Awkward Tension

I have ran into Keith 3 times this past month out with his boyfriend and company. Both times have been EXTREMELY awkward.

The first time was about a month ago the night after Thanksgiving I think, Black Friday, when I was meeting my lesbian coworkers at a gay bar. I walked in, took a seat at the bar, and voila, Keith was there in company with his new boyfriend, some young twinkie Arabic guy who was al over him. The guy was humping Keith, getting up on his back as he was sitting at the bar, and then the 2 of them were making out. My coworkers walk in and Keith looks over. He gave me several stares like I was not supposed to be there. I just nodded and chatted away with my coworkers before we decided to go on a walk instead around the hotels downtown looking at Christmas lights.

The second time I ran into him was at Target or somewhere similar- I can't remember. I was shopping and scrolling through my phone looking at my Christmas shopping list- who I needed to buy for- as he walked through the aisle. He said, "Hi Mike," in a stern voice and walked past me. I looked up and said "hi" as he turned to go down a different aisle.

The third time was Christmas night. I met my cousin in downtown to go Christmas light hunting and go through the hotels decorated for Christmas. She told me to meet on bar row, so I agreed, and was in the middle of giving her a call when I am walking and I see Keith and his boyfriend who was walking behind him with his arms around him. I am standing at the crosswalk and I see in the distance it is him. The light turns green, I walk across the street, and near where he is. He turns around, acts like nothing is going on, and says, "Hi Mike." I nodded and walked past him, past 3 bars to the one I was meeting my cousin. As I walked up to it I could feel his eyes on me staring. He then yelled "bye Mike." I was nearly in the bar by then and I didn't wave.

I get a text from him a few hours later that just said "awkward." I haven't replied.

Birthday Thoughts

My birthday is coming up, and I'm super excited. I have the day off work, it is on a weekend, and I will be getting to spend time with good friends/family. It is so nice!!!

Little could be better than last year's birthday that was so nice...

Unlike last year, I know what I want to do. I would like a little bit of surprise mixed in...

One thing I would like to do would be to:
- Do dinner with my good friends like Darla, Gonzo, The Guy, his boyfriend, JO Buddy, and his boyfriend - and no qualms this year because Mike has met all of them with the exception of Darla and Gonzo --- this will probably happen the weekend after my birthday

- I do know the boyfriend gets an invite with my family whatever restaurant I decide. Right now I'm deciding between Spanish and Italian.

Regardless, I'm anxious and looking forward to a day of surprises and spending time with those I love.

I have a thing for Lisa Marie

Maybe it's that she was Elvis' daughter? Maybe it is that she is so mysterious? Maybe it is she is sexy?

Because I was a kid of the 90s...

I had to think about what the top toys of the 90s were prior to reading this story. 5-6 came to mind and here's my list:

1. Tomagotchi's/Nano's
2. Furbies - 1998
3. Pogs -1st grade for me
4. Tickle Me Elmos- 1996
5. Beanie Babies
6. Nintendo 64, Sega, Playstation
7. Gameboys

... And here's what the "researchers" said... I got several correct, but no Furby? No Tickle Me Elmo?

Christmas Traditions

Merry Christmas!!!

I wanted to share my family's Christmas tradition with you to see if anyone does the same thing as this dominated much of my bf's and my conversations this week:

CHRISTMAS EVE, DECEMBER 24

1. We bake tons of Christmas cookies.

2. We have a big nice dinner on Christmas Eve that my dad preps. Usually it is steaks or a rib eye roast.

3. After my dad cooks dinner we clean up, then get ready to open gifts.

4. My mom is usually insistent we sing a Christmas carol or two before opening up gifts. I mouth them. That's not something I enjoy. Put the holiday station on in the back and I'm good.
MY BF thought this was the weirdest thing and none of the people he talked to had ever heard of such a thing. He questioned everyone we met if they did that, and the response was overwhelmingly no, what planet are you from>

5. We open up gifts on CHRISTMAS EVE. It is something we have always done- my mom has done it - her mom talked about the tradition starting back in the 1930s when her husband proposed to her on Christmas Eve. My dad's side of the family does it too- a Roman Catholic family. My best friend does it too as it is a German tradition.
Does anyone else do this?! I can think of probably 10 people I know who open all of their gifts Christmas Eve and then get stockings/pajamas etc. the next day on Christmas Day. Some people I know get a small gift on Christmas Eve, then they open up everything the next day, which my BF thinks is normal. These are all of the family gifts after all that we have bought for each other, so it seems appropriate, then the "Santa gifts" are for Christmas Day. My question is when things are wrapped and under the tree prior to Christmas, how are they from Santa?

