From the Outside Looking In…

OK, that is an overstatement.  I went out to dinner with my coworkers last night.  We are together attending this workshop in New Jersey and took an opportunity to share time and wine together.  I had a grilled Caesar salad with anchovies.  An interesting presentation, it was served warm with a bit too much dressing but the flavors were strong.  I enjoyed the salad.  As an entree I had the filet mignon cooked, as usual, medium rare with a sweet mushroom and bourbon reduction.  Yummy.  To top it off I treated myself to key lime pie for dessert.  The dessert was light and a great way to end the meal.  Ok, Ok, did I mention that I went for a run yesterday morning that took me a little over three miles in tracks?  See, that’s not too bad now, is it?

I wanted to run this morning but the skies were open and pouring down rain accompanied by loud thunder and flashes of lightening.  No thanks.  Maybe the rain will take a break this afternoon and I might squeeze a quick run then…if not, maybe tomorrow morning.  More rain is predicted for tomorrow and I can’t wait to drive home in that!

So, another day of intense training awaits me…and I am dressed casually today in a light pair of cotton pants and my favorite red shirt.  Not only do I look stunning but I am ready to meet the challenges of today.

But, first, coffee!

Estelle Getty died this morning. Her breakout role, after forty years of struggling, was the ever-wise grand matriarch Sophia Petrillo from The Golden Girls.  I love that show and watch it every chance I can catch it on the television.  After a little internet search, I came across some of her famous witty comments.  Here you go.

[Dorothy and Sophia come home after Sophia's best friend's funeral]
Sophia: Well, I guess Phyllis Glutman will be my new best friend.
Dorothy: I thought you hated Phyllis Glutman.
Sophia: I do, but at the rate my friends are going, I won’t have to spend too much time with her.

Blanche: Mel makes me feel young and beautiful and special. When we’re together we laugh a lot.
Sophia: Why wouldn’t you, you’re both naked.

Rose [about a colleague at work]: I know if he got to know me he’d like me.
Sophia: Why, I got to know you and I don’t like you.
Rose: You just say that.
Sophia: Repeatedly.

Rose [on St. Olaf]: Ned was sort of the town idiot.
Sophia: When, on your days off?

Rose [entering cheerfully]: Sooo, who’s the luckiest girl in the history of the world!
Sophia: Well, it wasn’t your mother.

Sophia: Blanche, a terrible thing has happened to you. But when life does something like this, there are a couple of things you got to remember. You got your health, right?
Blanche: Yeah.
Sophia: You can still walk, can’t you?
Blanche: That’s true.
Sophia: Great, go get me a glass of water.

Blanche: I don’t really mind Clayton being homosexual, I just don’t like him dating men.
Dorothy: You really haven’t grasped the concept of this gay thing yet, have you?
Blanche: There must be homosexuals who date women.
Sophia: Yeah, they’re called lesbians.

Dorothy: Why can’t you sleep on the couch and give Clayton and Doug your room?
Blanche: Are you crazy, what will the neighbours think if they see two men in my bedroom?
Sophia: They’ll think it’s Tuesday.

Blanche: Dorothy, do you think I’m dressed okay for the dog races?
Sophia: That depends – are you competing?

Dorothy: Stanley, what possessed you?
Stan: I love that car. All the memories we have in that car. The cruising, the drive-ins, the roadtrips…
Sophia: And don’t forget the accident you had in that car.
Stan: What accident?
Sophia: I’ll give you a hint: it costs me ten bucks every Christmas, and still calls me grandma

Yes.  That is the topic of the day…err….week, that is.  I am in New Jersey for most of this week - no, not for vacation as one would image a trip to New Jersey would involve - bit for a workshop on school restructuring and design.  Given the challenges I have been tasked with at my new school, the Head of Schools felt this would be an appropriate fit for me since this intense course of study involves discussion and research on best practices involving what a successful school looks like - from structure, to environment, to staffing, and even the ways teachers instruct.  Hopefully this will give me some more current research on these issues and help me make the biggest impact possible as the start of the new school year rapidly approaches.  No one knows this more than T and his coworkers who are tasked with doing what I am doing, but just about thirty times!  YOWSER!

So, here I am in New Joisey and so looking forward to this workshop experience.  I will return on Thursday afternoon and hopefully use some of the newly gained wisdom gathered this week.  If not, I’ll at least have a few lovely photos to post since I brought along my handy camera.  Stay tuned! 

