Thursday, February 28, 2013

I'm a Jinx

I just went to a high school basketball game to cheer on the high school that I went to. It also happens to be the district I work at. Tonight was the sectional semifinal game. I went to one game earlier this year. My team lost. Tonight, they lost. They have had three losses all year. Two of them were during games that I went to. Obviously it is my fault that they lost tonight. Maybe I shouldn't go to any games next year. Then they will win them all! Sorry for the short post, too tired and had nothing cool to write about.

I forgot to post my important message last night. I copied it, but didn't paste it. Tomorrow, I am switching the URL of this blog!

*****IMPORTANT NOTE*****

I will be changing the URL of this blog TOMORROW.  I will do this at around 12PM. Since my current blog website has a very long URL, I am changing it to: shanepacelli.blogspot.com.  I believe when I do that, all of my previous blog posts will be listed. Thanks for your understanding and I look forward to your continued support!

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Washington D. C.

I have been to Washington D. C. three times that I can remember. I went with my family when I was pretty young. We visited my aunt, uncle, and cousins in Virginia. It was around Easter time. We were going to do an Easter egg hunt on the White House lawn, but it was too crowded. I remember them throwing pogs into the crowd and me scooping up many of them. That's right, it was so long ago that pogs were popular! If you don't remember pogs, then I am definitely dating myself. My second time was the summer in between 8th and 9th grade. The 8th graders were offered a field trip there. Only about 25 of us went. Since I am adventurous and love trips, I jumped all over the opportunity. It was very expensive but worth it. It was a three day trip. We did all the usual site seeing that you do in D. C. I distinctly remember watching The Weakest Link while we were there. Earlier that day, we went to Ford's Theater where Lincoln was shot. On The Weakest Link, the lady asked, "Where was Lincoln shot?" Everyone in my room shouted Ford's Theater. What a coincidence. The third time I went to D. C. was in May 2010 to visit my friend. We saw the Washington Nationals lose to the Florida Marlins the first night I was in town. We did the Smithsonian of science and history. We did a whole lot of walking around the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Park, the Capital building, and the Zoo. I was never bored while there visiting my friend. D. C. is an amazing city with so much history! That is another place that I could go very often and never get bored. I think I'm definitely due another trip to visit my friend anyway. Maybe next year. I have enough going on this year. I just booked my cruise! August 18th can't come soon enough!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Cruises

Now we are back to me talking about the vacations I have been on. I also want to say that during my Atlantic City trip, I didn't worry about money once, even after I was down $100 gambling after the first day! Yay for meeting one of my resolutions! On to cruises... I have been lucky enough to have gone on 4 cruises so far. I am booking my 5th one tomorrow! My mom has gotten me addicted to cruises. She is only going on her 10th one in May. My first cruise was in August 2000 when I was 13. We traveled on the Carnival Fantasy for a 4 day trip and went to Freeport and Nassau in the Bahamas. I remember we never got off the ship at Freeport. It was pouring rain the entire time. I walked extensively around the ship that day to kill time. In Nassau, we went to a beach and relaxed all day. They had midnight buffets every night. I think I only missed the buffet the first night. They have since done away with midnight buffets because it is more of a waste of food than other buffets. My second cruise was during April 2003. We took the Carnival Fascination on a 4 day trip to Key West and Cozumel. I was 15 and a sophomore in high school. I believe we just walked around Key West and I know we went on a beach in Cozumel. I swam with the fish and had snorkeling gear. I swam quite a ways out to a platform in the ocean and then of course back to land. On the last day at sea, I went down the slide in the pool and felt something sharp on my foot. I got out of the water and saw a huge cut on my foot. There was a broken tile in the pool. They closed the pool the rest of the day to fix the tile. On a hot day, the pool was closed because of me! No one was happy! My 3rd cruise was in January 2011. It was my grad school graduation present. We took the Carnival Freedom for 6 days and went to Key West, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios in Jamaica. Again in Key West, we walked around. In Grand Cayman, we did a sting ray/beach excursion. I got to swim with and touch the sting rays. In Jamaica, we did a tour where we climbed up Dunn River Falls. You would climb up rocks while a waterfall was cascading down the rocks. That was the most adventurous and amazing excursion I have ever taken in my life! I would do it again in a heartbeat. My most recent cruise was August 2012. It was a 5 day cruise on the Carnival Paradise to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We did beach excursions at both places. There's just something about cruises that are amazing to me. Looking all around and seeing nothing but water is such a relaxing feeling for me. My smile pretty much never leaves my face while I'm on a boat. The cruise I'm booking tomorrow is a 7 day cruise on the Carnival Pride going to Freeport, Nassau, and Port Canaveral. I've been to Nassau and Freeport before. I've left out of Port Canaveral. Who cares? As long as I'm on a boat and in the ocean, I couldn't care less where I go. I can't wait for August 18th and my 5th cruise! If you have never been on a cruise, I highly recommend one! They are the best bang for your buck.

