Prom 2012

Prom was actually a few weeks ago, but with all the blogcrastinating I did, I never got around to posting anything about prom. This year, as I am in the third year of my class advisor tenure, I was responsible for putting on prom--along with co-advisor and friend Lori. It is a lot of work to throw a prom! Prom ended up being on Saturday night, May 19th. The day before prom, on that Friday, the school excused me from teaching for the day so that I might decorate the VFW hall where it was held. Our "theme" was "New York City," and the decorations were geared around city night life...

Here are Amanda and I; this is the third time I have taken my wife to prom! #cute


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Here's Amanda with Lori and Crystal--Lori is a special eduction teacher, and Crystal teaches math. Both are great people and great friends!!

It was an exhausting weekend, and truly the "kickofff" to the graduation season. I have been teaching for eleven years total now, and I would be hard pressed to find an entire class of students with whom I have connected more than the class of 2012. They are an exemplary bunch, and, after next Wednesday when they graduate, things will be very lonely at Winslow High School.

Here's me with two outstanding kids: Conner and Elizabeth. Conner will attend school about five minutes from Nannie and Upbob, when he attends Wheaton next year. And Elizabeth is going to rock at UMaine Farmington where she will play basketball and study English and teaching!

I just love dancing to  "Fancy Footwork" by Chromeo!

Congratulations Brian and Bethany!

Okay. Let's get back on track with this blog, shall we?

This past "weekend" we were blessed to attend the wedding of good friend Brian Smith and his lovely bride Bethany. The wedding was held down in South Carolina on Monday morning,, and it certainly was a whirlwind of a weekend. Above is a photo I took of Amanda on Sunday night, as we walked around the camp where the wedding was to be held. I am not a good photographer, and we do not have a good camera, but the lighting off the little pond was just beautiful, and I wanted to capture the moment.

Neither Brian nor Bethany are from South Carolina, but they chose a beautiful place for their wedding. The most surprising thing for Amanda and I (and Andrea and Michael, I think) was just how "abnormal" the four of us are for, essentially, living in one place for an indefinite amount of time; Brian, who is an Anglican priest, and all of his "priest" friends, are truly amazing in the way in which they, at any given time, live in any given region of the country. We mingled with people from probably twenty different states, and, interestingly, all of them seemed SO interested in the goings-on of Maine and NH!! New England RULES!

One of the true blessings of the weekend was getting to spend so much time with our two dear friends Andrea and Michael--and their little friend "Gayle." Meeting them at the airport, trying to find our way around the backcountry of Nort and Sout Carolina, eating at an amazing restaurant called Christopher's (where I got the 'Sunday Dinner,' which consisted of a PILE of fried flounder, mashed potatoes with gravy, biscuit, collard greens, friend okra, and peach cobbler for 7.99!!), and just sharing stories truly put a capstone on the weekend!

On the way to the wedding ceremony on Monday morning, we came across Bethany and her bridal party....a great looking group, and all exceptional people. Bethany is truly a "female" Brian, and everyone knows they will be gargantually happy together!

Amanda and I have been to MANY weddings--some of them wonderful, and some of them not. Brian and Bethany's wedding ceremony was, without a doubt, the best wedding ceremony we have ever witnessed. On so many levels--scripture readings, sermon, hymns, location, etc--it was a true testament to God's design for Holy Matrimony. The man who married them is actually the Episcopal Archbishop of Florida, and I believe Brian knows him from when he served as a priest in Fla (one of the 54 states in which Brian has worked....)

It was truly a unique wedding experience (how many weddings have you been to where they have people coming around to your table with poster boards recruiting you for jobs like carving beef,, tending the smoker, pouring toast glasses, etc??) that was absolutely GRASSROOTS from A to Z, and it was definitely how Brian and Bethany wanted it. I will never forget trailering a four tiered cast iron smoker with Brian's silver Scion around a South Carolinian Presbyterian Camp. My apologies to Andrea and all the other grammar mavens who will scoff at the misplaced everythings in the last sentence...haha. The toast, in fact, was unique--we toasted them with water taken from Seventh Lake in Inlet NY (the site of the Smith Island Camp in the Adirondacks). Someone made the trip up there and brought back forty gallons of lake water!

