Straight above the highway.

The five-week summer program ended on Friday.  This may not make any sense, but it went by pretty quick, however it still felt like I've spent a full year with these kids.  I was responsible for ordering 21 pizzas for the lower grades only, and we ended the program with a bang.  Some of my students wrote me goodbye letters and some brought me candy, some cried and some were excited for it to be over, haha.  It slowly became an emotional day as each parent slowly came to pick up their child.  I made it mandatory for each kid to give me a big hug before departing.  Maybe I'll see you brats next year.

Closed comedy.

Sometimes I think my circle of friends have shaped my sense of comedy.  No other group will either understand it or digest it as quick as these people.  Whatever is going on, they are brilliant conversations haha.  So in light of all this, there's plenty to catch up on.

Bi-weekly beerpong is still going strong with newer faces joining every time.  The Jason Terryakis lost their last game in a devastating defeat against the Phenoms.  We are too small of a team, and not quick enough to make up for it either.  Either way, we are getting good practice for future seasons.  I had lunch with an old friend this past weekend at the usual Chinese restaurant that I always take my friends to.  Things are well and the rough patches are clearly all gone.

I am also watching something form in front of my eyes and it makes me happy to see it working out.  Things are becoming more convenient for me as my different groups of friends are slowly merging.  I would never thought to see certain groups interacting, mainly because I have once tried before and I watched it fail miserably.  This time, things came together naturally.

Work in Santa Ana is going nicely, besides the drive.  The kids have been adorable and respectful to me.  I recently went on two field trips with them, one at Crystal Cove and the other at Discovery Science Center.  I don't care what outsiders may say, but taking twenty kids on a field trip may possibly one of the toughest jobs to have.  But nonetheless, they had a blast, which makes me happy.  I'm starting to realize that the motivation of this job is not the pay anymore, but more of watching them experience things and learn from it.  A co-worker came up to me and said that I would make a great dad.  That comment was well-timed, making my whole week bright up.  One last week with these kids and I'll be back at my regular school.  I will miss this batch, but at the same time I'm excited to see the familiar faces again.

Courtney is coming home in less than a week. Things are looking good!

Between 15th and 17th.

Had a nice beach trip today.  The turnout was good and the weather was cooperative.  It was good seeing different groups of people actually interacting with each other.  It has been years since I have seen that happen.  It was an eight hour day for Marty and I, while others came later or left early.  Thanks for the EZ UP from Amy and the grill from Andrew, some key items were helpful in making the day go by more smoothly.  Boogie boarding, frisbee, football, and volleyball for 2 hours.  With about 18 people showing up, it was a nice day at the beach.

P.S.- I am deeply sorry for having Christine drive all the way out to the beach to being unable to find me and our group, which resulted with her having to drive back home.  I will make it up with your wish of a Chinese dinner.  

Jason Terryakis vs. Team Express

We got railed today on the court.  They were a bigger and faster team, much more in shape than we were.  Damn.

Jason Terryakis vs. The Blazers

It was our first game last night. Tension was high and nerves were building, not knowing how this game would turn out.  A third of our team didn't have the experience playing in a league, and we were an overall small team.  We didn't even get to meet one of our starters until last night for the first time!  With only about a month's time to practice, we had to play against a veteran team in the league.  We found out the day before that we were playing Kevin's team, which is Brian's older brother.  Hearing that news drained our confidences down a bit, and I was in the worst shape because of my cold.  Little did we know, the game wasn't a blow out, it was a neck to neck battle.  Marty carried the game with 20 points and we were able to steal the win by a single point.  We exchanged our sigh of reliefs with the Blazers and we walked away happy as ever.