From the Outside Looking In…

The last few weeks I have been really enjoying the concept of the show Chopped on The Food Network.  If you are not familiar with the program, four chefs of various skills and experience compete in a “mystery ingredient box” battle over a three course meal.  Each meal has a mystery box that contains ingredients they each receive with the first course being an appetizer dish, followed by an entree, and ending with a dessert.  The chefs all cook at the same time and have 20 minutes to prep an appetizer and 30 minutes for the entree as well as the dessert.  After each course, the judges “chop” a chef until only two are battling over the dessert.  As usual for a Food Network competition, the chefs have access to an abundant pantry and multiple culinary tools and gadgets.

What gets me are the surprise ingredients…sometimes gummy bears as one of the ingredients for an entree or cilantro in the dessert battle.  I do have to say that the chefs that I have watched have done some clever things with such common items as donuts, canned pumpkin, and fish sauce.

LC and I have actually played this at home.  Just last week, LC picked out his secret ingredients I had to incorporate into the dinner that was my turn to prep.  He surprised me with pea shoots, garbanzo beans, and feta cheese.  Well, I made a homemade hummus with the garbanzo beans (naturally!) and made a pea shoot salad with feta cheese, raisins, pecans I candied, blanched broccoli pieces, and shredded carrots.  This was all complimented by a roasted chicken I prepared with sliced potatoes and onions steamed in white wine.  Fancy, huh!

I did not get chopped that night!

I know it would be selfish of me to say that I need a day of pampering, a time out of the office with no e-mails or cell phone, just doing whatever I need to do to relax and enjoy the last day before students enter the building for summer school.  So I suppose I will be selfish today.

What to do, what to do…This morning I need to do some errands, the usual life maintenance, and then the day is mine!  I am thinking about getting the jeep detailed and going to the book store, sitting with some coffee and one of the 6 books I have set myself up with for this summer…yes, 6.  The goal is to get away from the TV (now that the NJ Housewives are done!) and have some quiet reading each night.  Some of the books are work-related, leadership and instructional strategies.  Others are just books I have had on my shelves and haven’t touched in a while - the usual.

Rain in the forecast does not bother me much since after going to the gym this morning I plan on doing things inside.  Plus, since its Friday, it is date night with LC.  Since we lead such busy lives, we have carved out every Friday as “date night” where we always plan to go out to dinner and then see a movie or do some other activity - we take turns each week planning the night.  Tonight is my night to plan and we are going to see the movie The Country Teacher, a GLBT film that opens tonight at the E Street Cinema, but I am going to cook dinner for LC at the condo before we go see the movie…a surprise he is not expecting. 

OK, focus people - back to me! Anyway…the day is mine to do with as I please.  Let me make the best of it and get out of the house and to the gym.  Away I go!

Don’t strive for perfection…its too expensive!

According to the Humane Society, rabbits are sexually stimulated by the scent of talcum powder.  Just thought I’d let you know…because knowing is half the battle!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…let your pride show!  Yesterday was the Pride Parade and today is the festival - time to put on the sunscreen and get out of the house for a day of pride and celebration!

Today, LC and I walked over to the Dupont Farmer’s Market for our weekly vegetable shopping and it was so crowded.  The beautiful weather brought lots of people out, some with pets and others without, and plenty of business was being done at the stands which is good news for local farmers!

At the market this weekend was Chef Jose Andres, the famed owner of Jaleo and Cafe Atlantico among some of this restaurants. He was serving up tasty portions of paella which LC and I had an opportunity to taste.  We made our way to the market after LC taught 2 spin classes and I went for almost an hour-long run so I know I was very warm under the heat of the early summer.  We were able to get great tomatoes, some pea shoots, fresh basil, and some soft shelled crabs to cook up later.  Yum!

