Grandpa-Inspired Camera

My grandfather was always taking pictures. He was the family photographer... first day of school, a beautiful sunrise, Grandma's crafts and his woodwork, big fish caught, baseball games, new vehicles, house remodeling, everything. He had a Canon 35 mm camera with different lenses. Later, when the digital camera became more popular, he also got one (similar to mine, which meant I was able to help him learn how to use it). Even though he had the digital and a printer for it at home, he still brought the old film camera.

After my grandfather passes away, my mom was given Grandpa's camera. It is extremely important to her, and I hope that she will someday pass the camera on to me (MANY years from now). In the meantime, though, I have found something to fill the void... My recent purchase inspired by Grandpa's own camera.


This wonderful 35 mm camera should soon be making an appearance in my mailbox... It's a bit different from Grandpa's but still very similar. I told Mom that while she was learning how to use Grandpa's, I'd be learning along with her on my faux-Grandpa camera. Grandpa - Here's to your photography and the hope that Mom and I will follow in your footsteps and capture the moments of our lives and those close to us.

You've Got Mail

Reading other people's blogs (something I know I won't have time for as often once I'm back to school) has introduced me many cool links and ideas. I'm really excited about how I can use them myself, but also, how I can use them in my classroom to give my students unique experiences. This morning's excitement is Postcrossing.





Postcrossing is a project that connects people from all over the world through postcards.
1. You sign up.
2. You request an address.
3. You send a postcard to that address.
4. You receive postcards from others throughout the world.

I started today, sending my first postcard to Finland. My name is now in the system, so we'll see when and who I get my first postcard from.

I'm very excited about finding this project because I can use it in my classroom... think about what a 5th grader would think about getting and sending postcards around the world! This is a free project, minus the postage and cost of postcards - but there are free ones that can be picked up around the city... and we can always make our own! If anyone else is interested, head to Postcrossing to sign up.

Darts and an Empty Patio

A couple games of darts... It wasn't even a competition. Let's just say I've got a lot of practicing in my future if I want to impress anyone with any sort of dart throwing skills!

An empty patio to relieve the stress of being so horrible at darts (for me, not Seth).

If he could permanently look like this, he might consider it.

Oh, The Places You'll Go... Around the Slope

Brooklyn Public Library. Located just 2 blocks from Seth's old apartment... about 15 minute walk from our new apartment. The children's section of the library is bigger than the library I used this previous year. I think it might be heaven!

The Lighthouse Tavern. This is the bar/lounge we go to when Seth and his friends want to battle out Big Buck Hunter (or whatever that game is) and where we attempt to not lose in Trivia on Wednesday nights. It's an relaxing and enjoyable place with a dart board, a cozy couch room, and a nice back patio.

Ozzie's. Coffee shop just down a block and across the corner. I used internet there for a while until we got ours. They have great drinks - my favorite: Blended Iced Chia Tea and Seth's been enjoying an iced coffee with a bit of milk. Ahhh, summer morning pick-me-ups!

Zilli Cafe and Lounge. This is across the street and down a few doors. They have an excellent patio, great for a Saturday afternoon. As the sign says, it is a Turkish restaurant. On the back patio, you can order a hookah, which is very common in the Middle East. Flavored tobacco is socially smoked out of a large water pipe with hoses. There are many flavors to choose from. As far as the food goes, we actually haven't eaten here yet but did observe others eating the kabobs and were quite sure we'd be back for dinner another day!

Ginza - Hibachi and Japanese Cuisine. One of Seth's FAVORITE places, solely because they cook the fried rice, along with the rest of your meal, in front of you. If we could afford it, he'd eat there more often. Since we are on a tighter budget, we treat ourselves once a month. They also serve sushi.

LoKi Lounge. As in "Low Key" - how inviting! This is on the corner of 2nd and 5th Ave, just down the block. They have a great happy hour - $2 Buds and Millers. LoKi is actually quite large, a bar in the first part, pool table and darts next, a large couch room, and a back patio. Last time I was there, I realized I'd been in the bar at another time... on one of my past trips before Seth or I lived here, Bric and I stopped by.

