Video of Christmas concert

Here's a video I made of the Christmas concert last night. It's amazing what a Canon Powershot A510, Windows Movie Maker, and YouTube can do!

Christmas Concert...West Philly style

Since my dad is a music teacher, I've had the privilege of attending (even participating) in several of his Christmas concerts. Tonight was my first Christmas concert at Our Mother of Sorrows/St. Ignatius. It was quite different than the Disney-style my dad does so well! Still, the point of the evening was accomplished, the students were proud, and the parents left happy. For the amount of communication and preparation (or lack thereof) that went into it, the performance went well! I got to play a solo piano piece as well as accompany Silent Night for two other teachers. Try as I might, the soul/gospel style Silent Night just doesn't naturally go with my playing style! I'll have to work on that.

Here are pictures to tonight's concert. (that's Zion and me below)
I'll have a video posted soon, too!

Also...I'M ON CHRISTMAS BREAK!!!! I fly home tomorrow morning. Michigan, here I come!

Becoming a Master

Today I applied to become a master. Of education, that is. I'm applying to the Walden University Masters Program of Education, specialization in Elementary Reading and Literacy. I chose this program because it's online (not land-locking me to Philly, Michigan, or anywhere else), offers a good program with interesting course descriptions, more affordable than most, and I will be able to complete the program in 20 months. Classes start January 2!

Sidewalk art

Here are several incredible pictures of sidewalk art. I'd love to walk up to one of these sometime! Wonder how long they last before weather attacks...

Carpe giftus

That's Latin for "seize the gifts", of course. Highly appropriate for this season, I'd say! =)

Last night home group had a white elephant gift exchange. (other events including singing Christmas carols and eating good Christmas-y foods, but those details aren't as important as the gifts) I drew number 14 of 16, so I had high hopes for my chances. My fellow home groupers, however, were quite deft at selecting and stealing gifts, so by the time my turn came around, most of the good stuff was "locked" after being stolen twice. Instead of stealing a mediocure gift, I went for the jugular and opened the last unwrapped gift. I gave a shriek when I opened it! Here's what was in it:
It was a picture of Nana--our home group leader's 82-year-old grandma! Her actual name is Margie. There was much laughter, and I couldn't think of a better way to end the game! As one of the other members pointed out to me, I could always throw away the frame and keep the picture. Hey--that's the risk of the white elephant!

And you thought road rage was bad

Here's something called "mouse rage". Why am I not surprised?

My student on Phillies website!

Check out Phillies.com today! My 7th grade student Michael is on the front page article about charities!! (he's left of the mascot Phanatic)

My trip to New York City

Sarah and I had a delightful time in New York City together! We had agreed that our purpose going in was to simply enjoy the city and quality time with each other. Both of those goals were accomplished.

We visited the Apple Store:

M&M World:


FAO Schwartz:
Times Square:

Central Park:


And the Rockefeller Center:


You'll have to talk with Sarah or me for the full scoop, but we were blessed with incredible weather for December. I don't think I would change a thing about our trip. Some of the memorable moments include eating at Little Italy, walking through blocks and blocks of China Town, the subway system (thanks to my NYC mission trip experience in 2004, the maps weren't tough!), Broadway, street venders, sardine-like crowds and MASSIVE tree at Rockefeller Center. Here is the rest of my NYC album.

Perhaps the strangest part was returning to Philadelphia. Right as we got off the bus, the air smelled fresher, the streets quiet, and the general aura more at home. It was quite a shocker; I never thought I'd feel that way about Philly! How far we've fallen if the air in downtown Philadelphia smells fresh! Still, it was a comforting feeling that encouraged me.

Bad news about Foxtrot

As of December 30 this year, Foxtrot will only be new on Sundays. This is just another one of my favorite comic strips (along with Farside and Calvin and Hobbes) to bite the dust in recent times. *sigh*

The body at work

Last week went by quickly! Looking back, I realized I spent a lot of time with friends (new and newer) from Liberti.

Monday: I went to a birthday party with Seth and some friends I met that Friday while salsa dancing.
Tuesday: My home group meeting in Center City.
Wednesday: Seth and I hosted part of a progressive dinner at our house! It was for his home group, and they let me join and hang out with them for the night.
Thursday: Practiced with Jesse and Alex, two other guys in my home group, at Jesse's house for singing in church Sunday.

Due to Sarah and my trip to New York City, I was unable to attend another Liberti flag football game on Saturday!

As I look back on the friends and connections I've made here, I praise God for His leading me to Liberti. I know the community here has played a HUGE role in my feelings about being in Philadelphia. In direct and indirect ways, God has used the people at Liberti to get me a job, a roommate, and many good friends.

I've been able to start giving back more recently, too. I'm on the setup/take down team that arranges chairs and equipment before and after services every few months. I'm part of the children's church teaching team. I've sang in church twice. God has even timed my arrival with Liberti adding a third service and shaping the course of the church for the next season. As a result of this, they want to add more structure and elements to their children's ministries program! Somehow someone got word or remembered that I did that at First Reformed, and they asked me if I would be part of the process. God is using what I learned and experienced last year in order to help the development with Liberti! How cool it is God shows how the puzzle pieces of life fit in His plan!!!

Try this on for size

I've been showing this to my students at class today, and thought I might as well share it with you as well! Sarah and I went to the Apple store Saturday in New York. The store's architecture is really neat--glass building above ground, regular store underground. Here's a picture of the store, then another one of me with the newest iPod shuffle (only $79 for 1GB).


It has a small clip to connect it on your belt. I'd be afraid I would lose it!

NY or bust!

Good morning! And a good morning it is at that. Sarah and I are going to go to New York City today! She finished her big exam yesterday, and we got round trip tickets on a China Town bus to go up and back to the Big Apple from Philly. Our agenda? Enjoy the experience.

Yesterday Sarah joined me at my school's faculty Christmas party. It was at Sister Owen's convent! It was my first time at a convent--much less for a party! (the house felt kind of like a cottage at Hope. I think it'd be fun to live in a place like that with four other good friends!) The teachers were very welcoming to Sarah, and she got to meet all the people I've been talking about with her for the past few months. As my experience has been with teachers, student stories started coming out soon after the party got started...the stories are just a little more exciting here compared with Hudsonville. =)

We also were able to help cook food for Liberti's Friday homeless ministry. The recipe said, "how to cook for 75 hungry people." Unfortunately, due to the timing of my faculty party, we were unable to serve it and spend time with people as they ate it, but it was still a good thing to be a part of.

School's out on Thursday. I'm exciting for this week--even though Sarah is leaving Monday morning for home. My hope is to get a bunch of things done for school, as well as do more research on online institutions for a masters degree I'd like to get started in January. Unfortunately, those things aren't exactly free! Oh well...it's an investment, right?

Oh my darlin'...African-American style

Add today to the list of cultural experience I've had in Philadelphia. This morning I played piano for the prayer service introducing students to confession and communion. I had planned on playing one song at the beginning of the service, then some Jay Rouse Christmas music for communion and confession.

I got to the parish (church) as school was starting to give myself 15 minutes to warm up and get the feel of the piano. Sister Stephanie, who had asked me to play and had given me the music, was there, and I asked her to sing along as I played. When she started singing, I soon realized she was singing neither the notes nor the rhythm to the notes I was playing from the hymnal--only the same words! The hymn had the same root chords as "Oh My Darlin'", which is what she was singing, but a different melody and rhythm. So, we slowed way down, went through it several times, and I plunked out a melody and chords. She told me that pianists in the African-American church sometimes only play with the hymnal for the words; they adjust to the feel of the song for that congregation! More like jazz piano, I suppose.

