N as in "knife"

So, the last week of January 2013 was jam packed. I haven’t had a week so constantly full of things to do.

Monday was a regular work day. The teacher I work with was out of town for vacation and It was just me and a sub. As a teacher’s assistant, its really difficult to be without your teacher and its even tougher since I’m at a Special Ed. high school. As expected I had to do a lot of the work. Thankfully my sub was awesome at keeping the students focused and engaged in the class.

The excitement for the day happened around lunch time. I was able to score some tickets to the Bulls game versus the Bobcats later that night. My friend Gene went with and it was a blast. My only regret was being late for the giveaway at the gate, a Luol Deng bobble head. We must of missed it by just a few minutes because all I saw as I entered was a sea of people all holding their great prize. It was a Bulls victory! No Big Mac for us United Center attendees, but the W is all that counted.

Afterwards, I rushed home and began to frantically pack for the 3 day trip for work. Some of our athletes received Gold Medals at the city-wide snow shoe tournament and now it was our time to complete on a State Level. I accompanied a group from our Physical Ed. department to Galena, IL for the next 3 days.

While at the tournament each day progressively became colder which made me appreciate my over packing. Over the next few days so many great things happened, but here are some highlights.

- The boys (3 male staff, myself included and about 12 male students) were all in one giant room with one…repeat, ONE BATHROOM! Good times with the guys …minus the B.O that accumulated over time. Mental note: pack Febreze

- so many awesome moments with the students and great opportunities. Things that some of our kids would of never been able to experience.

- FOOD! so much food. Our athletes and coaches were super fed. 3 meals and plenty of snacks to go around

- on our second day we woke up to a whole lot of snow and dropped temperature. Since that happened  the road conditions were terrible and prevented the volunteers and a good chunk of the other competitors unable to participate. The Huskies made the most of it and we went to play in the snow. I was only brutally tackled by 4 of my students and enough headlocks to make a WWE wrestler proud.

- our last day of competition was hectic and freezing! -15F wind chill made for a brutal day.

At the end of it all a bunch of our students received medals, ribbons and some cool Special Olympics gear. We went home that Thursday evening and it was hectic. I was just rushing to get back home so I could attend my evening church service. Even though I was exhausted I did what I could to clean myself up in the few minutes I had to prepare myself for it. I made it just in time and was overly thankful to have done so.

Friday at work was such a brain melter and patience tester. It was a professional development day and it moved incredibly snail paced. The content of the in-service was good and helpful, but sitting down for almost 8 hours was unbelievable. Some things to remember…

- CHAMPS
- Wedding Shower in the a.m.

After work I headed to band practice because we had a performance the next day. I should of went home to rest after that, but my smart self decided to hangout with my amigos all night. …not so wise

Saturday was another lengthy day, but full of fun things to do. It started 6am where I got ready and met some of my friends for a living social activity. A bunch of coworkers went took a coach bus up to Michigan to check out a firing range where I was able to handle my 1st firearm. I shot a .40 handgun and an AK-47. Other guns that were available that my friends tried out were a tommy gun (Chicago typewriter) and basic 9mm handgun. Truly a cool first time thing and owning a firearm would be nice, but I’d rather just rent a gun and shoot. Treat it similarly to a hobby like shooting pool or something. After the firing range visit we then went to a vineyard and then eventually back home.

Once back in Chicago it was a race back home to eat something and rest before the band gig. I thought I would of had an hour or so to sleep, but after everything else I had to do I was able to sleep for a really crappy 10 minutes. Before I knew it I was off to the gig.

I picked up my friend/bass player and we went to the venue. **Blood pressure raising moment** Old man who worked there was asking who we were. My bass player had his instruments, no questions asked and was allowed to go in. I on the other hand, as singer, had nothing (voice is my instrument, duh) and was given grief about entering. After unnecessarily speaking to this jerk I just walked past to meet my band mates.

The show was…OK! It will continue to be part of the greatest shows that no one saw. Besides the core band we had a guest guitarist, my friend Jay and for another one of our numbers we had a trumpet player hop on. Minus the lack of people, the freezing weather and the minor conflict I had it was a good night. THanks to the people who showed up and hopefully a better turnout next time.

Well, that was my week in review. Right now the Super Bowl is on and I really don’t care. However I will be meeting a few friends to watch the halftime show and finish the second half of the game. Will the Raven’s prevail to achieve Ray Lewis’ fairy tale career end or will the 49er’s (who i’m rooting for) go all the way? Which coach brother will have bragging rights back home?

I can’t believe its actually here!

consistent weather, sunny, beautiful, warming, breezy Chicago summer. Its been a good start. Or maybe I should say end as well. Alongside the beginning of summertime activities (which i’ll get into later) is the end of the school year with the kids. Graduation is tomorrow and our class of 2012 will go out into the world. Hoping that they get placed where they love and will be loved. Safe, fun and always moving. Lets go Huskies!

Anyways, back to how pretty the weather is and what i’m expecting to do and not do this summer.

GOING TO HAPPEN:
Take summer classes
Work Summer School
Play basketball
Drive my scooter everywhere I can possibly go
Beach
AM Bike rides to the beach
Restaurant Exploring
Fishing
Rip the doors of the jeep and cruise
…and as always catch up, strengthen relationships with everyone and maybe along the way meet some new people…

MIGHT HAPPEN:
Practice the piano
Yoga twice a week
Road Trip
a couple 5K races (1 realistically, haha)
Grow a mustache
too often or a lack of haircuts

NOT GONNA HAPPEN
a cruise
going anywhere out of state (besides the border states IN, WI)
modding my jeep

So, in reality. Potentially a great, but busy summer. School is gonna kick my butt! Peace!

