The One Where Bri is in the Record Books

 

Earlier today at school, I was talking about Bri to one of my students (who I also had in 5th grade).

 The student said, "Oh, I didn't know you had a daughter."

To which I replied, shockingly, "You had me in fifth grade and you forgot?"

She asked about Bri and I said, if you look up her name and Danvers High School, you might find a picture.

 While she was having trouble finding the name, I decided to look Bri up...and I find out something super cool. As a member of the DHS track team last year, she actually made their record book, kept by Max Preps.

In the 100 meter dash, as a junior, she ranks in the top 20 all time with her score from last year, as you can see below.

 

Even cooler was the fact that she is in the junior record book as well, with a record that will probably stick for a while.  Needless to say, I was super proud!!!
 

The One With the Veterans Day Breakfast

 

 

This Friday, November 8, we hosted the 22nd annual Veterans Day Breakfast at Kennedy Middle School. This tradition has become a cherished tradition at our school, with the Morse Institute Library (which helps organize it) and with Metrowest Veterans.

 As always, it takes a ton of work to pull it off. But it is so worth it. Fortunately, we have a great Civics team, with Brian and Jeff, as well as fabulous 8th grade teachers, which helps it run seemlessly.

 This year we had some of our same veterans, including Mr. Leupold, who was in World War II and turned 100. We also had Mr. Radock's daughter, who worked at Johnson when I was there, come with his memorabilia. We have several parents and grandparents of students arrive as well...which made for an amazing day!!!

 The students were spectacular. My decorating crew - aka the Weather Service crew - were official greeters, too. And they did a phenomenal job.

Thanks so much to all those veterans who gave their time, treasure, talent - and in some cases their lives - to protect our country.

Happy Veteran's Day

Happyt Veterans Day!!! 

The One With the Veterans Day Parade

 

 

Earlier today, we were in Boston to attend the fourth annual Boston Veteran's Day parade, otherwise known as Boston's Salute to Service. 

Both Bri and Kiff were in attendance for the parade, though it was Bri's last parade. Unlike years past, when Emmie and I watched from the Boston Common, we actually sojourned down to the Boston Public Library area and watched the beginning of the parade, then followed the band all the way to the end.

It was quite a parade. Clearly, word has gotten out about the parade, unlike the first year, when there were only a few spectators. There were quite a few DHS families in attendance, which was fun to watch as we went through the streets.

I think I took about four videos from different locations. The band played their standard military tunes, which were always amazing!!! The wrapped up at City Hall Plaza, booming their music off the buildings that lined the streets there. I found a picture on the Berkeley Beacon above of Nathan, Natalie, and a few other band members from today.

While we were there to see the Falcons, there were several other fun groups as well. There was a small Civil War re-enactment group. There were several military groups. The USS Constitution sailors also showed up, as well as an East Boston Junior ROTC group.

Afterward, they went over to Quincy Market and had lunch. Emmie and I did as well, and did a little quick shopping, like we always do. All and all, it was a great and glorious day for a parade.

The One With the Happy Halloween

 

 

 

 

It is Halloween night 2024...and it was quite a busy day.

 

First, it was the first time Kiff and Bri had been around in the past few years. And, it was nice to have the around. They helped pass our candy to our trick-or-treaters. We had 23.

 

Kiff and I also put together our new Halloween decoration - the Plague Doctor. It was unique.

 

We set up our haunted house and we also put out the firepit in the driveway, where we greeted trick or treaters.

 

Kiff left early to go to a Halloween party. But, we got back just in time to have the Great Pumpkin visit. 

 

 

The One With the New Car

 

 

Today, Emmie and I took a trip down toward the south shore. We visited the Sullivan Brothers car company - a company whose signed I passed a bazillion times since growing up going to the Cape. We were in search of a new, used car for Emmie. Now that Bri has a license, we wanted to do a car shuffle.

 

The goal of today was to find a Jeep Wrangler that Emmie could use driving back and forth from school and on local drives. After all, she had longed to have a Wrangler again.

 

And we were in luck. We found one for the right price that was a good deal. And the people at Sullivan were amazing. It was a great experience.

The One Where Bri Gets Her License

 

 

Today was a banner day for Bri. She got up early in the morning and had her driver's license test planned for today in Beverly at 8:15.

The first time around did not go so smoothly for Bri. She bumped into a curb when she was parallel parking, which means you automatically have to do it again. So, needless to say, she was nervous.

However, she had been practicing all this week - particularly her parallel parking - and reviewing what she needed to work on (checking her blind spot when backing up and stopping before entering an intersection from a parking lot).

Although she was nervous - as most of the kids were there today - and had to wait long, it was worth it. At about 9:37 AM she was off. She returned 6 minutes later, looking stoic. Of course, it turns out that the exam driver didn't tell her if she passed, either, so it took her a moment to realize that when he said, "You did good," and then she checked the permit she had to bring for the test, it became clear she passed.

It was amazing!!! Her face beamed as I took her picture and she had a special skip in her step. She couldn't wait to get home to tell Emmie (who, along with Kiff, congratulated her via text). And according to Bri, she did the best parallel parking she ever did (and she even showed me the red car she parked behind).

 That was just one of her successes this week. She found out yesterday that she now has set the family record for SAT scores with a 1320. Zoinks!!!

The One With Megalopolis

 

 

Wow. That is all I can say. On Thursday, Kiff and I went to see Megalopolis. He has been hoping to see it all year and I have been interested in it as well. Although he knew it was supposed to be a flop - he had heard that for months - he still wanted to see if. After all, he is a huge Francis Ford Copolla Fan.

 

However, nothing could truly prepare us for the wild ride we went on. The movie was marketed as a fable. While allegorical, I think it would be better advertised as a parable. But, then, it is really hard to say what the heck is going on in the story. Yikes! 

Of course, my favorite quote was when Kiff turned and said, "This is so bad!!!" Indeed. To make matters worse, for a short period of time, when of the best displays of Northern Lights to reach New England was visible while we were in the movie. Nice!!!