6. We get stockings every year and it is full of gift certificates, candies, Life Savers, even though Santa is not real, my parents fill them.

7. We only have stockings and maybe 1 leftover present for Christmas day since of course Santa is not real.

8. My dad makes a nice breakfast or we snack on candy and cookies before going to the relatives.

Met his parents

SUNDAY

Arrive at 7pm at Mike's. We exchange gifts. We filled each other's stockings and bought each other gifts. I got him a brand name watch, which was funny since he bought me the same watch, but the cheaper brand of it. I found a great price for his on amazon. I also got dinnerware for him that he has been eyeing. He bought me a sweater that I wore on Friday that was brown and orange and perfect for NJ as he termed. He also got me a purple BN sweater, which I had been wanting. We got lots of candy for each other in our stockings. I don't think he'd planned to spend that much, but went out and bought stuff after he found I was serious about the gifts and a stocking. We wait around to leave until the town Santa comes through, but they were too far away and weren't going to get to us. We head out the opposite directions and I drive us to the hotel. While driving Mike wants to hear all about my family's holiday traditions, and then of course makes fun of me and tells me how weird that was. Every subsequent person we met throughout the week heard just how weird my family is. We get to the hotel, check in, then get Perrier water at the convenience store down the street, then back to the hotel to sleep. We go to bed about 11.



Monday
Get a text bright and early from Linda at 5am. We take the hotel shuttle to the airport in OC. We are in economy on our flight to NY. We arrive in NJ, get a rental car, go to Mike's parent's to surprise them - he told them we'd arrive Tuesday. When we arrived it was just like, "oh, you're here, you're early, that's nice," which was so different than the reaction I'd have had in my family, but it was cool to see the contrasts in our families. We get in to NJ about 3pm. We go to the hotel after for drinks and do some shopping in 2 outlets around his house.



Tuesday
We get up at 10:30, we slept in. We go to his mom and dad's house where we take her mom and her friend to their nail appointment. We go to Hallmark and Starbucks in the meantime. Then we go to the Jersey shore to Seafood Shanty for lunch. We had seafood. Then we drive around the area and suddenly end up at the Jersey SHore house. Of course i had to get out and take photos/get pictures of me in front so that I can show my kids at work. Afterward, we go to the mall, drop his mom and friend off, then we are off to babysit a friend of his twins', afterward we stop at Princeton Uni, and then to a few stores before going back to the hotel for drinks. Bed about 1.



WEDNESDAY
We get up about 10, then go to a Jersey snadwich place for a Jersey breakfast, which was pork, eggs, and cheese on a hard roll. It was pretty good. We go to his mom's afterwards and hang out with his dad who was home for a few hours from work. He wants to go pick up his tile for their kitchen, so we go there, then when his mom gets back we go to Sams, WalMart, and the outlet mall. I fell more in love with him as we went through Sam's and his mom was so cute as she asked, "want any wine?," and he said no, but it was so cute, I could never/rarely see my mom doing that, and how explicitly she asked was hilarious. I push her around Sams. We end up at the outlet mall later after we drop his mom off. We also go to an expensive $20+ per plate Chinese place that was really tasty- it should have been for that price! We visit the local mall where we get his niece and mom gifts, and I get my sister a few thingys too. They don't really exchange gifts, and he talks about how he doesn't have to shop for gifts, yet he bought stuff for his mom, dad, and little niece. Cute- that sounds like him. We go back to the hotel since bottles of wine were buy 1 get 1 free and split that between the 2 of us.



