Quick Story

So, I am heading out in the morning to VA and then on the Auto Train to FLA. I head out with the kids and Mrs. Dardy follows on Thursday. Little Mo and I are on the couch watching a movie and I asked if I could lay my head on her lap. "No" was her emphatic reply. When I asked her why, she said "Because you're a person and I'm just a little kid"

Ha!

Loooong February

My arithmetic sense tells me that this is the shortest month. It sure has not felt that way. Let's see

1. Snowiest February in 20 something years here in the valley
2. Cold cold cold days - we had a school cancellation based just on the temperature, not because of snow on the ground.
3. Car accident - a minor one but SO annoying. On Feb 11 I slid into the rear of the car in front of me because I was being impatient. Our van won't be ready until about March 10 and it is over an hour away.

Good things? well, I can list those as well to make myself feel better

1. GEICO has been awesome taking care of me so far.
2. I am heading to FLA with the kids on Saturday morning. We'll be taking the auto train. I'm excited and so are they. The three of us stay with my mom for a few days and my brother will be there as well.
3. Beth joins us the Thursday after for a trip to Gville where we see another grandma and some old pals.

The boy's basketball season is coming to an end and he is now interested in little league. We have to check out what that commitment will be.

Not much else, but I want to keep myself checking in here.

Cold Week - But a Terrific Week

We seem to be saved from one of the two snowmageddon incidents that were forecast for us here in NE PA. However, we did get an awful lot of snow on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. So, we had a three day weekend with Monday off. We were in school on Tuesday, then had Weds off. On top of that, the kids had a two-hour delay on Weds. Sigh…

BUT - what a great community week it has been here. On Weds morning Mo played in the gym with a couple of friends - one of whom has a small, portable bounce house. Much bouncing fun was had. While this was happening, Gram was out in the snow with other friends. We all gathered in the dining hall for brunch. The kids on campus were running around and both of my kids got invited to go for more fun. Mo was invited to someone's house and Gram was invited to go sledding at a nearby park. That meant that Beth and I actually had a quiet, peaceful afternoon.

A couple of uneventful days followed until our exciting Saturday. Gram has been talking about The Lego Movie for months and got to go on Saturday to see it with a friend. Mo and Beth had a girls' day out shopping while dad napped and helped supervise the Robotics Club for awhile. We then all went to a friends house for a lovely dinner and chat. We let ourselves get SO caught up in the daily craziness of our lives that we don't make time often enough to make sure we catch up with friends. It's deceptive here because we see people all the time, but so often it is in quick passing rather than allowing ourselves real time to sit and talk.

This morning holds a birthday party that Mo is going to while Gram and Beth head off to church for potluck Sunday. Surprisingly, this qualifies as a kind of relaxed weekend for us...

Much Calmer Week

So, after my traveling blues from last weekend it has been nice to just have a normal week here. No school delays, no clashing plans, just a busy week in the middle of a chilly winter. The temperature has not been above freezing since I got back home and it's wearing out my legs. They just don't like all this cold weather. The kids seem pretty unfazed by it all I am happy to say.
Gram has a sleepover tonight and two games this weekend. I'm on dorm duty so I won't be able to attend either of them. I've been to most of them so far and either Beth or I have been at every game. That'll likely change on Sunday as I am tied to the dorm and Beth is obliged at church. Luckily, we have friends who are willing to help out. We had a fun family night on Weds. We went to see the women's and men's basketball games across the river at King's College. It's good for Beth to be able to be part of community events and Gram has been showing a real interest in basketball, so we thought it would be fun for him. He did not show much sign of being engaged, but he and Mo had a good time nonetheless playing hide and seek and running around the gym there. Mo also saw her pal Leo the Lion - the school mascot. She shared her doll with him in exchange for a turn with his pom-pom. Fun night.

Sad traveling News

So, I am still not back home. I arrived at the Raleigh airport after dropping off my rental car. I found out that all Philly flights were cancelled. Luckily, my former student who lives in the area was willing and able to rescue me. He came to get me and he and I had a great night at a local taproom. Good beer, pretty good food, great conversations. I am now sitting in Philadelphia and I am on schedule to get home in a little over an hour from now. Just spoke to Beth and found out that Mo got sick last night. Hoping that whatever it was is gone. Don't want her sick and don't want to deal with not being at school tomorrow. Long, but rewarding couple of days for me. Long couple of days for Beth as well.

