2011

2003

I guess football is on my mind this week.  It was Homecoming for us, Fall Equinox, and Dalpiaz Family Fantasy Football!  Then Kathleen and Nick's pictures came through so I stole this one of Brandon (looking so very grown up) so that I could see what it looked like next to this one of Ryan.  

I've been reading a blog called The Occasional CEO and this week's post reminds us that no matter how much it seems things change, they mostly stay the same.  And while it seems change comes one on top of another at an amazingly rapid rate, this isn't "news".  Hasn't Margarine Always Looked Like Butter? points this out within the parameters of the annual Beloit College Mindset List. This list outlines what the lives of incoming freshmen has been like in order to understand their mindset.  It uses comparisons their professors should be able to relate to.  I was reminded of this very mindset last week as I was describing "the library card catalog" to the 7th graders and their teacher pointed out that the students may not understand why I call it a CARD catalog. Hmmmm.......  Point taken.

I admit that I wasn't consciously aware that margarine didn't always resemble butter.  Brandon looks like Ryan.  Margarine looks like butter.  What's your mindset?  Be mindful that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Jesse and Lindsay Find Someone to Love

What a night!The ceremony was wonderfully meaningful and genuine and I'm so glad we were able to bear witness to Jesse and Lindsay's vows.  It was like they looked into my heart and said to themselves "How can we make Patty Anne as happy as she can be?"  Ancestry, Celtic traditions, mothers kissing children, song, sunset and twinkling lights.  Yes, I do remember the night was about them and not about me....... Thank you Lindsay and Jesse!  We wish you all the best.

I only took a few pictures but it's fun to see all the smiling faces.  We started this party sometime around Memorial Day, right?  And now we are a the end of this particular string of events.  Hard to believe. 

First "Official" Grandchild

A while back, I mentioned that Aunt Mary told me that your Grand Uncle Peter Manzelli was married and had a daughter and later lived with another woman ("that Nervo girl") with whom he had no other children.  She didn't say what happened to his wife but she did say that "this makes Johnny the first official grandchild" of Joe and Jennie Manzelli. 

This haunted me for a long time.  First of all, there was the mystery of this marriage and little girl.  Then there's the intriguing sentiment that whatever happened with the marriage negated the child's status in some manner.  So I tackled the "easier" of these two:  the marriage and the little girl. 

A random message that came to me through Ancestry.com (which you've all heard makes this job so EASY PEAZY) motivated me to take a few extra research steps.  I was able to obtain Peter's 1921 marriage certificate. 

Peter and Mildred appear in the 1930 census living in Queens.  I learned that Peter was a chauffeur and that Mildred's parents were Swedish.  Daughter Evelyn is 8 years old in 1930 so I believe she was born about 1922.  My Ancestry.com message mate indicated that Evelyn married then divorced Jack Carman (or Carmen) and died in 1972 which would have made her only about 50 years old. 

Evelyn was about 2 years older than Uncle Johnny.  With apologies to Aunt Mary, genealogically speaking:  Evelyn is the first official grandchild of Joe and Jennie Manzelli.  Although I believe there were probably very good reasons for the social mores that dictated official status of the line of descendancy, I guess I'm glad those "rules" have relaxed a bit and we can kiss and hug all the babies equally.

There is still the mystery of their marriage and Evelyn's life, but perhaps one day we'll find some more cousins!  Also take note on the marriage certificate that their witnesses were Eugene and Amelia Russo.  Amelia was Peter's aunt (sister to Marguerite) and the Russo connection is another Ancestry.com message mate!  He provided pictures such as this one

I am sure I've posted this before, but it seemed appropriate with the upcoming wedding events!  See you all soon!

Every now and again, we (and by that I mean ME) have to make new rules around the house.  I'm sure it's the same at your house.  Last week, James took the air conditioners and the fans from the windows and put them away.  It wasn't even September yet, but I could see some sense in taking the air conditioners out.  But not the fans!  I usually take that stuff out at the end of September but keep the fans on hand.  Sure enough, we (and by that I mean I) had to drag the fans out again last night.  Yikes it was humid!


So here's the new rule:  The fans can be put away when I stop shaving my legs with the straight razor for purposes of wearing shorts.  There. 

My new "rule" for the upcoming school year is based on the Staples Back to School supply commercials.  There's an elementary teacher needing glitter and tape that sticks; a music teacher singing about denim needs; and a gym teacher swinging down from the ceiling with a jump drive.  He says he doesn't know what a jump drive is, but those kids are going to be jumping.  He tells us that our kids will be having "a year long tug-of-war with the ceiling".  And therein lies my new daily motto. 

I will face each crazy new initiative or state guideline or administrative directive with the resolve it takes to play tug-of-war with the ceiling.  For some of these challenges, I may decide to just bat the rope to the side and move forward.  I may decide to climb that rope (however long it takes) just to touch the ceiling.  Seems like a logical enough motto for my 33rd year of teaching.

And to all of you going back into classrooms or school offices:  May the rope be with you!

Labor Day 2011

These are my last roses for Summer 2011.  I was amazed at how healthy they looked after getting beat up by mean Irene last weekend.  I am grateful for their pretty color among the wind strewn leaves, broken twigs and other debris.  But there is something out of place about pretty pink flowers in the garden in September. 

This is the ages-old tree that's been out in the front of our school since the school began 76 years ago.  It was diseased and scheduled to be removed soon but storm damage dictated an earlier demise.  It did not fare Hurricane Irene as well as those little roses did.  This tree has seen a whole lot of the history of our school and town and my heart was broken at the thought of bringing it down.  We had staff days this week filled with buzzing saws in the background and the occasional thud.  Watching the progress made me teary eyed.  Now it's just a blank spot out there.  This is where Jim's last concert was held and that tree provided shade and comfort that night.  No longer. 

It was necessary to take the tree down and I thought I would be one of a few "old timers" distressed by this but I was wrong!  Recently graduated students put up a Facebook page mourning the passing of this tree! I was very surprised by their reaction.  It took taking that tree down for me to know there are other (younger generation) people who cared about it too.  I think that discovery will help overcome my feeling of loss.  There will be something out of place about that hole in the front yard, but I take comfort in knowing I"m not alone in missing the great tree.