The Gate. Patio, beers, and dogs, located just down the block from us. Seth and I have met up with friends for a drink and an evening on the patio enjoying the summer night. This is also where I met Louis for the first time, Vicki and Scott's dog.

J.J. Byrne Park. Along the northern edge of the park, a community farmer's market takes place here every Sunday afternoon. Seth and I have only been once (wanted to go last Sunday to get fresh corn on the cob, but were too busy moving). We visited a winery's table and found some information about wineries along the Hudson River north of the city... maybe a fall wine festival is in our future!

Lucky Kids. I would have loved the parks in the city as a child... almost every one of them has a sprinkler. I'm thinking I should convince Seth to join me at the park for a run through the sprinklers! (I won't lie, I'm almost always tempted to cool off in one when I'm walking in the sweltering heat!)

Ice Cream Truck. They are everywhere, lurking the streets, playing their music. It is nice to spot one when you're walking through the heat and need a nice cool down treat! I am really curious about how much ice cream is eaten by New Yorkers... I think the average New Yorker must eat more ice cream then the average Kansan.

"Indeed, the very first ice cream shop in America may have been in New York; on May 12, 1777, Phillip Lenzi placed an advertisement for his Manhattan ice cream shop in the New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury. And less than a hundred years later, Charles Ranhofer, the chef at Delmonico's, New York's fanciest restaurant, would prefigure tomcat modern pastry chefs by making ice creams in flavors like asparagus, pumpernickel-rye and rice.

Certainly a case can be made that the ice cream cone was invented here, by a Wall Street restaurateur, Italo Marchiony. In 1903, he applied for and received a patent for his cone-making machine. Sedutto's, the nation's first so-called superpremium ice cream -- high in butterfat, with plenty of egg yolks, less air whipped into it and a better class of solid ingredients flavoring the whole -- was founded in New York in 1922. As was Schrafft's, which lives on now in only one location -- the New York-New York hotel and casino in Las Vegas.

And Häagen-Dazs, like Ed Koch, Billy Joel and Jennifer Lopez, was born in the Bronx." ----New York Times Article

Weight of the World

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

I awoke this morning to a nice little email reminding me of how much stuff I have and how I'm torturing others with it... I thought I would send a quick shout-out and a HUGE Thank You to my family and my husband's family for their help with moving all my boxes from Kansas to New York.

I definitely owe all of you "movers"! Right now, I can only offer my gratitude and a promise that I'll find some really cool places to take you and provide an air mattress when you come see me! So, thank you for putting the weight of MY world on your shoulders and carrying all my boxes:

*Bryan - for picking up all my boxes and driving them to NYC (Have a Safe trip! We can't wait to see you!!)

*Mom - for letting me use the house as a storage unit and organizing/packing the junk I didn't get taken care of myself.

*Courtney - for helping me move all the boxes out of my classroom and into the house and for letting me take over the corner of your room for storage (I guess you did deserve to use my computer for all that time after all.)

*Ian - for once again being roped into helping me move yet another time.

*Jace - for helping drive my belongings to NYC (Hope you're ready to do some exploring of the city! We can't wait to see you!)

*Ben - for letting us use your new house to store all of our wedding presents.

1st Month of Marriage

1 Month yesterday! We spent the day moving the rest of our belongings and most of Bric's out of the old apartment. The weather was a bit rainy, but it kept it from being sweltering hot and horrible. Bric has a HUGE place and a newly renovated kitchen (that I'm jealous of!)

We definitely got our workout - with all of our trips to Bric's 4th floor apartment and our 3rd floor apartment, sans elevator, each of us could have spent the day climbing to the Observatory on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building... Yes, I counted the trips up the stairs. :)

Seth and I spent the evening relaxing with a bottle of wine, flowers (sweet Seth), finishing our puzzle, and a few episodes of Lost.

Salt Water and Sand

Original Saturday plans consisted of renting a van and moving furniture and the last of the belongings of Seth and Bric's from the old place... Luckily, we had a change of plans and had a more enjoyable day at the beach, Robert Moses State Park beach to be exact. Two carloads of friends were headed there too... we were a bit late getting in on the plan, so we jumped on the Long Island Railroad and headed out to meet them.

