Shaken...not stirred

Did hear about the protests going on in Washington DC this week? I hadn't heard of the planned march on the country's capital, but I found out soon enough when Sarah and I arrived in Greenbelt, MD on Saturday. We were on our way to visit Sarah's younger sister Elizabeth who is finishing up her undergraduate career in political science by studying in Washington. George Bush's head was on more objects than I've ever seen! (rubber chicken, Pinocchio, donkey's rear end, etc.) People carried djembes, signs, and an excitement with them. There were 50 buses parked at the metro stop, and everybody was heading into town along with us. Fortunately, we got off the jam-packed train after a few stops to switch lines. The protesters, although intimidating in number, loud chants, and anti-administration pictures and literature, were peaceful. Had we not been on the way to visit Elizabeth, I would have been interested in going along for the experience.


Our time in DC went by quickly. We walked around for a while, then decided to visit the International Spy Muesum. Four hours later, the museum closed on us! We all had a great time seeing the technology spies used to use, which made us wonder what other devices they're currently using! So many stories...so much double-crossing...so much fear. I could never be a spy.


While we were in Union Station, we saw a HUGE inflatable colon! It was crazy timing since Sarah had just taken an exam on the GI tract the previous day!!! We went inside and were probably the most excited visitors the colon cancer awareness group had!


About halfway through the day yesterday, I started feeling under the weather. Sure enough, I woke up with a sore throat, stuffed sinuses, headache, cracking voice, and all kinds of congestion.
Consequently, I stayed home from school. I found myself feeling very grateful for a job where I can stay home and not worry about making ends meet when I miss a day.

Freedom Writers for free

If you are a teacher, you can see the movie Freedom Writers for free this week through Thursday at any AMC Theater. Sarah and I went to see it last night and enjoyed it immensely! The movie is a realistic view of a very tough inner city school where the teacher helps her students see the hope and humanity in life. In doing so, all of their lives are changed! It was inspirational to see the heart the main character had for her students and her dedication to her profession. Watching the movie made me proud to be a teacher.

Perhaps the coolest part is that the movie is based on a true story. Check it out!

Hope dunk!

A sweet dunk by my alma mater's bball team. If only they had played like this when I was in school!

Jason Cash with the play-by-play.

The Courage to Teach

The music director at Liberti gave me a book to read today. It's called The Courage to Teach, by Parker Palmer. He used to teach high school in Nashville at both public and private schools. He lent it to me after we talked about me teaching in West Philly. It looks really good, and Amazon's ratings were favorable. It's cool how God allows unexpected blessings to fall into the day's events. =)

Thrifty shopping

There are two dollar stores by my house: Dollar General and Dollar House. Dollar House is a true dollar store--each item in the store costs a dollar. Dollar General has, I think, suffered from inflation, and it has items costing $8 or higher...some of which exceed the price of the grocery store next to it! I think it's false advertising somehow. If you're a dollar store, stick with a dollar price! Don't claim that because all your goods cost DOLLARS that you can call yourself a dollar store! There really are a lot of products that are available at the dollar store that can save money. For example, today I bought some 200feet of plastic wrap, 6 sponges, and ziplock bags...all for $3 total! Certainly, there are some products that should not have quality compromised, but those things? I'll take the cheap stuff, thank you very much.

Word of the day? Eructation. (thanks Sarah!)

This week seems long for some reason. My theory is that I haven't had a full 5-day week in about 7 weeks! Either MLK Day, New Year's, faculty meeting, or some other reason has altered the schedule. So this is what it feels like to have a real job...

Monday night cooks

Seth and I have started cooking lessons with a friend from church named Kamil (or K-meal, as the sign in his kitchen says). It's been wonderful! We head over there with Murphy on Monday nights, and he teaches us how to make a dish from scratch. Our first night we made spaghetti--not just regular spaghetti...the REAL italian stuff! It was the best spaghetti I've ever eaten. Plus, he gives us cooking tips as we go about preparing the food. Kamil said he would love to be a regular chef, but the hour keep him from doing so. He's considering the option of offering his services to private parties, where the commitment is much less. His dad owned a grocery store as a kid, and his mom always made huge Lebonese meals from scratch. Now when he goes home, his mom begs him to cook! The guy has a lot of life experiences.

