Through the screen

Skype

Gabe is so awesome. He has such a huge personality. Maybe you can see some of that in these screen shots from tonight's Skype. Miss him.

Summer Reading, etc.

I was recently hired at an all-boys high school and next month I will begin teaching teenagers. I will continue teaching at the University two nights a week. I have been spending the most of July in Arizona visiting family (including Gabe for a week JJ) but while I was out here I also got a call from a school I applied at months ago and I went in and interviewed last Thursday. I am hoping to hear back this week.

While on vacation this summer I have finished a few books – mostly nonfiction stuff, mostly things that I wanted to read for personal or professional development, probably not that interesting to other people but it has been interesting to me.

Here is a short list of the last two weeks reading:

 

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

How to Answer Hard Interview Questions

The First-Time Manager (which was awesome)

The Devil and Sherlock Holmes (also a very enjoyable read-listen (I use a text to speech program called Natural Reader – makes reading a lot easier for a slow reader like me))

 

I also downloaded a series of Love & Logic seminars and I have been listening to those. Very helpful stuff.

I have started a book by Thich Nhat Hanh called Anger, Wisdom for Cooling the Flames

 

I guess that that is about it on the reading end of things.

Other things:

I have been able to watch this season of True Blood

I went to the newest Harry Potter with my sister. It was ok. I don’t think my son would like it and I don’t think that the battle scenes were nearly as interesting as they could [should] have been. The book was just better.

Hmmmmm….. What else?

 

I guess that that is good enough for now. Things are not bad. I wish I had Gabe all the time. It has been good seeing family. I feel like I am learning a lot. Nothing to complain about. Except my foot – my foot hurts. J There now I even complained. Life is good.

 

Mesquite

Sent from my HTC Touch Pro2 on the Now Network from Sprint®.

Camp Verde, AZ

Sent from my HTC Touch Pro2 on the Now Network from Sprint®.

Unable to sleep

Spent three hours getting oral surgery done today. Last night I couldn’t sleep well because of pain and tonight I just can’t sleep. I think that it is the pain-killers I am on.  L
In other news, I am in Phoenix. Been spending the week with Gabe and my family. I feel very blessed. I know that I am going to miss him so much next week.

 

Dinner

I don't cook much.

More Rack Pulls : 777

Same as the other one. But heavier.

Rack Pull - 685

Grip and lock out work.

24 hours to live

Some group predicts the end of the world tomorrow. So, if you had 24 hours to live, just think, what would you do? Leave your answer in the comment section below.

Someday...

Someday, when I am an old man, I want to sit alone on a beach on a cold day feeling the sand and the salt in the wind that comes in from out to sea. I want to walk and carry a walking stick with me that I can use to poke at the gray, gravelly sand from time to time. I will look down at the hole a crab has made and I will wonder what it is like to have to rebuild your home after every single tide. Somewhere, far out to sea there will be a lonely white cloud rolling across the sky. Pieces of sea-weed and feathers from a seagull will draw an uneven line across the beach marking the progress of the last high tide. There will be a rock that I will find to sit on, and I will wait right there with my thoughts, my doubts, and my loneliness – but I will not cry. After several minutes, I will get up and walk back to my vehicle. I will turn it on. Before driving off, I will see some old toy that I picked up for my son still sitting on the dashboard against the windshield. Before driving off, I will taste the bitter, coppery taste that intense feelings of regret or disgust sometimes brings with it, I will taste the saltiness of my own skin and my own tears as my eyes begin to blur with sadness. My heart will pound, and I will take a few deep breaths to get control of myself once more. Then I will turn the key and pull away and the waves will continue pounding the sand and the crab will come out of her home. The tides will shift and then everything will start rebuilding.

 

Teaching Spanish

I just got a job at an all boys Catholic high school to teach Spanish. Beginning in the 2012-2013 school year, they are getting rid of all their text books and supplying the students with iPads. They want to get rid of the textbooks so that they can offset the cost of buying the iPads and the entire Spanish curriculum is going to be built around (free) online materials. What do you think of that? Give me your opinion in the comments. Also, if you know of any great websites that teach Spanish, please, feel free to mention those as well.

Thanks,

me

Spring in my backyard

J

Weekend Update