Pondering a Po Boy

So this one came to me sort of randomly. A list of the top sandwiches I’ve ever had. 

I guess the first thing that this requires is a definition of the word sandwich. Does a wrap count? No, I think it does not. Do tacos count? No, not unless they’re wrapped like a wrap…which would make them a wrap, no? Sandwiches, I think, require bread. 

Next: is this a list of best sandwiches in general, or specific sandwiches? I think it needs to be a hybrid. Do homemade sandwiches count? No. Do hamburgers count? Also no. I think they’re a different breed.

So without further ado:

1. Peace Maker Po Boy Sandwich, Acme Oyster House, NOLA: Fried oysters, fried shrimp, lettuce, tomato, and tobasco mayo. Traditional Po Boy roll.  It was wonderful on every level to sit at the bar at Acme Oyster House, drink a local brew, and enjoy this fantastic sandwich with Colleen.

2. The Vermonter, Noonie Deli, VT: Ham + cheddar+ green apples+ honey mustard+ homemade bread= sandwich of my dreams. This was #1 for a very long time on my list, and then New Orleans happened. 

3. Purple’s Pleasure, Noonie Deli, VT: Turkey, Bacon, Tomato, Red Onion, Avocado, Jalapeno Peppers and Cheddar melted with Lettuce and Garlic Basil Mayo, homemade bread…another fantastic work of sandwich art from the Noonie Deli.

4. Porkroll, Egg, and cheese on a bagel: This New Jersey classic deserves a spot in the top five no matter what else happens…this is the one that stays no matter how great the next sandwich is. Find it at your local 24 hour diner!

5. Cheese Steak, Jim’s on South Street, Philadelphia, PA: because you order it “Wiz/wit” and you need a million napkins to keep yourself clean as you eat it and walk down the street.

* While Jim's continues to reign supreme in my mind, Pat's is a very close second. It probably knocks everything down a peg below this, but I can't discount the deliciousness of L Gormet, so Pat's stands as a cheesesteak related footnote of mmmmmm.

6. Smoked Sausage Sandwich, Mighty Quinn’s BBQ, Manhattan, NY: When you walk in, you’re immediately taken with the smell of smoke, and you know you’ve got real barbecue.  The sandwich is made on rolls that come from down the street, its substantial, the sauce is fantastic, and they serve beer.

7. Pulled Pork BBQ, Pigman’s Barbecue, Kill Devil Hills, NC: While the quality of the meat isn’t up to snuff with High Cotton, their easy style and killer hot Carolina Barbecue sauce puts them over the top. That, and the tradition.

8. Pulled Pork BBQ, High Cotton BBQ, Nags Head, NC: Their BBQ sauce leaves a little to be desired, but the meat is tender and delicious. They do so well on their meat, and on their hush puppies and barbecue beans, that the lack of a proper Carolina Barbecue Sauce can almost be overlooked...almost.

9. Italian Sub: A real one. On a real sub (or hoagie, I guess) roll. No nonsense, no pretty boy crap, just lettuce, tomato, onion, salt, pepper, oregano, oil and vinegar.  Hot peppers optional.

10. Almost anything at L Gormet, Beachwood, NJ: A little out of the way place that does FANTASTIC work with food.

NOLA

South Louisiana is a world away from Mohave County, Arizona.

Southern Louisiana Christmas...Shrimp, Crawfish and Crab!

My journey east began with the usual drive up to McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, and I got there plenty early, parked, breezed through security, and found my gate.

Time for a reward! You know what’s a good reward? A beer. So I went and had one…and that’s where I met the Comic from Calgary (who legitimately finished jokes/sentences with “eh”) who made friends with the guys on either side of him. I was one of them. He bought a round…or two…and told jokes. We laughed quite a bit, and then he left. I managed to find my gate again, find my seat, and nod off for the short flight to Houston, Texas. There, I found my gate, napped, boarded, napped, and then got to see Colleen!

That first day, we wandered the French Market, ate some Jambalaya (which was awesome…just a first salvo in the “please try everything here” battle I was about to undergo), and got to talk to Jayden on the phone.  We also went down to Jean Lafitte National Park's Barataria Preserve and walked along the bayou for a while. It is a neat little park, changing from forest to wetlands to a floating grassland. It reminded me, in various places, of Blue Spring State Park outside of Orlando, Florida and Payne’s Prairie (Payne’s Prairie…Payne’s Prairie…PAYNE’S ****ING PRAIIRIE) State Park, also in Florida.  Mostly, I took it all in and enjoyed the HELL out of being with Colleen, which was far too long in coming. I am in Arizona working hard, and she is doing wonderful things with and for wonderful people in Louisiana, but the being apart part of this isn’t easy.