*****IMPORTANT NOTE*****

I will be changing the URL of this blog soon.  I will do this at around 12PM on Friday, March 1st. I will be posting this message every time I write in my blog until March as a reminder. Since my current blog website has a very long URL, I am changing it to: shanepacelli.blogspot.com.  I believe when I do that, all of my previous blog posts will be listed. Thanks for your understanding and I look forward to your continued support!

Monday, February 25, 2013

Macaroni and Cheese Bowl

I can't believe I haven't told you about this before today! Last Saturday February 16, my friends and I went to the Macaroni and Cheese Bowl at a hotel. What's a Macaroni and Cheese bowl? you ask. It's only single-handedly the best event ever known to man! It's an event where 30 local restaurants come together and show off their mac and cheese. Thousands of people were at this event. We got to sample some mac and cheese from all of the vendors. Each place only gave you a very small cup worth of mac and cheese. Let me tell you something. That was more than enough when you are eating 30 different mac and cheeses! I love pulled pork, but not in my mac and cheese. A few vendors did that. Many put bacon in their mac and cheese. How can you go wrong there? I ate so much that I went home and took a nap. I could barely move. Luckily this event is only once a year or I'd probably die! It's truly amazing what restaurants do to make their mac and cheese vastly different than any other place. I sampled buffalo chicken mac and cheese, mac and cheese with pork in it, bacon, a taco mac and cheese, one with guacamole (gross), one where I put my own ingredients in (I could have put seaweed in it...no thanks), and just pure deliciousness the entire day. If you love mac and cheese, then I highly recommend you go to this event next February. I know I'll be there (which is even more incentive to go)!

*****IMPORTANT NOTE*****

I will be changing the URL of this blog soon.  I will do this at around 12PM on Friday, March 1st. I will be posting this message every time I write in my blog until March as a reminder. Since my current blog website has a very long URL, I am changing it to: shanepacelli.blogspot.com.  I believe when I do that, all of my previous blog posts will be listed. Thanks for your understanding and I look forward to your continued support!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Not Fully Recovered Yet

I have been tired ever since I got home from Atlantic City. Once I got home Friday night, I went straight to the movies and didn't get home until 12:30AM. That probably wasn't the smartest idea. Then I went out last night, got home around 11:30PM, then had to work at 7 this morning. Again, not the best decision I've ever made. I can hardly keep my eyes open. I just finished watching a movie. I thought I was going to fall asleep at around 7:30 when I started. After having a busy week off, I feel like I need another week to recover. Unfortunately tomorrow, I only have two classes coming in. I would much rather have many classes so that I'm busy and active. I hope I don't fall asleep at work tomorrow! I know I won't.

*****IMPORTANT NOTE*****

I will be changing the URL of this blog soon.  I am thinking I will do this at the beginning of March so people see the note here. I will be posting this message every time I write in my blog until March as a reminder. Since my current blog website has a very long URL, I am changing it to: shanepacelli.blogspot.com.  I believe when I do that, all of my previous blog posts will be listed. Thanks for your understanding and I look forward to your continued support!

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Atlantic City

I took a bus trip to Atlantic City from Wednesday until Friday where the majority of the people on the bus were easily three times my age. That didn't phase me at all. I went to have a good time and that's exactly what I did. The bus ride there was 6 hours. Being on a bus that long is not fun. At least our bus guide made it fun by having us play bingo and showing a DVD of a comedian. We were at Atlantic City from about 2PM Wednesday until 3:30PM Friday. I'd say that is the perfect amount of time to spend there. I was never bored but was definitely ready to go home when we left. Spending two nights there gave us time to see a comedy show, gamble, and take in the many sights of the town. Although it was brutally cold with the wind, my friend and I walked a good portion of the boardwalk. We took a look at the damage that Hurricane Sandy caused on the amusement park. We walked to several different casinos on the strip. You will be shocked to know that I only gambled in two (2) casinos. I walked around in probably 7-8 of them. The neat thing about Bally's, the hotel we stayed in, was that we could walk through it to get to another hotel casino without walking outside. At first site, Bally's casino looked small to my friend and I. Then we began really walking around. Every casino we walked into was massive! I enjoy just walking around casinos as much as gambling (shocking, I know). I love hearing the sounds of the slot machines, the clinking of casino chips, the shuffling of cards, and the excitement and anger from the gamblers. I've been to casinos where the people and dealers aren't friendly at all. This was the complete opposite. I'm a shy person. However, I was very approachable to people. I talked to many different people. The common bond was talking about where we came from. The dealers were excited when we won and were extremely likable. They made very few mistakes, unlike dealers I've had at other casinos. Believe it or not, the security guards were probably the most friendly people of them all. Every time I walked by a guard, I heard, "Good morning, sir. How are you? Let me know if you need any help finding anything." That type of atmosphere makes for an even more enjoyable trip. We had very poor service only once and that was yesterday at a restaurant. It was very busy and no server acknowledged our existence for almost 10 minutes. I would love to go back to Atlantic City in the summer time when it is warm. I know it will be 20 times busier than it was this week. It would be great to walk even more on the boardwalk. I'm sure there are a ton of activities to keep me busy while walking the boardwalk in the summer. In addition to the gambling and walking around, we saw a light show that was shot on a hotel wall, a water fountain show in a hotel, a comedy show with 3 hilarious comedians at a beautiful casino off the main strip, and just had a great time. Yes, I would say that I had a great time even if I had lost money. However, shockingly, I came home with more than $500 more than I walked in with! Poker is a game that requires a lot of skill and a lot of luck. I had a lot of both when I took home 1st place in a tournament. This trip was definitely memorable and an excellent way to spend my week off from work! Back to the grind tomorrow at the grocery store.