For Amanda and I, it was a rich respite and great time together--just simply flying was wonderful, as we got to talk and read and sleep. Lynne and George stayed with the kids, and Amanda and I got some time alone. A VERY tiring weekend though...we were up at 3am on Sunday to fly to Baltimore and then North Carolina.....we got to bed around midnight that night....then we were up early the next day for the wedding and reception, before flying back last night and getting home at around 1 this morning. #tired

Meanderings 73

First, please enjoy some Maira faces, expressions, and postures from Jackson's party. (Sidenote: This afternoon when I picked Callum up from Grenda's, he starts whining to me: "Daddy, I dont WANT to go home....I want to go back to Jackson's house RIGHT NOW and stay FOREVER and EVER"

1. "United we stand, divided we fall" is a load of crap, and I can give you two good reasons: Camera tripods and those cute church picnic races where you tie your leg together with a friend. Unite all the legs of a tripod, and your 800 dollar Cannon will fall right over...the legs NEED to be divided to work. Same with those one legged races...'uniting' you and your friend's leg together actually ENSURES that you will most likely fall. I bet, in congress, it was a liberal who coined this silly platitude...

2. We just "celebrated" cinco de mayo, which, although a Mexican holiday, is arguably the most American of all holidays. Here's why: Americans have completely bastardized it, stripping from it any meaning (of which they probably never had a clue in the first place). Americans have no idea why or what they are celebrating. It involves overeating at Margaritas. It involves an exorbitant amount of alcohol consumption. So, like I said, it is truly an American holiday. Within ten years, we'll probably exchange gifts or have a 'mascot.'

3. What is the most cliche "workplace song" you can think of? Isnt it funny how there are all these genres of music--blues, country, dub step, rock, folk, etc.....and now there is "workplace?" What does it take to be a "workplace" genre worth song? I think it needs two things: First of all, it needs to be an incredibly overplayed song. Second, during the initial recording of the song, drums in the shape of octagons must have been used. The two most cliche work songs I can think of off the top of my head are "Walkin on Sunshine" and "Baby Hold Onto Me (whatever will be will be)" by Eddie Money. Or Rabbit. Or some Eddie guy.

4. If bologna is affectionately called "ghetto steak," then the candy equivalent needs to be "MaryJanes." These pieces of crap even fall below Bit O Honeys on the candy-archy. Am I wrong? Has anyone ever had an experience where they could unwrap a MaryJane with no problem? Without part of the wrapper sticking to the candy? The factory where MaryJanes are made obviously has their thermostat set too high, and this is why the candy constantly melts into the wrapper. Mary Janes: The redheaded stepchildren of candy....

5. The Kentucky Derby is the most exciting 1:48 in sports. Is any sporting event shorter than this? Well, actually, when Mike Tyson fought Michael Spinx perhaps.....

6. Steeplechase is the only sport that humans and horses share in common....

7. The term "popcorn chicken" has completely outsourced "chicken nugget" or even "chicken finger," right?

8. Think about this: If mono means ONE and poly means MANY, then that means a MONOgamous person is married to one person, and a POLYgamist is married to more than one. Isnt it funny then that a polygamous person is more likely to get the 'disease' MONO, since you get MONO from kissing a POLY amount of people? Yes? What? Shut up you say? Okay.

9. This month's "Taste of Home" cooking magazine has a headline on the front that reads "Italian with an attitude." I'm just throwing this out there: Does 'anything' involving Italian 'need' more attitude? I am gonna say it is fine already. yes? What? Shut up you say? Allrightythen.

Happy Birthday Jackson

Well, actually, his birthday was in April, but Kris and Anthony waited until the beginning of May to have his party, thinking that the weather would be nicer. Although, the way this year is going, it was probably nicer in April than it has been in May thus far...haha. Very grey and overcast, but luckily only a little drizzle. All in all, everyone had a blast. Especially this little guy:


Yes, the bouncy house was definitely a hit yesterday, with the kids and parents alike! We took a lot of pictures--so much so that our memory card ran out of space. But I thought I would at least post some of them (with some commentary of course) and then hope that Anthony or Kristin email us the pictures THEY took so we can post those too!

We headed down to Ledyard on Friday afternoon--it usually takes us about 4.5 hours to get there, and the kids slept for the first two hours. Our visits are always a lot of fun, but also very busy...there are always a hundred things we want to do with the Favrys, but there never seems to be time. Callum and Jackson are like total buddies, and it does our hearts so well to see him playing with his cousin (and then, of course, there is Maira, who is best friends with everyone....). Callum remarked, when I asked him if he was  having a blast with his cousin, "yes....but daddy it is such a shame we live so far away from him though!!!" It is.