Selfies on the banks of the Mississippi

The next day was Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving…it’s always been the day we celebrated my birthday at home, but mostly I love to cook with my parents (mostly drinking beer and cooking duck with Dad outback) and spend the day with everyone. So this one was weird…being away from the family also going out to eat. We went to Arnaud’s in the French Quarter, and while I was thinking about preserving the duck tradition, I figured…you’re in Louisiana. Get seafood! So I asked our gracious, too kind hosts what they recommended, and wound up with sheepshead (it’s a fish, I promise) Meuniere. Goodness gracious. I keep dreaming about that fish. We also had these little puffed potatoes that were light as air, and Shrimp Arnaud which was served cold with a “creole remoulade”. The meal finished with two fantastic desserts…but what stood out most was the kindness of Colleen’s host family. I met many, many kind people while I was in Louisiana, and it is really wonderful to know how many great people Colleen has watching out for her!

Friday was my birthday, so it sent us back to Bourbon Street and the French Quarter for a walk and a sandwich at Acme Oyster House. We sat at the bar, had a Abita Amber and chatted with the oyster shuckers. Only in Louisiana! And I got to have the Peace Maker Po Boy sandwich…fried oysters, fried gulf shrimp, lettuce, tomato, and tobasco mayo…oh man. That is a top 5 sandwich (but that’s maybe another post).

Birthday breakfast!

After lunch and another walk through the French Market, we headed south to Grand Isle State Park. The area reminded me a lot of the southern part of the Outer Banks…the Rodanthe and south area. We ate dinner at…hahaha. What a silly night this turned out to be. From the wonderful lunch at Acme Oyster House to Rice-a-Roni cooked in a microwave and bad off-brand potato chips in the hotel room. Honestly? I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. We shared some beers and laughed a lot and watched Modern Family. It was a great birthday.

A gift from new friends.

Saturday found us wandering Grand Isle State Park, watching the terns and pelicans and dolphins play in the waves and enjoying an utterly glorious day. Sunday, I went to church with Colleen at her little Presbyterian Church in Bayou Blue. It was a lovely service, and the little sanctuary was filled with wonderful, welcoming people. The service felt very much like a welcome home for this wandering Presbyterian.

                               

After church, we enjoyed a fantastic breakfast with the pastors, walked through an art show, and then I headed to the airport. As sad as I was to leave Colleen, at least I got to come home to this:

Also…less than two weeks until I’m home!

Next travel stop...NOLA

The last few weeks have been both exhausting and exciting.

MVESD #16’s two week break at the end of September started with Mom and Dad’s Trip West. It was a ton of fun to hang out, to host my parents (weird) and to see Mom’s reaction to a lot of things out here…especially the scale. Everything out here is so much bigger, so much wider…you do have to see it to believe it. They went to Bryce and Zion as I finished up my Structured English Immersion class in Scottsdale, then we alternated between things to do in/around Bullhead (oh, another brewery?) and longer trips to the Grand Canyon and Death Valley. It was really a lot of fun, and I’m glad we planned it for the week we did…since the government went ahead and shut down the following week and we wouldn’t have been able to do half of what we planned.

The second week of break found me staying home as much as possible. The end of first quarter was tiring, as it saw me in and out of Scottsdale, up late for softball games in the league I joined, and coaching my tail off. That rolled right into the first week of second quarter, and then it was off to Phoenix again. Eric was staying in town for a few days, so I headed south and we spent an afternoon hanging out and generally having a good time. Every Phoenix/Scottsdale trip included a trip to Waffle House. The last one…well, shades of Toby Keith!

" And he called last night from South Carolina

He said I fallen in love with a waitress
That I met at a Waffle House diner.

He said the years seem to roll on faster
Than they did back when we were kids
Then we need us a break from the grindstone
That's exactly what we did.

We put in a phone call to Sonny
Then we stayed out all night long
We drank a few cold ones, then told a few old ones
And sang another verse to the song."

The song's called Nights I Can't Remember...Friends I'll Never Forget

Finally, and a little off topic...

