

After receiving tons of emails, it was decided that Wednesday night worked for more people. Sorry to those individuals where Friday was the best day. I will miss seeing you and hopefully we'll have another time that we can get together as a group.

PLACE: Blue Monkey
DATE: Wednesday, November 22
TIME: 8:00

The Catty bonfire starts at 6:00 so I thought 8:00 would be a good time to start the activities so those attending the bonfire could show up while most of us are still there. I have 15 definites for classmates and hopefully others will just show up.

See you all next Wednesday!!!!

WARNING: (tasteless) Political Joke.

i must admit i found it odd, but completely refreshing that nobody posted anything politcal or made one political comment during the past election. actually it was nice to be able to go somewhere and not have to look at politicians. although truth be told, we had to look at Guy Fawkes for a few weeks and he is a pretty politcally polarized figure but that's neither here nor there. anyway to make up for all that lack of politics i submit the following...

President Bush and Rumsfeld are sitting in a bar.

A guy walks in and asks the barman, "Isn't that
Bush and Rumsfeld sitting over there?"

The bartender says, "Yep, that's them."

So the guy walks over and says, "Wow, this is a
real honor! . What are you guys doing in here?"

Bush says, "We're planning WW III."

And the guy says, "Really? What's going to happen?"

Bush says, "Well, we're going to kill 140 million
Muslims and one blonde with big tits."
The guy exclaimed, "A blonde with big tits? Why
kill a blonde with big tits?"

Bush turns to Rumsfeld and says, "See, I told you
no one CARES about the 140 million Muslims".

Tastes better than Ben

I'm tired of you silly humans putting words in my mouth, went and got my own blogger account. Steve I love ya man but that Kitty hat was kind of lame. Vicki Baby, hope you like this hat better. And another thing Steve how about taking me out for a walk once in a while?

This is a couple weeks late but i think this guy is pretty funny.

ps. Sorry about that mess in the garage last week.

- Scout

Goodbye Guy, Hello Matt & Joe!

Remember, remember the 5th of November

Little history lesson for you. This is Guy Fawkes. On 5th November 1605 he tried to blow up King James I and both houses of Parliament in what was called The Gunpowder Plot. He failed, was caught, tried and hung, drawn and quartered.

Tonight my family and I, like thousands of families all over Britain (but especially here in Yorkshire, because Guy was a Yorkshireman) went to a bonfire and fireworks display. People barbecue, have parties, and kids make effigies of Guy Fawkes and sit outside the supermarket with him asking for "a penny for the guy." Back in my husband's day, kids used to use their pennies from the guy to buy candy, but nowadays it's cigs and beer.

In 2002, Guy was named one of the 50 great people of Yorkshire and one of the 100 Greatest Britons, putting him on the same list as Winston Churchill, John Lennon and Johnny Rotten. Happy Bonfire Night!

Steve's new Choker collar!

GO Birds!!!

YO Stevie boy! they......................SUCK!!

GO BIRDS!!

um, yeah, from me too.

happy happy mr. president. oh, nice disappearing act at the reunion, btw. but you can do whatever you want – you're the president!!

Happy Birthday.

Bob Roberts (not related to John) - the movie

It's election time. If you haven't seen Bob Roberts yet, I highly recommend renting it. A very entertaining and amusing, somewhat unknown movie (1992).

High res class photo sent

*** New photos from Michelle, Donna, and Randy added to reunion album, along with Kim and MJ previously...I think (been losing track). Did I miss anyone???
I have sent a high resolution copy of the class photo to everyone by email. Because it was sent to many people at once, it may come through as spam. You might need to label cattyclass86@hotmail.com as 'not junk' in your email program. I also may not have had everyone's email, so if you didn't receive it and want a copy, let me know. Dave

One more Happy Hour picture.....Hey Steve!

We've been meaning to post this picture, but now seems like a good time. Just wanted to thank our class president for all the behind the scenes work to pull off the reunion. The reason it went so smoothly is because you had the details handled. Thank you! After the day you had this week, we hope this makes you smile. If not, it's almost the weekend. Perhaps that will do it.

Mare and Kim

Learning Chinese, A Refresher Course (For Randy)

Randy, have you tried the Yung Ho Restaurant yet? Here are some phrases that, believe it or not, I have never heard yet........and for everyone else who just needs a laugh after the previous heavy post.

That's not right.................................. Sum Ting Wong
Are you harboring a fugitive?....... Hu Yu Hai Ding
See me ASAP...................................... Kum Hia Nao
Stupid Man......................................... Dum Fuk
Small horse......................................... Tai Ni Po Ni
Did you go to the beach?................ Wai Yu So Tan
I bumped into a coffee table............ Ai Bang Mai Fa Kin Ni
I think you need a face lift............... Chin Tu Fat
It's very dark in here......................... Wai So Dim
I thought you were on a diet.......... Wai Yu Mun Ching
This is a tow away zone.................. No Pah King
Staying out of sight............................Lei Ying Lo
He's cleaning his automobile......... Wa Shing Ka
Your body odor is offensive............ Yu Stin Ki Pu
Great!.................................................... Fa Kin Su Pah
What's up!.......................................... Wa Sa Pen Ing
For the losers who didnt get it....... Yu fa kin dum

Locked down

My school has been on lockdown this morning since 8:40. It is now nearly 3 hours later, and our administration has not let us know anything. I have no idea what is going on, and the students are getting very restless. I would feel so much better if I knew what was going on.