THURSDAY


We were up early to go to Jersey, but of course had to play around. We stopped by Mike's mom's, then we called his friend LaRa whom I'd met before. We picked her up before going into the city. We drove into the city and found the hotel, walked to the Chelsea Market, a large indoor mall, then to a pizza place called Artichoke Pizza. We went back to the hotel and changed for going to see the Rockettes. We walk down to RadYo City and watch the show. It was really good- the Santa parts were slow, but the Rockettes were fantastic- so in sync! We walk down to RockefFFFeller Center after to see the tree and take pictures in front of it. We admire many of the store fronts and stop in stores like Uniqlo. We go uptown to meet Mike's friend Kaytee who was a veterinarian. She was coming from work and we met her at a bar, the MickGee's Bar shown in the TV show 2 1/2 Men that is right below her apartment. We then go to a restaurant in Hell'z Kitchen called Nook that I highly recommend as it is BYOB and very reasonable- great salmon- and Mike and his friend brought the booze back. It was cute. Everyone made comments about who was the drunk- Mike. It was pretty fun. We go back to Rockefeller and down to Time's Square. We eat at a TGI Fridays and have dessert- vanilla bean cheesecake. We get back to the hotel at 1am- we take the train back and walk a little bit.



FRIDAY
We get up at 9:30, shower, and go outside of the hotel to find flowers for Mike's mother. We get the car and head out of Jersey to a diner shown on Guy Fieri's Diner's, Drive Ins, and Dives on the Food Network. I had an omelette and it was ok. Mike dropped me off at the airport about 3 and we kiss/hug. I get in about 8pm. It was so hard to say goodbye and I would have loved to stay with him throughout Christmas.

Press Your Luck/Whammy

Does anyone remember this 80s game show? I just found out you can play it online and it is so addicting!!!

A new Montgomery Gentry song!

Weeks ago I was wondering when they'd have a new album, and alas there is a new song. It took a while to grow on me, pero it meets my approval.

My Christmas Must Hears

And it has to be these versions!

I actually didn't blog something!

There was one thing, one side of my life, that I was so hesitant to blog about that I really wanted to over the past few months. I was struggling at work with classroom management. It ate at me for weeks and I spent a lot of time working hard to improve upon it. I had great classroom management where I came from, but it seemed that I wasn't fully prepared for what I experienced. I have been working hard and have improved greatly. It was something I didn't want to admit because the administration was looking down on me at the time and the thought loomed in the back of my head about the possibility of not being rehired, and I was scared. I am glad to say I'm doing much better. I didn't want to say much because I felt a tremendous loss of pride. I feared the comments like why did I become a teacher? Why am I failing the kids? Irrational, I know, but hey, I'm learning, and I'm improving with the kinds of kids I have. I was feeling so worn down and stressed, and Mike's constant critical eye had me hesitant to say anything. I was at the point I didn't care. But now I'm doing better... woo!

Dinner parties

THURSDAY

I head over to my boyfriend's about 1p.m after doing lunch with Gonzo and running errands like returning the hideous snow boots my mom bought me in the morning. So great to meet up with Gonzo.

When I arrive Mike is busy cleaning the kitchen and I help by dusting and vacuuming the entire house. We spend about 2 hours cleaning. It wasn't messy, but we were just thorough and detailed in the cleaning. Wt head out shortly after to get groceries. We were having a dinner party with The Guy and his boyfriend. We go to the grocery store with pasta in mind, but then decide to use up the potatoes we have, and so we got some fish. F&S was out of fish, so we went to Stayters.