Happy Traveling News

So, I was late getting to Raleigh Durham and my former student Chris had to navigate me on the phone to get to his house. It seems that the Garmin GPA does not think that his road exists. I spent most of the drive from the airport to his house on my earbud attachment to my phone in the dark listening to his directions. Made it there and had some lovely lasagna, red wine, and a great chat.

Friday was a busy day at NCSSM and although I had signed up to go to their dinner banquet my brain was tired. I found a great local beer shop, some good local BBQ (Bullock's - it is worth going to if you're in the triangle) and curled up in my cozy hotel room eating, drinking, and watching NBA. Got a great night's sleep and prowled the internet for a diner breakfast. Struck gold again at Elmo's where I had a terrific homemade corned beef hast and lots o'coffee. Back here at NCSSM to fill my brain back up.

Snow is heading our way back home and I hope it does not prevent me from getting back tonight. I feel that I have had my fair share of bad airline karma as of late, I'm due for some good news.

Traveling Blues

So, I left school early today to head to the local airport for a flight to Durham, NC. I am heading to the North Carolina School for Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) for their annual conference called Teaching Contemporary Mathematics. I went once when we live in So Fla and it was terrific. I'm happy to be going again. We boarded on time in Moosic but it had started snowing (again!) by then so we pulled away from the terminal and stopped to be de-iced. Then the airport closed and we sat and we sat. By the time I arrived in Charlotte (where I am sitting now) my connector had departed. US Airways was cooperative and got me on a later flight to Raleigh so I am ready to board soon. I'll make it tonight!

I am looking forward to dining with a former student and his wife. I realize I miss hearing southern accents. Not so many of them in NEPA but all around me here in the Charlotte airport.

I was afraid I'd have to rent a car to make the 3 hour drive from Charlotte to the triangle. Instead, I have a comfy layover - a quick trip to the bar at a mexican restaurant for an insanely overpriced cold beverage. Now, I'm ready to board another flight. Perhaps another nap is in order...

Another Chilly Day

It was another brutally cold day here. The kids had another school delay coming the day after they were dismissed early. Much school time has been missed already this year. It seems that these weather events have been targeting Gram's basketball with uncanny accuracy.

I am off to North Carolina tomorrow for a quick trip to the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. They runs  pretty fantastic teaching conference every February. I've been once before, back when I was working at Saint Andrew's. I am looking forward to some grey math fun and hoping to come back home with many activity and lesson ideas for my department colleagues. Lucky for me my flight was not today because most flights out of our area were cancelled today because the eastern US hubs were all frozen in.

Vortex Redux

The kids got sent home from school early today because of the return of the polar vortex to our area. As I write it is now 8 degrees out and heading back to the negative territory tonight. Gram was sorely disappointed because he missed yet another basketball practice (I think it is five now that they've missed, plus some games) and he also missed his first computer coding class. I fear that we are in for another delay of some sort in the morning as well.

Here is a recent photo of the boy

A Surprise Snowy Day

Just recovering from a busy, but terrific weekend here. I was on dorm duty so I was up later than I am used to being up. In my salad days in Gainesville, I was routinely up to silly hours - especially on the weekend. Now, when I am up until about 1 AM or so (as I am on dorm duty nights) I am just wiped out the next day. Since Monday is my normal study hall duty night, whenever I have a weekend of duty, I am up on Friday, Saturday, and Monday night. Since I am getting old, this results in me being tired for a few days. It was a great weekend to be on duty since it was international dinner on Saturday. This event is one of the highlights of the year here. We had students from China cooking all afternoon in our kitchen and the gym hosted tables from 21 countries serving food native to their country. So much fun!

Woke up this morning to a pleasant dusting of snow here. I must admit that I am shocked that I would ever type that previous sentence. The air is still, the light snow fall this morning was actually pretty tranquil. My kids have not inherited my gene that would like to keep snow at a safe distance. Both of them were pretty amused to see the snow this morning and the boy was kicking around in it at the bus stop this morning.

Some highlights of the past few days -
Mo told me that it is very important to go to school. If you don't, your brain will turn to jell-o.
Gram has discovered The Tick on TV. Netflix carries the very odd live-action show. He was devouring this last night.
I was talking to Mo about one of her after school teachers. She told me that this teacher was 'Boss of the Town'

So much for TCB...

So, after a winter break lasting from Dec 20 until Jan 5 we were in school for a total of 1 whole day. Now, due to severe cold  we are out of school for the day.