This week we made orange/herb stuffed chicken with breadcrumb fennel Another true success!!! Seth takes copius notes so we can whip up the delightful dinners at another time to impress our guests. Here are some pictures:

Democratic candidates

The top two democratic candidates for president announced their campaigns this past week, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Interestingly enough, both of them chose to use video and the Web as a means of broadcasting their message. I believe--and this isn't just the computer teacher in me talking--that the candidate that will win over the most swing voters will be the one who harnesses the power of the Internet best. Speaking of such, here are the two videos I mentioned, curtesy of YouTube. (notice the blooming trees and flowers behind Hillary...where are trees blooming like that in New York? Did she tape this recently? Not that it really matters; I was just wondering)

Brotherly love in Philadelphia

Reese Cottage came to visit this weekend! Peter Van Wylen, Brian Mulder, and Scott Parrott braved the 13-hour drive from Michigan and came to visit the East Coast from Thurday to Sunday. Dan and Krista Carter came down from Princeton, NJ to share in the wonderful fellowship. We had a delightful time! We hung out at my house, visited my schools, toured Center City, ate Philly Cheese Steaks from Pats, meet Seth/Murphy/Pete, took pictures outside the art museum, and visited Sarah's apartment. It was so good to be able to share some of my life here with them. The main reaction to my house was that it was narrow (it is!), but they said they enjoyed experiencing my life here. As expected, the visit was too short, but we had a wonderful time.

Peter and Brian outside Cabellas on the drive down.

Outside the Art Museum.

Scarfing down one of Philly's classic meals. (although far from gormet!)

The gang! (minus Seth, who graciously provided his services as a photographer)

Doing the Super Bowl Shuffle

Bears win! Bears win!

I got to watch the Chicago Bears beat up on the New Orleans Saints today in the NFC Championship game. All eight of ESPN.com's experts picked the Saints to win, and in all honesty, I did not set my hopes too high. However, the Bears defense returned to its early season form and annihilated the Saints high octane offense. I watched the game in the apartment of some Jefferson friends, although they chose to study instead of watch (some claim about it being the weekend before an exam or something...). Sarah joined me for the 4th quarter, and we celebrated together. We'll see how many Philadelphia Bears fans jump on the bandwagon these next two weeks.

Fruit crisis

Have you heard about the major freezes in the West/South? Stock up on oranges! Or start buying more Vitamin C pills. Prices are expected to skyrocket by next week.

Hodge podge

I've realized that since my master's classes have started, I have done a poor job of blogging. =(

This year I had Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day off for the first time in my life! I enjoyed it more than I ever did before, too--and not because I didn't have to teach. Instead, Philadelphia had a "day of service" where the city encouraged everyone to volunteer in their community to make the city a better place. Our school participated, and the city brought a ton of shirts, shovels, rakes, bags, and cleaning supplies in order to help us make our school more beautiful. You can see pictures here.

Tomorrow Brian Mulder, Scott Parrott, and Peter Van Wylen are coming to Philadelphia for the weekend! I'm very, very excited to have them here and to show them around my community. In all honesty, I am a bit nervous. I'm praying against wanting to impress them or to display some image that I'm not. I desire to introduce them to the community I'm a part of now, and I feel some inner need to prove myself or show off Liberti or my schools. May they get an accurate picture of my life in Philadelphia, without any of my doing.

Sarah had an hour-long lecture on types of diarrhea today.

The whole city of Philadelphia was depressed that the Eagles lost this weekend. I was at a birthday party for one of our home group members, and they had a TV setup in the kitchen. At one time, there were about 30 people packed in the kitchen watching the game, and about 5 others in the living room talking. This city loves their Eagles! I rooted for them too and actually felt bad when they lost. (especially now that they won't play the Bears...but maybe that's a good thing for my survival here!)

On Saturday, Seth and I drove out to the King of Prussia mall to see Hope play Calvin at the Fox and the Hound Restaurant. We had a great time! Dan and Krista came with some friends from Princeton, and we all enjoyed HOPE'S VICTORY! (their second over Calvin this year, actually) Randomly, I also saw a few people I knew from the Holland area--a former youth leader from church and a guy I had met at Hope game my sophomore year. Sing it with me now, "It's a small world, after all!"