Anyway, the service went very well. The 6th grade teacher led the words and I played along. In all openness, I was pretty nervous for this. Last time I had played for Our Mother of Sorrows, and this was my first time at St. Ignatius. Despite my tension/worries beforehand and last minute changes, I loved playing for the service. It was an opportunity to use my gifts and serve the school as a whole. Playing Rouse' music always relaxes me, so being able to practice the songs and play them today were fulfilling.

Christmas pictures

Here's the roommate, the dog, and me.

And the girlfriend. =)

Oh Christmas Tree

There she is! Not too shabby for a couple of 20-year-old guys, eh?

Football remains

Saturday afternoon Seth and I played flag football with about 12 other guys from Liberti. We had a great time! My jeans got nice and dirty, which is always the goal. I "tackled" a few people accidentally, but hey--that's part of the game. The weather was perfect for football--crisp with no wind. The air was cool enough to keep the hands chilled and just enough to keep you moving. Nothing like football with a bunch of guys (including a pastor) to liven up a Saturday. =)
Sarah and I also went out to La Luna with people from our church's home group for some salsa dancing! There were lessons, dancing, and even some performances from locals who are competing in the national event this week in Las Vegas! They used the event as a warm-up. What they did was so amazing, it didn't even seem like they were salsa-ing any more! Very cool.

The cutting edge of photographs

Kudos to Krista Carter. While she and Dan were here, they taught me a new way to take pictures of people: have them blow air through their lips! As they do that, snap a candid picture of them! They're pretty funny. Here are the results so far:
My roommate Seth

My girlfriend Sarah

Dan the man

And me.

Philadelphia Murals

One of the coolest and most unique parts of Philadelphia is its murals. Each one tells a story, builds community, and discourages graffiti. I had expected to see a great deal of vandalism, but I believe that the city's murals do an excellent job of discouraging "casual artists". They are one of my favorite parts of Philadelphia. Here are a few examples. Or, here is an entire database of them.

Snow and suppositories

Tonight was a delightful evening! Sarah and I attended a free performance of a musical theater class!! It was a small group of five actors/actresses who have been taking classes this fall. One of the students is in our home group, and she invited us to the performance. There were several solo acts, as well as a group improv activity where students weren't given a scene or goal or characters--only some chairs and two tables...oh, and they had to SING ALL THEIR WORDS. I can't imagine how hard that is. The whole event was quite entertaining! It made me want to be in another musical. Not that I'll actually follow through with it, but it's one of those feelings that pops up every now and then to remind you of your interests. If only there were all the time in the world!

BUT THEN! While walking back to Sarah's apartment, WE SAW SNOW!!! There were at first just a few flakes, then more, then it actually felt like winter for a minute! (the day started off with 51-degree temperatures, mind you) It was wonderful! Granted, it wasn't the foot of snow that Holland received today, but it's a start.

In a way I can pretend I have a snow day tomorrow because I have the day off! I have never celebrated immaculate conception as I will tomorrow. Can't wait!

With my day off, I hope to do some picture organization. I'm writing this down today so I'm more motivated to do so tomorrow. So, expect a picture or three!

In other news, Sarah found $20 on the street! I found $0.33 today, but somehow it seems just a little less exciting than her success.

Something else that happened today was less exciting: I had a doctor's appointment. Not just any doctor--a rectal specialist. I have been getting some blood from time to time in my stool, and my med school girlfriend Sarah encouraged me to get it checked out. It turns out I have a small blood clot in there. After several less-than-comfortable probings, he gave me some suppository pills to insert daily and said to come back in a month. Oh, the inconvenience of it all!

Conferences

I'm sitting here in my computer lab at St. Ignatius School, where parent/teacher conferences are going on all over the building. It feels strange--to be a teacher required to be in the building, but not really having any conferences! I had one parent stop in to check on her son's progress. I also went to another one where there was a student who had trouble in my class last week, but that parent didn't show (this perhaps explains more behind the student's behavior). As a specialist, I am required to be at school, but I have two schools to be at! So, I've been using the time to update the lab.

GEEK ALERT: I uninstalled the newest version of Internet Explorer. last week I installed IE7 on all the computers in the Windows XP lab, but according to my testing, IE7 takes approximately 7 seconds longer to load the same page than IE6! When you're dealing with students with a short attention span who have never dealt with dial-up and a world without microwaves, it's hard to wait 10 seconds for the class homepage to come up! There are a few reports out there about IE7 and its speed. Personally, I'm a Firefox fan, but I'd like to stick with IE for now. We'll see if a fix comes along before I upgrade though.

It's been kind of fun hanging around school tonight, however. I've been able to have casual conversations with my colleagues about subjects from swiss army knives to floffels to youtube to polycarbonate molding!

Yesterday my principal had asked me if I could take morning yard duty for her since she had an early morning meeting. You see, when the kids come in the morning, they run around the school yard for about 20 minutes before school opens for them. The principal is the only adult out there, and I imagine it can get busy out there before school (although things are generally more quiet early on rather than later).

Anyway, I was a little nervous about how things would go. I usually only have 15 students who I am responsible for at a time, and I didn't know how they would handle the dynamic of me addressing the school at one time. Well, I don't see how it could have gone better! Some of the things I had going for me was I know almost all the kids--even the kids I don't teach know me because I come into their classroom to work on their computer. I found my voice got more firm and had more authority in it. Kinda cool? I think so.

The biggest fulfilling part of the experience was that I felt the kids respect me. Sure, they may talk in my class from time to time, but they listen when I want them to. That, above everything else, makes me feel successful at my job.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Seth and I made a shopping trip tonight for food, an electric blanket, IBC root beer, a candle, and a Christmas tree! It looks great in the corner of our living room. I made an impulse purchase and bought a red poinsettia to go with our curtains. Now we just need some ornaments...

I'll be home for Christmas

My official flight information for returning home for Christmas is as follows:
Friday, December 22
United Flight 883 from PHL to ORD 9:30-11:56AM EST
United Flight 5633 from ORD to GRR 2:27-3:17PM EST

Monday, January 1
United Flight 5623 from GRR to ORD 3:51-4:54PM EST
United Flight 148 from ORD to PHL 7:00-9:09PM EST


Woo hoo!!!

Battlefield

This weekend I think I got to witness the purest college football in the country: the annual Army/Navy game. The players who play on these teams aren't after money or fame...they're on their way to serve their country! They just like to play. Both teams were very disciplined (few penalties, little to minimal celebrations, and complete silence for two ceremonial songs after the game before celebrating). The seniors for Navy had quite the accomplishment: they've beaten Air Force and Army all 8 times they've played them in the last four years.

As for the game itself, Navy won. Despite not having real personal connections to the game, I got into it! There were over 3000 cadets from the army and 3000 midshipmen from the navy all in uniform. Each school took a turn getting on the field and standing at attention. They were all very impressive! I felt honored to have them serve me and my country, and even undeserving of their hard work, perseverance, and protection. It brought the Iraq war closer to home too as I pictured them giving their energy, blood, sweat, and tears for others. In a way, it's a beautiful example of how we as Christians ought to serve other people.