That's the sad news on the front of my weather.com page.

The sadder part is this picture


Make careful note of the temp in Lake Worth. Sigh…

Time to TCB

Our long, cold holiday is finally coming to a close. We hosted grandmothers from Dec 19 to Jan 1. Since then we have seen temps in the negative (in fahrenheit!), 3 - 6 inches of snow, high winds and now it's raining. Today is a moderate day in the 30s. Tomorrow is due to go from the mid 40s down to the negatives. Yipes! I am not sure I have ever lived through a day with that type of temperature shift.

Took the kids out today for sledding after Gram's basketball game. He's had a good basketball weekend  yanking down rebounds and he scored yesterday (a free throw) and today a field goal. He's on fire!

I'm looking forward to getting back to work after a long stretch off. I need to get disciplined this week and finally get working on my Geometry project. I'm also looking forward to spending some time visiting classes in the next few weeks. We've got a busy January ahead of us. I have two dorm duty weekends, one more home basketball game to do the scoreboard for, a church board meeting, a trip to NC, Gram has 5 more basketball games and 8 practices scheduled this month, and all the normal craziness of life.
Here's a snapshot of the snow we've had.

New Year - New Determination to Communicate

I have spent a good deal of time and energy writing my teacher blog in the past few months and I want to do the same here for the family blog as we move forward. The past few months have seen real sadness and great fun and happiness. The loss of my dad right before Thanksgiving was a sad shock. Below are some photos of his last trip to see the kids in early October. At the time we had no idea he was sick. The next week he found out he had pancreatic cancer and, sadly, it was a fast downhill trip.

Our Christmas holidays have been a grandma-palooza. My mom was here from Dec 19 to Dec 26. My in-laws arrived that night and left this morning. We had a lovely family christmas break. Fun day trip adventures, nice grandma time, spoiled kids, a couple of date nights for me and Beth, and now we are counting down to the beginning of manic daily life. The kids and I start again on Monday and Beth starts tomorrow. My goal is to blog at least once a week to keep a moving diary and to share with anyone who wants to drop by.

Here is a partial photo gallery with pics from my dad's last visit and a charming one of the kids in front of our Christmas tree. More to come.

Catching My Breath

So, I had promised my self I'd post as soon as I returned from FLA with the little one but I let my self be lazy instead. Now that it's August, thoughts are turning toward school already.

The southern trips were good to the Dardy family. Little girl and I went to FLA to see grandparents and friends. We spent time with my parents near the coast and visited the pool and the beach while we were there. Pools are a lot more fun now that the girl is (relatively) self-sufficient there. Give her a floaty vest and she's good to go. Beaches? A little less fun, I must admit. Never was a big beach fan even during the 35 or so years I lived in FLA. I enjoy being near the water and listening to and smelling the water. She had fun there, so it was a good day. We spent time with my mother-in-law as well where my little one got to spend time not only with her grandma there but with some cousins as well. She had a blast and I spent much of the time there catching up with my Gainesville folks. A great couple of days there. Next up was a south FLA trip and a delightful night at the house of our old Boca pal. Back to my folks for the last few nights and an opportunity to catch another baseball game. This time is was Space Coast Stadium. So, for those keeping count, I have now been to four minor league parks this summer and two major league parks. The season's not over yet, so I may be able to add another one to the list.

Photos soon.

Busy July

Our month of adventures (and spending!) continues. We just got settled back home from a weekend in Pittsburgh. What a lovely city it is. We were really impressed. We spent Sunday at PNC Park to see the final game of the first half of the MLB season there and my Mets won the last of the three game set. We originally had outfield seats but we would have melted has we stayed there. Instead we headed up to the 300 section under shade. Here was our view

Those sunny seats in the lower right hand corner of the photo were our assigned seats. Technically there were better than where we sat, but we were comfy and had a great view of the game. Dillon Gee was fantastic and I have now seen the Mets three times this year and they won each time. What's ridiculous about this is that the three years I lived in Jersey I saw them live a total of two times. Really missed out on being a baseball geek during my time there. I guess it's cause I thought it would last longer than it did.

Date Night!

