Happy Halloween

Things I learned today...
1. Kindergarteners adore light up necklaces (I had a feeling about this but it was fun to test the theory; mine had blue ghosts).
2. Making apple pie is way too complicated to do with children. Next time I will either follow Jason's advice and take it off the "ballot" or slip in a pre-made pie crust. I prefer the taste anyway.
3. I really, and I mean REALLY, like toasted pumpkin seeds. So much in fact, that I'm thinking of buying some post-holiday, sale pumpkins to eat the seeds. Ewww...Jason just suggested I buy a bag of pre-made seeds. I am going to allow myself to live the rest of my life believing the only good ones are the ones you roast yourself.
4. Academics on Halloween are pointless and should not even be attempted.
5. Halloween is a perfect date night. Restaurants aren't crowed, and being out and about allows you experience the joy of NYC costumes. A few times tonight on the way downtown I thought to myself, "Is that guy dressed up?" I'll never know.

The Most Difficult Time of Year

If there is one thing that Erica teases me about over and over - it is that all of my posts are about sports. That is not entirely true, but for some reason whenever I think about posting about sports I now hesitate. Let it be known to all who read this blog I love Erica much more than sports. There is really no comparison (how is that for brownie points? although it is true). With that preface, let me begin.
The Utah Jazz season is officially underway. It was nice to see them start the season with a win over the Golden State Warriors Tuesday night (wednesday morning for those of us on the East coast). Which brings me to the point of this post, being a Utah Jazz fan in NYC. The nice thing is I get to see them play live a minimum of twice a year (thanks to away games against the Knicks and Nets, given they don't play on a Sunday). The difficult part is that the majority of their games are played on the West coast, which makes for a very late night. For example, last nights game started at 10:30pm Eastern time. That means the game wont be over until well past midnight. How does one cope in such a situation? The answer is DVR. My routine for most of the games is simple. Set the DVR, go to bed, don't check text messages lest you want a spoiler from Hendu, Rett or Bodily, wake up one hour earlier than usual, watch the first three qtrs. quickly - mostly on a slower fast forward, watch the 4th qtr on normal speed over breakfast. You may think I am crazy, but it works for me. The only possible downside is when the Jazz blow a game they should have won, then I can be a little cranky for a few hours and that is not the optimal way to start a day. However, I have become much better. I have come to a realisation that the Jazz will never go 82-0 and I remind myself that a basketball game is really not that important. The playoffs - now that is another story - Erica doesn't care much for me during the playoffs. I am sure the other tenents in our building may not like me either due to a raised voice on bad calls (or Baron Davis).

I have probably lost most of you do to the length and content - but I will leave you with my predictions for the season - props to Hendu for the idea. Check out the Tyler and Stacy link to see his Jazz Predictions.

1. Jerry Sloan finally wins coach of the year.


2. Jazz games I will attend this year - 4 (Knicks, Nets, probably one at home, ???)


3. Regular season Jazz games I will watch on TV (thanks to DVR and NBA LeaguePass) - 82


4. NBA games I will watch that do not include the Jazz - 0


5. Games that Tim Tanner watches with me - 3


6. Games that Erica happily watches with me - 0


7. Games won by Jazz - 51


8. Jazz All-Stars - 2 (Williams and Boozer)


9. Ronnie Brewer - top three in voting for most improved player


10. The over/under on text messages from Rett containing questionable content - 25.5


11. Percentage of those text messages I show to Erica - 65%


12. The over/under on text messages from Hendu - 246.5 - (at least 3 per game)
13. Times I wish I were in UT due to my Dads access to tickets - 41

Weekend Update (a little late)

Jason and I got to puppy sit this weekend! My friend, Erin, was heading out of town so we got to take care of her "girls"--Penny, Gwen, and Maddie. I actually couldn't tell Gwen or Maddie apart all weekend. They're sisters and look exactly alike. The weather was unbelievable, so we took the golden retrievers to Rockefeller Park for a walk. Walking in the park with dogs is one of life's simple pleasures. I loved our nice long walk, smiling at and chatting with other dog owners, and "country life".
Here's Jason by the lake...

Maddie, Gwen and I...It was so warm!

I've always loved grazing cows. For this guy, small fence = no problem.

Bright Autumn Leaves!



Wonderful problem solving skills.

check up

i had an endocrinologist apt. this afternoon and had to leave school as i dismissed the kids. i explained this to them so they understood why i was getting my bag together while they got theirs. they asked if i was sick and i told them it was just a check up. this is the ensuing conversation i had with a 35 year old man stuck in 6 year old body.

boy: have you had your yearly breast cancer check?
me: no not yet. (this may or may not be the truth, i was just trying to stifle a giggle and figured honesty was not of the utmost importance).
boy: you should. i just went with my mom and its important.
me: that's good advice.

was there anything else to say?

this type of exchange is the best part of teaching kindergarten. they tell you exactly what they're thinking.

What's for lunch?

