Resolutions….
Friday, February 22nd, 2008I got a phone call today at 4:30 am…the call was to tell me that there was no school today because of snow….For someone who has had trouble getting out of bed everyday for the past month, one would think that it was a relief for me to get that phone call and that it would be easy to fall back to sleep…..basically, just sleep the day away…..well, that wasn’t the case….I laid in bed for 15 more minutes, only to get up and start my day….with really nothing to do…..I think that is because after last night I felt a sense of stability for the first time in a very long time….
Right before the ball dropped for 2008, I got word that I was getting hired for a permanent teaching job….something I left corporate america to pursue more than 2 years ago….not until yesterday did it sink in….I am officially ready for the next chapter of my life to begin….
What happened yesterday? Nothing out of the ordinary….I just think that in my mind “I have arrived.” My new teaching job got off to a great start…..the newness was great, then like most new things, I hit a wall….the wall where you start to doubt yourself….you start to doubt your decisions and really wonder if where you are at is “really for you.” Then sometime from Thursday Night until this morning, it sunk in….yes, I am where I am supposed to be and I am ready to take the journey…
Teaching math in the “hood” is just as hard as it sounds….maybe harder….but for someone who likes challenges, but hasn’t really been challenged in a long time, it took a month to realize the job is a dream come true…..How? Why?When exactly did that moment occur? I don’t know….maybe it was the moment when I accepted the invitation to attend some of my students’ basketball game last night, maybe it was the drive up there- stuck in rush hour traffic (where a normally 25 minute drive turned into an hour and fifteen minute one due to an accident, and I didn’t get frusturated, just mad that I might be late to the game), maybe it was arriving to the game seeing my kids, that’s right….”my kids” playing the game. Or maybe it was when one of my best friends showed up to chill and watch the game with me…..I told him afterwards when we walked into one of our hang-outs afterwards, that this is what it’s all about….getting together after a hard days work, going to get something to eat (and him drink)….I think for the first time (atleast in a while) I felt like an adult….a career in place and some stability….
Maybe it’s the stability of my finances that hit me….I haven’t been financially comfortable in 2.5 years…and that was for only a short 6 months after a 1.5 year stint of brutal bad financial luck….With the worry of money temporarily gone, maybe I could live again….breathe again…either way….I am happy….inside and out…the last 5 years have been very trying for me….and I could totally see that time coming to a close and a new time starting to develop….kind of like a country coming out of a recession with prosperity on the horizon….
2008 is cool so far…..2008 was supposed to be a banner year for me….kinda like my 2000, I don’t really feel like “my 2008″ officially started yet….but it’s about to…it’s coming, something is coming….
In regards to the year itself…..so far so good….got to see Terrell Owens cry like a baby. How ironic (and pathetic) was it to see that, especially because he was crying over his quarterback! Wow….I got to see a true Underdog come up on top and perform a miracle (the NY Giants). Believe me, it is hard to write about that because as a Philadelphia Eagles fan, I hate the New York Giants just as much, if not more than the Dallas Cowboys, but I could admit even though it sucks that the Giants won the Bowl, it was cool to watch (especially living in North Jersey)….being the underdog fan that I am, part of me was secretly rooting for them, but shhh, don’t tell anybody….I had a date for Valentine’s Day this year as opposed to doing nothing last year….I didn’t get laid on that day, but I had a good time….by the way, I am 28 and NEVER got laid on Valentine’s Day….is that a world record or something?? Either way, that shows you my luck with love….hahaha…at least I could laugh about it…..and the last exciting thing to happen in 2008, for me anyways, is that I booked a trip to Vegas with my boys last week….my first vacation since Thanksgiving weekend 2004….and I don’t really count that because not only was I broke when I went, but I only went (to Disney) for a wedding and ended up dumping my (last) girlfriend on that trip…..now, do you see why present-day 2008 feels like the end of a recession for me???? There are signs of hope on the horizon…
Now, somethings that I would like to see happen (or not happen) in 2008…..for one no more new Rambo/Rocky talks for Sly Stallone…..I read last week that he is in the works of signing a deal to make 2 new films (one for each of those sagas)….now, let me explain something….I am one of the biggest Rocky fans of all-time….to prove that, 3 weekends ago, I stayed in all weekend with a new friend of mine and watched Rocky 1-5….would have watched the last one, too but my friend was all Rocky’d out…we did watch it the following weekend….actually Valentine’s Day to be exact….hmmm….maybe that’s why….oh never mind….lol…anyways, I loved the last Rocky….Rocky Balboa almost brings me to tears everytime I watch it, seriously….and I have seen it five times since it came out (last December)…..off the strength of that I went out and saw the new Rambo….I’m not a big Rambo fan….I mean I liked the first one, and know I have seen the others, but I’m not a fanatic about the movies….but I say this because, the new Rambo is off the hook! A great movie, despite it’s awful reviews (gore)….Sly has become a laughing stock in some people’s eyes for reviving these old heroes, but he did an amazing job……but no more….both movies put closure on both storylines….and successfully in my eyes…..so, don’t ruin it…
Another thing I want to see is good hip hop to reach the kids….I asked one of my students the other day if he was a fan of Pete Rock….the student asked me if that was some “white boy, Lincoln Park” crap…..my heart almost fell out of my chest….not because of the white boy comment, I could take that…but the fact that this so-called beat maker didn’t know who Pete Rock was…..then he went and tried playing me out and asked his classmates if they knew who Pete Rock was and they all said “NO!” This Soldier Boy-Chicken Noodle Soup-Bey Bey Bey-era has to end…..especially when Lil Wayne is the best rapper in these Jersey Teens’ eyes….I mean, Lil Wayne is alright for a Southern Boy…..but in my eyes he is wack as hell!! How come people like Joe Buddens, Ghostface, Papoose, Nas, and Redman get no love from these kids….but the other jokers do?? Damn, we need another Wu-Revolution…..although that flopped….8 Diagrams-great album as well!!
Personally, I need a new Eminem album and a new Everlast album soon!!
And a new baseball season…with the Flyers and Sixers looking sluggish, I need some Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins lighting up the basepaths….I’m feeling good about this year, and I might have to place a little wager on the Phils when I go to Vegas in March…One thing that cracks me up is how the trade for Johan Santana got Carlos Beltran all fired up…..how could the same guy who choked the last three years in a row get all loud all of a sudden….by the way, doesn’t he know that the Mets kill people’s careers! hahaha..can’t wait for the Phillies to embarrass the Mets again!!
Lastly, hopefully the Eagles don’t do anything stupid with Donovan Mcnabb (read my last blog for my feelings on that topic)……anyways, enough sports talk…..music talk……personal talk….2008 wishlist talk….gotta go enjoy my snow day…..even though it means I’ll be working one more day in the summer than I was supposed to….then again, when you love what you do, who cares, right?? Maybe I’ll go outside and make some snow angels….