Pros:
Being able to see some friends I haven’t hung out with in awhile.

Going to my 1st Chicago Fire game. Also my 1st time viewing an event at Toyota Park. It was freezing! All in all a good time though.

Played some good games of basketball. Always learning and improving, however in a slower pace than most players :D

Cons:

*** Derrick Rose tearing his Anterior Cruciate ligament. Huge blow to Chicago’s ability to win the Championships and maybe even the Eastern Conference.

I cracked the screen on my phone. It still works, but it’s pretty ugly to look at.
After dropping it a couple million times I guess it was bound to happen. :(

Friday
At work, well the whole week at work was pretty chaotic, but even more so today. No one really wanted to be there. Students were anxious for the one week break and I’d like to say the teachers felt the same, if not more so. Luckily my Friday schedule is a dream so it made it much more easy to get through the day.

After work I went to a local bar and grill to get some food with coworkers. Kind of a blast off party to kick off the spring break. My main entertainment for the night was invading the jukebox. My coworkers and I played DJ for quite awhile. Pop hits from Drake and Kanye back to some classic hits like Ginuwine and the Quad City DJ’s. I ended my night watching the Bulls game and my friend Geno’s.

Saturday
Late start! I was able to sleep in for a bit and then eventually start my day. Did some minor cleaning around the house and then went on with my day.

1st event was to watch Casa De Mi Padre, with my good friend Nereida. I haven’t been to the theaters in a good while so I maxed out with a large popcorn and drink. The theater was hooked up with some sweet drink machines. It had a touch screen interface and was stocked with numerous coke product drinks. It was a soda lovers dream come true. I was thoroughly impressed and even overwhelmed. After deep thought I went with the root beer. I could of even flavored it with vanilla, but I kept it simple. The movie itself had its moments. Not bust your balls funny, but good enough to not have wasted my time. Super cheesy, purposely filmed bad and a lot of great musical numbers. Also…Will Ferrell speaking Spanish the whole movie made it worth my time. The movie is definitely worth a rental. A $12 buck theater ticket was asking a bit much.

Then we were off to the rest of our night! We met up for a friends bday. More delicious food options! I had a Cashew Butter and fig sandwich accompanied by mac and cheese and chips. The sandwich itself was fried and delicious. It had just the right amount of the cashew butter to fig consistency (haha)! The mac and cheese was pretty bland. The strongest flavor it had was of garlic and it was topped off by bread crumbs. Lastly the chips were home made and had a nice spice laid on them. We hung out, the setting was getting scale and we couldn’t hear the music. So, after all the expected people came we moved to the next venue.

I would of never thought my night would of ended with karaoke. Just to keep a them to the weekend I reverted back to Ginuwine- My pony. A crowd pleaser to say the least. Not too much longer after that we went on our merry ways home.

Sunday!
Went to service on a beautiful morning. Afterwards went home to get prepped for the day. Watched the Bulls V OKC game (we got murdered!) then chilled to play some basketball of my own. With the lack of sleep and the lack of food I ate by the time I got to the gym I felt like a rock, but I played as best as I could. My whole game was off. Slow cuts, late picks and a whole bunch of other things I need help with. Hopefully over time I can get a bit more aggressive. Only highlights were a few mid range buckets and a steal, but just a few accomplishments after 3-4 games. Better luck next time!

I eventually made my way back home, I ate like a king, showered and fell asleep. Good times!

Monday

My first day on spring break and of course I wake up at 5am. I got to talk to my special little lady, watch a movie with her and overall just spend quality time with her.

We watched The Sitter and it was pretty hilarious! A good date movie I’d say. Definitely worth watching it!

Now I’m just waiting to go to my chiropractor and crossing my fingers that I get to go to the Bulls game tonight!

Lets hope for a productive and entertaining break!

So, in the past 2 weeks while driving I had 2 black cats cross my path. Today I finally ran into my 3rd.

Now, I’m in no way superstitious, but I can’t believe this happened. I pulled out my scooter for the few final decent days of riding that are left in Chicago. I put it on it’s kick stand and turn around to arrange some things in my garage and next thing you know my scooter tipped over. The worst thing is my left rear view mirror snapped off.

SIGH!

Well, I’ve been congested, coughing, and full of phlegm for the past week and a 1/2. I’m still sick, but not as bad as it initially was. I didn’t do any exercise except for the random 50 or so pushups I did 2-3 times a week. I feel lousy and that is no way to step into fall and even more so winter.

So today, which will probably be one of the last few days of beautiful weather left in Chicago, I went for my first run in weeks. I just did a mile and I tried to gas it as much as possible. I completed in 8min43sec. So far so good. I’m gonna try to run consecutively 3-4 times a week. Start off with a mile and slowly build my way back up to the 3-4 miles I used to run all the time.

…and yes, I’m still using my vibram fivefingers. Those goofy little toe shoes. Still no joint pain and I’ll believe in them until they do me wrong.

…It’s nice to feel sweat. It’s nice to breathe in hard for air. Let’s you know you’re still alive.