We were all FREEZING cold, however. Friday was 70 degrees; Saturday was 40 with 30+MPH winds. And we were out there from 11AM to 6PM. Yikes! It was well worth it, however...I'll probably never get another opportunity to see something like this again. In terms of rivalries, there aren't many more deeply rooted in tradition or intensity. What a day. More pictures here.

Today is nearing to a close, but it was a very good day. Just overall, I felt really strong in a deep way. Filled with peace, patience, contentment. Praise God!

Michigan was kept out of the national championship game officially today. Despite losing to the best team all year by only three points, they were shuffled off to the Rose Bowl. Here's more about what I think about the idea.

Weird weather and Genevers

Today is the 1st of December, and I walked to my car in 66 degree weather at 7:20AM. This afternoon, wind will pick up to 45MPH with thunderstorms! I got a school cancellation notice that all West Michigan schools are closed today, too. Is there a better first snow day than a Friday? I think not. We'd better soak up the balmy Philadelphia weather while we can (high of 50 tomorrow).

Both schools had the Internet go out this week. Sorrows simply needed a modem restart, and St. Ignatius had an issue with Comcast. They fixed the problem last night, and we're up and running again today! Almost all of my assignments are web-based, so it made things more exciting yesterday. Kids were disappointed, but not frustrated, which excited me.

My time with Chief and Kevin VanderKlok was wonderful. We went out to the Continental and, of course, Franklin Fountain. Our conversation ranged from Anna's musical abilities (Chief's daughter) to the book Freakonomics to Camp Geneva marketing and development. They were in town for a national camp conference, and it was wonderful to see them. Three hours went by quickly!

Tomorrow I'm going to the Army/Navy game! A few friends from Jefferson got tickets, so four of us are going. I'm excited! Since my Grandpa De Boer was in the army, I'm going to be rooting for them. It's not Michigan/Ohio State, but it's still a classic rivalry.

Sarah is dancing tonight in an Indian night at Jefferson. She's been practicing with her Indian friends for it this past month. It's a whole night of Indian entertainment, food, and fun.

Camp Geneva comes to Philadelphia

Yesterday I received a phone call out of the blue from Brian VandeWege (Chief). I must have stammered my first four words out of surprise, but he told me that he was in Philly with Kevin VanderKlok for a conference! He asked if I was free for dinner tomorrow (now today). On their tab! Consequently, I'm having dinner with Chief and Klok tonight in Center City! I can't wait.

Giving thanks

Thanksgiving break has come and gone, yet I still like I haven't even begun to express my gratitude to God and those around me. Isn't it funny that the United States is essentially the only country that NEEDS a holiday in order to stop and be thankful?

I'm back in Philly after a 54-hour hiatus in Michigan. It was wonderful to be home and spend time with family and friends. My excitement on the trip home was missing a flight in Detroit due to Philadelphia delays and catching a better flight to Grand Rapids instead of South Bend! I returned home with parents and Maria by 12:30 instead of the expected 1:00--even though I had 90 minute delays! It's cool how God works some things out.

While home, my family celebrated Thanksgiving with the De Boer tradition of flank steak. The day after Thanksgiving, however, we went out to Wild Chef, which is a Japanese steak house in Holland. They put on a nice show while cooking all the food in front of you. Delicious and entertaining! Perhaps my favorite part was when they made small bundles of rice and tossed them through the air to their customers, hoping for them to catch the rice in their mouths. Good fun!

Scott Parrott, Chris Marlink, and Peter Van Wylen came over Friday night. Peter had friends in town, but Chris and Scott spent the night. There's nothing like a good old fashioned sleep over! Since my bed is in Philly, I had to "make my couch" each day. My room just doesn't quite seem as much like my room when my bed is missing. Amazing how much sentiment can be associated with an inanimate object.

Seth dropped me off at the airport early Thursday morning, and two other friends from church picked me up on Saturday night. I had called them to get the best directions home using public transportation, and they insisted on picking me up instead! Another blessing.

Perhaps it's the return to work feelings after Thanksgiving, but I felt frazzled when school started today. Some of it was due to last minute things to do, and other teachers made it worse by having issues that required my immediate attention. The computer that I have all the others connected to in order to print was refusing to turn on, and the Internet itself was down everywhere. I had a slight panic attack, took a deep breath, and tried the first thing all good techies do when attacking a problem: restart. I restarted the modem and router which worked for the Internet. Then I tried several buttons on the computer to no avail. However, when I came back 2 hours later, the computer started up just fine! Those computers...I tell ya.

Tonight was a 2-hour training on safe touch/safe environment for all first year teachers. There was a good deal of grumbling about not getting paid or any academic credit for this extra time, but I think that Monday after Thanksgiving is the best scheduling possible for such things. Report cards are next week, however, and teachers are beginning to stress about them. I'm excited about getting next Friday off (Immaculate Conception, you know!)

Bedtime is quickly approaching here. Seth is in New York until Wednesday, so I have fulltime dog duty. Anyone's welcome to join us for a morning/evening walk! It's quite relaxing, actually. Pets are great.

Holland or bust!

Seth and I are driving to the airport at 6:10 tomorrow morning, with my flight to arrive in South Bend at 11:08. Consequently, I should be home in the early afternoon! Can't wait.

Mass went really well today--better than I would have ever thought! More later, as I'd like to hit the sack now.

Boom goes the Dynamite

My favorite part is when he says "boom goes the dynamite"...you've gotta see this newsmen. Just a guess, but he's probably an intern!

Marathon pictures

And here are the pictures from the Philadelphia Marathon Dan and Krista ran on Sunday (and some extras from our weekend with them).

Me? Lead mass???

It's Thanksgiving week! And I'm excited.

This Thursday morning I board a flight from Philly to Detroit to South Bend. Thanksgiving Day my family and I will consume vast amounts of flank steak (we've never been much for turkey) and go for a game of bowling (two years ago dad got three strikes in a row--a turkey!). I can't wait to be there. I'm usually glad to go home, but I've never been this excited to do so. God has blessed me here in Philadelphia, and I haven't been homesick, yet I can't wait to see friends and family again. I will have to go back on Saturday afternoon...every moment counts!

Sarah finished up her exam on physical diagnosis today and already caught a ride home to Pittsburgh this afternoon. Somehow I'll have to survive 48 hours in Philly without her... =)

Tonight our home group had a Thanksgiving potluck! We had mounds and mounds of delicious food, along with beautiful fellowship. After eating for a while, we went around and shared how we saw God answer our prayers this year. I shared how God has been faithful with my move to Philadelphia and be constant in my life--even while bikes were stolen, cars towed and hit, and living and teaching in an entirely different culture. It was wonderful to hear others praise God for His work in their lives too. I tried to add to the family dinner/reunion feel by taking several pictures.

School is only a half day tomorrow. I'm a little nervous because I'm leading mass! Yep, that's right--the non-Catholic computer teacher is leading mass on the piano. Kinda crazy, but our music teacher quit a few weeks ago. We'll see how it goes! The resource room teacher is backing me up on guitar, and the 1st grade teacher is going to teach her kids the songs and sing along with us too. Should be an adventure! The perfectionist, loud Geneva-style side of me is nervous. I just need to remember that it's for God, not for man.

Dia de la marathon

Who'd of thought that the Philadelphia marathon would take me back to my days at Hope?

