St. Patrick's Day and America's Past Time

So, before I begin I would like to point out that this is the third straight week that I am putting up an update. And to make you feel a little guilty I am going to tell you that I still don't have my lesson plan ready for tomorrow and I have an entire bag full of schoolwork to grade, but I am going to give you an update anyway! (Ok, really this is a nice diversion from lesson planning and grading, so I am not that torn up about it.)

Before we get to the holiday festivities I thought that I would show you what it looks like the first time that a four year old uses a nasal spray. Owen has been still struggling with a cold - we think it is allergies - and so Beki thought that she would try some nasal spray.

 "What the Duce?!?!?"

 "Ok, you've got this shoved up my nose, now what?"

 "Whoa....."

"Sneak Attack!!!!"

St. Patrick's Day

Owen was very excited this St. Patrick's Day, he got a special green ribbon pin to wear on his school uniform so that he wouldn't get pinched - but of course we forgot to take a picture. I made my classes at school listen to Floggin Molly - an Irish-American rock band before giving them a test (and watching students struggle on a test that I let them use their notes on -  notes that if I gave you without explaining a thing you could have aced the test) always brightens my day!

I love St. Patrick's Day, it is probably in my top 5 holidays. (In fact let's list them and see: #1 Christmas  #2 Thanksgiving  #3 Halloween  #4 St. Patrick's Day  #5 Easter) When you consider that I don't drink you are probably wondering why I like St. Patrick's Day so much. Well duh! For the same reason that I like the other top holidays - for the food!! If you just go out drinking on St. Patrick's Day you are missing out on some great goodness! I LOVE Corned Beef and Cabbage and Roast Potatoes, but March is the only time that Corned Beef is easily accessible, and the only time of year that my wife will let me eat it!!

In case you are wondering, The Boy loves the Corned Beef as well!

Great American Past Time

We signed the Boy up for T-Ball next month, which means that we need to start working on the basics. He came home from the store yesterday as excited as can be, because he had a new baseball mitt. So we went out and had lesson #1. (This is a big deal in the career of a father, teaching your son to play catch can set the tone for the rest of his athletic life!)

 He got the basket catch down pretty quick, and was very pleased with himself for it!

 We worked on starting to reach out for the ball and squeezing the mitt, but his mitt was tough to close (We hadn't put something heavy on it to break it in yet.)

 The problem with the "reaching up basket catch" is that the ball tends to bounce out and hit you in the face...luckily mommy didn't take any pictures of that. (Because it wouldn't be a game of catch with dad if the son didn't get hit in the face with the ball.)

 After we got over the trauma we worked on ground-balls...much safer.

 He liked the scooping action of the glove...

 And did a good job of always getting his body behind the ball!

We worked hard on how to throw, and while a lot of time was spent with him being silly, he did make a couple of pretty good throws.

Random Other Stuff

 Owen really likes to bang on the Costco Chocolate Raisin containers, but what to do with the lid...why wear it as a Yarmulke!

These next three pictures are just a fun juxtiposition on how my wife and I have a reverse relationship. The first two show her out working on the car.

 If you are wondering what she is doing, she is applying a water repellent to the windshield. 

 And while she was out working on the car, what was I doing you ask??

 MAKING REUBEN SANDWICHES!!!!!

(Have I mentioned that I LOVE St. Patrick's Day?)

 I almost forgot about Nuke. We have some friends who needed to get rid of a Beta Fish, and since fish are just about the only thing Beki isn't allergic to, we asked Owen if he wanted a pet fish. Of course he did, and he promptly named it "Nuke." I have no idea why, but it sounded like a good name to me, and so we now have a pet fish.

 Owen likes to watch him eat his food.

Up close and personal with Nuke!

Just a couple of random rants here...

First. If you haven't heard about Rebecca Black watch the video below. (First you will need to go over to the side bar and pause Vivaldi, but I am sure you already have.)

WARNING!!! THIS VIDEO WILL MAKE YOU WANT TO HURL YOURSELF OUT A  WINDOW...PLEASE BE SURE TO ALSO KEEP A SAFE DISTANCE FROM ANY SHARP OBJECTS THAT COULD BE INSERTED INTO THE EAR CANAL!!!

Now I know that everyone and their dog has been ripping on this, but since my students made me watch it this week, I have to comment on it. Her tone quality is ABYSMAL and the Autotune makes my ears bleed! Could she sing any more nasally? And the lyrics!!! "Tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes after..." Holy Shit! Really!! I had no idea that the days went in order like that!! 

But as bad as that sucks, that isn't what pisses me off so much about this. It is the pretentiousness of the family thinking that if they make a video then their daughter will be famous. Her parents paid Ark Music Factory $2000 in an attempt to make their child famous. That is the only motive I see here. Her parents want her to be the next big thing, and she clearly doesn't have the talent. There have been plenty of musicians who have used social media to make it - My Chemical Romance started with a MySpace following, one of my favorite singers Adele (If you haven't heard her you should...in fact, I'll put a link in...or two) was also found on MySpace. Even Bieber actually wrote/played/sang his own music.

As promised, something to remove the stink from your ears:

Second. Just another thought about teachers. I know that everyone thinks that we only work 7.5 hours a day for 192 days, but I just thought I would tell you that I have been working on lesson plans and grading all weekend, as well as every night this week, and the week coming. "Big Deal," you say, "I often have to work on company presentations and things at home, why is lesson planning any different?" Well, because while you are giving your presentation you coworkers don't shout insults at one another, don't throw things at each other, don't tell you to "Shut the F*@$ Up," don't ignore you and listen to their iPod (ok, they probably do that one), don't fall asleep, don't write swear words on the conference table, don't make out in the back of the room, and probably don't throw chairs at your head. In addition, you probably are not held accountable for your coworkers learning what was in your presentation so that they can pass a government mandated standardized test. But other than that, sure, you company presentation is just like getting ready to teach a class in the public classroom.