We're role models

Last night, Cas and I went out for our last trivia night before the big trip.  Mom didn't want to join this time, and Jerone was at a conference out of state, so it was just me, Cas and Laura.  So we decided to win anyway.  Man, we know a lot of useless stuff.  Brett was talking with us before the game started, and Laura was explaining people send us their kids and stuff because we're role models.  That immediately became our team name.

It was a good night, and as Cas waited for me at the door, he somehow got a video game to say this:

How he got it to ask for $32 is beyond me.  That seems a little steep for electronic lawn darts or electronic cornhole.  I have an actual cornhole set for the back yard that I think cost me $60 or something, so if I have played it twice, it's like I'm making money?  

Anyhow, after our big day Friday, I spent Saturday with Danny and Dad.  We had to go on our tour of Nine Band Brewing.  It was my Father's Day gift, after all.  Cas was on the fence about coming with.  I checked with the people at Nine Band to see if they had any canned cider or anything available, and when they said no, it became just the three of us.  We had a great time, and it was good to get the Father's Day celebration in before the trip.  

On Sunday, Danny came to the house to help with the patched hole in the kitchen ceiling from our recent plumbing repair, so today, all I have left to do is miraculously (somehow) obtain the perfect color of paint to match the ceiling and cover the new texture with it.  No sweat, right?  I may also get my wedding band sized and pick up the last scraps of food we'll need while we're still around town.  

Cas wants to go to his gym today for a class.  There are two classes he is interested in attending, in fact, and he is contemplating going to both.  Sounds crazy to me.  I'll be lucky if I get to my gym to climb fake stairs in the midst of all my errands.  I'm feeling pretty smug about that, though.  I have been keeping track of my exercise since I started going to the gym in January, and I have deliberately exercised 100 days this year,  Since there have only been 180 days since the new year, that means I have exercised on more days than I haven't.  Not too shabby, given my previous levels of laziness.  

I am just glad I didn't have to drive to South Dallas today.  On Thursday of last week, then again on Monday and Tuesday of this week, I had to go to Townview for professional development.  Ugh.  So dumb.  I know we have to, but could they possibly come up with something more interesting than Academic Rigor through the Lens of the TEKS?  I mean, does that sound awesome to anyone?  Ever?  Alas, it is over.  We spent about an hour talking about how to write a student objective using the higher level verbs on the chart of Bloom's Taxonomy words we all had in front of us.  At least it was digital.  When I get a handout in a training session, I think of that old Mitch Hedberg joke:

I hate it when somebody gives you a flyer.  It's like they're saying, "Here, you throw this away."

And that's pretty much what happens...

No matter.  I am done until August.  No more academic rigor.  No more unpacking the state standards.  No more aligning my course content with a national academy requirement.  Nothing dumb like that for a few months.  All I have to do now is go on the trip of a lifetime, marry my guy and have a reception when we get back home.  Sounds about a squadrillion times better than content specific TEKS analysis.

Wine and roses

Yesterday, Cas and I met Jeanne for lunch at Ozona.  We thought it would be good to get a feel for the place before we had our appointment with the florist, and it was a good excuse to have a nice lunch. 

We ate some tacos and talked the manager out of a set of floor plan charts.  That actually came in handy when we talked to the florist.  I have to admit, this is another occasion when my inability to be girly was a hindrance.  If you looked at my Google search history for the time of the appointment at the florist, you would see that I was doing image search after image search on different kinds of flowers.  I had no clue.  I like flowers and I certainly think they are pretty, but I haven't the slightest clue which ones are which. 

Still, I am quite confident that everything will work out and the flowers will be beautiful. 

When we left the florist, we headed straight for Grapevine.  We had a scheduled spot on the ghost tour.  It was a walking tour that started at 7pm and took us around the Main Street area.  The town had some rather spooky stories for us to hear, but I was not frightened once during the tour.  I was more entertained than scared. 

That was our tour guide, Daniel.  He was explaining the little structure behind him, which had been used to temporarily house prisoners until they could be moved to a proper jail.  It was a pretty snug little structure, and I can't imagine how hot it would get at high noon.  I guess the moral of that story is: don't break the law in old-timey Grapevine. 