It has been three hours, and this is what I got from the Pocono Record website on the situation (yes, we are still locked down):

Stroudsburg High School in lockdown
October 24, 2006
Stroudsburg high school is locked down. While there is no specific threat against the school, officials are being cautious because two students haven't attended class in two days. The parents of the students have noticed that firearms are missing from the home.
Some parents are coming to the school to take their children home; however, Acting Superintendent Stephen Brodmerkel has recommended that students remain in the school, where it is safe.
Monroe Career and Technical Institute, which at least one of the students also attends, was in lockdown this morning for 30 minutes. Morning students at the technical institute will remain there for the remainder of the day.

post reunion depression?

can anyone relate? o.k, just kidding. BUT:

it was so worth the trip back home. talking with and seeing everyone was truly amazing because even though it's been 10 years since i've seen any of you, time really made no difference. we have some sort of bond that can only exist because of how and where we grew up. i haven't met too many people in my travels that have had a similar experience.

also, i haven't laughed that hard in forever. 3 days straight. my voice didn't come back until wednesday. shocker. so thank you, everyone.

oh, i too have a bunch of snaps, but weekend lasiness has prevented me from posting. i hope to do it soon.

Plans for Thanksgiving!!!!

Many people have mentioned making plans to meet again, so I am taking the initiative. Tracy and I plan on coming home for Thanksgiving and meeting up and would like as many people as possible to join us. Plans are to have a get together on Friday evening.

Where would people like to meet - the Blue Monkey or another place?
What time works out best for people?

I'm not sure who is checking the blog since the reunion but hopefully people can spread the news and we can get a good size group together.

Looking forward to reading everyone's comments!!!

334th post - WOW!

Who did Kim NOT take a picture with?

My favorite has to be Kim and Perdick. Both look like they used blush. I know Jeff uses blush, but not sure if Kim does.

I think we need to have a bit of fun with these and add captions to pictures. Anybody up for some light-hearted fun?

In Five Years . . .

Now that the reunion is in the past, what sort of soiree should we plan for the, I don't want to type it, 25th year reunion? You all know that it is only 5 years away, but shouldn't we start thinking about if we want to go formal next time. I know what I want out of the 25th reunion, but I am interested in everyone else's thoughts of what we should do.
Let the fun begin.

Anyone have pictures from the reunion?

Updated 10-16: I have created a CattyClass86 account with Picasa/Google for our class photos. (links in the upper right of our blog). Anyone can upload pictures to the albums, or even create new albums, like old school pictures, etc. I will send you the login info if you have pictures (post or email to pauko027@hotmail.com). I have only received 4 pics from MaryJo so far, and am emailing the login info to Kim and Michelle. You'll need to download Picasa and I think you'll be able to figure out what to do from there. Let me know.
Dave

Six Months

Chris (aka the Ginger Boy) is six months old today. I thought I'd share some pictures of the first Blog Baby.

R.I.P. Mr. Galm and Mark Regits

Here is a copy of the time capsule letter that Mark Regits wrote in Mr. Galm's class. Tim Cunningham thought it would be fitting for me to have the letter and passed it on to me. Very much appreciated! We must have cheated off of each other because my time capsule letter was almost identical to his. I thought I would share it with the class before I hand it off to his family. I thought it was funny about the good movies is "10". "Ask Mr. Galm He'll Know!" I guess they both liked Bo Derick!

Here are a few photos of the girls.......

All da' pics

I'm no photo expert, any suggestions would be helpful. But I've uploaded my pics to Picasa/Google's website. You should be able to view them online no problem (below) - use the slideshow when you get there. But if you want to download, you might have to create an account and download Picasa. It's a great photo software program anyway (free) and it's safe to use.

I'd like to get others photos, but I haven't quite figured out how we can use one website and share/add on our own. So if you've got photos, email them to me at pauko27@hotmail.com

View Fri Happies-Sat golf-Sat Picnic
View Main Event

Add your post-reunion comments here!

It would be great to hear how people felt about the reunion weekend. Those who were not there (by choice or circumstances) missed a really good time. There is no doubt the blog beforehand helped make people comfortable. But what I experienced was a group of 'matured' individuals, open-minded and unified, with everyone having no problems hanging out with each other. I had no problems talking with people that I really wasn't good friends with in high school. I think we all realized what a unique situation we had in Catty...small classes, one elementary, middle and high school, and spending 12 years of lives together. Awesome weekend and I hope we continue to stay in touch through the blog...and future reunions!

Dave

Good times all around!

It's late, but like Rock, I just have to get some pics up. Great reunion tonite! We had 49 in attendance. Everyone had a really good time.

Wow, we actually pulled off a decent group photo (available in high res if you want it...email me at pauko27@hotmail.com). How the heck did we do that??? Vicki, I figure you're up now and checking things out. Wish you were here!

Let the pictures fly!!!