Tag, I'm IT! Who's next?

Continuing with Kristen's "tagging" us, I have my eight things. . . .

1. I have filled my MP3 player with mostly 80’s music. I love to work out to the same music we listened to way back when. I just can’t resist listening to Billy Idol, the B-52’s, and all my dance music from our high school years.

2. I was in Runaways not only in high school, but I also did it during my sophomore year (at Cedar Crest College – they had NO males at that time and needed some male runaways). I rekindled my monologue as the graffiti artist (and still remember most of it today . . . “What is an artiste, I don’t know. Write me a letter Mr. Picasso. . .).

3. Every Friday is Football Friday. I always wear something with Eagles on it on Friday. I can’t remember a time when I have not followed through on Football Friday. In school, I always wear an Eagles tie.


4. When watching Eagles games on television, I have to have an Eagles shirt on. One time, I was watching the Eagles (and ironing, that’s what I do when watching away games) and they were losing. I was distraught and looked down and noticed that I was NOT wearing anything with Eagles on. I ran (yes, ran) upstairs and immediately pulled out an Eagles shirt and put it on. They came back and won that game, and my shirts were all ironed with excellent creases (I push the iron harder when they are losing).

5. I enjoy shopping (both for food and for anything else). I just like walking around stores looking at things to buy. It is funny to think that I have shopped at Wegman’s since it opened and to this day, my wife has never been in the store

6. I am one of the first people at work. I get there by 6:20, and we don’t start until 7:15. I like being early. No line in the copy room, I can read the newspaper, and I don’t have to fight for a good parking spot.

7. My persona for teaching is a hybrid of “Redsie” Laubach and Patrick T. Callahan. I sometimes use some of Mr. Laubach’s lines in my classroom like, “Is that legal?”, and “Can you do that?”, but I don’t shake my keys in my students’ ears or put my glasses on the board (I hate wearing my glasses in public).

8. I am addicted to the blog and my email because I check each of them several times a day, and during the summer, I have my school email forwarded to my home email (because email is my main mode of communication). I even have the blog forwarded to my email via an RSS feed.

Tagged....what the heck is that?!

Well, if I had my own personal blog, Jamie would have "tagged" me...Since I don't, here goes...

The rules: Post the rules before giving the facts. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules. At the end of the your blog you need to tag (hopefully) six people and list their names. Leave them a comment on their blog, telling them they have been tagged and not to forget to read your blog.

1. Before I moved to N. Catty, I lived on N. 12th St (in Catty, not many people even know where that is) right behind Carol Hahn and Kevin Hoch (sp?, '84). We used to play in the rain and shower (with soap) under an old broken-off rain spout.

2. When I moved to N. Catty, my brother had a friend who had a sister. When I finally got up the nerve to walk up to her house, I stood at her sliding door and just peered in for how long, I dont know, but never knocked. Finally, someone answered the door and the rest is history...MJ?

3. I used to set up my Barbies on the living room floor and play for hours. My dog would sit and watch, also for hours, her head turning with every move I made. I think she secretly wanted to eat them. Now, I dread the thought of my daughter wanting all of that stuff.

4. I haven't lived in Catty ALL of my life....SHUT UP!! I lived in Northampton...SHUT UP! for a year shortly before, and when I was first married. In a house made in to 3 apartments across from Millers Diner....SHUT UP!

5. I can tie a cherry stem into a knot......with my tongue. (As long as it is the right length) Try it, it makes for an interesting time and some interesting conversation. ("What else can you do with your tongue that we don't know about?")

6. I did something in high school that only 2 or 3 people know about. In the gym locker room with one of my long time and bestest friends (not MJ)...."she made me do it!" I still have nightmares about what would've happened if we were caught. I also have nightmares about losing my class schedule and forgetting my locker combination.

7. I do not want my daughter to follow in my footsteps and be a cheerleader...She already has a pink basketball and a hoop in our driveway, a pink softball glove and ball, and believe it or not, a mini field hockey stick and pink field hockey ball!