*****IMPORTANT NOTE*****

I will be changing the URL of this blog soon.  I am thinking I will do this at the beginning of March so people see the note here. I will be posting this message every time I write in my blog until March as a reminder. Since my current blog website has a very long URL, I am changing it to: shanepacelli.blogspot.com.  I believe when I do that, all of my previous blog posts will be listed. Thanks for your understanding and I look forward to your continued support!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

No More Blog Posts

Now I have your attention! I won't be writing in this blog anymore...until at least Friday, but probably Saturday. Tomorrow morning, I am going on a bus trip to Atlantic City! My friend and I are staying over Wednesday and Thursday night and will be home about 9PM Friday. He is sleeping over Friday, so I probably won't get a chance to write in here. This is one of the three trips that I wrote about in my New Years resolutions. It's finally here! I've never been to Atlantic City. I plan to do a lot of walking around on the boardwalk and walk around several casinos. Of course I will gamble. They are giving me a $50 slot play for free with this bus trip! I don't do slots, but I will over the next few days! I just need to budget my money and be careful with all other gambling I do during this trip. My friend and I don't have any specific plans during this trip. We are guys and guys don't have set schedules. No matter what happens, I know it will be fun!

Below is a test to see who really reads my blog:

*****IMPORTANT NOTE*****

I will be changing the URL of this blog soon.  I am thinking I will do this at the beginning of March so people see the note here. I will be posting this message every time I write in my blog until March as a reminder. Since my current blog website has a very long URL, I am changing it to: shanepacelli.blogspot.com.  I believe when I do that, all of my previous blog posts will be listed. Thanks for your understanding and I look forward to your continued support!

Monday, February 18, 2013

HBO

First of all, my new book is now available on Amazon both hard copy and kindle! Second of all, I hit 4,000 views today! Thank you all for reading my blog! Now on to today's topic. About 2 weeks ago, my mom called our cable provider to renegotiate the contract. They were going to give her the same channels for $4 cheaper. She wasn't satisfied. They said that was the best they could do. They don't know my mom. She complained that she wasn't getting the good deals they were offering to new customers. She has been a customer for about 30 years and wanted better than what they were offering her. After she did what she does best, she was able to get a contract where she is paying $15 less a month and we are now getting HBO, Show Time, and Cinemax. You don't mess with my mom because she will always win. I'm not happy that we now have HBO. It is ruining my New Years Resolution of being more productive at night. Since we have gotten HBO, I have watched maybe 5-6 movies. I keep taping movies I want to watch. I did nothing productive today since I am on vacation. I watched a movie instead. HBO has a lot of the recent movies that just came out of DVD. I normally don't sit down and watch movies that I want to watch because they are never on Neflix and I didn't have easy access to them. Now that we have HBO, I want to take advantage of the station. My productivity will never be the same because there always seems to be a movie I will want to watch! If you don't see a new book for a very long time, it's all my mom's fault! :)