Today Sarah and I got to cheer on Dan and Krista Carter as they ran their first marathon! They've been training together, and today they got to finally run it. Sarah and I made signs and went out to cheer them on as we rode bicycles and tried to keep up with them for a while. I had no idea it would be so fun to encourage random runners as they passed too! We made one sign that said "doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo (think Chariots of Fire!)", and if we were to do it over again, I would burn a CD and play it as runners passed. Whenever someone would have his/her name on a shirt, we would yell encouragement to them. Great fun! Dan and Krista were tuckered out when they were done, as you might imagine. Krista ran for over 21 miles, and Dan did all 26.2!!!!!! Unreal. It was a joy to be with them this weekend and experience such a life goal for them.

In the short time we were cheering on runners, we also saw a few people from Jefferson as well as Ashley, my 13-year-old 8th grader who ran the race too!! The next time I'm near a marathon, I would certainly enjoy watching it simply to cheer others on. What spiritual parallels!

Seth bought the video game Guitar Hero II for his PS2 today. Tonight we played it together. If you've never heard of it, it's the same concept of Dance Dance Revolution, only with a toy guitar instead of footpad. The game is somewhat addicting, but quite fun. I swear that if I was more familiar with pop culture songs, I would be better at the game. =)

Go blue!

First time experience alert: minor league hockey game. Last night Sarah, some Jefferson friends, and I went to a Philadelphia Phantoms game! Even though they lost 3-2 to their rivals of the Penguins, we still had a great time. Our tickets included a free hot dog and pop, and I even snagged another hot dog that was tossed into the stands. A fight broke out halfway through the game, and it made me realize that hockey is a professional sport rarity in that it allows fighting to a certain extent! If these guys had been duking it out in the NBA, they'd be suspended for weeks! Why is hockey exempt from this?

One cool part about the night was that I had no less than 5 random people comment on my Michigan sweatshirt. That's gotta be the highest percentage I've ever experienced! Unfortunately, not all the comments were positive. The acknowledgment of the Big Game was enough to encourage me, because in commenting on it, they were giving Michigan credit for being a high quality team and making this game significant. Two hours to go!

Dan and Krista Carter are coming this evening to spend the night with Sarah. They're running the Philadelphia Marathon tomorrow. They've been training together, pledged to run the 26.2 miles together, and are very excited about the whole experience. Sarah and I are excited to support them in it, too! We'll have to miss a good part of the run with church in there, but it should still be a great time to cheer them on. Go team Carter!

"News" for the day

This just in: new studies have shown that the mere thought of money makes people selfish.

This just in: old studies have known that for nearly 2000 years.

In other headlines, the FDA has changed the term "hunger" to "those with food insecurity". Apparently the term "hunger" was confusing to some. America continues to amaze me.

Michigan vs. Ohio State

In my effort to wear Michigan colors/shirts all week, I've tried to get a few students into the rivalry. They don't care. At all. Maybe if they read some of these stats, they would:

(this is all from ESPN)

1835: Folks in Ohio and Michigan started getting on one another's nerves back in 1835, when they fought what is referred to -- rather appropriately -- as "The Toledo War," since it was waged over a swath of land that included, of all things, the city of Toledo. Just in case you're curious, both states actually wanted it.

Turns out the "war" really was fought primarily in Congress and that only "warning shots" were fired when the states' respective militias squared off. Still, it stood as a precursor to the kind of vitriol we see today. For instance:

10: It will cost you $10 to attend "The Hate Michigan Rally" Friday night in Columbus. Headlining the "rally" will be a band known called The Dead Schembechlers, who all dress up like Woody Hayes and play timeless classics like "Bomb Ann Arbor Now," "M Means Moron," and "Schembechler Kicked My Crippled Dog."

This is real. You can even get tickets online at Ticketmaster (and save $2 by buying in advance).

Asked by The Detroit News for a comment, the band's namesake, who I'm happy to say is alive and well, looked at a picture of the band, chuckled and said, "I'll be damned, they do dress like Woody."

18,000: There are still 18,000 absentee and provisional ballots left to be counted in a hotly-contested Congressional race in an Ohio district that includes Columbus. Saturday is the first day to count those ballots legally. The counting will begin on Sunday. Seems the elections officials had more important matters to focus on Saturday.

18: The Buckeyes come in with an 18-game winning streak, the longest in the nation.

11: Michigan comes in having won 11 in a row, the nation's second-longest streak.

29:34: Out of 660 minutes of football in their first 11 games, the Buckeyes have trailed for a grand total of 29:34 this season. They were behind for 18:36 in the first and second quarters against Cincinnati, 5:54 early in the second quarter against Penn State, and 5:04 against Indiana in the first quarter.

4: OSU's largest deficit of the year was four points against the Bearcats.

17:15: Michigan has also played 660 minutes and has been behind for just 17:15 this season. The Wolverines trailed Wisconsin on two different occasions in the first half for a grand total of 13:41, and they were behind Ball State for 3:34 late in the first quarter and early in the second quarter.

7: Michigan's biggest deficit this year was seven points against the Badgers.

0:00: Out of a combined 330 minutes of second-half football, Michigan and Ohio State have trailed for 0:00.

329: Michigan leads the nation in rushing defense and has given up a grand total of 329 rushing yards all season.

29: There have been 29 individual occasions when a team has run for more than 329 yards in a single game this season. Navy has done it four times. West Virginia has done it three. In fact, even Michigan has done it -- going for 352 yards against Ball State, which means the Wolverines gained more rushing yards in that game than their opponents have gained all year.

Also from ESPN

• It is true that the late Ohio State coach Woody Hayes, who did more to pump up the negative feelings in the rivalry than any man, refused to fill up his car in the state of Michigan.

"I'll tell you why we don't," Hayes said, according to the seminal book, "Woody Hayes and the 100-Yard War." "It's because I don't buy one goddam drop of gas in the state of Michigan. We'll coast and push this ***** car to the Ohio line before I give this state a nickel of my money!"

• It is true that Michigan, leading 55-0 late in the 1946 game, lined up and kicked a field goal.

• It is true that in 1950, the teams played through a blizzard with 29 inches of snow and more than 50,000 fans sat through it. Michigan's Chuck Ortmann punted 24 times, and the Wolverines won 9-3, despite failing to make a first down. Buckeyes coach Wes Fesler quit a few days later. Ohio State hired the little-known Hayes away from Miami (Ohio).

• It is true that in 1970, a local judge in Columbus dismissed a charge of obscenity against a defendant arrested for wearing a T-shirt that said, "F--- Michigan" because the message "accurately expressed" local feelings about the university and the state.

• It is true that Hayes sometimes bunked his team in Toledo on the night before a game in Ann Arbor so the Buckeyes could sleep on Ohio ground.

• It is true that the lowest-priced ticket available on StubHub on Thursday, for a seat on the corner of the end zone, on the 41st row of the upper deck, would have set you back $530. Binoculars extra.

Go blue.

Home maker points!

Seth and I deserve some home maker points this week. First, we had most of Seth's cooking appliances get donated to another location. As we started making hamburgers Tuesday night, we soon realized that we no longer had any bowls to mix the seasonings into! Thankfully, we were near the end of our Red Vines bulk licorice container, and we massaged the spices into the beef. It worked well!

I made Rice Krispie Treats for the first time in my life, too. It was on an impulse: Rice Krispies were on sale, and I wanted to do something with them! They turned out well--especially for my first time. Although, I guess it's kind of hard to mess up a recipe so simple!

