Last Day!!!

There are two great things about teaching high school. They are Christmas and Summer.

Actually this may be a little too cynical, but right now I'm really appreciating our breaks. Yesterday was the last day of class before Christmas vacation, and I think everybody was about ready. I think every person in the school is sick, and the students have been, shall we say, disiniclined towards pedagogy. Anyway, here are some pictures from our last day of 2008.

It was COLD out. There was a lot of snow on the mountains, which might be kind of hard to see in these pictures. It was very beautiful, but it didn't help to make one feel any warmer. Those of you in Oregon and Maine may scoff, but it felt pretty chilly - you can even see the frost on the football field. The picture with the trees in front is from the stairs in front of my classroom.

I do have a mantle in my room, but, unfortunately no fire - the school disapproves of open flames in the classrooms.

Here's a picture of my 11th grade American Lit class (or those who showed up). They had some pretty good Christmas spirit. Only one of them did the final homework assignment (memorize the Gettysburg Address - can you believe it?), but the mood was good & I'll be happy to see them next year.

The 9th graders were in the computer lab for the day finishing an essay. Amazingly, almost all of them finished it (they're not as jaded yet as the juniors), but I think the look on Johnny's face here about sums up how everybody was feeling about school at this point. They're good kids, but I think that we will all enjoy these three weeks apart.

Meanwhile, our family is moving to a new place!!! It's only about 5 minutes away, but it's pretty exciting for us. So there may be fewer posts in the next little while as we move, but I hope that everyone is enjoying the season & staying warm!

Peace & Love to all,

Patrick

Questions!!!

Well, many people (Eric) may stop reading my blog after this, but sometimes I have to let my hippie flag fly. If you're in New-Agey kind of mood, check out this post in the blog Goodness Gracious. Sometimes Jennifer is a little much, even for me. But I liked this one:

The Most Important Ten Questions to Ask Yourself

At:

http://goodnessgraciousness.blogspot.com/2008/12/most-important-ten-questions-to-ask.html

And don't forget to dig the rainbow font and the sparkley stars coming from your pointer!!

Peace & Love all!

Food!!!

Here's a little story that I liked from the blog of, of all people, Melissa Auf der Maur. And if you know who that is, give yourself 20 pop culture points.

THE WOLF INSIDE
An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, "A fight is going on inside me... It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, pride and superiority. The other wolf stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside of you and every other person too." The grandchildren thought about it for a minute and then one asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one I feed."

Shopping!!!

Usually I am not a shopping fan and avoid it whenever I can. So when Christmas roles around and there's just no way around it, it helps to make it as fun as possible. I got to travel to Topanga with the Gambles this weekend to look for odds and ends. Topanga is a great place to find interesting things that you're just not going to see in the Glendale Galleria. And just being there is a big part of the fun!

Speaking of Glendale, sometimes you just have to go. Well, the boys and I made the best of it, and we even had fun at the Americana, next to the Galleria. Say what you will about the "Grove" style malls, they do know how to get fancied up for Christmas, and having a playground in the middle made it much more enjoyable. We did have a good time, got some shopping done, and even got to see an amazing sunset!!! This was on Sunday night - did anyone else see this? Hope your shopping is going well.

Tujunga!!!

We had a really nice Saturday night this last weekend in Amy & Jamie's new neighborhood of Tujunga. They had a great little Christmas celebration complete with icy snow, flashy cars, and tiny horses. It was so nice to spend the evening with their family and with mom.



There was only a small patch of snow, and it was getting slushy and dirty quickly, but it was fun for the guys to play around with it. It was Jack's first real time in any snow and, not too surprisingly, he enjoyed throwing it. I have a feeling that he's going to enjoy heading up to the mountains in a couple of years!



We had a good time looking at the assortment of fancy cars. There were some pretty nice ones there, but we all especially liked the Batmobile! I'm not sure if it was the real one from the TV show, but it did seem to have the power to turn normal people standing next to it into bats.



After a fun little train ride, we went back to Amy & Jamie's and had the first dinner party at their new place. It was really nice, with Middle Eastern food and kids running (and crawling) around. A great ending to a nice night, and a good beginning to the Christmas season!

God Save Kate Rusby & Ray Davies!!!

We are the Village Green Preservation Society
God save Donald Duck, Vaudeville and Variety
We are the Desperate Dan Appreciation Society
God save strawberry jam and all the different varieties

Preserving the old ways from being abused
Protecting the new ways for me and for you
What more can we do?

We are the Draught Beer Preservation Society
God save Mrs. Mopp and good Old Mother Riley
We are the Custard Pie Appreciation Consortium
God save the George Cross and all those who were awarded them
We are the Sherlock Holmes English Speaking Vernacular
Help save Fu Manchu, Moriarty and Dracula
We are the Office Block Persecution Affinity
God save little shops, china cups and virginity
We are the Skyscraper Condemnation Affiliate
God save tudor houses, antique shops and billiards

Preserving the old ways from being abused
Protecting the new ways for me and for you
What more can we do?
God save the Village Green.

Jump For Joy!!!

This one's for Bell - check out the last song!

The Sultan's Elephant

While you were sleeping last night, this came through your bedroom.