8. I watch too much TV. The Price is Right, The Young and the Restless, Bold & Beautiful, General Hospital...Two & a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, Big Brother, Survivor, The Amazing Race, CSI, ER, Friday Night Lights, HGTV and Foodnetwork. I'm sure I missed some, there are too many to remember. Like I said, I watch too much TV.

Now, I am tagging....MaryJo, Vicki, Randy, Michelle Heist, Freeman, Sonya....and anyone else who wants to contribute (I'm not sure who is blurking any more....Donna Sensor!) Since you dont have your own personal blogs, that I know of...just comment as you normally do to any other post!

Vacation

Well with summer coming to an end, my daughter has done most of the travelling. She was to Vernon, NJ with her dad for a week, then most recently in August she went to Maine (2nd picture) with her aunt. Last week we went to Ocean City, MD for a few days and unfortunately, the weather was crappy but we had a nice time anyway (1st picture). It has been great to hear about everyones adventures and vacations this past summer and it has definitely given me some ideas for next year. I have never been on a cruise but hopefully one day that will happen.

The Love Boat

We just got back from a three day cruise from Southampton to Cork, Ireland. I've never cruised before but it's definitely something I'll do again (in fact, we started looking online when we got home this afternoon!). My father-in-law (bless him!) decided it would be a good idea to spend our inheritance and take us (me, John, two kids, father-in-law, my sister-in-law, her husband and their daughter) on this short break. It was more than I expected. My sister and brother-in-law have cruised alot, and Julie the Cruise Director (aka Sue, my sister-in-law), planned everything right down to the minute! Our ship was the Navigator of the Seas, and the picture was taken from the town of Cobh, which is the same port the Titanic left from before beginning her Atlantic crossing. At least I can say I've been to Ireland, even if it was only for about an hour and half - which is long enough to have a pint of real Guinness in a real Irish pub.

Anyway, we had a fantastic time. If you've been on a cruise, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, I can't recommend it enough. I didn't think it would be the kind of vacation I'd enjoy, because I hate the beach and I can't stand to lay in the sun all day. But there was lots to do and we're looking at a 10 or 14 day Mediterranean cruise for my 40th birthday next year.

Have I Ever Mentioned....

how much I look forward to this time of year?! The first football game is just a week away,...the Roughs should make a decent show of it this year. They pleasantly surprised the fans, coaches and maybe even themselves against Puis X during last weeks scrimmage. Tonight they scrimmage Whitehall, who by the way is assisted by Bob Bydlon. Jake will play his 2nd year on the middle school team, and it looks like he will be the quarterback. It's a good thing I already have no nails! And even though I basically feel like a single parent until Thanksgiving, I so look forward to my Friday nights away, thanks to my mom and her weekly babysitting.

The kiddies are going back to school soon after that, ...Jake will be in 8th grade, his 51 leaves have been pressing now for almost 2 weeks and it's about time to get them in the album complete with labels. Thank God there is no longer a bug collection due.

Lucas will start 2nd grade. He is not playing football this year, and I'm glad since his broken nose has made "Mom" an overbearing, nervous wreck whenever I see him playing with any type of ball or bat.

And I will finally have some "me" time for a couple hours, 2 days a week when I ship Trisha off to pre-school. She is looking forward to "going where Lukey went" but I am secretly more excited than she is. Does that sound awful? Yes, but no. All of you stretched too thin mommies can definately feel my glee.

Hopefully, the two lazy ass neighbor boys will be going off somewhere. The oldest is in college somewhere but commutes and the youngest just barely graduated from high school, and the marines have been visiting. It scares me to think that he may be protecting our country some day. He can't even cut the grass. And I won't miss the house shaking when they blast the car stereo any time of the day or night.