As the volleyball season rolls to a close, and I begin prepping for boys basketball, now seems like a great time to reflect on the season that was. Coming into the season, I didn’t have the greatest volleyball IQ in the world, but I worked hard to learn as much as possible. We conditioned. We did drills. We learned how to play as a team, to bump and set and pass to one another to control where we hit the ball. Every player on the team improved, some growing into our best players after having little to no experience before this season. I am tremendously proud of my players for how hard they’ve worked, and how positive they’ve stayed, and how they never, ever quit no matter the score. We have won exactly one match. But we have only been blown out twice. We competed in every game, had chances to win in every game, and they grew from that experience. I have gotten used to losing (STR baseball, Presby softball over the last few years), but that doesn’t mean I love it. I have worked very hard to stay positive…7^th grade sports is about development, improvement, and laying the foundation for a winning 8^th grade team as they get ready to roll into high school. I have been very lucky this season, privileged, to coach a team of athletes who have chosen to come together and support one another, to help each other improve, throughout what has been a tough season.

Hats off to you. And thanks for the experience.

Such plans they have, Such Gods they have

Deep in this Nation of Heat- Joe Pug

So...I see a lot of those that I care about writing about their new experiences, and I felt the need to share this new school year with all of you.

This year has dawned to a kinder, gentler, Mr. Hennessey. I am way more relaxed and confident in the classroom, confident in my management and in my lesson structuring skills. Confident in my ability to hook my students when the need arises. Confident in my ability as a volleyball coach?

Sort of. I am learning along with my players, but I am looking for information and skills and drills. I know how to coach middle school kids, and I am learning the game. We will do well, because we have players who care, and they are having fun.

Also, I may do a billion pushups this season. I ask the players to do pushups when they forget basics (calling the ball, bumping to a teammate rather than directly over the net), and I told them that I would do them when they did things correctly...so many pushups at the end of the week! That excites me.

The first quarter is running down now...and a rough three weeks is ahead of me. The next three weeks consist of: a professional skills test, a weekend in Phoenix, 4 volleyball matches, and another weekend in Phoenix.

The thing I am excited about: My parents are coming out right after that last weekend in Phoenix, and Mom has all sorts of things planned. I am excited to show off the mountains and the sunsets, and all of the things that make Arizona wonderful. I am excited for the Grand Canyon, and a trip to Sedona, and the brew-pub tour that is sure to follow.

I am excited for Eric's trip to Vegas, and to go and visit him up there and spend some time with more family. I am excited for the various sports I will be coaching, and for this year in general. Colleen and I were talking, and talked about me moving into a leadership role as I grow older and gain more experience in my field. I am thinking that, since I will have to go back to school for a degree anyway, that guidance is the right way to go. I just want good things for my students, and having a position where I can focus on that is ideal. We will see where life takes me (NJ, LA, wherever else...), but I am really fired up about my life and where it can take me.

Also, a lot of my positivity comes from this little critter that now lives in my apartment with me. I promised Brock that I wouldn't blow up Facebook with pictures and posts about my cat, Red, but I do love her. She is such a pleasant little critter to share space with, and she likes to be near people, and she is a love. I like how she greets me at the door when I get home, and how she races in to hop up on the bed in the morning when I wake up. I just can't imagine one of Mom's cats still liking people after being in a tiny box for 13 hours (including a flight)...other than Rose. She would probably forget that she had been in a box roughly five minutes after she was removed from it. Bottom line here is that Colleen has given me another wonderful gift, and I cherish that.

It is really nice that I get to look forward to work everyday, and that I get to play golf semi-regularly. Tomorrow will be the third time I've played since coming back, and what I have learned is two things: 1) stay long in my swing, and 2) make sure there is beer on hand.

Golf is a wonderful thing. Looking forward to playing with Dad and Smithbauer again.


UPDATE:

Here is something that always inspires me...Thanks to Taylor Mali for this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxsOVK4syxU

"Let's write it while we still got time"

The last week of summer was packed with all sorts of excitement. On my final Monday home, Sean, Blazak, Morgen and I went to New York to see the Yankees play the Royals.  We headed up to the city early to explore Manhattan…specifically the Strand bookstore, in all of its enormous glory. Floor upon floor of books, a ton of neat rare books.

But that wasn't the important part. We started out hungry, so we hit Mighty Quinn’s BBQ.  When you open the door, the smell of smoke wanders out and drags you inside. Pulled pork, brisket, smoked sausage on buns that clearly are made there or nearby. No store bought stuff here. And they have a great selection of brews on tap. I enjoyed a smoked sausage sandwich, an Allagash Black stout and a Founder’s IPA. There’s a place I’ll go back to.