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day at the beach too! It was wonderful! There was a nice cool breeze coming off the ocean, the sand was nice and warm, the waves were great for riding, and the water was loaded with salt!

Seth always loves running into waves and then trying to swim/ride through them...



The waves were pretty intense... and I didn't get in until we met up with our friends. Everyone was doing it, so of course, I had to jump off that bridge. Lucky me! Salt water in my eyes, ears, mouth, throat! Plus, I am actually a bit scared of waves. They are so strong... Of course, me being scared, no surprise! It's quite a workout. I jumped out, heart pounding, body a bit sore, and cold. Seth couldn't get enough.

I tagged our spot while Seth napped under his proud buy, our lime green beach umbrella.
Our friends, Hannah, Scott, Vicki, and Lauren, were so kind to squeeze us into their 2 door Honda Accord on the way home. It was pretty tight, at least for V and H in the front passenger seat, but we had fun, jamming to music and laughing back to Brooklyn.

It's Been a Month

The day before our wedding, Indivar took off chasing some girl (dog)... maybe he knew I was leaving him for a guy. Anyway, I watched him as he ran off not stopping for me or anyone - Headed South with the girl. Sadly, he's not been back since. I think he might just be lost forever. Even more sad, I never had him injected with the chip that identifies him if he ever gets found and taken in. As quoted from our favorite show... Indi, we'll see you in another life brother.

I Heart Pigeons

Seth and I met for lunch at this Dumpling Bar. Dumplings aren't my favorite thing, but these were pretty good. Even better... we enjoyed Watermelonaide to drink. I decided I'd look up a possible recipe for this drink and I found a little information from a message board:

Have you tried Watermelemonaide yet? If not, try it!! I just made some with ½ a big watermelon, two big lemons, and three oranges. Yummy nectar. Watermelon juice is the most alkaline of any fruit or vegetable! Because of this, it can help overcome acidic conditions of the body. It is rich in protein, A,B, and C vitamins, enzymes and chlorophyll, and easily digested by most people- even those with poor digestive systems. Watermelon juice help to eliminate uric acid and dissolve accumulated deposits from a poor diet, making it ideal for those with arthritis, gout, and Uremic poisoning, which are all caused by an excess accumulation of uric acid. Watermelon juice flushes a lot of acid from the system and renews the blood. When this happens, the skin starts looking and feeling better! If you feel that watermelon juice is too sweet for you, you can dilute it with water!!

From there I linked to a blog and found this interesting idea of "Juice Feasting". Supposedly it even cures Diabetes. Curious? There is a link to the Juice Feasting blog and website you can check out.

After enjoying lunch with Seth, he headed back to work and I headed off to enjoy the below 90 degree weather! As I walked through Union Square, I was handed a flyer, which is constantly happening. This one was interesting. I'm not really sure what the statement is that he's trying to make, because I just don't have enough information!

Both sides of his board were blank... and he said nothing, just handed out the white cards as he listened to music in his earphones.

As I said, I don't have much information about his cause...

As I made my way towards Madison Square Park, I'm not going to lie that I was a bit nervous walking by this crane... One fell when I was here at Spring Break and another when I came back in June. I-yi-yi.

I spent the afternoon sitting in the shade in Madison Square Park enjoying a good summer read! (Current Read: P.S. I Love You by Cecilia Ahearn... This rarely happens, but I think I like the movie better.)

Sculptures in the Park. There were about 6 different ones by the same artist. They change every summer.

Flatiron Building

Someone is ALWAYS up to something... In Union Square, as I waited for Seth to get off work for the weekend, I spotted a group of loyal pigeon lovers. They were giving out free shirts and stickers if you discussed pigeons with them. Huh.

Teachers of Tomorrow

After doing some research, I found out that my school is on the list for Teachers of Tomorrow. This means I'm employed by a high-needs school and can be eligible for a grant at the end of the year... Below is more information from the website:

http://www.teachnycprograms.net/tot/main.php

*NOTE: It refers to the previous school year...