I will be starting a new job. I am now officially employed by the school district as the Substitute Caller Coordinator. And although that requires early hours and later nights, I can do it in my pj's, without my hair done or my face made up. I requires no commute, no gas, and no co-workers. And we bought a new laptop so I wont be confined to the basement on the old Gateway dinosaur, unless I need to print.

So let's hope it doesnt rain every Friday night like it seemed it did last year, let's hope Jake doesnt get killed on the field (too bad anyway), let's hope Lucas doesnt get a kickball in the face during recess, and let's hope Trisha doesnt get sent home from preschool for using her potty mouth at the very most appropriate time.

If you have five minutes...

and you are really, really desperate for something to do, you can look at the slideshow of some pictures from our vacation. One of the pictures is from Oradour-sur-Glane, which was destroyed during WWII and is now a museum. The rest are just us, things we did and places we went. And cows. Can't forget the cows.

MTA: Hopefully slideshow should work now!

Walked with Dinosaurs

On Saturday, August 18, 2007, my family and I trekked to Philadelphia (I was there the night before for the Eagles home-opener, preseason - the season has begun) to see Walking with Dinosaurs. It was incredible, believable, and even kept Liam's (5) attention for nearly two hours. The pictures don't really do it justice, but try to find the narrator in some of them and you can then scale the size of these incredible "beasts". It was both educational and entertaining.

France

We're back. We spent the last two weeks in the Limousin, in central France. This particular region actually has more cows than people, so everywhere we went, there were cows. Our little house was surrounded by cows on three sides. Chris was fascinated by them and learned how to moo. He couldn't start or end his day without visiting the cows. We rode our bikes, walked, swam (in the pool and the lake). We ate pastry every day and brought back a sh*tload of wine. Gotta love France!

Rachael Kerin

Rachael Kerin was in the class behind us. She died July 29. Click here for her obituary.

MS Ride September 29 & 30TH

If you would like to sponsor me for the annual MS ride please click on the link below.

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=2750&px=1776421

Thanks again to those of you who sponsored me last year.

Family Films

Since I ONLY get to see family movies at the actual theater anymore, here is what I've seen with my two boys this summer so far!
1 - Ratatouille - excellent, different, better than expected (both boys loved it)
2 - Underdog - funny, good story, really liked it too (both boys really loved it, being dog lovers)
3 - Shrek the Third - I thought the story was played out, wasn't very funny even (they liked it)

Next on our list (before the summer is over) is Daddy Day Camp. Trae loved Daddy Day Care (I think he just liked the fart scene with the little kid) and wants to see this one.

We are also going to the Spectrum to See "Walking With Dinosaurs" on Saturday, Aug. 18th. I'll post pix of that (if we can take pictures); it should be really good.

Aaaah, The Good Life

I've been back to reality now for several days, and have finally taken the time to update ya'll on our Myrtle Beach vacation.

Most of our days were just spent relaxing on the beach, as in the pic with Trisha & I. She's learning real quick (or is it "right quick"Jamie?) how to enjoy the lazy days on the beach. We went mini-golfing in the morning (all of us twice, Brad & the boys 3x). This was our first attempt at taking Trisha along, and she did surprisingly well. I thought for sure she would be in the water a couple times. The boys went fishing one day, Brad & Jake went out on a boat another day. The crabbing gear went along for the ride again. We did some shopping. I hit the Vanity Fair outlet down there for school jeans for the boys. Even though we have one in Reading, I dont go there. We spent too much money, ate way too much and of course the two weeks went by way too fast! Although it is always good to get home. Upon arriving home this year, we awoke Sunday morning to discover that we had a little critter (probably more than one) living in our home while we were gone. We caught one by the stove on Monday morning and today I bought four more traps in hopes of catching more. The boys say they heard some noises in the basement last night so needless to say, my skin is crawling. I'm not surprised though, as my neighbors seem to be growing a jungle in their backyard. Hopefully, they have a house full of mice! Regardless, Brad is already looking into booking our place for next summer and soon the countdown will be posted on the fridge to get us through the frigid winter nights.