Time MARCHes on....

You look at your life, and what...have you done?
Well, right now the accomplishment of the week is surviving the blizzard at Cannon Mountain on Saturday. Benson and I grabbed our bacon, egg and cheese (thanks to Daisy's) and passed the pickup trucks that spun-out on Route 93 and hit the slopes. A great day plowing through powder, winning a WZLX t-shirt, searching for grey shirts, finding $20 for suds and much, much more.

But what I really want to know is this: will those kids learn their lesson about cleaning up the table after they finish eating? These are the big questions of life. Stay tuned for more slopeside picts when we return in April.

They say March does come in like a Lion, in this case, a power-crusted-carrot-laden one.
WTF-over?

February Freedom

A long, long time ago, I can still remember how the...thought of returning to an educator's schedule used to make me cry. Well, not really make me cry, but it did conjure up some images of additional time to rest and get back to those core life activities that make it all worthwhile. Things like sleeping late, playing around with new web cams, configuring roboform (?), shopping for a new stratocaster, seeking shelter from the wind on the slopes at Loon and chasing Bensen down the trail. You know, the important stuff.

Today I am slowly entering that space, the first day of February vacation week. A balmy 56 degrees in the metro Hartford area, it seems more like early April than February. So let's see if I can embed some fine avatar led video footage into this blog posting.

I also need to seriously consider the SNAP blog for COA; when will that become live? You really owe it to yourself to get that going. Create the vision, box out the time, and make it so. And remember, this really is no country for old men...
More later

Veterans Day 2007

Maple leaves, cloudy skies, parades and elections. All part of the November landscape in central Connecticut.

Read an interesting and somewhat unsettling article about a marine who has returned home to CT, and is struggling with the challenges of getting his medical needs addressed after being shot by a sniper in Iraq. And wouldn't you know it, it was the end of his tour. It was a different twist, spin on what a veteran is today. Not our fathers and grandfathers as they were when we were growing up. Escaping wars.

We had a few guys visit the Ch Oak school to help with Veteran's Day tribute, one from WWII and other other Vietnam. Made me realize that I should expect to be older and more gray than veterans I meet going forward. So now, I will pause...on my Veteran's Day holiday and say a prayer for those men and women. Those who choose to serve in that capacity. Thanks also to Frank and Oscar and Tony and Roy...and the thousands who have gone before.

See you...in September

September 2007
The month that will live...in infamy. What is infamy anyway? Look that one up in your funk & wagnalls. Guess I'm showing my age. So was the speaker at our 'back to school' training session who referenced Carl Yaztremski.... Think most of the teachers at Charter Oak Academy of Global Studies were born after 1980, so Yaz a part of history.

So much to say, so much to do...so little energy to write right now. Will do that later. These 3 things I know
1. Bouncing in ocean wave and getting tossed on the ocean (like the SS Minow...before the tiny ship was lost) is a blast and a great way to spend labor day
2. Parents, wives, children...they all undergo life's transitions...and we need eachother along the way. More about transitions later (maybe when I finish the book)
3. Charter Oak will be a life altering experience; feel more connected to IOL and the Bridge and the pscyh major that was than I have in years. So I have to wonder, "is this my beautiful house?"

In the words of the Signs singers, "thank you God for thinking about me, I'm alive and doing fine..."

What are you gonna do?

I heard Tony Soprano say that about five times in 20 minutes last week. What are you gonna do? His mother passed away. What are you gonna do. Sorry Tony...what are you gonna do. Its a rainy Saturday night in Connecticut, the UConn sophmore is packing up to come home, for a few weeks anyway. Then off to Deutschland once again.

So I"m thinking (have to use the quottion marks, coz every time I hit the apostrophe key, it jumps somewher else...please forgive me, or my computer). Anyway, I was thinking, what would it be like to be making plans for the summer off from college? I know one UConn kid heading back to Germany for another summer of Allianz and internships and beer gardens and biking through Munish. And yet another U. of Miami kid heading off, now get this... to play jazz guitar on a cruise ship in western Europe. Can you believe this? No bagging groceries, no painting houses(but Tyler will get the opportunity to do some of that...) and no flipping burgers.

Do you get my point? Let"s plan a summer off from college, or work. Hey, isn"t that what teachers are supposed to do? Hmmmmmmmm

70 & then Snow?

So, what do we love most about New England? The fall colors? The daffodils in spring? The hot hazy humid summer days at the beach? This week were were treated to some of winters wildest weather. Two weeks ago, it was below zero. Literally...freezing. Then last week the mercury hit 65 degrees. I saw joggers in shorts and t-shirts, and Travis watching his car in the driveway. Surely spring was around the corner, even though it was only March 11.

But then... Mom Nature reminded us why we love New England. 8-10 inches of white stuff, with frozen granular 'snow-cone' like flakes falling Friday night. Bill really want ed to get the Chambord and pour it on the snow, especially after scaling the fence to the dog park.

Anyway, it was a great week to be alive and watch the transformation of our little town.

Make Better choices...

So says the man. The guy talking on the audio recording playing on my computer.
Think about the inner voice...is he moving you toward the goal? Not sure, I do know I want another oreo cookie.

Moving through the rest of this week, I commit to:
1. Hearing the inner voice, but not necessarily listening to it (he, she it)
2. Refining the process of capturing audio for a podcast
3. Getting back to the Audio Acrobat site at least once.
4. Think abundantly: many many many good things to be thankful for, and they need to be recognized, acknowledged...every day. Not an option.

So, got get a dog-man of your own.

Stay tuned for tomorrow:
Who is Harv, and why should we ask him anything???