After lunch, and after the bookstore, we headed off to McSorley’s. A place that needs no introduction, this Irish pub has sawdust on the floor and you have two options for beer: light or dark. Both are spectacular.

After McSorleys, we stopped at one more Irish pub, enjoyed another local brew and a little Jameson, and went to the Stadium. As beautiful as ever, but a little palatial. We got rained on, but stuck out most of the game, and got a Derek Jeter bobble head give away. That item now sits on my desk at school.

On Wednesday, I took Jayden fishing. We caught sunnies at Wells Mills Park, had a hotdog and a rootbeer at Stewart’s. I do love spending time with that kid.

I seem to have a habit of hiding big news at the bottom of posts. My announcement that I was staying in Arizona this year comes to mind, as I hid that in a previous post. This news, I suspect, is no exception.

When Colleen was out west, we went to Petrified Forest National Park…there are rocks that used to be trees there! While we were there, we bought a couple pairs of earrings made from petrified wood.  While I was home this summer, I dropped one pair off at a jeweler to have one made into a ring. I could not believe how difficult it was to find someone who would mount a piece of petrified wood! It has a hardness akin to diamonds, but so many places wouldn't touch it…big ups to Blaine’s Jewelry Box in Brick for taking on the challenge. And for doing a badass job.

 So, on July 9^th, I took Jayden up to camp to play (and give him something to do while mom had her surgery).  While he was off having a great time, Colleen and I sat on the fishing dock, and I offered that rock (formerly tree) back to her.  Now, she wears it on her left hand.

I just want to go through my life announcing that I’m crazy about her... but we are both fairly private people, and she is generally much more understated than I am. So let me just say how happy I am that I make her happy, and that she’s made that promise to me. I am the luckiest guy ever.

One final note…I brought a little tabby cat back to Arizona with me. She is a very sweet little critter, and has been very nice to have around…except for when she broke loose from her carrier and almost escaped into the airplane.  I managed to catch her, unstring my left shoe, and tie the carrier shut. Since then, she’s been great.

In which I explain the first half or so of my summer

“God what am I supposed to do? There’s more than miles in my rearview”

                                -Brantley Gilbert

It’s been a helluva ride this summer. I had planned to try to fit my entire five week trip back to New Jersey into one post, but it proved impossible. Too many things happened! I’m back in Bullhead now, the meetings finished, the classroom prepped, and ready to go for another year of 7^th grade!

So…here we go. In order (mostly) of how they happened.

1.       Sean, Morgen, and Brian came to get me in Philly, and we stopped in Cherry Hill for breakfast at Amy’s Omelette House…Fantastic. Recommended.

2.       Bacation! (In Jayden’s Parlance)

a.       So good to see everyone, spend time with Eric, drink beer and smoke cigars with Dad, enjoy Colleen’s brews (and time with her), play with Jayden, meet Jeanine, and make a beer zipline. Oh yes.

      A beer zipline. Dad’s idea, actually…we cut the top off a wicker tiki torch,  wired on a bottom, made a handle, and strung a line from the top deck of the Bacation house to the pool deck. Voila! Beer carrier!

b.      Jayden

                                                               i.      Buries Colleen in pillows on the couch and declares “When Uncle Mike comes back he will say ‘MY BABY IS GONE’” Where does he come up with this stuff?

                                                             ii.      Nails two holes in one playing Mini Golf. Legitimate holes in one. Took him for ice cream, of course!

                                                            iii.      Hides from Jeanine and declares that he’s “allergic to girls who laugh more than Colleen” (he did eventually make nice.)

c.       Cigars on the deck with Dad and Eric! Spent the week grilling dinner and smoking cigars and drinking beer with Dad and Eric. One night, after dinner, Dad said “Give everyone a drink and a cigar and it levels the playing field. Everyone’s an equal.” What a statement. It’s nice to see my relationship with my dad change into a friendship. He’s a good friend! We sat out on the deck after dinner most nights, the three of us, joked and laughed as friends and as family. What a wonderful thing!

d.      Colleen’s Brews:

                                                               i.      A killer Black IPA

                                                             ii.      An even better Heffeweizen. Wow. What a brew!

