Our completed rock wall

As of last Saturday, our rock wall was completed. Below are some photos. We still have a lot of landscaping and work to do around the wall and the pool, but at least this portion is complete.









Jason

High five

Finally, I cleared some time to see the movie everyone is talking about, "Borat". Before I begin, I must say that I am a Sacha Baron Cohen fan. Although his show and movie are extremely controversial, and I do not agree with the material that he presents, I feel that he exposes views that many in our country deny exist. Hatred is ramped in our country, and Cohen is on a mission to demonstrate it. He uses fictitious characters to expose these stereotypes that do exist readily in our society. While doing the unscripted interviews, Cohen’s targets express their feelings and true annoyances of the people and society around them. Most of them are quite revealing and extremely shocking.

Many people look at Cohen as being the one with the lack of acceptance for those around him. However, his characters are only acting as catalysts to show people’s true feelings and beliefs. Most people who see Cohen in action are highly offended, which I can clearly see why. If the movie and his show are taken at face value, they are extremely crude and offensive. But, with a little research and time, one will clearly see what Cohen is trying to achieve. To truly understand his purpose, one must know all the facts. He does not share the views of his characters. For example, Cohen was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family, and it is reported that he is still an observant Jew. He only uses his Borat character to expose people’s hatred towards his own self and culture.

As for the movie, I will only give it one thumb up. Too much of it seemed scripted, and there were some overly crude elements that I felt pushed it too far. The actual interviews and interactions with the public were great, like always. If you are regular Ali G, Borat, or Bruno watcher, you will like the movie. If you go into the movie and take it for face value, it will be a horrible experience. However, if you can look past the crude elements, and focus on the revealing thoughts and beliefs that our society exhibits, it will be an eye opener for you.

Jason

Slow, but steady.

I thought that I would take a second to post a picture for all to see. Slowly, the wall behind our pool is nearing completion. It should be completed by this weekend, as long as the weather cooperates.

Jason

Yes, we are still here.

I know, I know. It has been almost three months since my last update. But that only makes for a great entry, right? Well, maybe not great, but long at least. Where should I begin?

How about school? As you all know, I began my first year of teaching this past August, which has been my primary blogging obstacle, throughout the past few months. It has kept me very busy, both day and night. I am sure you have heard teachers talking about the long hours, hard days, and endless work. However, I bet most of you haven’t taken them seriously. Well, you should start. There are so many responsibilities and things to be done, one can only begin to imagine. I thought that I had my mind wrapped around the responsibilities and workload of a teacher, after my student teaching. I didn’t. In fact, I was not even close. However, after saying that, I must add, “I love it!” Although it can be very time-consuming and stressful, interacting with the children is the most rewarding thing that I have ever done. I could fill an entire book of anecdotes. They would be side-splitting hilarious, absolutely insane, and even sad at times. Each day is a different day. There is virtually no monotony. It is possibly the most polar opposite position from that of my past cubical job in Corporate America. Last Friday was the end of our first nine-week grading period. Wow, an entire one-fourth of the year is already completed. I guess time does fly, when you are having fun!

As for Jennifer, she has been there for me, every step of the way. She has helped me physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I can not express how much I appreciate her and everything that she does for me. As for her career, she has now been a RN at the hospital for over six months and continues to enjoy it as well.

As for the pool, we now have grass growing in most of the yard. This past week, a stone mason began building a stone wall behind the pool. With my new job, it has left me with very little time around the house. So, we decided to leave it up to a professional. That is so hard for me to do, however the same guy built my parents wall 18 years ago and it still looks great. It should be finished this week, or next. I will do my best to post some photos of the project.

I am not sure if you know, but Jennifer and I began riding bikes, fairly frequently this past spring and summer. Unfortunately, the bikes we were riding were in pretty poor shape…Not exactly your fine-tuned cycling machines. Anyway, we decided to buy new ones a couple of weeks ago. We made our purchase at Cardinal Bicycle and we both love our bikes. I chose a black Hardrock Sport by Specialized and Jennifer went with a Boulder SE by Giant. Both are great bikes. These are our first name-brand bikes and what a difference. If you are seriously thinking about a bike, I definitely recommend ones that can’t be bought from either Wal-Mart or Target.

We did decide to go though with our plans for Halloween. Unfortunately, two of my zombies were not able to participate. So, the scares were left up to Josh, my dad, and me. I also plan to post a few photos of this as well.

And last, but not least, are our daughters, Sandi & Molly. They are what they are…our spoiled mutts. Sandi gave us a scare about two weeks ago. She was really sick and wouldn’t eat for a few days. Those who really know Sandi, know that she never turns down food. So, we decided to take her the vet. They did x-rays, blood work, acupuncture, and gave her nausea injections for a nominal fee of only $300. All of this to find out, she seemed to be fine and only had a bug. Oh well, it happens. And besides, it is only the third set of x-rays that she has had. Dogs…I still like them better than cats.

Well, I have now spent way too much time on this blog. I have to go for now. Hopefully, I will be able to post much sooner next time. Thanks to those who have been patient and routinely checking our site…Stefanie, Emily, and Tracie. Everyone, take care and God bless!

Jason