E-A-G-L-E-S

As a fellow teacher and I talked about today, one of the few words our students know how to spell is Eagles (the popular chant of fans is E-A-G-L-E-S. My middle schoolers can't spell Philadelphia or Pennsylvania, but doggone it, they can support their team!). Seriously, Philly bleeds Eagle green. I'm told that most of the state cheers for the Steelers, but here in Philly, you're in Eagle country. I have never seen so much apparel for a sports team on people. Even today at our teacher in service, four teachers were wearing Eagles jerseys...and they were all women! Amazing. My contribution was to go out and purchase a pennent from the dollar store and put it in our front window. What does it say? "Let's go Philadelphia...#1" So, okay, it's a cheap cop out, but hey, it's a start.

If the Eagles and Bears both win this weekend, they'll play next week! Here's hoping. Maybe it would be better for my teacher/student rapport if they didn't meet. I'd never hear the end of it if the Bears would lose. Good thing it won't happen.

This week has gone by quickly. I took Monday as a sick day to recover from a headache/sore throat/general soreness I felt from skiing this past weekend. Today was a faculty day--no kids. So, not much going on with school! My masters classes kicked into gear, and I'm figuring more on what to expect with them. Plus Liberti had a vision meeting for children's ministries. Good things, and they've been making what would have been a blase week a more busy one.

Hope plays Calvin this weekend. I'm thinking about attending one of the satellite locations!

News for the day

With the rate the Internet is a growing part of everyday life, I think that Internet search requests are an excellent way of assessing the eb and flow of our American culture. (granted, the Web isn't quite equal-opportunity, as many people can only access the Web through their local library). Look at this chart of search terms from Google, Yahoo, and AOL from this year, then compare them to terms from past years. I found it quite interesting, but then again, I am a computer teacher.

In other news, the man who invented the instant noodle died this week at age 96. Maybe I should make Ramen a bigger part of my diet!

Patch Adams

I have a movie recommendation for you: Patch Adams. Sarah received the DVD for Christmas, and she and I watched most of it this weekend. (disclaimer: I haven't seen the last half our of the movie, as our viewing on bus ride was interrupted by the Eagles/Giants playoff game)

The movie was wonderful! Excellent themes about loving others, helping them, caring about individuals, creativity, and independent thinking. I'm excited to see it finish! Perhaps the coolest part of the movie is that it was based on a true story. There are many parallels to teaching in the movie as well, and I posted my thoughts about it on my masters program discussion board.

Back in action

Greetings!

It's been a while since I posted. Christmas break is good for that! I had an awesome time going home for Christmas. My family went to visit my whole extended family in Chicago, where I met not 1, not 2, but 3 new second cousins! Scott, Matthew Mahaffey, Christen Van Slooten, AJ Laarman, Chris Marlink, and I had a homerun derby over break, too! the cool weather combined with our brute strength to allow us to shatter FOUR wooden bats! We had one on New Year's Day two years back, and the weather was wonderful for that one too. Gotta find a positive out of global warming somehow, right? =)

I also got to spend quality time with most of my best friends from Hope at Jim Sorge's bachelor party/paintball extravaganza and also at his and Teresa's wedding. I even got to see Sarah at the wedding in southern Ohio/northern Kentucky! The wedding festivities took place over three days--including a New Year's Eve party with the bride and groom! It was the first time I had been with a newly married couple on their honeymoon. Funny...they seemed the same! Guess not that much changes when you're married.

Despite what seemed to be a short break, being back in the swing of things has gone well. I've felt very peaceful and encouraged in the few days I've been back in Philadelphia. The break was refreshing--exactly what it's supposed to be.

Tomorrow Sarah and I leave with 90 other Jefferson students to go to Stowe, Vermont! We got a great group rate for skiing, and I'm excited for it. The current forecast calls for rain the first day, so at least we won't freeze our fannies off. Let's hope it holds off until we leave.

Philadelphia hit 62 degrees today! Same thing on Saturday before cooling off. God must know it would take weather like that to get me running in January. He did!

Here are some selected pictures from break:

The Bushhouse cousins.


The kids at Drury lane.

Bat shrapnel.

Jim wearing the cape Scott Parrott, Andy Huisman, and I made for him.

Sarah and me ringing in the New Year.