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Nervous

I just received the final proof back for the hard copy book.  I approved it, which was the final step in the process.  Amazon said it would take 5-7 business days before the book is available for purchase.  If it's anything like my last book, it will be on sale tomorrow.  I was also able to do the formatting for the kindle version myself.  That should go up very quickly too.  I'm nervous.  I feel more nervous than excitement about this book.  I'm nervous that my bosses will find out.  I'm nervous that people will want to jump down my throat with some of the don'ts I listed.  I shouldn't be nervous about my bosses finding out.  I am 100% positive that I didn't mention the store I work at.  I don't know what it is that's getting me overly nervous.  I think my book is meant to be funny.  However, I know that at times I come across as harsh.  I think I'm so nervous because my mom saw a few of my don'ts yesterday and disagrees with a lot of them.   I know several friends that plan on buying the book.  I am interested in hearing their honest opinions.  They will probably agree with a lot of them because they work at the store too.  As an author, I need to have a thick skin for criticism.  I have gotten many rejections from publishers so far for my other two books.  That hasn't phased me too much.  However, when someone says something negative about my books to my face, it upsets me.  It can't upset me.  I know not everyone is going to love the books I write.  I will never claim to be a great writer.  I just wanted to put my thoughts as a cashier at a grocery store into a book.  I'm not expecting it to sell as well as my two children's books.  Of course it took about 4-5 months for my kids books to start selling really well.  I can't take back the book now that it's published to the world.  We will see what happens...

Saturday, February 16, 2013

An Excerpt From my New Book

Below, you will read the introduction to Cleanup in Aisle 4: Grocery Store Don'ts. I started the publishing process on CreateSpace today. I ran into a small roadblock. When I uploaded the cover, some of the words of the title would cut off. I contacted my illustrator and he is going to fix the problem and have the new cover to me by tomorrow.  In the mean time, enjoy the introduction!
 
Introduction



         Grocery shopping is a long, dreaded process. To start, you may have to get your kids ready by getting their coats on and buckling them into your car. Then you have to drive to the store, fight through traffic, listen to screaming kids, find a parking spot, find a cart, walk into the store, find an employee to see if the store has a certain product, get through the always crowded produce section at the front of the store, choose a number to wait in line at the deli, freeze yourself in the frozen food aisle no matter what time of year it is, listen to your kids complain the entire time you are in the store, listen to them beg you for candy, get weird looks from other customers as you tell your kids no, find a line that isn’t too long, let someone ahead of you that only has one item, unload your groceries, talk to the cashier, possibly talk to another customer that always seems to talk to everyone because they are lonely, bag your own groceries, put the bags into your cart, pay for your groceries, walk outside, figure out where you parked your car, unload the groceries into your trunk, find somewhere to put your cart back, or just leave it in another parking spot, drive home, wait in traffic again, unlock the door to your house with bags full of groceries in your hand while holding your child in your other arm, take the items out of the bags, and finally find places in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer to put them in! Yeah, it’s quite the process.
Not to mention the fact that numerous people touch your groceries throughout the entire process such as manufacturers, people that put the items on the truck, people that take the items off the truck, stockers, customers that touch them, then put them back on the shelf, yourself, your cashier that scans them, and the bagger that bags them. It’s extremely gross when you think about the number of people that touch your groceries, especially your fresh produce. I’m here to explain how this process can go much more smoothly for you, one step at a time from the moment you leave your house until the time you get back home. I have worked in a grocery store in the front-end department for over nine years. I have encountered many customers and have many stories to share with you. Every story I share is 100% true. I will not put the name of the grocery store that I work at, or the name of any customers or employees to protect their identities. Although I will list things that you should never do in a funny way, I am very serious about them. With that said, I would be a hypocrite to say I have never done any of these “don’ts” myself as a shopper. I am sure I have done many of the things that I am telling you never to do. However, as someone who works in a grocery store, I cannot stand when customers do the things listed in this book. You are about to read one of the most important books you have ever read. Enjoy!

Friday, February 15, 2013

Book Title and Cover Revealed

And now... the moment you've alllllll been waiting for!  The title of my new book is.............. First off, I'd like to thank my aunt and uncle, who don't read this blog, but came up with the perfect title for the book.  Well, only the first part of the title.  The second part didn't require all that much brain power.  Ok, where was I?  Oh yeah, the title.........is..........: Cleanup in Aisle 4: Grocery Store Don'ts.  I hope to publish the book this Sunday.  I should have other people edit it so it gets more than my 4 eyes editing it.  However, everyone is busy so I think editing it 5 times by myself will have to do.  I can't afford a real editor.  The cover is below.  Check back tomorrow for an excerpt from the book! 