After all of this shopping we needed to sit, relax, and take in the sights and sounds of Dupont.  Hell, we wanted to drink!  We ended up at Bua’s on P Street between 16th and 17th, right in the perfect people-watching spot of the area.  What we didn’t know (and now do!!) is that Bua’s has all-you-can-drink mimosas during brunch hours every Saturday and Sunday.  Eureka!  Here is the 4th of many glasses we enjoyed

Well, not as much babies as they were headaches.  Yes, the 8th grade graduation took place yesterday afternoon at the University of the District of Columbia.  Here were some highlights that made me very uncomfortable and actually angry as I sat on the stage:

1.  Two students - both from my campus - showed up at 4:30pm for a ceremony that started at 4:00pm.

2.  The keynote speaker, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, had no idea where she was as she read her canned speech - she misnamed our schools many times over and with many different names.

3.  During the diploma reception, it was like watching Showtime at the Apollo.  The hooting and hollering, arguments between parents trying to get their photos with their cell phones, it was a mess.

4.  It was not a formal ceremony as planned, it turned out to be as casual as a backyard cookout.

Maybe I am just holding too high of expectations for the system, the students, and certainly for the families.  I began the ceremony by reading the expectations of behavior to the parents [insert chuckle here] so everyone knew where to go for the best photos and what was expected of them to maintain a safe and celebratory environment.  Well, it was read and listened to quietly but did that matter?  No…

So they are gone - yes, they are gone.  Officially…even though I had given them the last few days off just to get them out of the building….er…I mean, to give them time to get ready for their graduation ceremony!

Six days left of school with the students, all of them half days…I can’t wait for this summer!  Many good things are in the works for next year!  I have my entire staff set for next year which includes a young man finishing his PhD this year in History, someone who just graduated with a master’s from Harvard this past week (I was able to woo her to DC now that our salaries are extremely generous and highly competitive), a few exciting members of the Teach For America corps, and a fantastic transfer from another campus.  All of these including the strong staff members who have been asked to stay on - they will create the starting line-up for our teaching team and we will be strong on many fronts.

So, that was my consolation sitting on the stage and watching the graduation ceremony unfold into the afternoon.  Last night LC and I ate some chinese food, drank some wine, and just talked late into the night - and now I’m ready for the next batch of students to move on.

So as I was going into the conference room at the central office yesterday, I was stoppd by the head of schools who said “We have a friend in common…I spoke with PR last night.”  My jaw dropped - it had been a few years since PR and I last saw each other.  I was still a police officer and he was a high school principal in Virginia about to take a few years off to finish his doctoral studies.  Well, it turns out he never left education, but moved to take over a high school in DC plagued with violence.  At one point last year after March 1st, there was a fire in the building set by the students each day until the end of the year - it had become tradition.  Well, not under his watch!  I enjoyed listening to his perspective as a principal during this past summer’s debacle in DCPS with the merger and closing of school facilities, including his, and hearing what really went on at the building level.  Interesting stuff!  It is strange to hear that, even with a regime change, some things have remained the same at DCPS, particularly at the central office level.

PR and I used to grab drinks regularly since we first met in grad school.  PR is a bit older than I and we have similar backgrounds involving the seminary, law enforcement, and school administration.  We even share the same professional goals of taking on a superintendency somewhere, preferably an urban district.  It was funny how we led parallel lives with many things, eerily, in common.  At no fault of his, we sort of drifted away and the last time we got together was two summers ago at The Tabard Inn for drinks.

Well, PR and I spoke last night for a good hour after I texted him that I had spoken with JB, the head of schools.  PR knows both JB and her brother, another school administrator who is out working in a high school in San Francisco.  PR and I had a chance to catch up and to hear some of this stories about the high school he is running now in DC - and some of those challenges he is facing.  He sounds like a good fit for that school.

So, a long lost friend is found…well, not really lost as misplaced…but I took that step to reconnect and I am glad I did!  We have planned to resume our weekly happy hour get-together beginning this Tuesday and I can’t wait!

I think I would be perfect!  Should I start posing for the cameras?  I’m ready for my closeup!! 

Bravo announced this week that it will bring its “Real Housewives” program to Washington and is hard at work “scouting the D.C. area to identify the city’s alluring and discriminating residents … women who have their pulse on the most important cultural events, political galas, gallery openings and fundraisers in Washington society.”