It was a fun evening, and we had plenty of good wine to accompany the good times.  Today, we have almost nothing on the books.  I went to the gym, and we are supposed to have a phone call with the people from Go Ahead tours here any moment.  I think we're just supposed to hash out any last details.  Then, I guess, we go ahead, as the name would suggest.  I'm down to clown. 

Your mom goes to college

We're #1.  Jerone and Laura came out to meet with me and Cas for Tuesday night trivia, and it was really good to get the team back together.  For extra fun, I brought my mom with.  She generally prefers her own house to other places and her own family to other people, but she seemed to have a good time anyway.  

Evidently, there has been a pair of teams that have dominated the trivia matches this summer at Addison Ice House.  They are those teams that reserve tables and take themselves very seriously.  Yesterday, we brought back our fantastic four from summers past, and they were happy to welcome my mom.  

Oh, and we won.  Like big.  I think we won by something like eight or nine points.  I haven't seen quizmaster Brett's blog yet today, but I imagine it notes the point spread.  It's even more impressive, because in the middle of the game, we trailed the first place by only one point.  Apparently, we finish strong.

This morning, I went off to the gym for a little bit, and now, I am in a training session at Townview.  It's a depressing, windowless room with painted cinder block surfaces on two of the walls.  It's not a bad training session, as these things go, but that's not saying much.  Saying a training session is not bad is like saying dental surgery is not bad.  It's still an unpleasant process, but it could be so much worse.

I have been ridiculously productive during this time, in spite of the lengthy discussion I am supposed to be having about the evaluation system.  I asked for a quote from the people who rent plates and flatware for things like wedding receptions.  I put a vacation hold on our mail and newspapers for our trip and I got in touch with my cousin Kris about taking photos for our reception.

I have an hour and a half left in this classroom, and I am totally out of things I need to get done which can also be done quietly.  It's a session about the evaluation system, and it seems to me that most of the people in the room have, at some point, received a poor evaluation and have an ax to grind.

I have three sessions to go after this one, and those all happen next week.  I didn't pick the best things or the things I wanted to learn this time around.  Instead, I picked the things that worked with my vacation plans this summer.  I needed classes that let me go on a trip and get married.  I have to keep that in mind while I am re-learning things I already know.  It's so I can have all of the fun possible in July.

Welcome to the jungle

Monday night isn't really date night. Unless you're a teacher and it's the summer, then every night can be date night. And you can go out for sushi.

Why the hell not? 

After we had a really nice dinner, we headed over to Sharky's, which, as the name would suggest, is a pool hall. There were pitchers of beer and decent enough tables. Of course, I lost. Twice. No regrets. Cas is just better than I am at pool, and if I'm being honest, he was playing very badly. I was just playing worse.

We went to the dartboard next. In spite of a brilliant bullseye, I lost at that, too. 

We finally played that trivia game with the boxes where you type in your answer. Finally something I had a fighting chance at. And in fact, I won. Not in a landslide or anything, but I'll take it. 

The whole place seemed to be stuck in a time warp to the 1990s. Even the jukebox was playing throwbacks. There was Metallica, Guns & Roses, Bon Jovi- pick a popular song from that genre and time, and we probably heard it. As an aside, I can't listen to Guns & Roses anymore without thinking of the photo I saw of Axl Rose all fat. It was captioned, "Welcome to the jungle, we got pies and cakes." Too cruel... 

For now, we're about to head out to the Addison Ice House to play trivia. Mom wants to play today, so we're picking her up shortly. It should make for an interesting evening. Laura and Jerone are headed that way, as well. Wish us luck! 

Is it just me, or is this day taking forever?

Today is the summer solstice: the longest day of the year.

If I were working at this moment, I would find it tremendously cruel that the longest day of the year is also a Monday. As it happens, I'm off work until August. Teacher perks.

On Saturday, Cas and I went over to Jeanne and Dave's house. We all swam in the pool for a while, and then we all had steak dinners. It was a nice afternoon that tirned into a nice evening.