3.       Week Three:

a.       One big thing happened in week three. Smithbauer got a call from his doctor. The cancer seems to have been…I don’t want to say defeated…but maybe put on the mat. The chemo and radiation did what they were supposed to, and while he continues to take treatment, and will continue, the prognosis is spectacular. When we heard the news…we partied. Oh how we partied. Great news for a great man!

4.       Mission Trip, Wood River Junction, RI

a.       Drove a van full of middle school kids. Didn’t kill anyone.

b.      Learned I’m out of practice with the 24 hour nature of the trip, but enjoyed it.

c.       Drove a van full of middle school kids. Didn’t kill anyone.

'Cause nothin matters in the whole wide world...

Well. What a three weeks this has turned out to be.

From National Parks and family to Spring Training and Phoenix to Vegas last night and Colleen on an airplane today. I'm writing this from my apartment, oddly quiet and dark in comparison to what I've become accustomed to over the past three months.

Exhausting would be a good word to describe how today went...in fact, when I saw my boss and she asked how I was, I told her "Awake. And that's just going to have to do for today." She laughed, which I appreciated.

Today was a tough day, up early, dropping Ms. Earp off at the airport, and heading to work sans breakfast. Thankfully, there was some granola in a mason jar in my classroom to munch on, and my handy Keurig to pump coffee out into my brand new Spring Training Arizona 2013 coffee mug. After work, it was softball practice and then home. I was missing Colleen all day, but it didn't hit me until I walked in tonight. It was kind of like Brad Paisley's "Fishin Song" (conveniently done in Camden, NJ)...except not as hilarious. And I'm genuinely excited for Colleen to be home with her family and friends, to be going back to a job she enjoys and another job she loves, and for her exciting news about New Orleans and the opportunities that exist there. So mostly it was like that song in that he realizes that when he gets home it'll hit him that she's gone.

But Colleen isn't gone with a capital G. She's just elsewhere. And we have a relationship that can confidently support the divergent geography that we currently share.

Hey. Ain't no thing. Just a very, very long day full of granola, coffee, and dirt from a softball field.

OH. And a sub. A real one. From Jersey Mike's...we found one in Vegas.

I walked into the sub shop and asked for a whole # (I don't remember). The kid behind the counter looked at me like I'd walked in, removed my pants, and thrown them in the air. So another employee took over, made the sandwich with just a few confusing questions (HOW HARD IS IT TO MAKE A SUB?!). As I paid out, I told her that the questions confused me...back east, you walk in, tell them "half a #4" and in 2 minutes there's a sandwich in front of you. She explained that she was from Camden, and that she gets it.

Ate the sub for lunch...split it with a coworker. Needless to say, it was a hit, a real sub made on correct bread and in proper fashion. I'm overly excited about this, yes, but there just aren't any good sub places out here. It's not a thing.

Another reason to want to come back east, and another reason to be excited about the summer.

I've decided to stay here for another year. Arizona, while trying, has treated me well, my coworkers are great, and I'm lucky enough to be doing a job I love. I wish it were closer to home...there are a lot of things about the east coast that I miss, including family and friends, and porkroll, and subs.

(At least I listed you all before the food...but be honest, you'd miss those things too.)

11 weeks until I'm home...

The 8 year old inside me screamed!

Spring Training. Usually just known to me as the end of the "Long, dark, nightmare of the soul" that is that time between the Super Bowl and the beginning of baseball again. This year, however, we went. The eight year old inside of me was jumping around all over the place. And it was glorious.

After a week of travels that involved some great National Parks, some great company, and ended with new tires (heh heh, oops) we headed south to the Sonoran Desert and the land of saguaros. Those things are crazy! They're all over the hills, and as you get closer to the city of Phoenix, they dot the landscape along with Joshua Trees next to the highway. After we arrived in Phoenix, we checked into the motel, went and had some Waffle House (!!) and then stopped to grab some beverages at a gas station. Coming out of that gas station, my car would not start. An hour and a half and a new battery later, we were ready to go.

We went to a night game our first day in town to see the Rockies play the Reds at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale. It was awesome; major league players in a minor league setting, like Lakewood. We spent $8 for lawn seats, bought a beer and walked around the park, finally settling behind the Reds bullpen to watch their starter, Bronson Arroyo, warm up. As he began to throw, we got into a conversation with him. Personable, funny guy. Brock wound up getting a ball tossed his way as Arroyo went to the mound to begin the game. Neat stuff.  Since we didn't move our location all night, we were still behind the pen when Arroyo drove a double off the center field wall. This caused another round of conversation about whether or not the relievers would hear the end of his double. As it turns out, it's a good thing it wasn't Mat Latos who got the hit.