That is what I gained this afternoon.  I have an office staff of two full-time personnel.  One is strictly school related business that related to my administration.  The second worker is solely responsible for data maintenance and collection to assure proper reports and accounting is done, especially with attendance and lunch counts.  It may sound silly that we have a full time person doing lunch counts but if an audit reveals that we served 100 lunches to students for free and only 99 of them qualified for a free or reduced lunch then we can lose all future funding and be fined.  How about them apples!  haha…

Normally I am in my office meeting with parents or planning for the upcoming school year.  Our phones ring off the hook all day and afternoon amidst the doorbell ringing and registration walk-ins that take place all summer.  All of that is very time consuming.  For some reason, the scheduling goddess booked both of my office administrative assistants for training today and tomorrow.  What does that mean?  Well, for one thing I have been developing an appreciation for the answering of the phones that I have sooo taken for granted.  The frequent disruption of the daily activities to field questions about uniforms, office hours, directions, and the occasional disgruntled parent has removed the screen that naturally exists between the caller and the principal.  Those calling to speak with me today had a surprise when I answered the phone.  No way to do the usual “take a message” if someone I really don’t want to speak with is on the other line…how can I swing that?

I am actually going to close the school’s offices tomorrow since I will also be away at meetings most of the day, so no one will be in the office - and a sign will be on the door to welcome and inform the visitors as such who will probably be disgruntled and make a call to us the next day.  At least then I’ll have my administrative assistant back to work and she’ll be the one to answer those calls!

Overworked and underpaid, of course, but alive nonetheless!  I have been spending time adjusting to my new surroundings and staff members, making the appropriate adjustments in staffing as I assess our school’s needs.  I have the opportunity of choosing an entirely new Middle School teaching team which is exciting and scary at the same time.  I have had a number of interviews since starting last week and some were better than others.  Let’s see what the final results end up being when I make my teacher selections.

Home has been messy.  Construction on two major projects are almost done and should be finally completed this evening.  The bathroom is totally remodeled from the floor up and the deck was quadrupled in size.  The “after” photos will be taken and posted soon - I can’t believe the transformation that has taken place during the last four weeks.  Another project, the basement laundry room and second bathroom area, begins on Monday.  More construction…argh!  More bills…double argh!!

There is a plus…today is Thursday and tomorrow is a holiday so no work!  Yay!  Independence Day!  Yay!  Fireworks! Yay!  Three day weekend!  Yay!  Yay!  Yay!

I am on retreat.  The last retreat I participated in was long ago and for religious purposes.  Today I am retreating with all of the principals in my cluster of schools and we are planning for the new year.  Taking part in these daily activities brings back memories - all good ones.

I am about two hours away from home in the town of Bethany Beach.  We are at the home of our Executive Director and I am currently sitting in her kitchen, sipping coffee, at the farmhouse table that overlooks the canal behind her home where her boat is docked.  Tough life.  She is gracious in letting us take over her home, all seven bedrooms, and the grand space with the flat screen tv’s we are using for the large group sessions with the consultant.

It has been a long time since I have been asked to do ‘team building’ exercises.  How can I perform our school’s vision and mission using mime?  Well I had to think about that last night and today will be displaying my end result.  I am hearing the usual buzz words as we talk about achievement and what measures we will use to measure such a thing.

More importantly, this time is an opportunity for us to get to know one another.  Sitting in a lovely house one block from the beach (rain preventing even a small walk!) we all sit and talk, share a meal of take-out, and laugh.  That’s a good sign.  I have worked with two of the people present before, one of the principals and the head of schools.  We were all principals together the last time I worked in the DC area back in 1999 and 2000.  Everyone else I met for the first time and we share many things in common, like our passion for education and love of the show Top Chef.

There are four men, including myself.  The other three men are married with children and are all pastors or assistant pastors in their churches.  Deeply rooted in their beliefs, I look forward to future religious conversations…but not yet, why spoil the initial fun feelings of being together?

The retreat started yesterday and ends this afternoon with lunch.  I am ready to go….not leave here, but ready to take charge and start the process of change in my school.  This was a good time away from schools and offices and ringing phones to have an opportunity to talk, and reflect, and plan.  Now I have a greater sense of who we are and the mission we hold ourselves to.  Let the fun begin!!

With a day in the house minus the contractors, I had the opportunity to catch up on some important reading and relaxation. For some reason I woke up extremely tired. I was even quiet and not my talkative self which prompted T to ask his usual “what’s wrong” to which I had no real reply! After dropping him off at the metro to make his way into the city for work, I went home and slept for three more hours! Hmmm…I should listen to my body more and just nap when I feel tired….unless, of course, I am driving at the time. Yea, that would be bad.