Tonight Seth put the rest of the beef in some macaroni and cheese. Mmmmm...combined with some kettle BBQ chips, we had a delicious meal. While going out to eat is certainly a treat, it doesn't compare with the full circle feeling of fulfillment that I sometimes feel with eating at home. Maybe it's the whole caveman instincts of stabbing the prey, dragging it home, skinning it, cooking it, eating it, and throwing away the bones idea. Who knows.

Seth and I have been starting our mornings with some prayer and Scripture at 7AM. It's right before I leave for school, but it's a sacrifice for him. He usually doesn't have a cut and dry schedule, which allows for plenty of flexibility. Instead of sleeping in, he wakes up early with me. It's been neat to connect in that way with each other and with God in the morning. *insert Tim Allen grunt here*

Thomas Jefferson University is about to sell Philadelphia's most famous painting, The Gross Clinic for $68 million. The painting was originally purchased by alumni for the school for $200! There's quite a bit of discontent from faculty, alumni, and students about the decision, which the University is justifying by saying that the painting will receive much more exposure in a national museum. A Jefferson memorial plaque will always be in display next to the painting. The city has 45 days to match the offer. Many see the painting as a symbol of Philadelphia, which says a lot for a city that values art so much.

Things at school have been going well recently. Today was one of those times when I felt a little lazy. You see, there are six class periods in a day, and I only taught for 4 of them. The other two I had off for planning or tech support. When I think of myself as simply the technology teacher, I feel lazy for not teaching as much as many of my fellow teachers. But when I think of myself as a technology teacher/network administrator/tech support for both schools' staff and faculty, I can justify my lessened teaching! It is crazy how quickly time goes by, however. My success for the day was connecting my newly formatted computers to a color inkjet and a b/w laser printer and sharing them on the school's new network. Woo hoo!!

Free stuff update: Sarah had a meeting for those interested in family medicine tonight, and they had a TON of extra Chinese food! After stuffing gladware to the gills and filling up the freezer, we decided to go door-to-door in her apartment building of Jefferson students to get rid of the rest of it. We were mostly successful in distributing food, and we made several friends along the way. It was cool how this was on the heels of our church meeting last night about building community in our communities, and how God provided a way to reach out to all the people on the 3rd floor of Barringer! One girl was a 4th year who offered to let Sarah borrow her board study books or answer any questions she has about the upcoming years. Another girl seemed a little lonely and was very grateful to meet more people. She said she's always up for hanging out! It was interested to observe the reactions of people to free food. Everyone was asking why, and almost half of the people we saw declined our offer. Guess some people still believe there's no such thing as a free lunch.

A beautiful day to skip school

Talk about timing! I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for late this morning, and my principal said I didn't have to come back to school (since I don't have any classes Wed PM for prep/tech support time). The weather here was GORGEOUS--70s and bright sunshine. I celebrated with a bike ride to the city, sat outside for a while, Sarah and I went for a run, then we joined our friend Melanie to ride to church for a meeting on community (more to come on that hopefully tomorrow). It felt so good to be outside and hang out. Thanks for that, God.

Is it just me, or is our country in trouble when it costs more to park for a doctor's appointment than for the appointment itself ($10 copay for the visit with my insurance and $12 for parking with my doctor's validation stamp!). Wow.

Balance

Does one ever discover balance in one's life? I'm beginning to believe that balance is analogous to humility--just when you think you've got it, you don't.

In other news, I made Rice Krispies Treats tonight. Kind of a spur of the moment thing...I saw Rice Krispies on sale and decided to make them! For those of you outside the Philadelphia area, you'll have to trust me that they taste dandy.

After hearing multiple people at church and school talk about Heroes, I decided to check out the show tonight. I enjoyed it! I'd say it's a good adventure show that reminded me of Early Edition somewhat (may that show rest in peace!). I can't justify watching it by myself every week, but if it was more of a community building experience, I would certainly enjoy it.

A useful gift idea

For those of you shopping for one of those "hard to buy for" shoppers, I recommend the Swiss Army Card Lite. I keep it in my wallet next to my credit cards. It's been a recent lifesaver! The pen has come in handy for writing last minute notes, scribbling down contact information, or paying credit card bills, and the screwdriver function is perfect for taking apart computers. My parents bought this gift for me last year, and I'd recommend it for anyone else!

(I know what you're thinking, and no, I'm not getting and commissions for swiss army card sales...I simply have appreciated my card immensely in recent days)

Microbiology songs

A few posts back I talked about the musical microbiology lunchtime lecture I attended at Jefferson with Sarah. Since I know you all have been on the edge of your seat to have the words, I finally have them online. Enjoy!

Encouragement

Regardless of how this week started, I must say it ended well. I have felt so encouraged the last two days--and for entirely different reasons.

Yesterday was encouraging because I felt like I was truly equipping my students, and they were excited about learning. Most of the ways I've seen other, more experienced teachers teach in my schools have been to be very direct and show the kids exactly what is expected of them. I've been mimicking that style so far. Well, I decided to try something different as we began a new personal profile project to teach advanced editing in Microsoft Word (middle school). I gave the students a sample I created about me, showed them my requirements and a rubric, and told them they were in middle school, so I wasn't going to hold their hand through this assignment--they had to THINK on their own. The results were beyond my wildest dreams! It was great!! The kids were engaged and focused on the task for the entire time period. I felt very encouraged.

I also had a few 7th graders actually THANK me for teaching them some keyboard shortcuts. Just out of the blue! They said "thank you for teaching us these! They work great!" It knocked my socks off.

Then I played a slideshow I made out of the apple orchard pictures for the primary grades, and they were quite pleased as well. Maybe it's the people pleaser in me, but I enjoyed serving all those students in those ways in one day!

Today we didn't have students, as we had a faculty meeting all day (financial planning, study skills, report card info, scheduling stuff, etc.). After we finished at 3, I tackled the donated computers to format them and get them setup for our resource room. Well, I left school at about 10:15! The time went by quickly, and I never even touched the pizza or PB&J I had in the room with me. AND! I got all the computers up and running with the phone support of Peter Van Wylen and some swapping floppy drives. It wasn't exhausting, even though it was a 13 hour day. (actually, I brought one machine home and have been working on it for the last hour) Sometimes, the motivation just kicks in! Thanks, Jesus.

Tomorrow I'm going to go watch the Michigan/Indiana game with Eric Summers. Go blue!!!

Never a dull moment

So...our school's bad week got worse today. On the bus ride to gym, our 5th graders were hit by a trolley. Not hard, but still hit. They were all brought to the children's hospital as precautionary. Everyone is okay, thank God, but it has our faculty wondering how soon this week will end!

Wonderful donation

On my way home from school today, I picked up 6 computers! I had mentioned our school's need for computers to my home group, and two people there said they had a bunch of old computers hanging around at work! So, I dropped by the Center City architecture firm, and they gave them to me! It was great--except that now I need to go through and format them all and reinstall software on them. Creating work for myself isn't so bad, I guess...I'm excited for the kids to be able to use them.

Seth and Sarah are both going to be busy this weekend--Sarah is going to a medical missions conference in KY, and Seth is going to a Christian counseling conference here in Philly. With my extra time, I plan on putting some extra time into upgrading the school's computers. We'll see how it goes!