We cleaned a little more, then started putting the appetizers together. We debated over the prepping of the fish. We settled on some lemon juice, salt, and pepper. He puts the appetizers in the oven, some brie bites, and everything is ready when they arrive. I greet them at the door, hug, and let them in. They were so complimentary about what a beautiful house Mike has. We all came in the kitchen and made small talk as we waited for the appetizers. Then we went in the formal living room to eat and chat. We talked about our vacation, me getting to meet the parents, what Mike does for a living, my sister, Linda, and a whole bunch of other random stuff. Mike and I took turns going back and forth to the kitchen to check on the food, then we ate about 9:15. We chatted for a while at dinner about cars, it turns out The Guy and his boyfriend just purchased a car together - a $40,000 Audi. They had it for 2 weeks before it needed a new engine. I am floored he got a new car - wow. Mike wanted to show off his pride, his Audi, and so we head out to the garage. They both loved it. The Guy also liked Mike's other car, but was disappointed to hear Mike wasn't completely sold on it. We head inside, hug, and exchange Christmas gifts. Mike, I know, was thrilled to finally get to entertain; and it meant a lot to me that he came out and didn't flake.

We cleaned up, then headed to bed. We were tickling each other, but were too tired and fell asleep about 12:30a.m.


FRIDAY

We are tired, but up at 7. I was super tired. I make us bagels. I told him I needed allergy shots and he decided to go with me. I drove. He told me I was a nervous nelly while driving. There was a big accident on the freeway, so we took surface streets. We got there late only because of the accident and they said to come back at 1:30 for a shot. We went to Kole's where Mike bought hand towels and other random stuff. We went to an old El Torito after before going back to get my shots. We had time to kill, so we go to Target. We head back to his city after. We go the long way around since he told me to- and stop at Kirkland's, Petco, and a few other stops. We were both tired, but I head out, as I wanted to get a haircut since I didn't think of having my mom's friend do it like usual, so I had to pay for my first haircut ever... lol. I ran to the dry cleaner for my shirts down the street and ran into the lesbian math teacher and her partner. Talked to them for a while. They were so friendly. I get back to Mike's and fall asleep. He tells me after I woke up that I was gone for so long, but I explained who I ran into. He woke me up I swear- he tapped me or something- I was in a deep sleep. He made spaghetti for dinner and rolls. We watch RHOA, but I fall asleep and thus am missing key elements to knowing what happens next week. We went to bed about 12:30 and we were both horny that I cuddled up into him, he kissed and jacked me off, then I flipped around and fucked him.


SATURDAY

We were up about 7:30. I watched the news to hear the latest on the 60 closure. We go in the living room for bagels, to finish our little sun catchers we were making, and then bake them. I had never done those as a kid- my mom dismissed them as messy and that they didn't work well. I was so amused when they did. We play on the computers, then get showered and dressed, we head to Lowe's, and Subway. Yummy meatball marinara. We stop at Big Lots and then Stayters again. We were going to do steak for this next dinner party, but Mike convinced me to do a roast for his rotisserie. We also get some salmon.

We go home and assemble the table for the party, Mike works on the appetizers, and voila, we are ready. I do the potatoes and prep the meat/put it on the rotisserie. A few texts to make us think my parents were going to be about 5 minutes late, but instead were 5 minutes early. Mike lets them in, I invite them in from the kitchen, and finish working on my potatoes. My sister was along. She was having her own crisis - she was getting like 100 emails on her phone. OH NO! That was a conversation piece for a while, then we sat down, and enjoyed the first 2 sets of appetizers- brie and pizza rolls. Mike gets up a couple times to put things in the oven. One of those trips as we were finishing up he dropped some lemon juice accidentally on the door of the oven and it shattered. He was not amused and was thinking it is an excuse for new appliances. While sitting my sister talked about her job offer, wanting to move, Chicago, her travels. My mom questioned Mike about his travels, his Christmas tree, and a few other things. When everything was done we went into the dining room to eat. At dinner we talked about my mom's school, my school, Mike's town, what we are doing in NY when we go back, and a little more about himself. We served cheesecake bites and then dinner was done. My parents left about 7:50. As they left Mike poked me and told me they were cute, but some alcohol would have helped everything. Yay for parent visit #2. And he met the sister and didn't think she was that bad. He's the devil's advocate, however. We were cleaned up by 8:15, and Mike and I watched TV for 15 minutes while he looked at replacing the oven door online.

At 8:30, we hugged, kissed, and then I headed out. I came home and packed my bags. Ready to go...