TEACHERS OF TOMORROW

The Teachers of Tomorrow program is a joint collaboration between the New York City Department of Education and the New York State Education Department and is designed to recruit and sustain well-prepared, highly motivated certified classroom teachers who serve in schools which have been designated as high-need. The TOT incentive program provides tax-free grants to teachers who dedicate themselves to the students in these schools. Eligible teachers could qualify for awards of up to $3,400 annually for a maximum of four (4) years. This grant is only for teachers who are employed with the NYC public schools and you cannot apply for this grant before you are hired.

Applicants for the 2006-2007 school year will be contacted shortly regarding the mandatory July meeting date. Be informed the July meetings will be held during the first three (3) weeks of July. Additional dates may be added.

Missed the Undie Run

In last week's issue of Time Out New York, I found out about the Underwear run through Central Park. It was the kick off event for the Triathlon last weekend. Unfortunately, I didn't get to watch it... I'm still really bummed about this. The more I think about it, the more I can't wait for the event next summer, but instead of watching, I want to run! It's only 1.7 miles. Plus, when else do you have permission to run in underwear through Central Park?!

http://www.nyctri.com/Chipotle_Underwear_Run.htm

If anyone is interested in watching or running, let me know... we'll start watching for next year's information and a good pair of underwear for the run! :)

Sushi and Trivia

As I mentioned in the last blog, I met a fellow teacher who has been going through this horrid process of finding a job in the city. She's also looking for an upper elementary position... unfortunately, we laugh about this, I kind of took one of the jobs she was trying for! She'll find a job though, she's an excellent teacher with great experience. From what we've found through our research, schools start hiring like crazy come August. Current teacher in the NYC DOE have until August 7th to leave their schools. Some principals don't start looking until they know exactly what they need to find... and some just save it for the end of the summer. (ALL of it sounds crazy to me... nothing like what is done in Kansas.) She'll definitely find a job, but it would have been cool if it was in the same school!

We've spent a lot of time together the past week - met at a pizza lunch thrown by our recruiters to give us the chance to meet other teachers who are going through the same thing we are as we transition into our new lives in the Big Apple. This was followed by two career fairs - one in Brooklyn and one in the Bronx. Then we met up for a late lunch/early dinner and happy hour on Tuesday. Wednesday was filled. First with searching for children's books at the Strand Annex (great book store in the city and the main one is located right by Seth's office). Teachers can't pass up 50% off books! (The Annex is closing down in August.) We met Seth for lunch and then headed up to Herald Square to do a little shopping. After shopping, Central Park.


Dinner was sushi in East Village. I've eaten sushi a couple times before with the guidance of a knowledgeable sushi eater... I've been wanting to try it again since I've been in the city, but don't really know enough about eating sushi to go on my own. Stephanie does, so she guided me along!


After dinner, we headed back to Brooklyn to join friends for Trivia Night at the Lighthouse, a bar on 5th and Carroll (about a block and a half away). Last week, Seth and I came in second to last with 11 points... we got lucky though; some random girl came in and gave us a few right answers. Last night, we weren't so lucky. A group of our friends had been holding the losing spot for two weeks... but we relieved them of their duty by coming in last with 3 points. We obviously need to brush up on our knowledge of everything!

Central Park of Models

I was tooling through Central Park with Stephanie, a friend I met who is also moving up here to teach. I had told her about the last time I was in C.P. and how I saw a photo shoot going on with a model who was all decked out in her and had an entourage of people setting her up and taking pictures. As we were enjoying ice cream and the view of the Mall (my favorite walkway, not a shopping center), we see this chick walking by with some very crazy-poofy hair. Turns out, another quick photo shoot. We took our places to watch on benches nearby. I didn't get up the nerve to ask them what the pictures were specifically for or who the model was, so I have no idea if this is for anything really cool or just some random shoot. Could have gotten a better pic if I'd had the nerve of a couple guys who joined us as an audience... they walked right up the stairs and stood with the crew as they were shooting pictures!