Thursday, February 14, 2013

Analyzing the Stats

I offered book 2 for free yesterday and Tuesday.  I have read that offering more than one book free at a time isn't good.  I decided that I would offer book 2 for free because it has sold far less copies than book one.  Then I realized that if people get book 2 for free, they would realize that they have to buy book one.  I guess there was a method to my madness.  I chose to offer my book for free on Tuesday and Wednesday because new books come out on Amazon on Tuesdays.  Not all books do, but a lot come out that day.  In December, when book 2 was free for 3 days in a row, I sold 263 copies in the US and 39 in the UK for a total of 302 books.  These past two days, I sold 504 in the US, 38 in the UK, 5 in Germany, 1 in France, 1 in Spain, 1 in Italy, 13 in Japan, and 5 in Canada for a grand total of 568 books!  I am blown away with how many books sold!  I made it all the way to ranked 841st in overall free books.  I got to 20th in the Children's Fiction Literature category!  The best stat in my opinion is that 10-12 people have bought book 1 in the last two days.  I am almost certain that that is a direct result from having book 2 on sale for free.  I am so proud of how my books are selling and I look forward to continued success!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Cedar Point

In July 2011, I went to Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio with a few friends.  It is one of the best amusement parks in the world.  I'm not just saying that either.  I believe it has been voted that way for many years in a row.  Although it was over a 9 hour drive there, it was definitely worth it.  We spent two days going on huge, fast roller coasters and other trilling rides.  I felt like a kid giddy with excitement as we went on each roller coaster.  It also happened to be two of the hottest days in the summer.  We didn't go to the water park though.  The water park was so small that we didn't think it was worth it.  I believe there are 12 roller coasters at Cedar Point.  My friend and I were in line for one.  There were no people ahead of us.  Unfortunately, a passenger in the previous coaster hit his nose on the front and was bleeding profusely.  He refused to leave the coaster for a long time.  He eventually did, but they had to clean it up.  We waited half an hour for nothing and then turned around and left.  We didn't get to ride on it.  While waiting in line for a different roller coaster, we saw another coaster get stuck.  People were stuck at the top, not upside down for about an hour.  By the time we got off the one coaster, the one people were stuck on was finally moving.  We immediately jumped in line for that one since there was no wait.  They are currently building another roller coaster that is opening in May.  It looks absolutely insane.  It's called the GateKeeper.  I can't wait to go on the new roller coaster!  I can't go to the Great Escape anymore because it is pretty lame compared to Cedar Point.  My friends and I are planning another trip there this summer.  I can't wait!  Check out a virtual view of the GateKeeper below.


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Disney World

I have been to Disney World 4 times!  My first trip was two days before Thanksgiving when I was in 7th grade.  At that point, I felt like I was the only kid who had never been to Disney World.  Obviously I was wrong.  I then went in 10th and 12th grade during Memorial Day with the marching band.  We would march in a 20 minute parade in Magic Kingdom.  Then we would have 4 days to do whatever we wanted to do!  It was rough, but somebody had to do it.  No, it wasn't free.  I cost a ton of money.  My parents made me save and pay for it and I didn't argue.  Again in my senior year, I went with my family in April.  I love roller coasters.  I did Rock n' Roller Coaster at MGM, Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom, the Tower of Terror, and Test Track.  I know the last two aren't coasters.  They were still incredible!  My sophomore year, my group went to Islands of Adventure for our one day at Universal Studios.  That's the part of Universal that has more rides than the original Universal Studios.  One ride we did several times was this Spiderman 3D ride.  I think we did it 4 times.  I had never done a 3D show that was also a ride.  It was one of the most unique experiences ever.  With my family my senior year, my dad, brother, and I did Mission Space at Epcot.  That is a simulated ride.  My dad threw up on it and I felt sick to my stomach.  Needless to say, we didn't do it again and never will.  A new show at MGM my senior year was "Lights, Camera, Action."  It was a car stunt show that was filled with amazing car tricks.  We saw fireworks, a light show, a show called Fantasmic, did a water park, and lots more.  There's so much to do at Disney World!  I remember our wake up calls always ended with, "Have a magical day" said by an actually human being.  I don't care what age you are, Disney World is a ton of fun.  It's very expensive, but I feel that you have to experience it at least once.  Since I'm addicted to cruises, I have no interest in going back to Disney World in the near future.  I would like to go again though.  I want to do the Harry Potter part that was just built in Islands of Adventure.  By the time I get back to Disney, I'm sure they will have a ton of new astonishing rides for me to go on!