Recap of last week for my sake

FRIDAY
- I was so over work - we went to Home Goods and other random stores, ate dinner at the fish house, walked around the mall, got icicle lights for the tree outside, Target

SATURDAY
- Up early for home visits, went to Mike's after, went shopping to the city to the east and looked for more icicle lights/walked around the shopping center, Hallmark, Petco, dinner in the evening at Claim Jumper, Target, etc.

SUNDAY
- Up and off to Kohls, breakfast, Target
- Head home about 12:30 to meet Linda, her husband, and do Christmas with them, set up Christmas tree, go looking at houses with her, back to ours for dinner

MONDAY
- Up and off to work... long day
- Dentist after school
- Off to Mike's after where he makes some chicken strips, yummy potatoes, and some bread for dinner
- Go grocery shopping after and to Target

TUESDAY
- Over to Mike's about 3 to hang out until the awkward work Christmas party where no spouses/significant others were allowed to attend. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't a great party. It was ok. Stayed for a few hours to chat people up and then headed back to Mike's where i told him about the party, laid, and tickled him

WEDNESDAY
- Up and off to work... I did it! Woo!
- Got to his place about 2:30 and we chat, talk, tell him about my day, the homework I had to do, chat with my dad, and head home for his help

THURSDAY
- Excited for tomorrow and the weekend......!!!

Music Wednesday - Christmas edition

I really do care for my kids

I was up bright and early Saturday morning for home visits with my colleagues. We visited several students houses.

One student, KD, is one of my most difficult students in my most difficult classes. He has hates me, I'm mean, I don't know what I'm talking about, and he refuses to work in my class, and listen to me. I got written up in my evaluation because someone wouldn't stop talking- it was him.

I have called his house many times- at least 4- and spoken to his great grandmother about it. She has always said she is doing everything within her power, but at her age, 93, it was hard. I didn't deny that. She said she praises me for everything I've done with him and to continue being hard on her great grandson. I told her I plan to.

I tried to get to visit his house because he is one of my most difficult students and I felt I could make a connection during that home visit. I saw he was chosen for a home visit, but I wasn't able to go to his house since I was on a different team.

When I got back to the school after the visit, I stood around and talked to several teachers. When it was time to get my food, as we had a luncheon for all whose homes we visited, the lesbian math teacher, came up to me and told me that KD's great grandma was there and had something for me. I was a little nervous at that moment because I had nothing to worry about, but I have called expressing such frustration to this old woman I thought she'd be tired of me. Hardly. She made me 3 homemade tamales and told me how much she appreciated me. She made a special trip to the school to see me- how sweet is that? KD is always telling her how I am so hard on him and sound like her, as I always say the same things his great grandma does. I chuckled. She told me all about this student's home life, how his mom never cared for him, his grandma died, and she was the only one left. She is raising 4 kids ranging from 7-17 and 2 are real handfuls. She told me how this kid is not as outgoing as he seems- he has purple hair one day and is the class clown. He spends lots of time at home reading and drawing. She told me how someone broke into their house a few months back in October and stole his iPod touch that he prized so much, and how he cried for days. They also stole a bunch of photos from his childhood. That crushed me. I wanted to cry. She told me about the softer side of the kid, which I rarely see. It was good to hear that because it explained a lot of why he could have been acting up in my class. I guess his g-grandma has had a long talk with him and has said how I'm such a great guy - I was much younger than she expected because I sound so mature on the phone. KD has brought his grade up 14% over the past 2 weeks and is actually working in my class.

There's a lot more to his story - my team members think that the student doesn't like me because he is obviously very flamboyant and probably isn't around a lot of gay guys, and has pegged me as one, and its scary to him since so many people say being gay is bad, so he rebels and treats me badly. In all classes where this kid has a male teacher he has a much lower grade. Also, just imagine what the kid is going through being raised by his great grandma...

This was just such a nice gesture by this great grandmother to care so much for me, and even after I've been so tough on her great grandson, she sees that I really do care for him, and it just means so much to me. I was on the verge of tears most of the time she was praising me.