Hula Hoops: The Next Big Thing

A flea market takes place in Union Square about 3-4 times throughout the week. One of the booths, with 2 hippie-type sales people, was selling hula hoops a couple days ago. As customers approached their booth, they would show the sweet moves that can be acquired from owning a hula hoop. Check out the video clip - the girl was pretty good... Most people could hardly keep the thing around their waists. Makes me wonder just how much she really practices... "Hey come meet us for a drink for happy hour"... "Sorry, I can't tonight. I have to practice my hula hoop."



P.S. The reason I say it's the next big thing... two days later, in Central Park, I spotted another group of hula hoopers. They were movin' and groovin' with hula hoops and music as they advertised their assortment of size and colors of hula hoops.

Busy Ants

I've found a great place to sit and watch the city people move. I've always seen people in these windows looking onto Union Square from a shopping center in the southern edge of Union Square Park. Now, I'm not wondering how they got so lucky to be sitting in the comfy chairs while I'm standing/sitting on cement steps. When you come to NYC to see me, I'll take you there too!

Watching the people as they move made me dizzy. It never stops and the same people just don't come back. It reminded me of an ant hill. The ants swarm all over the place and you are sure you never see the same one twice.

A Little Case of Homesickness

Last year (and college years previous) I spent every weekend with my friends... staying out late, tooling around Manhattan (KS), watching TV, talking, and just generally hanging out. Now, I'm far away from all of them, and haven't actually talked to them on the phone much because of schedules and whatnot. I miss each of them terribly - especially when I see groups of friends hanging out in my neighborhood on a casual Saturday afternoon. I can't explain what they have, but I understand it. I, too, shared that with my friends states away.

It's hard... I'm not sure how you make friends. It's also such a slow process... college was so different. We were all together for the same purpose - school. We had nothing to do but hang out all the time. Friends seemed to come a lot easier. Plus, I had my friends of forever there. We'd all come together, bring new friends, and help each other make friends. Here... I'm on my own.

I spent the day hanging out alone in this huge city full of people. It made me a little homesick... which is to be expected since I moved so far away from my comfort zone and everything that I knew so well into something so big, different, and unknown.

PS: I did get reminded of Manhattan (KS) though last night. Seth and I were coming home from seeing the new Batman movie. As we came down 5th Ave, lights were flashing, ambulance, police cars, caution tape hung at the intersection in front of our apartment. A stabbing... Kind of scary thought, but as I thought about it, we did have many incidents outside of the Seth's college digs... and we do live near the bar scene as Seth lived near Aggieville in Manhattan.

Pieces of You I Miss

As most of you know, Seth and I spent the last year apart - him living in NYC and me in KS. During the time, I thought I'd be sweet and send Seth puzzle pieces with the letters I was writing to him... For each puzzle piece I would tell him something I was especially missing about him - his hugs, the sound of him laughing, making dinner together, trying a new bottle of wine, etc. I had a picture of us from our first visit to NYC together turned into a puzzle through shutterfly.com.

I kept up on sending pieces of the puzzle to him throughout the first half of the year... but with wedding planning and the stress of the State Tests, the KPA, and teaching, I kind of forgot about the puzzle. Although he didn't get all the pieces through letters throughout the year as I had planned, I gave him the rest of the pieces and we began putting it together the past few evenings.

Cancers Need Security

My horoscope said it correctly today -- I am a soul who needs security (emotional and financial according to the 'scope). My Zodiac DNA and my own personal experience shows that I do not live in comfort unless I have it. At lunch earlier with Seth, I was almost in tears because everything is extremely complicated with this move and job search. I know it will all be worth it when we get settled in and life falls into place, but I do look forward to the moves in our future (at least a couple years from now) being simpler - we can hope!

*Just so you aren't getting scared that there's trouble in paradise - the insecurity I'm talking about, feeling, almost in tears about, stressing about, etc. has nothing to do with our new marriage - love couldn't be BETTER! This is all to do with my lack of a teaching job, apartment imperfections, transitions, etc... Fitting more under the financial security than emotional -- but it does do a number on my emotions (ask Seth)...