Speaking of donations, I gave one of another kind recently. Sarah had a clinical skills session on giving IVs, where all the med students practiced on each other. Well, after she practiced on them that night, I volunteered my right arm the next. Note to self: when girlfriend is practicing on you, don't think about what she's doing, the fact that she's new at it, what the needle is up to, or anything as such! Now, I used to get allergy shots in both arms every week, and I also gave blood several times in college. It's been a while since I had my flu shot last year, but I didn't think I had a fear of needles. (once I did need to lie down after giving blood, as my face turned white) Unfortunately, I let my nerves show, and after Sarah successfully removed the practice kit needle, my face turned "a lovely shade of green", and I had to lie down and drink something. I was a little frustrated at myself and for making Sarah more nervous than needbe, but it was really good to give her an opportunity to practice and even provide a somewhat stressful environment to simulate some potential futuristic times during rotations next year.

School was exciting today--for very non-academic reasons. There was a robbery at a store a block from school, so nobody was allowed to leave or come into the building for the morning. Helicopters circled the area as the police looked for the villians. We were allowed to go back to normal schedule by lunch. The 7th grade teacher also had a fight break out in her classroom, and several of the boys had to intercede for her to stop it. She was pretty shaken up. When I picked up her class earlier in the day, it seemed like they were doing whatever they wanted to in the room, so I'm not totally shocked that something like that happened. She is a first-year teacher, and as with most of us, her classroom management is developing. These kids aren't exactly from Hudsonville anymore!

Next stop, home group!

Pics from the homestead

Here's a picture of me at my computer desk in my room.



Here's a picture of Seth and Murphy after photographing a wedding (they don't ALWAYS dress in black to match)



And here's a picture of me on my bed in front of my blue curtains. Take careful notice of how the elaborate wall decor draws you in! That'll change soon.

World Cafe Live

Friday afternoon, our church's home group received an e-mail from one of our members inviting us to a free concert at the World Cafe Live. As it turns out, our church worship leader played and wrote music with several of the musicians when he lived in Nashville. Neither Sarah nor I had been to the World Cafe Live before, but we decided to check it out. We were very glad that we did! The atmosphere at the WCL was very cool: dark lighting, nice tables, small venue, candlelight...wonderful. A simple setup of guitars and a djimbae combined with the singers' beautiful voices created a very camp-like feel. Delightful!

The musicians were Jeremy Lister, Sandra McCracken (wife of Caedmon's Call member), Katie Herzig, and Matthew Perryman Jones. Sarah, Seth, and I went in together and bought five of their CDs for $33. Well worth the money.

Why is it that live music so often sounds better than CDs ? There must be some indescribable, unmeasurable, element to it.

Saturday morning I drove out to the Roxborough neighborhood of Philly to help our church clean out a few rooms for their new service site. Even though Liberti is only three years old, they've grown to over 400 people and, as of this coming Sunday, will have three service sites! I enjoyed serving along with several other members of the community...there is perhaps no better way to get to know others than by serving alongside of them. I believe this is one of the biggest reasons that people return from mission trips with such close bonds with their team. The church that serves together, stays together? =)

If you haven't checked out Liberti's website yet, please do so! We had a bunch of high schoolers from Pittsburgh in the "balcony" (aka: sitting on top of tables) in the back today. They were on a service project, found the church online, and decided to check it out!

The whole service today blessed me. From the sermon tracing communion back to the passover to the children singing "Live a Life of Love" to praying for the groups starting the new site to discussing a Brian McLaren book, I felt encouraged, challenged, and embraced. Somehow, going out to lunch with fellow worshipers helps combine the compartments of home and church into a new compartment of community. I like it.

Would it be called a poddy?

Somehow, this seems like a joke--something someone cooked up in his college dorm room to make his friends laugh. But it's not. Buy one for yourself!

Podunk and Rogers

Here is what Sarah and I went as for Halloween! She as the Podunk County Fair Queen and I as Mr. Rogers. Scared yet? =)

Microbiology: a musical

Happy All Saints Day everyone! This marks my first true celebration of the catholic holy day, as I have off from school today. There are days like this when I'm grateful to be in a catholic school , but I'm sure others will come in due time (ask me again when other schools have spring break and I do not...).

I'm spending my day hanging out. I slept in as much as I could, wasted a bunch of time online, attempted to track down information on United Airline's website and phone support regarding free vouchers, and reading. For lunch, I met Sarah at one of her medical school lunchtime lectures. While eating free roast beef and turkey sandwiches, we watched a lecture from a UPenn professor called Microbiology: A Musical. Indeed, it was for medical students! However, it interested me because the professor put information about microbiology to tunes of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, Popeye the Sailor Man, the Star Spangled Banner, I will survive, Yesterday, and She'll be Comin' 'Round the Moutain. I'll have to hunt for the lyrics and post an example.

My clock says it's almost 2PM already. Slow starts to day certainly make the day go by quickly! I'm not sure if I like that or not. Enough blogging...I'm gonna get going!

An apple a day...

Yesterday I got to help chaperone my school's prek-4th grade trip to an apple orchard called Highland Orchards! We had a great time!! The kids got to stuff a scarecrow, walk through a hay maze, pick apples, make apple cider, eat donuts, enjoy a hay ride, and have a fun day together. Experiences like this outside of the classroom are so good for teacher/student rapport. Instead of giving instructions, I could hang out with kids more and enjoy their company. The weather was great too! It was surprising that we could fund a trip 40-60 minutes out of the city to visit an orchard like that, but we got funds from somewhere to gas the buses.

The 4th grade teacher who organized it did not assign me any specific kids. Consequently, I could just float around and take pictures! And I did:



See more of them!

The teacher joked that I should come on all their trips from now on. I'm fine with that!

Freeeeeeeeeeedom

Factoid: my favorite movie is Braveheart.

Visiting the Eastern State Penitentiary was a lot of fun. The architecture and design were revolutionary, and it was the world's first penitentiary (penitentiary, we learned, means a place where prisoners learn penitence, or have time to reflect on what they did in order to change their lives). Eastern State's early philosophy was to isolate prisoners into cell blocks and not allow them to talk. They could go out in their "exercise" room behind their cell for two half hours each day. Besides that, they never left their cell. Talking was not allowed, and guards even wore socks on top of their shoes to muffle the sound of walking! I couldn't take it.

Al Capone served his first sentence in prison at Eastern State, when cops pulled him over on his way to Chicago from Atlantic City with several loaded guns. We heard stories of escapes, riots, smuggling, sports, and daily life behind bars. It made me decide to never go to jail. I took a bunch of pictures. Check them out!

What made the trip even more timely is that Sarah and I had just watched the Shawshank Redemption less than a week ago. It's her favorite movie, and I really enjoyed it too. Watching that flick, then walking through an actual prison made both experiences much more memorable. A good reminder about how experiential learning can be so good for students!

Lights out

It got dark here at 5PM today. Now, I know that daylight savings time just changed over, but still....5PM??? I'm used to being on the westernmost part of the eastern time zone, and now I'm on the eastern side. More sunshine in the morning, but much less at night. Maybe it'll help me get to bed earlier.

Friday morning there was a gorgeous sunrise in Philly (red sky in morning, sailor take warning!). I walked out to my car and my jaw dropped! Here's a picture of what I saw. Just realize that my camera didn't do the scene justice:

AND! This will be the darkest Halloween for some time. Congress recently passed a huge energy bill with a clause that extended daylight savings time for four weeks, starting this spring. Daylight savings time will begin three weeks sooner in March and end one week later in November. Senators made the change in hopes of saving more energy and getting people outside more.

