The Fan

Now that I have all this spare time since I am a teacher my wife has been gently nudging me to make a dent in my impressive list of honey-do's. Therefore, the other day I dutifully attempted to replace the old & broken ceiling fan in the living room with the sleek & high-powered version pictured above.

The catch was that when I had assembled, mounted, and rewired the new beauty it did nothing when I flipped the switch. So I left it hanging & proudly moved the fan from the "to be completed" list to the "practically finished" list and went to the store to get some beer for a dinner guest coming over that night.

The guest was a hilarious guy named Loren. Loren replaced me at Sports Authority in the role of store manager when I made my escape from retail. He was transferred from Phoenix for a 2-year (yeah right;-) stint here in the boonies. Being a young unmarried man from the big city, Loren finds himself quite bored here in Yuma. The nature of the beast in retail dictates that he can't really hang out with his co-workers so we get together now & then for drinks.

After a delightful dinner prepared by my better half we were sitting in the living room having a beer when Loren hinted that he was hot & the fan should be on. My lovely wife mentioned that the beautiful fan above us was inoperable despite my best efforts.

Lo & behold! Loren is a handyman that loves to work on these type of jobs. You can imagine where it went from there...I held the fan like an ox while superman rewired the fan & found a few minor errors I had made on the installation and before I could yell asshole!! he had my new fan working wonderfully.

Did I mention that Loren is coming over for Thanksgiving? I can't wait...

Equality

The recent ballot initiatives around the nation that defined marriage as between one man & one woman passed in many states, even liberal California.

I find this very disturbing. Why should a man or woman be denied the same rights as any other simply because they are physically & emotionally attracted to the same sex? The religious establishments that provide support & funding for these ballot initiatives are doing a disservice to their God, in my opinion. How could a benevolent God turn away from his creations?

I am not condoning the actions of rioters or people that hurt others...although I understand their frustration...this type of behavior is unacceptable & ultimately hurts in the court of public opinion.

My brother has battled this discrimination his entire life. In the interest of full disclosure, I have not always been so supportive of gay rights. I thought they should have them but getting those rights was their problem, not mine. Thanks to the Bush presidency, I now realize that it is every one's responsibility to make sure that all Americans are treated equally.

How we can take away rights from individuals in modern America is beyond me.

I hope that some day we can read the words...that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights...without a wink...

A New Addition

We added a new member of the family a couple of nights ago. My nephew Ryan is being deployed to Afghanistan for a year and he left his rather large golden Labrador, Flaco, with his father here in Yuma for the deployment.

We took Flaco & Sasha on a few play dates (he's male...she's female...you get the idea) & they really got along well. Sasha is a dominant German Shepard that usually overpowers dogs that meet her in a friendly, come here so I can give you an Indian rub kinda way but Flaco is so big & good natured that she treats him as an equal.

Long story short...Flaco has joined our family & now we have 2 extremely large dogs...the evening walks are more of a workout than I'd like!

This is why I switched jobs

I sit here in my home office and realize that I have a good life. I switched careers in June of this year. I had worked retail for the past 17+ years and decidied I wanted to enjoy what I did for a living! So...I used my new bachelor's degree to land a teaching job at an elementary school while I work on my Masters in Education.

The catch is that I now earn almost 60% less than I did in retail management. Needless to say...we live a frugal lifestyle!

I say all that to say this: This Thanksgiving holiday will be the first time ever that I will spend the day before, the day of, & the day after Thanksgiving entirely with my family. I usually work 12 hour days this entire week in preparation for the holiday season...I do not miss those days!!

As I have looked at my meager paycheck the last few months I have consoled myself with the thought of this coming week...a time of relaxation and fun with my lovely ladies!!

The lack of pay is worth it!

Crazy Hair day

A few weeks ago we had our Red Ribbon (say not to drugs) week at school. One of the days was crazy hair day...although we did not get a photo of my crazy hair...it was the best one by far...here are photos of Tammy & Yesenia.

My beloved Sasha

We have had our German Shepard...Sasha for almost 2 years now. She is my other love...she has so much personality. Here are a few pics I snapped of her the other day. The last few are from under the bed...she loves to drag all her trash & play things under there...the wife loves her habits almost as much as her non-stop shedding!!

Idiota!

So I showed up one of the local high schools this past Saturday morning...all chipper & ready to sit for four hours to take my AEPA exam.