The wife and I were fortunate enough to land an overnight babysitter for our kids (who are not babies anymore!) and we whisked off to Philly for an outdoor concert. The openers were my favorite band Yo La Tengo and the headliners were Belle & Sebastian who are on tour for no particular reason since they have no new songs to back. It was my first time seeing B & S (about my 10th for YLT) and it was a blast. Fun to be out with the wife, beautiful view of the downtown skyline, good beer, good food, GREAT music. Below are a couple of tastes of what we experienced last night.

This is a live version of the last song from YLT's most recent album. The tune is called Before we Run and they played a beautiful version of it last night.

This is a crazy video of Your Cover's Blown one of the highlights of last night's set. There were many.

Woke up super early to drive back home but it was well worth it. Humid, sweaty, bouncy, night of singing, dancing, and clapping along.

Baseball Summer

So, we found out relatively late in the planning game that the lovely wife would not only have the 4th off, but also the 5th as well. We decided to get out of the valley for a little family trip. We headed to Aberdeen to catch a 4th of July baseball game between the Ironbirds and the Brooklyn Cyclones. The home team won and one of their players (a 19 yr old 1B named Hector Veloz) put on a power show with 2 HR and 4 RBI. We stayed the whole game and caught a fireworks display at the end of the night. The next day we made it to Baltimore and visited the national aquarium there. Had a great time, but we were not the only ones with the idea of visiting there for the holiday weekend. It was packed! Visited family in Harrisburg on the way back and we are now recuperating with a lazy lazy family day at home. I have now visited four ballparks this summer (our hometown Rail Riders, the Phillies, the Phillies' AAA team in Lehigh Valley, and now Cal Ripken Stadium) and we are visiting another one next week as we head to Pittsburgh. Add in a visit to Holman Stadium while I am in FLA and it's looking like a great baseball summer for me. There's still an outside chance of a Binghamton game as well as I'd love to see Noah Syndergaard before he heads to Vegas.

Steve and Edie

Here is a lovely performance on one of the songs they played last night

Highs and Lows

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go out with my lovely wife and with some good friends to see Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers play. We went out for snacks and drinks and then were treated to a fantastic show. Steve Martin recently released an album with Edie Brickell and she joined the band for a number of songs. Great night, the band played like crazy, Steve peppered some comedy in between songs and we rejoined our pals after the show. While we were out my phone buzzed and it was my little brother calling. I knew I could not talk at length so I let the call go to voicemail. When we got home I checked my voicemail and my email. Well, my joyous feeling from the evening disappeared quickly as I was notified that my old pal and boss from my record store geek days died of a heart attack yesterday. On my brother's message he mentioned that he heard this news through social media. I have, for some reasons I think I can articulate and for others that I cannot make sense of completely, avoided this world. Last night, I was sad about the news regarding Chaz as well as the fact that I was not tapped into a world where people would be sharing lovely memories of the man. My friend that sent me the news article knows I am not part of that world and I appreciate him sending me the news. Here is a passage regarding my friend Chaz - this piece is written by another old record store pal Gary Gordon

Charlie "Chaz" Scales, also not in Bill's article, is still one of Gainesville's most incredible guitarists. I met Chaz at The Alibi when the Archer Road Band was playing there. He came in with the lady who would later be my wife (now ex). Chaz replaced me in the Archer Road Band when I quit. A year later I hired him to work at Hyde & Zeke Records when I was manager. A few years later he became manager after I left. Now he owns the place. We worked together a lot in various versions of The Archer Road Band in the late 80s (and in The Band That Never Was with Don David and Bob Harris) and to this day I have no idea how he thinks on guitar. He is clever, inventive and thoroughly unpredictable. He plays the tune. He's got the right tone. But his leads are his leads, like no one else. Enjoyable, moody, exciting, climactic. It is wonderful to hear him play.

Feels Like Starting Over

So, we've asked the boy to take up the discipline of writing regularly to record his ideas and keep his grandparents posted on life. He has encouraged me to start doing the same again. July started yesterday, feels like as good a reason as any to start working on this myself. I think I can find 5 - 10 minutes every few days to check in with the world. The summer has been more relaxing than I had planned since the class I was supposed to teach got cancelled. As a result, I have taken more time away from work than I usually do and I am already thinking ahead to make sure that I start doing some of the prep I have promised myself I'd do. I am going into my fourth year here (!!!) and will be teaching Stats for the fourth time. I am comfortable enough with the course now that I can start doing some serious advance prep for it. We've had some local fun with friends recently and are starting a month of family adventures this weekend with a Maryland trip. I'll post about it after we return. Here are some recent family photos.