Sarah's birthday

This weekend Sarah turns 23! As a surprise, I worked with her best friend Lydia Riddell and her fiancee Walter Nelson to come visit for the weekend. We successfully surprised Sarah late Friday night. The only complication arose when Lydia missed her connecting flight due to delays out of Grand Rapids! So, instead of arriving at 10:30 in Philly, she came in via Newark at 3AM thanks to Walter driving out there to pick her up. I played the staller role, and did everything I could think of to keep Sarah busy...fortunately, we were out with Jefferson friends at a Halloween/birthday party until quite late. It has been awesome to see Lydia and Walter here, as they are my first visitors to Philadelphia!

Walter asked me to be in their wedding last night! That means that Sarah will be one of the bridesmaids, and I will be one of the groomsmen. What a treat!

The biggest event (besides going to Franklin Fountain again!) was touring Eastern State Penitentiary. It was a blast!!! The prison is located right in the heart of Philadelphia, and it was revolutionary in its technology and design when it was made in 1829. We were able to visit Al Capone's cell, sit in cells, and discuss the humanity of incarceration. Who'd of thought a prision could be so enjoyable?!?

For the Halloween/birthday party Friday, I dressed up as Mr. Rogers. Sarah was a "Podunk County Fair Queen". Pictures will be posted!!!

bedtime

I had hoped to have time to post tonight, but I got sucked up in working on a new format for my students to take quizzes online. (QuizStar, in case you're interested!) I hope to introduce other teachers to it and let them use computers as an incentive! In my informal tests where I had half the class take a quiz online and the other half on paper, my students do better on the computer. Here's hoping this format will give just a little more motivation and success to students.

It's bedtime.

Great resource for 2006 election info online

If you haven't done so already, download Google Earth. The graphics and satelight imagery are incredible.

Second, turn on the layer labeled election 2006. If you do so, check out your area and click on the patriotic flag near it. You'll have a listing of all the positions, and people running for them, images, news stories about them, etc!

As a responsible citizen, this is the easy way to get all your info quickly.

Read more about it here.

Weekend success and struggles

As I read my post from yesterday, I realized I committed a grivious error for any language arts minor: my subject line alluded to things not mentioned in my writing! Just don't tell mom.

I hope you take a minute to look at the pictures from this weekend. I also put up some from the wrestling match! Here they all are for quick reference:
Trail walk
Drexel service day
Franklin Fountain
Wrestling

One of the coolest parts of the wrestling event was seeing the people who were there. Sarah and I both enjoy people watching, and this was a great place for it! Perhaps our favorite was a girl who was sporting, as Sarah called it, a Mulfro. You guessed it: it was a combination of a mullet and an afro. Here's a pic:

The people in Philadelphia must be spending so much time wondering how the Tigers ever got to the World Series that they're neglecting to collect their change! Just yesterday I collected $0.39 in dimes and pennies while riding my bike! I did pass one or two ADDITIONAL coins in luew of traffic congestion. What opportunities await! It does make me wonder exactly how much money is on the pavement at any given time. Is there any way to measure such a thing?

15 of the cents were found on the way to church (Sarah, a Jefferson friend named Melonie, and I biked to church yesterday...just beautiful weather for it). I put it in the offering plate, since I thought that since I found so much on the way to church, God may have wanted me to give it back to Him. Reflecting on the situation brought to mind a recent struggle of mine: putting money in the offering plate. I struggle with wanting to put at least some form of money in the plate when it passes by. The size of the bill or number of them is of little importance; the issue is that I put SOMETHING in the plate. This is wrong, I believe, because my motivation is not to give money to God--it is to show the people around me that I am giving money.

If you haven't yet, I encourage you to go to Wendy's and purchase a Trick-or-Treat coupon book for $1. You get 10 junior frosty's with it--that's only 10 cents a delicious treat! You can even use TWO coupons for a small. What a deal! Especially good with the newer vanilla flavor. =)

Speaking of good deals, a gas station/convenience store in Philly called Wawa is giving away free hot drinks between 2 and 4PM every day! Very good hot chocolate.

Today I purchased auto insurance. Living in Philadelphia instead of Holland increased my rates by almost 100%. Wowzers.

Most of my day at school was spent problem solving computer issues. With all the classrooms wired, I'm trying to format all the computers and get them back on square one again. That takes some time when some of the equipment is missing and other parts don't work. Fortunately, I only had one class today (as will I have tomorrow, as this entire week is standardized testing for the state). God knows how to time these things, doesn't He?!?

Go Tigers! Let's hope they continue their winning ways on the road. John Hile (former roomie), cheer them on for us in St. Louis!!!

Seth and I are going to make nachos for dinner. What a way to end a Monday!

Hard-hittin', Tiger-watchin', leaf-changin', Frosty-eatin', compter-movin', penny-findin' weekend

What a weekend! I tried to capture some of the highlights in the title of the blog. I'll try to have some pictures fill in more. One of the best parts? It was all free.

As a teacher, you rarely want to come to school on the weekend. Sometimes, however, it can't be avoided. This Saturday, my school had over 40 students (freshmen, MBA, and alumni) come volunteer at our school. They painted a few classrooms, the school entrance (Hope colors, actually!), moved my classroom to the second floor, and wired every classroom with the Internet. They had several people who had backgrounds with computers, and they setup a wireless network throughout the school. The school had been wired in every classroom, but the switch they were connected to had never been hooked up to the Internet! Drexel's network guy spent the day running around and fixing little snaffoos, but the main work had been done for him ahead of time. Pictures!

Sarah and I walked through one of Philly's parks--something called the Forbidden Trail--yesterday. The leaves were changing colors, the river ran by, and the air had a nice chill to it. Here are some pictures from our hike.

Friday night I did something I had never done before: I attended a professional wrestling event! I snagged some free tickets from CraigsList, and Sarah and I went after we consumed a free dinner at her school. Almost surprisingly, we had a good time! It's not something I'd want to go to often, but we got excited about it and joined in the action. And it's all real, right? =)

Here are the pictures of Sarah, Seth, and me at Franklin Fountain Wednesday night.

I'm battling a sore throat and the sniffles now, so I'm going to call it a night. Check back soon for more pictures and details about the weekend.

Dogface

Seth's black lab, Murphy, and I are currently not on speaking terms. You see, he has broken into my room three times in the last 10 days to vandalize and send messages to me. I think he wants me out of the house. You'd think he would be a good Christian dog and confront me about it, but he's not. Instead, he's opted to be a mafia dog and use scare tactics. So far, he's tried to send me messages by destroying my stash of candy: black licorice-flavored/cinnamon bear shaped gummies, Mentos, Trident gum, York Peppermint Patties, Grandma Bushhouse's homemade hot chocolate, you name it. If that isn't clear enough, he's been depositing dog urine at specific places: my door, my laundry bag, and as of last night, my COMPUTER CASE! He managed to pee on it so it would infect my bag where my laptop goes AND my desktop. Unreal.
You probably now understand why I referred to him as Seth's dog and not mine. I'll try to get a mug shot of the vandal so you all can be on the lookout in case he starts scoping out my close friends and family.

In other news, Philadelphia was ranked as the 3rd worst sports city in America, thanks to its 20-year major sports championship drought and "alcoholic and ragaholic" fans. The worst city? Atlanta.

Sarah's exam is today on all kinds of drugs. By the grace of God, we discovered a way I can help her study! Sarah will tell me a list of drugs/categories that she needs to remember, and I will take core components of the words and generate random mnemonics out of them into stories. It's been funny and even enjoyable at times!