Here's the funny part...I went into my assigned classroom and took a seat...no problems until my name wasn't on the test roster. No problem...step outside Mr. Larson while we get this fixed. The classroom was all glass walls...so my fellow test-takers were all staring at me...wondering...what's up with the fatty in the hallway?

Meanwhile all the other classrooms close the doors & begin the test...not my classroom...they are waiting on me! I maneuver down the hall so that I can escape the now annoyed stares...WAIT!! A test proxy catches me 10 feet from my classroom door and loudly informs me there will be NO movement from the area until they straighten out my mess!!

Imagine the relief I felt to again be before my fellow classmates behind the glass wall and open hallway door...through which I can hear the rising grumblings & snickering. I am finally saved by the test administrator who returns and in a BOOMING VOICE INFORMS ME THAT THROUGH MY OWN INEPTNESS I HAVE RESCHEDULED BOTH TESTS AND CAN NOT TAKE THE TEST TODAY!!!

Needless to say, I scrambled out of there quickly...now I must reschedule again for the next test in late January.

Ah well...at least I am consistent in my screw-ups all the time...

Graduation

A few weeks back Yesenia & I walked the line for our Bachelor's degrees. We had both already completed our degrees some time ago but they only have the ceremony once a year.
It really brought home to me how much we had accomplished in the past few years...switching careers while attending college while raising a family while working...you get the idea.
Anyway...it was a fun night that we were able to shre with family. Enjoy the pics!

The election

My brother and I joyfully watched the election last Tuesday night. I was tense about the ghost of Democratic elections past rearing its ugly head until they called Pennsylvania & Ohio. Then I relaxed and enjoyed the historic night.

As I have consoled my Republican friends this past week I kept stating the point that Obama is very pragmatic...I think he will keep his agenda in the center-left. He is extremely intelligent and understands this election mandate is about the dissatisfaction the nation has with what the Republicans have done the last eight years...not that the USA has become liberal in all areas.

I do think that the nation has moved left on social-economic issues such as education & health care. As the US has evolved from an industrial nation to a service nation I think people expect government to take better care of them now that many jobs do not offer the same benefits as were available 15+ years ago.

Anyway...I ramble as usual when it comes to politics. The real work begins in January and I have faith...but no idea how...Obama will lead us in the right direction.

Playing catch up...

This past week was crazy busy! I had my first official observation at school on Tuesday by both my principal and my practicum advisor at NAU. I had the kids do a writing brainstorm using graphic organizers on a persuasive essay. I think it went well...my practicum advisor gave me a pass grade & had only a couple of small suggestions on how to make it better...like having the kids write lighter on their graphic organizers in case they have to erase...that's a win in my book!!

Then election night...oh man!! I will address that in another post...but I'm happy!

Then my stupid idiot moment of the week. I was scheduled to take my one of my two AEPA exams to become a highly-qualified educator today. A couple of weeks back I rescheduled the other one to July so that I could concentrate on today's exam, elementary education. Well...when I rescheduled the other exam I inadvertently rescheduled both.

So when I showed up for the test this morning I was sent away with the dunce cap since I had no scheduled test. Now I have to go to my boss and explain how an educated man such as myself can reschedule a test incorrectly. That conversation will be unpleasant & of course it happens right before we sit down to discuss her observation...

Ah well...at least I'm consistent!

Almost election day

Well, well. Here we are just 3 days from election day. I had hoped to be more involved with both the local and national Democratic campaigns for this critical election but my work and schooling have overwhelmed me. Here's a history of my political evolution:

I was raised a strong Republican and devout Catholic in my childhood. My parents to this day are hardcore Republicans and enthusiastic McCain supporters. I started leaning to the center-left as I exited high school (One of my original dreams was to get a poly-sci degree) and in the 90's, with a new family & career I didn't pay much attention to politics at all. As the new millennium opened (not because I got older!!) I started to become more interested in politics and my stake in the world. I still identified myself as a Republican, especially on business, but began to find myself questioning what the Republican base stood for.

The day we invaded Iraq in March of 2003 I went to the local Democratic party office and changed my registration to Democrat. Since that time I have become a very strong Democrat and support every major position in that party save one, abortion. While I still believe abortion is wrong the issue is not a litmus test for me and I feel too strongly on the other major social and economic issues to be anything other than a proud and staunch Democrat.

I feel we are the verge of something great here and can only hope that Obama wins on Tuesday!!