The latest... We are in the middle of a huge urban area, New York City to be exact. This last year, I have been looking forward to having internet, having options, none of this "in the middle of Kansas, crappy internet" stuff... HA. I had it coming. Our area is in Timewarner Cable internet. Our lovely Landlord doesn't allow them to wire the building, so it's not available to us... We try for DSL, it's ordered, on the way to be hooked up this weekend, get an email... turns out... No DSL available. Now we're onto something new, more expensive, but our only option. Satellite internet. So here we come 2 year commitment of Satellite internet... PLEASE Rock our socks off!

Internet is on it's way... and I have a job fair tomorrow afternoon in Brooklyn, interview in the Bronx for a 1st Grade position on Monday morning, and another job fair in the Bronx on Monday afternoon... hopefully this Cancer finds her security.

Sumos in Carts

Thanks to Ethan and Jac, we have living room furniture... Sumos (aka very big bean bags that rock) Because of our small space, we thought a couch might be too much. Moving it up 3 floors of stairs didn't sound too appealing either. We look forward to watching Lost: Season 3 soon on our new living room seating :)

Words in the Sky

On our way home from Target on Sunday, I looked up to see planes leaving marks in the sky creating words. I'd never seen this before... so of course, I pulled out the camera to capture a first! Turns out "Heineken" was being written across the sky over and over again. (A message from the heavens?) Made Seth and I want to go get a beer on a patio and enjoy the wonderful Sunday afternoon.

Tour de Apartment Livingroom/Kitchen Area

Figured we'd post a quick video to give you an idea of what our apartment looks like. We still have moving to do, but we have a base for what the place will look like.

Vote for Bartlett Arboretum

Many of you saw the natural beauty of the Bartlett Arboretum at our wedding ceremony. You may have also noticed the tilled up dirt/mud near the pond. This was caused by major flooding - which has happened for many summers in a row. Many people are working with Robin to receive a grant to remedy the flooding issues. You can help too!

Visit this site and cast your vote daily! Hurry though, you only have until July 21st!

Go to: http://www.markhammarkofdistinction.com/
Vote by clicking on: Bartlett Arboretum, Robin Macy

For more information about the flooding at the Bartlett Arboretum, check out: http://www.savethearb.com/

Putting the Pieces Together

All the furniture pieces we got at Ikea came packed as pieces in boxes. So, last night, Seth and I began the fun of putting together the pieces. Quite enjoyable at first, as we had just received our next discs for Lost and were enjoying a few episodes on the new flatscreen 32" TV. Even when we shut off Lost and turned on Miss Macy's wonderful music to start putting together our new loft, we were still fairly excited about our task ahead of us. (www.bartlettarboretum.com if you are interested in purchasing your own copy of "Songs from the Garden")

After a few steps, we realized that our small quarters and frustrating pieces and instructions were going to make this loft-putting-together project an adventure... with a little less fun and a little more frustration than we planned. We did survive, and we now have a loft waiting for a mattress... it was over 3 hours of work and problem solving. All I have to say, We are NOT moving next year because I do NOT want to take this thing down and rebuild it again... and this thing BETTER BE WORTH IT.

It fit perfectly into the room between these walls... but that became a problem when we couldn't move it to screw the pieces together. Tight space for squeezing... Luckily Seth didn't realize this until we were too far along to change it. Ultimately, this is the way I wanted the bed to fit in the room, and he'd have been ok with it going the other way.

All the boxes... and Seth's new TV.

The completed project.

Also, thought I'd share some random pictures of the apartment and the views out our fire escape. Seth and I have already decided that this fire escape is about as good as a balcony and definitely a perk to the apartment... although I'll be sitting in the window sill - my fear of heights makes me a little leery of joining him on the metal fire escape three stories above the cement sidewalk! O and did I mention - we have a TINY (fitting) view of the NYC skyline... and I can check up on one of my favorite NYC buildings: The Chrysler Building.

View from the Balcony looking down 1st street in the "western" direction

View up 1st street to the intersection of 5th Avenue in the "Eastern" direction