Cas got to spend plenty of time being uncle Cas, which is one of his favorite things to be. He and Zoey were inseparable In the water.

By the time we hit the pillows at the end of the night, we were almost immediately asleep. Maybe playing in the sunshine then eating a big meal (with wine) is the magic formula. 

Yesterday was Father's Day. Cas came with me to Mom and Dad's house and put Dad and Danny in the car. We went out for beers and a few appetizers at around lunchtime. 

Also, Laurie loaned us their selfie stick from their wedding reception let summer. I think it will make a nice addition to our reception. I tried it out: 

As for today, I'm starting out at the gym. Cas was in bed when I walked out the door, and his big plan for the day is a noon class at the Cooper Center. It's kind of great to start out the longest day of the year with absolutely nothing pressing on the schedule. 

Friendly dinner

Last night, Cas and I went over to Adam and Jennifer's house for dinner. When we  got here, a note of congratulations was hung over the fireplace.

Aww. Cute. 

It was a good night. Jennifer made a delicious dinner, and to do my part, I made up a pitcher of margaritas and some bread pudding. 

We had a nice time and stuck around until after midnight. It occurred to me after we left that the late departure time probably wasn't strange for Cas, as he and Adam had been roommates- I think Jennifer lived with them, as well. These three had probably stayed up late together a thousand times before. 

I felt like we were imposing. I imagine the late departure was probably par for the course with those three. 

We have a lunch today with Jeanne and Dave, complete with Becky, Chad and Zoey. I am getting a little fun time in right now, since I skipped yesterday. It is probably for the best- I'm guessing Cas is still sleeping. 

Fon-don't-mind-if-I-do

Cas and I had a few Groupons to use before we head out on our epic trip, and one of them went last night. It was the super-fancy dinner at Simply Fondue. 

We walked in hungry and walked out full enough to require a nap. We went with their grilling method instead of cooking the meat in a pot of oil. It was pretty cool, but honestly, it splattered like crazy. We threw our shirts in the washing machine almost as soon as we got home. 

Still delicious, and we have no regrets. It was something new, and you have to try something new. We also had a nice bottle of wine. I wanted to remember the name of it for future reference, so Cas held it under the light. He also photo bombed the bottle. Of course. 

That's my guy...

Useless information

Tonight was our second trivia night in a row. Tuesday, we went to Addison Ice House and came in a lousy 5th place. Tonight, we went to a place over in the Skillman/Abrams neighborhood and came in 2nd place. 

Here was our answer sheet tonight: 

Tuesday, we had Chad with us, and I got my friend Susan to come along. I finally met her husband last night, which means they had a family member in town to watch their three-year-old. 

Chad was able to leave Zoey with Becky, so our big win that night was getting three adults who spend the majority of their time with toddlers out of the house for an evening.

Tonight, Cas' friends from way back, Adam and Jennifer wanted to play trivia. Who are we to say no? 

It was a lot of fun, and I really liked the dive bar feel of the place where we played.

Tomorrow, we may head down to Simply Fondue to cash in another groupon. We could postpone until next week. No matter. 

Saturday, we have a day planned with Jeanne and Dave. 

Sunday, I want to hang out with my dad for Father's Day. Of course. Besides, we spent plenty of time with Cas' father recently. It has to be my dad's turn, right? 

Weenie roast!

We went for hot dogs yesterday.

We all got up and went for a super-long bike ride in the morning. It was about twice as long as the day before, but I hung in there. It was pretty hot and humid, but having done that ride made the weenie lunch even better. I had one with chili, cheese and Fritos on it. It never occurred to me to put Fritos on a hot dog. Now, I don't know why nobody did it before. 

After that, we all got cleaned up and pretty for the evening. Our last night in town started off at the Pensacola Bay Brewery. From there, we went to the Gulf Coast Brewery. 

Both places had very tasty beers, though Gulf Coast is the clear winner in atmosphere. It was a really nice taproom. 

For our last night out, we went to a beautiful restaurant with a fantastic view of the water. McGuire's was up above its parking lot, so it was perfectly elevated for an extremely good view of the beach and the water. Somehow, lifting it off the ground and putting the waitstaff in button down shirts lent an air of class to the place that you don't find in most beachside dining. 