Today for lunch the kids had raviolis, marinara sauce and a spinach salad. This is one of their favorite lunches...17 out of 18 will eat ravioli but only 2 or 3 try spinach salad (ranking least favorite veggies).

As Mark approached for seconds on ravioli, he dropped spinach leaves with each step. I had to warn, "Be careful. Don't tip your plate; you're getting salad on the floor" . To which he calmly replies, "Don't worry, I wasn't going to eat it...I just got it for decoration."

How do you not love that? I'm pretty sure that explaining why we dont' waste food was just a waste of breath but I wasted it anyway.

Just Because

"Just because..." is my favorite reason to give/recieve gifts. I like to send my sisters random little things in the mail or pick up something for Jason while I'm out, usually a food or clothing item. This "just because" also applies to cards and flowers. When they aren't inspired by a birthday or holiday, I love them....but bring home flowers on Valentine's day and I am not impressed. I think this is any easy principle to figure out.

Friday Jason did it perfectly. I got from work around 7 or 8, and after a few minutes Jason says, "Close your eyes." He then appears in front of me and with a tiny brown box. I open it and pull out the most fabulous key chain I have ever seen. It's gorgeous and I love it and he gave it to me "just because".

I am lucky.

Blogging Hiatus

Work is seriously cutting into my blog time. I was feeling good (not great, but a solid "good") about the frequency of our posting. Then school started and teaching Kindergarten took over my life. And no, I am not exaggerating. When I was doing science I could use the prep time between classes to get stuff done (run to the mailbox, research lessons/topics, enjoy lunch)...or send personal emails to maintain friendships. Those days are completely over. First of all, my day from 8:00-3:00 is devoted to 18 five-six year olds. Not only are there very few breaks, but this is not an age when kids can be working independently without teacher attention. I also work with a group of amazing teachers...which means no slacking:) And there's a bit of that corner-cutting, slacker-ism inside me. Long story short, I work long hours and let blogging fall by the wayside. But oh do I miss it.

So I'm taking tonight off from newsletters, cutting, and planning. I may even live on the wild side and wing my Christopher Columbus mini-lesson tomorrow to provide a weekend update. A little tribute to two people I really love....

The Connors came to visit! They weren't just coming to visit us...but I don't care because they did visit us. A dear friend of Ashley's was getting hitched and they were out for the celebration. Whatever the reason, we were thrilled to hang out...

After the reception, at the gorgeous Waverly castle (an estate in New Canaan CT) the four of us headed to John's new favorite diner...or maybe his favorite CT diner (corrections are welcome, John?) The previous night they had stopped there and John was impressed by the buffalo wings. I don't know if it was the call of the wings or the waitress that brought him back.

By the way, the food at the reception was delicious and we definitely weren't hungry:) The waitress was a hoot. I can use cheesy terms to describe her because she is one of the cheesiest people I have ever met. We order the wings, and she joked, "Wing, wing, who's there?" while using her hand as a phone. She laughed at the rediculousness of her own jokes and was completely lovable. As we were leaving, we asked her name...Jan. And then, like we werne't already thinking it, she says ,"Some people call me Tan Jan." GET OUT! You may notice we ordered wings, an oreo shake, diet cokes, french fries and sweet potato fries; obviously not concerned about our waist lines or our hearts.


Always open. We left feeling giggly and jumped up to do a girly pose thing. I think Ash looks hot. She may be practice in the mirror.


After a day of shopping, on the quest for great shoes, the crew headed to Little Italy for dinner. These days Mulberry St. = Little Italy, as there area is sort of being swallowed up by an expanding China Town (some old-world Italians are not thrilled about this). This is Wade, Kirsten, Ash, John, Me, Jason, Shannon, Dave, and their cute and sturdy little guy, Camden. is my favorite place down there...mostly because of the outside dining area and ambiance. But the food is good too.

We had our good-bye dinner at Buddakan and then while walking over to the subway, we passed a large excited party on the street. Seeing balloons, I asked what the party was for? One church goer exclaimed, "Not a party! Locked in church." Luckily my interpreter Jason stepped in and learned that forty women had a lock down in church for four days, and this was there celebration. We didn't think to ask what they were praying for but they did offer these flags. As Ashley took the picture, Jason was saying "I feel like a geek."

Memo: Wal-Mart Recall Bulletin

Today one of the Partners I work for at EY came to my desk, handed me a memo with a very serious look in his face, and then just turned and walked away. This was strange for two reasons. A - He is generally a good mood kind of guy, and B - who uses memos anymore?

The title was Wal-Mart recall bulletin. This was relevant because some of my current work has involved Wal-Mart. I begin to read as follows....

Wal-Mart department stores announced a total recall of all "Mr. Met" Halloween costumes effective immediately. When contacted for the reason for the recall, spokesperson Shelly Cora repplied "They pose a tremendous choking haxard!" She went on to say "Wal-Mart did what they had to do."

Did I mention that this partner also happens to be a huge Mets fan - season ticket holder. I got a good laugh out of this. But I really think he is depressed.

Needless to say - it is not a good time to be a Met fan.