Monday, February 11, 2013

Puerto Rico

The next few posts will be a reflection of previous vacations.  I was lucky enough to go to Puerto Rico 3 times during college.  My swim team would teach lessons for free during the swim season.  In return, Potsdam would pay a huge portion of our trip to Puerto Rico.  I think I paid about $450 each year to go to Puerto Rico for a week.  It wasn't all a walk in the park, or should I say beach?  The point of the trip was for training.  We would swim for 2 hours every morning at 6AM.  The pool was a half hour from our hotel so we had to be up around 5:15.  It was an Olympic size pool, which means 50 meters long.  It was over double the distance of our normal 25 yard pool at college.  Then we had another 2 hour practice from 3-5.  We swam 4 hours a day everyday.  We probably swam over 6 miles each day.  Yes, in between each swim practice we ate a huge breakfast buffet and then laid on the beach all day.  I took long walks on the beach.  Yes, I know it's cliche, but I really do love long walks on the beach!  There is nothing more relaxing, except being on a boat in the middle of the ocean!  I remember my first trip to Puerto Rico.  On a Wednesday morning in January, my friends and I wanted to play golf.  It was $52 for 9 holes!  Needless to say, we didn't play.  However, a bucket of balls was only $5.  I called my dad and told him what I was doing.  He wasn't too happy since it was freezing back in New York and in the summer he plays golf every Wednesday.  I think it was junior year, the pool we wen to had a 1 meter, 3 meter, 5 meter, 7 meter, and a 10 meter platform diving board.  I worked my way up and did all of them.  I was scared out of my mind on the 10 meter, but I had no choice but to jump once I was up there.  See picture below!  All three trips were a ton of fun.  We left thoroughly drained because of all of the swimming and um, extracurricular activities.  We really didn't do much site seeing because we had a beach right off of our hotel.  I am so thankful to my parents for paying for me to go on the numerous trips that I have gone on.  I know how lucky I am to have traveled as much as I have so far.  Tomorrows post will be about my 4 trips to Disney World!

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Germany

8 years ago today as a senior in high school, I was on my way to Germany as a foreign exchange student for 2 weeks.  I was ridiculously excited for this trip.  I had never been overseas.  Our flight left at 7PM and arrived at 3AM Eastern time but 9AM Germany time.  I got half an hour of sleep on the flight and got my trip started right away off of the plane.  Needless to say, I was a little tired that night.  I was homesick the first night because we went to a club and I wasn't with any of my American friends.  Once we started taking tours with my classmates, I was fine.  We went to Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Berlin, and all over Darmstadt.  I stayed at my host parents house in Darmstadt.  I have so many amazing memories from this trip.  We walked the half mile stretch of what's left of the Berlin wall.  I went to Checkpoint Charlie museum where you could hear a pin drop.  It is a museum about the Holocaust.  We took many tours of castles and all over the beautiful Germany cities.  I even went to France for a day with a different host family.  I'm so thankful that my parents let me go to Germany.  It was the opportunity of a lifetime.  The best story by far is when we stayed in a youth hostel in Berlin.  The beds were not very good at all.  There were 5 of us in a room.  For whatever reason, they put the fat man (me) on the top bunk.  I was laying down and moving all around the first night because I am very fidgety.  I kept hearing popping noises and felt myself getting lower.  I decided not to move a muscle.  I couldn't handle it anymore and turned on my other side.  That's when it happened.  I feel right through the bed and fell in one of my roommates' lap.  I immediately got off of him and started laughing hysterically.  What a crappy bed!  I took the mattress off of the bed and slept on the mattress on the floor.  Obviously that's what I did the next night too.  My teacher fixed the bunk bed and said it was fine to sleep in.  I wasn't taking any chances.  I texted my friend this morning reminding her that today is the 8 year anniversary of our trip.  We started texting each other the endless memories we have.  I would love to go back to Germany sometime in the future.  I want to go back to Berlin and go to Munich.  I'll leave you with the best line from my friend this morning.  "Even 8 years later, the bunk bed story still holds up!" (no pun intended!)

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Struggling Mightily

So much for finishing the editing of my book today.  I edited none of it today.  I told my mom about how I switch from I to you to we a lot in my book.  She said I need to change that.  I looked at what I wrote for rule one and stared at it for a few minutes.  I couldn't figure out how to change it to one tense so I just gave up for the day.  I had a lot of other stuff to do like shovel 2 driveways, make mac salad for dinner tonight with a bunch of family, empty the dishwasher, and be a useful member of society.  I'll try to get back to fixing up the book tomorrow.  It's very tedious and draining work, but somebody's gotta do it!

Friday, February 8, 2013

My Uneeded Yet Needed Day Off

I'm sure my superintendent kicked himself all day for closing school because of the big storm that just started 5 hours ago.  Weathermen always blow storms way out of proportion.  Weathermen and politicians are the only two professions that people can be wrong all of the time and still have a job.  When I woke up and saw that school was cancelled, there was no snow on the ground.  It started at about 9AM and it literally snowed a dusting until around 2.  Then it didn't start snowing again until about 6.  Now it's sticking.  We definitely could have and should have had school.  I'm not complaining though.  It was awesome to have our first snow day of the year.  All of the teachers definitely needed this day off.  As teachers were leaving yesterday I would say, "Hopefully I don't see you tomorrow."  That turned out to be true.  Our district allows us to have a maximum of three in a year.  This is also a three day weekend.  One good thing about teaching is that if it snows, we are one of the only professions that get the day off and it's paid.  It can't get much better than that.  I was able to finish my first entire read through of my book to edit it.  I started reading through it a second time.  I plan to finish it tomorrow.  Then it's off to my mom for an edit, then back to me for one final edit.  As always, my mom is ridiculously busy so I don't know when she will get to editing my very short book.  Hopefully soon.  Like I said, the book should definitely be out by the beginning of March.  All in all, it was a productive snow day.  I worked out in the morning and edited my book.  Nothing too exciting.  Tomorrow will be filled with shoveling and more editing.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Publishing Contract or Teaching Job