The food was amazing. Cas and I had a bite of each other's food. My scallops were some of the best I'd ever had, and his snapper (I'm pretty sure) was in the water ten minutes before it was on his plate. It was that good. 

We're at the airport, now waiting to get on the flight back to Dallas. When we get to the airport, Jeanne is picking us up. When we get back to the house, my mom may still be there supervising the drywall repair. My whole goal is the get some groceries and maybe take a nap. Sounds like he best option...

Hop, skip and a jump

After we got down off the bikes yesterday and waded out into the water to cool off, we all got cleaned up and set out for lunch. We went to a sushi place before heading off on a tour through some of the neighborhoods and properties that made it through the various hurricanes this area has seen.

After that, we were off to Paddy O'Leary's Irish Pub. It was a total hole in the wall, and certainly, an interesting place to launch our bar hopping. We stuck around there for a bit- long enough to find the coaster's advertisements hilarious, if not totally appropriate. Here:

They serve your drink on an ad for a DUI lawyer. Charming. 

We went to another place in that same strip that I'm told is the oldest bar in Pensacola Beach, then we wandered off to the Sandshaker. They were having some sort of an outdoor festival or parking lot party, but it was a cool place, as well. I had a rum and Coke in a strange tin can, and they gave me an umbrella: 

People have seemed pretty friendly most of the places I've been. The Sandshaker was no exception. That's why the near-barfight we saw at Paddy O'Leary's was so out of place. I didn't catch the beginning or the end, but in the middle, I did see a big guy trying to put his torn t-shirt back on. It was very strange. I guess people will invariably argue if given enough time and fueled with enough booze, but this whole place seems to chilled out to get mad. Then again, what do I know? 

We finished off our time in town with a dinner at Hemingway's, where I had been told they served the very best mojitos. That turned out to be an accurate statement. Those things were good. 

We got back to the house and had a few more drinks out on the patio. Because why the hell not? I think we're in for a longer bike ride this morning, just as soon as everyone else wakes up. I have this nasty school year habit of waking up really early, and I sure can't wait for that to end. 

We've got one full day left here, and aside from a bicycle ride, I don't know what's in store. You know me, though- I'm down to clown. 

I want to ride my bicycle

Cas Sr. And Anne are bicycle riders. They travel to different parts of the world and ride bikes at the destinations. They say it's the best way to see the place you're visiting. It's slower than a car and you're more connected to the place. Having ridden down the road this morning, I see what they mean.

I was the only one without padded bike shorts. This was the thing that kept our 7-8 mile journey from doubling in length. It never occurred to me- I had to ask my Cas if I should bring workout clothes and tennis shoes, or of this was a khakis-and-sandals kind of thing. Turns out it's the sort of thing where you get all geared up. 

Behold, my borrowed gloves and helmet:

This was some no-fooling-around riding. As ever, I was down to clown. When we reached the point when we had to decide if the trip would double in duration or end soon, it was my lack of padded shorts that fueled my decision. My butt would have been pretty sore if I doubled down on the journey. When I was a kid, this wasn't a problem. Why are modern bicycle seats so hard and narrow? I remember a soft, wide seat that was padded. It was black and white like a saddle shoe with a black "S" for Schwinn on it. Why can't those be the thing everyone puts on bikes? These tiny, hard triangles of molded plastic don't make any sense to me.

Anyhow, I did remember how to ride a bike and I didn't fall off. If only there was some old expression about remembering how to do something like that... 

When we got back, Cas and I decided the best way to cool off was a dip in the water. I mean, we don't have a beach in our backyard, so we decided to seize the opportunity. 

For now, everyone is cleaning up. Cas is in the shower; I already took a turn. I presume Cas Sr. and Anne are cleaning up, as well. I think we're heading out to lunch. Sounds just about perfect. 

Very Pensacola, such beach

Today, Cas and I went down to a place on the beach that offered parasailing and jet ski rental. Yes and yes, we did both. Anne and Cas Sr. deposited us at a place that offered both, and we signed up for parasailing first. That's the thing where you are on a line between a parachute and a zippy fast boat. Count me in. It was as fun as it sounds. Here we were getting ready to go.