I am hoping that talking to grandma has helped with this student as I know a lot of new things about him, I see how he is already trying harder, and I know a lot more about his interests where I can tailor lessons to incorporate things like art/music to be able to make that connection. I learned his favorite singer is Lady Gaga, and have an awesome idea about the college assignment we are doing in the next few days to have him research Lady Gaga's college she attended- that would be NYU's art school - we'll forget about the part she didn't graduate from it.

Oh, and while we're on the topic of parents, I heard from a couple teachers about 2 parents that "hate my guts" and "hate my ass." Ok... lol.

Mannfriend

FRIDAY

Spent with my mann friend, we went to Chilis if memory serves me correctly, or somewhere over near there... Olive Garden... I had what we thought was a $25 gift card, but we soon realized there was only $4 left on it since we'd used it before, so he paid for dinner. After we went to Sams Club for a tequila rifle for a gift I needed to buy. Mike joked I was going to get his dessert there and pay for it. We found none - except stuff in bulk. We went to the pet store where I fell in love with a persian kitty that I was so tempted in allowing Mike to get. It was precious and was blind in an eye.

SATURDAY

We ventured to Kohls in the middle of the day, as well as the pet stores. We went back to his place where we watched some TV and then headed out to dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant that was just so-so-ehhh. We blew down (because it was super windy and cold- like 30 degrees) to see the Muppet Movie at the mall. We go back to his house.

SUNDAY

We don't move too far until the late afternoon. We go to Chilis; Target where there were tons of people, an insane line; Cost Plus, and DSW. We also go to Marshalls and Joann. I didn't make it home - mi madre had been calling me several times.

We also went to the mall in the afternoon. We went to the one near school and 2 students in my homeroom saw me. I didn't hear until Tuesday. I would have thought they would have come up to me, but no. We went to all the stores including Bath and Body Works. Not sure what store they saw me in... anyway, on Tuesday one kid stood up after we were done testing to announce she saw me at the mall. I said, "Yeah, you probably did." Another said, "yeah, he was with his mannfriend." I laughed. She said "it's ok Mr., your secret is safe with me." I chuckled and said there's nothing wrong with man friends, he could be a neighbor friend too," but she knows I'm sure, and well, whatever. It was amusing and Mike got a great laugh out of my newfound ally.

My man friend and I changed positions in bed, and that was interesting... it had been a long time since I'd done that.

MONDAY

Spent the evening and night with him. He made some chicken strips and rice. It was pretty good. We watched lots of TV like 2 1/2 Men. Dumb show. Awful to watch.

TUESDAY

Dinner con mi familia- mis padres en particular y we went to Carrows. The food was horrid. I had a dirt salad- or at least that's what it tasted like.

Discovered my new favorite song in the car driving to dinner.


WEDNESDAY

Back at Mike's. He was working on expenses for work and whipped up some pasta after a while, as well as bread. It was delicious. He made me some for work today- love him! We both fell asleep on the couch and made it into the bedroom around 12:15

THURSDAY

Went to Mike's after school and he was watching TV on the couch. Told him all about my day- the meetings, the parents, etc. etc. Long day. Told him about the lesbians at work. He looked up the menu for Chevee's and we went for some quesadillas. Convo was all about work at Chevee's, which was fun, as he gave me pointers, suggestions, told me to kiss up to the principal, assistant, etc. etc. He was cute. We had a margarita and quesadilla, then walked around the mall. Joked about if anyone would see me at this other mall 2 cities away with my mannfriend. I found some zapatos en Nordstrom Rack y un regalo de polish for mi mom en Nordstrom. We stopped for bread at the market after. Driving back to his place i realize I didn't have the supplies I needed for this weekend for work, so I came home to do that. Visited with the family y my dad was excited to see me again.

I'm still here

I'm in the final stretch at work, busy grading as the quarter comes to an end. I am trying to coordinate 2-3 events in addition.

I am enjoying most other waking moments with my man friend as he is termed by several students who spotted us at the mall together on Sunday.

Wednesday's 70s Female Songs

Yes, Vickie Lawrence was the first to cover this song. That always is a random bit of trivia I love to throw around. And did you know what a Kangaroo court was?