If I was lucky enough to have someone say, "You have a choice, you can have an elementary teaching job or you can have a publishing contract but you must choose one," which one would I choose?  That's an easy decision.  I have wanted to teach since 6th grade.  I went through 5 and a half years of college to get my 2 degrees.  I have had one book published for a year and a half and another for half a year.  I never thought of myself as a writer until recently.  With a publishing contract, I have the potential to make a lot of money.  With a teaching job, I can change kids' lives.  My books won't change people's lives.  I think it can spark an interest in reading a little bit for kids, but nothing like Harry Potter.  I would much rather have a teaching job than a publishing contract.  I thought of this blog yesterday or this morning.  I can't keep track of time anymore.  When I thought of it, it wasn't even a question.  I never even thought about taking a publishing contract instead of a teaching job.  Getting a teaching job is what I've worked harder than anything for.  I have worked years and years to get a teaching job.  I've only worked for a little over a year on getting a publisher.  My dream is to be a teacher.  Unfortunately, I was not given the choice of having either job.  I will continue to fight for both.  I know a teaching job will come eventually.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Athletes Retiring and Coming Back

Yup, another blog post about sports.  It annoys me when athletes retire as players and then come back the next season or a few years later as players again.  If you retire, you are done!  I have no problem with them retiring as a player then coaching or becoming an analyst or announcer.  That's fine.  I completely understand that you need to stay in the sport you love.  Even though Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player ever, it still aggravated me that he retired and then came back.  It was weird that he went from basketball to baseball back to basketball.  Brett Favre is another great player in his sport that said he was retiring and then ended up coming back on a different team the following season.  I'm not sure why it bothers me so much.  I have seen teachers retire and then come back as a substitute teacher.  That's different because they are coming back on their terms part time.  I also have no problem if a player says he is retiring because he has an illness, then comes back from retirement if he gets healthy.  That makes a great story.  I shouldn't be mad at this because there are enough illegal performance enhancing drugs that athletes are taking to grind my gears.  Retiring and coming back should be the least of my worries.  I'm so passionate about sports and this is just one of the many opinions/problems I have regarding sports.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

I Can't

That's a phrase that I can't stand in school.  There are many times that kids tell me they can't do something in the computer lab.  This happens a lot during homework club, too.  I tell them that the words, "I can't" aren't in my vocabulary and that they need to put in the effort to figure out the problem.  I am a very strong believer that if you put 100% into something and really want to do it, you can do it.  That goes for school, too.  If kids put in the effort to do their work, they can be very successful.  They want us to baby them around and I will have none of that.  I always have kids asking me to do something for them.  If I do it for them, they won't learn how to do it themselves.  I do the best that I can to teach kids independence at a young age.  If they don't have it, they are in for a rude awakening as they get older.

Monday, February 4, 2013

Video Games

The amount of video games that kids play these days is insane.  When I was in 6th grade, my parents bought me a Nintendo 64.  I absolutely loved that system.  I would play it all of the time.  When I was older, I sold it, then eventually bought it back, sold it again, and then bought it back.  I still have it somewhere, but it is missing a wire so it doesn't work.  I never got into any of those violent Halo games or any of that garbage like my brother does with his Playstation 2 and 3, XBox and XBox 360.  When Guitar Hero came out, I played that all of the time.  I didn't even play many sports video games, as shocking as that might sound.  I did play a college basketball game a lot when I was younger with my brother.  Other than that, no sports games.  I haven't played video games in a number of years.  I know that many people my age still play video games.  I'm just not into it.  I guess I'm a loser because I prefer to read and write with my "free time".  I wish kids would play less video games.  I have students that I help in a homework club two days a week.  One of them is way more concerned with his XBox 360 than he is with how he does in school.  When I was his age, I was outside playing all of the time and not playing as much video games.  Yes, I had my N64, but I didn't play it all hours of the day.  If kids spent less times on video games, social networks, and cell phones, they would do much better in school.  I had one 6th grader tell me the other day that she used 3.7 GB of data last month in texts alone.  I'm sure that she is exaggerating because I don't even think that's possible.  I am allotted 200 MB of data each month and have come close to using all of it only once in my almost 3 years of having my phone.  It's amazing how much the world of technology has changed since I was a kid.  It's only going to get more distracting to kids as the years go on.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