The next day was two ball games. The first game was at Hohokam Park in Mesa for the Cubs and Rangers. We spent some time walking around the park before settling into the grass in right field for the duration of the game. They had 24 oz PBR for 10 bucks! What fun. The second game found us in Peoria for the Giants at the Mariners. By this point we were totally exhausted from all of the sunshine from the afternoon and an all-you-can-eat stop at the Waffle House, but it is always awesome to see Major Leaguers giving baseballs to kids at every opportunity, which happened abundantly all week.

Wednesday found us thankful for only one baseball game. Dustin left before we headed to Surprise for the Dodgers at the Royals. Keeping up with this game was a little confusing because both teams chose to wear blue. Perplexing. During this game, we found out via the internets that Dodgers third baseman Hanley Ramirez will miss the first 8 weeks of the season. Go WBC!

Thursday was our final day in Phoenix at the Days Inn. We checked out and went to see the White Sox play the Brewers at Camelback Ranch. During this game, we watched little kids get the best baseball experience they could ask for...baseballs tossed liberally into the crowd, autographs by many established Major Leaguers as they exited the game, a great lawn to roll down.

It was incredible to see Major League players interact with fans, sign autographs, and just generally enjoy their work in such a setting. The weather was perfect, the venues small and cozy, the prices totally reasonable. While I imagine that going to Florida to see the Yankees or Mets would be more exciting (since I'd have a dog in the fight, so to speak) the fact that everything in Phoenix is a half hour from everything else makes it a great opportunity to see many new players, parks, and teams.

"And I've rambled on about me..."

 As 2012 drew to a close, I found myself (reflective by nature) more reflective than normal. My life, so different than it was at the end of 2011, stands to change even more in 2013. I couldn’t help but consider the end of 2011: frustration at the lack of job prospects, chafing at continuing to live at home and not being able to stand on my own two feet, the rut of routine.

January 1, 2013 finds me both literally and figuratively in a different place. No longer a resident of the South Jersey I love so much, I hang my hat now in Bullhead City. A trade for the different, if there ever was one. January 1, 2013 finds me teaching 7^th graders, but currently on break, sitting in my parents’ kitchen, the room swimming with the smells of garlic and soy sauce, comfortable as it ever was. January 1, 2013 finds me secure and confident that I know where my (professional, at least) life will take me until the beginning of June. Past that, who knows? I know that school will end in June and that at some point this summer I will be on the Outer Banks with the family and in Rhode Island with the youth group. I know that at some point this summer I will become a squatter in Eric’s home. I know that at some point this summer, I’ll have a plan for the fall. I am hoping for one long before then, being who I am, but have begrudgingly accepted the fact that there is just no way to know where I go from here right now.

2012 saw changes for the good…new job, new friends, new self confidence and awareness, renewed joy in the holidays and the little things that make New Jersey my home. 2013 will begin with changes…Colleen coming west for ? days/weeks/months. The aforementioned challenge of deciding where to be and what to do next (hoping I have a decision to make, and that I can make the right one). I’ve made changes for the better, and here’s to hoping that I can set my sights on bigger and better and continue to sand the rough edges of change already begun. Here’s to hoping that I can be as positive about the advancement and adjustments on December 31, 2013 as I am right now about the way 2012 treated me.

For the second year in a row I begin with questions about where my future will take me, although this year with more confidence that I can take whatever it may be in stride, or at least have the strength to bear myself back on course, or change course. At the dawn of 2012, I felt the weight of inactivity, the strain of a cloudy future. In 2013, my future is no clearer, but the experience of driving 2500 miles, setting up a life, and surviving the first five months tells me I have the strength to pull off whatever it may be. The unending love and support from friends and family, new and old, tells me I have the support system, too.

So here’s to you, 2013. I hope to look back 365 days from now and say that I’m a better man, a better friend, a better teacher, a better student, a better brother, a better son, a better uncle, a better grandson, a better nephew, and a better cousin. I hope to look back at the halfway point and say I’ve done a service for my students, taught them not just the Essential Standards but to think for themselves, taught them not to pass a test but how to learn, taught them that their final score is not the important part, but the knowledge they gain and how they apply it makes all the difference in the world.