I'm off to pray with my fellow teachers before school starts. Happy Friday everyone!

Me, myself, and I

This has been a great week. It's not like I can blame one thing for it, but it's been a really good week. I guess it boils down to me feeling like I'm getting the hang of things, getting to know people, and they're getting to know me. Home group last night, for example, was awesome. Sarah said I was "in my element"--I felt like I made connections with people, shared some laughs, and contributed to the greater conversation. Community is formed when people are intentional and consistent, and I felt that this week. Praise God!!!

Tonight Seth, Sarah and I went to Franklin Fountain. Mmmmm. With that, I'm heading to bed. Maybe I'll post pictures tomorrow...

Celebration of thanks

Here are Sarah and me on top of the Independence Visitor's Center (that's Independence Mall in the background...you may recognize a scene from National Treasure).

And these guys dressed up as Kiss? Yep...those are the lead pastors at Liberti. The guy on the banjo is our lead pastor. Very creative, very well done night of celebration! Praise God for what He's doing in the lives of the people at Liberti!

A great day for Michigan sports

Does it get much better than this??? (besides the Cubs of course) The meazly Detroit Tigers playing in the World Series? Michigan beating Penn State away, then hearing Penn State say that UM is better than OSU and Notre Dame, who also beat them! Wow. Yesterday was a great day for Michigan sports. I watched the end of the Michigan game with some die-hard Penn State friends from Jefferson, and they weren't terribly happy. On the inside I was cheering hard, but on the outside I would only pipe in a random comment or two. (you gotta know the line...when to talk trash and have fun with it and when to sit back and let your team speak for themselves) It was fun though.

I found 85 cents on the street yesterday. If you enjoy picking money off the sidewalk, Philly is the place for you! I'm able to add to my already ginormous teaching salary nearly every day by finding a penny or something. The best I've done at one time is two quarters. Maybe I'll have to add a cent counter to my blog to keep track.

My church Liberti had its 3-year birthday party/celebration of thanks last night. It was held in the Independence Hall Visitor's Center. Beautiful facility! I took pictures, but they're on Sarah's camera. I'll try to upload them later today.

Google for Educators

Google just announced a new website for teachers: Google for Educators.  While the page doesn't have much content yet, the promise of more to come is exciting. 

The gentle art

Fundraising: the gentle art of helping people discover the joy of giving.

That is the definition I was given the past few days in Baltimore during the NCEA (National Catholic Educators Association) conference on developing the annual fund. I rode out to Orioles land with my vice principal, the head of spiritual life (who writes several grants), and a parishioner who runs a major nonprofit grant program in Philly. We were treated like royalty--everything from our own suites to wine and cheese to all kinds of wonderful food. I ate much too much, but I figure I should be growing in as many ways as possible. =)

Not a lot of schools were selected to attend, due to the cost of the conference. Superintendents were asked to hand pick schools that are in need of extra funding that have the leadership in place to be successful financially. There were parts of the conference that were above my head, as this is the first real experience I've had with this type of thing. Of the people who were there, I was the youngest by at least 10 years. (but I won a door prize for being the newest one to the job: a pale blue polo shirt) So, while I did feel a little out of my league at times, I also was thankful for such an opportunity.

The optimism that the presentor shared with us reminded me of my fellow Cubs fans: there is no such thing as a "no"...it's just a "not yet." For example, when asking for $1,000 and receiving a "no", simply respond, "we would love for you to be a part of this project/program/building...at what amount would you be able to participate?" See? Phrase the question not as a yes/no item, but as expecting a positive response. They also used the term "friendraising", and said that quite often, developers will grow good friendships with their high doners--mostly because of the shared vision of the organization they have in common.

Overall, our group had a good time together. A community was formed among the various schools that were there, which was neat to see. Networking with people from other schools was enjoyable as well. I'm glad I went! There's a follow-up conferences in March, so I might just have to go to round 2, too!

Random fact of the day: 51% of the entire state of Pennsylvania's welfare money goes to recipients in Philadelphia.

The Tigers just keep on winning! They're the White Sox of 2006--a manager that makes all the right moves with his gut, a team that plays together with many heros, four strong starting pitchers, and a fan base that is excited for the finish line. They've got a strong shot!


Tomorrow Liberti is having a celebration of thanks dinner at the Constitutional Convention Center. It's a fancy dinner along with a few pastor roasts for fun. I'm looking forward to it, although it will go into a good portion of the Michigan/Penn State game...

My Bushhouse grandparents sent me a package full of food today! It was well received. =)

Sarah has an exam this coming Friday, so this is extra study week/weekend for her. I do my best to support her through it, but there's only so much an elementary technology teacher can do with octasyllabic words describing pharimicudical solutions for bacteria! Anyway, go Tigers.

Google announcement

Today is exciting for a few reasons:
1. I leave for Baltimore as soon as my ride arrives at school here.

2. It's my half birthday today (when I mentioned it in 5th grade, I had kids guess that my birthday was tomorrow and in 30 days--nobody guessed 6 months away!).

3. Google acquired YouTube, currently the most popular online site for videos (in only 17 months of existance, they are the 10th most popular site on the entire internet). They bought them for 1.6 billion in stock. For a 67-person company!!! You could hire 16,500 people to work for you for a year and pay each of them $100,000!

4. Google also just made a watered down version of Word and Excel available online. For free. And you can publish your documents online for friends or anyone to visit. For free. And you can save the documents to your computer as Word or Excel files. All free. Have I mentioned how much this company facinates me?

5. The Tigers won last night. They beat the Yankees and are making a serious run at the World Series. All of Michigan is excited about them doing this. What's wrong with this picture? None of my students in Philly care. Well, I do.

Baltimore or bust

It all started out like a normal day. I woke up, greeted Murphy (Seth's dog), packed a lunch, and went to school. Partway into my first class, my principal came in and asked me if I would want to go to a conference on grant writing and marketing schools. I was stunned, especially since they're leaving TOMORROW for it! After some thought, I accepted the offer. Free food, free instruction, free transportation, free lodging, no need to write lesson plans while I'm gone...how could I go wrong?!? It seems like an excellent opportunity for me to do some professional development.

We leave tomorrow at 1PM and return Friday around dinner time. I'm going with a vice principal and a few other people from my catholic school district. Someone else is even driving us over! Baltimore is about 2.5 hours from Philly, which is about the same distance as Boston, NYC, and DC. As far as being centrally located in the East, Philadelphia is the way to go!

Here's a picture of me on my new bike. After my last one was stolen outside of Sarah's apartment at 5PM while I was inside for no more than 13 minutes, God provided this bike for a very good price. I found it on Craigslist. I've loved riding it even more than my last one. The situation has helped me be more grateful too, because now I thank God every time I return to my bike and it's still there!

My body is a little sore right now from playing ultimate frisbee this afternoon. Jefferson students and friends (we were 6 strong today) gather on a regular basis for friendly competition and the tossing of the disk. Sarah and I played well, although we would be the first to tell you there were much finer athletes on the field than us, and we both need to be in better shape in order to compete at a higher level. Perhaps this offseason we'll start a training regime. =)

Have you ever had pad thai? It's very good. I made some tonight with stir fry veggies and chicken. Mmmmmm...I can still taste it!

I'll see if I can post anything while I'm in Baltimore. Until then, go Tigers!