The rest of the day I spent preparing for my first faculty meeting scheduled for tomorrow. I will be formally introduced to the staff, some of whom have not been invited back and some others who will probably feel it is not a right ‘fit’ with the philosophy and course of action I am going to present.

This is yet another school that is a mess. That is the word of those who interviewed and hired me. I have a specific task and will do it well - it is now an official pattern, given that each school I am hired to lead has a list of things wrong with it that needs correcting. The good thing about this particular school is that it is in a cluster of 7 schools and we will have the largest school size. We have a 40,000 square foot building that has been newly renovated, includes a theater and a separate large auditorium. An industrial kitchen and working elevator are the other highlights of the five-story building. Each room has central air and heat with individual thermostats kept in my new office to control the temperature of each room. The perks go on. It is located one block from the metro and I will be taking the subway to work…gasp! Me?? Subway?? Well, some days….

The rest of the evening was quiet. T and I shared a nice meal together, I had a glass of wine, and we settled in front of the television. Tomorrow is Friday and we both can’t wait for this work week to come to a close. Let’s see what tomorrow has in store for us!

I’d hammer in the morning like the contractors are doing today. Yesterday the demolition of our second floor bathroom took place and it was amazing to see the before and after shots of the construction work. T and I left for an hour or so to play some tennis while te workers hauled away the four inches of concrete that was stuck to the wall behind the old tile.

Later in the evening, after the workers left and dinner was on the stove, we took our new juicer for a test drive and made some carrot juice. Our fresh juice accompanied the chili I made and was a great treat. It was a success for our first attempt at juice making!

Today is more of the same - construction. I am heading out to the book store for an hour or so, not to buy but to escape the noise of the workers. I pray they have WiFi! Let it be so!!

Yesterday, T and I spent the morning making scones and watching a serious documentary highlighting the trials and tribulations of bringing a show to broadway….yes, we watched The Muppets Take Manhattan.  Enjoying some fresh cranberry scones hot out of the oven, we sat in front of the TV and geared up for what would be a wonderful and hot afternoon outdoors.

We hopped in the jeep and headed downtown to attend the DC Pride Festival that took over about five city blocks.  The sun was out and with only an occasional cover of cloud we spent most of the day under the sun’s warming rays.  We both had hats on which made the heat less intense but there was so much to see and do (definitely much to see!! :P) the heat was barely a distraction.

We spent a few hours walking and looking at the exhibits.  We listened to a performance from the Gay Men’s Chorus of DC and a few songs from BETTY.  Apparently they are famous, though I’d never heard of them before.  A few underwear models made their way through the crowd during the day, tanned and toned…a nice sight to see, indeed.  It was nice to walk around together, and publicly display some of our affection.  Not that we have been stopped in the past, nor are we overt when we are out in public, but the feeling of acceptance was something that was tangible yesterday and it made me feel good about who I was, who we are as a couple, and what we all desire as human beings.

Making our way back home, we settled in front of the TV with some pizza and wings to help us enjoy the Tony Awards that were on TV.  Beginning and ending the day with Broadway, with a gay pride celebration to fill our day, it certainly was a gay ol’ time!

This morning after a nice breakfast of pancakes and bacon, we headed out to Eastern Market, an indoor/outdoor market in DC that sells fresh fruits and veggies, meats from a variety of butchers, artistic pieces directly from the artists themselves, and everything in between.  Taking the metro in from Cheverly wasn’t too bad, despite the delays from scheduled maintenance on the tracks we happened to be using.  After about an hour or so at the market, we walked away with seven bags of fresh fruits and veggies that we will now use to cook with and juice…using our handy-dandy new juicer.  Yes, we got a juicer.  Yet another appliance to place on our counter since no cabinet is really large enough to store it.  At this point we have yet to use it but now that we have something to juice, we will take it for a test drive I am sure!

We also did some much needed grocery shopping and now our cabinets are bursting with cereals, eggs, healthy snacks, and other essentials.  We should not need another shopping trip for at least another week.

Later this evening we had planned to attend the PrideFest Parade in DC, an event that celebrates gay pride but the forecast calls for heavy rains (and it is raining as I type this) so we will just wait until tomorrow’s street festival where we can be our usual fabulous selves amidst the hundreds of displays and numerous concerts planned for the day.  There will certainly be photos to accompany tomorrow’s entry!

Until then, we have an evening of karaoke planned and maybe a movie or two.  I believe that The Muppets Take Manhattan is on the agenda for this evening’s viewing pleasure.   Time to start the popcorn!