If I'm being honest, that's the best my hair has looked all day. 

After parasailing, we rented a pair of jet skis. I'd never ridden on a jet ski before, but I've had a class M license since I was 33, so I felt pretty qualified to operate a throttle, even if it was a lever to accelerate instead of a hand grip you twist. 

It was a pretty fantastic day. We finished up at the beach and rinsed down in non-salt water before heading across the street to a place called Shaggy's. That's where these happened: 

Inspired idea, if you ask me. When we got back to his dad's place, he clearly fought to stay awake. Then we both stopped fighting it. A serious nap was in order, and who am I to say no? 

After that, we headed out for a nice dinner before having some margaritas on the patio overlooking the beach. 

Cas and I sure know how to vacation. 

Long walks on the beach

We had our first long walk on the beach last night. Cas and I walked with Anne and Cas Sr. down a kind of Boardwalk to the sand, and we all wound up strolling near the water for a while. It was pretty nice, and we didn't notice how hot it was until we took our feet away from the water.

While strolling, we saw some sand castles. This one was a particular architectural marvel:

After our first "long walk on the beach," we came back and had some beers out on the balcony. We talked about our big trip, our upcoming wedding and all sorts of topics. My Cas got a telescope out and found both Mars and Saturn in the sky. We were actually able to see the rings on Saturn. That was pretty sweet. 

I'm not sure what misadventures today may hold, but I'm awake and waiting for a socially acceptable time to exit the bed and enter the shower. It's almost seven. Maybe I should try sleeping s little more...

FLA USA

Cas and I got up this morning, packed the last few items into our bags and ate a really big breakfast. We're on the way to Pensacola, Florida right now. This is the first trip we have scheduled for this summer, and we're about a half hour away from landing.

No doubt, Cas Sr. And Anne will meet us at the airport, and from there, I presume, the adventures will commence. 

Jeanne drove us to the airport this morning- a kindness I truly appreciate. Rides to and from the airport are a necessary evil and a general pain in the ass to provide.  

Fun fact about terminal B at DFW- there's a chapel there, and it's named after the proprietor of a now-defunct airline. Behold the beautiful stained glass of Braniff Chapel: 

Cas peered in only to see that there was a closed door on the other side of the stained glass. Neither of us wanted to actually go into the chapel, but we were curious. Alas, you need to do chapel-worthy things to see the other side of that door. 

Maybe another time... For now, we're two thirds of the way to Pensacola and ready for our first trip of the summer.

This is gonna be fun. 

Here comes Florida: 

Somebody else's problem...

I joke with the children.  I tell them at the end of the year that they are now somebody else's problem.  Today is my last day with the kids this year, and the last test period I have is about to end.  I have a free period after this.  Hooray.  I am about 20 minutes away from all of the kids in this room being somebody else's problem.

I have been doing a countdown on my bulletin board with pages that I tear off once a day.  One of my students who hangs out in my room every morning really got into it and started to help me remember to tear the pages when I forgot.

Here's what the last page said when he tore off the old one this morning:

I am profoundly happy that this day has come.  I have been needing this year to speed up and end, and all it's seemed to do was slow down.  Now, we can get down to the very serious business of goofing off.  Of course, we have some wedding stuff to accomplish, but honestly, the plan to marry in a private ceremony overseas has alleviated a lot of that worry.  We are working out the details for a pretty cool reception.  There will be an afternoon adventure before the evening party, and I have a few ideas about that party.  

When Cas comes home today, he is finished for the year.  I have one more day to come in, but the building should be free of students that day.  It's supposed to be a day for final grade entry, classroom cleanup and otherwise closing up shop.  I have half of my closing-up stuff done at this moment, all but one of my grades entered (a kid was absent) and a whole lot of cleaning to accomplish.  

I think I will do a barely passable job, have a long lunch and head to happy hour.  I know, I know, but I rarely slack off.  When I do, I intend to slack effectively...  

For now, I have to bid these children adieu.  Go, children, out into the world!  Where you will no doubt be someone else's problem...