Noah and I have been talking. It may be time to start gathering up the animals. If this storm hits Florida, I'm anticipating a very soggy 29th birthday. It's no hurricane yet, but give it time. We still have standing water from Fay.

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We made it through the first full week of school. Let's see if I can name all of the children. DeAndre, DeJuan, Omarious, Orlando, Boston, China, Charles, Ansom, Joshua, Jarius, Jaren, Oran, Christina, Katrina, Kadrayah, Angleshia, Shaniah, Summer, Brandon, and Billy.

It amazes me that so many of the names are very similar. It happens every year, though.

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Completely unrelated.

At the beginning of the month, Alex took me to see my most favorite band in all the world, Coheed and Cambria. It was my second time seeing them live at the House of Blues, and they never disappoint.

The band writes their songs based on a comic book (The Amory Wars) that the lead singer has been writing the past few years. I cannot get enough of the music and Alex can't get enough of the comic books, so it works out nicely.

For those who aren't familiar with downtown Disney, there's a Virgin Megastore just a few feet from the House of Blues. We always wander around the store before the shows begin, because it's the biggest CD store we have around here. You never know what you may find.

While approaching the store, I noticed a group of teenagers sitting on the bench outside. As we walked in front of them, I saw the look on one of the kid's faces transform from boredom to astonishment. I turned around to see what he was looking at, and sure enough, there was Claudio, the lead singer/guitarist of the band!

We walked into the store and he came in right behind us. My first famous person! I must admit my heart skipped a beat. We didn't say anything to him, though. If I were famous, I'd like to think a trip to the local music store wouldn't have to end in a riot. I'll leave that to the teenagers. (Although I DO have dragonfly decals on the back window of my Scion Tc.. shh!)

But that's not all! As we were leaving the store, we ran into Travis, the guitar player. And finally, while waiting in line to enter the House of Blues, Mic (bass player) came out and signed autographs.

It was a fantastic way to end the summer.

Glub.....glub......glub

It's been a while. It's been raining. A lot. Tropical Storm Faye has dumped more water on us than any storm in my memory, and it's not even a hurricane.

Life's been quite busy lately. We're coming very close to closing on a home, finally. It's been a long road, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I've abandoned taking pictures of properties before they're actually ours as it seems to turn out that as soon as the pictures are taken something goes wrong. So mum's the word until I sign on the dotted line. Sept 30th is the big day.

The 2008/09 school year began for us on Monday. Unfortunately, thanks to Faye, school was closed Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Only 13 children showed up on Thursday, and they should have stayed home as Thursday was the worst of the storm in Lake county.

At any rate, below are a few pictures I've taken of the classroom before the children arrived to destroy the place. That's what kids do, you know. So far, this class seems to be much more calm and obedient than last years group, thank the heavens. Of course, I know more this year than I did last, and to quote a favorite childhood cartoon, knowing is half the battle!

This is the view as you enter the classroom. Computer stations, marker board, and listening center.


This is a look at the left side of the classroom. Beginning from the listening center, to my desk, bulletin boards, and student tables.


The back of the classroom has leap pads (kiddy computers) and more student seating.


Here's a view of the right half of the classroom. We've got a functional, but illegal in the principals eyes, kitchen. Since we're not allowed to use it for anything but washing hands, I've utilized the cabinet space by placing a number chart there.


This is the view from the left side of the classroom looking back towards the front door.


Finally, these are "most" of the children in my class this year. Their faces have been hidden to protect the innocent. (They made masks resembling a raccoon in a story I read to them the first day.)


The following pictures have nothing to do with school.

Happy 1st birthday Fred!