Author Archives: Peter

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September 11th

Considering I’m a pretty funny guy (at least in my own head) and usually try to deal with tragedy or sadness with humor this is one of those days that’s difficult for me to deal with. BC when it comes down to it there is no humor to be found on this day.

As a first grade teacher from 2002 on to my present years as an assistant principal I always struggled with the appropriate way to handle today in the classroom. By now none of the kids in my school were even close to being born in 2001, so the events of that day are not really a tragedy but more an event from history.

But to me and the rest of the people who lived through that day. Sept 11 has become our generations Pearl Harbor and now we’re faced with the task of deciding how to remember another, as Roosevelt put it, “day that will live in infamy.”

So the question is how exactly do you talk to your child about this. I mean not at four months or even four years, but down the road. Because just saying the date out loud… September 11, conjures up the images of walking through the empty and silent CCSU campus wondering what in the hell was going on.

Then spending the rest of the day sitting in my dorm room watching the events unfold with the guys in silence for hours. So it’s more than history, it’s real life. It happened. We watched it happen. Steph and I were at Ground Zero less than a month later.

I guess just like everything else in life we have to take it day by day. When the time comes though I’m not sure I’ll know what to say to him… But no matter what history has already dictated a portrait of Sept 11th… That being one of heroes, selflessness, sacrifice and patriotism. Maybe that’s how we all need to look at this day whether you’re four months, four years or forty

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Not Ashamed

It’s to the point where everyone’s opinions, theories and stories of what worked for them are all just jumbled up and not accessible when I need them.

I know someone a few months back recommended the vacuum for those sleepless night. But today that theory was actually put into practice

And sometimes… In a crazy world…desperate times call for desperate measures. That vacuum ran longer than all the times Stephanie has used it combined. And it worked. Still out and sleeping like a baby… (See what I did there??!)

Again…

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Hours later… Yea that’s a DustBuster running under his swing. Whatever works.

 

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Looking for the Good Project

So the other day we went to Hammonasset State Park/Beach and ran into this group who run a non profit called Look For the Good Project. (http://www.lookforthegoodproject.org). It was really interesting to see the different pieces if art and ideas of what people are grateful for in their lives.

Working with inner city kids your whole life changes your prospective on the difference between “want and need”. Seeing this project got me thinking about how grateful I truly am for my wife and son (and of course Buster and Max).

We were able to sit and talk with Anne, the founder of the project, and get her reasoning for starting and growing her non profit. She seems to just get it… Get what life is supposed to be. The interactions, the appreciation… Just the feeling of what makes us who we are.

Of course my answer to what am I grateful for is Jax and my amazing wife and puppies. But to be honest it goes deeper than that. I’ve worked with so many amazing and unique children in my career. I’ve seen some who have it easier than others and some who have had it tougher than it should be for anyone, let alone a child. I’m so grateful that Jax is here, healthy and happy. I’m so grateful that he came to is when he did. At a time when Steph and I were completely ready to turn our lives over to someone other than each other or ourselves.

He really is something to be grateful for.

If you haven’t checked out Anne’s project and book, I recommend you do.http://www.lookforthegoodproject.org

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Dinner Date

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Only big boys sit at the dinner table…

Sometimes a dad’s gotta do what a dad’s gotta do. #IfYouCantBeatEmJoinEm #CribWeightLimit? #Roommates #GoToSleep #WhatEverWorks

 

PS: Truer words have never been spoken.

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#HandsomeLikeDaddy #LikeFatherLikeSon.

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Lots Going on Lately

sdff

The process of attempting to put together the first solid meal is literally like trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces.

“Where the hell did we put the spoons?”
“Where is the tub from that we put all the baby bowls in?”
“Crap… Did I forget to put the high chair?”
“Wait you have to like mix it with something?”
“What do you mix it with?”
“I think you put it in the microwave?”
“How long?”
“Try it…”
“No you try it…”
“Buster, Max come here, we have a great for you.”

 

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Absolutely destroying the Instagram world right now. #InstaCuteness #InstaAdorable #FinallyFoundHisThumb #MrMcgibblets

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Fantasy Football Commissioner

The greatest day of the year. Draft day. I already locked up my #1 pick!

Expert analysis to the above draft pick: “Really bro?? His squats are terrible as is his 40 and Herbstreet claims he has “adverse reactions to dairy, soy, and the zone blitz”

“I wouldn’t draft him in a PPR. Kid’s got no hands!”

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A Letter from the Commissioner to the Leagueions:

Good Morning Ladies,

I write because it is that time of year again when we must all start preparing for the single most important event of the year, Fantasy Football.  Yes this is more important than Vic and Mike’s weddings (no they didn’t marry each other, surprisingly enough).   First, while it sickens me to do so, I must pay my respects to our reigning champion and first ever to be presented with The Hearthstone Trophy… Jimbo (I suffer enough as a Mets fan) Brunetti and his silent co-owner Ray Glow whom I have never met, and have suspicions that it’s really Jim’s wife.

The league started off in a bad way, considering the commissioner was unable to accurately locate the BWW and was late to his own league draft.  Highlights included Ryan (I know nothing about football) Klein, ordering spicy Asian wings by saying this was not his first time “having an Asian”.  Also noted was the Jimbo our league champ left without paying his tab… typical Mets fan.  Then the Pick Heard Round the World happened.  Michael Crabtree who was fresh out of season ending Achilles surgery and was picked in the 5th round by Mr. Klein.  Words of advice for this year boys: “If he don’t have a sticker… don’t be a picker!”  Not present on draft day, Jason (I only like to draft slow guys, his words not mine) crept his way in and out of the playoffs all season before falling off the last few weeks.

Don’t forget the scoring change that had to be voted on after the draft since yours truly screwed up the settings.  If you weren’t aware, with the settings that were originally set, Jacoby Jones was projected to score 87 more points than Calvin Johnson because of the return yards scoring.  This was quickly changed and order was restored (and my team was back on track to win the league since I did not draft any returners).  Our inaugural season was marked by some huge trades, names like Calvin Johnson, Aaron Rodgers, Eddie Lacy and Tony Homo all being packaged and shipped off to different teams than they were drafted by.

So now the league sets itself up for a new year of expectations, and Sundays filled with excitement and for some horrible drafters (RFizzle) lots of crying.  We have some new members this year who look to fill the void of the two who could not handle how we here in the “Who’s Coming With Me” league roll.  That being said I would like to formally introduce our newest members, Miguel (I hang out with Jordan Cannetelli) Dwarte, Dwight (My biceps are bigger than my brain) DiMartino and Dante (no name, sorry I actually don’t know your last name as I type this) and Zack (wait you were in the league last year) St. John.  Good luck young grasshoppers, as we come to play in this league.

The draft this year will have a few surprises.  We will be live drafting at Casa de Hearthstone. We will have a guest MC, and a chef who will cater the event.  I will not however, supply any of you alcoholics with beer, so bring your own.  If you have any specific ideas on how you would like the draft order to be selected just throw them on the Facebook league page and we will vote on them soon.

For the newbies, your team names have to be great and represent who you are a Fantasy Football Manager… unless your name is Jim Brunetti and Ray Glow and you name your team “Team Brunetti” This year, as the Commish, I claim the right to change all team names that have not been changed from the original setting, also if payments have not been made by the first week of November I also will be changing the name of your team to something of my choosing.  My hope is that Vic doesn’t pay so I can change his name to “Brother of SlimCeli”.

I hate you all… and I can’t wait to hear from y’all soon!

Peace be with you,

The Commish