Bump & Run

So I finished this wonderful book, Bump & Run by Mike Lupica.  Holy crap what a great book!  It's (generally) about a Vegas casino host who inherits half of an NFL team when his father passes away.  But it's so much more.

It starts with you meeting the "Jammer," a casino host who can get you a girl for the weekend, but make it look like you spent the whole time either at the buffet, on the golf course, or relaxing at the spa.  By the way, he can also make your life a living hell, if you cross him.  Fast forward to the Jammer getting the news, via casino gym TV, that Big Tim Molloy has suddenly died.  The Jammer hops a flight to NY to play nice with all of the fellow Molloy's he'd left behind him years ago.

It isn't until big Tim's will is being read by family lawyers, that the Jammer, Jack Molloy, has inherited half of his dad's team, the New York Hawks.  The other half went to the "evil twins,"  Jack's step sister and brother from Big Tim's second marriage.  From here follows the ups and downs of Jack and his newfound profession:  owner of an NFL team.  

With the story comes allegations of gambling, betting, cheating (on sports and on women), inside jobs, and internal family affairs of all sorts.  Not to mention the various introductions to Billy, the Vinny's, Johnny, Mo Jiggy, and Donyell.  These, uhh, upstanding gentleman do anything they can to make sure that Jack is not voted out of the league in his first year.  

Overall, I enjoyed every single page of this book.  I even sometimes neglected my job just to finish a chapter (yes, the bell would ring and instead of dismissing the students or walking them to the door, I'd just wave them out, sometimes not even doing that).  Anyways, I'm off to pick up the sequel, Redzone, tomorrow from Tom.  I should finish that one by the end of the month.  I be back then to let you all know how it went.

Guilted into reading...kind of

So if anyone knows my wife or reads her blog at all, you know she has this newfound obsession with reading. It started out simple; reading at night, occasionally on the weekends, no big deal. Then my newest arch nemesis was released...Twilight (ugggghhh). First off, I'd like to thank Kim and anyone else who took part in Katie's cult-like following of Edward, Bella and the rest of the gang.

Anyways, over the past few weeks, she has been hounding me (yes, Katie, I said hounding) about why I don't read. I told her because that takes thought and concentration. I teach all day, I don't want to come home and think more. I just want to be mindlessly entertained. Turns out my buddy Tom (PE teacher and fellow coach at school) is also an avid reader. Every now and then he will toss a new book my way. I let two or three pile up on my desk before I realized something. Lucy is in a stage now where she watches and copies us now more than ever. It dawned on me that I don't want her to grow up with the notion that staring at a TV screen all evening long is OK.

So I picked up the latest book that Tom gave me (Bump and Run by Mike Lupica). What a great read so far; it tells the story of a Vegas casino host who inherits an NFL team from his millionaire father (whom he hasn't spoken to in a half decade). I'm halfway through it with plans to finish it by the weekend. I think I'll give Tom the last book I read, A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (it's a Pulitzer winner, so at least I can say I've read one of those). To be honest, I think it took me almost two years to finish it. Granted I read it for only a week or so at time, but at least I read it all.

So here I am, a teacher of five years, married to a librarian, and raising a toddler who loves to read. Guess I should jump on the book-reading bandwagon. Hell, I might even like it.

World's Longest Week

Holy Hell...I've just made it through, in my opinion, the longest week of my teaching career. I guess I just got used to my "new" schedule over winter break. My nights got longer (sometimes staying up until the wee hours), and not getting up until 8 or 830. I'm sure Katie hated the fact that I got to sleep in, seeing as she was the one who got up early (Tommy doesn't yet know the meaning of "sleeping in"). Her extra couple hours came in the form of a midday nap while the kids took theirs.

Now I'm paying the price. I've never been a morning person as it is. If the sun is down, so should my eyelids. Getting up and moving in the dark on a winter morning and actually being productive just goes against everything I stand for. And now I have to automatically not only be productive, but be productive ALL DAY LONG. No grace period, no warm-up time. Just right back to it. Spending more time with 110 students and other teachers than I do with my own family.

As much as I love my job, it takes its tolls. I hate those people who think that teachers have the easiest job in the world. Apparently they have never experienced the pleasure of spending half of their day entertaining/controlling/educating 11 year olds.

Wow...this blog just went from "I had a long week" to "People don't know what I go through on a daily basis." Now it seems like I'm bitching about my job. I better quit now. I swear it's just been a long week. 85 days until summer vacation! But who's counting?

Very Cool

I just found out I can access my blog from my school computer! I know it's not the most productive use of my time here (and I'm sure my admin wouldn't like it very much either). But what the hell, it's my lunch break!

Anyways, got to get back to molding young minds, or so they say. It feels more like crowd control most days.

Back in the Saddle Again...

Yes you can take that statement literally. The time has come for me to once again begin training. Finally! Training for what you ask? It's Century time again! A bit of a back story might be helpful here, so be patient.

Exactly one year ago this month I hooked up with an organization called Team In Training (TNT). They are a group of endurance athletes who devote their time and energy to raising funds and awareness for leukemia and other blood diseases. Check out teamintraining.org if you're interested. They train and compete in endurance events such as marathons, triathlons, cross terrain hikes, and century rides (a century is a bike ride that is a minimum of 100 miles-yes at one time). After doing some research and talking to my brother and sister-in-law who rode for TNT a few years ago, I decided that I was up for the challenge. I chose to train for the Century. I had a bike and the desire, but it all turned out to be way more than I expected.

I knew it would be difficult. I mean, I'm a realist. No one can just jump on a bike and ride 100 miles. Oh yeah, did I mention the 100 miles was to be ridden around (and up and down the mountains of) Lake Tahoe? Training started in late February with short 15 milers on cool mornings and graduated to grueling 80 mile days in 90 degree heat. In the course of four months, I went from being tired after 15-20 miles and never wanting to ride again to considering 45 miles as a nice warm-up. Crazy huh? Despite the fact that that I was up as early as 3am on Saturday mornings to make a 530 ride that would last 60, 70+ miles, then drive home practically holding my eyelids open because I was so drained, I look back over the course of training, and then revisit the 100 miler around Tahoe and think: Totally worth every second of pain and fatigue.

So now I'm ready to go again. I've found all the weight I lost during last spring's training season (I think I dropped in the neighborhood of 15-20 pounds). I have a new reason to ride; one of my 6th graders was recently diagnosed with leukemia and is fighting hard everyday to survive. Now I can only hope that things will fall into place again so I can again participate in this absolutely awesome experience.

I want to start a freezing cold June day at 30 degrees, ride the hills and switchbacks Tahoe has to offer, climb Spooner Junction (a 6-mile, 1200 foot climb) and then come back down again at an insane 48 mph. And I want to cross the finish line at the CA/NV border while thousands of people scream and cheer for me. It's like you're a movie star on the red carpet at a movie premier. And most, I want to make a difference so that those who can't ride can at least enjoy life a little bit more.

This amazing group of people dedicated to living life to its fullest made me a believer. I know I made a difference to some family I'll never meet. So once again, I have the bike and the desire. It's time to get back in the saddle again.

I'm Gettin' the Band Back Together!

Well, not really. But I am going to make an attempt to share my thoughts on life on a more, uh, consistent basis. I hadn't realized that it's been a year and a half since I last wrote in this blog. I guess time does fly. A lot has happened since my last rant and rave here on Blogger, so if you're interested, not interested, or just have nothing else to do, stay tuned.

I make no promises on the quality (or quantity) of posts to follow, but I will be back to let you know just what is going on my warped mind.