Here is a shot of the "party" from yesterday, with the bouncy house at front and center...haha. Anthony, wearing his sombrero (it was cinco de mayo, after all) worked the gas grill, and I worked the charcoal grill (smoke in foreground). .Kids and parents were having a blast playing catch, riding things, throwing stuff at FriendlyHenry, etc etc....

All the grandparents got some quality time with the little Goldsmiths, as seen when Nannnie was pushing Maira around on the little tricycle. Maira spent her day the following way: 80% being held by my dad or barbara, as Maira duped them into giving her all the snacks she wanted...hehe....17% being held by Kim, and 3% riding bikes and/or cars with Nannie. Maira is a girl who knows how to work the crowd and get what she wants! She had a blast playing baseball with Nannie too, as seen in a few pics....

Jackson had a CARS (movie) party, complete with a Cars pinata! I realized pinatas have been missing from my life; I have never swung at nor partaken in anything pinataish. Just saying. And then there was my own little guy, at 3.75 years old, swinging at his first pinata. Kids today are so lucky....

Nannie showing Maira the rudiments of T-ball.....Maira really enjoyed putting the ball on TOP of the tee....that was her favorite part....

Both kids had a lot of fun seeing their papa and grammy goldsmith (I already mentioned how Maira worked them to be her snack sherpas!). Callum had fun too, although he still gets REALLY shy having his picture taken...we are trying to work on this. Callum does not like to a) Skype (except with Jay) b) pose for pics c)talk on the phone. I dont know. Weird little guy.

I hope Kristin can send me more pictures of Callum, Maira, and Jackson on this tractor--this is Jackson's battery powered John Deer tractor, and saying that Callum had the time of his life on this thing would be the understatement of the year! What was even funnier was how he would pick up his sister (as he is doing below) and put her in the "trailer" so he could pull her around the yard. It was a priceless situation to watch, and Maira only fell out of the trailer twice (and, like most things in her life, she was unaffected by it in any way negative whatsoever.....)

more to come!

The calm before the storm

 

 First, a really stellar "town" Callum was working on the other day....


This really is the calm before the storm for me--even the weather has been reflecting this, as the sun has not shown for four days now, and it has been eerily quiet outside. We've had a little rain...a LOT of clouds and overcastness and fog....and a LOT of below normal temperatures; one starts to get the feeling that something is going to happen soon.

In my own life, that is true. This is always the most exciting/stressful/nervewracking/emotional time of the year for me. As a teacher of seniors, May really marks the time of the year when we begin being "done." Forget about teaching the kids anything else--from this point on, if you can keep them in the class, you can call your day a success; the term "damage control" takes on a new meaning, since they are so excited to graduate.

I will only see my senior English and public speech classes six more times each before we start finals, and in that time I need to still have them write two more papers (one of them is a big research term paper). In addition, I have been reading/editing/giving feedback on (literally) probably a hundred scholarship essays for kids (I wonder if gov. LeRage realizes that teachers do things they DONT get paid for doing as well....) Also, for the eighth year in a row, I have been asked to write and perform an original song at commencement at Colby College. I should probably start that soon.

In addition to my role as English teacher, being chair of the English dept is also presenting numerous challenges, especially when it comes to making a schedule for next year when we have literally no budget to speak of. Has anyone ever seen the movie Apollo 13? When the rocket scientists have to make a square fit inside a smaller circle....and they only have a roll of ducktape, a nail, a pencil, and some thumbtacks? Yeah....my job is kind of like that....

Finally, being class advisor for this year's junior class means that co-advisor (and dear friend) Lori and I are responsible for putting on the prom--and this is three weeks away. This stuff is nuts...taking care of all the stuff that goes along with it like DJs, policemen, chaperones, alcohol prevention task forces, tickets, marshalls, decorations, money, and the list goes on and on......

A busy, busy, busy time...and this is just at work. There is still plenty of wood to stack, and winter repairs to make. But I love my life and wouldnt trade it for anything (although a few more acres would be nice!). Before I know it, school will be out and I will start my REAL summer job, which is taking care of my little people.

I find that in these busy times I need to remember not to let work rule me. Because it easily could. I have to meditate on what is truly important, and what will be there LONG after papers are graded, kids have "grinded" to Usher, and teachers are done teaching.......

(Maira obviously belongs here, but she was sleeping when CS and Sally took these the other day......haha)