Updates: Parades, time changes, camouflage and so many more...

Not sure where I am going with this post - I guess it is an update of sorts.   Actually, this might be a really long update as it has been a long time and a lot has happened since I first made this a place marker.    Ok, so this is now like a month long update....

Looking at the pictures I put there, I am going to say that this was sometime around St. Patrick's Day - probably the week before.  There was something getting passed around the house with a stomach virus or some small virus that was causing stomach issues and fever.  I believe that Malcolm was the first to get it - which is why he was the last man standing and he and I were the only ones who went to the Bay Shore parade.  We hung out with some friends and watched the parade and then headed home.  Nothing too exciting and nothing too crazy - though I am sure, in the future, I will be getting lots of stories about parades and exploits from this one.

Every year this daylight savings is an absolute shitshow.  The mornings get light again - which is great since I am usually out of the door by 6.  It just creates a different feel when you are headed in and coming home.  Every year, you get that tease right at the end of February, you start to feel good and then they make the switch and we get screwed for another month.  They really need to figure that out since most of the country is no longer agricultural and energy advancements seem to be moving at such a rapid pace that cheap renewable energy should be on the horizon - right?  Of course, it will all be Chinese - then they have all our farmland and....you get the picture.  That's real - no tinfoil hat shit.

Aside from thinking out loud and getting me to assist with some of the decision making (which, to be honest, I'd rather not do and just complain about the decisions in the aftermath), Jess likes to send little things over that are pertinent to the trip.  According to this map, the Hot Mess should not be so out of place in that Italians and Greeks are really loud and we should barely be noticeable - aside from the giant fucking sun hats Jess wants to get for everyone.  Nothing says tourist and pickpocket me like a sun hat and fanny pack.  

There will be no fanny packs - not on me anyway.  That is something that I definitely worry about because it is hard to herd these cats and be very aware of everything around you.  Then last time Jess and I went, when we were alone and with her parents, it was easy to be alert and keep an eye on all the shady characters - and believe me, there are many.  The first time we went, I am sure that we looked dirty and tired and our backpacks screamed that we didn't have much.  To be fair - we didn't carry a lot with us.  I had a really small handheld camera that was great if only 2 pixels - that's right, two.  Other than that it was our clothes and a book each I think and whatever we picked up to wash said clothes in the sink.   

It seems like each time that we take a trip we bring more stuff with us and now we are going to have to figure out how that it going to go, what the weight distribution will be and if we are bringing any additional bags with us.  Jess thinks this is a pretty easy proposition and for her it is because she doesn't carry the extra stuff - I do, and now, Neil will too.  We are going to have to really decide what we bring to occupy people - iPads?  I have to bring a laptop - but then what about baseball gloves?  I am sure we will pick up a soccer ball there...but then how do we blow it up?  Games?  Jess loves games - and she loves to harass everyone, when, no doubt they will only want to be on their iPads when we are on the train.

So many more....

You are probably wondering what the hell he means by this, so, let me tell you.  We will be joined bour our friend Jen from Australia in Italy - not sure of all the details yet, but we are pretty sure at least Florence and Rome.  It will be great to see her, since it's been probably somewhere around 8 years or so since she was last here - then of course, we plan to get over there before the boys are too old to enjoy traveling with us and Isla can swim so we can go to the reef.

Jess' parents will be meeting us in Greece for 10 days.  Jess' cousin Olivia will be in Greece on the Peloponnese at the same time we are there, so hopefully we will get to see her.  She has legendary status on European trips.  We were living with her parents, Uncle Rick and Aunt Wendy in their apartment when Olivia was born.  We were trying to get information on arrival and I believe we were in Scotland, I think Jess says somewhere else.  Anyway, we spoke to Jess' dad who told us she was born and her name was Sofie or Sofia - so, until the next time we were able to call home (because we had calling cards and shit was shady over there in 2006) we believed that she had a different name.  

Anyone else going to be over there and care to meet up this summer?

Let's see, we are in Spring and that means we are neck deep in soccer.  Neil, Malcolm and Duncan all play travel.  Baseball is also starting and Malcolm and Duncan will be playing Little League - Isla is starting softball and Neil made the middle school team.  To say that we are busy is an understatement.  You add to that all of the other things - especially work responsibilities for end of the year activities and there is so much to do.  The next three months, April, May and June are going to fly - which makes the planning, discussion of said planning, purchasing for clothes and backpacks very difficult.  I'm so glad I am writing this because now I am getting anxious. 