The Big Game

The big game is finally here.  Apparently when companies and stores are advertising for the Super Bowl, they are not allowed to say the Super Bowl.  They have to say "The Big Game".  I have no idea why that is.  However, this year, I have noticed that places have been advertising for the Super Bowl and not the big game.  I have no idea what the rules are and why.  Oh well.  I always get excited about the Super Bowl.  I'm not sure why.  It's the last game of the season.  That stinks.  My team hasn't been in the Super Bowl since 1996 when I was 8 years old.  The Dallas Cowboys won the Super Bowl in 1993, 1994, and 1996 while I was alive.  That means I was 5, 6, and 8 years old.  People still call me a front runner for being a Cowboys fan.  Was I a front runner back then?  Probably.  I probably was a fan of the Cowboys because that's when I started watching football and they were winning.  I am still a Cowboys fan even though they have won one playoff game since 1996.  That's right.  They have only won one playoff game in 17 years!  They have only made the playoffs 7 times since 1996.  That's pathetic.  Therefore, I am most definitely not a front runner.  People have asked me why I don't change teams.  You don't just change teams that you root for.  You can't do that.  Anyway, if the Cowboys ever make it to a Super Bowl again, I can't imagine how excited I would be!  In tonight's game, I guarantee you that J. Harbaugh's team is going to win (Jim Harbaugh is the coach of the San Francisco 49ers playing his brother who is John Harbaugh, the coach of the Baltimore Ravens).  My prediction is the Ravens over the 49ers 27-24. 

Saturday, February 2, 2013

One Month into 2013

This post is one day late, I know.  This is a reflection to see how I am doing so far with my
resolutions.


-I will publish book #3 by continuing to work on it more often than I did last year.  
I am almost done with the book.  My goal is to finish writing it tomorrow.

-I will get a teaching job by applying, applying, applying, and more applying.
I applied for one elementary job a week ago.  The deadline for applications was yesterday.  There have been no other postings yet.

-I will eat smaller portions at dinner and fewer desserts at night by exercising serious will power and having less junk in the house. 
That has not been going well so far.  I have been bringing less food for lunch at work.  I have been trying to eat less dessert.  11 more months to make this happen.

-I will be more productive at night after work by reading and writing more instead of sitting at the computer and/or watching TV.
This week was a fail in that department.  However, earlier this month, I did a lot of reading and writing.

-I will go to the gym more than two times a week.  No more excuses!
I have been doing very well with this.  I worked out 4 times this week and 4 last week.

-I will be more positive about my future and stop saying, “I’ll have a teaching job 10 years from now.”
I have been slightly better with this, but it is still something I am working on.

-I will go on all three vacations I have in mind and not worry about how much they will cost.  Worry about how much fun they will be!
I will be going on my first vacation in a little over 2 weeks.  I am already worrying about the money.  This resolution is very hard for me.  I always worry about money!

-I will put X dollars into my retirement fund by budgeting the money I make.
I won't put those X dollars into retirement until I have X in my bank account.  I am still working on getting X amount in my bank account.  I'm thinking it will be there by the end of March.

-I will find a publisher to take my book(s) by continuing to send out query letters.
I just bought 2013 Writer's Market.  It's another book listing publishers and literary agents.  I plan to send query letters out for my grocery store book this month.

-I will pay it forward to less fortunate people instead of buying myself something I do not need.
I have donated clothes, donated money in the name of my friend that died, donated to the heart association, and went out to dinner where 15% of the money went to a specific fund.  I am proud of what I have done with helping people out so far this year!

Overall, I have gotten off to a pretty good start to the year with my resolutions.  There is definitely room for improvement.  I take things one day at a time. 

Friday, February 1, 2013

Struggling Reader and Writer

This is a continuation of last night's post.  Growing up, I absolutely hated reading.  When I was very young, I loved Good Night Moon and Green Eggs and Sam.  That was about it.  My mom was in charge of parents as reading partners in our elementary school.  It was a program where we had to read 15 minutes a night 5 days a week if we participated.  Obviously, I had no choice but to participate since my mom ran the program.  It was always a struggle to get me to read each night.  My mom would set the timer and it would be the longest 15 minutes of my life.  I never read.  I had the book open and pretended to read.  I was also in remedial reading.  That's a class that pulls out struggling readers for more help.  I couldn't stand that either.  I was always a level or two lower than everyone else in my grade at reading.  All of a sudden in 7th grade, I woke up and started to love reading.  My mom bought me the Harry Potter books and the rest is history.  I eventually read more and more and wish I could read more often today.  It's amazing the changes that can happen in life.  Who would have thought I would go from someone that hated reading to loving it as well as writing everyday?  Thank you J. K. Rowling for changing my life.