Then there is THIS which I was super lucky to get involved with from both a personal and professional aspect.  I am super excited about the potential and how this will help us to transform some of the learning activities and access to real world learning for our kids.

So, hopefully, this isn't the last time you hear from me before the "Holy shit we leave tomorrow" post, where I write and spend time procrastinating and not getting the shit done I need to.  

I mean honestly, what could possibly go wrong or complicate our lives in the next four months? 🤮🤮

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I Love It When A Plan Comes Together...Almost...

 

Almost.

We are almost there.  We have narrowed down the trip to a 10-3-10.  Ten days in Italy, three in Croatia and ten in Greece.  Jess is currently getting our flight from Rome to Split.  Looks like we will be taking the train from Venice, to Florence and then to Rome.  A flight to Split and then another flight from Split to Athens, then then home.  Replace the big long blue line with the two arrows and you get the idea.  Should be about 3,000 fucking degrees for three weeks.  And dry too.  Jess sent a picture today of one of the places we might stay and I said to myself, "Holy shit - that looks fucking dry!"

Currently the plan in Greece may be going to the Peloponnese peninsula and skipping all of the big islands because it is the summer and they are going to be packed.  Jess is currently working on where we will stay in Croatia - we will be somewhere between Split and Trogir.

When I started this post last weekend, Malcolm was sick, fever and throwing up.  He was actually ok with that since it got him out of SCMEA (Suffolk Country Music Educators Association) - basically both he and Neil were chosen to represnt their school's for this concert.  It is an honor.  Malcolm on the other hand was happy that he was sick, because he missed practice and if you miss one practice, you can't be in the program (which also has another practice this Friday and Saturday).  Neil and Duncan are now sick.  Poor Neil has a really bad stomach virus and has been throwing up pretty consistently since Thursday am - through about 6 pm.  When I checked on him this morning he was at 103.7 - so I had to make him take medicine - since he thought he was going to power his way through.

Duncan is sleeping on the couch and somewhere around 5 am, I see the light on and the tv blaring.  So while I made my rounds I made him turn it off.  I checked on Isla, who may be getting sick or has her periodic fever thing (of course at the exact same time) - she was cool but awake because "Who was stomping down there and talking so loudly?"  In her most animated and agitated voice.  I explained that it was Duncan and the TV and she countered with, "When is it going to be bring your kids to work day?" and I told her that she should get back to bed.  

She did, but little did I know that when I got out of the shower, it was my bed and my spot that she got back to.  Chatting away to Jess, who was trying to sleep because she took the 1 am round - though that was closer to 3:30.

It's been a fun few days - especially at work, where the geniuses who run the DoE have decided that now is the time to implement something for certain groups of kids based on their test scores - when, they could have done it at the start of the year.  So now, as usual, we are expected to drop what we are doing and get it organized by Monday.  These people got jokes.  It will be finished when it is finished and in order of importance with the 800 other things we are doing.  

It's the evening now and for the most part the work stuff is resolved and amazingly someone came through and ensured that the program will be available for the remainder of the year at no cost.  Now we just have to notify parents - because it is political and not really about kids and then meet with teachers and plan for when this stuff will get done.  Unfortunately, Neil missed his practice and now will have to miss the concert as well.  It's pretty shitty - especially since this was the first two days he has missed this year - he really tries not to miss school.

On a side note, our school works with a place called the Hendrick I. Lott House.  It is an amazing piece of history and located about four blocks away.  It was the first house in that section of Brooklyn and it has seen everything - colonization, the Revolution, slavery, a stop on the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, the expansion of NYC and the development of the suburbs....etc.  We will be having a piece of their land to start our own farm, complete with a greenhouse.  We will also work with them on a number of other projects, including the 100 year celebration of the neighborhood and our school.  I was lucky enough to be asked to speak about our partnership on CBS News and the piece will hopefully air next week.  The learning opportunities that it will present for our kids is way more important than any program to "sprint" to the ELA exams.

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